Ch 34: Those who wronged me are now begging me for mercy

Because the Food at Agricultural University Is Delicious!

“The geese have grown up…” What kind of problem is this? Could these geese be Rong Ziyin’s research subjects?

For a moment, the production team was dumbfounded, and even Rong Ziyin’s expression became increasingly enigmatic.

“It seems like it would be quite inconvenient,” Rong Ziyin remarked, sensing their hesitation. Instinctively, he cast a pleading glance towards the department head standing nearby.

“Perhaps I could ask for help from our department…”

“No, I cannot!” The department head’s face turned grim at the mere thought of Rong Ziyin’s troublesome geese.

The department head’s tone was so panicked that it startled the production team.

So, is there something wrong with these goslings?

Of course, there’s a problem! The department head was on the verge of tears.

Meanwhile, Rong Ziyin’s overly dramatic goslings were equally displeased. Upon hearing that Rong Ziyin might leave them behind, they quickly extended their fluffy little wings to clutch his fingers, peeking out from behind them to glare at the production team.

Gosling: How could there be such cold-hearted people, willing to separate baby geese from their kind and handsome dad?!

With a tuft of hair sticking up on their heads, their small, beady eyes focused intensely on the interviewer, making them look incredibly cute. The production team was instantly smitten.

Infatuation Value: 5000

The director immediately nodded, “No problem! You can take care of them!”

After all, they would be living separately for these two months, and if Rong Ziyin wanted to bring his own geese along, there wasn’t an issue.

Rong Ziyin smiled, “Thank you so much for your help.” Then he gently patted the gosling’s head, “Come on, thank this pretty sister!”

Gosling: Sending love hearts～

Infatuation Value: 2000

Great, now the entire production team was won over. Rong Ziyin bringing his geese onto the set had become a settled matter.

With that issue resolved, it was time for Rong Ziyin’s quickfire questions.

The difficulty of Rong Ziyin’s questions was on par with those faced by the female academic from the landscaping department and the guy from mechanical engineering. However, since Rong Ziyin was the star attraction, his questions covered an even broader range.

The production team initially thought that if Rong Ziyin could answer 80% of the questions correctly, it would already be impressive.

But Rong Ziyin got all of them right.

The most surprising was a question about an obscure art film, one so niche that it didn’t even have a rating on Douban, yet Rong Ziyin knew the director’s name.

The production team couldn’t help but praise him, “It seems like you have a very cultured side, Rong.”

Rong Ziyin thought for a moment and replied, “Maybe because that director is particularly interesting.”

Due to time constraints, the production team didn’t dig deeper into why Rong Ziyin found the director interesting, merely responding, “It seems that people with interesting souls are always drawn to each other.” With that, the interview ended.

But when Rong Ziyin returned to the department’s rest area, both the mechanical engineering guy and the landscaping girl were giving him strange looks.

“We all spend our time in the lab, so how did you manage to find time to watch movies?”

Rong Ziyin calmly replied, “I worked part-time at a cinema. That film happened to be showing at my theater.”

“That movie had only one screening, and it was at my cinema. You’d remember it too.”

“So you actually watched it? How did you know the director was interesting?”

Rong Ziyin answered, “Yes, the movie was like a PowerPoint presentation—how could it not be interesting?”

That was exactly the kind of answer they expected from Rong Ziyin. The two of them fell silent.

After all, with someone as straightforward as Rong Ziyin, there was no point in hoping he’d understand any kind of art film. It was better to ask him which of his geese looked the most beautiful.

Of course, this part wasn’t recorded.

After capturing the last few scenes, the production team began preparing for individual photo shoots.

Initially, they planned to keep it casual, but seeing how formidable Rong Ziyin’s team was, they decided to take it more seriously.

Especially with Rong Ziyin being so good-looking, almost like a young celebrity, and his naturally funny, straightforward nature. The production team, being experts in their field, recognized that Rong Ziyin was a natural—just the kind of person whose unintentional humor could be a hit in every episode.

This kind of authenticity held great commercial potential.

Chief Director: “Make sure to capture him looking cool; the contrast will be effective.”

Photographer: “Got it! Watch and see!”

Rong Ziyin wasn’t shy in front of the camera, and he was good at mimicking poses. The first few photos were taken quickly.

