Chapter 203: Chapter 142: The Agricultural College’s Special Recruitment Questions

’What is he trying to hide?’

Shu Yao and the household robot brought over tea and snacks.

Mrs. Jiang looked her over with stunned admiration and smiled at Shu Xin. "You’re so blessed. Your daughter is even more beautiful than my son described."

"Hahaha~" Shu Xin was tickled pink. "You all have to try the snacks! My daughter is quite the cook!"

Speaking of food, the group of ladies started chatting about Mrs. Bao, who had recently become a big hit in the world of food live streaming.

Just as their conversation was getting lively, the robotic butler announced another arrival.

Wen Youran had timed his arrival perfectly.

"Yaoyao~" Wen Miaomiao popped out from behind her brother to greet Shu Yao.

She had heard that Wen Youran was coming to the Shu Family’s home today, so she took a half-day off from school and pestered her brother to bring her along.

Wen Youran had intentionally let it slip to her that he was coming.

The Wen family wanted to get on good terms with the Shu Family, and the connection between Wen Miaomiao and Shu Yao was a perfect asset to leverage.

Due to the nature of his profession, Wen Youran could get along with anyone. Within minutes of arriving at the Shu Family’s home, he had blended in with the group of ladies, even managing to get a perfect read on each of their personalities.

"Wow, Brother! These snacks are delicious! And this tea is amazing!"

Realizing his sister served no other purpose here than to eat and drink, Wen Youran sighed helplessly, though the fondness in his eyes was obvious.

"I hear!" Mrs. Lin’s sharp voice cut through the chatter. "Miss Shu, your daughter is applying to Imperial University’s Agricultural College!"

"Yes, yes!" Wen Miaomiao nodded in agreement before anyone else could react. "Yaoyao is going to the Agricultural College, so I’m going to apply there too!"

Hearing this, Wen Youran closed his eyes in exasperation. ’His sister really is Shu Yao’s number one fan.’

Mrs. Lin let out a couple of laughs, their meaning unclear.

"What a coincidence. My Ziyin is applying there too, and she’s already received a special recruitment qualification from the Agricultural College this year! If your daughter can actually get into Imperial University’s Agricultural College, perhaps she and Ziyin will be classmates!"

Wen Miaomiao was surprised. "Ma’am, has your daughter already passed the special recruitment and been accepted by the Agricultural College?"

"Well, not yet!" Despite her words, Mrs. Lin couldn’t hide her smugness.

"Then you shouldn’t talk as if your daughter is already a student at the Agricultural College," Wen Miaomiao said, disappointed.

Mrs. Lin’s smile froze on her face, her mood soured.

The atmosphere suddenly turned awkward.

Lin Ziyin jumped in. "Shu Yao, with your qualifications, there’s no way you can get into the Agricultural College. In fact, you probably can’t get accepted into any university in the entire Federation."

"Who says?" Shu Yao glanced over coolly. "Dean Si and Professor Gan from the Imperial University Military Academy have already approached me."

"What!?" everyone exclaimed in shock.

Shu Xin’s reaction was even stronger than the others. "Yaoyao, is that true?"

"Even her own mother doesn’t know. It must be a lie!" Mrs. Lin sneered.

Shu Yao didn’t elaborate, only saying, "I hear the special recruitment for Imperial University’s Agricultural College is a bit interesting this year."

"Ah, yes." Mrs. Lin wouldn’t pass up any chance to show off her daughter. "My Ziyin has a perfect GPA and excellent grades. She received her special recruitment qualification from the Agricultural College over half a year ago!"

Shu Yao sipped her tea, watching them and gesturing for them to continue.

The mother and daughter from the Lin Family did not disappoint.

Lin Ziyin said with some frustration, "The special recruitment tasks for the Imperial University Agricultural College are always so unexpected. I got the qualification last year, and I still haven’t figured out what the Agricultural College is trying to do."

