GRMFBS CH125

Zhan Yan was stunned. Zhan Yan was greatly shaken.

This behavior from Puyang Xia didn’t seem like he had any love for Li Huodan. Could it be that he hated lychees so much that he intended to develop a lychee-flavored grape to completely replace lychees?

Zhan Yan’s imagination took flight, and he began to search for why Puyang Xia had thought of improving grapes in the first place.

He searched all the way back to more than ten years ago when Puyang Xia participated in the local improved grape variety project, and the gossip log could still be scrolled further down.

Huh? Didn’t Puyang Xia start improving grape varieties from that time?

He continued to search further back.

Fifty years ago:

[Puyang Xia developed a grape that could produce one hundred thousand seeds at a time, with super-strong reproductive ability, but no flesh.]

Isn’t this developing an invasive species?

One hundred years ago:

[Puyang Xia developed a grape that flowered once every thirty years, bore fruit once every thirty years, and then took another thirty years for the fruit to ripen.]

Good stuff! If the time to flower and fruit were multiplied a few more times, it could be touted as an immortal fruit just like the Queen Mother of the West’s Peaches of Immortality.

Two hundred years ago:

[Puyang Xia developed a grape that could produce rainbow-colored berries but tasted extremely sour and astringent.]

This could be an ornamental plant!

Zhan Yan kept searching further back, unearthing all sorts of strange grapes that Puyang Xia had developed. My goodness, has his feud with lychees been going on for this long?

After scrolling for a long time without reaching the beginning, Zhan Yan decided to take a break. The dorm still needed to be cleaned; he couldn’t just keep consuming gossip. He’d finish this first and continue eating gossip when he rested at night.

Duan Hong and Bao Qingshan reappeared from who knows where. The two looked at each other and saw in the other’s eyes the same feeling of being drowned by public displays of affection.

Finding a spare moment, Bao Qingshan found an opportunity to be alone with Zhan Yan: “Did you buy those grapes from Senior Puyang?”

Zhan Yan: “Yes, I thought his grapes would be delicious, so I placed an order.”

Bao Qingshan: “Then I’ll order two boxes to take home too. These grapes are worth it even considering the spoilage rate.”

Zhan Yan: “But most people don’t like so much spoilage. I saw a lot of negative reviews under the shop.”

“Hey, so is Mentong County still going to cut down the grapevines? I’ll order two more boxes then. It would be a huge pity if I can’t eat them in the future.” Bao Qingshan couldn’t help but start gossiping again. “Did you see the group chat? Those fruit demons are still arguing, and the battlefield is getting bigger and bigger. Now they’ve even dragged tomatoes into it.”

Zhan Yan: “Tomatoes? Aren’t those vegetables?”

Bao Qingshan: “Aren’t all things that can be eaten raw considered fruits?”

Their eyes met, and sparks flew between the vegetable party and the fruit party.

“Cucumbers can also be eaten raw.”

“Do you use cherry tomatoes in your cooking?”

Zhan Yan used his “I can cook, so of course you should listen to me” trump card: “Of course cherry tomatoes can be used in cooking.”

Bao Qingshan used his “power of I reckon”: “I think tomatoes are fruits!”

Zhan Yan remembered Bao Qingshan’s ability and stared at him thoughtfully.

Bao Qingshan felt his hair stand on end from the stare: “What are you planning?”

For some reason, he always felt that the person in the dorm who put the most pressure on him was Zhan Yan, followed by Gu Jiancheng.

But the strange thing was that he didn’t feel any sense of danger from Zhan Yan himself; it was just that he made him nervous from time to time.

“Nothing,” Zhan Yan said. “I just wanted to ask you, if I were to invest in a grape juice or wine factory over in Mentong County, do you think there would be anything wrong with that?”

With an intuition-based master right beside him, he definitely had to make use of it!

He could only use the gossip system to rule out some unfavorable factors based on information and logic, but Bao Qingshan’s inspiration was on a metaphysical level!

“Oh, that. I don’t think there’s any problem with it…” Bao Qingshan had just breathed a sigh of relief when he suddenly reacted. “You’re going to invest in a grape factory in Mentong County?”

Zhan Yan smiled, looking quite embarrassed: “My mom started a company, and sometimes she invests in some projects.”

He wasn’t the type to show off and had never told his classmates about his family’s financial situation.

Who would have thought there was a hidden rich second-generation in the dorm!

“Uncle!” Bao Qingshan’s “uncle” was filled with genuine emotion. “When you become rich and powerful one day, you must not forget your great-nephew!”

Zhan Yan: “Shouldn’t you normally call me ‘Dad’?”

Bao Qingshan: “A ‘Dad’ that’s easily called out isn’t worth much. We’re talking about real seniority here! Isn’t my grand-master your big sis?”

If they calculated from the perspective of that directionally challenged physical cultivator big sis, it was indeed true.

Zhan Yan chuckled: “Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable?”

The fruit party immediately surrendered: “Since Uncle has spoken, then of course it’s a vegetable!”

Gu Jiancheng silently approached: “What are you talking about?”

“Talking about whether a tomato is a fruit or a vegetable,” Zhan Yan said.

Gu Jiancheng stared suspiciously at Bao Qingshan. He always felt that Bao Qingshan was deliberately pulling Zhan Yan aside to whisper with him away from others.

Young Mr. Gu was still concerned about the image problem he had discovered earlier and was very eager to know how others’ perception of him would affect Zhan Yan’s perception of him, so he was overly vigilant.

Bao Qingshan felt his hair stand on end from his stare again and thought to himself that these two were indeed a couple.

He couldn’t stand the impending PDA and quickly evacuated.

After everything was tidied up, it was about time for dinner. Zhan Yan opened his suitcase. Duan Hong and Bao Qingshan rushed to close the door, while the other went to the cafeteria to get food.

