The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 315 - 304: System Forum

Chapter 315: Chapter 304: System Forum

But this matter was beyond Old Master Bai’s—or even Mr. Zhuang’s—control, so they only talked about it briefly before moving on to this year’s harvest.

Old Master Bai truly suffered heavy losses this year. He was already in a foul mood, and seeing his youngest son acting so foolishly did nothing to improve his spirits.

After asking about Bai Erlang’s studies, he turned to discuss Bai Dalang with Mr. Zhuang.

Bai Dalang was Mr. Zhuang’s first batch of students, and he is currently studying at the Yizhou Prefecture School. Mr. Zhuang had made considerable efforts back then.

Of course, he merely introduced the person to Old Master Bai; how to get him into the prefecture school was Old Master Bai’s concern.

Compared to Bai Erlang, Bai Dalang was considered industrious and studious, and he was also quite intelligent.

However, Old Master Bai felt that his eldest son still fell short compared to his nephew, Bai Shan. So he asked Mr. Zhuang, "Do you think, for Shanbao, whether it would be better to first go to the County School like Dalang and then to the Prefecture School, or to go directly to the Prefecture School?"

This implied that it was time to start planning for Bai Shan’s future.

After pondering for a moment, Mr. Zhuang said, "The child is smart, but he is proud and unruly. It would be better to let him refine his temperament in the countryside for now. When he’s older, he can go directly to the examinations."

Mr. Zhuang chuckled, "Though the Yizhou Prefecture School is good, it is no match for the schools in Yizhou."

Old Master Bai’s eyes lit up, and he straightened his back subconsciously, asking, "Could Shanbao directly apply to the Yizhou Prefecture School?"

Mr. Zhuang laughed, "With his talents, as long as he does not stray off path in the next five years, it wouldn’t be difficult."

Old Master Bai became excited and no longer felt angry at his youngest son; instead, he burst into hearty laughter.

That evening, upon seeing his youngest son trembling in fear, he kindly patted his head and instructed, "Play if you wish. Spend more time with Shanbao and Manbao. Just don’t disturb them when they are studying, understand?"

Bai Erlang nodded somewhat perplexedly, then had a restless night’s sleep.

The next day, he went to his two friends with dark circles under his eyes and complained, "It’s so miserable; I didn’t dare to close my eyes while sleeping for fear that my father would rush in and beat me up. I woke up in fright twice last night. Sigh~~"

Manbao and Bai Shanbao looked at him with disdain. "Does your father have to wait until you’re asleep to beat you?"

Bai Shanbao nodded in agreement, "Uncle isn’t that bored. If he reaches out to grab you, could you even run away?"

After thinking about it, Bai Erlang shook his head and asked, "But why didn’t my father beat me yesterday?"

Manbao speculated, "Maybe because he loves you? The heart of fatherly love can’t bear to do it?"

Her own father couldn’t bear to hit her.

But Bai Shanbao, as an outsider, saw things more clearly, "Perhaps he thinks you’re beyond help."

Bai Erlang puffed out his cheeks, huffed, and turned away.

Manbao and Bai Shanbao exchanged a glance and couldn’t help but laugh.

Suddenly, a series of ’ding-a-ling’ sounds echoed in Manbao’s mind. It started with Keke announcing a piece of information, "China root entry completed, host rewarded with two hundred thousand points. Tree sparrow entry completed, host rewarded with two hundred thousand points. Unknown bird species detected, pending determination by research institutes, interim reward of ten thousand points..."

Manbao barely had time to feel elated when Keke continued, "As ruled by the Supreme Council of the Alliance, it is agreed to allow major research institutes to access the Encyclopedia Library and to open the channels between various worlds and the Alliance, with the forum launched. During this period, any transactions between system owners and the Alliance, transportation, and maintenance costs will be borne by the major research institutes. Transactions between worlds will be evenly distributed among system owners. Would the host like to open the forum’s secondary channel?"

Manbao: ...She understood the beginning, but not the end.

Seeing her bewildered eyes, Keke knew which part the host didn’t understand. Unfortunately, it’s tough when the host is this young, so it had to explain in more detail.

Of course, that was after accessing the forum.

A dark interface appeared in Manbao’s mind. Before she could ask what it was, strings of red and green text suddenly appeared on the screen.

There were all kinds of characters, and then, in the next instant, they all turned into familiar Chinese characters she recognized. The first one said, "Buying a Collection of Novels from the 21st century of the Earth era."

Manbao instinctively clicked on it, only to see many comments popping up instantly below.

"What’s the use of that?"

"For studying ancient literary works. Isn’t it only people who are well fed and have nothing better to do that study such things? Can it be eaten like food? Resources are scarce, and yet they are being spent on this."

"A bunch of idiots. Do you think life is just about being full and having fun? Can you even call someone without cultural and intellectual needs human? I want to find the introduction to one of the greatest works of the 21st century, Lin’s Glory, in that book..."

Unfortunately, no one heard what he was saying, because the layers of comments quickly piled up, and Manbao could no longer see the messages above.

She exited and looked at the forum interface, which kept refreshing with red and green text, and asked, "Does this mean I can just sell the things I get directly to them?"

"Not exactly. New species will still be documented by the Encyclopedia Library. After being documented, the Encyclopedia Library will release tasks, which research institutes will draw to study the species," said Keke. "However, some institutes or researchers may be interested in a certain specimen but didn’t get the draw. They can contact the host through the forum and trade. The Encyclopedia Library will take a cut from the trade, I will also receive a commission, and the rest will be yours."

Keke explained this aspect in great detail because given the host’s current capabilities, expanding the variety of documented species was out of the question. So their income mainly still relied on quantity, sustained by the documented plants and animals.

"The host only needs to provide one specimen to the Encyclopedia for documentation. Previously, if the Encyclopedia didn’t produce an entry from one specimen, the host had to provide more, often without much compensation. But now, with the forum, if one specimen is not sufficient for their research needs, they can only acquire more by contacting the host and purchasing them with points," Keke elaborated.

Manbao’s eyes sparkled as she asked, "Are the points a lot?"

"I don’t know. The forum has just opened. It’s a free market; many specimens have uniqueness, so there is no fixed price. But I believe the price won’t be too low, nor will it exceed what the Encyclopedia offers for documenting a specimen."

Because the Encyclopedia’s prices are the most fair. It has a main system calculating the value of each specimen. Unless it’s a special circumstance, no institute or researcher would offer a higher price than the Encyclopedia.

However, Manbao soon noticed a subtitle flashing across the interface, setting off alarms in her head, "I saw there were requests to buy plants. What if the specimens I document are also held by other system hosts?"

"That won’t happen," Keke assured. "There won’t be two systems with completely identical documented creatures. So even if other hosts have the same things, they cannot trade them. To ensure the security and rights of the systems, the main system has established strict regulations for the forum."

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