Chapter 149: Lord Eight's Thank-You Gift

Lord Eight?

Xia Qing was very curious how Xin Yu's pocket watch had ended up in the little squirrel's tree hollow, and how the squirrel had treated it as a prized treasure.

Did the little squirrel steal it, or find it?

Where did it steal it, where did it find it?

The little squirrel couldn't talk, and Xin Yu was clearly also someone who didn't like dealing with people, so Xia Qing tactfully didn't ask more, only inquiring about the key question, "Did she say how to get it back?"

Chang Li answered, "She said she'd contact you through the Inspection Team."

Apart from Territory Seven having its own 'pickup person,' exchanges of supplies between other lords were all delivered through the Inspection Team.

Xin Yu moved fast.

Half an hour later, Xia Qing received a call from Tan Junjie. When Xia Qing delivered the pocket watch to the North Isolation Belt, Tan Junjie handed Xia Qing a small basket woven from willow branches, "This is Lord Eight's thank-you gift to you: two jin of Green-Light garlic."

By the current exchange rate, a pocket watch that had already lost its use value wasn't worth this price at all. It seemed the pocket watch was very important to Lord Eight.

Xia Qing carefully recalled her only meeting with Xin Yu, the shape of those eyes behind the mask back then, which were indeed very similar to the ones in the photo.

Xin Yu should be the little girl in the photo.

Tan Junjie asked Xia Qing about her losses in the hailstorm. Xia Qing reported truthfully, "Three solar panels were cracked by the hail, the pumpkins got smashed, all the wild fruits are gone, other crops didn't lose much."

After the Inspection Team walked past, Xia Qing heard Su Ming mutter quietly to Yuan Rui, "Territories Three and Ten came through best, no one was hurt, and crop losses weren't big."

Territory Ten only had Shi Du's family of three inside. Xia Qing had heard Shi Du mutter that they planted over a dozen mu of land. For a family of three to protect over a dozen mu when sudden gales and hail struck, they must have a way to quickly cover their greenhouses with rainproof cloth.

This wasn't something to ask about in the lord channel. Shi Du didn't have a satellite phone, and couldn't be reached by phone either.

With Xia Qing deliberately keeping her distance, she basically hadn't gone on missions with Shi Du these past two months. Apart from going to the agricultural product trade and the time watching Territory Nine, Xia Qing hadn't been in contact with Shi Du. She decided that next time Shi Du took a mission to clear Hill Forty-Nine, she'd go along too, and take the chance to ask if they had any tricks.

If they did, Xia Qing wanted to trade points for it.

After the sun rose, the moisture on the ground steamed upward, and the temperature began to climb.

Xia Qing had no choice but to take down the rainproof cloth, otherwise the temperature inside the greenhouse would be too high and bad for the seedlings' growth.

Taking down the rainproof cloth needed her companion's help. Xia Qing went up Hearing Li Si, called down Goat Boss who was eating Green-Light Chinese-toon leaves knocked down by the hail, and the two of them worked for over an hour before finally taking down the rainproof cloth and folding it up.

Then, Xia Qing carefully straightened the corn seedlings that had been bent over by the wind, before going to look at the Yellow-Light pumpkins that had been smashed by the hail.

The pumpkin leaves were smashed to mush, and the few small pumpkins that had just grown couldn't be saved either. But pumpkin vines had tenacious vitality, and would probably recover in a few days, sending out new shoots, blooming new flowers, and setting new fruit.

The bigger problem was the potatoes.

The aging potato vines, though not hit by the hail, had all been blown flat by the wind. Xia Qing didn't need to ask Qi Fu or Shi Chong to know the potatoes had to be harvested as soon as possible.

No sooner said than done.

Xia Qing fetched a shovel and bamboo baskets, and started digging. She loved this kind of crop that grew in the soil—you never knew if the harvest would be big or small until you dug it up. It was as fun as treasure hunting.

Evolved potatoes had terrifying yields, but if they didn't evolve, they still grew plenty. Fifty-six Yellow-Light potato plants yielded three baskets in all, big and small. Xia Qing and Goat Boss carried the potatoes home and weighed them—good lord, a full four hundred and seventy jin.

The cave dwelling wasn't tidied up yet, so how should she store these potatoes now? Xia Qing's first instinct was to ask Qi Fu for advice.

But at this moment Qi Fu hadn't woken up yet. Shi Chong, Kuang Qingwei, and Zhao Ze would check in the lord group every so often, but Lord Five hadn't replied at all.

The current atmosphere wasn't suitable for asking about storing grain and potatoes.

Xia Qing flipped through her notes and found the entry from when she planted potatoes in March: if you wanted them to sprout, they had to be sun-dried.

Now that the potatoes were harvested and she didn't want them to sprout, they definitely couldn't be left in the sun. Xia Qing carefully took the potatoes out of the baskets, placed them somewhere the sun couldn't reach, and let the soil on them dry first.

Then, Xia Qing carefully took out Lord Eight's 'thank-you gift' from the small basket, so as not to be scratched by the basket. After the great evolution of life on Blue Star, even a tiny wound could get infected with bacteria and cost you your life. Life.

After taking out the garlic, Xia Qing discovered there was a slip of paper in the small basket, with seven characters written neatly on it:

Xia Qing, thank you, Xin Yu.

