Chapter 214: Preparations Before the Calamity Rain

Xia Qing immediately agreed, "Alright, thank you, Third Brother. Should I bring it over to you now?"

Zhang San replied cheerfully, "I'll have Ji Li come pick it up."

After hanging up the phone, Xia Qing had just stepped into the greenhouse when she saw, through the insect-proof netting, a flash of red light outside, and the two peanuts on the stone vanished.

Xia Qing smiled and squatted in the field to pick out peanuts for Zhang San. No matter how much selenium-rich edible peanuts cost per jin, the five jin of green-light wheat seeds Zhang San gave were more than enough.

Five jin of green-light wheat, plus the three and a half jin of green-light wheat Xia Qing had harvested in June, planted together, and by next summer her standard of living would jump another notch—she could ditch the yellow-light wheat and eat only green-light!

Besides the amount traded with Zhang San, Xia Qing also brought to the north isolation belt of Territory Three a small bag of slightly tender peanuts. "This bag is a bit young, good for boiling. It's for Third Brother, Brother Ji, Sister Yan, and Brother Ya to try something fresh."

Xia Qing had always been close with Territory One, so Ji Li hadn't expected her not to know Yan Long had gone with Yang Jin to the Evolution Forest. He took the peanuts, thanked her, and said nothing more.

After seeing Ji Li off, Xia Qing returned to the Gao Po planting greenhouse and saw the red squirrel had come back to a branch outside the greenhouse, rubbing its two little front paws together and staring longingly at the peanuts in the basket.

Xia Qing laughed. "Want more?"

The little squirrel, realizing it had been spotted by Xia Qing, darted off in a flash and vanished without a trace.

Xia Qing brought all the peanuts home, kept some for herself to eat, and spread the rest out to dry on the concrete roof of the warehouse.

If time weren't so tight, Xia Qing would have preferred to dry the peanuts on the second-floor balcony—behind a layer of glass, she'd feel at ease. Drying them on the roof meant the protection had to be thorough.

Covering the peanuts with iron mesh plus two layers of insect-proof netting still wasn't enough to put her mind at rest, so Xia Qing sprayed them twice with odor-isolating and insect-repelling solution, then handed Wolf Lao Er, who had followed her up, a small piece of jerky. "Lao Er, stay here and guard the peanuts. Don't let any birds or bugs come wreck things. I'm going to pick cotton."

The sick wolf wagged its tail once, then happily lay down by the peanuts and gnawed on the jerky.

Xia Qing carried a small bag of peanuts downstairs and sent a message asking Luo Pei if he wanted boiled peanuts. They were yellow-light, but black-skinned selenium-rich peanuts, with higher nutritional value than ordinary ones.

Luo Pei quickly replied, telling her the peanuts in Territory One were also black-skinned, and told her to keep them for herself.

It seemed the peanuts in Territory One and her own territory had been dug up by small animals from the same patch of land—she just didn't know where that patch was.

Xia Qing put the peanuts in the kitchen, grabbed her bundle, and went to the field to pick cotton. It was cotton harvest season now, and the bolls on the cotton plants, starting from the large ones at the bottom, were splitting open one after another, revealing soft, snow-white cotton.

Xia Qing picked cotton every few days, and by now she had harvested over a hundred jin—more than enough for her own use. She planned to sell the surplus, and next year she'd plant only one patch of green-light cotton, for no other reason than to enjoy the flowers that changed color three times over three days.

While picking cotton, Xia Qing also pulled up the upper portions of cotton plants that had barely any bolls. A few yellow-light cotton plants still had small bolls, but because they were too close to the green-light cotton plants, Xia Qing pulled those up too.

Seventy hours of Calamity Rain, with no fewer than three red-level showers—any plant could undergo Calamity Evolution. Xia Qing didn't want to take the risk.

She picked two bundles of cotton, but pulled up over three hundred plants. Xia Qing stripped all the leaves off the cotton plants, leaving only the bare stalks with bolls, and set them out to dry in the sun.

