Chapter 147: Chestnuts

Although the fruit's color was a little odd, Xia Qing recognized what it was from its shape.

Chestnuts.

Probably unripe chestnuts.

Where did the red squirrel find chestnuts? Are they edible? What other treasures does it have in its den?

Xia Qing narrowed her eyes and aimed her gun at the tree hollow again.

Seeing that Xia Qing wasn't leaving, the squirrel climbed back into the hollow and tossed out another half-ripe chestnut, then poked its little head out from a branch to stare at Xia Qing.

Xia Qing raised her gun, aimed at the hollow, and said, "You ate six of my big dates. Two chestnuts aren't enough."

Seeing Xia Qing raise her gun, the red squirrel immediately shrank into the hollow and went still. Xia Qing fired another shot with a bang.

Sounds of rummaging quickly came from inside the hollow, and shortly after, the red squirrel crawled to the entrance and tossed down a clump of something.

Xia Qing took one look and was so angry she laughed.

What had been tossed down this time was actually the Red Lantern shredded tobacco the creature had stolen. So it knew the tobacco was its own, yet ruined it to this state and still dared to return it to her.

Xia Qing raised her gun, bristling with killing intent. "I want food."

Seeing Xia Qing still refusing to leave, the red squirrel ran back into the hollow, rummaged around for a while, and tossed down another item. Then it hopped back and forth on the branch, chirping "gu gu, gu gu" nonstop—its voice and movements both showing that this speed-evolved squirrel was furious. It looked as if Xia Qing asked for one more thing, it would fight her to the death.

Xia Qing stared at the thing the red squirrel had tossed down last, speechless.

What is this thing—a gold watch?

Judging by the way the red squirrel was hopping with rage, it must have treated this gold watch as its most treasured possession.

The red squirrel was extremely fast, and Xia Qing couldn't hit it. Staying here any longer would just be wasting time.

Since she'd gotten her food back, Xia Qing decided to let it off this time. "We'll call it even this once. If you dare steal my food again, the compensation doubles."

Xia Qing holstered her gun, picked up the big dates, chestnuts, and gold watch and stuffed them into her pocket, then headed back to her territory. As for that tangled mess of shredded tobacco, Xia Qing didn't even feel like picking it up.

Although Area Three of Mountain Forty-Nine was hers too, that was a human way of dividing things. The red squirrel had been here longer than her, and as long as it didn't steal her food, Xia Qing had no objection to it continuing to live here.

The squirrel had chestnuts, which meant there was a chestnut tree nearby, but the Azure Dragon squad hadn't discovered any edible chestnuts. The red squirrel was speed-evolved, so its range of activity was certainly not small. Finding the chestnut tree would probably not be easy.

She couldn't hear the ticking of the hands in the gold watch—it was probably broken long ago. In the year of the catastrophe, antiques, jade, calligraphy, and paintings weren't worth as much as a single Green Lantern vegetable. Still, the parts inside the gold watch were of some use.

Anyone who owned such a retro pure-gold pocket watch must have been rich before the catastrophe.

Xia Qing opened the pocket watch's cover and discovered a small round photo on the inside of the lid. The photo showed a mother and daughter leaning against each other, both very pretty and smiling brightly.

It seemed this pocket watch's sentimental value far exceeded its current worth. She wondered where the red squirrel had gotten it.

Xia Qing tucked the pocket watch into her pocket, took out the fresh chestnut, peeled it and tested a bit of the flesh for Harmonic Element content. It was Yellow Lantern—she could eat it too!

Dish after dish made with chestnuts flashed through Xia Qing's memory, and she happily tossed the raw chestnut into her mouth.

In these terrible times, only good food is not to be wasted.

Once she finished what was in front of her, she'd form a team and enter the Evolution Forest to look for chestnuts.

Xia Qing tucked 【the chestnut】 into her pocket and was about to find tools to repair the greenhouse damaged by the hailstorm, when she suddenly heard the sound of a helicopter.

She immediately ran back to the courtyard, first soothing the two wolves that were recovering from injuries, then looked up at the helicopter appearing in the sky.

The helicopter had flown over from the direction of the Safe Zone, and instead of heading toward Territory One or Territory Two, it went straight for Territory Seven. About twenty minutes after landing in Territory Seven, the helicopter took off and flew back.

Someone must have been injured by the hailstorm, right? Did the helicopter deliver the person to Zhang San's territory, or did it summon Zhang San over to save someone?

