Chapter 106

Chapter 106

As soon as Yun Wan returned to the manor, Jiang Jiayu came over with the live broadcast room, her face as dark as thunder.

"Lord, a planet called Berry Star has initiated a challenge battle against our planet. This competition is the most popular activity in the Lord's Popularity Contest. Once a planet initiates it, it is generally accepted for competition. Otherwise, the planet will fall to the bottom of the popularity rankings."

Jiang Jiayu felt increasingly upset as she spoke. When she first took over the live broadcast room of Shennong Star, the popularity of the live broadcast room was not low. After she took over, she witnessed the live broadcast room steadily rise to the front of the popularity rankings.

Every day at dawn, she would check the Lord's Popularity Contest page to see Shennong Star's ranking. Every time she saw Shennong Star's ranking rise, she would be happy all day. So far, her live broadcast room had not dropped in ranking, only sometimes rising quickly, jumping more than a dozen spots overnight, and sometimes rising slowly, only climbing two or three places a day.

Not long ago, Shennong Star had secured third place in the rankings, surpassing Berry Star.

Jiang Jiayu guessed that it must be Berry Star's jealousy of Shennong Star surpassing them that prompted them to initiate this challenge battle, wanting to regain their popularity.

In fact, there is nothing wrong with the challenge itself. If handled properly, both parties can gain a wave of popularity. The key is that the challenge Berry Star proposed is too unfair.

"They said they want to compete with us using fruits. Both sides will present ten varieties of fruit to taste in the live broadcast room, and the netizens will vote. The one who gets more votes will win, and the winning side can obtain the other party's fruit planting technology."

People who surf the Internet know that Shennong Star is famous for its vegetables. Although fruits are also grown, they have not yet been released to the market. It is precisely because of this that Berry Star thinks Shennong Star cannot present ten varieties of fruit, so they are bold enough to suggest this challenge that is very unfavorable to Shennong Star. If Shennong Star does not accept the challenge, it will automatically go to the bottom of the rankings. If Shennong Star accepts the challenge, it will not be able to compete with Berry Star, which is mainly focused on fruits, and they will gain Shennong Star's planting technology without effort.

No matter what, Shennong Star will suffer. Whoever devised this challenge is very unfriendly to the party that accepts the challenge, but the organizers of the Lord's Popularity Contest aren't concerned with fairness; they only want popularity. Whether these planets rise to fame overnight or suddenly plummet, they make money.

After all, the top spots in the rankings are always competitive.

Jiang Jiayu was so angry that she silently cursed the organizers.

"So, what is the state of our orchard? Can we provide ten varieties of fruit to participate in the challenge?"

Yun Wan's eyes lit up. She really wanted to participate in this challenge and was just worried that there was no opportunity to break into the fruit market. Berry Star handed her an opportunity.

The vegetable market and the fruit market overlap, but they are not entirely the same group. The fruit market is more specialized than the vegetable market. The taste of vegetables can be adjusted with condiments, but fruits depend solely on their natural flavor to capture the public. In the interstellar world where planting technology is relied upon, fruits with a near-perfect taste do not exist.

Most of Shennong Star's audience are people who buy vegetables. Due to the relatively low price, it attracts mostly middle and low-end customers, while Berry Star's audience is all fruit lovers with enough purchasing power to buy expensive fruits.

Berry Star's initiation of the challenge is just right to draw attention to Shennong Star's fruits, saving her from having to devise a marketing strategy!

Jiang Jiayu couldn't figure out Yun Wan's thoughts and didn't understand why the lord was not angry but happy. The frustration caused by Berry Star eased considerably when she mentioned the orchard.

"There are a lot of fruits in the orchard, but I don't know if they are ripe yet. Lord, do you want to go and see?" Jiang Jiayu asked.

"Let's go and see."

Yun Wan was going to inspect the orchard, and Jiang Jiayu was very excited. She quickly went back to her room to bring a small notebook to take notes. Every time she followed Yun Wan around the farm, she could learn a lot. She wanted to work hard to become as knowledgeable as the lord and shine in the field of planting.

The situation in the orchard was consistent with what Jiang Jiayu said. The fruit trees and seedlings were full of fruits of different sizes, from fist-sized peaches to watermelons larger than a human head. The orchard was no longer a single green, with colorful fruits dotted among the green leaves.

Yun Wan stood under a lychee tree. From a distance, she could only roughly feel the branches bent by the lychees. Up close, the abundant fruits were more intuitive. Clusters of crimson lychees were tied together, with dozens of fruits squeezed on each branch, reaching the peak of the trunk's bearing capacity. Although there were many, it was not enough to cause trypophobia, but rather quite beautiful, full of the joy of harvest.

She raised her head, picked one at random, broke open the red skin, and revealed the crystal-clear flesh inside. The color was not absolutely milky white, but somewhat translucent, and it was clear at a glance that it contained sweet juice.

Yun Wan liked lychees and couldn't wait to take a small bite. A unique sweetness instantly burst between her teeth, and the abundant juice overflowed from the corner of her mouth. The flesh was soft and elastic, not crumbly, and the pit was very small. Eating one lychee was a mouthful of fresh and sweet flesh, very refreshing.

