Chapter 27: Hey, Little Bro, I’m Back~
Rong Ziyin’s reasoning was so sound the system couldn’t refute it, leaving it only to silently light a candle for Ji Shu in its mind.
Rong Ziyin finally changed clothes, showered, and prepared for bed. After working so hard on his thesis, he could finally relax and wanted nothing more than to lie down and sleep.
But sometimes, the more you want to sleep, the more things happen.
Rong Ziyin had already changed and gotten into bed when he unexpectedly received a friend request from a secondary account on QQ.
The verification message read: I know your enemy’s weakness.
Enemy? Or weakness? These two keywords were deeply meaningful.
Rong Ziyin promptly accepted the request, eager to see what the person had to say.
True to form, the person behind the fake account got straight to the point.
“That rich kid you challenged? He had me write the thesis he submitted.”
Rong Ziyin stared at the words for a moment, instantly grasping the implication.
“So you’re the one who reported the issues with the veterinary thesis at Agricultural University?”
“Exactly! I only wanted the money, but I never intended to give him my work. If you don’t look out for yourself, heaven and earth will destroy you.” The person declared with righteous indignation.
“Well? Did I just do you a huge favor?”
“Think about it! If not for me, you’d still be the laughingstock of the whole school. But now it’s different! Your enemy is definitely going down this time. So tell me, shouldn’t you be thanking me?”
This guy was clearly well-connected with the inside scoop at the Agricultural University, seemingly aware of Rong Ziyin leading a group of academic stars to grind out the thesis. Though his logic about “helping” Rong Ziyin was downright bizarre.
“What do you want from me?” Rong Ziyin cut straight to the chase.
“Partner up with me! That idiot hasn’t figured out the cause and effect yet, but once he does, he’ll definitely come after me.”
“He’s got it in for you and won’t let it go. We’re in the same boat now. What do you say? Want to team up?”
It sounded tempting enough, but glancing at the system prompt reading [Conspiracy Value: 2000], Rong Ziyin replied immediately. “Sorry, no thanks!”
Then he deleted the friend.
The system asked, “Is it because he’s scheming that you won’t contact him?”
“No.” Rong Ziyin shook his head. “His thesis ghostwriting itself violates laws and regulations. He’s already dirty himself, yet he still abuses public authority.”
“Public authority is meant for the state to protect citizens, not for them to wield as tools for personal revenge.”
“True, the saying ‘If you don’t look out for yourself, heaven and earth will destroy you’ holds some truth. But harming others for personal gain is truly immoral.”
“Collaborating with someone like that would only dirty my own hands.”
The system instantly understood. “Exactly. It was that bastard who cost so many people this submission opportunity.”
“Damn it! What a fucking bastard.”
Thus, Rong Ziyin firmly resolved not to collaborate with him. Yet the man persisted, insistently requesting Rong Ziyin’s friendship: “Don’t you have even a shred of curiosity about me?”
This time, Rong Ziyin was even more blunt: “The things that piqued my curiosity have all been neutered now!”
【Rich Kid Ghostwriter’s Rage Level: 2000】
System: Hahahaha, isn’t that the truth? This month alone, Host, you’ve neutered forty more pigs!
Rong Ziyin: Don’t make stuff up. There were clearly twenty more sheep.
Then he blocked the gunman outright, and the world instantly grew quiet.
Apart from that gunman occasionally sending Rong Ziyin a few dozen anger points, no one on the platform was bothering him anymore.
Finally able to lie down, Rong Ziyin felt under the covers that something remained undone. After pondering for a while, it suddenly dawned on him that he should tally his gold coins.
Exactly seven hundred thousand. After purchasing the recipes for salted duck eggs and salted fish, he still had three hundred thousand left.
It had been several days since his last lottery pull. The system, unable to contain itself, urged Rong Ziyin, “Thirty pulls! Thirty pulls!”
Rong Ziyin agreed. “Pull! Let’s see how lucky I am!”
The long-unused wheel spun wildly like a runaway donkey, while gray lights began flashing one after another.
System: I have a bad feeling about this.
Sure enough, the next second, Rong Ziyin received a system prompt: “Storage box exceeded capacity. Deploy to reality?”
Rong Ziyin: Deploy.
Instantly, a deluge of salted duck eggs flooded the bed, completely engulfing Rong Ziyin.
At the very center, facing him directly, stood three massive goose eggs as the guaranteed minimum reward, flanked by several salted fish. They stood side by side, gazing up at the sky with unwavering focus, as if declaring, “Hey buddy, we’re back!”
System: …Rong, at this production rate, I fear we’ll be selling salted duck eggs and dried fish until the end of time.
