Chapter 91: The Ninety-First Day of Lying Flat Like a Salted Fish

When Lu Yuan received the message, he was lying in front of his small shop, soaking up the sun.

In the blink of an eye, spring on the Desolate Planet had passed. The weather was turning hot, and the rains were becoming more frequent. During the past few days, while Siming, Geshu Qing, and the others had split up to head toward their respective new residences, the region where Lu Yuan lived had seen continuous rainfall. It was the official start of the rainy season.

The very air had grown damp.

Lu Yuan wasn’t quite used to this humid climate. Before coming to the Desolate Planet, he had spent years navigating the cosmos and had rarely seen rain. Furthermore, the air conditioning on starships controlled humidity within a range comfortable for the human body, so he had little experience with dampness.

His small shop was well-equipped, but it truly lacked a dehumidifying device. Such a thing wasn’t hard to make, but it required highly absorbent materials… and there were no such things on the Desolate Planet. Thus, he could only endure the humidity.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t stand it. Lu Yuan’s endurance had always been excellent.

But it was, after all, somewhat uncomfortable.

Today, the sun had finally come out, and Lu Yuan couldn’t bear to stay indoors any longer. In a rare display of initiative, he stepped outside. He didn’t bring the sofa—it felt a bit damp too—so he just carried a chair to the doorway and moved a small table out as well. Only then did he grab his tablet and pour himself a cup of water.

After this sequence of movements, though he hadn’t really done much, he already felt mentally exhausted. Lu Yuan looked up at the distant star, calculated the time, leaned back into his chair, and closed his eyes to slack off.

A few hours passed in a flash. The sun shifted from directly overhead to right before his eyes, its afternoon rays shining on his face and making his skin feel slightly warm. Only then did Lu Yuan open his eyes.

In the distance, Goudan was already making his way back. The footsteps of the people he was leading could be heard.

Lu Yuan didn’t move, remaining slumped in his chair as he waited.

Lately, Goudan had been busy teaching everyone how to cultivate mushrooms.

Ever since Lu Yuan had given him advice on teaching methods, Goudan had adjusted his lesson plans. He led them to start with immediate tasks—things that could be done right away and would show results quickly.

It happened to be the rainy season. While Lu Yuan disliked this climate, various fungi loved it. This was the season of vigorous growth for mushrooms. Goudan felt that if they could cultivate these fungi using more scientific and effective methods, they would surely reap a bountiful harvest.

He had asked Lu Yuan for materials on mushroom cultivation, then spent two days pulling all-nighters with the Science Outreach Group and the Teaching Assistant Group to compile the most useful sections.

Since they lacked pens and paper and couldn’t create actual textbooks, he had no choice but to turn the content into a presentation. He made a point of marking the pronunciation for every word and displayed it on the projection screen in the center of the market to make it easier for everyone to learn.

Under Lu Yuan’s direction, he also employed a bit of a scheme.

He didn’t tell everyone what it was, nor did he force them to learn; he simply put the information out there. He did only one thing: he divided the entire mountainside into many sectors and required that each person could only forage for mushrooms in their own assigned area.

Then, people began to notice that the members of the Science Outreach Group and the Teaching Assistant Group always harvested more than anyone else.

This was very strange. Some said Goudan was playing favorites and giving them the best spots, but after questioning these “favored ones,” others realized the land was the same—what differed was the method of cultivation.

They had found a way to make the mushrooms grow better. Moreover, they weren’t keeping it a secret; they had put all these methods up on the big screen. It was just that no one had looked, and even if they had, they couldn’t understand it.

At this point, some people began to feel regret. If they had worked harder when learning to write, would they be able to understand that content now? Who didn’t want to harvest more and eat their fill?

From there, things proceeded much more smoothly.

People began begging the members of the Teaching Assistant Group to teach them how to read the content on the big screen. Naturally, these members didn’t refuse—after all, Goudan’s goal from the start had been to get everyone to learn proactively.

However, they didn’t grant every request immediately. Goudan was worried that some might feel that even if they were illiterate, someone would be willing to read and explain things to them, thus making them feel there was no need to learn.

So, he required the Teaching Assistant Group to tell everyone that they had their own work to do and could only spare a portion of their time each day for teaching.

