After Waking Up I Inherited the Earth [Interstellar] – CH25

Chapter 25

When Vincent’s call came in, Alice was livestreaming.

Facing her utterly hopeless little brother—what could Alice do?

Simple: ignore him. What’s a brother compared to her career?

But Vincent was acting like he’d gone haywire. When Alice didn’t answer, he kept calling nonstop.

Left with no choice, Alice finally… blacklisted him.

The viewers burst out laughing:

“HAHAHAHAHAHA!”
“That’s Alice for you—I love how decisive she is!”

Influencer Alice and her “big-resentment” little brother: providing the audience with daily laughs yet again.

Precisely because her disaster of a brother was weirdly beloved by fans, Alice never blocked his messages during streams.

Sigh—her disaster brother was just another money-making tool, that’s all.

She knew that if he really had something urgent, he’d use forced communication. After blacklisting him, Alice felt completely at ease and continued chatting with her fans.

As a fairly well-known influencer, Alice was talented in all kinds of ways—singing and dancing were no problem, and makeup was second nature.

For example, today she planned to show her fans the recent internet sensation: the “scheming peach-blossom makeup look.”

However, the moment Alice said she was about to start doing makeup, the live chat filled with question marks.

[BigRaccoon: Wait—did I hear that right? Alice said she’s starting makeup?]
[WonderlandSleepwalker: Holy—Alice, weren’t you already done? That was… bare face just now?!]
[AlwaysSaltyFish: I don’t believe it, I don’t believe it. Alice must be lying. No way your bare face looks like this!]
[PlantsPlants: Hmph, Alice, you think I haven’t seen your bare face? Don’t try to fool me!]

The interstellar era was also an era of technology. Beauty devices—high-demand products—had long been widely available, so most people’s skin wasn’t too bad.

But “not too bad” didn’t equal skin like cream and cheeks like peach blossoms!

[I-Live-On-Mercury: Even mermaids don’t have skin as good as yours… so what have you been doing lately?]
[SunshineComeBack: Don’t tell me you took a skincare sponsorship… Alice, have you fallen?]

Seeing her fans suspect an ad, Alice—who had just set everything up for makeup—froze.

She hurriedly denied it: “No sponsorship, really no sponsorship! If I did take one, I’d definitely tell everyone directly.”

Alice wasn’t short on money. Her family wasn’t so ridiculously wealthy that they could buy starships and interstellar cruisers on a whim, but buying some high-end plants for fun was as easy as a game to her. So she didn’t do shady cash-grabs like other small influencers.

Up to now, Alice had only taken a dozen or so promotions—and every product had been something she personally used and truly thought was good!

[I Love Silver Lubricant Most: I trust Alice’s character. She isn’t lacking money, so why would she do shady ads.]
[LittleBugIsThePrettiestCreature: So did something good happen recently? You look really energetic.]

Energetic?

Alice blinked and couldn’t help studying herself in the mirror from left to right. In the end, she realized her complexion really was very good!

She thought for a moment and hesitated: “Maybe because I’ve been sleeping well? Honestly, I used to be kind of drained, but recently I’ve felt normal again—eating well, sleeping well—like all my pressure just disappeared.”

Her viewers instantly expressed intense envy.

Having all stress vanish—wasn’t that way too amazing?

[Civilization’s Only Handsome Guy: Stress gone? That’s insane. Did you buy some super high-end plants?]

That question hit her like a lightning bolt. Alice suddenly remembered the jasmine basket she’d bought.

But—A jasmine basket that cost two thousand star-coins could calm nerves and relieve stress?

No way.

Alice hesitated.

Then she firmly persuaded herself: impossible!

There was no such thing as a charity shop owner in the universe!

Bosses were all blood-sucking capitalists. A plant with that kind of effect would be sold at a sky-high price, not at a loss to customers.

Hah. Things like that existed only in dreams.

With that thought, Alice shook her head decisively.

She even brought out the jasmine she kept in her bedroom and showed her fans a full 360° view. While showing it off, she laughed and denied it: “I haven’t bought any high-end plants recently. The only plant I’ve bought these days is this ordinary one. It’s called jasmine. I bought it while browsing StarNet Mall, from a private planet owner’s shop called [Earth Trading House].

