Chapter: 151

Qin Yun spent two hours in his office, organizing documents before heading out.

It was now 7 p.m., and the Farm was still bustling with researchers. Thanks to the Heart of the Farm, staff inside didn’t need to wear pressure suits at all times. But the air outside the Farm was murky, a stark contrast to the clean environment within.

Qin Yun walked into the agricultural lab, where they were currently working on seed improvement under high-pressure conditions. He made a round through the lab and was just about to leave when he saw Ba Mu walk in, eyes red.

“What happened?” Qin Yun was startled.

“It’s nothing,” Ba Mu said, trying to compose himself.

At 10 p.m., just as Qin Yun was getting ready for bed, there was a knock at the door.

He opened it to find Ba Mu standing there with two bottles of fruit wine.

“This is low-alcohol lemon wine. Want to have a drink together?” Ba Mu asked.

“Sure,” Qin Yun said, motioning for him to come in.

The Farm allowed researchers to drink during their downtime, but most avoided it to keep their minds sharp. Qin Yun knew Ba Mu had something on his mind.

Ba Mu set the bottles on the table and downed half of one in a single gulp. “My Ajie’s working in Luo Hai…”

He began to talk, voice low and rambling.

Ajie, full name Zhuo Ya, had two sons and a daughter. Her husband worked out of town, while she picked up odd jobs in Wufeng County. Seven months ago, her husband was laid off, leaving the family without a stable income. Through a referral, she went to Luo Hai to work as a live-in nanny. The child she cared for was a five-year-old boy, easy to handle. But last week, while playing on a slide in the neighborhood, the boy fell and broke his thigh and right forearm.

The hospital and nutritional expenses came to 87,000 yuan. The family scraped together 56,000, but unable to come up with the rest and overwhelmed with despair, Ajie attempted suicide by drinking pesticide last Wednesday. The pesticide had been diluted by the manufacturer, so she survived and was now recovering at home.

“It was just 30,000 yuan. If she’d told me, she wouldn’t have had to go through that,” Ba Mu said, eyes red.

He had gotten the news that afternoon. Since his family couldn’t come up with the money, his parents had called him. As soon as he heard, he transferred 100,000 yuan without hesitation.

Over the years, he had regularly sent money home. His parents, seeing he was still unmarried, had him save it up for a future wife. He had managed to save quite a bit. 87,000 yuan was a lot, but it wasn’t worth a life. He couldn’t understand why his own sister would try to kill herself over that amount.

“Maybe she didn’t want to trouble you,” Qin Yun said gently.

“Maybe.” Ba Mu gave a bitter smile.

He had a rough idea why Ajie hadn’t asked him for help. In the past two years, with her kids in school, she had already borrowed 60,000 yuan from him. He had never asked for it back, but Ajie had kept it in mind and probably felt too embarrassed to ask again.

“Do you think things will ever get better?” Ba Mu stared blankly at the wine bottle.

If there hadn’t been an economic crisis, his brother-in-law wouldn’t have lost his job. Ajie wouldn’t have needed to become a nanny. None of this would have happened.

“I don’t know,” Qin Yun replied, equally lost in thought.

Three years ago, he would’ve poured out a whole speech full of motivational clichés. But now, with the system at a standstill and the global environment worsening, he wasn’t sure anymore.

They drank from ten until two in the morning. At 2:30, Ba Mu glanced at the time. “I’ve kept you up.”

“It’s fine,” Qin Yun said. “Heading back to Wufeng tomorrow?”

Ba Mu shook his head. “No.”

His parents had specifically told him during the call that Ajie’s emotions were unstable. They wanted him to stay focused on his research for now and return only when things had settled down.

After chatting a bit more, Ba Mu asked, “When are you heading back?” It was mid-July. Every year around this time, Qin Yun would go home to visit the graves.

“Tomorrow,” Qin Yun replied.

He had already gotten leave from Liu Wensheng.

Half an hour later, Ba Mu left. Qin Yun sat back and idly tapped through the System Interface.

