Chapter 2: Plot Three

Listening to Tang Lu's complaints, Xia Qing, who had lowered her head slightly, curved her lips upward, her mood impossibly good. She had long known the Tang family would come, but she hadn't expected it to be the Tang family's young lady, Tang Lu.

With the brainless Tang Lu here, Xia Qing felt her chances of getting the plot she wanted had risen another thirty percent — it was almost a sure thing. If the occasion weren't inappropriate, she'd have loved to belt out, "Today's a good day."

Seeing Tang Lu actually deign to stand in line at an empty office desk, everyone in the hall couldn't help but develop a different take on the task of farming outside the safe zone — a mission everyone considered "suicide."

Soon, the number of people in line for land grew from over thirty to more than a hundred, the long queue snaking twice through the hall like a great worm coiled inside.

Tang Lu glanced back at the people fighting and brawling over a spot in line, then shot a vicious glare at the two soldiers who on the surface seemed to be keeping order but were really there to keep an eye on her uncle, and snorted with contempt.

If the military people weren't buzzing around her like flies, refusing to let go, she'd never have had to come here and smell the stench.

Only when Tang Zhengrong walked out of the office area with his people did Tang Lu, whose face had been dark for over an hour, immediately straighten up and put on an obedient smile.

Tang Zhengrong, plainly dressed, pretended not to see his niece and walked straight up to the half-meter-high platform set up beside the office desk to begin his speech.

"Every resident of the safe zone knows that, to combat natural hazards, our nation's agricultural system has collapsed over the past ten years, and food shortages have become a major problem urgently in need of a breakthrough. Thank you all for answering the nation's call and coming here of your own accord to claim land, contributing to the nation's grain production. As long as we stand united, we will certainly overcome every disaster, defend humanity's dominion over the blue planet, and rebuild our homeland…"

Xia Qing raised her head and calmly gazed at the man who firmly held the number-two position at Hui-Three Base — a man who appeared mild.

"Every resident who claims land today will receive a special reward from the base: two months' rations per person, the claimed land exempt from tax for five years, and the state promises to provide professional assistance."

"Waaah—"

The moment Tang Zhengrong's voice fell, the hall erupted inside and out, and the queue instantly grew by two more bends.

"But there are two points I must make clear to everyone." Tang Zhengrong spoke again, his mild voice turning stern. "First, the claimed land may not be abandoned, transferred, or resold; it can only be inherited by the land-user's biological children. If a landowner dies without an heir, the land-use rights revert to the base. Second, the base will conduct an annual assessment of the claimed land's cultivation. Plots that fail to meet the standard for three years will be reclaimed, and the landowner will no longer be eligible to apply for any position or assignment within Hui-Three Base."

After these two points were made, the people scrambling to line up for land instantly dwindled by more than half, and those still in line began to hesitate.

The tall man standing behind Xia Qing asked loudly, "Mayor Tang, how is 'meeting the standard' defined?"

Tang Zhengrong smiled and said, "For the first five years, the standard is met if the landowner adds two or more mu of newly planted edible-crop area within the plot each year."

Just two mu a year — not hard! The man breathed a sigh of relief, and Xia Qing's taut nerves loosened a little too.

Watching a few of those who had left come back to line up, Tang Zhengrong felt a swell of satisfaction and waved his hand grandly. "The first land-claiming ceremony of Hui-Three Base officially begins. After receiving your land, assemble at the safe-zone gate within two hours; the base will send vehicles to take everyone there."

The moment Tang Zhengrong finished speaking, Tang Lu, who had long been unable to wait, quietly urged the officer sitting behind the desk, "Hurry up."

The fair-skinned male officer immediately picked up the land-use-rights certificate, handed it to Tang Lu with both hands, and said, "Miss Tang, this is yours. Please keep it safe. Per regulations, the first resident to claim land is entitled to an additional two months' rations. Please take the certificate to the desk on the right to collect your rations, accompanying supplies, and seeds."

As Tang Lu snatched the certificate and turned to leave, she glanced back at the filthy, stinking Evolver, her eyes full of smugness.

After Xia Qing clearly read the three characters "Plot Two" on the land-use-rights certificate in Tang Lu's hand, she stepped forward to the office desk.

The male officer asked without looking up, "ID number, name."

Xia Qing raised her voice and asked in return, "Per regulations, the top three can choose their own plot and receive double rations, right?"

"The top three can choose their own plot AND get double rations? Really?" The man in third place let out a whoop, drawing the gaze of several hundred people.

Nonsense!

The male officer frowned and looked up. Seeing the icy stare of the woman in front of him and the green tag she wore, he instinctively averted his eyes, cold sweat beginning to bead on his forehead. If he said there was no such rule, this Evolver woman would surely seize on the extra rations he'd just given Tang Lu and raise a huge fuss. If the matter reached Major General Qi, the base's number-one, he didn't know what would happen to Mayor Tang, but his own position would certainly be lost.

His family of four depended entirely on this job of his to eat.

"You—" Hearing Xia Qing's words, Tang Lu, who was collecting her rations, turned her head and began to curse, but the moment she opened her mouth she was frightened into silence by what seemed like a casual glance from her uncle, who was passing by.

Tang Zhengrong silenced his brainless niece, walked over to the land-claiming desk, swiftly sized up Xia Qing, and asked with a smile on his face, "There is indeed such an incentive policy. Which plot would you like, young lady?"

Xia Qing's mud-stained finger pointed firmly at the plot on the map north of the safe zone that contained a long, narrow stretch of blue water,

"Here. Plot Three."

Asking for Plot Three right off — is she military, or is she from the Azure Dragon Squad?

Tang Zhengrong's tone remained mild, but his meaning was made perfectly clear. "Plot Three is the outermost cultivated field our base has cleared. It's over a hundred kilometers from the safe zone, and the round trip is very inconvenient."

Xia Qing pretended not to understand, raised her head, and declared righteously, "Thank you for the reminder, Mayor Tang. However, as an Evolver, I should go to the most dangerous, most remote place, plant more grain for the nation, and contribute more!"

Tang Zhengrong's smile froze for half a second. Only then did he properly glance at Xia Qing's identity tag and commit her name to memory. "For a young lady to have this kind of awareness is very good. Officer Zhang, process the paperwork."

Officer Zhang, relieved, hurriedly registered Xia Qing's personal information and printed out the use-rights certificate for Plot Three.

After confirming everything was correct, Xia Qing collected rations and other supplies at the nearby desk, then went straight to the window on the east side of the hall and exchanged points from her ID card for two high-capacity phone power banks. Power had not yet been restored outside the safe zone, so power banks were needed to charge phones.

Carrying her things, she walked out of the hall, passed through the onlookers staring openly at the food bag in her hand, ignored Tang Lu's murderous gaze from inside the sedan, and listened to the broadcast endlessly repeating the notice telling landowners to assemble outside the main gate. Xia Qing went straight back to her dorm to pack.

The moment she entered the room, her roommate Feng Wen — a triple-scent Evolver — immediately put down her makeup mirror, clamped her nose, rolled her eyes, and struck a pose as if about to throw up.

Xia Qing couldn't be bothered with her. She undid the big lock on the thick iron box under the bed, pulled out the bags of luggage she'd packed long ago and stuffed them into a large canvas bag, then bent to gather the bedding from her single bed.

Clamping her nose, Feng Wen asked in astonishment, "You really went to claim land? Are you stupid?"