Chapter 126: All Consequences Are Yours Alone to Bear

Zhang San methodically finished mixing the medicine, set two large-capacity transparent glass bottles in front of Xia Qing, and seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood because of the liquid inside the bottles.

Xia Qing stared at them too, because the color of the liquid in these two bottles was genuinely quite beautiful.

"One hundred fifty thousand includes compensation; the extra portion is for these two bottles of medicine. The blue one is for external application on the wolf; the purple-red one, add two drops when you take a bath—it's better than blood vine juice. Keep it in the fridge; shelf life is three years."

Her idol isn't ugly—his nose is a nose and his eyes are eyes!

Her idol isn't bald—he's got a whole head of curls!

Her idol was dragged out of bed in the middle of the night to perform four hours of surgery on a wolf, and afterward not only didn't get angry, but also mixed her a bottle of tinted skincare water that lasts three years!

Xia Qing dug the powder pit straight down to the earth's core, lay flat, and said, "Thanks, Third Brother. I just planted two terraced fields of green-light mung beans—once I harvest them I'll send them over, you can make mung bean paste to drink. I also have peanuts in my territory; the green-light ones I'm keeping for seed, and I'll send you half of the yellow-light ones, you can fry them up. I'm also raising green-light spring-water fish—in another two months if you want fish, just give me a shout."

The gluttonous Zhang San immediately smiled with a benevolent face, "Don't mention these things on the lord channel—when I want to eat I'll call you. If something comes up at night in the future, call Yan Long or Ji Li; don't bother me."

"Understood." Xia Qing immediately agreed.

"My cat doesn't like wolves; take that wolf back with you. Don't go around bragging about having a wolf in your territory—the Research Institute has wanted to catch high-level evolved wolves for experiments for more than a day or two." After giving his instructions, Zhang San waved Xia Qing out of the medicine-mixing room.

Ji Li followed her out, gave Xia Qing his and Yan Long's phone numbers, then led her back in front of the surgery room door.

The injured wolf had already been moved back onto a wooden board covered with plastic film, placed on the ground outside the surgery room. Its midsection was secured by a tubular white protective shell—unclear what material the shell was made of, but it fit the wolf's waist very snugly.

Hearing the movement, the wolf lying on the wooden board laboriously rolled its eyes toward Xia Qing.

Xia Qing saw fear in the wolf's eyes, stepped forward and gently rubbed its head in silent comfort, and after carefully noting down the dressing-change method and nursing key points the surgical assistant had explained, asked softly, "How far can it recover?"

The female assistant smiled, "The surgery was very successful. If you nurse it properly, it'll recover to exactly the state it was in before."

Xia Qing was overjoyed, and carrying the medicine and supporting the wolf, walked out the door under Ji Li's guidance, where she saw Yan Long standing outside.

Although Yan Long was very pretty, the feeling she gave Xia Qing was the same as Tan Junjie—like the stern, unsmiling head teacher from her school days. In front of her, Xia Qing couldn't help but tense up.

"You go on with your work, I'll see her back." After sending Ji Li off, Yan Long led Xia Qing into the northern buffer forest of Territory Seven, her voice stern, "The wolf that left its scent on you last time has been waiting outside—take it with you. If your wrong decision leads to attacks on surrounding territories by wolf packs or other evolved animal groups, I will report your negligence, and you will bear all consequences personally."

"I will take responsibility for my actions—thanks for the reminder, Sister Yan." Last time Hu Zifeng called Yan Long "Company Commander Yan" and got educated for it, so Xia Qing obediently followed the territory's rules and called her "Sister."

Regardless of age, anyone impressive is uniformly "Brother" or "Sister."

Yan Long glanced back at Xia Qing, and said nothing more.

On the way back from Territory Seven to Territory Three, Xia Qing didn't see any sign of the alpha wolf, but she knew the alpha wolf must be following in the shadows. After Yan Long left, Xia Qing said softly to the alpha wolf, "This wolf's surgery was very successful, but in three days it needs a dressing change, and for the next few days it has to drink medicine every day, so it has to recuperate in my territory first. Don't cause trouble—otherwise if someone comes to kill or catch wolves, I can't do anything about it."

After returning to her own territory, Xia Qing quickened her pace. It was almost eight o'clock, and her precious chickens were still locked in the sheep shed. But when she reached the low slope, she saw from afar that the chicks were already in the chicken coop scratching at the dirt looking for bugs to eat—someone from Hu Zifeng's squad must have let the chickens out for her.

Xia Qing looked around and saw Sheep Boss grazing in the pasture, while Hu Zifeng, carrying Sheep Boss's dedicated fish-feeding little basket, wandered around outside the greenhouse catching rodents and insects.

