Chapter 1865: Copycat
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
These were strawberry seeds which the country had modified. Although the end results of the modification did not turn out to be quite a success, these strawberry seeds had a shorter growth period and also bore bigger fruits. It did not taste too good, but it still brought a lot of convenience and economic benefits to farmers.
The teachers in the agriculture faculty had been trying to get a breakthrough and modify these seeds into ones which could produce sweeter strawberries. Whoever could produce sweet strawberries in this test would qualify to study abroad.
“This assessment is to see who can grow big and sweet strawberries in 20 days. All of you have previously come into contact with this type of seed in class and you know it well. I won’t say anything else. The site for planting is our school’s experimental field. You can go and choose your own spot,” the dean said.
The school had provided the agricultural faculty with a large experimental field. There were both outdoor fields as well as glass greenhouses. Among the 20 students who advanced to this assessment, only Qiao Mei was a freshman. The rest were all in their third or fourth year. They had all taken practical lessons and knew these seeds very well.
All of them walked to the glass greenhouse at the same time. Xie Jing was no exception too. This was because this was how their teacher had taught them to grow plants. They were only following the instructions in their textbooks.
On the other hand, Qiao Mei felt that it would be more convenient to plant the seeds in the experimental field outside. It was autumn now and it was cold in the morning and at night, but quite warm at noon. If she grew them in the glass greenhouse, it would probably affect the taste of the fruits.
When growing strawberries, one must be most particular about temperature control and the effect of fertilization on the plant during the growing period. Planting them in the experimental field outside would allow one to monitor the condition of the strawberries at any time. If it got too cold at night, one could build a plastic shed so that the strawberries would not get frozen.
However, this was all just part of Qiao Mei’s smokescreen. The strawberries would grow as big and sweet as she wanted. She could grow strawberries even in water. The location did not matter at all.
As Qiao Mei busied herself outside, Xie Jing realized what she was trying to do. He was suddenly inspired and quickly said to the dean, “Professor! I want to grow strawberries outside too! ”
“You want to do that too? Didn’t you choose to plant it in the glass greenhouse just now? Did you see Qiao Mei wanting to plant it outside and now you want to use her method?” the dean said as he looked at Xie Jing disdainfully.
Xie Jing blushed from the embarrassment, but he still insisted on going outside to grow his strawberries. This had an impact on whether he could study overseas. He was willing to be shameless enough to pester the teacher to let him go out to grow strawberries. As long as he could go overseas, these things would be forgotten as time passed. By then, would the teachers in the school still remember what he had done?
The dean and a few other teachers used to like Xie Jing very much and even wanted to keep him with them so that he could continue to do experiments in school and contribute to the country’s scientific research. However, at some point in time, Xie Jing dropped his disguise and started to scheme and plot, disregard his fellow classmates, spread rumors, lie and cheat, among other things.
The perfect image which Xie Jing built up had begun to collapse.
“Professor! We haven’t even started planting yet! I also have the right to choose to plant it outside! Please let me have your approval!” Xie Jing said.
According to the rules of the competition, the students could not change the method of planting once they had made their choice. However, just as Xie Jing had said, he had only just arrived at the glass greenhouse and had not started planting. He should still be able to change the method of planting.
The other students looked at Xie Jing. They did not know what Xie Jing wanted to do or if there was something wrong with him.
“It’s written in the textbooks that we should plant the seeds in a glass greenhouse. Did Xie Jing wake up on the wrong side of the bed?”
“Back then, Xie Jing had produced the best strawberries among all of us. He also planted them in the glass greenhouse then. Why does he want to go out now?”
“In any case, I won’t go out. I’ll just follow the method in the textbooks and I’ll definitely be able to grow them.”
“That’s right. The textbooks can’t be wrong. At least we will get results! It’s so cold outside now. The strawberries will definitely freeze there!”
Everyone discussed animatedly. They wanted to go out too, but they did not have the guts. If they went to the experimental field outside and the seeds became frozen, they would not even be able to grow anything and their dream of studying abroad would be shattered. At the very least, they were sure that they would be able to produce strawberries in the glass greenhouse..