Chapter 22: Goat-Drawn Plow

After five sunny days following the Calamity Rain, temperatures rose quickly, and the Calamity-element content in Blue Star's atmosphere dropped back to normal levels. Once the Calamity elements in the soil had also mostly volatilized, Xia Qing began preparing to sow.

She used those five days to clear the wild grass and poisonous insects from three villages, and also pulled out all the Calamity-evolved grass from the thirty mu of richest, flattest plots near the reservoir. Of course, she only pulled out the evolved grass that had gone wild during the Calamity Rain; the sparse normal grass seedlings growing beneath the evolved grass she hadn't gotten to yet. Aside from what Old Goat had nibbled down, the rest was all still there.

But Xia Qing decided not to clear it and started plowing directly. She stood at the edge of the field, pulled out a cluster of Chinese toon sprouts, waved them, and shouted, "Boss—want some toon sprouts?"

Old Goat, who had been grazing in the field, immediately charged over. While it buried its head in eating, Xia Qing slipped a custom-made plowing harness onto its body. This harness was modeled after the vest-style leash used for walking dogs, guaranteeing Old Goat couldn't break free or get choked.

After the gear was on, Xia Qing turned the bamboo pole attached to the motorized plow, and the pole with the cluster of toon sprouts hanging from it began swaying right in front of Old Goat's head. Because they didn't share a language, communication between Xia Qing and Old Goat only had two channels: food, or a fight.

Xia Qing hung the bait and shouted loudly, "Boss, your chance to shine has finally arrived—get to work!"

Old Goat finished the toon sprouts on the ground, stretched its neck for the ones in front of it, and found it couldn't quite reach. It stepped forward to reach the sprouts, and the sprouts moved forward too. Old Goat, refusing to admit defeat, kept reaching; the rope on its body pulled taut, the three plow blades sank deep into the soil, and Xia Qing gripped the motorized plow's handles and began plowing.

This three-furrow motorized plow was originally meant to be pulled by a tractor and had no handles. After Xia Qing dug it out of the village ruins, she modified and repeatedly adjusted it until it became the goat-drawn plow it is now.

Old Goat easily pulled the plow from one end of the field to the other. Xia Qing pulled the bamboo pole back, and a cluster of toon sprouts appeared right at Old Goat's mouth. When Old Goat stopped to eat the sprouts, Xia Qing immediately swung the plow around, hung up another cluster of toon sprouts, and Old Goat pulled the plow from this end of the field back to the far end.

One round trip, and a strip one-point-five meters wide and two hundred meters long was plowed!

One more loop, and nearly a mu of land was finished. This was far faster than Xia Qing turning it over one shovelful at a time, and she was so happy she couldn't close her mouth.

When Old Goat had eaten enough toon sprouts and was about to lose its temper and go on strike, Xia Qing switched the bait.

A small piece of ration hung in front of its eyes, and Old Goat's effort doubled, then doubled again. Plowing thirty mu took just over an hour, costing one piece of ration and a handful of toon sprouts.

Xia Qing took the harness off her great功臣, gave it water and a grooming session. Well-fed and thoroughly pampered, Old Goat lay at the edge of the field with half-closed eyes, watching with great arrogance as Xia Qing continued her busywork.

After clearing away the tree roots, grass roots, and stones turned up by the plowing, Xia Qing stood up and watched the magpies, sparrows, and crows that had landed on the plowed field to dig for insects. Her mood was wonderful.

The birds ate the insects in the field, so her crops would grow better. The first day of work after the Calamity Rain had gone so smoothly—a bountiful harvest was in sight!

But that evening, when the broadcast mentioned that birds don't only eat insects—they also dig up and eat seeds in the soil—Xia Qing couldn't be happy anymore.

