The first week with the new workers passed more smoothly than Rian had expected.
With nearly twenty people working across the three-hectare farm, the workload that had once nearly crushed him became surprisingly manageable. Some workers prepared the planting beds, others handled irrigation and harvesting, while several were assigned to patrol the boundaries at night.
For the first few days, everything seemed normal.
Then the vegetables started growing.
Really growing.
One morning, Pak Joko stopped in the middle of the field and stared at a row of spinach.
He had been working as a farmer for more than twenty years, and yet he couldn't remember ever seeing spinach grow that quickly.
"Boss Rian..."
Rian, who was checking his notes nearby, looked up.
"Yes?"
Pak Joko pointed toward the plants.
"Are these the same ones we planted last week?"
Rian followed his finger and forced himself not to smile.
The spinach was already thick and lush, its leaves broad and healthy. Some were nearly ready for harvest.
"Of course," Rian replied casually. "Why?"
Pak Joko walked closer and crouched beside the plants.
"Because I swear these weren't this big yesterday."
Several workers gathered around him.
One of them laughed nervously. "Maybe you just didn't pay attention."
"I've been looking at these plants every morning," Pak Joko replied. "They're growing like they're being chased."
Rian scratched the back of his head.
He had been expecting this reaction.
There was simply no way to hide the results forever. Even with diluted serum and carefully controlled applications, the crops were developing far faster than ordinary vegetables.
Fortunately, Rian had already prepared an explanation.
"The seeds," he said.
Everyone turned toward him.
"The seeds?"
Rian nodded confidently.
"I got them from an old friend. He's a scientist who works with agricultural research. He developed several varieties of high-performance seeds."
The workers exchanged impressed looks.
"A scientist?"
"Yes."
Rian paused for a moment, carefully choosing his next words.
"The seeds have been selected for fast growth, strong resistance, and high yields. But the seeds alone aren't enough. The cultivation method is important too."
That explanation seemed to satisfy them.
After all, there was nothing particularly suspicious about a farmer using improved seeds.
If anything, it made Rian sound like a young entrepreneur who knew what he was doing.
Jojo, watching from beneath a nearby tree, gave Rian a long, unimpressed stare.
Rian deliberately avoided looking at him.
He knew exactly what the cat was thinking.
Scientist? Really?
Later that afternoon, Rian prepared the large spraying tank.
The workers assumed it contained a special nutrient solution used to maintain the crops.
They were not entirely wrong.
Rian had already mixed the serum into the water earlier that morning, carefully measuring the amount according to the ratios recorded in his notebook.
The glowing liquid disappeared almost completely once diluted.
No strange color.
No unusual smell.
Nothing that would attract attention.
Rian lifted the tank onto his back and began walking between the rows.
"Boss, what are you spraying?" one of the workers asked.
Rian didn't stop.
"Special growth solution."
"Is it expensive?"
Rian smiled.
"Very."
The worker laughed.
"Then we'd better make sure it doesn't get wasted."
"Exactly."
Rian continued spraying, keeping his movements steady and ordinary.
Every spray carried a tiny portion of the secret that had changed his life.
But no one needed to know that.
To the workers, it was simply another agricultural technique developed by Rian's mysterious scientist friend.
To Rian, however, every drop represented something much more dangerous.
His secret.
And his future.
---
By the end of the month, the workers had stopped being surprised by the farm's growth.
They had simply accepted that Rian's farm operated differently.
But even acceptance couldn't completely hide their amazement.
The farm had already produced three harvests in a single month.
Three.
Pak Joko stood beside a freshly harvested pile of vegetables, staring at the crates as if they had appeared by magic.
"We've harvested this field three times," he muttered.
Rian nodded.
"That's right."
"In one month."
"That's right."
Pak Joko looked at him suspiciously.
"Boss, are you sure these aren't some kind of special vegetables from another planet?"
The workers burst into laughter.
Rian laughed along with them.
"If they were, I'd be charging twice as much."
The joke eased the tension, but Rian's smile remained slightly stiff.
The truth was that the numbers were even more impressive than the workers realized.
Normally, producing this much from such a relatively young farm would have been nearly impossible.
But the serum had changed the rules.
The plants grew quickly, recovered quickly, and produced repeatedly.
Still, Rian had learned from his earlier mistakes.
He wasn't going to push them recklessly.
The serum was always diluted.
Different crops received different concentrations.
Some areas received none at all.
The most extraordinary results were reserved for the crops that would bring the highest profits.
And most importantly, the workers never handled the serum directly.
They only saw tanks filled with what Rian called his "special solution."
Whenever someone asked for the exact formula, Rian gave the same answer.
"It's a method my friend developed. I don't understand all the science behind it myself."
It was a convenient half-truth.
And people tended to stop asking questions when they believed something was complicated science.
---
As the weeks passed, the workers became increasingly impressed with Rian.
He was young, but he worked alongside them every day.
He checked the soil, inspected leaves, recorded growth rates, calculated harvest volumes, and even helped load vegetables into his pickup truck.
The only thing they couldn't understand was how he managed to keep working without slowing down.
Rian had his own explanation for that, too.
The serum wasn't only for plants.
Every Sunday, when no one was watching, he carefully took a tiny amount for himself.
The result was subtle but extraordinary.
His body recovered faster.
His muscles rarely remained sore for long.
His stamina was far beyond what it had been before.
Even after spending an entire day working under the hot Semarang sun, he could still carry crates that would normally require two people.
The workers assumed he was simply unusually fit.
Rian wasn't about to correct them.
One evening, after everyone had gone home or settled into the night guard posts, Rian stood beside the storage shed and looked across the farm.
Three hectares.
Rows of vegetables stretched beneath the fading sunlight.
His pickup truck stood near the main gate, still carrying the last shipment of the day.
For the first time, the farm no longer felt like a desperate gamble.
It felt like a real business.
A growing one.
Jojo quietly appeared beside him.
"So," the cat said in his deep voice, "our human has successfully convinced twenty people that you possess a brilliant agricultural scientist friend."
Rian sighed.
"Please don't remind me."
"Why? I think the story is excellent."
"You don't even exist in their version of the story."
Jojo flicked his tail.
"Exactly. A tragedy."
Rian chuckled.
Then his expression became more serious.
"They're starting to trust the farm."
Jojo looked across the field.
"Trust is useful."
"Yes."
Rian's eyes moved toward the rows of vegetables.
"But it also means I have to be more careful."
Jojo's ears twitched.
"Because?"
Rian lowered his voice.
"Because the bigger this farm becomes, the harder it will be to explain why everything grows this fast."
For several seconds, neither of them spoke.
The wind moved gently through the leaves.
Somewhere in the distance, one of the night guards laughed at something.
Rian looked at the enormous farm again.
He had wanted success.
Now he had it.
But success came with a problem he had never considered.
The more people who depended on his farm, the more people who could eventually notice that something about it was not normal.
Rian tightened his grip around his notebook.
For now, however, everything was under control.
The workers believed in the seeds.
They believed in his mysterious scientist friend.
And they believed in Rian.
That was enough.
For now.