The most delightful surprise was that Rong Ziyin’s dozen or so goslings were incredibly cooperative. Not only did they not run around, but they also proudly lifted their little heads whenever the camera pointed at them—truly the perfect models.

Cameraman: “Rong, how did you train these geese? They’re not afraid of people and aren’t aggressive at all.”

Rong Ziyin thought for a moment: “Maybe it’s because they think you look good.”

The cameraman couldn’t help but laugh: “Ah, you sure know how to talk!”

Rong Ziyin, seeing the thought bubble above the gosling’s head saying, “This guy is a bit handsome, but I’m better looking,” decided to let the cameraman think what he wanted.

The system sighed, feeling that this face-obsessed world was truly beyond saving.

The production team was efficient. A week later, as a teaser for the new episode, the edited preview featuring Rong Ziyin and his teammates appeared on the show’s official social media.

First came the photos of Rong Ziyin and the other two team members.

It’s well known that people are visual creatures, and upon first meeting, a good-looking face always catches attention before an interesting personality does.

Especially in the photo, Rong Ziyin’s gentle eyes and clean smile, paired with the veterinary department’s white lab coat, perfectly catered to the aesthetic of face-value fans.

“Ahhhh! This vet department guy is too good-looking; I have to pick him.”

“Thank you, dear director, for this blessing. Quick! Hand over the new academic star’s social media; my fingers are already itching to follow!”

“Say no more, just for this face, I’m definitely subscribing to this episode!”

However, this was ultimately a show about academic competition, where talent and intellect were the real winning factors. So, while many were enamored, there were naturally some who were less impressed.

“It’s a proper show about talent—what’s the point of bringing in pretty faces?”

“Is the production team trying to stir things up? Didn’t they say the final three teams would compete against international teams? I don’t mind the surprise team, but if they don’t have real talent, it’ll be disappointing.”

“It’s honestly frustrating. I hope they don’t turn this into another entertainment show. It was hard enough to find a pure, unscripted program.”

The long-time fans of the show were quite vocal, and before long, the topic “Surprise Team Suspected to Be Useless Eye Candy” was trending.

Agricultural University (Nongda) was a legitimate 985 and 211 university, and Rong Ziyin and his two teammates were well-known academic stars at their school. How could they let others belittle them?

The head of the veterinary department, seething with anger, was the first to respond on social media, stating, “Nongda doesn’t have any useless eye candy,” directly shutting down the rumors.

Immediately, the department heads from the landscaping and mechanical engineering departments also stepped in to support their students.

The Nongda campus forum erupted into chaos. Students, fueled by their youthful passion, were ready to defend their school’s honor!

Posts flooded the forum.

“Brothers, the time has come to defend our school!”

“The veterinary department head has spoken; we need to step up too.”

“Hmph, those people know nothing. Talking about eye candy—have they never faced the wrath of a true academic star?”

The school had plenty of capable individuals. Even if these passionate students weren’t the best at online arguments, they had strength in numbers. And with many experienced fans among them, they quickly devised strategies to counter the online backlash.

“Don’t get too emotional, everyone. We’re not lacking in talent; the results will speak for themselves when the competition begins. The more they doubt us now, the better the comeback will be.”

“So, don’t get into fights online and ruin our public image. It’ll be hard to recover if things turn around later.”

“Then what should we do?”

“State the facts and reason with them! Our three academic stars have plenty of achievements worth bragging about, right?”

Wow! That makes so much sense!

With a clear strategy, the Nongda students quickly rallied.

They began sharing the veterinary department head’s post, showing support and subtly boasting about their academic stars. Achievements like winning the national mechanical modeling competition, securing an entry in the international youth landscape design festival, and even Rong Ziyin’s top scorer status in the Beijing college entrance exams were all highlighted.

“That’s too fake! How could a top scorer end up at Nongda?” someone questioned.

They were immediately shut down with interviews from when Rong Ziyin topped the Beijing entrance exams.

Indeed, he was the top scorer in Beijing, and Nongda had admitted him with full scholarship and waived accommodation fees for four years.

“Hmph, didn’t read the interview? A top scorer from a rural background aspiring to study animal husbandry to give back to his hometown—what’s wrong with that? People have different aspirations; it’s you who assumed otherwise!”

Just like that, Rong Ziyin became famous. Everyone involved in the online debate could only wait for the final outcome of the “surprise attack.”

