Her Cultivation Diary
Chapter 1017 - 997. Highly intelligent

Chapter 1017: 997. Highly intelligent

Song Tan guessed right—the judges at these fifty booths weren’t just taking a bite and moving on. They were carefully assessing strengths and weaknesses, even going as far as to comment on cultivation methods and directions for improvement.

Given that, no matter how small the booth was, it was bound to take up some time.

As for her booth, South 7, looking ahead, the folks at adjacent small booths were already bored out of their minds and playing on their phones.

Song Tan, however, kept herself busy.

Qiaoqiao was still at the agricultural machinery section, enthusiastically testing out various vehicles with a group of high school students. Even though these machines couldn’t actually move or make large-scale rotations, the group was engrossed in fiddling with different control panels and steering wheels.

Song Tan called her back, "Lunch might be a bit late today. Go grab some condiments from the logistics area, and while you’re at it, see if there’s anything like staple food. Let’s snack on something to kill time."

The high school student in the green vest who had followed Qiaoqiao over was stunned. "Why do you assume logistics would have everything you need?"

Song Tan was puzzled. "Didn’t the staff mention it earlier? For the public judging later, we need to cook something ourselves to win high scores from the crowd."

"No, no, no!" The high schooler, who was clearly not a first-timer, quickly denied it. "All they provide are oil and salt. As for staple foods, forget it! If you’re short on anything, you’ll have to buy it yourself."

Then he suddenly leaned in with a mischievous glint in his eye. "Pretty sis, are you hungry? Just tell me what you want, and I’ll figure something out for you."

Song Tan: ... This kid’s got a sweet tongue.

"But aren’t you still working?"

Nonchalantly, he replied, "I’m just roaming around the venue—I don’t have a fixed role, and the ones who need to give those professional explanations, well, that’s their job. I’m just the odd job guy."

Song Tan thought to herself: Roaming around, testing out machinery one by one... if odd jobs were this entertaining, a lot of people would sign up for it.

But...

"Didn’t the New Year holiday just end? How come you’re not back in school yet?"

The boy’s lips quirked upwards, only for him to quickly repress the smile and adopt a careless demeanor. "I got an early admission. Doesn’t really matter whether I attend class or not."

Song Tan: ... Years of training in Immortal Cultivation, only to return as an academic underachiever. Let’s not even bring it up.

As for Qiaoqiao... his eyes lit up. "What’s early admission? Does it come with lots of extra vacation?"

The high schooler instantly deflated, looking exasperated as if his achievements were going unrecognized. "You won’t understand even if I explain..."

But Qiaoqiao persisted, "How will I understand if you don’t explain? What’s early admission?"

The boy cleared his throat. "Early admission means I’m better at some subject than everyone else—so good that no one can compare. Some top universities took notice and offered me a spot without the need for exams!"

Qiaoqiao thought it over. "But if you didn’t take exams, how would they even know you were better? You must’ve taken some tests, right?"

The boy: ... Makes sense, yet something about it feels off. Anyway, he decided to drop the topic: "Sis, tell me what you want. I’ll go figure it out for you."

Song Tan gave it some thought. "There are veggies here, and oil and salt should suffice. What’s really missing is staple food... noodles, pancakes, or rice. No rush. Worst case, I’ll just order takeout. It’s still early."

The high schooler chuckled. "Order takeout? Sis, your booth is so small; I bet your business is super tiny too. Let me save you some money."

"Let’s go!" He grabbed Qiaoqiao’s hand. "Today, I’ll show you how good I am at scrounging food!"

"Huh?" A befuddled Qiaoqiao was pulled along.

Kids truly are endearing!

Watching their retreating figures, Song Tan glanced around. Seeing no one nearby, she wandered over to the agricultural equipment area.

Then, gripping the railing with her hands, she lightly vaulted onto the long arm of an excavator. In a deft move, she flipped her body around and settled comfortably into the bucket of the miniature excavator.

Even though it was just a model.

And honestly, the bucket was surprisingly comfy. If only there were a cushion—how nice it would be to curl up and take a nap...

...

While kids may be adorable, they’re often unreliable. For example, Qiaoqiao and the high schooler went off to hunt for food but only returned after 11 a.m.

The two of them ran back, arms full of goods. Seeing Qiaoqiao’s flushed cheeks, Song Tan couldn’t help but laugh. "You must’ve taken tens of thousands of steps this morning, right? Aren’t you starving?"

Qiaoqiao nodded. "Breakfast was super early."

He’d been active all morning; no wonder he was hungry.

But after a moment’s pause, he added, "Not that hungry."

The high schooler beside him burst out laughing, "You ate so much, of course you wouldn’t be hungry! Besides, after eating all that, you probably don’t even have an appetite left."

Leaning in mischievously, he teased, "Seriously, you don’t know how to enjoy life. That durian was amazing—it costs a fortune outside, but you refused just because of the smell!"

Qiaoqiao scrunched up his nose. "It really smelled bad. No wonder that uncle didn’t display the durian around here. It’s too stinky; once you smell it, you can’t notice anything else."

Song Tan stifled a laugh. "But did you even try it? It might smell bad but taste amazing—like stinky tofu."

"Not the same, not the same." Qiaoqiao shook his head vigorously. "Stinky tofu smells bad but tastes delicious. Durian smells bad and tastes... just okay."

Their new friend had tried to sample food from every booth, but Qiaoqiao had only taken two bites and found it unimpressive.

Not offensive, but completely unremarkable. Honestly, he would’ve preferred munching on a crisp green apple at the local market.

"Alright then." The high schooler, having failed to find a fellow enthusiast for durian, had to give up. He began unpacking the items in his arms onto the booth table:

"Sis, how about this—stay here for a bit while we check out the other booths again? There’s so much to see, and everything tastes pretty good. I’m stuffed."

Song Tan was skeptical. "How can you get full at an agricultural expo? It’s not like they’re serving up bowls of noodles for you to sample. You probably just stuffed yourself on fruit."

The high schooler puffed up with pride. "See? I knew you haven’t seen much! Agricultural products—of course that includes everything. They really did have noodles, green bean noodles, and even lye water noodles!"

"But seeing how your booth is so small, doesn’t have much stuff, and is way off in the corner, I held back and didn’t eat more."

He looked extraordinarily pleased with himself and pounded his chest. "When the public judging happens this afternoon, and if no one shows up, since you can’t yell to draw crowds, I’m going to stand right here by your booth and gorge myself on your food! I’ll eat and eat until the whole world knows your stuff is one of a kind!"

"That way, your food broadcast will attract people!"

All this effort was for the minuscule public judging score that didn’t even impact the overall results. The high schooler was overthinking everything.

Song Tan laughed. "You know we don’t have much stuff, right? Once the judges finish their round, and if you also eat like crazy... what will even be left?"

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