Chapter 201: No Fate with Cats

Hearing Seeing Xin Yu suddenly speak, everyone craned their necks and pricked up their ears.

Luo Pei answered mildly, "I'm here."

Seeing Xin Yu asked very politely, "A speed-evolved red squirrel from Mountain No. 49 has entered my territory several times to steal bird nests, and I've caught it. Is it one of your tamed beasts?"

A red squirrel stealing bird nests?

Before Luo Pei could answer, Xia Qing immediately pressed the button. "Seeing Xin Yu, I'm Lord of Territory No. 3, Xia Qing. That red squirrel is mine. I'll compensate you double for the bird nests in Territory No. 8. Could you please not hurt the squirrel and return it to me?"

The lords...

Luo Pei...

Tang Huai complained, "Xia Qing, fine, you raise sheep, but why a squirrel?"

Xia Qing answered calmly, "Couldn't raise a cat, so I keep a squirrel to pet for fun."

Zhao Ze was shocked. "You pet rats too?"

Xia Qing corrected, "Squirrels. Seeing Xin Yu, may I have the red squirrel back?"

Seeing Xin Yu replied, "Sure. I'll hand the squirrel over to the inspection team later. You don't need to compensate for the bird nests."

Xia Qing thanked him, but the rule the lords had set was that tamed beasts causing losses to other territories required double compensation. Xia Qing didn't want to break the rule.

"Thank you. I'll compensate you double according to the established rules. May I ask—are the bird nests in your territory made of red-light tobacco? How much did the squirrel steal?"

Bird nests were everywhere; if the nests in Territory No. 8 weren't special, the red squirrel wouldn't have specifically gone to steal them.

Seeing Xin Yu answered, "Six jin of red-light tobacco."

Tang Huai complained, "Seeing Xin Yu, you're really generous."

Xia Qing replied, "At the July agricultural trade fair, six jin of red-light tobacco can be exchanged for one jin of yellow-light green-light or yellow-light wheat. Do you need wheat or green-light?"

Seeing Xin Yu answered, "Wheat."

Xia Qing agreed, "Alright. I'll have the inspection team bring you two jin of yellow-light wheat. Thank you for showing mercy."

Tang Huai started yowling again. "Seeing Xin Yu, if you need wheat, why did you refuse when we offered twenty jin of wheat a few days ago to inspect your territory's safety?"

The Lord of Territory No. 8 didn't respond to such nonsense. Tang Huai turned to question Xia Qing again. "Xia Qing, how did you tame an evolved squirrel? Catch it young and raise it?"

Xia Qing replied, "Not fully tamed yet, that's why it runs around. If it enters anyone's territory, please show it some mercy."

Kuang Qingwei asked curiously, "What do you use to train the squirrel—nuts?"

Xia Qing answered, "Vegetables."

Vegetables weren't cheap either. Qi Fu spoke up. "Xia Qing, be careful not to get scratched by the speed-evolved squirrel."

Shi Zhong also advised, "Squirrels are extremely timid, hard to train."

Beard Feng, who was petting a cat, felt Xia Qing was pitiful. "Xia Qing, Third Brother's cat might have kittens next year. Wait a few more months and you'll be able to raise a cat."

Zhang San said weakly, "Even if Princess has kittens, Xia Qing still won't be able to raise one. She has no fate with cats."

Everyone...

Xia Qing, with wolf fur on her, was tearful. She and cats really might have no fate.

Tan Junjie's calm, stern voice rang out. "Seeing Xin Yu, the inspection team will reach the Territory No. 8 road sign in ten minutes; Xia Qing, twenty minutes."

"Copy."

"Copy."

Xia Qing and Seeing Xin Yu replied simultaneously.

Xia Qing ran to the kitchen and took out a sealed grain bag from the tin cabinet. To avoid exposing her underground physical storage room, Xia Qing hadn't put all her food in there; she'd left a portion in the kitchen, stored in a tin box. Then she hid a small piece of Yishi in the kitchen, bringing the food and seasonings under the Yishi's protection.

Apart from the Yishi given to Luo Pei, Xia Qing had never thought to trade the Yishi obtained from the wolf pack. Of the four pieces of Yishi, she had already broken open two. Besides the two underground food storage rooms, the kitchen, and her and the sheep boss's person, even the sick wolf wore a small piece around its neck.

