Editor: Alysia
<<Travel to Nanhai for Gourmet Food>> was not the only media team looking for CU’s canteen to record a program. Gourmet food programs would be appealing to individuals of all ages and genders. The show would be really interesting to see if it was adequately produced.
This was especially true for other We-media firms; once “The Tales of Good Food” featured the first canteen, many other companies sought to use the same idea. This included several anchors who were food broadcasters. They also thought it would be quite unusual to make a video about a canteen.
However, if they intended to create content about canteens, they needed to be aware that, although CU had five canteens that used the same recipes in their meals, everyone knew that the first canteen was the king of the canteens thanks to The Tales of Good Food’s promotional efforts. Also, the first canteen used crops that they had produced themselves.
After the first canteen declined to engage in any programs, not only did CU’s other four canteens lose their eligibility to participate in the programs, but there was no other canteen in all of China’s university towns that was more suitable to participate in the programs than CU’s first canteen.
Perhaps those schools’ canteens had rich meals and good flavors, but they were not previously known for their dark cuisine and didn’t have dishes that had self-grown ingredients that tasted better than the other restaurants that were popular online. As a result, several multimedia programs and businesses continued to inquire whether the first canteen was willing to participate in their programs.
After being rejected by the first canteen, it was inevitable that some companies would complain on Weibo:
[“I failed again. It seems that I am the seventh person in the same industry who was rejected. I also specially asked a charming little sister to invite them. Alas, had the boss of the first canteen set up a canteen just because he enjoyed doing so? He disregarded fame and profit when we contacted him to see if we could work together with him. They said that if I did a food broadcast, I would eat the food that was meant for the students; they didn’t even want us to record a program or advertise the canteen; they were completely closed off to the public, and it was even impossible to contact the students about it. I suggested that we help them with enrolment marketing, but the other party said that this was the responsibility of the enrolment office.No matter what methods I tried, it was to no avail. My God, does the canteen owner have a mine at home?”]
It wasn’t known how, but this microblog was seen by the students of CU, and subsequently shared around. Unconsciously, the topic the students were all discussing changed from “The first canteen is good, the first canteen is great, I also want to go back to school for the summer vacation” to “The boss has a super big gold mine since he is handsome and knows how to earn money”, “The boss of our first canteen wouldn’t even cherish a charming little miss” etc. Later, the topic changed to “the first canteen should appear in the enrollment advertisement for our school”.
After all, this microblog had proved that only CU students had access to the first canteen!
The boss turned down all invitations from media firms, making it plain that they would only pick up the portion of meals prepared for the students when they would come here. They didn’t require exposure because they exclusively dealt with students. The kids were all moved when they heard that. The canteen food they could eat every day was specially prepared for them, and it was something that others wished they could eat but couldn’t.
Many students poured out their hearts to work as spokespersons for the first canteen. They provide a free catchphrase to advertise the school: [“We warmly welcome all our junior sisters and brothers to Nanhai C Agricultural University.
Here, in addition to the capable teaching staff, you can also enjoy the most delicious and cost-effective canteen dishes and enjoy the pure natural pastoral scenery. Attached are some canteen photos.
You can study at the unique CU, to enjoy the unique food served by the first canteen.”]
Huang WeiHe also happily forwarded the post to support his alma mater’s canteen, “I think the current first canteen could become one of the reasons why you should study at CU.”
The netizens said with shame:
[“Damn, if you want to eat delicious food, you must be admitted to a national key university first! I’m going to keep studying!”]
The official Weibo of CU had launched an advertisement to reciprocate all these efforts, claiming that the standard of the food in CU’s canteens was equal to the teaching standards of CU. They hoped that all the students and their parents would consider studying at CU.
During the enrolment period in the summer, there were more and more people discussing the trending topics #ChoosingCUForTheCanteen# and the discussions under the topic burgeoned. This raised the awareness of CU and the first canteen.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
The topic reached a climax when a local TV station broadcast an interview with a candidate. When asked which school the students had voluntarily selected, one of the students said “CU”. When the reporter asked why he selected CU, the student did not mention it was because he wanted to study a certain major at CU, like the other interviewees, but said with a smile, “They all say that the CU canteen serves delicious food, so I applied to CU.”
Ktf qjgfcar bo atf mjcvlvjaf jirb ijeutfv klat atfw, jcv fnfc atf gfqbgafgr ijeutfv lc jwerfwfca.
Qtfc eaafgfv, la mjgglfv tlcar atja atfs kfgf pbxlcu, yea atlr vlvc’a qgfnfca cfalhfcr ogbw wjxlcu wfwfr bea bo la.
