Chapter 774: Seven Senior Brother

Zu'an initially worried about trouble and thought about giving a false name to deceive the man. However, he then recalled Mi Li's advice about building a reputation and how he had recently found his own path. He envisioned himself galloping forward with the might of a tiger, aiming to become the strongest man in the world. Hiding and dodging simply didn't align with his true nature. So, he smiled and said, "You flatter me, sir. My name is Zu'an."

As the Arch-Libationer's direct disciple, Yin Shi held an extraordinary position at the Imperial Academy. In Zu'an's previous life, such a person would be at least a professor, perhaps even a doctoral supervisor, at a top university like Tsinghua or Peking. It was always wise to cultivate good relations with someone like him.

"Zu'an, why does that name sound so familiar?" Yin Shi muttered to himself. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. "Could you be Zu, the great hero who obtained the method of immortality and presented it to the Emperor, foiled the schemes of various factions along the way, and then repeatedly performed great deeds in the Eastern Palace?"

Zu'an was speechless.

He suddenly found himself rather fond of this place. The people here were kind, and their words were pleasant to hear. The School of Names truly lived up to its reputation; their compliments made even someone as thick-skinned as him blush a little.

The surrounding students, who had been listening intently, instantly realized:

"So, he's Miss Chu's husband!"

"He's quite handsome; no wonder Miss Chu likes him."

"Really? I think he's quite ordinary."

"And now, even the academy's renowned beautiful teacher has taken a liking to him! Why don't I ever have such luck?"

At this point, Zu'an had already replied, "Brother Yin, you exaggerate. What I've done is hardly worth mentioning."

"Handsome and modest, too? No wonder Eighth Senior Sister is fond of you." Yin Shi cupped his hands in greeting. "I'm eager to comprehend the inspiration my teacher just gave me, so I'll have to cut our conversation short. I'll seek your advice next time."

Having said that, he transformed into a sphere once more and rolled along the shaded path until he was out of sight. Piao Guochang and the other disciples hastily chased after him, calling out, "Teacher, teacher, wait for me!"

Jiang Luofu seized the opportunity to lead Zu'an away. Once they were clear of the curious students, she suddenly hesitated.

Zu'an chuckled. "What is it, beautiful Headmistress? This isn't like you."

Only then did Jiang Luofu speak. "Please don't take what Yin Shi and those students said to heart. My feelings for you are not romantic; they are purely friendly."

Zu'an looked disappointed. "Ah, saying that truly wounds my heart. I thought you at least had a tiny bit of affection for me."

Jiang Luofu explained, "I do have affection for you, but not the romantic kind..."

"I understand," Zu'an interrupted her. "We have a pure male-female relationship."

Jiang Luofu blinked, feeling there was something subtly wrong with his statement, but she couldn't quite pinpoint it at the moment.

However, she was more curious about something else at the moment. "What was that 'quantum' thing you just mentioned, and 'Bay-something-or-other'? How did it manage to impress Yin Shi so much?"

"I don't know either," Zu'an replied. "It was complete nonsense, but who knew the guy would actually believe it?" He thought to himself that while he had learned Bayes' theorem in school, he'd mostly forgotten it. As for quantum theory, it was entirely based on some pseudo-scientific articles he'd stumbled upon online as a keyboard warrior, and a bit of research he'd done when arguing with netizens.

If he really understood quantum mechanics, why would he be a mere keyboard warrior?

Jiang Luofu was speechless.

She had considered countless possibilities, but never expected this outcome.

Finally, she said with a mix of laughter and exasperation, "If that fatso knew you'd tricked him so thoroughly, he'd probably be so mortified he'd smash his head against a block of tofu!"

Zu'an said shyly, "Sister, you wouldn't betray me, would you?"

Since she was no longer the headmistress, calling her 'beautiful Headmistress' wasn't entirely appropriate, so he naturally changed his address.

Jiang Luofu rather liked being called 'Sister'. "Don't worry," she said. "Every time that fatso bothers me, I get an awful headache. I wish I could be as far away from him as possible, so how could I possibly tell him?"

Zu'an laughed heartily. "Then that settles it."

