Chapter 34: Because the Food at the Agricultural University is Delicious!
The geese have all grown up… What the hell kind of problem is this? Could it be that these geese are Rong Ziyin’s research subjects?
For a moment, the production crew was completely baffled. Even Rong Ziyin’s gaze seemed to grow profoundly enigmatic.
“Guess it’s not convenient after all!” Seeing him silent for so long, Rong Ziyin instinctively turned to the department chair nearby for help.
“Then maybe I could ask our department…”
“No! I can’t!” The mere thought of Rong Ziyin’s troublesome, unlucky geese made the department chair’s face darken instantly.
His voice was so shrill it startled even the production crew.
So what’s wrong with these milk geese?
Of course there’s a problem! The department head felt like crying.
And Rong Ziyin’s bunch of drama queen baby geese were equally displeased. Hearing that Rong Ziyin might keep them behind, the little geese instantly wrapped their fluffy little wings around his fingers, craning their necks to peek toward the director’s crew.
Baby Goose: How could anyone be so heartless, making young goslings leave their handsome, gentle daddy?!
A head with a single tuft of fluff peeked halfway out from behind Rong Ziyin’s fingers, its big dark eyes fixed intently on the interview director.
It was utterly adorable—the director’s crew was instantly struck by the little gosling’s charm.
【Charm Level: 5000】
The director immediately nodded. “No problem! You can keep it!”
After all, they’d be living alone for the next two months. Rong Ziyin’s own gosling—he could certainly take care of it himself.
Rong Ziyin smiled. “Thank you for your help, production team.” He patted the baby goose’s head. “Say thank you to this pretty sister!”
Baby Goose: Fires off little hearts of love~
【Charm Level 2000】
Perfect. Now the entire production team was completely smitten. Rong Ziyin bringing the goose to set was settled.
With that issue resolved, Rong Ziyin’s rapid-fire Q&A segment commenced.
The difficulty level of Rong Ziyin’s questions was comparable to those posed to the horticulture major beauty and the mechanical engineering major. But as the star student everyone was watching, Rong Ziyin’s questions naturally spanned a much broader range.
The production team had initially thought that if Rong Ziyin could answer 80% correctly, it would be quite impressive.
Yet Rong Ziyin answered every single one correctly.
The most astonishing part was that he knew the director’s name for an extremely obscure art film that didn’t even have a rating on Douban.
The production team couldn’t help but marvel, “Seems like Young Rong has quite the artistic side after all.”
Rong Ziyin pondered for a moment, “Probably because that director was exceptionally interesting!”
With limited time, the team didn’t press further for details. They simply agreed, “It seems like interesting souls always attract each other,” and wrapped up the interview.
However, when Rong Ziyin returned to the department lounge, the looks he got from the mechanical engineering and landscape architecture students felt off.
“We’re all stuck in the lab—how come you have time to watch movies?”
Rong Ziyin was completely unfazed: “I used to work at a movie theater. I just happened to catch that film’s screening that day.”
“That movie only had one screening, and it was at my theater. You guys should remember that.”
“So you watched it? How else would you know the director is interesting?”
Rong Ziyin: “Yeah! The movie was shot like a PowerPoint presentation. How could it not be interesting?”
It was indeed a typical Rong Ziyin response. The two fell silent.
After all, with a straight guy like Rong Ziyin, you couldn’t expect him to understand anything artistic. You might as well ask him which goose looked more beautiful and charming.
Of course, this part wasn’t recorded.
Meanwhile, after wrapping up the final shots, the director’s team was about to arrange for individual photos.
Originally, they’d planned to just snap a few quick shots, but considering the formidable combat prowess of Rong Ziyin’s team, they decided to do it properly.
Especially Rong Ziyin—refined and handsome, just like a young star. Every word out of his mouth is a meme. The production team are sharp operators; they can tell Rong Ziyin is naturally straight. With good editing in post, this kind of natural straightness can basically guarantee trending topics every episode.
This makes his commercial value skyrocket.
Executive Producer: Shoot him looking sharp—that’s how you create contrast.
Cinematographer: Got it! Just watch me work, boss!
Rong Ziyin showed no stage fright and had solid mimicry skills, so the first few shots wrapped up quickly.
Most delightfully, Rong Ziyin’s dozen or so baby geese were miraculously cooperative. Not only did they stay perfectly still, but they’d proudly lift their little heads the moment the camera focused on them—truly impressive teamwork.
Cameraman: “How did you train these geese, Rong? They’re not afraid of people and not aggressive at all.”
