He was a disabled military officer who doted on his research work in the Northwest.

Moreover, it is a standard scientific sampling method that preserves the rhizosphere microbial community intact, including roots and soil.

During her doctoral studies in her past life, she conducted thousands of field samplings, and she could recognize this technique with her eyes closed. Someone who can use such professional sampling techniques in this era and in this place is definitely not an ordinary thief or a greedy neighbor.

This is a person who conducts agricultural research.

Shen Tang slowly stood up, a thin layer of sweat seeping from her back.

Some people are examining the vegetables she grows with a scientific eye.

What does this mean? It means that if her space vegetables were subjected to component analysis, soil comparison, or growth cycle calculation—any one of these steps could reveal anomalies. The fact that lush vegetables could grow in saline-alkali soil in just two days is an impossible feat for any agricultural researcher.

If the other person is just an ordinary farmer, they'll eat and that's it; they won't think much of it. But if it's someone who's doing research...

Shen Tang took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.

What is her current identity? A substitute bride from the countryside, who has never been to school and doesn't even have a registered household. All her planting knowledge is hidden under the excuse that she was "taught by an old Chinese medicine doctor in the countryside." She can get away with it once or twice, but she can't keep saying that every time.

What if the person who took the sample is stubborn and comes knocking on her door asking: What breeding techniques did you use? What improvement methods? How did you treat the soil for salinity? — How would she answer?

He won't believe anything else, but you can't exactly say "I have a cheat code that allows me to use my spatial abilities," can you?

She would lock her up as if she were insane.

The most urgent task now is to find myself a legitimate and justifiable academic identity as soon as possible.

The first step is going to school.

She should take the right path, go to school, and enter the formal academic system. In the future, no matter who asks her how to grow vegetables on saline-alkali land, she can say, "This is what I learned in school, combined with practical experience."

With the student identity as a foundation, and by gradually and openly promoting the achievements within the space, one can avoid being seen as a monster.

Moreover—she narrowed her eyes, looking at the neatly square pit—the person who took the sample, having come once, would definitely come a second time. Researchers all have this quirk; they absolutely won't let an abnormal sample go unpunished.

She had to find a way to stop this man; she couldn't let anyone discover the secret of the vegetable garden until she had a legitimate identity.

Having made up her mind, Shen Tang went to the military hospital that afternoon.

Mu Qinghan had just finished her physical therapy and was leaning against the headboard reading a military magazine. Hearing the door open, she looked up and saw Shen Tang coming in with a lunchbox. She put down the magazine and waited for Shen Tang to set the table and give her a massage as usual.

But today, after putting down the lunchbox, Shen Tang didn't start eating immediately. Instead, she stood by the bed and, unusually, showed a serious expression.

"Commander Mu, there's something I'd like to discuss with you."

Mu Qinghan raised an eyebrow slightly, signaling her to speak.

"I want to go to school," Shen Tang said bluntly. "I'm eighteen this year, and by age I should be in high school. There's a high school for children of military personnel near the military base, and I'd like to transfer there."

Mu Qinghan put down the magazine in his hand, his deep black eyes looking at her with a hint of scrutiny: "Going to school?"

"Yes." Shen Tang nodded, meeting his gaze frankly. "I don't want to spend my whole life cutting potatoes in the cafeteria. The college entrance exam was reinstated last year, and I wanted to give it a try. But I don't even have a household registration right now, so I can't register."

Mu Qinghan remained silent for a few seconds.

He recalled the letter severing ties—the Shen family had cut off all relations with her, and her household registration was most likely still under the Shen family's name, or she might simply be an unregistered resident. For someone without a household registration, going to school was a pipe dream.

"I'll handle the household registration issue." Mu Qinghan's tone remained indifferent, but her words carried an undeniable certainty. "You should first prepare for the transfer exam. I'll have someone put in a good word with the affiliated high school."

Shen Tang's eyes lit up; she hadn't expected him to agree so readily.

"Thank you, Commander Mu!"

"No need to thank me." Mu Qinghan picked up the magazine again, her tone indifferent. "You're staying here; you can't be illiterate your whole life. What would I, Mu Qinghan, think of if word got out?"