“It smells super good, okay—honestly, more comfortable than any expensive perfume I’ve ever smelled! And the price is really reasonable. Look, this basket has so many flowers, but it only cost me two thousand star-coins! If you like it, you can consider going to buy it.”

To make the plant last longer, Alice hadn’t plucked all the leaves, so what her fans saw was jasmine in its natural full form. Plus, Alice casually revealed the shop name without hesitation, so the fans completely believed it was an ordinary plant.

Some viewers even suspected she’d taken an ad—her enthusiasm was just too much.

[I Live Next to Mercury: Can you do a full-holo stream? I want to smell the jasmine!]

Alice looked troubled. “Nooo, I can’t. I already used up this month’s full-holo livestream quota.”

[I Live On Mercury: Stop messing around. If you want to smell jasmine, go to [Earth Trading House]. StarNet Mall’s immersion still not enough for you?]

Alice nodded in agreement. “Right! If you want it, go to the holo mall! I really recommend everyone check out [Earth Trading House]. Their décor is so beautiful—fairy-like and dreamy, yet naturally elegant, and within that elegance there’s a touch of lively charm. Everything in the shop is simple, but somehow it looks like a wonderland. It’s prettier than some influencer ‘check-in’ spots. Most importantly, their flowers are super worth it—this look and this scent would cost at least double elsewhere!”

After smelling jasmine for days, Alice couldn’t help turning into a genuine volunteer promoter.

For three days in a row, she set a midnight alarm, woke up on time, and rushed to buy flowers—snatching a top-100 spot.

The first two days weren’t crowded; logging in right on time was enough to make top 100. Starting on the third day, it became hard—she barely squeezed in at #99. If her optical brain’s speed had been any slower, she would’ve missed the top 100.

Thinking of the four priority cards sitting in her account, Alice felt truly happy.

And then thinking of the delivery schedule she’d arranged, she felt even happier.

Next week: pink diamond carnations.
The week after that: red roses.
The week after that: osmanthus.
Plus this week’s jasmine.

One month—neatly arranged.

After happily recommending her latest favorite shop, Alice followed her original plan and did the peach-blossom makeup look.

Unfortunately, with her natural complexion as the benchmark, the viewers felt the makeup effect wasn’t as good as her original glow.

That evaluation…

The makeup imitation failed, but Alice was still delighted.

She didn’t want to be happy, but they said her bare face looked better!

Alice was so flattered she lost her sense of direction, and when she ended the stream her lips were still curved upward.

The moment she ended it, her disaster brother came with another round of deadly rapid-fire calls.

Alice removed Vincent from the blacklist, then calmly accepted the communication request.

Alice: “What do you want?”
Vincent: “Are you sick?”

Alice widened her eyes and snapped, “You’re the one who’s sick!”

As if being louder could overwhelm him.

Vincent was frantic: “Sis, are you stupid? You recommended [Earth Trading House] to your fans? Are you insane?!”

Alice: 🙂

Alice picked at her ear and said, “Say that again.”

Vincent didn’t indulge her childish confirmation game. He had no time.

He opened his optical brain with one hand and spoke with maximum sibling “love” in his tone: “While there aren’t many people buying from Earth Trading House yet, hurry and buy more. Best if you buy flowers for the next three months. Those are plants with 2% green-substance content, but he’s selling them at ordinary plant prices. You found a shop like that and didn’t keep it secret—you generously told your fans. Honestly? If we’re talking ‘legendary,’ you’re the legend.”

After saying that, Vincent ended the call. For speed, he didn’t even enter the holo world and instead searched [Earth Trading House] via the web marketplace.

Once inside, he didn’t read any details. He directly bought everything up to the shop’s per-item purchase limit, then went to the backend to adjust delivery times to once per week.

He filled the delivery schedule all the way to the maximum allowed by StarNet Mall—three months out—then set the remaining bouquets to immediate delivery.

Alice—one step slower—rushed into [Earth Trading House] only after Vincent finished. But being slower by even one step meant losing an unimaginable amount. She barely managed to buy four or five orders before everything showed [SOLD OUT].

Alice: ?

