Chapter 1305: Another Brain-Domain Evolver

After Zhang Song diagnosed Xia Qing with PTSD, she saw everyone out and locked the front door, and instantly felt she could breathe easier.

The first thing she did when she got home was sincerely praise her companion, "Boss, you were protecting Little Yellow Calf the whole time just now—you're amazing! What would I and Little Yellow Calf have done without you…"

Ram Boss raised its head and squinted, wearing an expression that said, "I'm the real badass here."

After a round of praise left both the human and the ram feeling good, Xia Qing finally asked, "Boss and Little Yellow Calf are hungry, right? Want to go eat grass in the forage shed?"

After the temperature dropped, the grass in the forage shed gradually withered, but the shed was still Boss's favorite spot. It was spacious enough, carried a scent it liked, and had insect netting to keep the bugging bugs out. So Xia Qing had stocked plenty of hay and fallen leaves from the big Chinese toon tree in the forage shed, letting Ram Boss bask in the sun and graze at leisure.

Ram Boss might not be the sharpest tool in the shed on other matters, but when it came to food it was razor-sharp—it immediately stood up and signaled Xia Qing to lead Little Yellow Calf along.

Xia Qing had assumed Ram Boss would lead Little Yellow Calf over itself, but since it told her to lead, she happily obeyed, leading Little Yellow Calf along behind Ram Boss as they headed out, chatting with it as they walked, "Boss, do you think Little Yellow Calf has put on some weight?"

"Baa." Ram Boss tossed off a casual reply and kept walking.

Territory Three had good water and plenty of forage; once the traded-for Little Yellow Calf overcame its fear of the evolved wolves, it ate till its belly was round every day and visibly put on weight, so every time Lao Si came by it would drool a few drops at the sight.

After dropping the ram and calf off, Xia Qing went home and moved the pots of green-light spinach from the second-floor living room one by one into the constant-temperature sample collection box, then carried them back to the artificial climate cultivation room in the lab.

This spinach had been transplanted by Xia Qing from the terraced fields into pots and raised in the cultivation room. To handle the surprise visit from Zhang Han and the two "experts" from Territory Six who suddenly asked to see the lab, Xia Qing had moved them out of the cultivation room into the small building at noon today.

Even though the fireplace was lit in Xia Qing's small building, the indoor temperature and humidity still didn't meet the standard, so putting the plants back was the only way to let them grow properly.

Moving them back and forth was a hassle and not good for the spinach's growth either, but for safety's sake Xia Qing had to do it. Not just this time—whenever Zhang Han came by in the future, she would still do the same.

Even though her idol said Zhang Han bore her no ill will, when Xia Qing saw Zhang Han today, she still found the man unpleasant to look at.

Xia Qing, who had struggled to survive eleven years through natural disasters, was not a Class C magneto-receptive evolver and couldn't sense fluctuations in human magnetic fields, but she trusted her intuition completely—even though Zhang Han looked like a weakling with zero combat ability, she would not let her guard down.

After arranging the spinach and adjusting the supplemental lights, Xia Qing checked on the vegetable seedlings' growth, confirmed they were ready for transplanting, and only then left the lab for home, carrying Ergua out of the house and setting it on the floor-standing drying rack under the eaves to get some sun.

Clostridium difficile is one of the tougher anaerobic soil bacteria, and the evolved version is even tougher. If Ergua hadn't run into Does Daigua when it came back to check on things, with its own resistance alone it wouldn't have lasted two days before kicking the bucket.

If Does Daigua had discovered it a few hours later, the little fellow would have developed symptoms of intestinal perforation and needed surgery.

Luckily, Does Daigua went back and found Ergua before its intestine perforated; after getting Does Daigua's call, Xia Qing rushed over immediately and treated it in time.

Even so, this little fellow's colitis still needed over half a month to recover. If its diet wasn't managed properly during this period, it would still develop watery diarrhea, so Xia Qing had to take very careful care of this VIP patient monkey. Basking in the sun to build up its resistance was an essential step.