Shen Tang was stunned for a moment.

Whether she's illiterate or not has nothing to do with Mu Qinghan's reputation. She's nobody to him. Didn't he say he wouldn't acknowledge that marriage agreement? She's just a temporary tenant who pays rent; why should he care whether she goes to school or not?

Shen Tang glanced at him suspiciously, but Mu Qinghan had already lowered his eyes to look at the magazine, his cold profile showing no extra expression.

...This is probably a common problem among soldiers; they can't stand seeing those around them not being ambitious.

"Oh, right, there's one more thing." After setting the table, Shen Tang wiped his hands and casually mentioned, "A cabbage went missing from my vegetable garden a couple of days ago."

Mu Qinghan paused in wiping her hands: "Lost?"

"Hmm." Shen Tang folded the hot towel and draped it aside. "The best-growing one was dug up, roots and all. I was thinking—I could add it to your hospital meal sometime."

She spoke casually, but she knew in her heart that what she said was half true and half false—the lack of food was just an excuse, and what she really cared about was the "person who took the sample".

Mu Qinghan frowned.

"Stealing vegetables in the courtyard?" His voice turned somber.

"It might not necessarily be someone from the compound," Shen Tang shook her head. "The back wall area is deserted; it's easy for outsiders to climb over."

Mu Qinghan didn't speak, but a hint of coldness flashed in her eyes.

The military compound is mostly inhabited by family members, and access is usually loosely controlled—the guards at the gate turn a blind eye to people going out to buy groceries, visit each other, or go to see relatives. Since nothing had ever happened before, no one took it seriously.

But it's different now.

Shen Tang lived in his courtyard.

A single cabbage is a small matter. But if they can climb over the wall to steal a cabbage today, they can climb over the wall to do something else tomorrow. She's a young woman living alone in the east wing—

"Losing a vegetable is a small matter," Mu Qinghan said slowly, her tone carrying undeniable weight, "but if they can come in to steal vegetables today, they can come in to steal other things tomorrow. What if they come after people—"

Is it a clash with someone? Who is it a clash with?

Shen Tang was taken aback. She brought this up because she was worried that the person would come and steal her vegetables again. Stealing vegetables was a small matter, but if they figured out something, she was still a young girl who hadn't even started school yet, and she wouldn't be able to explain herself.

Unexpectedly, Mu Qinghan not only responded, but also seemed to be lost in thought...

She shook her head, not thinking about it anymore, attributing it to Commander Mu Qinghan's vigilance. She quickly started setting out his meal and giving him a massage, while already planning his transfer exam.

The curriculum at the children's high school was a game-changer for her, a PhD student. The only thing she needed to be careful about was not to appear too extraordinary and attract unnecessary attention.

Mu Qinghan, leaning against the headboard, glanced over the magazine and landed on her busy figure for two seconds before looking away.

……

Meanwhile, the "open-air classroom" under the old locust tree in the courtyard continues.

Bai Wei was furious after Shen Tang corrected her in front of everyone, but she still gritted her teeth and continued teaching the next day. She couldn't admit defeat—it was her only asset in the compound.

However, in the following days, she made more and more mistakes.

The stroke order of the "凸" in "凹凸" is completely wrong; the number of strokes in the character "鼎" is said to be fourteen; even "粟" and "栗" are confused, and children are taught to say "沧海一栗".

Although the children are young, they are taught by proper teachers at school. If what Bai Wei teaches doesn't match what the school teachers teach, they will naturally talk about it when they get home.

That afternoon, several children came home from school and chattered excitedly around their mothers.

"Mom! The character Aunt Baiwei taught us, our teacher said it's not written like that!" Tiger tugged at his mother's sleeve, shouting indignantly, "The teacher said the 'millet' in 'a drop in the ocean' has the rice radical, not the wood radical! Aunt Baiwei wrote it wrong!"

"Yes, yes, yes! And that character '鼎'!" another little girl with pigtails chimed in. "The teacher said it has twelve strokes, but Aunt Bai Wei insisted it has fourteen. I told her it was wrong, and she yelled at me!"