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Chapter 9: Rain, Roots, and Red Lines
It started with a drizzle—soft, sneaky, almost romantic.
By afternoon, it turned biblical.
The skies cracked open like a grudge, and the rain came down in sheets so thick, even the ducks filed complaints. Fields flooded, tools sank into mud, and the villagers looked skyward with the resigned dread of people who'd seen this movie before.
But Shen Ci?
She was in the shed, boots on, tablet in hand, reviewing drainage layouts and muttering like a commander mid-battle.
"Ditch A overflowed, but Ditch C's holding. We'll redirect west. Du, move the sandbags now. Auntie Lian, check the root cellar!"
She wasn't just planting crops anymore.
She was managing infrastructure.
The system chimed.
[Weather anomaly detected. Probability of continued flooding: 68%. Recommend structural reinforcement.]
"Noted," she growled. "Run a simulation with current labor resources and stored materials."
[Estimated timeline: 3 hours. Alternate solution: local engineer, retired, 2.5 km west. Name: Li Zheng.]
"Of course," she muttered. "There's always an old man in the woods with a backstory."
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Li Zheng answered the door in a bathrobe and flip-flops, holding a cat and a grudge.
"You're the girl trying to urbanize our rice paddies," he grunted.
She offered him a bribe in the form of chili oil dumplings and a hand-drawn water flow diagram.
He studied it. Grunted again. "You used to be dumb."
"Now I'm dangerous."
He liked that. Came back with her. Fixed the runoff with a few muttered orders, a shovel, and a stick he called 'the persuader.'
Within hours, the worst of the flooding was under control.
By evening, Shen Ci was soaked to the bone but still standing, waterline just below her knees, watching volunteers drain the main plot.
"Never thought I'd say this," Xiao Du panted beside her, "but I think we just dodged economic ruin with a retired cat dad and dumplings."
"Never underestimate dumplings," she said, eyes sharp.
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After the storm, a strange calm settled over the village. Crops were damaged but not lost. The rain had flushed out more than mud.
It had also flushed out weakness.
And something else.
Opportunity.
The riverbanks had shifted. New silt, rich in minerals, coated one patch of Shen Ci's fallow land.
The system lit up.
[Geological update: sediment contains high concentrations of potassium and zinc. Ideal for medicinal roots.]
[New crop opportunity: Astragalus root.]
She stared at the numbers, a grin spreading like wildfire.
That wasn't just a new herb.
It was her gateway into high-tier pharmaceutical markets.
"Alright," she whispered to the muddy ground. "Let's grow something the world can't ignore."
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Meanwhile, far away, in a leather-chaired boardroom lined with men in suits and suspicions…
A screen displayed Shen Ci's face, captured from a surveillance drone near the logistics hub.
A man with salt-and-pepper hair tapped the photo.
"Find out who she is," he said. "And how she's driving up prices in our supply zones."
"Already on it," his assistant replied. "Name's Shen Ci. Used to be engaged to Zhao Feng. Dropped off the grid. Now suddenly—this."
The man leaned back.
"No such thing as meteoric rises. Only long-laid plans. Dig deeper."
Outside, the rain began to fall again.
But Shen Ci didn't fear storms anymore.
She planted through them.
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End of Chapter 9
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