Immediately after, the broadcast introduced countermeasures: "The experts at our base's Planting Research Center recommend two methods to all lords: first, mix the seeds with insect-repellent powder before sowing. This method not only repels birds but also prevents evolved soil pests from damaging the seeds. Second, use the sap of a Level-3 odor-evolved cinnamon or camphor tree, diluted with water at a ratio of one to ten, and spray it on the sown plots. This method effectively drives away most birds. Using both methods together yields even better results. The experts remind all lords not to save trouble by scattering seeds directly on the surface. Wheat should be sown at a depth of three to five centimeters, with row spacing... cotton... to improve germination rates, you can soak the seeds the night before, but you must control the water temperature..."

Xia Qing lay at the edge of the table, lit a candle, and took careful notes.

Before the Calamity, over seventy percent of Huaguo was urbanized, and most of Huaguo's farmland had been handed over to large specialized farms for management. During the ten years of Calamity, the elderly who knew how to farm but had low resistance died off one after another, and most lords of the territories didn't know how to farm. So, although the phones issued to lords had the Complete Planting Guide, the base still broadcast detailed planting knowledge every day without growing tired of it.

Xia Qing had worked at the Safe Zone Planting Center, so she understood the basic farming process, but she didn't dare be careless at all. Because the Planting Center grew crops inside rainproof greenhouses, whereas now she was farming in the open.

After the Calamity Rain, Calamity-evolved plants grew explosively, cutting off transportation between the Safe Zone and the territories. Xia Qing's two power banks hadn't been recharged in time, so she had to prioritize ensuring daily battery power for listening to broadcasts. Her phone was only used for making and receiving calls, and she avoided looking at the Complete Planting Guide whenever possible to save power.

Once sowing is finished, she must find a way to get a few solar panels back.

Xia Qing put away her notebook, sat down on the tatami, and while petting the goat, thought about the news from the broadcast.

For five days now, Hui Three Base's broadcast hadn't mentioned the death toll from this Calamity Rain. Xia Qing conservatively estimated it had certainly exceeded seven thousand.

Although they didn't report specific casualty figures, the announcer gave emotionally vivid accounts of touching deeds every day. Today's broadcast told of the Sufeng Squad's heroic deeds: sacrificing six members to repel evil forces in order to protect public facilities and property.

Xia Qing guessed that Feng Teng was among those six, which was why Feng Wen had cried so heartbreakingly on Zhong Tao's phone call.

Feng Wen wasn't crying because of how deep her bond with her brother was, but because after Feng Teng's death, Feng Wen had lost her support. She threw a tantrum to换取 more survival supplies.

As for the cause of Feng Teng's death, it certainly wasn't the reason given in the broadcast, because Feng Teng ran faster than anyone when he encountered danger.

Who were the "evil forces" mentioned in the broadcast, and where did they get the nerve to go up against the Sufeng Squad and the base's second-in-command Tang Zhengrong standing behind them?

Before Xia Qing could figure it out, Old Goat stood up and skillfully opened the door to go out. These past few days, Old Goat had learned to open and close doors with its hooves, so the house's front door was now safe.

Xia Qing stopped thinking about Feng Wen, got up, took out the seeds, and soaked them according to the method taught in the broadcast. She used filtered water for half and mountain spring water, which had better quality, for the other half.

Back in the Safe Zone, Xia Qing, like most people, grew vegetables in flower pots. Although she took very careful care of them, most of the vegetables would go wild during the Calamity Rain, and very few made it to her mouth in the end. However, of the seventeen ginger and garlic seedlings she had transplanted to her territory after the red Calamity Rain, only three underwent Calamity-evolution. This Calamity-evolution rate was even lower than that in the Safe Zone Planting Center's greenhouses.

After analyzing it, Xia Qing felt that the low Calamity-evolution rate was eighty percent because she had watered them with mountain spring water after transplanting, and twenty percent because the soil here was better. To verify this, and for safety, Xia Qing cautiously decided to use both kinds of water.

The seeds soaked in filtered water would be sown in the thirty-mu plowed field; the ones soaked in mountain spring water would be sown in the plot she had turned over once before the Calamity Rain and again after it.

To keep the water temperature constantly between 30°C and 40°C, Xia Qing, who had no thermostat, simply used her own body temperature to test the water. She barely slept all night.