Chapter 169: Green-Light Water Celery Seeds

"Thunder! It's going to rain!" Zhao Ze's shout rang out on the lord channel. "No idea if it's Calamity Rain—everyone, hurry and cover the sheds!"

"Damn it, didn't last night's weather forecast say no rain?" Kuang Qingwei cursed, and from the background noise it was clear he was running.

Shi Chong also said something: "I don't feel it getting colder, so it probably won't hail."

Hu Zifeng spoke up too: "Everyone, don't panic. The meteorological monitoring equipment in Territory One shows the Calamity-element content in the rain clouds up there isn't high—it's not Calamity Rain."

Zhao Ze cheered on the lord channel: "Territory One has meteorological monitoring equipment now? That's great!"

But cheering was cheering—the sound of running in the background didn't slow down at all.

Xia Qing had already swiftly covered the rainproof cloth over the big sheds in Gao Po's planting area, and was now running toward the lower slope. Even if there was only a one-percent chance of Calamity Rain, she couldn't let the green-light plants in her terraced fields be exposed to that one-percent possibility.

Hu Zifeng's squad arrived quickly and helped Xia Qing spread the rainproof cloth. When there were still two sheds left to cover, the rain came down. Everyone immediately sped up, finished covering the sheds, and ran back to the small hut at the edge of the fields.

Hu Zifeng took out the Calamity-element detector, tested, and said, "It's normal rain."

Xia Qing let out a breath of relief, and decided that once this rain stopped, she would immediately go find Shi Du to learn the technique for quickly rolling up the rainproof cloth, and put it to use.

Although this rain wasn't heavy, it looked like it would last a long time. The rainproof cloth was already weighted down. Xia Qing thanked Hu Zifeng's squad and sent them back to Territory One, then gazed at the sky and smiled.

Heaven truly is helping me.

She hoped this rain would last a while longer and come down a bit harder—only then would Xia Qing feel more at ease.

After walking a lap around the fields, Xia Qing went home, finished breakfast, and went down into the cellar beneath the tool room. It had been raining outside for almost an hour, yet the bottom of the three-meter-deep cellar still hadn't become damp—proving this cellar was usable.

Xia Qing was very pleased, and decided to dig the food-storage hole beneath the cellar another meter deeper. To make full use of the Yishi's protection zone, she planned to make a cube-shaped storage room, then hang the Yishi right in the center, ensuring the storage room was protected by the Yishi's protection zone with no blind spots, leaving no room for evolved harmful bacteria to survive.

Xia Qing loaded the dug-out soil and rubble into bags, then stepped on the footholds dug into the two sides of the cellar shaft and hauled the bags of soil up.

After digging out the cellar storage room, the bottom of the cellar still hadn't seeped water, which put Xia Qing even more at ease.

By now the rain had stopped. Xia Qing drove the micro-tiller out of the garage, hitched on a cart, and hauled the soil away. Although it had rained for three hours, the tracked micro-tiller could still travel along the road Xia Qing had repaired, without affecting her work.

What really affected her work was the wound on the Hukou of her right hand. If it weren't for the injury on her hand, with her strength, digging a thirty-cubic-meter cellar wouldn't have taken this long at all.

The putt-putt of the micro-tiller startled the three wolves in the sheep shed. But when they saw Sheep Boss Dādā come out of the house and climb onto the micro-tiller, all three wolves calmed down, lay down, and continued recuperating from illness and injury.

Xia Qing and Sheep Boss drove the micro-tiller to the abandoned village in the southeast of the territory, dumped the soil from the cart, and started loading bricks.

Xia Qing had carefully cleared out the broken walls and ruins of the three abandoned villages in the territory, and the materials that still had value had been sorted out and properly stored.

Bricks, of course, were useful things. Xia Qing couldn't fire bricks herself, and didn't want to spend points to buy them, so she salvaged old bricks from the three villages to use.