Rong Ziyin pondered for a moment: “Maybe it’s because you’re so handsome.”
The cameraman couldn’t help but laugh: “Oh my, what a smooth talker!”
Rong Ziyin glanced at the comments flooding the live stream above the goslings’ heads: “The guy’s kinda cute, but I’m cuter than him.” He decided to let the cameraman think whatever he wanted.
The system sighed inwardly, thinking this appearance-obsessed world was truly beyond hope.
The production team worked efficiently. A week later, as a teaser for the new episode, a montage preview featuring Rong Ziyin and the others appeared on the official Weibo account.
First came photos of Rong Ziyin and his two companions.
It must be said—humans are visual creatures. At first glance, a handsome face always catches the eye before an interesting soul.
Especially Rong Ziyin in the photo—his gentle eyes, pure smile, paired with that veterinary white coat—it perfectly hit the aesthetic sweet spot for face-obsessed fans.
“Aaaah! This vet guy is too gorgeous, I’m picking him!”
“Thanks to the director team for this treat. Quick! Give me the new genius’s Weibo—my big x can’t wait!”
“Forget everything else—just for this face alone, I’m renewing my membership this season!”
But this is ultimately a show where academic champions compete, and true talent reigns supreme. So while some adore him, others can’t stand the sight.
“This is supposed to be a show about real skill—what’s the point of filling it with so many good-looking people?”
“Is the production team stirring trouble? Didn’t they say the top three teams would compete against international opponents? I don’t mind surprise attacks, but lacking real skills is unacceptable!”
“This is really annoying. I hope they don’t turn it into another entertainment industry mess. It’s rare to find a show without obvious scripting that feels pure and genuine.”
The show’s longtime fans are fiercely protective. Before long, the topic “Surprise Attack Team Suspected of Being Decorative Dummies” trended on the homepage.
Agricultural University is a legitimate 985/211 institution, and Rong Ziyin’s trio are renowned academic stars on campus. How could anyone disparage them like this?
The Dean of the Veterinary Medicine Department was the first to retweet the Weibo post, declaring, “Agricultural University has no decorative dummies,” directly stepping in to refute the rumors.
Soon after, the deans of the Landscape Architecture and Mechanical Engineering departments also stepped forward with reposts, defending their own students.
The university’s campus forum instantly erupted. Students at this age are fiercely passionate. When their school faces discrimination, they’re ready to dive in headfirst!
Similar posts flooded the forum:
“Brothers! The time to defend our school has come!”
“The vet department head has spoken—we need to rally behind him.”
“Hah! Those people know jack-shit. Spouting nonsense about ‘decorative vases’ shows they’ve never faced real academic heavyweights!”
While the university had its share of capable individuals, relying solely on passion wouldn’t guarantee victory in online battles.
But sheer numbers are unstoppable. There were genuine fangirls deeply immersed in fan communities, well-versed in online discourse tactics, who created dedicated threads teaching others how to counter arguments.
“Everyone, keep your emotions in check. We’re not lacking in genuine talent and knowledge. The competition will reveal everything once it begins. The harder they suppress us now, the more spectacular the backlash will be later.”
“So we can’t engage in tit-for-tat insults now and alienate neutral observers. Once the tables turn, it’ll be too late to salvage our image.”
“Then what should we do?”
“Present facts and reason! Do our three academic superstars lack points to brag about?”
Holy crap! That makes perfect sense!
With Yidian Baitong leading the charge, the Agricultural University students instantly found their anchor.
Later, on Weibo, they reposted the veterinary department chair’s statement of support, subtly weaving in praise for their own academic stars.
They dug up everything: national first prizes in mechanical modeling, international youth festival invitations for landscape design, even digging up Rong Ziyin’s past as Yanjing City’s top-scoring student.
“This is too fake! Who would be top scorer and go to an ag college?” Some actually questioned it.
They were promptly shut down with the interview reports from when Rong Ziyin claimed the top spot in the college entrance exams.
Indeed, he was the top scorer in the college entrance exam for Yanjing City, and was even admitted to the Agricultural University on an exceptional basis, exempt from tuition and accommodation fees for four years.
“Huh, haven’t you seen the reports? What’s wrong with a rural top scorer dedicating himself to animal husbandry to give back to his hometown? People have different aspirations—it’s just your assumptions running wild!”
With that, Rong Ziyin became an overnight sensation. Everyone involved in the online debate could only stand down and await the final outcome of Rong Ziyin and his team’s “surprise attack.”