Wait—earlier, the fight for top 100 was already insane. Why was it now so hard to even buy flowers normally?

Earth Trading House had been open for only four days. Did its customers really need to be this competitive?

Staring blankly at the word [SOLD OUT], Alice cried.

Flowers with 2% green-substance content were cheaper than ordinary flowers.

This owner was doing charity! But she had just handed that charity to everyone else.

Wuwuwuwu—she was the universe’s number-one super idiot!

She felt a chest-clenching heartache just looking at the “sold out” sign, and even worse was what happened afterward.

What had originally been a treasure known only to a few—

After her promotion, just a few hours later, right after midnight, the heat exploded.

Overnight, Earth Trading House became famous everywhere.

She had clearly said it was an ordinary plant!

Yet in just one night, several fans posted official test reports?

Unbelievable!

At those prices, with that quality, Earth Trading House shot straight into StarNet’s trending list—and not just a single-civilization feed, but the main total feed hot search!

Alice: QAQ

How was she supposed to compete with these fast-handed beasts in the future?!

Earth Trading House only released 1,000 stems per flower per day.

Before, the limit was three per person per flower, so anyone who wanted to buy could usually get some. But now the shop’s followers had surged past a million—she’d be lucky to get even one!

Don’t ask. The answer is regret.

—

After personally confirming that a flower shop didn’t actually need employees, Xie Xingchen shamelessly embraced laziness—because the opening day had given him serious psychological trauma.

So from the second day onward, he stopped logging into the holo mall. Every morning after waking up, he only logged into the web marketplace, restocked bouquets, and forwarded the shop orders to the delivery robots to package and ship.

Today, Xie Xingchen woke up naturally due to his internal clock.

The first thing he did was forward orders to the delivery robots.

At first, he thought the orders would be like usual—half sold in half a day. But today felt… wrong?

Why had the shop orders suddenly exploded?

He checked the sell-out time and discovered: the moment midnight passed, everything was instantly snapped up.

Xie Xingchen: ?

On the fifth day after opening the shop, Xie Xingchen encountered something he couldn’t understand.

Previously, the shop struggled to sell five thousand stems a day—now the inventory was cleared in mere seconds?

Xie Xingchen fell silent.

Then, clever as he was, he immediately opened StarNet.

He didn’t even need to search. The top five trending topics in the main feed were the answer:

#High-End Greenery for 199—What Is This Madness?!#
#Alice’s Conscience Recommendation ? Earth Trading House#
#The Most Conscientious Planet Owner in History#
#Wuwuwu My Internet Is Too Slow I Can’t Get Flowers!#
#I Declare Pink Diamond Carnations and Red Roses My True Love#

Xie Xingchen: …That was sudden.

He knew selling high-end greenery at ordinary plant prices would make his shop blow up, but he didn’t expect it to blow up this fast.

Just reading the titles, he could feel the netizens’ excitement through the screen. After clicking in, it was even crazier—basically a full-network wail-fest.

He opened the shop backend and checked the follower count.

Ones… tens… hundreds… thousands… ten-thousands… hundred-thousands… million!

A terrifying million followers—achieved overnight.

Xie Xingchen was satisfied.

If he got a million followers after only a few hours on trending, then with more time, he could definitely surpass ten million easily!

With that follower base, his handbook mission looked extremely promising.

Ignoring the countless comments begging him to increase stock, Xie Xingchen happily closed StarNet.

On the system handbook, jasmine and carnations were on page 01, row 01. Lighting them required Sales × 10,000. Lavender and osmanthus were on the second row, requiring Sales × 20,000. Roses were on the fifth row, requiring Sales × 50,000.

His shop had been open five days. With each flower listing 1,000 stems per day, total daily sales were 5,000. To light the jasmine and carnation cards, he only needed five more days! Lavender and osmanthus would take another fifteen days. Roses would be later—but still only about a month and a half.

Xie Xingchen: Great!

This was a mission with an end in sight!

But even so, he didn’t plan to rush.

Because his flower fields were too small.

He could brute-force the mission, but he hadn’t found more flower varieties yet. If he wanted a long-term business, that approach wouldn’t work.

So he still needed to expand the fields!

He calculated his current fields and realized expansion was urgent.

