I Studied Abroad in the Modern Times

Vol 2 Chapter 104: Add Money

Perhaps realizing that his refusal had been too firm, Zhenren Qian quickly added, “Our Qianhe Sect has been doing much better lately, thanks to your esteemed sect. If you were asking about something else, I would have told you without hesitation. But this… truly isn’t something that can be freely disclosed.”

Zheng Fa nodded slightly, feeling no resentment.

He had invited Zhenren Qian here under the pretense of seeking guidance—it was natural for sect secrets to remain undisclosed.

“Zhenren Qian, our two sects have had a fruitful collaboration recently. That Yellow Sprout Rice has been quite popular among Jiushan Sect’s disciples… I was thinking of purchasing other types of spiritual grains and plants as well.”

“…That would be wonderful!” Zhenren Qian was visibly delighted. “Most people only know us for our Yellow Sprout Rice because it’s a sect-exclusive product, but we grow plenty of other spiritual crops as well.”

Zheng Fa simply smiled in response.

He watched as Zhenren Qian’s initial joy slowly faded, replaced by a bitter expression.

“Zhenren Zheng… You mean…”

His meaning was simple—I’ll pay more.

Expanding Jiushan Sect’s agricultural supply wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision. Thanks to its advantageous location, Thunder Pool Market had been generating more profit than Jiushan Sect’s original market. It was only natural to expand the selection of goods available.

But whether these new supply orders went to Qianhe Sect depended entirely on their cooperation.

Zhenren Qian wasn’t stupid. He immediately understood the unspoken message in Zheng Fa’s offer.

His face twisted in hesitation. After struggling internally for a while, he finally gritted his teeth and said, “This… still won’t do.”

Zheng Fa listened as Zhenren Qian continued, “Zhenren Zheng, I won’t lie to you—earning more spirit stones from Jiushan Sect is only beneficial to me.”

That was probably the truth.

Zhenren Qian had always handled Qianhe Sect’s trade affairs, essentially acting as the sect’s financial manager. His current standing within Qianhe Sect was likely directly tied to their trade deals with Jiushan Sect.

“But if I start giving away all our secrets, then… well,” Zhenren Qian forced a bitter smile, “how would that be any different from betraying my sect?”

Zheng Fa was slightly impressed.

When he had first met this man, he had thought Zhenren Qian was just another smooth talker. He hadn’t expected him to stand his ground so firmly at a critical moment.

“If Zhenren Qian is unwilling, then consider the matter dropped.”

Zheng Fa did not press the issue and simply smiled.

“Then… about the Yellow Sprout Rice…”

“Everything remains the same.” Zheng Fa could tell that Zhenren Qian was worried about offending him. Smiling, he reassured him, “Zhenren Qian, the fact that you took the time to come here is already something I appreciate.”

Zhenren Qian studied Zheng Fa carefully. Seeing that his tone was genuinely sincere, he subtly relaxed, preparing to take his leave.

Just before departing, he seemed unwilling to give up entirely and asked hesitantly, “Then… about the other spiritual grain orders…”

“I didn’t invite just you, Zhenren Qian. Among the Hundred Immortals Alliance, there’s another sect near here that specializes in spiritual plant cultivation…”

Zhenren Qian’s face stiffened instantly.

“…Xuan Dao Sect?”

“Yes.”

Zheng Fa smiled and nodded, as if completely unaware that Qianhe Sect and Xuan Dao Sect were mortal enemies.

“…What kind of good products could they possibly have?” Zhenren Qian stopped walking. Not only did he not leave, he stood his ground and seethed, muttering angrily, “Everything they grow is inferior to ours!”

“Mmm, mmm.”

Zheng Fa nodded in agreement.

“Then… how about…” Zhenren Qian hesitated for a moment before speaking again.

“Oh, but they’re probably more generous than you.”

One sentence—and Zhenren Qian was speechless.

He didn’t even think Zheng Fa was bluffing.

Xuan Dao Sect was doing even worse than Qianhe Sect—they didn’t even have an exclusive product like Yellow Sprout Rice.