Before the show even aired, it had already trended, saving on promotional costs.

At that moment, Rong Ziyin and his two teammates were on their way to the show’s recording location and were almost there.

This wave of online discussion brought Rong Ziyin more than 100,000 emotional points.

The system, scrolling through the comments, curiously asked Rong Ziyin, “Why did you choose to attend Nongda back then?”

Rong Ziyin had just woken up from sleep and instinctively answered, “Because Nongda promised four years of free tuition and accommodation, plus priority admission.”

The system was silent for a while, unsure whether to sympathize with the netizens who were touched by Rong Ziyin’s unwavering resolve or to pity the helpless Rong Ziyin who had no other options after high school graduation.

Rong Ziyin added, “Don’t overthink it. It’s not like I had no other options; I could’ve applied for a student loan.”

The system asked, “Then why did you still choose Nongda?”

Rong Ziyin sighed and finally admitted the truth: “Because they said the food at Nongda’s cafeteria was better.”

The system was speechless.

The system went silent again.

Rong Ziyin didn’t try to console it. The truth was, comprehensive universities like Tsinghua and Beijing University had also extended offers to Rong Ziyin, but he ultimately chose Nongda.

At the core of it, it wasn’t really about dreams or the food being better. Studying veterinary medicine was a backup plan that Rong Ziyin left for himself.

After all, he had always had terrible luck, and just when he was about to succeed, something would go wrong. The fact that his college entrance exams went smoothly was already unexpected, so Rong Ziyin thought there might be some payback later on. He figured that studying veterinary medicine would at least give him a way to make a living back in his hometown if things didn’t work out.

That’s also why, when his mentor suggested that he should be assigned to a rural area, Rong Ziyin didn’t have much of a reaction.

Fortunately, he had the system, which gave him the best future.

Because of that, Rong Ziyin felt that there was no need to dwell on his past “endurance,” as everything had a cause and effect, and he had always been content.

Ten minutes later, the car arrived at the dormitory building.

With the help of the production crew, Rong Ziyin carried his luggage out of the car.

Because of the goslings, Rong Ziyin was the last to arrive.

After helping the crew settle the goslings, Rong Ziyin went to his dorm to unpack.

The production team spared no expense, so the dorm where Rong Ziyin stayed was almost as good as a five-star hotel.

After surveying the room, Rong Ziyin began to organize his things, but soon, there was a knock on the door.

When Rong Ziyin opened the door, he saw a boy with a bright, sunny smile. The boy wasn’t very tall, only reaching Rong Ziyin’s shoulder, and upon seeing Rong Ziyin, he couldn’t help but stare at Rong Ziyin’s face.

“In person, you’re even more handsome than in the photos!”

“Excuse me, who are you?” Rong Ziyin didn’t recognize him.

The boy quickly introduced himself, “Hello, senior! I’m from the youth class at Tsinghua University. I got special permission to join the show, and like you, I’m part of the surprise team. But we arrived last season, so I’m staying next door to you!”

“By the way, since we’ll be future comrades-in-arms, should we exchange WeChat contacts? That way, it’ll be easier to keep in touch.”

“Sure.” Rong Ziyin added him on WeChat.

The young boy, having achieved his goal, exchanged a few more words with Rong Ziyin before returning to his dorm.

However, unlike Rong Ziyin’s single-occupancy dorm, the boy had two roommates, likely his teammates.

The boy excitedly raised his phone to his teammates, “Praise me! I’ve perfectly gathered intel on our opponent—I got his WeChat!”

“That easy?” one of the other boys frowned, finding Rong Ziyin’s apparent lack of caution a bit puzzling.

“Well, whatever! Let’s check out his Moments and see what he’s posted.”

Among the three boys, one was a psychology major specializing in targeted training, so they were used to analyzing opponents based on their social media.

This battle strategy had only been used once before, but it had worked well, so they planned to continue using it.

The only downside was that after their initial success, other teams became more guarded. But Rong Ziyin seemed completely unconcerned.

“Maybe he didn’t do his homework, which is even better for us,” they thought as they opened Rong Ziyin’s Moments.

Suddenly, all three of them were stunned.

Because the first post they saw was a picture of three very eye-catching dried fish, accompanied by the caption, “Want to buy dried fish? Choose me for your meals; I’m super sweet!”

🍉🫐🍇🍒🥝