C6 Lu Mingyue

"Mr. Liu, I'll go ahead and clear out these two acres for you. I'm worried it might be too much for you to handle alone. Hehe, what do you think?"

Wow, that was quick! If Zhang Fei hadn't chosen to be a general, he probably could have made a killing in farming, huh?

"Thanks for the hard work, Dali..."

"Hard work? I didn't even break a sweat!" Wang Dali grinned broadly, his teeth shining brightly.

"Mr. Liu, why don't you come over for dinner tonight? My folks and I would love to meet you."

At eight in the evening, Liu Feng, with a full belly, struggled to mount his motorcycle. He turned to wave goodbye to the Wang family.

The hospitality of the Wang family was truly hereditary. Dali's mom kept serving up dishes to Liu Feng with such fervor that he couldn't help but eat his fill.

Their warmth was sincere, a sign of respect for Liu Feng. To the farming family, a postgraduate student as a guest was an honor. Riding through the night, Liu Feng savored the simple pleasures of life in this little town.

The sea lay to the town's south, while a river flowed from Moon Mountain in the north, cutting through the town. Several stone bridges spanned the river, linking the eastern and western parts of the town.

Liu Feng was on one of those bridges, his motorcycle chugging along, its speed modest, barely outpacing some electric bikes.

"Riding on my beloved motorcycle, it'll never get stuck in traffic~"

Liu Feng sang to himself.

Out of nowhere, a white blur zipped past the motorcycle.

"Ahhh!"

Startled, Liu Feng nearly lost control of his bike.

He looked over to see the girl in white who had tumbled to the roadside, narrowly missing his motorcycle.

She had fallen clumsily at the bridge's edge, running too hastily to notice the motorcycle until it was too late to avoid it, leaving her no choice but to fall.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Ow, that hurts..." The girl clutched her lower back, clearly in pain from the fall.

"I'm so sorry, but you came out of nowhere, and I just couldn't react in time."

Liu Feng was just about to offer an explanation when a voice called out from nearby.

"Mingyue! Mingyue! Where are you off to?"

Hmm, that voice sounded so familiar. Liu Feng turned to see a portly middle-aged man hurrying toward him. Upon closer inspection, it was none other than Lu Yuvqi, the Town Mayor.

"Mayor Lu? What's going on?"

"Ah, Liu Feng..." The mayor, having jogged over, recognized Liu Feng but was immediately distracted by the sight of Lu Mingyue, who had tumbled to the ground.

"Mingyue?"

Mayor Lu hastened to Mingyue's side, attempting to help her up, only to have his hand briskly swatted away.

"I don't need your help. What are you doing following me?"

"Oh, Mingyue, you..."

Liu Feng watched the unfolding drama, unsure if he should intervene. It looked for all the world like a classic scene: a teenage girl in the throes of a family spat storms off, followed by her father, who, in his deep concern, swallows his pride to chase after her.

"Sorry for the spectacle, Liu Feng. This is my daughter, Lu Mingyue. Mingyue, this is Mr. Liu, the graduate student who's come to our town."

"Mayor Lu, I apologize. It was my fault for startling your daughter and causing her to fall."

As Liu Feng was about to apologize, he scratched his head and glanced at Lu Mingyue, only to notice her eyes sparkling with intrigue, as if she had stumbled upon a rare treasure.

Under the moon's glow, he took a moment to appreciate Lu Mingyue's beauty. Though the details were obscured by the dim light, her natural elegance was unmistakable.

"It's okay, Liu Feng. We're the ones who've caused you embarrassment. Mingyue, shall we head home?"

The mayor's voice was tentative, but to his surprise, Lu Mingyue dusted off her skirt and stood up with ease.

"Sure." She agreed promptly, ready to head back, but without so much as a glance at her father, she started to walk away independently.

Lu Yuvqi gave Liu Feng a nod, signaling they should follow Mingyue back.

A few steps later, Lu Mingyue turned back and caught Liu Feng's gaze, their eyes locking for a brief moment.

Liu Feng inhaled sharply. That look in their eyes – where had he seen it before?

Ah, that's right. Wang Dali had given him the same piercing stare earlier.

An odd sensation bubbled up within him. A romantic fling? It didn't seem likely, and there was this nagging sense of impending doom. No time to dwell on it – this place wasn't safe to linger. Time to make a swift exit.

He hopped onto his scooter and zoomed away.

Back at the farm, Liu Feng lay on his rickety bed, pondering over the roses. Judging by their progress, they should bloom by tomorrow, completing his first task. Plus, with the news reporting high prices for red roses in the system, he might just earn enough to buy some skills.

Top of the list was the beginner-level stealth skill – a fundamental necessity for his future well-being. It was all about laying low and stockpiling resources. But what about other skills?

While musing, he summoned the system interface.

"Open the skill system."

[Skill Tree]

[Branches]: 1. Production Technology 2. Seed Breeding 3. Construction Technology 4. [Hidden]

[Hidden]? What was this about? He clicked to investigate.

"Sorry, your current skill level is insufficient to view the hidden skill tree branch. You need to reach an advanced overall skill level to unlock it."

Now that was intriguing. Liu Feng's curiosity was piqued; the harder something was to access, the better it usually was.

This had to be some extraordinary skill!

No need for further discussion; his priority was to unlock more skills and elevate his overall skill level.

"Display the production technology."

The skill tree expanded, revealing an array of impressive technologies before Liu Feng.

Vertical farming, AI agriculture, laser weeding, laser pest control, growth boxes – these skills leaped out at him, followed closely by space farming and automated robots.

"Damn."

Liu Feng, ever the man of few words, found that only this expletive could do justice to his astonishment. Some of these technologies were familiar to him, others he'd only heard of but hadn't yet seen in action. Either way, they were all undeniably impressive.

Casually, Liu Feng glanced at the prices listed behind the skills.

He quietly scrolled to the bottom of the skill list, realizing the enormity of the figures. Each one was priced at hundreds of thousands, even millions of gold coins! Liu Feng himself wouldn't fetch such a price if he were for sale.

Indeed, no matter how impressive something is, it often belongs to someone else.

At the very bottom, he found the least expensive skill.

[Greenhouse]: 5,000 gold coins.

Even the most affordable skill demanded a hefty 5,000 gold coins. It was truly costly.