As they walked along, Zu'an suddenly let out a surprised sound. For a moment, he wondered if Kasli had tricked him again, leading him into some illusion.

The quiet campus environment, previously lush with green grass and towering ancient trees, was gone. In its place was a vast stretch of verdant crops: wheat seedlings, rice shoots, and various fruits and vegetables. Many people dressed as farmers were working in the fields, wielding hoes, as if they had arrived at a large farm.

"What's going on here?" Zu'an asked, turning to Jiang Luofu in disbelief.

Jiang Luofu pursed her lips and smiled, then walked directly towards the largest rice field ahead. She bowed to an old man wearing a greyish-white short jacket, whose skin was dark and whose forehead wrinkles resembled dense earthworms. "Seventh Senior Brother!" she greeted.

"Seventh Senior Brother?" Zu'an was utterly bewildered. This man, who would blend into any crowd and by all appearances was a seasoned farmer who toiled under the sun, turned out to be Jiang Luofu's senior brother and a direct disciple of the Arch-Libationer.

Recalling Yin Shi, the argumentative type from earlier, Zu'an momentarily doubted the Arch-Libationer's taste. What kind of disciples did he accept? Relatively speaking, Jiang Luofu seemed the most normal among them.

"Oh, it's Eighth Junior Sister!" The old farmer propped his hoe aside, wiped the sweat from his face with a cloth draped over his shoulder, and revealed a simple, honest smile.

"Seventh Senior Brother, are you researching some new crop again?" Jiang Luofu asked, curiously examining the verdant plants in the nearby field. "Are those chives?"

Zu'an's eyes widened. For a moment, he doubted his own senses. *These* were chives?

The old farmer said softly, "Those are wheat seedlings."

"Ah?" Jiang Luofu's face flushed beet red with embarrassment. For a moment, she wished a crack would open up in the earth for her to disappear into.

After all, she was a young lady from a prestigious aristocratic family, and her usual work was far removed from such matters, so she couldn't really distinguish these plants.

The old farmer smiled. "Eighth Junior Sister, you don't need to worry about it. It's perfectly normal for you not to recognize these."

The redness on Jiang Luofu's face gradually faded. Feigning composure, she asked, "Seventh Senior Brother, what were you just researching?"

Zu'an was a bit surprised. She clearly didn't know much about farming, yet she was chatting enthusiastically with him, a stark contrast to her attitude towards Yin Shi earlier.

At this, the old farmer pointed to the verdant seedlings not far away and replied, "Wheat cultivation consumes a lot of soil fertility, often requiring the land to rest for one to two years after a single harvest. This efficiency is simply too low, and frequent irrigation can easily lead to soil salinization. So, I've been searching for an alternative. I later discovered that rice doesn't require fallow periods and can even be harvested two to three times a year in suitable locations."

Jiang Luofu smiled. "That's good news! Why do you still look so troubled, Seventh Senior Brother?"

The old farmer sighed. "There's no such thing as a perfect solution. I soon discovered that rice also has its disadvantages. In recent years, with peace and prosperity in the Great Zhou Dynasty, the population has surged. The yield per unit of rice has nearly reached its limit. If we don't find a solution in advance, within twenty years, the current rice production in the Great Zhou Dynasty won't be able to keep up with the population growth, and there will inevitably be a great famine."

Zu'an, who had originally been casually looking around, couldn't help but feel a surge of admiration upon hearing this.

At this moment, he also understood why Jiang Luofu treated this old farmer so differently from Yin Shi.

While Yin Shi's philosophical discussions and debates were popular among the nobility, they offered no benefit to the common people. In contrast, this old farmer was entirely focused on practical issues concerning national welfare and the people's livelihood.

No matter the world, those who genuinely consider the well-being of the people should always be respected.

At this point, the old farmer added, "And rice has another problem: it's too susceptible to disease. A slight oversight can easily lead to complete crop failure, leaving not a single grain harvested from the entire field. A whole year of hard work for the people then amounts to nothing."

Jiang Luofu listened, her delicate brows furrowed. She wanted to offer comfort, but unfortunately, her expertise lay elsewhere; she truly didn't understand this field and had no way to console him.

Just then, a voice came from nearby: "Then why not try hybrid rice?"