Xie Sen glanced at the uniformly distributed comments, his fingers twitching as he felt the urge to copy and paste.
He'd gotten top marks, so he felt the botany department was doomed.
He blocked the duplicate comments and continued reading. Less than a minute later, he had the information he needed: the botany department was indeed the worst at Star City University.
That wasn't quite the whole story; it was the worst department at any university, while Star City University's was still the best.
The soil in the three main cities of Brandt was unsuitable for growing plants, and most edible and ornamental plants were extinct, with only a few growing in research bases.
Almost all naturally occurring plants were found in the wilderness and forests. Some were enormous, some were highly poisonous, and even some were carnivorous—all things the Beastmen shunned.
Consequently, the botany department's learning was almost entirely theoretical, with little practical application. Even most plants could only be seen in illustrated guides.
Finding a job after graduation was even more difficult. Aside from research institutes, no company would hire botany students, leaving them with no plants to care for or cultivate.
But plant research was crucial to the Beastmen, and every university had to offer a botany department.
Because of these practical reasons, the Department of Botany has always been the smallest department. Most of the students in the Department of Botany are females who just want to get by, and only a very small number of students truly want to study plants.
No wonder there were so few people on the exam, Xie Sen thought. He got the information he wanted to know, and knew that his first place was not worth much and it was not a mistake. Satisfied, he closed the forum.
He was one step closer to his diploma!
He pulled up a stool and sat down, pouring a glass of water. He drank the boiled water and happily ate the spicy dried meat. Looking at the water glass, he shook his head regretfully. It would have been even better if there was juice.
"Knock knock knock..." While he was eating, there was a knock on the door. Xie Sen quickly wiped his hands and mouth with a tissue. "Who is it? Wait a minute."
He opened the door, and outside was a gray-haired old man with a smile on his face, which made people like him easily.
As soon as the door opened, the old man craned his neck to peer inside. Xie Sen closed the door tighter. "Uncle, what's up?"
The old man swallowed, his gaze fixed on Xie Sen's face. "I live next door to you. What delicious food do you make? The smell is so tempting, it makes me ravenous just by smelling it."
Xie Sen couldn't help but laugh at his childish, greedy expression. But thinking of the chili peppers, he couldn't say it directly, so he could only vaguely say, "Nothing."
"You want to eat all by yourself, kid," the old man whispered, leaning closer. "Are you low on stock? Tell me where to buy it, and I'll go get it. I don't want yours."
Xie Sen didn't know whether to laugh or cry. There weren't even chili peppers here, so how could they possibly sell anything?
"Uncle, there's really nothing delicious," he said, trying his best to be sincere.
The old man stamped his foot. "How can you be so stingy, kid? I said I don't want yours. I'm not taking advantage of you. Just tell me where to sell it."
Xie Sen helplessly said, "I really don't have any."
"I don't believe it," the old man said, grabbing Xie Sen's arm like a scoundrel, craning his neck to peer inside the house. "I'm so greedy, I can't bear it if I don't eat. Sell me some and I'll pay double the price!"
Xie Sen was both amused and angry. He was really a child, even more unreasonable than a child.
Hearing the old man's words, he had an idea. He didn't need money for the time being, but he couldn't just live in Maine's house forever. Besides, he had to do charity work and give away money during his holidays, so he didn't have enough money.
He could use his energy to make food from the chilies, eat some himself, and sell some, then use the money to buy things, do good deeds, and collect energy. Wouldn't that be a perfect cycle?
After thinking it over, he smiled and whispered, "Uncle, it's not that I'm stingy, it's just that there's very little of it. It's long been sold out, and I only have a little."
The uncle's eyes lit up, "I knew you had it!" He tugged at Xie Sen's sleeve and shook it, "Sell it to me, sell it to me..."
"Okay, okay," Xie Sen raised his hand to stop him, his face serious. "I'll sell you some, but first, the price is not cheap, and it has to be kept secret."
The uncle immediately swore, "I won't tell anyone, the price is negotiable."
Xie Sen thought about it. The meat he bought was ten star coins per pound. Including the chili, the price would be at least several times higher. He used one chili, and he only made three pounds of spicy meat.
"Three hundred per pound, thirty-one ounces," Xie Sen said. "I don't have much left, and you might not like it. How about buying a pound or two?"
"No," the uncle said. "Are you reluctant to sell it to me and want to keep it all to yourself? Sell me half a pound!"
The uncle said, then took Xie Sen's wristband and quickly and neatly transferred him one hundred and fifty star coins.
Xie Sen said helplessly, "Okay, wait a moment. Sorry, this isn't my house, I can't let you in."
The old man reached out and pushed him, "Go get me some food, and don't go back on your word, or I'll keep knocking."
"I won't go back on my word," Xie Sen said, closing the door. He filled a disposable lunch box with half a pound of spicy dried meat, then opened the door, handed it to the old man, and instructed, "You must keep it a secret. If anyone knows about this, and someone wants it, just sell it to them!"
The old man hugged the lunch box like a small animal guarding its food, "I won't tell anyone. Thank you. Come visit me when you have time."
After seeing the old man off, Xie Sen packed the rest of the spicy dried meat, browsed the internet for a while to learn about the Beast Planet, and waited until noon to make a broth to eat with the spicy dried meat.
After lunch, he went directly to the care center. He had just punched in when Yang Shun called him into his office. Yang Shun first asked about his health, confirming that he was fine before getting down to business.