After loading a cart full of whole bricks and half-bricks, she drove the micro-tiller rattling back. In Territory Two, Tang Huai clutched his head and groaned.

The houses in Territory Two were built toward the north, only a few hundred meters from the abandoned village where Xia Qing was hauling bricks. Tang Heng also heard the sound. Seeing his brother truly miserable, Tang Heng brought over a protective mask. "Brother, put this on."

Tang Huai waved him off and complained weakly, "This woman doesn't have a single quiet day—doesn't she feel tired? Doesn't she feel bored?"

Tang Heng laughed. "Starved for ten years, and finally has the chance to work for herself, grow her own grain and vegetables—of course she's full of drive."

"But she's just too full of drive…" Tang Huai rolled over onto the bed and groaned. "She's got more drive than every single man on this territory."

"She's a strength-type Evolver, above level five." Tang Heng said enviously.

Tang Huai, who had just suffered an ultrasonic attack, now also envied Xia Qing. "Strength evolution really is the best fit for farming. We should drag every strength-type Evolver in the Safe Zone out to farm."

After Xia Qing hauled a cart of bricks home, she heard Shi Du calling her on the lord channel: "Sister Qing, you there?"

Xia Qing pressed the button. "I'm here."

Shi Du's voice was cheerful: "The green-light water celery seeds in our territory are harvested. Want me to bring them over to you now?"

"Sure, thanks." Xia Qing knew exactly why Shi Du had chosen this moment to deliver the seeds, and immediately washed her hands and took out thirty jin of vacuum-packed yellow-light wheat.

According to trade between lords, one green-light seed costs twenty points, and the Safe Zone's purchase price for yellow-light wheat is twenty points per jin. Xia Qing had originally agreed with Shi Chong to trade wheat for thirty green-light water celery seeds, so she needed thirty jin.

Hearing that the green-light water celery seeds in Territory Ten had matured, Assistant Xiao Liu of Territory Nine came online: "Mr. Xiao Shi, could the green-light water celery from Territory Nine be delivered along the way?"

In June, Territory Ten had traded green-light water celery seeds for Territory Nine's high-efficiency composting bacterial powder.

Shi Du agreed: "Sure. Uncle Kuang, Auntie Qi, are you there? I'll drop off the water celery seeds to you on the way."

Kuang Qingwei immediately agreed: "I'm here. Thanks for the trouble, Xiao Shi."

Yuan Yan replied: "Sure, thanks for the trouble, Xiao Shi. I'll wait for you at the road sign."

Lord of Territory Twelve, Tang Zhengpo, asked: "Xiao Shi, do you have any green-light water celery seeds to spare? I'd like to trade for some too."

Shi Du apologized: "Mr. Tang, we only have a few celery plants, and they produce limited seeds. All the ones we could trade have already been traded out."

"Alright." Tang Zhengpo replied.

Zhao Ze's voice rang out on the lord channel: "My alfalfa seeds are almost ripe too. Once I harvest them, I'll deliver them to each of your homes too."

A territory is a lord's home—it's just that this home is very large, bigger than a village before the Calamity, a full thousand-plus mu.

Hearing that Shi Du was going to deliver seeds to so many people, Xia Qing wasn't in a hurry anymore. She had Sheep Boss carry the grain sack, and ambled toward the bus stop of Territory Three.

When she figured the time and arrived at the Territory Three road sign, she found Shi Du had actually stopped at the Territory Four road sign a kilometer away, talking with Zhao Ze.

Didn't Zhao Ze not trade for any green-light water celery?

Xia Qing pricked up her ears, and heard Shi Du say to Zhao Ze: "Brother Zhao, let's not chat anymore—I need to go deliver the seeds."

"Pfft—"

The moment Shi Du finished saying that, Xia Qing heard Tang Huai's gossip-loving laughter coming from Territory Two. Xia Qing's eyes rolled, and she got a good idea.