Since cactus flesh was confirmed to have some effect on this disease, Old Chen sent people to find it in the wild and then planted it extensively. When there wasn't enough space on the ground, flower racks and semi-aerial platforms were built, and the cacti were grown in mid-air, just like moss.

However, there are some things to consider when building flower racks in mid-air, as the ground plants must receive sufficient sunlight.

So Old Chen called Li Siming back from the wilderness, along with the entire team that had gone out with him to save the green plants.

Jiang Wan showed absolutely no interest in Lao Chen's work. When Lao Chen came to learn from her, she deflected all the blame onto Li Siming, completely ignoring the situation.

However, they also kept an eye on the situation over there and learned that as soon as Li Siming returned, they immediately went out.

Old Chen looked very grim as he gave a speech. Li Siming and the team members who had gone out with him to dig plants stood in front of him with their heads bowed.

Upon seeing her approach, Old Chen immediately stopped the car, forcing a smile onto his dark face as he greeted her: "Expert Xiao Wan! You're here! Is there something you need? Just tell us what you need, and we'll do our best to cooperate!"

He originally thought that since Li Siming was an expert, he could also do a good job of digging up green plants. After all, there were plants all over the mountains and fields in the wild, so the job was not difficult at all!

So initially, he hoped the two experts could collaborate, and he was quite angry after Jiang Wan rejected him!

But now, all he feels is pain in his face!

Jiang Wan's words, relayed by Cheng Zhen, were still ringing in her ears: "Let's see what Li Siming is capable of!"

Now that he's seen it for himself, he feels a sharp pain in his face!

Damn, this is what an expert is capable of—ruining plants and weeds like this. He might as well have dug them up himself!

Li Siming glanced at Jiang Wan, feeling very dissatisfied with Old Chen's earlier reprimand. He, Battalion Commander Chen, cared about his reputation and wanted to put on a good show in front of Jiang Wan. Didn't he care about his reputation too?

So he immediately retorted, "These are all weeds! They're useless! We're looking for precious and rare species!"

Jiang Wan was aloof and never liked to argue with people, but this time, she was uncharacteristically calm. She put her hands in her pockets, looked at him leisurely, and slowly asked, "Are you saying that these foxtail grasses, Arabian speedwells, plantains, cacti, and the like are all weeds and not worth transplanting and protecting?"

Li Siming straightened his back and said confidently, "Of course!"

He never expected that, for some reason, these baskets of weeds would appear in the camp!

"Hmm." Jiang Wan kicked at the ruined plant remains he had treated as weeds in the snow. "Arabian speedwell is a weed, but it's also a wild vegetable. In this oxygen-deprived apocalypse, when there's really no food to eat, this is also an option."

"Plantain, also known as flat plantain, is a medicinal herb with great medicinal value. Its seeds are sweet and cold in nature. They have the effects of clearing heat and promoting diuresis, draining dampness and relieving strangury, clearing the liver and improving eyesight. They are used to treat gonorrhea, urinary retention, summer heat diarrhea, red and swollen eyes, excessive phlegm and cough, and blurred vision. Of course, when there is no food, plantain can also be eaten."

"Foxtail grass was indeed a rather annoying weed for farmers before the oxygen-deficient apocalypse, but it is both fodder and has a lot of medicinal value."

She racked her brains, but forgot the specific properties of the medicine, so she simply didn't go into details.

"In an oxygen-deficient apocalypse, wouldn't it be better to feed livestock with foxtail grass?"

"As for this cactus, there's not much more to say."

She paused, and seeing Li Siming's face growing increasingly grim, before he could utter a rebuttal, she spoke clearly, word by word:

"Plants are not distinguished by their value. In an oxygen-deficient apocalypse, as long as they can perform photosynthesis and do not harm the ecosystem, they are worth saving and preventing them from mutating in the wild."

These words made Old Chen's face sting even more!

Li Siming couldn't really refute the fact that these weeds couldn't photosynthesize, and seeing the unpleasant expressions on Lao Chen's and the surrounding team members' faces, he wisely stopped talking about the weeds and instead changed his perspective to defend himself:

"These are all frozen under the thick layer of snow, how could you possibly see their original appearance? That's why I didn't recognize them!"

His words only exposed his incompetence. What kind of botanical expert is he? You could probably find any first or second-year botany student these days who is more professional and knowledgeable than him.

Old Chen's face hurt even more, as if a shoehorn was whipping his face.

Jiang Wan glanced at Old Chen with a half-smile, then changed the subject instead of kicking him while he was down.

That's the real reason why she went to all this trouble to find Li Siming today and showcase his "true talent" to everyone!

“You said wild vegetables don’t deserve to be saved, then what about this?” She took out a piece of blue cloth from her pocket, which she actually took out from the tree hole space, unfolded it, and laid it flat in front of him.

“It’s just moss!” he said immediately, his eyes darting around. “I see you’ve already collected so much moss, you definitely don’t need this anymore. Our forest farm isn’t that big to begin with!”

Jiang Wan immediately became serious, abandoning her previous nonchalant demeanor, and said sternly, "That's right, it's moss, but it's *Moss juniper*! Before the apocalypse, it was listed in the National Key Protected Wild Plants List and belonged to the second-class protected plants!"

As she spoke, Li Siming's eyes widened, and his expression grew increasingly grim.

It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"And this too." Jiang Wan took out another piece of blue cloth and unfolded it in front of everyone. "This is Saussurea medusa! It's also listed in the National Key Protected Wild Plants List and is a Class II National Key Protected Wild Plant!"

She grew angrier and angrier as she spoke, especially when she saw that Li Siming remained unfazed even after being exposed in public, and instead looked even more embarrassed and annoyed. She was furious: "The Saussurea medusa is a perennial plant that blooms only once! By picking it when it is in bloom, you are directly cutting off its chance to reproduce!"

What's even worse is that he didn't pick the whole plant; he just pulled them up randomly like weeds!

He even broke the stem of the Saussurea medusa!

What does this tell us?

Enraged, she flung her hand, and a vine whip appeared out of thin air, slamming down on Li Siming: "Are you so stupid that you don't even recognize a snow rabbit? How dare you call yourself a botany expert?! I bet Professor Qin's coffin lid is about to be blown off by your anger!"

If he weren't so foolish, she wouldn't actually object to making way for Li Siming, allowing him to be valued by Old Chen, go out to dig up green plants to expand the forest farm, and provide more oxygen to Xiangcheng.

She could finally free up her time to study those rare, protected plants. Her major was in the field of wild plant conservation, and now that the world was in a state of oxygen deprivation, she was even more determined not to let them perish.

But unfortunately, Li Siming, in the oxygen-deprived post-apocalyptic world, was so stupid that it was as if his brain had been eaten by zombies!