"Isn’t it about cultivating a seed?" Wen Miaomiao had heard rumors about the Agricultural College’s special recruitment task. "I heard the seed is very difficult to grow. Many students who got the qualification have already given up. I know of several myself."

"It’s not a seed at all!" Lin Ziyin grew emotional, her face full of dissatisfaction. "There are six thousand students who got the qualification, and the Agricultural College made us form groups—ten people per group, for a total of six hundred groups."

"You could choose your own teammates, and the rest were grouped automatically by the system. Each group receives one seed, and not a single one more! The thing the Agricultural College gave us can’t even be called a seed!"

As she spoke, she took out a strange, irregular, oily black object from her bag. It was smaller than her palm and had no sharp edges.

Lin Ziyin said with a hint of arrogance, "I’m the leader of my group. The ’seed’ we received from the Agricultural College has been with me the whole time."

"Is that a seed?" Wen Miaomiao leaned in, examining it curiously.

"It’s more like a rock, and it’s incredibly hard! You can hammer it or smash it, and it won’t break," Lin Ziyin said. "The task the Agricultural College gave the qualified students is to either cultivate this seed or write a thesis about it."

"They also explained that cultivating the seed might take a very long time, which is why the special recruitment process started more than half a year early."

"It really does look like a rock. If something like this is really a seed, whatever grows from it probably won’t taste good," Wen Miaomiao said, wrinkling her nose in distaste.

"It is indeed a seed," Shu Yao said calmly.

Lin Ziyin’s eyes suddenly lit up. "Do you know what kind of seed this is? Have you seen it before?"

Her tone was urgent.

Since it concerned whether she could pass the special recruitment, she was naturally desperate to find out more about the seed from Shu Yao.

But Shu Yao just smiled. "You’re right, the special recruitment tasks for the Imperial University Agricultural College are always unexpected. But they aren’t necessarily testing a student’s planting techniques or cultivation skills."

Wen Youran couldn’t help but nod. "Indeed. If they were only testing those things, the Agricultural College would have given a seed to every single qualified student. There would be no need for teams."

Lin Ziyin retorted, "Maybe the seed is just very rare!"

Wen Miaomiao’s sharp reply left her speechless. "If it’s so rare, would they hand out 600 at once? Why wouldn’t the Agricultural College just keep them and cultivate them itself?"

Lin Ziyin pressed her lips together. "Don’t tell me the Agricultural College is testing ’team spirit’ or something!"

’How ridiculous!’

"None of the students who received the Agricultural College’s special recruitment qualification come from poor families. Perhaps the professors at the Agricultural College just want to see how far you privileged students are willing to go to pass." Shu Yao looked at Wen Miaomiao. "For example, if this seed were in your hands, what would you do?"

"Ew~" Wen Miaomiao made a face, but still gave it some serious thought. "I’d try to find a way to cut it open."

Shu Yao asked, "And what if you couldn’t cut it open on your own?"

"I’d ask my dad!" Wen Miaomiao said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "My dad would definitely have a way. After all, his hospital is full of equipment!"

Lin Ziyin looked completely baffled.

But Wen Miaomiao suddenly seemed to understand. "Oh, I get it! The Agricultural College is also testing the candidates’ backgrounds and resources! I remember a student the Agricultural College made an exception for two years ago. His grades and GPA were subpar, but because of his family connections, he often traveled to other planets. He was personally very interested in soil research and had collected many soil samples from off-world!"

Shu Yao glanced at the seed clutched in Lin Ziyin’s hand and said with certainty, "If I were to cultivate this seed, the Agricultural College would make an exception and admit me too. But a task like this... tsk tsk, it doesn’t spark my desire for a challenge."

’It’s too easy?’

Lin Ziyin couldn’t believe it. A task she had spent half a year on without figuring it out, and this woman from the Lower Star District actually thought it was simple!?

’She must be pretending to know what she’s talking about just to embarrass me!’

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