"You're not feeling well, so you definitely can't work the night shift. Manager Sun asked me for you. I didn't want to let you go, but their department pays more than ours, 25 per hour during the internship. I know you want to make more money, so I asked for your opinion."
"Let me go to Manager Sun's department?"
"Yes."
Xie Sen thought silently. He had to admit that the salary at Sun Mao's department was very attractive to him, and he had received energy from Qi Shao, which meant that male beast masters could also give him energy in return.
"I'll go," Xie Sen said, "I'm a gold medal employee. You can always come to me if you have any problems."
Yang Shun smiled gently, "Of course, you go to Sun Mao to report. Most of the contracted beasts over there are very ferocious. You should pay attention to safety."
Xie Sen said gratefully, "Thank you, manager."
He went to find Sun Mao, and Sun Mao patted his shoulder with a smile on his face: "You should feed the contracted beasts for two days first and get familiar with them."
Xie Sen nodded. Before he left the office, Sun Mao asked, "What happened to you yesterday? I heard from Master Qi that you jumped into the pool by yourself? Did Master Qi kick you in?"
Xie Sen waved his hands quickly, "No, thanks to Master Qi who saved me in time." He found a more credible excuse, "I got a cramp when I stood up and accidentally fell into the water."
"Your health is too poor, but it's okay. Exercise more in our department and eat more, and you will be strong."
Xie Sen twisted a large bucket of animal feed breathlessly, thinking about Sun Mao's words, and pouted. It would be hard not to be strong if he did such high-intensity work every day.
"Are you new here?" A breeder in a green uniform came out of the contracted beast room in front. He walked over to Xie Sen in two or three steps and easily lifted the bucket. "I'll help you carry it in."
"Thank you," Xie Sen said gratefully, quickly following the man.
Reaching the door, the feeder swiped his card to open it. Xie Sen glanced at the sect: Snow Wolf Beast.
"Oh my!" He had only taken two steps when the feeder took a panicked step back. Xie Sen bumped into his back and quickly apologized, "What's wrong?"
The feeder stepped aside, allowing Xie Sen to see the interior. The room was enormous, decorated like a winter wilderness, dotted with beautiful pseudo-plants.
If you ignored the two rows of more than a dozen snow wolves in front of him, their green eyes staring at him, this place would be an absolute beauty.
Xie Sen's heart tightened, and he subconsciously stepped back. The feeder grabbed him and said, "Don't be afraid. The Snow Wolf Beast is a B-level contracted beast. It's very smart and won't hurt anyone."
Xie Sen wanted to cry, but he couldn't. Even knowing it wouldn't hurt anyone was still scary!
And who had just stepped back?
"They're very clean and like to eat their own food. Look," the keeper pointed to the large bowls surrounding them. "Each one has its own bowl. Just scoop the meat into it one by one."
Xie Sen tilted his head. "What about you?"
"This bucket won't be enough. I'll open it again." The keeper set the bucket down and headed out the door.
Xie Sen quickly turned to follow, but took a step before stopping and facing the wolves.
This was his job, something he always had to face.
He mustered his courage, constantly telling himself they wouldn't hurt anyone. He smiled at the snow wolves and, looking closely, they were truly beautiful!
With that thought, he relaxed and stepped back inside. The snow wolf in front of him flicked its tail, lunged, and lunged at the food bucket.
The movement was like a drop of water in a frying pan, and the nearby wolves immediately sprang into action, rushing to grab the food.
Xie Sen's heart nearly stopped. The food bucket was in his hand, and the wolves were lunging towards it. From what he could see, they were lunging towards him.
"Boss, is it really okay?" the feeder who had gone to unscrew the animal food asked Sun Mao beside him with a worried look on his face, looking at the surveillance camera.
"You don't understand snow wolves yet. They won't hurt anyone," Sun Mao said unfazed.
"They won't hurt anyone, but they love to grab the first bite! Every day when I feed them, they run all over me like a ball!" The feeder's face was filled with grief and indignation.
"So I found you a helper." Sun Mao patted his shoulder and pointed at the surveillance camera. "Look."
"Huh? How could this happen?" The feeder leaned forward in surprise, staring at the monitor screen. Startled,
Xie Sen let go of the food bucket. The snow wolf was so fast that it pounced at him the moment he let go. He took a step back, the touch of the snow wolf's white fur still lingering on his hand. The
snow wolf, about to pounce on the food bucket and dive into the meat, paused, tilted its head to look at Xie Sen, and released its front paw from the bucket. It stepped in front of Xie Sen and raised its paw to touch his hand.
Seeing its reaction, Xie Sen secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He carefully held its paw and shook it. The snow wolf's emerald eyes brightened, and its head rubbed against it.
"Ah~" the snow wolf cried softly. Xie Sen released its front paw and rubbed its neck. Looking at the other dozen snow wolves that had abandoned their food buckets and were looking at him, he rubbed their fur one by one.
"Okay, now I'll share the food with you." After Xie Sen finished rubbing all the snow wolves, he began to distribute the animal food.
"You're so awesome!" The feeder came in with a food bucket and put his hand on Xie Sen's shoulder. Thinking of the days when he was like a ball in the past, "Woo woo, with you around, my days will definitely be heaven."
Xie Sen looked at the energy 1 prompt in front of him and smiled: "They are very well-behaved. I still have a lot to learn from you."
"You don't need to learn at all. You were born to be a feeder!"
Xie Sen's mouth twitched. There are so many professions he was born to be.