Chapter 11: The Farm Planting Plan
The area Jiang Ning lived in was North District 2. The most populated area in the North District currently only went up to North District 4; the remaining six districts were all vacant.
She walked along the streets of North District 2 until she reached the end. Although her house was smaller than others, it came with a piece of empty land right next to it.
The area was about the same size as her house, completely bare, without a single plant. Not even weeds could survive.
The soil quality in the city was slightly better than in the contaminated zones. Jiang Ning wanted to develop this piece of land and grow some vegetables and fruits to sell at the market.
Her sunflower was special; it could sprout even in the contaminated zone, so perhaps it could also adapt to the soil here.
She had roughly scanned the prices of fresh food at the market today; the average price was around 20 star coins.
This was much more profitable than hunting star beasts.
Putting her thoughts into action, after processing the rotten melons and fruits she had collected, Jiang Ning rummaged through her house for tools to turn the soil.
The people of the interstellar era no longer farmed, so naturally, they didn’t have tools like hoes at home. So, she found a wooden stick, tied a hook-shaped short blade to it, and it became a simple pickaxe.
Well… it was a bit ugly, but at least it was usable.
The sun was high in the sky. Jiang Ning was hoeing the ground under the hot sun and was soon drenched in sweat.
“Jiang Ning, what are you doing?” Auntie Li’s family was returning from outside and happened to see Jiang Ning working as they passed by her house.
“I’m planning to loosen the soil on this land and then plant the sunflower seedling in it,” Jiang Ning said, pointing to the sunflower on the windowsill. The sunlight here was more abundant than inside the house. Her farm plan would start with planting sunflowers.
“Why did you bring this back too!”
Seeing this small seedling again, Uncle Li and Auntie Li had different expressions, but a strange feeling welled up in both their hearts.
It seemed that although Jiang Ning had appeared normal these past few days, the failure to awaken an ability had actually hit the child quite hard.
Auntie Li sighed and had to tell Jiang Ning the truth, “The soil on our numbered planet is severely contaminated. Plants can’t survive here.”
Jiang Ning stopped hoeing and thought about it seriously.
From the tone of Auntie Li’s voice, it seemed she had already tried it.
Can’t survive?
Li Xiang pouted. “Only those rich people with nothing better to do would grow flowers and plants. Why are you trying to copy them?”
He had been scolded by his parents again these past two days. Father Li and Mother Li told him to learn more from Jiang Ning. Today, he saw that Jiang Ning was actually farming!
Serves them right.
He raised an eyebrow at Father Li and Mother Li. They were telling him to learn from Jiang Ning. Learn what? Farming?
Hilarious.
Farming on a contaminated planet was simply a fantasy.
Jiang Ning, however, caught the key point in Li Xiang’s words and asked, “How do they do it?”
Li Xiang said, “They order planting soil from the major planets, of course. The major planets are different from here. Their environment is beautiful, and there’s no such thing as a contaminated zone.”
Jiang Ning’s eyes lit up. She asked sincerely, “Where can I find a channel to buy it?”
Li Xiang was stunned by the question, not expecting her focus to be on this.
“You should be able to find it on the StarNet.”
“Thanks!” Jiang Ning put away her hoe and turned back to her room.
“Hey! Planting soil is very expensive. A poor wretch like you can’t afford it at all,” Li Xiang shouted from behind.
Jiang Ning pretended not to hear and immediately opened the shopping mall on the StarNet, searching for planting soil.
She still decided to take a more conservative approach. This was her only seedling. If it didn’t survive in the soil of Planet M412, where would she go to cry?
Outside the house.
Auntie Li was so angry that she gave her son another big slap on the back of his head.
Serves him right for his big mouth.
Li Xiang rubbed the sore spot, feeling very wronged.
He was clearly telling the truth.
Li Xiang stomped his foot in anger and turned back to his own house.
Seeing this, Father Li also silently followed him home.
Auntie Li was left alone, looking at Jiang Ning’s closed door. Her gaze suddenly swept to a dented corner, and with a worried heart, she went to knock on her door again.
“Auntie Li? Is there anything else?” Jiang Ning opened the door and blinked.
“Jiang Ning, have you filed a complaint with the Municipal Administration Center about your house?” Auntie Li asked with concern.
Jiang Ning glanced at the damaged house and shook her head.
She had no idea where to even do that.
Auntie Li urged, “You should file a complaint quickly. It’s been almost a week, right? After today, the administration center won’t accept any more cases.”
“Find that bastard who crashed into your house and make him pay. With the money, you can fix it. Otherwise, it’s always inconvenient.”
The commotion that day had been huge, and all the neighbors had heard it. It was a pity it wasn’t their houses that were hit; otherwise, the compensation they could apply for would be quite substantial.
“Okay.”
Following Auntie Li’s guidance, Jiang Ning navigated to the Municipal Administration Center.
The unique white Neoclassical style building covered an area of 2000 acres. The main entrance consisted of three Roman arches, and one had to go up two flights of stairs to reach it.
The Municipal Administration Center was fully automated, with many tasks being completed by robots.
Jiang Ning walked into the hall. A slight tilt of her head revealed a ceiling composed of stars.
Rows of Roman columns stood solemn and mysterious.