Given the opportunity for a massive order—not to mention the chance to align themselves with Jiushan Sect—

Those guys would probably spill every secret they had.

“…Actually… it’s not impossible to talk about,” Zhenren Qian’s expression shifted rapidly, and after much hesitation, he finally relented. “When it comes to the relationship between heavenly thunder and spiritual plants, it all boils down to two words.”

“Which two words?”

“Timing.”

“For example, fruit-bearing spiritual plants—Biling Fruit must be planted at the start of the Jingzhe season, when the first spring thunder rolls. If watered with Spring Dew Talismans, their growth is exceptionally robust.”

“Summer thunder during Lesser Heat is the most beneficial for spiritual plant growth. In fact, without summer lightning, many spiritual plants will fail to develop spiritual energy at all.”

Zheng Fa was stunned for a moment.

This sounded a lot like the problem he was currently facing.

“Autumn thunder and winter thunder each have their own roles as well. Many secret techniques in spiritual agriculture revolve around harnessing thunder and rain for optimized growth.”

Once Zhenren Qian started talking, he stopped holding back, even going so far as to share several basic secret techniques with Zheng Fa.

After listening carefully, Zheng Fa was grateful—but also concerned for Zhenren Qian’s safety.

“Zhenren Qian, after revealing all this… won’t you be punished when you return to Qianhe Sect?”

“No, not at all!”

Zhenren Qian waved a hand dismissively, looking utterly unconcerned.

Zheng Fa was somewhat reassured—until he heard Zhenren Qian’s next words.

“I never told you Qianhe Sect’s secret techniques!”

“…Huh? Then what were those just now?”

“Oh, those?” Zhenren Qian answered candidly. “Those were Xuan Dao Sect’s methods.”

“……”

“Anyway, no need for them to be generous,” Zhenren Qian grinned. “I was generous on their behalf.”

“……”

This man… has a bright future ahead of him.

“…About those new orders…” Seeing Zheng Fa’s silence, Zhenren Qian carefully probed.

“Send over some samples of your best spiritual grains and plants…” Zheng Fa glanced at Senior Sister Yuan, then said, “Let Senior Sister Yuan evaluate them.”

As Zhenren Qian left, bowing profusely with gratitude, Senior Sister Yuan muttered under her breath,

“Junior Brother Zheng belongs to Senior Sister Zhang… and Senior Sister Zhang cannot be defeated… Stay calm.”

“……”

…

Modern World.

Nursing Home.

“Teacher Tian, I did some research. There’s a theory that spiritual plant growth is heavily influenced by lightning.”

“Lightning?”

Teacher Tian furrowed his brows in confusion.

Zheng Fa roughly explained Zhenren Qian’s stolen— ahem, Xuan Dao Sect’s cultivation techniques.

“Different seasonal lightning?” Teacher Tian pondered for a moment before nodding thoughtfully.

“That’s… not entirely impossible.”

Zheng Fa’s eyes lit up, eagerly listening to Teacher Tian’s insights.

“Lightning is actually an important nitrogen source for plants,” Teacher Tian mused, thinking out loud.

Zheng Fa nodded slightly.

He was aware of this. But that alone didn’t explain his problem.

“The nursing home isn’t lacking nitrogen.”

If spiritual plants only depended on the presence of nitrogen, Zheng Fa and his team would have already cultivated them successfully.

“Yes, there’s also the well-known Miller-Urey experiment related to this,” Teacher Tian continued. “They simulated early atmospheric conditions and used electric arcs to mimic lightning, which led to the formation of several amino acids.”

“Amino acids? The origin of life?”

“It’s just a hypothesis, but it does suggest that lightning could be linked to the emergence of life.”

Zheng Fa couldn’t help but recall the descriptions of lightning techniques in Xuanyi Realm’s ancient texts—the power of creation and destruction.

In this context, that description seemed uncannily accurate.

“Teacher Tian, are you saying… that in a spiritual energy environment, lightning might produce some kind of special substance, which in turn affects the growth of spiritual plants?”