Rong Ziyin: Hmm, time to expand our operations.
Truthfully, Rong Ziyin had long harbored ambitions regarding his business.
After neatly arranging the salted duck eggs and fish in one corner of the room, Rong Ziyin pulled out the recipe he’d already exchanged for and gave it a quick glance.
He discovered the recipe was essentially the same as what could be used in the normal real world. The key to making them more delicious actually lay in strictly adhering to the proportions during preparation; the rest was pretty much the same as ordinary salted duck eggs and fish.
Not only could the seasoned villagers handle it, but even a novice like Rong Ziyin could nail it on the first try.
Combined with the village’s excellent supply of duck eggs, Rong Ziyin estimated that the first batch of preserved eggs would quickly reach marketable quantities.
The system deemed Rong Ziyin’s plan feasible, but now the biggest question arose: Preserved eggs taste great, but how to sell them?
Rong Ziyin: E-commerce.
System: ??
Rong Ziyin carefully explained.
E-commerce represents a novel marketing approach in modern agriculture.
Traditional agricultural products are typically purchased directly by manufacturers or sold through wet markets. While these conventional methods aren’t inherently flawed, they yield mediocre profits for farmers.
Thus, more resourceful individuals have turned their attention online.
We’re in the digital age now—wherever people gather online, business follows such as WeChat, Taobao, Weibo.
Take Taobao’s live-streaming hosts, for instance. As early as two years ago, they achieved staggering sales figures—nearly 300 million yuan in just four hours.
This alone reveals the immense potential of online sales channels.
When Rong Ziyin previously contemplated selling salted duck eggs outside the village, he researched these platforms.
The two influencers he followed had indeed promoted food products. Nothing particularly exotic—mostly everyday items like spicy noodles and snacks.
Of course, consumers buy based on taste and brand recognition.
The products that gain traction undoubtedly have established brands.
Lying in bed, Rong Ziyin carefully mapped out the plan in his mind and realized it was actually feasible.
However, registering the brand presented a minor hurdle.
Rong Ziyin hesitated over whether to register as an individual or a company.
As an individual, his salted duck eggs would be for his own consumption. But the application process would be more complicated. Both salted duck eggs and salted fish fall under the food category, and going through all the procedures for a business license would likely take half a year.
But registering as a company would be different.
Earlier, the government had organized a training program for rural entrepreneurs. At that time, Rong Ziyin’s village, led by the village chief, had pooled resources to apply for a company license. Their primary focus was selling organic vegetables.
But the venture never took off, so they simply shelved it. They only had a stall in the county town, occasionally doing business with acquaintances.
Therefore, partnering with the village would significantly speed up the application process and allow for earlier trademark registration.
The only catch was that the profits would likely be worlds apart compared to going solo.
System: Then let’s just go solo!
Rong Ziyin flatly denied it: No, we’ll partner with the village.
“Why?” The system was utterly baffled.
Rong Ziyin countered with a question of her own, “How much can one person realistically accomplish? How much energy do they have?”
“Does this have anything to do with us starting our own company?”
“Of course it does!”
“My future lies in returning to the research community. But the path of academia is deep and long—many predecessors spend their entire lives without finding the truth they seek. So many gifted people pour their entire lives into it—what makes me any different?”
“I’ve never studied business management, let alone delved into e-commerce marketing models. If I go solo, I’ll inevitably have to spend huge chunks of time learning all that.”
“But what if it makes money…”
“What if it doesn’t make money?” Rong Ziyin asked the system patiently, “Why do you think Heaven sent you to me?”
“To marry a rich, beautiful woman and reach the pinnacle?”
Rong Ziyin: “No. The original plan was for you to guide me to become a master in this field.”
“I studied veterinary medicine, specializing in animal husbandry.”
The system suddenly understood, feeling it grasped Rong Ziyin’s reasoning.
Seeing the system had caught on, Rong Ziyin said no more.
One reaps only what one sows. True, he possessed a golden finger, but he didn’t have more time than anyone else.
Besides, going solo would only invite more trouble down the line.
Take the Yanjing social circle, for instance.
There were plenty of spoiled rich kids like that second-generation heir. They might not have real talent, but they threw around vast sums of money. As long as they found reliable partners, their family name served as their backing. Naturally, they faced no fears, sitting back and waiting for their cut.
But Rong Ziyin was different. A drifting weed, once he grew too prominent, he’d inevitably become a target. Even in school, his carelessness had drawn the scions’ schemes. In the business world, he might not even survive.