[“……Only an academically proficient student can say that, okay? I think the CU’s canteens also serve delicious food but I can’t get into CU!”]
[“I’m x. This is the number one science scholar in our city. Their provincial ranking was also very high. Many schools reached out to him, but I didn’t expect that……”]
[“To the admissions offices of other schools, do you know where you are lacking now?”]
[“Hurry up and wake up, the first canteen’s boss. The work of enrollment is no longer only the work of the admissions office!”]
[“@ our school canteen, please open your eyes and pick up your responsibilities!”]
[“Coach, I want to eat CU too!”]
[“How could you eat CU? You mean going to CU to eat at the canteens!”]
Jel HlJtjb kjr ralii lcvloofgfca ab meggfca joojlgr. Lf kjr lwwfgrfv lc qfqqfg ygffvlcu. Llr qfqqfg ygffvlcu fzqfglwfca jaajlcfv rbwf qgfilwlcjgs gfreiar, jcv atlr rfglfr bo qfqqfgr kjr cjwfv joafg atf cjwf bo atlr eclnfgrlas—JW. Ktf ygffvr kfgf cewyfgfv ogbw JW-1 ab JW-11.
The results indicated that CX-3 had the highest yield. It was 20% higher than that of the same kind of chili pepper on the market. On average, the yield of each variety increased by 12%.
Among them, Cui QiChao thought the most balanced was CX-7. It had increased production levels by 16 percent, and the rate in which it fell sick was also lowered by six percent too, and the disease resistance was excellent.
Next, Cui QiChao had to carry out a comparative experiment. So, he demolished the greenhouse and planted the seeds in the open fields. Some time would be needed for this experiment.
After conducting many comparative experiments, Cui QiChao needed to carry out many more regional tests. This means that he had to cultivate the crops in different regions with different soil and climate, to observe whether the performance of pepper in different regions was stable.
It’s obvious that Cui QiChao, who was trapped in this campus virtual plane, couldn’t finish the experiment in time. However, he had been fiddling around with the app introduced by Meng Chang recently, so he posted a post on it:
[“Pepper varieties, bred privately, available at the end of the year, free of charge. The quantity is limited. Please leave your contact information here first.”]
There was a saying that “Agriculture is the foundation of the country, and planting is the priority of agriculture.”
The two most important foundations were a good seed and good methods for agriculture.
Not everyone engaged in agriculture possesses precise judgment like Cui QiChao, who utilized excellent and scientific planting methods. That is why so many people rely so heavily on improved plant breeds.
A good seed could mean two things: A good breed, and a good seedling of a good breed.
Cui QiChao was providing quality seeds of good breeds. However, he had no background in agronomy, and there was no volunteer to help him with his experiments. Of course, they would not be willing to test unknown seeds for months.
Cui QiChao had already thought of this, and that was why he put up the post a few months in advance. This was better than nothing. In these months, maybe he could accumulate some popularity on the app, and someone could help him plant the seeds.
If there was no response from the app, he would seek help from President Cui. Meng Chang’s family was surely not the only family that dabbled in agriculture at school. He would look through the personal information of the students to find subjects. He would complete the experiment even if he had to compensate for the subjects.
At the same time, many users of the “Small Farmers’ Q&A” website had gradually noticed a user named Cui QiChao.
This guy, whose personal signature said “The Descendant of the Divine Farmer”, wandered into almost every kind of crop forum section and answered almost every type of question.
In the beginning, only experts who had been authenticated noticed him. When ordinary users see a signature with only a title, they would ignore it and pay more attention to the experts’ responses. Only the professionals noticed that Cui QiChao’s answers were very accurate.
Most of the time, when the questioner’s description was not particularly accurate, the experts would also need to understand it from various angles to understand the problem, or they would have to further inquire about the situation.
Cui QiChao seemed to be online all the time, and he was very focused on answering new questions. As long as he saw new questions popping up online, he would answer them in five minutes. Just as he told Meng Chang’s father what the problem was with their pepper, and how it was most probably for a certain reason. If it’s not due to a certain reason, based on the situation, it might be another problem.
Most of the time, the first answer he provided for the first reason was usually correct, and the overall accuracy of his answers were 100%!
From food crops to fruits and vegetable crops, from edible fungi to tuber crops, and from Chinese herbal medicine to flowers—none of these questions seemed to be too difficult for him. Sometimes he even headed to the poultry forum section to make a guest appearance.
Ordinary users were initially unaware of this. And it was only experts who discussed it privately: This was most likely a shared account of agricultural researchers?