But with only a small amount of instructional time available each day, what people could learn was far too limited.

In their desperation, some people began to think of a division of labor. Dozens of people formed a group, dividing all the text into a corresponding number of segments.

This way, every time the teaching assistant came to lecture, each person only needed to memorize their assigned section. By pooling together what everyone had learned, they could reconstruct the entire body of knowledge.

Through this method, some people mastered new mushroom cultivation techniques. They had tasted a bit of success.

However, this also presented problems. After dividing the entire lesson into so many segments, the content each person held was incomplete. On its own, a single segment made little sense. Every time a question arose, dozens of people had to gather to study it together, and sometimes they encountered significant disagreements.

Consequently, their desire to learn did not fade. They continued to use the new technology to grow mushrooms while simultaneously working hard to study.

Goudan announced that there would be other cultivation techniques for them to learn in the future, and that he would lead them in growing other crops. This made everyone work even harder at their studies.

Goudan wasn’t idle himself. He used a camera to record the entire process of everyone learning, discussing, arguing, and experimenting. He then meticulously edited and organized the footage.

These were precious memories and important data.

This was also what Goudan had reported when Lu Yuan asked about it a few days ago.

Goudan had appeared very proud, and Lu Yuan was indeed very satisfied with him.

Heaven helps those who help themselves. He hoped the people of the Desolate Planet could learn to be self-reliant and proactive in improving their lives and changing their destinies, rather than being dragged forward by others.

That Goudan could lead the ignorant people of the Desolate Planet to learn autonomously was undoubtedly a great step forward.

The process seemed simple and easy. But Lu Yuan had been a manager and a commander; he knew that the human heart is unpredictable and that everyone has different ideas. Guiding people’s thoughts, maintaining a positive attitude, and working together to complete a difficult task was actually not easy at all.

Goudan must have put a lot of thought and effort into accomplishing this.

As they walked back, the crowd around Goudan gradually dispersed. By the time he reached Lu Yuan, he was alone.

“Yo, soaking up the sun?” Goudan greeted him.

“Mm,” Lu Yuan nodded.

“You really should get some sun.” Goudan pushed the door open and walked inside. “It’s been so damp lately, and you stay indoors all day. If you don’t get some sun, you’ll start growing mushrooms.”

“…Is your head completely filled with mushrooms lately?” Lu Yuan said helplessly.

Goudan gave a mischievous grin and suddenly turned around, tossing an object that landed in Lu Yuan’s lap.

It was the communicator Lu Yuan had specially made to contact Siming.

“Siming and Geshu Qing have reached their destination,” Goudan said. “But something strange happened. I thought I should let you see it.”

He walked into the kitchen to start cooking, his voice still drifting over. “I thought about showing you right away, but I figured it probably wouldn’t be much use even if I did, so I didn’t rush. The weather is nice today, and running back here just for that would have been a waste of time.”

Lu Yuan nodded, not minding at all.

Goudan was right. Even if he were told about many of the things Siming and the others encountered, he wouldn’t have a solution; at most, he could offer some advice.

Since Goudan felt it was fine to tell him a little later, then it truly must be fine. Lu Yuan trusted Goudan’s judgment.

Similarly, since Goudan said he should take a look, there was likely a real necessity for him to do so.

Goudan was a sensible person; he wouldn’t treat Lu Yuan like a nanny for Siming and the others, running to him for advice on every little thing. If he wanted to show him something, it meant the matter was either related to him or something Siming and the others couldn’t solve.

Or…

Both.

Lu Yuan looked at the content displayed on the communicator, slightly stunned.

[…]

[We have obtained new StarNet accounts.]

[But a problem has arisen. When Zhu Rong used the new StarNet account to create a new game account and log into the game 80% Mecha Combat, she did not receive a new game character.]

[Despite using a new account, her location and the items she possesses after logging in are exactly as they were on her previous account. It is as if she is still logged into her old account.]

[Additionally, Geshu Qing told me that he cannot log into this game. I originally thought the Geshu Family had placed some restriction on him. But after having Zhu Rong ask around in the game, I learned that not everyone can log into this game.]

[Only a very small number of people can log in normally. For the vast majority, it is impossible to even open it. I tried it myself and found that I cannot log in either.]