“Yes, that’s one possibility,” Teacher Tian nodded, then added another idea. “Another possible explanation is the magnetic field effect of lightning.”

“Magnetic fields?”

“That’s also a relatively new area of research. Hold on.”

Teacher Tian left for a moment and returned with a tablet computer.

“Here, take a look at these research papers.”

She tapped on several documents and began explaining them one by one:

“This paper examines cancer cells placed in different magnetic fields. It found that low-intensity magnetic fields promote cancer cell growth, while high-intensity fields inhibit it.”

“This one studies Arabidopsis thaliana and how a static magnetic field affects its development. It found that exposure to a 6,000 Gauss magnetic field significantly accelerates the growth of its primary root. Further research suggests that the magnetic field enhances auxin transport in root tip cells, increasing the rate of cell division and the total number of cells.”

“And this one focuses on enoki mushroom mycelium growth under magnetic field conditions. It shows that magnetic fields don’t just affect plants—they can also influence fungi and possibly other biological organisms.”

As Zheng Fa read through each paper, he gradually grasped Teacher Tian’s perspective.

“Teacher, you mean… the magnetic field produced by lightning might be influencing plant growth, or even triggering some kind of evolutionary change?”

“Yes, I think that’s the most likely explanation,” Teacher Tian nodded.

Zheng Fa understood that both ideas were still just hypotheses.

To truly determine whether lightning could produce spiritual plants, they would need more experiments and data.

Suddenly, he realized that Old Man Bai was nowhere to be seen.

That old man had been clinging to Teacher Tian for days—where did he go?

“Where’s Professor Bai and Tang Lingwu?”

“They? Up front.” Teacher Tian explained, “Tang Lingwu’s father introduced a high-end chef from Jingcheng, so they’re currently cooking a meal—apparently spent quite a bit of money too.”

“…Cooking?”

“Yes, they’re very professional. They even brought all their own kitchenware—pots, pans, everything. We just provided the ingredients.”

Zheng Fa was stunned.

Weren’t they supposed to be selling vegetables?

Why did they hire a chef instead?

He headed toward the main building of the nursing home.

Sure enough, when he reached the first-floor cafeteria, he saw several unfamiliar men bustling in the kitchen, cooking with great enthusiasm.

In the dining area, Professor Bai and Tang Lingwu were deep in discussion.

“Professor Bai?” Zheng Fa called out as he approached.

Tang Lingwu waved at him excitedly. “Come over! The food will be ready soon!”

“…What’s with hiring a chef?”

“This? Well… this was Lingwu’s little scheme,” Old Man Bai chuckled, lowering his voice. “If we just talked about selling vegetables, we’d have to owe people favors, and we’d be the ones chasing after buyers. That’s not how business works.”

Zheng Fa immediately understood.

He glanced at Tang Lingwu—

She was smiling innocently, but there was no mistaking it—she had set a baited hook.

Bait the Fish, Reel Them In

In the kitchen, a middle-aged man—likely the head chef—had just finished stir-frying a plate of green vegetables.

Judging by his slightly displeased expression, he probably thought the ingredients were too basic.

Absentmindedly, he picked up a piece and put it in his mouth.

…

And just like that, he was hooked.

The chef froze.

He looked down at his hands—

Then around at his own pots, pans, and utensils.

For a brief moment, it seemed as if he had accidentally unlocked the secrets of culinary perfection, as if he had just ascended to the realm of divine cooking.

He quickly cooked several more dishes.

Only after tasting them did he realize the truth.

Money Talks

When the meal was over, the chef didn’t leave.

Instead, he grinned and blocked Professor Bai’s path, assuming that this elderly gentleman was the one in charge of the nursing home.

From the doorway, Zheng Fa could hear their hushed conversation:

Professor Bai: “I can’t really discuss this… it’s kind of a confidential matter here.”

The chef: “I understand. I’ll add more money!”

Professor Bai: “……”

Chef: “This meal is on me. My treat, elder brother.”

Professor Bai: “……”