Chapter 143: The Rolling Thunder

The next morning at four o'clock, the lead wolf led the team to deliver four birds, followed by that pitiful weasel in charge of plucking feathers.

Xia Qing took her share, brought it inside to drain the blood and test the miasma element content. No surprise, still a green light. She took a photo of this goose-like bird and sent it to Ji Li:

The wolf pack delivered food, I took one, and it turned out to be green light.

She didn't send it directly to Zhang San because it wasn't light yet, and her idol had specifically instructed her not to contact him at night.

To Xia Qing's surprise, Zhang San's call came in less than ten minutes, his voice brimming with cheer, "Xia Qing, it's me, your Third Brother. Split this green-light Black-Maned Goose with me, what do you want in exchange?"

This kind of goose is called Black-Maned Goose? The name is quite fitting. Xia Qing stated her exchange request, "Can I trade for the insecticide you exchanged to Brother Luo yesterday?"

With green-light meat in hand, Zhang San was in a good mood and generous, "Sure. Green-light Black-Maned Goose meat, one jin can be exchanged for four jin, how many jin do you want?"

Xia Qing didn't know the dosage and wasn't sure how much she should exchange for, "Eight mu of land's worth should be enough."

Zhang San told Xia Qing the dosage, "Two jin per mu, used once per crop cycle, sixteen jin is enough. I want to exchange for two more jin of meat, what else do you want?"

Taking advantage of her idol's good mood, Xia Qing asked about making special-effect nutrient solution from spinach, "Third Brother, how long can the juice from my spinach roots and stems be stored?"

Zhang San answered precisely, "With your current storage conditions, probably one day. If you get a refrigerator, I can give you some preservative to add in, and it can be stored for five days."

Xia Qing asked again, "Five days is too short. Can I give you the spinach roots and stems in exchange for a premium nutrient solution with a longer shelf life?"

Zhang San was silent for a few seconds before answering, "Sure. Give me three jin of spinach plants without soil, and I'll exchange you one vial of premium nutrient solution, with a shelf life of two months."

Xia Qing silently calculated: three jin of spinach for one vial of nutrient solution, and one vial of nutrient solution sells for two thousand points. Of course, this exchange rate was because of the green-light goose meat and Third Brother's good mood, so the price he asked was a bit lower.

So the price Iron Rooster Yang Jin offered her was quite reasonable.

Xia Qing quickly made up her mind, "Thank you, Third Brother. I'll exchange the whole goose to you. When my green-light spinach is harvested, can I bring you all the plants in exchange for premium nutrient solution with a two-month shelf life?"

One shouldn't hang oneself from a single tree; she had told Zhang San she only planted three hundred spinach seeds, but in reality she had planted twelve hundred.

When the spinach matured, one-fourth of the plants would go to Zhang San in exchange for special-effect nutrient solution, and three-fourths would be sold to Yang Jin. This way she could get both quality nutrient solution and points—perfect!

Xia Qing silently gave herself a thumbs-up.

Zhang San agreed readily, "Black-Maned Goose meat is very delicious, you don't have to exchange all of it to me, keep a goose leg for yourself. I'll have Ji Li come pick it up now."

Ji Li was very fast. After Xia Qing hung up the phone, she immediately chopped off a goose leg, sealed up the legless goose, brought the goose blood along, and hurried to the exchange point.

To Xia Qing's surprise, the one waiting at the north isolation belt of Territory Three wasn't Ji Li, but Yan Long.

Perhaps it was the boldness that came with great skill, but Yan Long actually came to pick up the goods without wearing a protective mask, leaving Xia Qing unsure how to react. She handed over the goose meat and goose blood with both hands, "Sorry to trouble you, Sister Yan."

Yan Long took them, handed the bag containing the insecticide to Xia Qing, and instructed, "This insecticide can be used when tilling the land, or mixed with water when irrigating. Don't let it touch your skin directly."

"Okay, thank you, Sister Yan." Xia Qing took it.

Yan Long quietly gazed at Xia Qing. Just as Xia Qing thought she was about to say something, she turned and walked away with the goods.

Although Xia Qing was a bit baffled, she wasn't a particularly curious person by nature, so she turned around briskly and headed back to her own territory.

After bringing the insecticide home and putting it away, Xia Qing immediately started processing the goose leg. Because this goose was quite large, one goose leg weighed a jin and a half, enough for Xia Qing to make a meal.

