The Invisible Daughter (Yunice Saunders) novel Chapter 604

Chapter 604 Trial by Dirt

Chapter 604 Trial by Dirt

The next morning, Yunice joined the hands–on training session organized by the school.

She had assumed “hands–on” meant anatomy class–dissecting cadavers with a group of students pushing their limits. That kind of thing. She actually felt confident at first, With her experience, this kind of coursework was child’s play.

But when the teacher had them pick up hocs, rakes, buckets, and shovels, and led them into a greenhouse covered in plastic sheeting, she realized this was way out of her expectations.

“Students,” the teacher announced, “aside from your core subjects, we also offer electives. This month’s hands–on training is about learning real–world skills. You see this patch of land? It’s an experimental field. I planted all these herbs myself. Your task is to observe how their different growth patterns affect their medicinal properties. Then you’ll write a research report. If it doesn’t meet the standard, you lose points.”

Yunice, like everyone else, widened her eyes in disbelief and bent down to touch the sea of lush green.

Around her, the other students were whispering to each other.

“What kind of herb is this? It’s growing like crazy…”

“It’s not listed in any of the textbooks. Maybe it’s a new variety the teacher cultivated?”

Yunice plucked a strip of long, narrow green leaves and hesitated. “This is just grass…”

The other students paused. Her words were like a bucket of cold water, snapping them out of their daze.

They had all secretly suspected it too–but no one dared say it. They assumed it must be some kind of herb that looked similar to weeds, and they were too afraid to speak up and get called ignorant.

After voicing her suspicion, Yunice continued digging around the patch and spotted a pitiful little plant. “Amidst all this grass, there are a few Polygonatum plants.”

The teacher folded his hands behind his back, smiling slyly at them. “We have eighty–four students. This field has been divided into eighty–four sections, each marked with a student ID and name. Find your own plot and begin your research.”

Yunice asked, “So you’re saying our task is to weed out everything except the herbs?”

The teacher nodded with a smile. “Exactly.”

Yunice strongly suspected this whole training course was the teacher’s personal idea. His experimental field had clearly been overrun with weeds, and instead of clearing it himself, he roped in a bunch of clueless students to do free labor.

The fresh–faced students had already started finding their sections inside t

“Yunice! Yours is over here!”

“Hey, mine’s right next to yours!”

“Aww man, Lena, mine’s so far from you guys!”

arked boundaries.

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Chapter 604 Trial by Dirt

Yunice’s two roommates were also in the training class–Lena and Jennie.

Both were nineteen, bright–eyed and casy to get along with

Jennie’s plot was next to Yunice’s, so the two could chat while they worked.

Pushing her glasses up her nose, Jennie muttered, “Yunice, is the teacher just making us pull weeds?

“That’s part of it,” Yunice replied. “This stuff’s called ‘old grass. If you use tools, it often leaves the roots behind, and it’ll regrow. So it’s best to pull it by hand, making sure the entire root comes up. But it’s rough on the hands.”

“Still, I think there’s another reason behind this.”

Jennie looked at her curiously.

“Our course is about identifying herbs at different stages of growth. I think what the teacher really wants us to do is learn to tell the difference between weeds and medicinal plants.”

If you don’t have a solid grasp of herbal identification, how could you possibly know which to pull and which to keep?

“You make a good point,” Jennie nodded.

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