Chapter 302: Harsh Natural Environment
Chapter 302: Chapter 302: Harsh Natural Environment
Fu Cheng couldn’t even bear to look at Xue Can’s foolish grin.
The guy must think Shen Lu cares about him.
Too bad Shen Lu’s kindness was unconditional and offered to everyone.
It held no special meaning.
After the two large basins of Spicy Dry Pot were completely devoured, Wu Jun rubbed his stuffed stomach, exclaiming how satisfying it was.
"Boss Shen, this... this Spicy Dry Pot tastes amazing!"
Huo Qian wiped the red oil from her lips. "If you were to sell this, it would probably be very popular."
Shen Lu had heard this all before. Unfazed, she waved her hand dismissively. "We’ll see. The slow season is about to start, so stabilizing our revenue is the top priority."
After the meal, Shen Lu went to the backyard and entered the metal shed to check on the Liu father and son’s work. She found that the Level 1 seeds hadn’t been sorted properly; some Second Level seeds were mixed in.
"It must’ve been Dad. He wasn’t being careful. Little Deer, I’ll supervise him properly tomorrow!" Liu Yaozu quickly shifted the blame to Liu Qiang, completely absolving himself.
Liu Qiang’s expression was calm, showing no intention of refuting the claim.
Shen Lu said, "In that case, there will be no lunch for ’Dad’ tomorrow."
"Ah, this... We only messed up once. You don’t have to be so strict..." Liu Yaozu said timidly.
"If I’m not strict, you’ll dare to make the same mistake again. If you don’t accept it, you can..."
Before she could finish, Liu Yaozu cut her off. "We accept! We accept!"
"Good. Now get back to work."
Shen Lu returned to her living quarters, grabbed some clothes, and went to take a shower.
After her shower, she sat on the sofa to watch TV.
Ever since Fu Cheng got his wheelchair, the TV had been moved back to the living room. When she had nothing to do at night, Shen Lu would come watch a bit of that interstellar mother-in-law drama.
The female lead had already begun her conquest of the stars, where she met the umpteenth male supporting character. They were in the middle of a push-and-pull, and it looked like they’d be having a "deep exchange" within the next two episodes.
"You like watching this kind of show?" Fu Cheng came out of his room and found Shen Lu hugging a throw pillow, her face alight with excitement as she stared at the TV screen.
Shen Lu hadn’t expected Fu Cheng to come out. ’Usually, he’s in his room playing games at this time.’
She gave a couple of fake coughs. "It’s pretty good."
"The plot is... too ridiculous."
"I wouldn’t be watching it if it wasn’t ridiculous." Shen Lu changed the channel very naturally. "Not playing your game today?"
"The game had a bug. They took the servers down for emergency maintenance."
"Oh."
Shen Lu channel-surfed until she landed on a movie, a fairytale full of magic and fantasy.
This fairytale was almost identical to Snow White, with the same evil queen stepmother and the same poor, persecuted princess.
The difference was that this "Snow White" was clever and brave and didn’t fall for the queen stepmother’s poison plot. The prince thus lost his chance to kiss the beauty awake, instead becoming the princess’s ally, helping her defeat the evil queen stepmother.
But at this point, the story was only half over.
In the second half of the story, the prince’s country believed the princess’s country should submit to their rule.
The prince felt the same way. After all, without his help, the princess could never have smoothly taken back everything.
But the prince was clever with his words. He said he loved the princess and wanted to marry her.
He also said that as long as the princess married him, he would find a way to persuade his family to stop talking about submission.
But everyone knew that once the princess married him, her country would naturally become his.
The prince had a beautiful dream: not only would he win the fair maiden, but he would also expand his territory and strengthen his nation, killing two birds with one stone.
Unfortunately, the princess heard the hidden meaning in his words and was naturally unwilling to hand over her kingdom.
After several rounds of back-and-forth, various secret schemes, and underhanded tactics, both sides tore off their peaceful facades and went to war.
The story ended with the princess unifying both kingdoms and ascending the throne as empress.
The once arrogant and complacent prince became one of her subjects, humbly kneeling on one knee in willing submission.
Shen Lu watched with great relish, and when it was over, she still wanted more.
"What did you think of the movie?" she asked Fu Cheng.
Fu Cheng thought for a moment. "It’s a movie for killing time."
In other words, it had no substance and was purely for entertainment.
Shen Lu tilted her head. "That’s a pretty low rating."
Fu Cheng didn’t answer. He rarely watched film or television works that so blatantly defied logic.
"Do you like this movie because the female lead didn’t get lost in a sham romance and insisted on being herself?" Fu Cheng asked.
"Yes. The princess may have had the prince’s help in taking back her throne, but she also put in an enormous amount of effort, always charging at the forefront of battle, and nearly lost her life. If the scriptwriter had her defeat the evil queen stepmother and then happily marry the prince, they’d have to have rocks in their head. I’d send them razor blades."
Fortunately, the scriptwriter hadn’t done that.
Fu Cheng pressed his lips together, his gaze deepening.
’I feel like I’ve just grown more distant from Shen Lu.’
He used to think Shen Lu was simply clueless and didn’t understand the love between men and women. Now, it seemed she didn’t just not understand—she disdained it.
In her worldview, many things were more important and interesting than love.
"It’s getting late, Little Deer. You should get some rest."
"Mhm." Shen Lu turned off the TV. "Good night."
"Good night."
...
The next day, before Shen Lu even opened her eyes, she heard sand and gravel lashing against her window, sounding as loud as firecrackers.
The room was dark. Shen Lu turned on the light, then opened the motorized curtains by her bed. The sky was pitch-black, and she could faintly hear the howling of the wind.
She was instantly wide awake. Slipping on her slippers, she went to the window and peered outside.
But the light outside was too poor; she couldn’t see anything clearly.
Shen Lu checked the weather forecast. Wind speeds were Level 7-8, with visibility less than or equal to 300 meters—the criteria for a moderate sandstorm.
Shen Lu was silent for a moment. ’A moderate sandstorm, just like that, overnight, with no warning?’
She had grown up in the south, so her only knowledge of sandstorms came from what she’d seen on TV.
But a moderate sandstorm in this world was clearly much more severe than one from her previous life.
’What a harsh natural environment.’
It wasn’t even six o’clock, but all sleepiness was gone. After washing up, she went to check on the greenhouse in the backyard and unexpectedly ran right into Yang Jing.
"Mom? What are you doing in the greenhouse this early?"
’Isn’t she a little too eager to get to work?’
"The noise woke me up. I was afraid the greenhouse wouldn’t hold up against the strong winds, so I came to check on it."
Yang Jing had never seen a greenhouse before and thought this transparent material seemed flimsy. Afraid today’s sandstorm would destroy it, she decided to get up and take a look.
"Oh, I see."
The two of them circled the greenhouse, inspecting it. There were no problems. The structure was very sturdy. Other than the sound of sand pelting its surface, there was nothing amiss.
Yang Jing walked to a corner of the greenhouse, sat on a small stool, and pulled an Insect Cake from her clothes, intending to eat her breakfast.
Shen Lu glanced over, and ultimately couldn’t hold back from telling her not to eat the Insect Cake.