Host Name: Qin Yun

Current Mission: Restore global ecological balance (2%)

Farm Level: Intermediate

…

It had been eight years since he’d bound with the system, and his System Points had reached an astronomical number. But whether due to the global ecological crisis or some other reason, the Farm Level had remained at Intermediate for the past two years with no progress.

Qin Yun stared at the screen for a while, then closed the system.

…

“Make sure you’ve got your mask and isolation suit on. The air quality over there’s not great, and keep the oxygen tank handy,” Zhang Hu nagged the next morning as they rode in the SUV toward Jiang City.

After eight years, Zhang Hu had grown darker and more muscular. Maybe it was everything he’d been through, but his personality had become more grounded too.

When he finished, Qin Yun pointed to his mask. “Already wearing it.” This trip was mainly for visiting the graves. According to their itinerary, they would first head to Jiang City Airport, then transfer to Zhuhe.

At 10:20, they arrived at the airport.

Two years ago, during routine maintenance, Canpesheng Airlines had discovered that one of their planes had suffered internal combustion engine damage due to increased air pressure. That discovery triggered a domino effect. Over the next three months, more and more airlines reported similar engine failures.

For half a month, all flights worldwide were grounded.

Only after the Longxia Academy of Sciences developed the Pressure-Resistant Internal Combustion Chip did global aviation resume. Still, for safety reasons, most people now preferred trains or electric rail, and the airline industry had taken a massive hit. When the two arrived at the airport, it was nearly empty, with only a few long-distance travelers. Everyone wore masks and isolation suits, quietly scrolling on their phones.

They waited in the terminal for a while and boarded the plane at exactly 10:50.

As the aircraft slowly ascended, Qin Yun looked out the window.

This year, the global average temperature had reached sixty-nine degrees Celsius. There were few clouds in the sky, and the landscape below was clearly visible.

Staring out at the view, he thought of the recent Shuilan Airlines environmental map.

There was still green on land, but the ocean’s blue had faded. The real global environment was even worse than what the map showed.

At 2 p.m., they arrived in Zhuhe.

“Need a ride?” A taxi driver approached them as soon as they got off.

Zhang Hu asked directly, “Do you know Gaojialing Village?”

“Of course. If it’s in Zhuhe County, there’s no place I don’t know.”

They agreed on a price and got in. The village was seventy kilometers from the county seat. While waiting at a red light, the driver kept glancing at them through the rearview mirror.

“What are you looking at?” Zhang Hu asked.

“Have you been to Zhuhe before?”

Qin Yun, sensing no ill intent, replied, “We’re from Gaojia Ridge.”

The driver kept probing. “Did you go to Gaojia Ridge Hospital a few years back?”

“We did.”

“I drove you guys.”

As they chatted, they learned the driver had once been a tour guide for a travel company. But as the environment worsened, he quit last year. With some connections, he got a taxi license and had been driving in Zhuhe ever since.

“Tour Guide Xu?” Qin Yun asked, suddenly remembering.

He recalled a previous trip to Gaojia Ridge, where they’d had a lively local guide. Back then, the man had been full of energy. Now, he looked weathered and worn.

The driver gave a wry smile. “It’s all because of the environment.”

From 3030 to 3035, unemployment had been rising year by year. It was an objective consequence of environmental conditions impacting the economy—something that couldn’t be solved in the short term.

After saying that, the driver continued, “Our environment may be bad, but the national policies are pretty decent.”

Early last year, the government rolled out the Grain Purchase Subsidy Policy for Residents. This subsidy ensured basic food supplies for low-income households, and even regular citizens could apply for partial support during purchases. Since its release, the policy had been praised as the most heartwarming initiative of the year.

Everyone knew why things had gotten so difficult. Compared to endless complaining, Longxia had done more than enough just to help its people survive.

The two chatted all the way. By 7 p.m., Qin Yun and Zhang Hu arrived at the old Qin family residence.

A ring of weeds had grown around the house, about three centimeters tall. Due to poor oxygen levels, the leaves had turned yellowish.