"Try it." Yun Wan picked one and handed it to Jiang Jiayu.

Jiang Jiayu quickly took it. Since she joined the planting department, such good things often happened, and she was already used to it.

Working under the lord, she could not only learn things but also enjoy delicious food.

She didn't taste the lychee as slowly as the lord did. She peeled off the lychee shell and accidentally touched the thin, cicada-wing-like skin on the surface of the flesh. The juice wrapped inside kept flowing out along the shell seam, which made Jiang Jiayu feel distressed. Without further ado, she gently squeezed it and sucked the flesh into her mouth.

Before she could even process it, Jiang Jiayu had already swallowed the fruit, and by the time she realized the lychee was gone, she hadn’t had the chance to savor it properly. When she tried to recall the taste, her mind seemed to have been overwhelmed by the sheer deliciousness, leaving no memory of it except that it was good. It felt like the only way to relive that incredible flavor was to eat a few more.

She swallowed hard, wondering if she could ever look at the orchard the same way again. What was once just an ordinary corner now made her mouth water at the mere sight.

If the lychee was this good, and there were at least a dozen other fruits here, tasting each one would surely send her over the moon.

"They're all ripe, and the flavor is amazing," Yun Wan said, licking her lips, the lingering sweetness of the lychee still dancing on her lips.

If the fruits were chilled, the cool, sweet sensation would be incredibly refreshing.

"Let’s kick off the PK battle ASAP!" Yun Wan exclaimed.

This kind of incredible flavor has to be shared with the whole galaxy!

"Alright!" Jiang Jiayu wasn’t mad at Berry Star anymore. In fact, she couldn’t wait to see them humiliated after the PK battle.

The only bummer was the reward for winning—some useless planting techniques.

She didn’t think Berry Star’s planting techniques could hold a candle to Shennong Star’s. To the lord, it was pretty much worthless. They might as well toss in some berry plants or something, at least adding a couple more varieties to Shennong Star's fruit collection!

Before the PK battle even got started, the on-duty guards brought an unexpected person to Yun Wan.

"Cong Ruyi?" Yun Wan was surprised to see an old acquaintance.

How did she get to Shennong Star?

Cong Ruyi, flanked by two guards, looked visibly uncomfortable. Hearing Yun Wan call her by name, she curiously lifted her gaze for a quick glance.

"You’re here to see our lord, right? Why the silence?" one of the guards asked.

Cong Ruyi remained silent, her expression tinged with melancholy as her gaze lingered on Yun Wan's face. Ignoring the guard, she locked eyes with Yun Wan, unwavering. "What are you to him? Are you the lord's wife?"

"No," Yun Wan replied, guiltily rubbing her nose.

Ruyi's tone made her feel like a heartless scoundrel, a married woman deceiving an innocent girl.

The denial lit up Cong Ruyi’s eyes, radiant and full of hope.

"Really? Then he..."

"I am the lord."

"Huh?" Cong Ruyi was caught off guard by Yun Wan's sudden interruption. "What?"

She couldn’t believe her ears.

"I am the lord."

Facing Ruyi's shimmering eyes, Yun Wan couldn’t bear to shatter her illusions but also couldn’t continue deceiving her.

"Aren't you a man?" Cong Ruyi asked in astonishment, scrutinizing Yun Wan up and down several times, trying to see through her lie. But neither the Shennong Star guards nor the lord herself showed any signs of abnormality.

No wonder she had sensed a familiar glint in the lord's eyes earlier.

So she was "him."

Her plan might just fall apart...

Upon learning the truth, Cong Ruyi hung her head, feeling dejected, and Yun Wan thought she looked like a suddenly docile kitten, a bit withdrawn.

Every time she saw Ruyi's face, Yun Wan couldn't help but lament the unfairness of the Creator. Ruyi's features seemed meticulously carved, making others seem like mere clay dots carelessly tossed by Nuwa during the creation of humans.

Even though she had seen many good-looking people, such as Lu Huai, and even though she herself was not bad-looking, it was hard to look away when Ruyi appeared. Her every move was effortlessly graceful, and even a simple gesture was captivating.

She was destined to stand in the spotlight, raising her noble head amidst flowers and applause.

In an instant, Yun Wan had a new idea.

"Do you want to be a star?" she asked. "How about being the spokesperson for Shennong Star?"

Cong Ruyi, still reeling from the shock that the Shennong Star Lord was a woman, was saddened that her proud beautiful face was of no use in front of the Lord. Caught off guard, she didn't know whether to feel happy or remain sad.

"Me?!" Reacting, her gem-like eyes widened, round and especially captivating.

"Yes," Yun Wan nodded.

Such a stunning beauty, of course, should stay by her side!

She felt that Ruyi would definitely become a sensation across the internet. Most importantly, she guessed that Ruyi must have stowed away on a ship arranged by Luo Jie. Staying on Liuhong Star, she would only be overlooked, and her extraordinary beauty might even put her in danger. Moreover, she had been misled by the Lord of Liuhong Star, with significant issues in her mindset. Such a beautiful girl shouldn't always think of serving others with her looks, being controlled by the opposite sex. She should shine with her own brilliance and pursue her own dreams.