Chapter 351: Is 7000 Points a Lot?

Chapter 351: Chapter 351: Is 7000 Points a Lot?

After watching the investigation team’s car drive off into the distance, Cao Xianyun, the Danger Investigation Team member with Auditory Evolution, returned to his dorm. He reported the conversation he’d overheard between Xiaqing and Lu Ying, as well as what Lu Ying said to the other investigators as their car was leaving, to Captain Tan Junjie. Then he remarked:

"When I brought Group Leader Lu over, I was worried Sister Qing would panic at the sight of the investigation team. I never expected her to be so calm. Her composure is on another level."

Hu Zi, who was in the room writing in the patrol log, looked up. "It’s not just her composure. Her overall skills are incredible, too. That’s how she’s been able to hold on to the Third Territory and keep making her life better."

Tan Junjie unlocked his phone and looked at his daughter’s beaming smile on the screen. He resolved to increase the intensity of her training. If anything ever happened to him, Tan Junjie hoped his daughter could be like Xiaqing—capable of defending a territory by herself and surviving on her own abilities.

The next day, Tang Huai arrived at the Third Territory carrying an oil press to help Xiaqing with her corn harvest. Unsurprisingly, he saw Hu Zifeng was already there.

The two, who couldn’t stand the sight of each other, immediately got their hackles up like roosters in Xiaqing’s coop, looking like they wanted to start a brawl on the spot.

Xiaqing couldn’t be bothered with them. She just grabbed a small pickaxe and started digging up the corn stalks.

Hu Zifeng snorted, ignoring Tang Huai as well. He expertly switched on a shredder and started feeding it corn stalks and green bean seedlings. Once shredded, the plant matter would be mixed with a compost starter to ferment. By next spring, it would become a high-quality organic fertilizer that could also improve the soil and prevent erosion.

Tang Huai, who despised noise, wanted nothing more than to toss both Hu Zifeng and his shredder into the reservoir. He went into the corn hoop house, saw Xiaqing digging up stalks, and immediately jumped at the chance to impress her.

"You take a break. I’ll handle this."

The moment he started, Tang Huai realized the farm work Xiaqing performed so effortlessly was incredibly strenuous for him.

’Damn it, why is this pickaxe so heavy? Why do these corn stalks have so many roots? And why the hell is all this silk falling everywhere?’ The sweat made the corn silk stick to his neck, and it itched so badly Tang Huai wanted to scream.

By the time he gritted his teeth and finished clearing the hoop house, drenched in sweat, he’d already developed four blisters on his hand. Tang Huai chugged half a bottle of water and collapsed onto the messy pile of corn stalks he’d created. HUFF... HUFF... he panted, then called out, "Xiaqing, how about you let your sheep out for me to see?"

Because she knew Tang Huai was coming, Xiaqing had already instructed the Head Wolf and the Sick Wolf to keep the Sheep Leader at home and not let it wander around the territory.

Letting the Sheep Leader out was out of the question.

Knowing the Sheep Leader, Xiaqing was certain it would send Tang Huai flying. The sheep often listened to the Lords chatting over the walkie-talkie, and whenever it heard Tang Huai’s voice, its eyes would narrow in clear annoyance.

Tang Huai could get his ass kicked another day. Not today. Xiaqing had an important trade to discuss with him.

Today, Xiaqing wanted to trade two types of protective equipment from Tang Huai: three sets of field-grade Level 4 Dog Protective Clothing and one set of field-grade Level 4 protective clothing for a human.

"Can’t get the human one. My contact doesn’t deal with that stuff." Tang Huai rolled onto his stomach on the corn stalks, grinning at Xiaqing as she shucked corn. "What do you need a Level 4 protective clothing for, anyway? Planning to fight a High Level Evolutionary Biology? Who are you teaming up with?"

Xiaqing shucked a pathetic corn cob that had only managed to grow a single kernel. She tossed it into a bag. "I’m not going anywhere."

"Like hell you’re not! Why would you need Level 4 protective clothing if you’re not going anywhere?" The noise from Hu Zifeng’s machine was too loud, so Tang Huai crawled a couple of feet closer to negotiate. "If you agree to take me with you, I’ll get you six sets of Dog Protective Clothing. How about it? A single set costs 7,000 points, you know."