They stepped over the weeds and entered the courtyard. Everything looked just as it had when they’d left. Zhang Hu went to clean up the guest room and rest, while Qin Yun headed into the main house to pay his respects.

Inside, the memorial portraits of Qin Hai and Grandma were placed side by side. A layer of dust had settled on them. Qin Yun gently wiped them clean and lit a cigarette.

“You should switch out the relic. Take back the Heart of Purification and replace it with the Heart of Nature,” Qin Yun muttered as he lit the cigarette.

The Heart of Purification was a relic left to him by his grandfather, but it came with an irreversible debuff. Ever since he’d received it, the Farm had made a unanimous decision: as long as there was even a sliver of hope, they would never use it.

Qin Yun had always stood firm on that decision. But ever since the mission [Restore Global Soil] was issued, not just him—everyone at the Farm had experienced a moment of doubt.

A sliver of hope.

They all believed there was still a chance. But as the Oxygen Depletion Era dragged on, that hope grew fainter. No one could say for sure whether Shuilan still had a future, or whether ten years from now, the world would face even more terrifying consequences from the ongoing oxygen shortage.

“If you won’t give me the Heart of Nature, at least assign a less impossible task,” Qin Yun continued.

He talked through the night. The portraits remained silent.

The next morning, Qin Yun went to Qin Hai’s grave and rambled on again. The grave, too, gave no response.

“It’s probably not going to work,” Zhang Hu said helplessly.

For the past three years, they’d come to Gaojia Ridge every year. Besides paying respects, Qin Yun had hoped to trigger some overlooked detail. But despite countless attempts, he’d never found anything.

On July 15, the two decided to head back. Before leaving, Qin Yun stopped by Gao Hongwei’s house.

Gao Hongwei was seventy now. He’d had a stroke last year and was hospitalized for a while. Now his hair was completely white, and he spent his days at home focusing on his health.

When Qin Yun entered, Gao Hongwei was inhaling from an oxygen tank.

“Uncle Gao,” Qin Yun greeted him.

“Xiao Qin, you’re here.”

Gao Hongwei switched from an oxygen mask to an Oxygen Helmet. With the current thin air and high atmospheric pressure, residents not only needed supplemental oxygen but also had to wear Hugua Masks. Using them occasionally was fine, but over time, they seriously affected daily life and work.

The Oxygen Helmet was developed by the research institute, combining the principles of the Hugua Mask and oxygen tanks. It looked like something out of a sci-fi movie, resembling a space helmet. The technology wasn’t particularly complex, and once it hit the market, it became a popular item among residents.

After chatting for a bit, Gao Hongwei asked, “Still working in construction?”

“Yeah.”

“As long as you’ve got a job, that’s good.”

He used to think Qin Yun’s job paid well but was too far from home. After everything that had happened, he now felt that having a stable job was a blessing.

“You’re twenty-eight or twenty-nine this year?” Gao Hongwei asked.

“Thirty-one,” Qin Yun replied.

“Thirty-one?” Gao Hongwei was momentarily stunned, then realized it had already been eight years since Qin Yun graduated.

At 2 p.m., Qin Yun and Zhang Hu left.

“It’s been eight years already,” Zhang Hu said with a sigh as they stepped outside.

Eight years ago, Qin Yun had been a wide-eyed rookie entering the system. Who would’ve thought time would pass so quickly?

“Yeah,” Qin Yun said with a small smile.

Zhang Hu called the taxi driver. Half an hour later, the driver arrived.

“Heading back so soon?” the driver asked warmly.

“All done here,” Zhang Hu replied, loading the luggage into the car.

At 3:20, they arrived at the airport.

Just as Qin Yun stepped out of the car, he received a call from the Farm.

Ten minutes later, Qin Yun turned to Zhang Hu. “The Farm’s sending a car.”

Zhang Hu immediately caught on. “Something happened?”

“No,” Qin Yun shook his head. “The Farm made progress.”

Not just any progress—critical progress.

The lab had successfully developed Acid Sea Algae.