Although Xin Yu's basket-weaving wasn't as good as Xia Qing's, her handwriting was much better than Xia Qing's.

After putting away the slip of paper, Xia Qing stored the twenty heads of Green-Light garlic together with the sixteen heads of Green-Light garlic she had harvested herself.

She still had over ten heads of Yellow-Light garlic saved for eating. These Green-Light garlic would be planted in October, and if no world-ending disaster struck next year, she could basically achieve garlic self-sufficiency.

If she wanted to fully achieve Green-Light garlic self-sufficiency, she'd need even more seed garlic. She didn't know if anyone would still bring out Green-Light garlic to trade over the next two months.

After four-something in the afternoon, the first thing Qi Fu did upon waking wasn't to report safety in the lord group, but to call Xia Qing to thank her.

"I heard from your sister-in-law that my life was saved by you and Territory One's Dr. Chang." Qi Fu's voice was very weak, but being clear-headed despite a head infection from an evolved fungus was already incredibly lucky. "I won't say too many words of thanks. When Third Brother gets back and I've traded for the hemostatic medicine, I'll send it over to you. Your sister-in-law will bring you two Green-Light spring fish and two hundred Green-Light scallion seeds shortly. The fish aren't very big, you can keep them for a while before eating. The scallion seeds can be planted now. When I harvest the Green-Light ginger in October, I'll send you half of it."

Green-Light spring fish and Green-Light ginger—these were things Qi Fu had never mentioned in the lord channel; this was his sincerity. Gratitude that at the critical moment, Xia Qing hadn't made any conditions before sending the life-saving medicine.

Green-Light scallion seeds and Green-Light ginger were things Xia Qing didn't have. She couldn't bear to refuse, but she didn't want the Green-Light spring fish. "I don't have Green-Light scallions or ginger, so I won't stand on ceremony with you, Brother Qi. Don't let sister-in-law bring the fish over, keep them for yourself and recover as soon as possible."

"I still have some here." Since Qi Fu had opened his mouth, he wouldn't take it back. "Your sister-in-law has already gone, she's waiting for you at Territory Three's North Isolation Belt."

When Xia Qing hurried to the North Isolation Belt, Yuan Yan had already arrived, along with a man who had come with her, standing not far off holding a bag. Xia Qing guessed what he was holding was probably the thank-you gift for Chang Li.

Seeing Xia Qing come out, Yuan Yan hurried two steps to meet her, and first apologized to Xia Qing. "I have wounds on my head too, so I won't take off my protective mask."

After saying that, Yuan Yan handed the ceramic jar containing the fish to Xia Qing. "The size is a bit small, so they can only make do for stewing soup. In another two months, I'll bring you bigger fish."

"Alright, if I want to eat fish I'll trade with you then." Xia Qing took it readily, asked about Qi Fu's condition, then handed over the bag in her hand. "I just harvested the potatoes. These few have wormholes and can't be kept. There are also a few Green-Light dates inside, knocked down by the hail. They're decent boiled. Don't mind them, sister-in-law."

The Yuan couple truly wanted to befriend Xia Qing, so they accepted without ceremony. "The dates will be ripe in another month, it's a pity they got knocked down now."

"If you can eat them, it's not a pity." After Xia Qing finished speaking, both of them laughed.

After seeing Yuan Yan off, Xia Qing observed and found that the two Green-Light fish Yuan Yan had brought were one male and one female—she must have specially picked them.

Xia Qing had eaten plenty of meat lately, so she wasn't craving fish. She put both into the Green-Light fish pond, then crouched by the pond and watched for a while, but couldn't see any fry swimming in the pond.

To make sure all the fish in this pond were Green-Light, Goat Boss had originally used vehicle-grade isolation netting. Xia Qing had already switched to fine-mesh netting, ensuring fry couldn't swim in from the river channel, so it was normal not to see any fry.

She wasn't worried, because after the hailstorm not a single fish in the pond had been killed and floated belly-up. So with two males and three females—five Green-Light fish in the pond now—they would spawn sooner or later.

After Yuan Yan returned to the territory, she first disinfected herself and everything she'd brought back, before going inside to show her husband the things Xia Qing and Chang Li had given her.

What Chang Li gave was a strip of anti-inflammatory and painkilling medicine. What Xia Qing gave was said to be worm-bitten potatoes, but out of eight big potatoes only three had worm bites. The ten Green-Light dates were each about the size of a walnut, and looked delicious.

Looking at this bag of things, the Qi couple's intention to befriend Territories One and Three grew even more sincere.

"I'll make you fish soup tonight, and let's boil these big dates and try them too."

To find Green-Light fish to send to the two territories, Chang Yan had cast her net today and pulled up many fish from the fish pond. She kept a few big Yellow-Light fish for her husband and the injured workers in the territory, and released the rest.

Qi Fu's pale face wore a smile. "Boil the date flesh and eat it, and let's plant the date pits—see if they can sprout."

"Ten date pits, with luck we can grow four or five date trees, and in three years we'll be able to eat Green Lantern dates."

When he finished, the husband and wife looked at each other, and both their eyes grew moist.

Damn this natural disaster—though both of them were injured, they both survived. How wonderful.