Who brought the basket out for him—Sheep Boss? Xia Qing laughed out loud, and with both hands steadily supporting the freshly operated wolf, crossed the stone slab bridge.

Luo Pei walked out of the small hut beside the farmland, "Surgery done?"

"Mm, the surgery was very successful—proper nursing and it'll recover." Luo Pei hadn't gone back, which meant he definitely had something to say to her. Xia Qing asked, "Brother Luo, come sit at my place?"

Luo Pei nodded and followed Xia Qing back to the village. The broken-legged wolf lying in the yard immediately propped up its upper body on its two front legs and bared its teeth at the humans with a low growl.

Without Xia Qing needing to speak, the alpha wolf, already standing on the ruins of the front yard, let out a low growl, and the broken-legged wolf immediately shut up and lay flat—though its eyes stayed fixed on its companion on the wooden board.

"Brother Luo, wait a moment." Xia Qing gently placed the wooden board under the eaves, then quickly cleaned the chicken droppings out of the sheep shed, disinfected it after pest control, carried in a large roll of freshly woven grass mat and spread it out, then transferred the wolf along with the plastic film onto the grass mat, and instructed softly, "No food or water for four hours after surgery—rest for now."

The wolf in the yard watched intently, and Luo Pei also quietly watched Xia Qing bustling about. Only after Xia Qing had settled the wolf did he follow her inside.

Although Luo Pei had lived in Territory Three for over two months, this was his first time entering Xia Qing's home. Unlike the cold, empty rooms in Territory One, Xia Qing's rooms were packed full of things—everywhere there was the feeling of daily life.

Against the right wall of the living room stood a palm-high bamboo bed, covered with the same kind of grass mat Xia Qing had used for the wolf. On the mat sat a large pillow, high on one end and low on the other—clearly made for that evolved sheep.

It looked... quite comfortable.

Luo Pei smiled gently, "I didn't expect you to have this kind of skill."

"Just tied it together blindly with grass—took apart and redid it several times before it looked like this." Xia Qing quickly tidied the table and chairs, and invited Luo Pei to sit, "Brother Luo, sit here."

After getting Luo Pei seated, Xia Qing went into the inner room to quickly take off her protective suit and weapons and put them away, then came out and asked, "Brother Luo hasn't eaten breakfast yet, right? How about some tea soup to make do?"

Luo Pei shook his head, "You've been up all night too—don't bother. I'll say a few words and go."

"It's just a matter of boiling a pot of water—a few minutes." Xia Qing had dragged someone out to help in the middle of the night—how could she not even offer them breakfast?

She went into the kitchen and put a pot of spring water on to boil, then cut a potato, blanched it in water and dressed it cold, picked out a few slices of pickled sour bamboo shoots and shredded them, and finally grabbed a handful of roasted meat jerky, arranging them all on the dining table in the living room. She poured fried noodles into two large bowls, scalded them with boiling water, and immediately the aroma of noodles rose up.

"I learned this from Territory Ten—slowly stir-fry ground flour with a bit of sugar and oil until fragrant, and whenever you want to drink it just mix a bowl—fills you up and quenches your thirst."

Xia Qing had just finished speaking when Sheep Boss pushed the door open with a slap and walked in, squinting first at Xia Qing then at Luo Pei, wearing a displeased expression.

Luo Pei asked quietly, "Evolved animals all have territorial instincts—your evolved sheep isn't happy that I've come in. Should I step outside first?"

"No need, Brother Luo, just eat in peace." Xia Qing immediately went to the kitchen, brought out Sheep Boss's concentrate feed and set it on its dining table, "Boss worked hard last night too—eat up."

Sheep Boss only then stopped staring at Luo Pei, went to its table and started eating. Luo Pei glanced at Sheep Boss's dining table and the "meal" in its food bowl, surprised, "You feed it compressed rations?"

Xia Qing explained, "Compressed rations are made mainly from vegetables and contain a certain amount of salt. Sheep Boss loves eating them, so I feed it a little every day. I've noticed its coat has gotten shinier since eating them."

Luo Pei laughed, "These compressed rations really are more suitable for herbivores."

After the catastrophe, human living conditions were harsh—the food wasn't as good as what the pig, cattle, and sheep farms fed before the catastrophe.

Xia Qing handed Luo Pei a bowl of steaming hot tea soup, and introduced the side dishes, "If Brother Luo likes sour food, add a couple slices of sour bamboo shoots. This potato I dug just last night, and the jerky is something I roasted myself haphazardly—please make do, Brother Luo."

"This isn't making do at all—it's already very good." Pollution-free spring water, freshly ground flour, yellow-light potato, green-light bamboo shoots, green-light roasted jerky—in less than ten minutes Xia Qing had prepared a lavish breakfast.

With skills like these, she had no need for a cook.