Either way, it had nothing to do with her.

Xia Qing went back inside, grabbed her tools, and went to repair and replace the greenhouse supports that had been smashed by the hailstorm, and also replaced the insect netting that had been damaged.

This sudden hailstorm threw Xia Qing into a flurry. She decided to lock the barn after the horse was gone, thinking about how a person alone could quickly install rainproof cloth.

This was a bit tricky. Xia Qing turned on the walkie-talkie, wanting to hear how Qi Fu and the others protected their crops when the hailstorm hit, and also to catch news of losses in the other territories.

She had only just turned on the walkie-talkie when she heard Qi Fu's wife Yuan Yan begging for medicine. "Is Third Brother there? My Old Qi's head was cracked open by the hailstorm. I want to trade for the best wound medicine. Points or Green Lantern food, anything works, however much it takes."

Zhang San didn't respond. Xia Qing guessed he might have just left his territory by helicopter.

Kuang Qingwei answered Yuan Yan, "Sister-in-law, I have some wound medicine I brought from the Safe Zone. Why don't you use it on Brother Qi first?"

"Already used it. The bleeding won't stop." Xia Qing could hear Yuan Yan's voice trembling.

Bleeding from the head that won't stop is definitely a very serious injury. In the year of the catastrophe, a serious injury is tantamount to death. Yuan Yan continued, "This is my fault. We should have replaced our protective masks long ago. I just couldn't bear to part with them."

Zhang San wasn't there, so Yuan Yan turned to Luo Pei for help. "Brother Luo, are you there?"

Luo Pei wasn't there. The one who spoke was Chang Li, the medic for the Azure Dragon squad. "Brother Luo isn't here. I'm the Azure Dragon squad's wound-treatment medic. If you trust me, I can come over and take a look."

Yuan Yan was tearfully grateful. "Of course I trust you, of course I do. I'm so sorry to trouble you."

Zhao Ze also pleaded, "Could I trouble you to check on the workers inside Territory Four as well? Three of ours were injured too."

Kuang Qingwei added, "We have injuries too. Please, Miss, take a look at ours as well."

Chang Li replied, "Sure. I'll go to Territory Five first, then Territory Four and Six. Anyone else need help?"

"Territory Nine needs help. Sorry to trouble you. We can pay your visit fee and medicine costs with supplies or points."

Hearing the voice of Territory Nine's assistant Xiao Liu, Xia Qing was a little surprised. She had assumed Xiao Liu had been taken back to the Safe Zone along with Li Si for questioning, and hadn't expected her to still be in the territory.

Could it be that Li Si had also been released back?

"Territory Eight also urgently needs a doctor's help. Sorry to trouble you." A voice that, apart from Xia Qing, was completely unfamiliar to everyone else rang out on the lord channel.

Territory Eight's lord Seeing Xin Yu coming online to ask for help surprised all the other lords even more than the people of Territory Nine needing someone to treat their injuries.

Tang Huai asked, "Assistant Liu, what's the situation in Territory Eight?"

Nobody paid Tang Huai any attention. Chang Li replied to those seeking help, "I'll head to each of your territories in order. You don't need to pay a visit fee, just the medicine cost."

After getting Chang Li's reply, a chorus of thanks rose on the channel. In the year of the catastrophe, an external wound could become infected with evolved microorganisms; even a small injury could cause disability or death.

Chang Li's willingness to go help was itself lifesaving. Even Tang Huai praised her: "There are still good people in the Azure Dragon squad."

After the medical issue was settled, Kuang Qingwei asked if Tan Junjie was there. "Captain Tan, my solar panels were cracked by the hailstorm. Can the base swap out two for me?"

Tan Junjie wasn't there. The duty team member of the inspection squad replied, "We'll report the situation up the chain, and we've already applied for medical assistance. But this hailstorm affected a large area, so aid may be delayed. Doctor Chang of Territory One providing medical assistance to other territories—we'll report this truthfully and apply for point rewards for Doctor Chang and her squad."

Medical aid couldn't get here in time, Tan Junjie wasn't around, Luo Pei wasn't around, and Zhang San had been called away too…

It sounded as if something major had happened at the base, so Xia Qing turned on the radio—because if a major disaster had occurred, the broadcast would certainly report on it.

The radio was playing a song, so Xia Qing set it aside and went back to figuring out how to quickly set up and take down the rainproof tarp, to cope with sudden weather disasters in the future.