When she boiled water to scald the goose leg and started plucking feathers, the small down stuck to her hands and wouldn't shake off. Xia Qing really wanted to go out and ask the lead wolf where it found that feather-plucking weasel—she wanted one too.

After plucking the feathers clean, Xia Qing threw the goose leg into a clay pot, added spring water, put in seasonings and brought it to a boil, then turned down the heat to simmer slowly.

Then she took off her apron and went to busy herself with other things.

The first task was putting the little chicks from the chicken cage into the chicken coop. Xia Qing carried the chicken cage to the coop, and just as she opened the cage door, a black shadow darted out.

Xia Qing watched that black-feathered, red-combed little rooster stretch its neck and flap its wings after running out, and felt this thing seemed to be an evolved chicken.

Does Third Brother know? Should she tell him?

Xia Qing decided not to mention it for now, because these green-light chickens were exchanged by her and belonged entirely to her. When the chickens grew up and showed outstanding evolutionary abilities that were of no use to Xia Qing, she would consider telling Zhang San.

After Xia Qing put the mixed chicken feed into the trough, Zhang San actually called, his voice amiable and light, completely unlike yesterday's listless tone, "Xia Qing, the goose blood is very fresh. I'll give you an extra shade net, I'll come by tomorrow morning."

Xia Qing was very quick on the uptake, "Thank you, Third Brother. If the wolves bring green-light animals again tomorrow, I'll see if I can take them. If I can, I'll bring them to you."

"You don't have to bring all of them, keep enough for yourself to eat, and exchange the rest to me." Zhang San enthusiastically discussed goose meat cooking methods with Xia Qing, "This goose has excellent meat quality. How are you planning to cook your goose leg?"

Xia Qing answered honestly, "Boiled."

"Right, goose leg meat is best suited for boiling to make plain boiled goose meat." Zhang San affirmed Xia Qing's method, "Don't add other seasonings, just cooking wine and ginger slices, simmer on low heat for half an hour, cut into pieces and dip in sauce to eat."

Hearing Zhang San's rather light way of cooking, Xia Qing felt a bit deflated, "I added bay leaves, chili, Sichuan peppercorn, cooking wine, and green onion to the water."

Zhang San paused, "Stewed like that, the flavor shouldn't be bad either. You can try plain boiling next time."

After hanging up the phone, Xia Qing had just finished patrolling her territory and was about to head home when she suddenly heard rolling muffled thunder from the east. The sky in the southeast, which should have been bright, was gathering dark clouds at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Is this large mass a miasma rain cloud or an ordinary rain cloud? Although last night's weather forecast didn't mention rain, Xia Qing, who had lived through ten years of natural disasters, felt something was wrong. She immediately called out loudly to her companion, "Boss, Boss, come to the fields—"

Sheep Boss at home heard Xia Qing's anxious call and immediately ran out. By this time, Xia Qing had already run to the small hut by the farmland and started carrying out the greenhouse rainproof cloth. Seeing Sheep Boss arrive, Xia Qing immediately put the carrying frame on its back, stuffed the two folded large pieces of rainproof cloth into the frame, and herself hugged a roll of rope and other tools as she rushed forward, "Let's go, we're heading to the Gao Po planting zone, quick!"

The yellow-light sunflowers, green-light spinach, and green-light mung beans planted in the terraced fields of the Gao Po planting zone were all in the seedling stage just after sprouting. If they directly came into contact with miasma rain, most of them would miasma-ify.

Just now there was only thunder, but in such a short while wind had picked up, carrying a distinct chill. In the height of late July heat, this cold wind was truly abnormal.

Xia Qing sped up her movements. She secured one end of the rainproof cloth, quickly spread the rainproof cloth out, pulled it to the other end of the greenhouse and tied it firmly, then threw the ropes securing the middle section of the rainproof cloth from the east side of the greenhouse to the west side, and called out loudly to her companion, "Boss, come help."

Sheep Boss, who had been squinting at the clouds on the side, trotted over to Xia Qing. Xia Qing tied two ropes to its horns, "When I tell you, you pull. Don't use too much force, or you'll pull the greenhouse frame apart."

Sheep Boss stood still, and Xia Qing didn't know if it understood. But she didn't have time to repeat herself. She quickly jumped up to the fourth terrace, and just as she grabbed the other two ropes, the wind grew stronger, and the rainproof cloth flapped loudly in the wind.

If Xia Qing and Sheep Boss hadn't both been strength evolvers, they probably wouldn't have been able to hold the ropes. Xia Qing called out loudly to Sheep Boss, "Boss, pull the rope."