Even before the show aired, it had already trended on social media, effectively saving on promotional costs.
At that moment, Rong Ziyin and his two companions were on their way to the program’s dormitory for recording, nearing their destination.
This wave of online buzz had netted Rong Ziyin over a hundred thousand points in emotional value.
The System, browsing the comments, asked Rong Ziyin curiously, “Host, why did you choose to apply to the Agricultural University back then?”
Rong Ziyin, just waking from sleep, answered instinctively, “Because the Agricultural University promised four years of tuition and accommodation waivers, plus guaranteed priority admission.”
The system fell silent for a moment, unsure whether to sympathize with the netizens moved by Rong Ziyin’s unwavering original intent or to feel sorry for the high school graduate who had no other options back then.
Rong Ziyin: “Stop overthinking it. There was no ‘no other options’ situation. I could have applied for a student loan back then.”
System: “Then why did you still come to Agricultural University?”
Rong Ziyin sighed and told the truth: “Because they said the cafeteria food at Agricultural University was better.”
System: …
The system retreated into silence once more.
Rong Ziyin offered no consolation. Truth be told, prestigious universities like Peking and Tsinghua had extended offers to him back then. Yet he ultimately chose Agricultural University.
Ultimately, it had nothing to do with grand dreams or the quality of cafeteria food. The veterinary program was the last safety net Rong Ziyin had secured for himself.
After all, he’d been plagued by terrible luck since childhood, with obstacles always cropping up at decisive moments. Passing the college entrance exam smoothly had been an unexpected stroke of good fortune, so Rong Ziyin reasoned that karma might come knocking at any time. Studying veterinary medicine offered a safety net—if things didn’t work out, he could always return to his hometown and make a living.
This was also the true reason why Rong Ziyin remained relatively unperturbed when his advisor suggested he be sent to the countryside.
It could only be described as a blessing in disguise—gaining the system had instead granted him the best possible future.
Precisely because of this, Rong Ziyin felt there was no need to dwell on the past “endurance,” for cause and effect were clear, and he had always understood contentment.
Another ten minutes passed before the bus pulled up in front of the dormitory building.
With the help of the production crew, Rong Ziyin carried his luggage off the vehicle.
Due to the presence of the milk geese, Rong Ziyin was the last to arrive.
After assisting the crew in settling the geese, he returned to his dormitory to unpack.
The production team had spared no expense; Rong Ziyin’s dormitory environment was practically indistinguishable from a five-star hotel.
After glancing around, Rong Ziyin began unpacking. Soon, a knock sounded at the door.
Opening it, he found a boy with a radiant smile. Not very tall—reaching just above Rong Ziyin’s shoulders—the youth couldn’t help but stare intently at Rong Ziyin’s face upon seeing him.
“You’re even more handsome in person than in photos!”
“And you are?” Rong Ziyin didn’t recognize him.
The boy quickly introduced himself. “Hello, senior! I’m from the Qingbei Youth Program. Like you, I’m part of the surprise attack team participating in this program on a special exemption. But we arrived last week, so I’m actually staying right next door to you!”
“Oh, and as future comrades-in-arms, senior, should we exchange WeChat contacts? It’d make staying in touch easier.”
“Sure.” Rong Ziyin added him on WeChat.
Having achieved his goal, the youngster exchanged a few more polite words with Rong Ziyin before returning to his dorm.
Unlike Rong Ziyin’s room, the teenager’s dorm housed two others—likely his teammates.
Excitedly, he held his phone toward them. “Give me props! Perfect intel on the opponent! I got his WeChat.”
“Is he that careless?” Another boy frowned, puzzled by Rong Ziyin’s apparent lack of caution.
“Ah, whatever! Let’s see what’s on his Moments first.”
Among the three teens, one was in a psychology-track program, so they’d grown accustomed to analyzing opponents through social media posts.
Though this tactic had only been used once, it proved highly effective, prompting them to employ it again.
The only regret was that after their successful ambush, other teams had become highly guarded. They never expected Rong Ziyin to be so careless.
“Maybe he didn’t do his homework. Isn’t that even better?” the three…
“Maybe he didn’t do his homework—isn’t that even better?” the three teens thought to themselves as they tapped into Rong Ziyin’s Moments feed.
The moment they did, all three were stunned speechless.
Because the very first post that greeted them featured three strikingly eye-catching dried fish. Accompanying the image was a single line of text: “Want some dried fish? For a tasty side dish, pick me—I’m super sweet!”