Chapter 124 Exhibition
"...It's motionless, it really seems to have turned into a plant!" Dixia said in surprise. Then, she calmed down, held the flashlight steadily, and observed the four ovules of the deceptive flower more carefully.
"The corolla is gradually falling off, and there is a tumor on the receptacle. No...this, is this the fruit of the Deception Flower?! A monster like the Deception Flower can actually bear fruit!!" Dixia widened her eyes slightly.
Although she had learned this from Harold a long time ago and had personally pollinated the second-generation artificially bred deceitful flowers, hearing about it from others and seeing this absurd scene with her own eyes were two different things, so at this moment, Dixia still found it unbelievable.
But she soon realized that she shouldn't make such a fuss in front of her employer, so she coughed lightly and told herself to focus on the four mother plants, which were rare research materials that were very likely to produce new varieties of the deceitful flower.
Dixia: "It was not noticeable yesterday, but their fruits have grown so much in one day... It's been a week, which means we only need to wait another two weeks to see the fruits mature. Will there be seeds inside? Huh, why am I still a little nervous?"
"You'll get used to it, Miss Dixia. You can drink a glass of water first to adjust yourself, and then start today's experiment. Even if the mother plant does successfully produce seeds, we have to wait at least another week to determine whether the seeds can germinate, and then we have to record their growth.
——The time during this period cannot be wasted, Miss Dixia, can we start today's experiment now? "Seeing Dixia drink a glass of nectar water in one breath, Harold asked.
After three weeks of study, Dixia has been able to conduct experiments independently and no longer needs his guidance. Dixia has also learned a lot of biological knowledge, and her mastery of plant reproduction theory has surpassed many junior high school students on Blue Star. He can even safely hand over the task of recording experimental data to Dixia.
In a nutshell, completely liberating my hands and brain, well... it’s so cool to be a mentor!
"Okay, I'll go right away." Dixia did not forget the employment agreement she signed with Haroldt. Hearing Haroldt's urging, she quickly put down the water cup, washed her hands again and entered the laboratory to repeat the pollen enchantment operation.
...
After a day's work, Harold paid the balance of this month and the full amount of next month's wages. Judging from the current situation, it is possible that Dixia will continue to work for him for a year. So after paying 5.1 million Mora, Harold said to Dixia:
"Ms. Dixia, in order to ensure the smooth progress of my experiment, can you establish a long-term employment relationship with me?
The current situation is that although we both agreed during the initial discussion that our employment relationship would last until my experiment was successful, and the salary would be paid monthly, and you said that the employment relationship should not last more than one year,
But now I think that extending the employment period will benefit both of us. I need your help in both of my projects, and I also need your help in the next few experiments.
Rather than teaching a mercenary how to manipulate elemental forces and learn biology from scratch, I need an assistant like you who already possesses these qualities.
The conditions I offer are pretty good among all the employers, and you seem to like my research and love learning, and are eager to gain unknown knowledge from me - so, how about it, would you like to consider it?"
"Long-term employment relationship...how long is that?"
Dixia thought about it seriously. What Harold said was right. The conditions he offered were generous enough. It would be hard to find another employer who did not discriminate against desert people, paid wages on time, and did not deliberately make things difficult for people during the employment stage. Moreover, when Harold hired her, he did not have a hard requirement that the employment relationship could not be terminated before the experiment was completed.
This meant that while he gave her freedom and respect, he also took on the risk of temporarily replacing her and paying additional experimental fees. However, she always remembered that she was the daughter of the desert and it was impossible for her to stay away from her hometown for long.
Harold said calmly, "How about five years first?"
"Ah?!" Dixia couldn't help but blurt out, "It took you so long to study the hybridization of the cheat flower?!"
“Well… the screening and testing work after the successful hybridization will take a long time, but at this stage, I basically don’t need your help. It’s just that I think having an assistant can make my work a lot easier.
I have to travel to two places every day, and maybe three places in the future, and I have to submit various paper documents required by the Faith Court - damn formalism... Anyway, my body can't take it anymore." Harold said helplessly.
Then he immediately added: "Don't rush to refuse, Miss Dixia, listen to my projects first, maybe you will be interested in one of them. As long as you are willing to stay and be my assistant, we can still maintain our current relationship.
If you have any questions, you can always ask me. I am also happy to share my research results. You know, the Fatwa only protects knowledge itself, but generally does not interfere with the economic value of knowledge results. "
Dixia originally wanted to refuse outright and said that she had no intention of making a profit from what she learned from Harold, but when she learned that Harold was also conducting research on sea rice and was preparing to promote it to the desert, she immediately changed her mind.
It's only five years. I'm only seventeen now, and I'll be twenty-two in five years. I'm in my prime, with plenty of energy to do many things... I will definitely go back to the desert, bringing with me the seeds of hope that can change the desert, Dixia said to herself.
Harold is a reliable guy. Even the residents of Hua Castle, which is far away from the Church, know that he has been in Xumi for only one year, and several research projects have been a great success.
Originally, when Dixia thought of "five years", she felt uneasy. She had never been away from the desert for such a long time. But when she thought of the mother plant of the deceiving flower she saw today, Dixia felt that she should be relieved. It seemed that everything Harold wanted to do had been done. She had no reason not to believe him. What's more, if any problems occurred in the middle, she could unilaterally terminate the employment relationship at any time.
No matter how you think about it, Harold has to take greater risks in this relationship. He trusts me so much, so I should treat him with the same attitude.
It seems that I have to go back to the port of Omos and ask our leader to bring my commission back to the desert once every six months. After careful consideration, Dixia has already begun to calculate how to arrange her salary. As one of the top mercenaries, the commission she receives is much higher than her daily expenses.
In the past, she would exchange the money for water and food, and return to the desert every six months to deliver these supplies to those who needed them more. But now that she chose to stay in Harold's research institute, she had to arrange these things in advance, so as not to let the residents of the desert think that she had an accident.
...
As the date of the carnival drew closer, scholars from various colleges in the Church of the Holy Trinity sped up their preparations, and some makeshift stalls had already appeared near the residential area next to the Church of the Holy Trinity.
As a representative of the life theory school recommended by his mentor, Harold stored his exhibits in the college two weeks before the event. He brought two cages of four three-sized mice, thirty cans of dry nectar powder and thirty cans of nectar. These exhibits were kept by his mentor Zacharias.
After thinking about it, he simply moved the microscope from his own laboratory to the college. Although the microscope was not considered a research result of the Life Theory School, he had just submitted the relevant paper and the sage had not had time to grade his paper, let alone make the concept of cells public.
When microbiology theory and cell theory were not established, if you talked about microorganisms with the residents of Xumi City, they would think you were talking about sacred texts. However, the process of operating a microscope to observe the microscopic world is very interesting. Well... magnifying the real world a thousand times, using this as a gimmick should be able to attract a group of audiences.
After listening to Harold's explanation, Zacharias immediately decided to add this event to the amusement party.
Because Azar announced that making sugar from Dun Dun peaches was a long-term project of Amiledo College, the refined sugar made from Dun Dun peaches and three Dun Dun peach plants that are twice as sweet are stored in the college exhibition hall.
Three days before the carnival, scholars from Ami Rido College who were participating in the event gathered in a classroom as usual to discuss the exhibition.