Rags to Riches: The Rise of a Dual-Talent Prodigy
Chapter 52 Elderly Edition Qian 7—Li Hongsheng, Defeated!

Chapter 52: Chapter 52 Elderly Edition Qian 7—Li Hongsheng, Defeated!

If it were another student, Li Hongsheng might put on the airs of a principal, but the headmaster had repeatedly warned him not to threaten Qian Qi, leaving him a bit hesitant about how to persuade Qian Qi to lower the price.

"Student, I’ll be frank, ten million is a bit too much for me."

Li Hongsheng decided to reveal his identity in a tactful way, "I am currently the dean of the Magic Plant Research Institute. I don’t know if you’re aware, but in today’s society, magic plants are largely seen as useless, leading to a general disdain which has resulted in the research institute being perpetually underfunded and struggling to operate."

He sighed deeply, "But I firmly believe that magic plants are beneficial to humanity; we just haven’t found the right approach yet."

Pausing for a moment, he added, "Even if they’re of no use to humans, it’s good enough if they’re beneficial for contracted beasts. Once the contracted beasts grow stronger, humanity will find it easier to deal with magical beasts, making the world a safer place."

"Since you chose the Magic Plant Major, you must think the same way, right?"

Li Hongsheng tried to reason with heartfelt emotion, attempting to make Qian Qi resonate with the significance of researching magic plants.

Qian Qi pondered for two seconds and honestly replied, "No, I’m just purely broke; I could only pick the magic plant major."

Li Hongsheng: ???

"If I could switch to the Magic Beast Department or the Beast Taming Department for free, who knows, maybe I’d already have magical beasts and contracted beasts under my command." Qian Qi madly hinted at the headmaster.

Headmaster: ...

I can’t believe you, you can’t cause trouble in other departments!

Seeing that Qian Qi was immune to reasoning, Li Hongsheng decided to go all out, slamming the table and adopting a bargaining stance.

"Can’t it be cheaper? Ten million is too expensive! And who can guarantee that your planting method is reliable? What if it’s fake?"

After all, he was a veteran at securing investments and had tricked wealthy patrons into funding the Magic Plant Research Institute over the years; he couldn’t believe he couldn’t out-bargain a student!

Unfortunately, this time Li Hongsheng hit a brick wall.

When it came to bargaining, Qian Qi had never lost, and being the sole vendor, she had the ultimate trump card—

"Take it or leave it." Qian Qi nonchalantly picked her ear, "If you’re not buying, I’m leaving."

Li Hongsheng: !!!

No! You can’t leave!

I still have 365 bargaining tricks I haven’t used yet—

"Prepare ten million and then come back. Don’t worry, I’ll save it for you, and won’t sell it to anyone else." Qian Qi waved her hand, her attitude firm, "If there’s nothing else, I’ll get going. Have a great day."

Having said that, she dusted herself off and walked out.

Li Hongsheng was dumbfounded, pointing shakily at the doorway and turning to the headmaster, "Zheng! What’s with this kid? Why is he so unyielding? Doesn’t he know that I can, with one word, make him unable to stay in the Magic Plant Department College!"

The headmaster silently corrected, "It’s a girl, a girl."

Li Hongsheng: ???

Li Hongsheng pointed at the door, then at himself, "A girl?!"

Li Hongsheng had never seen such a gritty girl, carrying a streetwise demeanor, her rough little face smiling as if impervious to any threat, completely disregarding him and the headmaster.

"Don’t treat her like an ordinary student," the headmaster took a box containing a Defense Fruit out of the drawer and showed it to Li Hongsheng, "Do you know what this is?"

Li Hongsheng glanced indifferently, "Chocolate bean?"

Headmaster: Damn it... "This is a Magic Plant fruit!"

Li Hongsheng paused for a moment, picked up the Defense Fruit to examine it closely, and after a while, frowned, "Which magic plant bears fruit like this? I haven’t seen it."

The headmaster’s gaze was meaningful, "Not only that, but this Defense Fruit can be eaten directly, with no side effects whatsoever."

"What?" Li Hongsheng responded in shock, "Can be consumed directly? Do you mean by an Awakener, or any ordinary person? No, wait!"

Li Hongsheng realized, "Defense Fruit? What does that mean?"

"When you ingest this Defense Fruit, for the next 10 minutes, you’re immune to all damage from D-level magical beasts, whether it’s physical or elemental damage," the headmaster said slowly, "but it can’t defend against spiritual attacks, I tested it yesterday."

Li Hongsheng: !!!

Defense against D-level damage, what kind of benevolent fruit is this?

Li Hongsheng immediately felt the Defense Fruit in his hand growing hot, excitement and fervor alight in his aged eyes as he trembled, "Zheng, you better not be fooling me, is this for real?"

"It’s real." The headmaster nodded twice and played a recorded video of the competition made by students present at the time on a projector to Li Hongsheng, "Qian Qi held a competition specifically to demonstrate the Defense Fruit’s effects. You should be able to tell there’s no trickery involved."

Li Hongsheng fixated on Qian Qi’s figure in the video, and when he saw the Bear Iron Beast’s arms smash into Qian Qi, he couldn’t help but excitedly stand up, "A young Bear Iron Beast is a Quasi-D-level Power System and Earth Element magical beast, and she didn’t get hurt at all?"

Is this Defense Fruit truly that miraculous?

Even though Li Hongsheng had always believed that useful Magic Plant by-products could be developed, discovering such a directly consumable and beneficial fruit still greatly exceeded his expectations!

"Zheng, this Defense Fruit..." Li Hongsheng couldn’t help but look at the headmaster, probing, "Can I take it back for research?"

Headmaster: "Of course you can~"

Li Hongsheng: "That’s great..."

Headmaster: "15,300, pay up."

Li Hongsheng: "...really" ???

"Zheng!" Li Hongsheng exclaimed, "Don’t be like this, I’m planning to ask you to lend me money to buy the Fire Qilin Lotus planting method!"

Headmaster: ???

"See, now you also know how beneficial magic plants are to humanity!"

Li Hongsheng immediately adopted a negotiation stance, persuasively coaxing, "Once I cultivate this Defense Fruit, won’t the funds just naturally flow in? It won’t be like before, where I couldn’t repay!"

Headmaster: ...But I don’t think you’ll be able to cultivate it.

"If you’re really concerned, how about this, I can offer you a share of the profits!" Li Hongsheng desperately tried to rope the headmaster into his scheme, "For the sake of the profits, help me persuade Qian Qi to share the Defense Fruit’s planting method!"

"I have a feeling that this girl must know how to cultivate it!"

The headmaster twitched the corner of his mouth.

Now he realized why he had tolerated Qian Qi so much, even when she tricked him, he wasn’t angry—it was because there was an "elder version of Qian Qi" meticulously trying to con him too!

However, he was indeed tempted by Li Hongsheng’s proposal, as the value of the Defense Fruit and Fire Qilin Fruit was immeasurable in the early stages, not to mention...

The headmaster leaned close to Li Hongsheng’s ear and whispered, "Actually, she still has..."