They couldn’t let anyone else see the suitcase full of goodies that Zhan Yan had!

After Zhan Yan finished packing his luggage, he continued to scroll through the gossip about Puyang Xia’s improved grapes while waiting for dinner. After scrolling for a long time, he finally found the initial time he started the improvements: 463 years ago.

My goodness, that early!

However, the cultivation concepts at that time were not as advanced as they are now, and the technology was not as developed. It was naturally impossible for Puyang Xia to slowly carry out cross-breeding like ordinary people. He used demonic arts, which gave birth to many strange varieties and also created many things that could not exist in nature. For example, he cross-bred grapes and lychees.

These two aren’t even in the same family, how could it be successful!

Hmm… but thinking about it carefully, it wasn’t entirely impossible. As long as demons could take human form, different races could mate, and they could produce offspring after mating. For example, that big brother who almost changed sex due to atavism because he had clownfish demon bloodline.

Zhan Yan suddenly realized a problem he had never considered before: What race would the offspring produced in this way be considered?

It couldn’t be that they had overcome a scientific barrier and achieved interspecies hybridization, right?

The demon race should know more about this issue. Zhan Yan went to the Chaofan Forum to find Luo Wang.

Luo Wang quickly gave an answer.

The problem of interspecies genetics also exists in the demon race. Although demons of different races can mate after taking human form, the probability of producing offspring is different. The farther the species span, the harder it is to produce offspring. For example, a wolf demon and a dog demon would be more likely to produce offspring, but the probability of a wolf demon and a tree demon mating and producing offspring is almost zero.

However, humans are an exception. Because all demons take human form when they shapeshift, when a human mates with a shapeshifted demon, regardless of the demon’s race, the probability of producing offspring is about the same. It would be lower than the probability of two humans producing offspring, but not so low as to be almost non-existent.

In addition, the offspring of demons with a small species span may inherit the characteristics of both parents, for example, a wolf-dog demon born from a wolf demon and a dog demon. The offspring of demons with a large species span will only inherit the characteristics of one parent. For example, if a wolf demon mates with a bird demon and produces offspring, it will be either a wolf demon or a bird demon, not a wolf with wings.

Human bloodline can dilute a demon’s bloodline, but the diluted demon blood may show atavism in certain characteristics, such as the clownfish demon.

After listening to Luo Wang’s explanation, Zhan Yan couldn’t help but have an idea.

Although grapes and lychees are both plants, they are definitely in different families and genera. Hybridization is almost impossible. How did Puyang Xia succeed in hybridizing grapes and lychees?

Although both Puyang Xia and Li Huodan appeared as males after shapeshifting, their plant bodies had no gender. Could it be that they…

Zhan Yan frantically scrolled through the gossip system.

Oh, oh, Puyang Xia wasn’t that deranged. The hybrid seeds of grapes and lychees were strung together by magic. Although the resulting seeds could grow, they did not bear fruit, so it was also a failed improvement.

Zhan Yan was about to continue searching when he suddenly received several messages mentioning him from the cultivator conference group.

The chat group name of the cultivator conference had been changed again. It was now “Harmony and Friendship, Improving Every Day.” It seemed that the group administrator had finally gained the upper hand.

He clicked into the group. The battle among the several great fruit demons had finally come to an end.

He scrolled up the chat history.

Qingniao: “How about we hold a fruit tasting conference? You all bear your fruits, and I’ll go and taste them then.”

The several great fruit demons immediately fell silent.

Qingniao. Zhan Yan remembered this name. When some idiot on the forum was dissing his dad before, several divine birds and strange birds were mentioned, and Qingniao was one of them.

He searched the gossip system.

This master had a good relationship with many demons in the Wan Yao Alliance, but she loved freedom, so she didn’t join.

[Qingniao had a sudden whim. Thinking that since osmanthus flowers were so fragrant and sweet, their fruit must be delicious, she went to find the osmanthus tree demon and demanded that he bear fruit for her to taste. The osmanthus tree demon said, “I am a four-seasons osmanthus, a variety that only flowers and does not bear fruit.” Qingniao did not believe him.]

[Qingniao became obsessed with different varieties of apricots. She found an apricot tree demon and demanded that he bear apricots of different flavors. The apricot tree demon said this was asking too much of a tree. Qingniao said, “Don’t humans have the grafting method? Why don’t you give it a try?”]

[Hearing that Qingniao had recently taken a liking to cherries, the cherry tree demon pulled up its roots and ran away overnight.]

Zhan Yan: Pfft!

This master had a long criminal record with the plant demons. No wonder her deterrent effect was so great.

The great fruit demons in the group were facing a great enemy and immediately pulled up a private group chat.

Bird demons are the most annoying! It’s them, this flock of bird demons, that love to eat fruit the most! And these ones that have gained sentience or are born of strange species are even more outrageous; they won’t even eat ordinary fruit.

Why should we expend our energy to bear fruit to feed birds?

Qingniao, actually, is okay. As a divine bird, she wouldn’t be so greedy as to covet the bit of essence from plant demons. She compensates them for bearing fruit, so in the end, there’s actually a profit to be made.

But the problem is, this master loves to mess around with new things!

That old osmanthus tree was a protected plant on the human side, with fences and regular patrols for soil loosening and fertilization. Others had to buy tickets to even see it. It lived a very comfortable life, only flowering and not bearing fruit for over a thousand years.

Then Qingniao came. The old osmanthus tree was forced to hold it in for five years and finally squeezed out a few fruits. This matter even made the local news, with all sorts of experts analyzing it. As a result, after tasting one, Qingniao said, “It’s not sweet,” and told the old osmanthus tree to improve it further.

The old osmanthus tree was in tears, desperately wanting to pull up its roots and run away.

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