’Seven thousand points? Is that a lot?’ Things were different for Xiaqing now. She gave a dry little laugh. "Nine and a half eggs."

Tang Huai was so stunned he almost cursed out loud. He shot back angrily, "Your eggs will only be worth this much for a few months! Once more people start raising chickens next spring, the price will naturally drop. Huh? Now this is a nice-looking ear of corn!"

Xiaqing had just shucked a perfect ear of corn. The cob was packed tight with kernels, without a single empty spot even at the tip. Tang Huai wasn’t a dedicated farmer, but from listening to the other Lords chatter on, he knew what good corn looked like.

Xiaqing put the perfect ear of corn in her pocket and made a counteroffer. "Three sets of Level 4 Dog Protective Clothing for thirty Green Light chicken eggs."

Tang Huai was shocked. "What do you need so many sets of Dog Protective Clothing for? Are you raising a Wolf Group?"

Xiaqing responded, "Stockpiling them while my eggs are still valuable."

Tang Huai rolled onto his back on the corn stalks, using his hands as a pillow. He stared at the clouds for a moment before agreeing. "Deal. When do I get the eggs?"

"The middle of next month." Even though Xiaqing had six hens, she only collected three or four eggs a day, so it would take time to gather thirty of them.

"Fine." Tang Huai agreed. He lay on the corn stalks, crossed his legs, and excitedly shared his grand plan with Xiaqing. "After I get your eggs, I’ll trade with Brother San for another thirty. With sixty total, I should be able to hatch at least thirty Green Light Chickens. I can feed them the worms I dig up..."

Even Tang Huai, who loved digging for worms, was now planning to raise chickens. This meant Xiaqing, a real farmer, had to try even harder.

She, however, doubted Tang Huai would be able to get Green Light Eggs from Zhang San. When it came to Green Light food, Territory Land No. 7 was a one-way street—imports only, no exports.

After Hu Zifeng and Tang Huai left, Xiaqing called the Sheep Leader over. It carried the shucked corn back to her home, where she spread it out to dry on the concrete roof of her elevated building.

Once the late-sown corn in the region began to be harvested, flocks of birds started gathering again. The cat from Territory Land No. 7 and the eagle from No. 8 Territory were back on duty, earning their keep.

Without a cat or an eagle to help, the Third Territory was overrun with birds. After shooting down a few of the lead birds with her slingshot, Xiaqing left the Sick Wolf to guard the corn. She found a spot in the shade of her solar panels and settled in to read a book on raising chickens.

The book was from before the Natural Disaster, but much of its content was still relevant.

For example, it explained that chickens stop laying eggs in the winter because of the low temperatures and shorter daylight hours.

Therefore, to get chickens to lay, you had to raise the temperature of the coop and increase their exposure to light. Neither of these was difficult for Xiaqing to achieve.

She was already planning to build a greenhouse for vegetables anyway. Once it was up, she could just set aside a space for the chicken coop and install a light over the cage.

’It probably wasn’t that simple, though.’ A greenhouse for animals would surely have different requirements for light, temperature, and ventilation than one for plants. Xiaqing wasn’t sure what those differences were, but her allies, Qi Fu and Shi Zhong, certainly would.

She would ask them in detail when she visited the Fifth and Tenth Territories to learn about greenhouse construction.

For now, the most important task was to dry and store the corn and green beans, then water and fertilize the field to plant winter wheat and rapeseed. The corn stalks harvested today had already been moved out of the hoop house and shredded. This afternoon, she could clear the weeds, have the Sheep Leader water the plot, and after letting it dry for a few days, she could spread fertilizer, till the soil, and plant the seeds.

It sounded like a lot of work, but Xiaqing only had enough seeds for two plots of wheat and one of rapeseed—only about half an acre in total. For her and the Sheep Leader, watering and tilling half an acre was a piece of cake.

The only problem was that she didn’t have a seeder, so sowing the seeds would take a while. She wondered if Qi Fu and Shi Zhong knew a better way to do it.

Xiaqing picked up her phone and contacted Qi Fu, arranging a meeting for the Alliance members at six in the evening. She planned to first discuss grain storage, then use the opportunity to ask for advice about planting.