On the chalky land, at the military base.
Jiang Ye stood before his desk, his expression grave.
A half-meter-long sand-fixing grass lay on the table. The broken end at the bottom was still wet, having been harvested twenty minutes prior and rushed here. It was very fresh.
At the center of the sand-fixing grass, a large clump of yellow seeds, each about the size of a grain of rice, was packed tightly together, forming a mass half the size of a human head. By estimation, there were at least a thousand seeds.
Jiang Ye reached out and touched it. The yellow seeds scattered, falling onto the smooth tabletop with a pattering sound.
In the desert next to the chalky land, all the sand-fixing grass was the same, with large clumps of seeds that the wind blew everywhere.
Jiang Ye took out his phone and took several photos of the sand-fixing grass on his desk, sending them to the seed company.
Jiang Ye: "The sand-fixing grass I ordered last time has flowered and seeded, but why are the seeds like this? Weren't the seeds you sold me green, large, round balls?"
Customer Service Xiao A: "The ones sold to you were artificial seeds with a nutrient coating for radiation and temperature resistance. In natural environments, sand-fixing grass seeds are shaped like this."
Jiang Ye breathed a sigh of relief. He had thought the sand-fixing grass had mutated collectively due to some factor after being planted on this planet.
As it turned out, the customer service representative had paused dramatically, saving the alarming part for later.
Customer Service Xiao A: "However, judging from your picture, the number of seeds is excessively high. Normally, each plant only produces dozens of seeds. The one you photographed... seems to have undergone some kind of mutation."
Jiang Ye: "Damn it, why would it mutate out of the blue?"
Customer Service Xiao A: "There are many reasons for mutation, such as defects in product batches, plant changes caused by weightlessness during space transportation, microbial contamination, or various environmental changes encountered when planting on different planets. Are the sand-fixing grass seeds you purchased all producing so many seeds?"
Jiang Ye: "They all have so many seeds... By the way, what should be done about this mutation?"
The other side fell silent.
Jiang Ye waited for a long time, but there was no response. He thought the message hadn't been sent, and asked several more times, adding a few questions:
"Can this situation be returned?"
"Or will it be a direct refund?"
"Or are there any other measures?"
The other side remained silent.
Jiang Ye was very panicked. Don't just go silent, do your after-sales service always go silent when encountering critical issues?
After all these years, is the after-sales service still like this? So archaic?
Customer Service Xiao A: "Detected an unanswerable question. Replacing with artificial customer service."
Jiang Ye was stunned. The person he had been chatting with all this time was actually an artificial intelligence?
Customer Service Da A: "Hello, I am artificial customer service Da A. Please wait a moment while I read the chat history."
Customer Service Da A: "I have reported your situation to the company's superior department. Please wait for the results."
Jiang Ye thought, "Good heavens, reporting to the superior department, a classic old phrase. Based on experience, such a report usually leads nowhere. The so-called 'company's superior department' is just an empty void."
However, he was truly surprised when a follow-up message popped up two minutes later.
Customer Service Da A: "Sir, according to the normal processing procedure, our company would send an expert team to conduct an on-site investigation of the plant situation in your area and provide returns, refunds, or other measures based on the investigation results. However, due to the current impact of the war on flight routes, the expert team cannot reach you."
Customer Service Da A: "However, based on the pictures you sent, our expert consultant team is conducting a remote appraisal. We will send you the appraisal conclusion shortly."
Jiang Ye: "Okay."
Soon, a highlighted box appeared on his phone screen.
[Expert Appraisal Conclusion: From the picture, this sand-fixing grass has undergone some unknown change, resulting in a surge in seed production. The specific impact remains to be observed. However, given such a high number of seeds, it is highly likely that this batch of sand-fixing grass will have an astonishing reproduction rate.]
Jiang Ye was dumbfounded.
Expert my foot! Can't I see what you're saying? Anyone who isn't an idiot wouldn't understand!
Customer Service Da A, you just made up words to fool me, right?
Well, there's no point asking the seed company for help, I'll have to rely on myself.
Jiang Ye sent messages to the troops stationed in Bai'e City and Shiyou City, issuing three orders.
First, monitor the changes in the sand-fixing grass for 24 hours, write daily reports with photos, and submit them every evening at 8 PM.
Second, find some small cats and dogs and feed them the sand-fixing grass seeds to test for toxicity.
Third, prohibit unauthorized civilians from approaching the sand-fixing grass.
The troops who received the orders quickly sent back replies, generally agreeing to the three points:
First, they would submit reports on time and were already monitoring the sand-fixing grass, as there was nothing else to do here.
Second, many idle guards had already eaten some seeds, and there were no adverse reactions so far.
Third, a large number of unauthorized civilians were already going to the desert with bags to collect petals.
Jiang Ye almost vomited blood. He didn't know what his subordinates were thinking. When the sand-fixing grass was first planted, they chewed on the leaves, and now that the seeds had formed, they were still eating them. Were they all goats in their past lives?
The following evenings, the observation reports for the sand-fixing grass were sent in.
Monday, the sand-fixing grass continued to produce seeds, with more and more seeds growing luxuriantly.
Tuesday, when the wind blew, the seeds scattered everywhere.
Wednesday, all the seeds of the sand-fixing grass had been dispersed, but new flower buds actually appeared.
Thursday, the sand-fixing grass outside Bai'e City and Shiyou City collectively flowered!
Jiang Ye's premonition was not good. This was the first time he had heard of a plant flowering twice in a row. What did this mean? Continuous reproduction?
Friday, the flowers bloomed even more intensely, with almost all the sand-fixing grass in full bloom.
That evening, there was a moderate rain, and the ground, which had only dried a few days prior, was moistened by the rain again.
Saturday, before the scheduled evening report time, Jiang Ye received a lengthy report. The fear of his subordinates could be felt from the words.
After reading the content, Jiang Ye was also quite terrified.
He had anticipated this, but he hadn't expected it to happen so soon!
[Report from the Third Company of the Bai'e City Garrison: At dawn, a large number of newly grown sand-fixing grass were observed, especially numerous near the desert. Tens of acres of sandy land were covered with sand-fixing grass sprouts overnight. In addition, large amounts of sand-fixing grass sprouted in Bai'e City, many emerging from cracks in the rocks. Reports of newly grown sand-fixing grass came from all directions, and even on the side of Second Street in Bai'e City, grass leaves appeared, attracting citizens to gather and take photos. The sand-fixing grass seeds scattered by the wind a few days ago have clearly taken root and sprouted, likely due to last night's rainfall.]
[Report from the Second Company of the Shiyou City Garrison: A large number of sand-fixing grass sprouts have appeared on the streets! Sand-fixing grass has grown in flower pots on the street, its roots splitting the entire pot and crushing many flower arrangements, with roses and peonies falling to the ground. In the oilfield areas, there is also a large-scale growth of sand-fixing grass. The old sand-fixing grass in the desert area has produced a new round of seeds, showing a trend of further propagation and spread.]