Chapter 1469: The Crab-Raising Wounded Veteran Zhang Wenshe

After Xia Qing's battered-looking off-road vehicle parked in the lot at the base of the third peak of Mountain Fifty, Yuan Yan carried Ye Yang on her back, Tang Heng carried Ye Yang's lightweight wheelchair, and Xia Qing and Zhu Li took front and rear positions to handle defense; the five of them quickly entered the hidden valley halfway up the mountain.

Seeing Xia Qing arrive, Xiao Peng, who was on gate duty, kept a calm face on the surface while screaming inside. Zhang Xun's eyes lit up when she saw the wooden boards Xia Qing was carrying.

Smiling at her buyer, the second-hand dealer Xia Qing said, "Sister Xun, I've brought the boards for the bathtub over."

It was the first time Xiao Peng had seen Xia Qing smile at anyone other than Zhang San, which confirmed once more that his decision had been right—Zhang Xun really was someone Xia Qing valued highly.

Second-class, second-tier brain-domain evolved painter-researcher Zhang Xun beamed, "Thanks for your trouble, Sister Qing."

The hardship of earning points was all worth it, and getting in with Zhang Xun meant more chances to earn points in the future. Still, Xia Qing kept her idol's warning firmly in mind, staying clear-headed at all times and not letting Zhang Xun sway her emotions. She smiled and nodded, "You're too kind, Sister Xun. You go ahead and work with Brother Ye and the others; I'll go assemble the tub."

Ye Yang and the four others had come to learn, and they had applied to Zhang San in advance; Zhang Xun would give them a detailed rundown of the key points of hydroponic cultivation that morning.

Xia Qing carried the boards toward the inner side of the cave and called out a greeting to two severely wounded veterans who were sunning themselves.

The two patients' conditions had not worsened, and their spirits were much better. It seemed the job of stringing Xiao Peng along was one they were throwing themselves into with gusto.

As Xia Qing carried the boards to the side of Zhang Xun's little cabin and began assembling the bathtub, Zhang Wenshe, a veteran recuperating in the valley, hobbled over on a single crutch.

"Sister Qing." Zhang Wenshe hobbled over on his single crutch, sat down on the stone beside Xia Qing, reached out to help her steady the boards, and discussed with her, "The green-light crabs I'm raising have grown to over a jin each—they're ready to eat. When you leave later, Sister Qing, take eight with you. Keep four for yourself, and would you mind bringing the other four to Third Brother?"

Xia Qing was surprised. "They've grown to a jin already?"

Zhang Wenshe grinned, his mottled red-and-white facial skin pulling into a stiff smile. "Yeah, Yanlian helped me swap for some good-quality green-light river snails and small shrimp, so the crabs have been eating well and growing fast. The snails are pretty big too—if Sister Qing likes them, you can take two jin with you when you leave."

Xia Qing assembled the bathtub briskly as she spoke. "Sure, I'll take four crabs and one jin of snails, and pay you points at market price. I'll bring Third Brother his four crabs and one jin of snails. What do you want to trade with Third Brother for?"

Knowing Zhang San's and Xia Qing's temperaments, Zhang Wenshe didn't say he didn't want the points; he only offered a very low trade condition. "Sister Qing can pay me points at seventy percent of market price. From Third Brother I'd like to trade for a pair of lighter long-sleeved waterproof gloves—the pair I have now is really inconvenient for work."

Seventy percent of the price, and a pair of protective gloves? Xia Qing looked up and saw that Zhang Wenshe's eyes were red, and she understood what he meant.

Among the supplies the Fiery Fire Squad defector had hidden in the giant tree hollow on Mountain Twenty-Eight of Huiyi that Xia Qing and Lao Si had dug out, there was a precious and scarce antidote.

This antidote could neutralize the synthetic qiang poison in Luo Pei's body. After Zhang San had mixed the medicine for Luo Pei, he asked Xia Qing what she planned to do with the remaining antidote.