Does Daigua was also brought out by Xia Qing, set under the eaves to pick cotton, and to keep an eye on Ergua while it was at it. Xia Qing, meanwhile, was in the spot under the eaves that didn't get sun, turning over the green-light pecans that were drying in the shade.

The green-light pecans, which had been soaked in dilute salt water for three days to remove their astringency, could be stored in the underground grain storage room once shade-dried.

As Xia Qing turned the pecans, she mentally tallied up the food she'd stockpiled, and the corners of her mouth gradually curled up; once her mood lifted, even the sparrows' chirping sounded pleasant.

Ergua, curled into a ball on the floor-standing drying rack where Xia Qing had placed it, secretly watched her for a while; when it saw she hadn't noticed, it began inching sideways bit by bit.

Xia Qing of course heard Ergua moving, but she didn't turn her head, wanting to see what the little fellow was up to.

Does Daigua, who was picking cotton, also noticed Ergua's movements, hopped under the drying rack, looked up for a few seconds, then climbed up. Ergua slowly crawled onto Does Daigua's back, grabbed its fur tightly, and closed its eyes.

Does Daigua carried Ergua on its back and hopped back down, continuing to pick cotton. The back of a monkey not yet two years old couldn't fully accommodate a half-year-old little monkey, so Ergua's hind legs dragged on the concrete floor; even so, Ergua refused to let go, because this place was too unfamiliar to it, and only pressing close to its own kind could give it a shred of security.

Xia Qing brought out a thick grass mat from the house and spread it under the eaves, so Does Daigua could sit on the mat and work while carrying the monkey on its back.

She had to lay the mat—if Ergua caught cold it would get diarrhea and its condition would worsen.

"Huh."

Does Daigua spotted a small cotton boll on a cotton plant, plucked it, and happily handed it to Xia Qing.

This kind of cotton boll wasn't ripe yet; even dried and cracked open, there was no cotton inside, but it made a good toy. Xia Qing had used bolls like this to amuse little Does Daigua before, so the little fellow remembered.

Xia Qing took the small cotton boll, pointed the tip down, pinched the stem, gave it a quick twist and let go; the boll spun rapidly on the concrete under the eaves, Does Daigua babbled happily, and Ergua on its back stared with wide, round eyes.

After spinning for a while and slowing down, the boll wobbled a couple of turns and lay flat on the ground; Does Daigua raised its head again and looked at Xia Qing with eager, hopeful eyes.

Xia Qing twisted another one; Does Daigua babbled happily again, and Ergua kept staring at the boll.

By the time Xia Qing had twisted the fifth one, Ergua finally synced up with Does Daigua and, with some effort, lifted its head to look at Xia Qing.

The two little monkeys were each uglier than the other, but Xia Qing was happy. Because through this action she confirmed Ergua was also quite smart; as for what level its brain-domain evolution had reached, that remained to be observed.

After twisting one more boll for them, Xia Qing gave Does Daigua a few instructions—telling it to keep an eye on Ergua—before leaving home for the cultivation greenhouse to clear the empty plots inside. The vegetable seedlings raised in the artificial climate cultivation room were ready for transplanting; Xia Qing would prepare the ground today and plant the seedlings in the greenhouse tomorrow.

With last year's experience under her belt, Xia Qing was more confident about growing overwintering vegetables, and knew exactly how much of each to plant for her own consumption.

Chinese chives, celery, and chili peppers—one bed of all three combined was enough; baby bok choy and greens needed to be planted in greater quantity because Ram Boss and Does Daigua liked them too; the remaining beds were all used to grow the alfalfa and several other forage grasses that Ram Boss loved.

Just as Xia Qing was calculating how much of each vegetable to plant, Tang Huai called her; after a bit of small talk she got down to business, "Qing-jie, that female researcher who was following Song Ge today—was that the first time you've met her?"

Xia Qing gave an acknowledging sound.

Tang Huai asked again, "Qing-jie, didn't you think she looked a little familiar?"