LAVW – Chapter 123 Growing Up in a Blink

Wang Si’an almost wanted to pry open Qian Niuhua’s mouth and examine it closely, but remembering how reliable Qian Niuhua had always been, he forced down that impulse and refrained from doing anything foolish.

Good thing he held back—otherwise Shi Qian definitely wouldn’t help him.

Wang Si’an usually treasured the small patch of plants he fenced off. If they weren’t species he had deliberately cultivated, they were rare and precious specimens.

Shi Qian recalled what he needed to find, stepped into the water, and went down to help.

This startled Wang Si’an. “Qian Niuhua!”

Shi Qian didn’t share the same unspoken understanding he had with Chen Niu, so he couldn’t be bothered to explain. He simply covered his eyes with spiritual energy, located the target underwater, and dug it out along with its roots and the surrounding soil.

The first plant wasn’t the one Wang Si’an was looking for, but it was still one of his precious treasures.

Seeing this, Wang Si’an immediately pounced toward him. “Careful! Don’t eat it—don’t you dare bite it, ancestor!”

Only then did Shi Qian ask, “Moo-moo?”

Is this the one?

He stomped the water again with his hoof to indicate that he could continue helping.

Wang Si’an finally understood. “You want to help me look for it? Qian Niuhua, I’m searching for the one with the small purple leaves—seven leaves. That one is the most important.”

“Seven!” Wang Si’an held up seven fingers. He knew Shi Qian could count, so he emphasized it clearly. “The one with seven leaves.”

“If you help me find it, I’ll treat you to pig’s trotters!”

Although Wang Si’an couldn’t understand why a cow would love pig trotters, it didn’t stop him from using them as bait to lure Qian Niuhua.

Shi Qian’s stomach shamefully reacted.

Doing good deeds really did pay off—look, the reward was right there.

Shi Qian nodded, went back into the water, and searched specifically for the purple-leafed herb Wang Si’an had described.

He remembered its original location, but the plant was nowhere to be seen, so he could only search around and hope for luck.

Along the way he found other rare plants, and Shi Qian dug them up as well, saving them from being ruined by the floodwater.

Wang Si’an had only promised one pig trotter, but ended up recovering many “missing” treasures. His joy was indescribable, and a sense of guilt bubbled up in him.

Qian Niuhua had treasured him this much!

Every one of his precious plants—Qian Niuhua remembered them all.

Driven by the power of pig trotters, Shi Qian didn’t give up and finally found the target.

“Moo-moo.”

Should be this one?

He nudged the herb forward toward Wang Si’an.

“This is it! This is it!” Wang Si’an squatted down, carefully taking back his most cherished plant. When he looked up again, his eyes were already red. “Qian Niuhua, I never expected you to treat me so well.”

Shi Qian grew alert. “Moo, moo.”

Don’t you dare try to muddle through this.

But all Wang Si’an saw in those clean, bright eyes was a pure sincerity he rarely got to witness. He was downright moved. “Qian Niuhua, you’re too good…”

Thinking he was trying to “skip out on payment,” Shi Qian lifted a hoof and tapped Wang Si’an’s leg.

“Moo! Moo!”

Pig trotters! Pig trotters!

The tap finally reminded Wang Si’an of his promise. “Alright, alright, pig trotters. Bring Chen Niu along later to collect the bill, and I’ll treat the two of you.”

Shi Qian nodded in satisfaction.

Wang Si’an continued, “Qian Niuhua, help me find another plant and I’ll treat you to pigeon soup.”

Shi Qian raised his hoof and bumped his hand.

Deal!

For a bite of good food, Shi Qian worked hard for an entire hour.

In and out of the water, covered in mud from head to hoof, he finally just let Wang Si’an bathe him and give him a massage.

In terms of massage skills, Wang Si’an was definitely better than Chen Niu.

Just as he finished enjoying himself, Shi Qian’s elementary-school friends showed up to call him out to play again.

There were many kids, but only one or two adults watching them. Worried that things might get out of hand, Shi Qian followed the little troublemakers.

The kids were surprisingly inventive—two sides “waged war,” and Shi Qian played the role of a “super weapon,” randomly charging around. Whoever he caught was considered instantly eliminated.

But cooperating properly was impossible. He always sided with whichever side was stronger… so he could target and take down their strongest player.

It threw the entire “battlefield” into chaos. Laughter and shouts echoed throughout the South Agricultural Institute.

Even those with heavy hearts couldn’t help being infected by a little of the joy. No matter how bitter life was, you couldn’t bear to let hardship weigh on a child’s heart.

Once the sun came out, the floodwaters receded quickly.

The rice fields, having narrowly avoided disaster once again, went through another bout of minor pest infestation. Afterward, they grew rapidly, maturing day by day.

And so arrived the double harvest season—painful yet a little joyful for Shi Qian.

Work, work, and more work.

Sometimes Chen Niu wondered if his university degree was ridiculous—year after year, he was still doing double-harvest labor.

In Xie Guoan’s letter, he wrote that he and Xu Guozi had tossed the child at home and gone traveling.

Meanwhile, Lin Nanyin had been dragged off by her professor to help out, and she was busy as well.

Except she was busy in a lab… while he was busy out in the fields.

Chen Niu looked at his dark, muscular arm, then withdrew his gaze and continued mercilessly harvesting rice.

After the double harvest ended, Wang Anlei held off distributing the grain and made several marks in his notebook, then nervously went to find Chen Niu.

“Chen Niu, we’ve survived several typical pest outbreaks, right?”

Chen Niu thought for a moment, then nodded. “We have!”

