CHAPTER 632: CHAPTER 36: BUMPER HARVEST (PART 2)

One minute, ten minutes, thirty minutes passed quickly.

"Assessment failed. Do you wish to continue the assessment or exit the assessment system and continue another day?" The voice of the central computer rang out coldly.

Once, twice, by the third time, Xiao Xian still had no ideas. In reality, it was already dark, and Xiao Xian had to stop studying for today.

"Don’t look so gloomy. We need to discuss this, it’s almost the New Year. Many students from the North Campus have already left school to go home for the New Year. Shouldn’t we three also give ourselves a winter break?" Xuerou fully played the role of the big sister.

Huake Institute is a very special place. Other schools had already started their winter break long ago, but Huake Institute only has a "three-day leave period" attendance system. However, within a year, students who have not violated any rules can enjoy a one-month "annual leave" based on personal needs.

All three, Xiao Xian, had been busy to the extreme recently, barely keeping in touch with their families occasionally. If not for Xuerou’s reminder, the other two might have forgotten about the New Year. Now that Xuerou mentioned it, both Xiao Xian and Yiyi were enticed by the idea of going home. After all, the three of them were still young, and despite being influenced by Cultivation and superpower thoughts, they couldn’t shed their childlike hearts. The trio unanimously decided to set February as this year’s annual leave.

Students in Zone C must first submit an application for "annual leave" to the "Material Supply Center," and only after a joint review by Romeo One and Juliet One, they could be allowed to leave the school.

After submitting their applications, the three quickly got approval.

Before leaving school, Xiao Xian sorted out a large number of items to take with them, leaving Xuerou and Yiyi marveling.

"My goodness, Xiao Xian, you’ve collected so many things," even Xuerou couldn’t help but exclaim.

Huake Institute has regulations against bringing specific items inside, but there were no rules against taking items from inside the campus out. What Xiao Xian took was not against the school rules—the items she took were her gains from Zone C in the past half year.

These were: one hundred kilograms of ten-year-old Pueraria Root, fifty kilograms of ten-year-old Gastrodia, one hundred kilograms of ten-year-old Poria, thirty kilograms of fifty-year-old Polygonum multiflorum, fifty kilograms of fifty-year-old Lingzhi, and twenty units of one hundred-year-old ginseng. All these herbs were obtained from Bailin Forest, Qianlin Valley, and Wanlin Hills.

Additionally, there were some crop derivatives benefited from the greening project in Zone C: eighty kilograms of Sea Buckthorn, fifty kilograms of Bitter Beans, and thirty kilograms of Congrong, along with twenty top-notch Hami melons. After Zone C was restored to green, ten percent of the desert terrain was preserved, to be used as scenery and for growing Hami melon; the twenty melons were harvested from the reserved area.

"It’s New Year, of course, I have to bring some New Year goods back," Xiao Xian had been really busy lately and hadn’t had the time to inquire about how Zhuo Feng’s Agricultural Specialty Store was doing. The Sea Buckthorn and Hami melons were to be sold at the store or given as a taste treat to the aunts.

As for those herbs, harvested from the simulation space as reward items, each one of good age and quality, apart from the ginseng of which a small portion would be sent back to Guizhou for Grandpa Zhu Shijun, Xiao Xian planned to provide Pueraria Root for improving hangover medicine and the rest to "Plum Rice Ball," and now that she could control Spiritual Power freely, it was time to repay the debt owed to Mei Nian.

With so much to carry, Xiao Xian and the group had to make several trips, and it took a great deal of effort to get everything to the entrance of the Southern Hua Science and Technology Institute. Fortunately, it was close to the New Year, and there weren’t many people in both North and South Campuses.

However, since it was close to the New Year, there were no drivers for taxis and trucks, leaving Xiao Xian and her friends facing a mountain of herbs, and in the chilly February wind, they reluctantly stood at the entrance of the South Campus, unable to find even a single taxi.

"Hey, I mean, why can’t we see even a bus," used to the strange climate in the North Campus, Zhang Yiyi found it hard to adapt to the normal environment suddenly. Their bodies had been strengthened, so such a bit of cold didn’t bother them.

Nevertheless, the trio huddled closely together, not for warmth, but they spontaneously remembered the scene from more than two years ago during that basketball game when Yiyi was injured and Xuerou took Xiao Xian and Yiyi to Zeng Family for the first time, eating the mung bean cakes made by Grandma Zeng.

"Time flies so fast. I’ll be fifteen once the New Year passes." The North counts the age by nominal age, but in the South, Xuerou would be sixteen. Yiyi and Xuerou were of the same age, and Xiao Xian would also be fourteen after the New Year.

"It’s really fast; I’ve been here for six years," Xiao Xian became absent-minded, thinking of Zhu Shijun, far in Guizhou, and that Party Constitution with three names written on it.

From the direction of the parking lot at the South Campus, a black Hummer drove out.

"Hey, there’s a car, let’s not wait any longer. It’s getting dark; let’s stop the car and hitch a ride," Yiyi’s reaction, similar to when she first bumped into Zeng Xuerou’s car, made Xiao Xian and Xuerou laugh. This past half year, the biggest change among the three of them had been Yiyi; she transformed from a carefree middle school student into a thoughtful young woman who bore hardships silently, a struggle that Xiao Xian and Xuerou had both seen.

Laughing, Zhang Yiyi ran and jumped into the middle of the road to stop the car with a wave of her hand. (To be continued. If you like this work, please head to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation ticket and monthly ticket. Your support is my biggest motivation.)