It wasn’t until one day when a little simpleton descended from the skies and asked:
[“My balcony looks like this. I want to make use of the space and try my best to eat more varieties of vegetables to improve my life. What should I do?]
Experts wouldn’t want to answer such questions. Or, they might perfunctorily reply “I suggest planting onion, ginger and garlic”.
Cui QiChao blotted in again. He also took a picture of his balcony and shared it in a reply, “The balcony of my apartment is about the same size as yours. You can refer to it.”
It could be said that the balcony in that picture had applied vertical planting brilliantly, making full use of the sunshine, air, and space.
In the beginning, when Cui QiChao arrived, there was only one potted pepper plant. Now, it was brimming with plants.
The picture had small words as captions to mark the type of plants. The vines were growing in the large rectangular basin at the two corners, and several huge, yellow and orange pumpkins were hanging. In theory, pumpkins could be planted on the balcony, but maintaining them would be quite a difficult task. Ordinary people would not choose to plant pumpkins on the balcony.
However, this was only just one of the crops. To the side, the vines of the French beans were reaching out to the outer wall. Though it was lush, it had yet to bear fruit. On the vertical planting rack, the main products were leafy vegetables, supplemented by vegetables from the nightshade family. It was filled with all kinds of leaves, flowers, and fruits.
The vines filled the entire rack. There was almost no gap at the top of the bamboo frame that was covered entirely in green on the balcony. In front of the vertical planting rack filled with rich colors, there were potted vegetables of different heights.
The whole space was akin to a dense forest of fruits and vegetables, appearing miscellaneous but not disordered. There were many kinds of fruits and vegetables, but each kind was carefully cared for, full of vitality and in a good state, as if they were being carefully cultivated in a special greenhouse.
The image had a high resolution. When one zoomed in, one could see the details. That was enough to let the viewers decipher that this wasn’t a photoshopped picture, and that there were no fruit and vegetable props used. Moreover, the user didn’t even adjust the hue of the picture.
The photographer had really randomly taken a shot of his balcony, which had resulted in viewers feeling that they would be immersed in a magical forest filled with fruits and vegetables.
The layman would look at how picturesque the picture was, while the expert would observe its technical skills. This was not a winter garden, but just a balcony. Looking at the density and the growth level, one could tell how attentive the user was! It was actually an understatement for the user to say that novices could use this as a reference!
[“Fuck, is this the original creation of the respondent?”]
[“It’s so well planned out. It’s like a greenhouse.”]
[“I just have two words in reply to that—I’m amazed. The techniques used are superb.”]
[“I suggest you take a look at the personal information of the respondent and see his past answers! They are so good I’m almost blind!”]
This response was not only popular in “Small Farmers’ Q&A”, but also shared in other places via other people’s screenshots. The caption reads, “This is what a typical Chinese balcony should look like.”
Everyone claimed that the Chinese have a natural talent for farming. Everyone said that the balcony garden was not only practical but also aesthetically pleasing.
Also, at this time, many ordinary users turned back to look at Cui QiChao’s high accuracy answers, high answering rate and wide coverage of topics he answered. However, because he had no expert certification, few people paid attention to his answers. They also looked at his desolated post that claimed that he was going to give out seeds for free. And they were all shocked.
What does it mean when you thought someone was a newbie, but he was actually the king? This was it!
The author has something to say:
Thank you very much for your support. I’m going to enter V tomorrow. I hope you will continue to love this rabbit and do not stop fattening me……!
T/N: This chapter was really, really hard to translate due to the slangs sobs. Anyway, do remember to support the author by buying the chapters, if you can! Thanks for reading! 
***Chapter 22.1 onwards should be locked, and the password can be found in CG’s discord.
Respect for our King !! (づ￣ ³￣)づ
I want to plant a vegetable too but I might be scolded if I do QAQ
Thank you for your hardwork, translator-sama!!💖 sending hugs
Great job translating all technical and farming slang words! Thank You for the new chapter ❤
not king, emperor.
thanks for the chapter! ♡
You’re right nods
Boss Cui dominating the farming industry like the king he is 😎 Thank you for the chapter! ❤️
The Emperor has arrived!
Thanks for the chapter! 💕
thanks for the chapter <3
Thank you for the chapter
He’s a Divine Emperor hurhur😅
What I wish my deck looked like… 🌱
Thank you
Ah I want a garden now but I’m probably not going to take good care of it
💜💜💜
Agriculture is indeed the backbone of every economy. I find it heartwarming that Boss Cui does not hesitate in helping/answering posts from the forum. Indeed, the Descendant of the Divine Farmer.
Thanks for the chapter!
I love farming