Luckily, he already had land and seeds. If he was willing to spend more money—more growth solution and nutrient solution—he could shorten growth cycles and harvest large quantities quickly.

Without lifting his head, he shouted, “Get-Rich, Prosperity, Long-Life—get out here and work!”

The three robots heard him and popped up from different fields.

Xie Xingchen asked, “Did you fertilize the fields I told you to prepare?”

All three replied: “Done, Boss.”

Xie Xingchen nodded in satisfaction and began issuing orders: “Get-Rich, your task today is to plant one mu of osmanthus and one mu of jasmine. Prosperity, your task today is to plant two mu of roses. Long-Life, your task today is to plant three mu of lavender.”

As for the remaining three mu of carnations—he would handle them himself.

Yes, today he planned to expand his fields to: two mu of osmanthus, two mu of jasmine, three mu of roses, five mu of lavender, and five mu of pink diamond carnations!

To do this, he even spent all the estate income the butler had just handed over, buying small planting machines.

With machines to assist and vigorous seeds, planting several mu in a single day became possible.

Originally, Xie Xingchen didn’t want to be this rushed, but the plants had been raised to the right stage, and the shop needed massive quantities of flowers.

Burning both stamina and money, he spent every last coin the butler sent him and pushed himself to the limit. In the end, he successfully carried out his field expansion plan!

In a single day, he gained several more mu of fields that would provide steady income.

Too exhausted to channel spiritual power into every plant one by one, Xie Xingchen poured a tube of green-substance solution into the smart sprinkler’s central control console, then activated the sprinkler to spray the fields.

This kind of green-substance solution was a planter’s specialty.

The solution itself wasn’t valuable; what was valuable was the plant-affinity spiritual power infused into it.

To make such solution, every planter would, in their free time, pour spiritual power into it to alter its green-substance content.

First, they drove out the dark matter, then they used spiritual power to nurture green substance. Generally, when the green-substance concentration reached 60%, it could substitute for spiritual power when watering newly planted crops.

This tube was Xie Xingchen’s emergency stockpile—made precisely for moments like this.

He didn’t have much stored because before, he’d been going to the fields daily to feed plants directly with spiritual power, leaving no excess to store.

This tube was the product of his hard grinding, but the concentration was only average—barely usable at 60%.

Xie Xingchen didn’t think too much about it. He was tired, so he used it.

After using it, he returned to the starship and lay down in the treatment pod.

“Looks like I renovated a bedroom for nothing,” Xie Xingchen muttered gloomily.

Using the treatment room as a bedroom—probably the entire galaxy had no one else like him.

Because the treatment pod couldn’t connect to StarNet, once Xie Xingchen lay down he could only let his mind wander.

Luckily, anyone who entered a treatment pod was already spiritually exhausted. Not long after lying down, Xie Xingchen fell asleep.

The spiritual recovery solution dripped down little by little from the pod, yet before it even touched Xie Xingchen, it seemed to be absorbed by something invisible—vanishing completely.

The next day—

Xie Xingchen woke early and went to the kitchen to cook porridge.

After the seafood porridge was done, he packed rose tea and jasmine tea into beautiful crystal jars, tied exquisite bows on them with ribbons, then handed them—along with a huge bouquet and the pot of seafood porridge—to a delivery robot.

This was the “wages” he prepared for Teacher Ni.

Not expensive, but it was his heartfelt gesture!

Rose tea enhanced beauty and complexion. Jasmine tea soothed qi and calmed the mind, cleared the liver and brightened the eyes. Mixed together, they also helped slimming and detox—perfect for a teacher!

As for the seafood porridge, it was simply a sudden idea.

Xie Xingchen thought: if Teacher Ni liked his food, then maybe he could send her some seasonings?

He had planted a whole mu of seasonings, but he couldn’t possibly finish it alone. He didn’t want it to go to waste, so he wanted to give it away.

Thinking of the ginger, scallions, and garlic in his field, Xie Xingchen felt both happy and sad—happy that he had ginger, scallions, and garlic; sad that he only had ginger, scallions, and garlic.

Sigh! Not even chili peppers—life was a bit miserable.

Even Western cuisine had spices and black pepper.

But here?