So Rong Ziyin’s best bet was to team up with the village. No family name could match the solid backing of the state. Contributing technical expertise as equity, becoming a hands-off owner, might actually grant him a few more days of peace.
Money is good, but you need to keep your life intact to earn it and spend it.
Besides, gratitude matters. Having lived in the village this long, everyone from the village chief down to the villagers had been exceptionally kind to Rong Ziyin. Improving their lives would be his way of repaying them.
But these matters could wait until tomorrow morning to discuss with the village chief. Then there was the matter of that rich kid’s thesis.
Rong Ziyin felt he should inform his advisor of what he knew sooner rather than later. This wasn’t about snitching; it was about the whistleblower’s gun-for-hire reaching too far.
While it’s true that self-interest is human nature, his actions were downright unethical. Those affected at the Agricultural University might have finished their papers, but whether they passed was entirely up to fate. As for the others whose submissions were blocked and who couldn’t finish their papers in time, they were truly left with nothing but tears.
Moreover, over the next two months, everyone nationwide blocked at the threshold would scramble to submit to provincial journals. It was obvious how high those journals’ standards would be raised.
What’s more, not every academic field could spin off new subtopics from existing papers to churn out fresh submissions. Take that student from the Agricultural University’s Mechanical Engineering Department—if he hadn’t published in a provincial journal back in his sophomore year, he’d have been completely out of the running this time.
This isn’t about rivalry—these people have gone too far!
So Rong Ziyin screenshotted their entire QQ conversation, packaged it, and sent it to his advisor. After finishing this, Rong Ziyin finally went to bed.
Early the next morning, when Rong Ziyin woke up, Ji Shu was still asleep in the room across the hall. Surprisingly, however, his door stood wide open. As for Ji Shu himself, he was curled up on the edge of the bed, hugging a goose.
Both man and goose slept soundly, each sporting a small tuft of bedhead sticking up on top of their heads.
It was just a little too silly.
Rong Ziyin shook his head, intending to close Ji Shu’s door for him, only to discover the door had been deliberately left open. To prevent it from slamming shut in the wind while he slept, Ji Shu had even carefully propped it open with a brick from the courtyard.
System: What’s wrong with this guy? Doesn’t he worry someone might barge in?
But what caught Rong Ziyin’s attention was the commotion inside Ji Shu’s room. A tablet by his bed seemed to be playing something at full volume. Listening closely, Rong Ziyin realized it was a raucous debate variety show.
The kind of program that could make you burst out laughing even when you’re exhausted—and Ji Shu was listening to this while asleep?
What a peculiar person.
Rong Ziyin shook his head, abandoning the idea of closing the door for him. Instead, he slipped out quietly.
Considering Ji Shu hadn’t locked his room door, Rong Ziyin made sure to secure the courtyard gate properly before leaving. The villagers were simple folk, rarely harboring ill intent, but one still had to be cautious.
After stepping out, Rong Ziyin headed toward the livestock station. He carried the three goose eggs he’d collected yesterday, planning to place them in the incubator today as well.
At nine o’clock, the couple from the snack shop returned from town, bringing breakfast for Rong Ziyin.
Meanwhile, the mentor who had received Rong Ziyin’s message replied. The matter of the rich kid’s thesis being reported had been escalated to the institute. As for how it would be handled, they would have to wait for the final investigation results from the institute.
One thing was certain: neither the rich kid nor the ghostwriter would escape unscathed.
The matter was temporarily settled. Rong Ziyin had no intention of pursuing it further.
But his advisor brought up another topic: “Those students who collaborated with you on the thesis in the campus forum approached me, asking for your contact information.”
“Seems they really like you. Want to make friends?”
The advisor knew Rong Ziyin well. Over the past three years of university, aside from a few senior classmates, he hadn’t formed any particularly close friendships. This seemed like a perfect opportunity. The advisor also hoped Rong Ziyin wouldn’t remain so isolated in the future.
“Sure, why not.” Rong Ziyin nodded and gave his WeChat ID to the advisor.
Seconds after hanging up, Rong Ziyin’s WeChat buzzed with a friend request.
He tapped to view it—the relentless overachiever who’d stayed up all night finishing his thesis alongside him.
After accepting the request, he was immediately added to a nine-person WeChat group.
Instantly, a barrage of knowing smiley faces flooded the chat as a welcome.
System: Host, why do I feel like you’re about to get beaten up?
Yet Rong Ziyin clearly didn’t share that sentiment. Instead, he accepted the eight academic elites’ goodwill as a matter of course.
He first exchanged greetings with the other eight members, then typed into the chat: “Wanna buy some salted duck eggs, bro? Two-five each, buy ten and get one free.”