The hall did away with traditional service windows; instead, artificial intelligence guided the public in completing various services.
Jiang Ning walked to the center of the hall, and a half-human-sized smart console slid over. “Hello, I am your smart assistant for this service, Alpha. How may I help you?”
Alpha’s voice was soft and polite.
To prevent the uncanny valley effect, the robot assistants were not made to look exactly like humans.
“A flying vehicle crashed into my house. I would like to apply for property damage compensation,” Jiang Ning simply explained the service she needed to Alpha.
Alpha: “Understood. Please provide your personal information, residential address, property information, photos of the house damage, and account details.”
Jiang Ning retrieved the required information from her Star Brain and sent it to Alpha’s smart brain terminal.
A short while later, Alpha completed the preliminary review of the information and informed her that she needed to wait for further on-site inspection and damage assessment.
Two miniature cameras with wings flew out from a compartment in Alpha’s chest.
Alpha: “The on-site inspection will take approximately 10-30 minutes. Please wait here for a moment.”
After saying this, Alpha entered standby mode.
While waiting, Jiang Ning took the opportunity to check the purchasing channels for planting soil at the self-service area of the Municipal Administration Center.
As Li Xiang had said, several large e-commerce platforms on the StarNet were selling this type of planting soil imported from other planets. Among them, the soil from Planet Avitas was highly recommended by netizens for its fertility and suitability for plant growth. Even at a price of 1000 star coins per kilogram, the orders were so popular that one had to queue up and wait for shipment.
Considering that the soil required for cultivating sunflowers didn’t need to be that good, Jiang Ning chose a regular planting soil priced at 200 star coins.
Jiang Ning put the selected planting soil into her shopping cart, calculating in her mind that as long as she could successfully apply for compensation, she could immediately place the order and start her farm planting plan.
Half an hour later, the ‘staff’ that Alpha had sent for on-site inspection and damage assessment flew back.
After analyzing the data transmitted back, the damage assessment amount given by Alpha was 1500 star coins.
Of this, the government subsidy was 500 star coins, and the perpetrator’s compensation was 1000 star coins.
It was a good thing it was a house in the slums; the compensation for being hit was less than the price of a random bollard on the roadside.
Jiang Ning, however, raised her eyebrows in surprise. The total price of her house was only 5699 star coins, yet the compensation for being hit was so much.
Alpha: “Please confirm the damage assessment result.”
“Confirm.”
Alpha: “Processing your property damage compensation. The government subsidy will be disbursed to your personal account after you confirm the result. The compensation amount will be paid after the identity of the perpetrator is investigated, and will be disbursed within a maximum of 7 natural days.”
As soon as Alpha’s voice fell, Jiang Ning received a message notification on her Star Brain.
She opened the message and saw that the government subsidy had already arrived.
She had to once again admire the efficiency of the interstellar era.
Fast, it was simply too fast!
Jiang Ning immediately switched to the order interface and ordered one kilogram of planting soil.
Jiang Ning returned home.
That night, the planting soil she had ordered was delivered.
Various goods had warehouses at the space station. As soon as a customer placed an order, the logistics process began immediately.
The packaging was in the shape of a brick. Jiang Ning opened it and saw that it was indeed a dark red brick inside.
She followed the instructions, added water in a one-to-one ratio, and the red brick quickly soaked and expanded, perfectly filling a pot with a diameter of 18 centimeters.
Jiang Ning picked a few rotten melons and leaves from the trash bag she had collected this morning, put them in, mixed them with the soil, and then carefully transplanted the sunflower seedling into it. She continued to place it on the balcony, waiting to see the effect the next day.
After doing all this, Jiang Ning once again lay back on the bed like a salted fish, gradually emptying her mind.
She checked the plant seedling in her mind again. She didn’t know if it was because it had soaked up enough sun during the day or something else, but the sunflower seedling in her mind had come back to life and was even a bit sturdier than it had been two days ago.
Very good.
It seemed that getting more sun was quite useful.
For the next three days, Jiang Ning didn’t go out. Instead, she stayed around her house, tinkering with her ‘farm’.
She collected some iron wires and iron rods from the garbage dump behind the North District and completely fenced off the farm.
She placed the only sunflower seedling, pot and all, inside, and even carefully marked the ground in front of the pot with the label 【Plant No. 1】.
Auntie Li and the surrounding neighbors just quietly watched as Jiang Ning got up at dawn every day, ran to the garbage dump, and then came back at noon with a large pile of scrap metal to tinker with.
During this period, Auntie Li sighed countless times.
In the end, she didn’t ask if Jiang Ning had successfully applied for compensation that day. Auntie Li just felt that this girl, Jiang Ning, was so sensible it was heartbreaking. She just swallowed all her troubles.
If she wasn’t truly desperate, why would she go back to scavenging trash?
Comparing her to her own son, Li Xiang, who was still asking her for money to buy some book, Auntie Li closed her eyes helplessly.
How could the gap between people be so big?
Auntie Li comforted herself again. At least Li Xiang knew he wanted to read books; he was still motivated.
Jiang Ning, who was fantasizing about getting rich by opening a farm, had no idea that Auntie Li had pitied her several times over again.