Only salt and some weird seasonings.

While complaining, Xie Xingchen watched the delivery robot package his gifts and send them through the small wormhole receiver.

After the robot returned, Xie Xingchen went to the seasoning field.

Ginger, scallions, and garlic matured quickly. He harvested another batch today.

He dug up garlic bulbs and scallion bulbs with their roots and dried them for storage. For ginger, he put some in the freezer and dried the rest.

But scallion greens and garlic leaves were another matter—he couldn’t eat them all, so he could only throw them away.

Such a waste!

Xie Xingchen couldn’t help shifting his gaze toward the system shop.

If the “system mall” claimed to have everything, could it possibly have a scallion pancake machine?

If it did, he really wouldn’t mind opening a snack shop on StarNet Mall!

After all, the interstellar era had countless kinds of flour and oil.

And he had scallions!

If he had that machine, scallion pancakes would be totally doable!

Detecting Xie Xingchen’s intense emotional fluctuation, the system—which had been silent—suddenly went Ding! and shoved its screen into Xie Xingchen’s face.

Although Xie Xingchen’s level had reached LV2, his system shop page was still pitch-black.

But this time was different. In the darkness, one blacked-out item was uncontrollably enlarging and shrinking, extremely eye-catching.

Seeing it, Xie Xingchen immediately understood. His eyes lit up. “Xiao Mo—could this be… a scallion pancake machine?”

[Ding! Congratulations, player has discovered: Scallion Pancake Maker.]

After the system prompt, the screen was still dark. Xie Xingchen complained, “Xiao Mo, I can’t buy it.”

[Ding! System detected: Player revenue is insufficient.]

Xie Xingchen: sharp inhale.
Revenue insufficient? It’s just a scallion pancake maker—why would it be so expensive?

It was the sixth day since opening his shop. Each day, five types of flowers brought in a daily revenue of 1,395,000 star-coins. Over six days, revenue reached 8,370,000 star-coins.

Over eight million in revenue, yet the system shop was still mostly black with “?” icons.

Xie Xingchen said seriously, “Xiao Mo, I think your system shop pricing is unreasonable.”

What kind of machine could be that expensive?

[System Notice: System-produced food instruments can make “Good” grade and above food.]

Xie Xingchen was shocked. “Food has grades?”

[System Notice: Food of “Good” grade and above will produce food effects. Specific effects are for the player to explore.]

Xie Xingchen: …Now I want it even more.

He took a deep breath, heart aching, and asked, “Then can you tell me how much this scallion pancake maker costs?”

He really couldn’t guess from all the black screens and question marks.

Thankfully, the system wasn’t completely heartless. As long as the player wasn’t cheating, it would occasionally answer.

[A small food-making instrument’s standard price is: 10,000,000 in revenue.]

Xie Xingchen gave a dry laugh. “Fine. Then I’ll buy it tomorrow.”

In a moment he’d have to go to the Jasmine Forest and harvest some jasmine.

But—

[System Notice: This item is a daily refresh item. Remaining purchase time: 16:08:26.]

Great. A timed shop refresh.

Once midnight hit, his revenue would arrive—yet the scallion pancake maker would disappear.

Xie Xingchen decisively logged into the flower shop and increased each flower’s listing from 1,000 to 1,200.

In just fifteen minutes, all newly listed flowers sold out, generating 1,674,000 star-coins in revenue.

Added to his previous revenue, his system revenue finally reached 10,044,000.

When his revenue passed ten million, the system shop was no longer completely black.

The system shop had two parts: the daily refresh section at the top, and the regular goods section below.

Before buying anything, Xie Xingchen first examined the refreshed items now available based on his level and ten-million revenue threshold.

But there were very few items—mostly things that already existed in reality, like spiritual recovery potions.

The only sci-fi-looking silver food instrument was the scallion pancake maker, quietly lying in the daily refresh section.

**[Name: Scallion Pancake Maker
Output: Scallion Pancake (Good)

Effect: Remove Dark Matter (Weak)

Efficiency: 1000 pcs / 24 hours
Required Level: 2

Required Revenue: 10,000,000]**

Because his revenue had only just reached the requirement, the purchase quantity defaulted to “1.”