The reason she hung one on it was that during the week after this sick wolf's surgery and deworming medicine, it kept having diarrhea, attracting flies and evolved bacteria like crazy. Xia Qing feared it might get infected with some terrible pathogen, so she simply made it a collar and hid the Yishi inside the collar.

In short, to save this wolf, Xia Qing had used every method she could. The wolf hadn't let her down either—even ravaged by parasites like that, it had pulled through.

After packing the grain, seeing the sheep boss and the sick wolf both standing at the kitchen door watching her eagerly, Xia Qing took out a small piece of compressed rations, tore open the package and stuffed a small portion into the sheep boss's mouth, then tore open a bag of green-light jerky and gave the sick wolf a piece. "Boss, Wolf Lao Er, you two watch the house. I'm going out for a bit, I'll be back soon."

While Xia Qing was preparing the grain for trade, the conversation on the lord channel continued.

Zhao Ze asked, "Third Brother, the chicken I traded with you was killed by the ultrasonic waves. Will you hatch chicks next year? Can I trade for two?"

Zhang San replied, "The chicken may be dead, but you still owe me every single leaf of green-light alfalfa—not one less."

Zhao Ze immediately replied, "Of course, of course. Next year I'll plant a big patch of green-light alfalfa. Third Brother can have as much as he wants."

Qi Fu also asked, "Third Brother, while you were away earlier, I dried the ripe ground bubbles into fruit leather. Shall I bring them to you tomorrow?"

Qi Fu had traded ground bubbles with Zhang San for a yellow-light hen. If it weren't for protecting the ground bubble plants, Qi Fu wouldn't have gotten his head broken by the hail. Although his head was broken and the hen was already dead, the ground bubbles owed to Zhang San had all been dried by Qi Fu's wife, grain by grain, and sealed for storage.

Zhang San replied, "Hand them to the inspection team tomorrow. Is the wound on your head healed?"

Qi Fu answered immediately, "It's healed, thanks to the medicine Xia Qing still had from trading with you. Third Brother, can I trade green-light scallions for the hemostatic medicine? I planted a batch of small fragrant scallions at the end of July—perfect for stir-frying with eggs right now."

Shi Zhong also came online. "Third Brother, I have green-light pumpkins here. They're great for dumpling filling or fried pumpkin balls. Can I trade them for the hemostatic medicine?"

"Cut two jin, I'll send someone early tomorrow to pick them up." Zhang San agreed; one could tell he was in a good mood.

"I'll take one."

Shi Zhong was overjoyed. "Alright, thank you, Third Brother. I'll pick the best one for you."

Tang Zhengpo also asked, "Third Brother, would you like to try the green-light hairy crabs we're raising? Next month is the perfect time to eat hairy crabs."

Zhang San asked, "Trading for what?"

Zhang San hadn't blacklisted Tang Zhengpo along with his son's foolishness, which made Tang Zhengpo very happy. "Hemostatic medicine, would that work?"

"Sure. Save me six fat ones."

"Alright, thank you, Third Brother." Tang Zhengpo happily agreed.

Green-light hairy crabs...

Xia Qing, standing under the road sign holding the sealed bag, couldn't help swallowing her saliva.

Want to eat...

Kuang Qingwei asked, "Director Tang, how many points per hairy crab?"

Tang Zhengpo replied unhurriedly, "The hairy crabs we raise are made to order. This year's batch is fully booked already. The six I traded to Third Brother were the ones I'd set aside for my own family to eat."

Wanting to eat them… but unable to get any, Xia Qing sighed.

Qi Fu asked, "Director Tang, can I trade with you for crab fry next spring?"

Tang Zhengpo replied, "Sure. Hairy crabs are river crabs, and the water quality in our territory isn't bad — after purification it can be used to raise crabs. Scatter the fry in spring, and by autumn they'll grow to between one jin two liang and four liang apiece. There'll be more than enough for Little Lu. How many does Brother Qi want? Fifty points each, and if you buy a lot I can give you a better price."

Fifty points a crab wasn't expensive — the question was how many would survive once the fry were released into the water.

While Xia Qing was mulling over whether to raise a few herself, she heard the footsteps of the inspection squad.