Chapter 1287: The Raven Dropping By

Happy already? You like sparkly things that much?

Xia Qing laughed and rubbed the Broken-Waist Wolf's head. "Handsome Wolf Brother, keep an eye on these pecans and the house for me. I'm going to take a turn around the beekeeping greenhouse first, then head to Territory Seven to deliver pecans to Third Brother and borrow a machine on the way back to cut that pretty stone into two pieces."

The Broken-Waist Wolf immediately grinned, revealing four little fang tips, and Wolf Lao Er grinned along happily too.

The problem of evolved male aphid flies hiding among the bee colonies has not yet been completely solved, so Xia Qing has to take a turn around the beekeeping greenhouse every few hours to check whether any evolved male aphid flies are maliciously killing bee larvae.

She hoped that when the newly recruited researcher Zhang Han from Territory Seven arrived at her place in a few days, he could get some real work done and confirm as soon as possible exactly what the symbiotic relationship between the aphid flies and the bees was all about.

Xia Qing stood up and called to her companion, "Lao Er, let's go take a turn around the beekeeping greenhouse."

Lao Er was a wild animal that grew up in the evolved forest, with extremely keen senses, and could help Xia Qing check for dangers inside the beekeeping greenhouse.

After the person and the wolf made a round and confirmed no malicious evolved male aphid flies had appeared, Xia Qing went home, loaded the four bags of pecans meant for her idol into the microtiller's trailer, and drove the microtiller to the south gate of Territory Seven.

After handing the pecans to Daya, Xia Qing went to the Disaster Control Monitoring Room to find her idol.

Hearing that Xia Qing had come to borrow a cutting machine, Zhang Shiyi wasn't surprised at all. Crystal stone could be used to make precision instruments, so cutting it open was perfectly normal. Without even turning his eyes away from the screen, he gave the order directly, "Go find Daya."

"Okay, thanks, Third Brother."

Xia Qing no longer needed special-ops team members to supervise her movements inside Territory Seven. She wandered over to Daya's office and borrowed a small diamond wire saw.

Territory Eleven also had wire saws, but none as good in quality as Territory Seven's. For cutting high-value crystal stone, Xia Qing naturally wanted to borrow the best machine.

Because Xia Qing often delivered premium green-light food to Zhang Shiyi, and she was also a partner Zhang Shiyi valued, Daya was very warm toward her, carried the machine onto the trailer for her, and even gave her a nutritious lunch.

Xia Qing took the food back to her territory and unloaded the machine first.

Although it was her first time cutting crystal stone, it wasn't her first time using this kind of machine. When she worked on the construction team, she had used this kind of machine to cut stone and knew how to operate it.

Under the watchful eyes of her companions, she skillfully secured the crystal pillar in the fixture, marked the cutting line, adjusted the tension of the wire saw, and then connected the water pump.

During the cutting process, the continuously dripping water could cool the cut surface, ensuring a smooth, chip-free cut. This was the best method Xia Qing could think of for splitting crystal.

This method had one drawback: it was time-consuming. Cutting through this crystal pillar she had traded for would take nearly three hours.

Although this machine used damping coating technology, equipment vibration-reduction design, and sound barriers, the noise it produced while working was still unbearable to Xia Qing, whose hearing was keen, and to the animals in Territory Three, and it also startled Tang Huai in Territory Two.

"Xia Qing, cutting stone?"

Xia Qing pressed the walkie-talkie button and answered loudly, "Yes."

After finishing the crystal pillar, Xia Qing would also cut some stone slabs to make a few pieces of furniture.

Tang Huai replied, "Okay, do you need help?"

Xia Qing certainly didn't need any, because her whole yard was full of secrets: the crystal pillar in the machine's fixture, pecans all over the yard, an evolved wolf taking photos of the machine, a little squirrel picking out pecans, a white-faced langur picking cotton, and another evolved wolf eating boiled eggs.

The boss? It found the noise at home too much and had led the little yellow cow off to the forage shed to graze.

Shortly after four in the afternoon, Xia Qing finally cut the crystal pillar into two sections.

Shortly after she turned off the machine, the Broken-Waist Wolf, which had gone back to fetch Yishi, swiped open the north gate of Territory Three and arrived at her yard again.

Xia Qing pointed at the sixty-centimeter-tall section of crystal pillar and asked, "Handsome Wolf Brother, this piece of stone is yours. Do you like it?"

The Broken-Waist Wolf opened its mouth and revealed its four little fang tips, signaling Xia Qing to reach into its pouch and take them out.

Xia Qing took three walnut-sized pieces of Yishi out of its pouch. "Okay, the Yishi I'll accept. This pretty crystal pillar is Handsome Wolf Brother's now. Look, you can use it as a table!"

Before the Broken-Waist Wolf arrived, Xia Qing had worried it would dislike this short section of crystal pillar and make a fuss wanting the longer one, so she had specifically developed a practical use for this section of pillar. "How about it? Pretty good, right?!"

The Broken-Waist Wolf disdainfully pushed Xia Qing's notebook off its pretty stone, then pressed its head down on it, revealing a satisfied expression.

Xia Qing asked enthusiastically, "Handsome Wolf Brother, is this stone comfortable to lie on? The Queen will definitely like it too!"

The Broken-Waist Wolf nuzzled the transparent, smooth stone and once again revealed its little fang tips.

After letting it play for a while, Xia Qing wrapped the stone pillow in dry grass and a rainproof cloth and tied it to the Broken-Waist Wolf's back.

This fellow was especially happy. For the first time, imitating the lead wolf's gesture, it gently bumped Xia Qing's forehead with its head, then leaped over Xia Qing's yard wall and left.

Its unconventional departure startled the various birds perched on the rooftop, sending feathers of all sizes fluttering down.

Xia Qing heard a familiar bird call and looked up. "Guagua?"

"Caw."

A raven wearing a leg ring flapped its wings, landed on Xia Qing's shoulder, hopped about, and called, "Xia Qing, Xia Qing."

Xia Qing answered, "When did Guagua get here? Look, I harvested a lot of delicious nuts. Do you want some?"

"Want." The evolved raven Molly answered in clear, standard pronunciation—this was one of its common phrases.

"Okay, give Guagua some delicious nuts." Xia Qing cracked open a walnut, peeled out the kernel and placed it in her palm, then took a photo of the raven standing on her wrist eating the walnut and sent it to Xin Yu.

Xin Yu quickly called a video call.

Seeing that she was driving, Xia Qing asked in surprise, "Are you done with class already?"

According to the study plan they had previously made, Xin Yu should have been in Territory Seven that afternoon, learning purification techniques from Zhang Xu.

"Just finished class." Xin Yu asked, "Is your stone cutting done?"

Xia Qing shook her head. "Still needs one more cut. Want to eat dinner at my place tonight?"

Originally Xia Qing had only planned to cut the crystal stone into two sections, but her idol had sent her a message wanting to trade for a twenty-centimeter-thick section of crystal.

In almost all fields pursuing ultimate performance—optics, lasers, semiconductors, precision measurement, and analytical instruments—crystal with extremely high transparency was an indispensable key material.

Territory Seven surely had plenty of instruments of this caliber. So when her idol proposed the trade, Xia Qing naturally wouldn't refuse.

Xin Yu, her head stuffed full of new knowledge, refused her friend's invitation. "Can't do tonight, I have to go back and study. What is Guagua eating?"

"Pecans I just harvested. Come over and take two bags back." Xin Yu now had to learn so much knowledge every day, and also serve as the technical consultant for the crab shell fertilizer plant—she had to nourish her brain.

"Okay, the south gate?"

"Sure."