[Ding! Player has purchased “Scallion Pancake Maker ×1.”
Revenue deducted: 10,000,000. Remaining revenue: 44,000.
The machine will arrive in 24 hours. Please confirm delivery address.]

Curious, Xie Xingchen opened his StarNet account—and sure enough, ten million star-coins had been deducted.

Xie Xingchen: “The system deducts real money?”

He had thought it would only deduct “revenue” as a stat!

[System Response: The revenue deducted is real currency earned by the player through operations. Purchases made from the system shop will all have reasonable real-world explanations.]

Nice.

He no longer had to worry about how to explain system-produced items.

[System Notice: Please confirm shipping address.]

Xie Xingchen: Although he didn’t want his starship to become a food-processing workshop, he truly didn’t have money to build a factory.

He also wanted to separate living space from work space, okay?!

He felt despair at the system’s absurd prices.

Still unwilling to give up, he asked, “Xiao Mo, I want to ask—if I do system quests, will you reward me with large buildings?”

[System: Yes.]

Xie Xingchen didn’t feel happy; instead he asked seriously, “Is that quest hard?”

[System: Hard.]

Xie Xingchen: I knew it.

So—keep grinding.

If not, go explore the wild.

Having given up hope in the system, Xie Xingchen once again realized the truth: you can only rely on yourself.

Decision made—he’d go exploring this afternoon!

—

Teacher Ni Kunqi accepted the delivery from the robot. Xie Xingchen’s gift had arrived!

It was a huge, beautiful bouquet.

The main flowers were soft pink diamond carnations, while the filler flowers were jasmine buds with all leaves removed—only small white half-closed buds remained.

Pink and white together made the bouquet lively, vivid, and gorgeous.

With just one glance, anyone’s girlish heart would start running wild.

Holding such a big bouquet, Ni Kunqi walked through the academy’s research building with a bright smile.

As she moved, the jasmine fragrance floated gently.

“Teacher Ni, where did you buy those flowers?” a professor asked.

Everyone’s eyes followed her. Those with especially sensitive noses even unconsciously leaned closer.

The professors who worked in this building were mostly old colleagues, so they were very familiar with one another.

Seeing their curiosity, Ni Kunqi didn’t tease them. She chuckled, “A student gave them to me.”

“A student?”
“A new flower variety cultivated by a student?”

These were all senior professors in the planting department. Yet none of them recognized these flowers—meaning they had to be a new variety!

So either they were a planet owner’s planetary specialty, or a new cultivar developed by a student.

Between the two, most believed it was a student cultivar—because planet owners were rare.

The First Academy of Human Civilization had existed for centuries, yet the number of planet owners it produced hadn’t even reached a hundred. In the planting department, the number was pitifully low.

Ni Kunqi shook her head. “Not a new cultivar. Xie Xingchen gave them to me.”

At the name “Xie Xingchen,” the room fell silent for a moment.

In the planting department, he was quite a “famous figure,” but unlike Yu Cheng, Xie Xingchen was famous for being love-brained.

However…

Everyone glanced at Ni Kunqi and understood.

Her student was like her—she, too, had once been infamous for being love-brained.

Ni Kunqi didn’t care what the other professors thought. She was too eager to show off her gifts.

So she spoke as if casually, though her words overflowed with pride:

“Xingchen bought a planting star in April. He’s been doing pretty well. A few days ago he opened a shop on StarNet Mall selling local specialties. I saw his prices and thought something was wrong—I thought he was selling ordinary plants, so I gave him a good scolding.

“But turns out I wronged the kid. He said he wasn’t doing it for money—he just hoped more people could afford high-end greenery. Sigh. He’s so naïve I don’t even know what to say.”

After that, Ni Kunqi, pleased with herself, lifted the tea gift set and giggled behind her hand.

“And these flower teas too—before, I casually praised one cup as tasty, and he immediately sent me so much! This red one is rose tea, supposed to beautify and nourish the skin. This white one is jasmine tea—yeah, from the bouquet on my desk—it calms the mind and brightens the eyes. And if you brew them together, it even helps slimming and detox.”

After showing off the tea, Ni Kunqi finally brought out the seafood porridge Xie Xingchen had cooked.