Over the next two days, Xia Qing picked ten yellow-light pumpkins, two baskets of cucumbers, tomatoes, and a few other vegetables, plus ten jin of potatoes and ten jin of wheat, and traded them with Zhong Tao for three large pieces of rainproof cloth, just in case.

After the trade, Zhong Tao reminded Xia Qing, "Sis, you've grown quite a lot of grain and vegetables these past few months. When the rain comes, save what you can in the fields—if you can't save it, it's no big loss. You absolutely must not get hurt trying to protect the crops."

Getting hurt in Calamity Rain could easily cost you your life.

"I understand. Brother Tao and Brother Kui need to be careful too." The two were soldiers and couldn't leave during Calamity Rain, but they would certainly be on guard duty in the safe zone. Xia Qing asked, "Brother Tao, could you do me a favor and ask that lord with the green-light soybeans if he can trade one jin first? I can give him two jin of mung beans up front, and once he sends the rest of the soybeans after the rain, I'll hand over the remaining five jin."

Zhong Tao asked, "Sis, what's up? Afraid there's something wrong with the soybeans?"

Xia Qing nodded. "A few yellow-light soybean plants grew in my territory. I harvested them a few days ago and found that even after boiling for two hours, they were still too hard to bite. I'm worried his green-light soybeans are the same evolved variety."

Zhong Tao understood. "That guy isn't from our territory. I'll have to ask around before getting back to you. But even if he agrees, the soybeans can't be delivered until after the Calamity Rain."

Xia Qing nodded.

Zheng Kui asked, "Does the reservoir in your territory have any edible fish? I'd like to trade for one."

Zhong Tao explained cheerfully, "His wife just gave him a daughter, and she's in confinement right now."

For a child to be born safely in a year of natural disasters was a great blessing. Xia Qing offered her congratulations first, then said, "What a coincidence. I have three male and four female yellow-light fish in my pond—seven in total. I just fished them out this morning and was planning to keep them in a tank during the Calamity Rain. Let me go get one."

Zheng Kui was overjoyed. He'd already asked over a dozen lords today and still hadn't managed to buy one—he hadn't expected Xia Qing to actually have one. "Sis, thank you so much."

Xia Qing went home, fished out a yellow-light male fish, packed it with water in a fresh-keeping bag, and brought along half a jin of green-light jerky, handing both to Zheng Kui.

Green-light jerky was even more precious than yellow-light fish. The normally taciturn Zheng Kui was so moved his face turned red. After paying the points, he kept thanking Xia Qing.

After seeing off Zhong Tao and Zheng Kui, Xia Qing was about to shoulder the rainproof cloth and head back to her territory when Tang Huai called out to her.

"Xia Qing, you raise fish too? You really haven't missed a trick, living on your own. Impressive, impressive."

Xia Qing turned around, her face dark. "Tang Huai, if you really can't kick the nasty habit of eavesdropping, I can help puncture your eardrums."

Tang Huai cursed inwardly but forced a smile, continuing to try to get close. "Are those solar panels I gave you still working?"

Although Xia Qing was a Strength Evolver, carrying a large roll of rainproof cloth still felt heavy. She asked coldly, "If you have something to say, say it."

Tang Huai stepped outward a couple of paces, lowered his voice, and asked, "How's that wolf of yours? Still alive?"

Tang Huai made no attempt to hide that he knew all about the Sufeng Squad sending Xu Juan and Zhang Yong with cameras into Territory Three. Xia Qing also lowered her voice. "Want to know?"

Tang Huai nodded vigorously. "Yes. Don't worry, I won't tell a soul."

Like hell I believe you! Xia Qing gave him a thumbs-up. "Trade me ten green-light crabs for it."

"Are you out of your goddamn mind…" Tang Huai fumed, stamping his feet as he forcibly held back the flood of curses. He held up one finger. "One, max!"

Xia Qing haggled. "Two, one male and one female, alive."

"Impossible." After Xia Qing entered the tall grass wall and walked far away, Tang Huai stormed back to Territory Two, cursing as he went. "That damn woman is even more deserving of a beating than Tang Lu—how the hell has she survived this long?"