“And the rice variety performed really well, didn’t it? Just speaking of disease resistance.”

Hybrid rice promotion had been suspended after the massive pest outbreak earlier that year led to total crop failure.

But Wang Anlei realized that the strain he had cultivated seemed capable of overcoming pest issues. If it had strong disease resistance, could it be used to develop even better varieties?

As they discussed, Chen Niu raised another point: “But yield is hard to determine. The weather hasn’t been good these past two years. The impact’s been obvious. We don’t have high-yield data.”

“But it’s not bad either! Compared with the surrounding fields of the same period, ours clearly exceeded the standard!”

Full of hope, Wang Anlei immediately went to write a report.

Soon, people began coming to investigate and verify details.

But exams had come at the same time. By the time Chen Niu finished his test, he learned that Expert Yuan had already visited. Unfortunately, he’d missed it.

Still, the expanded test planting plan for the second half of the year was quickly finalized. The experimental areas were spread across multiple locations, with the institute’s own fields being the most carefully monitored.

The only downside was that Chen Niu was going to be incredibly busy.

Shi Qian lay in the shade, watching everyone in meetings and bustling about with research, and chomped on a slice of watermelon.

“Moo…”

Let the humans busy themselves. A cow should enjoy leisure.

But heaven wouldn’t let him rest long. After the flood earlier in the year, a prolonged drought struck in the second half.

For the researchers who wanted clear yield data, this drought was agonizing.

Shi Qian hadn’t understood at first, but after hearing Chen Niu complain, he realized the impact. Even if the crop didn’t fail outright, drought stunted development—like a child lacking nutrition while growing up. The future would be compromised.

After considering it—mainly that Chen Niu was strong enough to beat a cow to death—Shi Qian decided to quietly help.

Under the moonlight, he used the fully mastered dragon rain-controlling spell to summon a rainfall.

Cool raindrops fell through the silent night. But just as a breeze passed, Wang Anlei somehow sensed the coolness of the rain, and suddenly shot upright from bed.

In the middle of the night, a wild yell pierced the rainfall—

“HAHAHA! IT’S RAINING! IT’S RAINING!!”

He dashed out of the house, bare-chested.

Spotting the big yellow cow standing in the rain, he ran straight toward Shi Qian.

“Qian Niuhua! It’s raining! Aren’t you happy?”

Seeing Wang Anlei grinning like an idiot, Shi Qian nodded, heart aching.

He couldn’t be happy at all—years of accumulated spiritual energy had just vanished in one night.

The loss was far worse than he’d imagined. He would never make it rain for them again!

And the rain he produced—utterly devoid of spiritual energy.

The “Heavenly Dao” of this world was even stingier than the last, miserly to the extreme.

The only upside was that it wouldn’t affect the scientists’ conclusions at all—it was just an ordinary rainfall.

After that night, more people began watching the moon in the evenings. Feeling relieved at last, Wang Anlei picked up his flute again and began teaching everyone to play in the cool moonlight.

On the day of the autumn harvest weighing, Wang Anlei was happily celebrating that he could finally pass the production quota, when Shi Qian suddenly felt an itch on his horns.

He rubbed himself against Chen Niu. “Moo, moo.”

Take a look for me—what’s wrong with my horns?

Chen Niu glanced over. “Qian Niuhua, why do you have a bump growing on your horn?”

Shocked, Shi Qian ran to the water’s edge and leaned over to examine his reflection.

After studying it for a while, he finally dared to confirm—his horns were about to split.

Half a month later, Shi Qian’s horns became a spectacle. Everyone wondered why perfectly normal cow horns were suddenly growing like deer antlers.

Only Shi Qian knew the truth: Deer antlers? No way. Dragon horns resemble deer horns. These are his dragon horns growing!

At first, Shi Qian worried that someone might capture him and do something inhumane. But after some time, he realized that everyone had long been used to his “specialness,” and no one thought too deeply about it.

So once his horns finished growing, Shi Qian boldly dragged Chen Niu to the photo studio.

When the photos were developed, he even chose the longest-lasting preservation option.

He imagined that decades later, someone would probably “fact-check online” and claim his real photo was photoshopped. Thinking of that, Shi Qian secretly laughed.

Chen Niu chuckled. “You love showing off so much. How about we take one every year from now on?”

Shi Qian thought that sounded good and nodded.

One photo, then two, then three—after that, Chen Niu graduated from Southern Agriculture University. Because of his outstanding performance, he was retained by the school as a teacher.

By that time, the new high-yield rice variety had passed its trial phase and was being promoted again, resulting in a significant boost in rice production.

Because of this success, Wang Anlei received a promotion and was transferred elsewhere. Chen Niu took over the agricultural research station, running various experiments while also teaching classes.

However, he no longer worked on rice strains. He shifted his focus toward developing fertilizers and pest control.

As he grew, he realized that production wasn’t just about one link in the chain—his vision had widened considerably.

Two years into the job, with frequent “fruits of success,” Chen Niu gained a respected status in the field and was often invited to conferences.

He managed to get a car, and for nearby trips, he would drive around with Shi Qian.

Shi Qian absolutely did not expect that he just went out for a short ride and, upon returning, would hear Chen Niu digging up old accounts.

“Teacher Yuan, you actually replied to one of my letters. I’m not sure if you still remember?”

The dark-skinned young man with a cold, stern face lowered his head a little shyly as he spoke softly to the short elder before him. His attitude was full of respect and admiration, along with heartfelt gratitude.

Shi Qian—the one who fabricated that fake letter—: …

It’s over. Utterly doomed.