“And this—Xingchen made seafood porridge for me early this morning. If any of you skipped breakfast, why don’t we taste it together?”

Everyone: …Damn it. She’s showing off.

Looking at those gifts, the professors felt complicated.

As professors, they’d taught countless students. Good students weren’t rare. But a student as considerate as Xie Xingchen was uncommon.

Who had ever seen a student who even prepared food and drink for their teacher?

Seeing Ni Kunqi happily eating porridge, even those who hadn’t planned to join couldn’t help coming over.

“Ni Kunqi, did Xie really cook this?”
“Is that student a planter or a chef? This is ridiculously good!”
“What are these ingredients? I don’t think I’ve seen these plants before…”
“…”

A simple pot of seafood porridge conquered the professors.

Even though they regularly ate at high-end restaurants, they were still defeated by the porridge. After finishing the pot, these wealthy professors felt genuine regret.

If they’d known Xie Xingchen was this versatile, they would’ve fought to take him as a student back then. Now? Ni Kunqi had picked up a massive bargain!

They beat their chests in regret.

“Uh… Professor Ni, you have so much tea… can you spare some for me?” a female professor shamelessly asked.

Once one person started, others followed. In the end, Ni Kunqi didn’t give anyone any—only promised she’d ask whether her student sold it.

So, just like that, Xie Xingchen—who had been preparing to go exploring—was shocked!

He had only sent his teacher flowers, tea, and porridge… and yet his teacher had opened a market for him?

Thinking of the hundreds of pounds of flower tea in storage, Xie Xingchen wasn’t stingy about giving some to the old professors.

After all, these teas were made from surplus flowers after he harvested seeds.

For Xie Xingchen—who urgently needed to expand fields—flowers were only truly useful for seeds and cuttings. Petals? They were just byproducts.

He made tea from them purely because he’d been frugal for years and hated waste.

So giving tea to the professors wasn’t a big deal.

And flowers were even easier—just have the robots pick some.

The only thing that made Xie Xingchen hesitate was… food.

He really was busy lately—busy to the point he barely had time to eat.

The seafood porridge he cooked for Ni Kunqi had been something he forced himself to squeeze time for.

But—

He suddenly remembered the food machine he had bought from the system shop this morning.

Xie Xingchen said, “Teacher, I have a food called scallion pancake. Starting tomorrow it can be produced daily. How about you let the professors try it? If they like it, I can deliver some every day.”

Ni Kunqi replied without thinking, “No need to let them try first. Just send it to me. Also—how much are these flowers, tea, pancakes, all of it?”

Xie Xingchen didn’t care. “Why money? It’s just a little something—consider it my filial respect to you.”

Ni Kunqi’s lips lifted unconsciously—she was obviously pleased.

But… why no money?

Such good things—why not charge?

If Xie Xingchen weren’t her student, those old fogeys wouldn’t be able to buy them even if they wanted. Free? Dream on!

Ni Kunqi was firm. With no choice, Xie Xingchen randomly named a price.

Xie Xingchen: “Then… one bouquet is 5,000 star-coins, one jar of tea is 10,000 star-coins. I won’t charge for scallion pancakes—two per day for them.”

Xie Xingchen’s intended price for scallion pancakes was 100 each, but after charging for the big items, he didn’t want to fuss over the small money.

Ni Kunqi still refused: “What business gives freebies every day? Don’t be afraid to price it—those old men and women are loaded. They don’t care about pocket change.”

Then she waved her hand and decided: “I saw your shop flower prices. Don’t talk about giving professors discounts. Bouquets are 10,000 each. Tea is 30,000 per small jar. Scallion pancakes, 100 each.”

Seeing Xie Xingchen try to speak, Ni Kunqi cut him off, unyielding: “That’s it. That’s already a discount. No more cutting prices. Tomorrow morning, send ten sets first. I’m busy.”

She logged off immediately without giving him a chance to refuse.

A few dozen seconds later, the payment arrived.

[Mechanical Bank: Your account received 401,000 star-coins at 11:23 on May 28.]

Just like that, Xie Xingchen somehow opened a strange new sales channel.

But at this moment, he still didn’t know just how important this channel would become later.

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