After inquiring, Xia Qing learned that this antidote could also neutralize the evolved centipede poison that had tormented Zhang Wenshe for two years, so she contacted Yue Haiying and told him the price of the medicine.

Although Zhang Wenshe was an ordinary person missing a leg, he was upright and trustworthy, had strong willpower, and knew how to raise crabs—he was exactly the kind of talent the territory needed.

After Yue Haiying confirmed the trade, Xia Qing asked her idol to mix the antidote for Zhang Wenshe, and his poison was cured.

That was why Zhang Wenshe was now offering such a low trade price—he wanted to express his gratitude to Xia Qing and Zhang San.

What Xia Qing didn't know was that when Zhang Wenshe received the antidote from Yue Haiying's hands, he had wailed uncontrollably in this valley.

In the second qiang rain of the tenth year of the catastrophe, Zhang Wenshe had been bitten by an evolved poisonous centipede while on a mission with his unit. The military had no antidote that could neutralize this poison, and he could only lie in a hospital bed, enduring the torment of watching his own body rot away bit by bit.

If Yue Haiying hadn't carried him into Territory Fifteen and asked Zhang San to mix a suppressant potion for him, and later, with Xia Qing's consent, sent him into this valley along with his severely wounded brothers, he would have been tormented to death by the evolved centipede poison long ago.

The suppressant Zhang San had mixed, combined with the nourishment of green-light food and green-light-quality filtered spring water, barely kept the poison in his body in check, allowing Zhang Wenshe to stand up and look after the other brothers recuperating in the valley. Drawing on his aquaculture experience, he also took on the task of caring for the lords' green-light crabs to earn points and plug the hole left by his medical bills.

Watching his severely wounded brothers die one after another, Zhang Wenshe, who could stand on a single leg, already felt deeply grateful and had never dared hope that one day he would actually be cured.

Unlike the top-tier visually evolved sniper Luo Pei, he was just a cripple missing a leg with no evolutionary ability, and he was of no use whatsoever to Zhang San or Xia Qing.

Aquaculture experience?

What kind of asset was that! As long as Xia Qing opened her mouth, even without pay, there would be a flood of professional aquaculture talent far more experienced than him fighting to get into a paradise like this valley to work.

Zhang San and Xia Qing were willing to use such a precious antidote to save him, and Zhang Wenshe had no way to repay them; he could only offer the green-light crabs he had raised and ask them to try something fresh.

He knew these crabs were hardly precious in the eyes of Xia Qing and Zhang San, but they were the most precious supplies he had to offer.

Xia Qing didn't refuse Zhang Wenshe's gesture. "All right. Seventy percent this time, ninety percent next time, and market price after that—that's our alliance's rule. I'll pass the word to Third Brother for you; whether he agrees depends on what kind of mood he's in today."

"Hope Third Brother's in a good mood today, and just happens to feel like eating crabs and snails." Zhang Wenshe laughed as tears streamed down his face.

He belonged to Territory Fifteen and was a member of the territory alliance, so of course his trades with Xia Qing had to follow the alliance's rules.

The antidote he used was worth 280,000 points; the main ingredient Xia Qing provided was worth 220,000 and was the most important detoxifying component.

To treat the poison in his body and his injuries, Zhang Wenshe had long since spent all the points and discharge pay he had saved during his military service; the cost of this round of medicine was borrowed from Luo Pei.

After the detox, his body was recovering quickly. Brother Yue had formally rented the aquaculture pond in the valley. As long as no cataclysmic disaster struck, Zhang Wenshe was confident he could pay off the points he owed within fifteen years by relying on this pond, and use the points he earned afterward to repay the medical debts his brothers had run up.

The feeling of no longer being a burden was truly wonderful.

Once the boards were assembled and fixed with iron strips, then coated with transparent waterproof paint, the bathtub was finished.

Xia Qing went to her oil-sunflower field to check on the flower buds that were about to open and to test the changes in the qiang-element content of the plants.

After Xin Yu sent over the locations where the four humans who had infiltrated Mountain Fifty were lying in ambush, Xia Qing left the valley with Zhu Li.