Chapter 248: Bathing

Xia Qing had given Sick Wolf a bath before, but back then it had been under anesthesia and couldn't move. Although she and Sick Wolf were now familiar with each other, bathing an evolved wolf-dog that had grown up in the Evolution Forest still put Xia Qing under a fair bit of pressure.

But looking at Sick Wolf's grinning expression and smelling the stink, Xia Qing gritted her teeth. "Fine, I'll wash you. Who let you be an SSVIP honored guest? The sun's strong today, and we've got plenty of hot water in the tank. Boss, keep an ear out for anything going on outside the yard. If something's off, holler for me."

These past few nights, Sick Wolf had been keeping watch. Now that Xia Qing was taking it to bathe, she still felt uneasy about it. Sheep Boss lay on the tatami, eyes half-closed, chewing cud, utterly unmoved by Xia Qing's call.

But Xia Qing knew it had heard her.

"Stand here and don't move, I'll rinse you off." After adjusting the water temperature, Xia Qing began rinsing Sick Wolf's body. Only now did she notice that Sick Wolf had put on a little flesh—not much, but better than the skin-and-bones look it had the first time she washed it.

Because it had been using the medicine all along, Sick Wolf's skin condition had also improved, and a thin, sparse layer of fuzz had grown in, which gave one a real sense of accomplishment. After rinsing the grime off it, Xia Qing picked up the shower gel. "This is antibacterial, insect-repellent shower gel. Rub it on your body and then rinse clean. It keeps skin conditions from flaring up, and it also keeps off mosquitoes, flies, and fleas. After the bath you'll smell just like Sheep Boss."

When dealing with the animals in her territory, Xia Qing always talked while she worked. Because the animals at home were all pretty smart, "Once you've finished purging over the next few days and gotten all the parasites out of your body, your appetite should pick up. Now's the perfect time to put on some autumn fat—I'll make you something good to eat every day…"

After Xia Qing chattered on and finished rinsing Sick Wolf clean, then dried it off with a tattered quilt cover, she opened the bathroom door to lead Sick Wolf out—only to find another wolf crouching just outside the bathroom door.

Xia Qing, soaked through, locked eyes with this calm-eyed, clever fellow for two seconds, then asked, "You want a bath too?"

Broken-Waist Wolf turned to sniff the spot on its body where the medicinal plaster was stuck, then looked up calmly at Xia Qing.

Was it disgusted by the smell of the plaster and wanting to wash it off?

Life isn't easy. Xia Qing sighed. "Fine, wash! Come on in. But after you're clean, the plaster goes back on. Lao Er, Boss, you two keep an eye on things outside."

Sheep Boss still didn't move, eyes half-closed. Wolf-dog Lao Er, freshly washed, obeyed Xia Qing and went out through the security door to stand watch.

With a different wolf now in the bathroom, Xia Qing kept on washing. This wolf's body was even more powerfully built than Sick Wolf's, but Xia Qing wasn't afraid of it at all while giving it a bath.

Because this one was a brain-domain evolved wolf—smart as they come. Not only unafraid, Xia Qing chatted away as she washed the wolf. "Broken-Waist, you're taller than Sheep Boss, you've got more fur than Wolf Lao Er, you use the most shower gel, washing you is really hard work. Once your waist's fully healed, you've got to bring me a pair of green-light wild rabbits—I want them alive…"

Soaked Broken-Waist Wolf said nothing, watching as Xia Qing turned on the showerhead and squeezed something out of the bottle. If you looked closely, you'd notice its eyes were brighter than usual.

After serving the second wolf, Xia Qing, who'd been busy all day, really felt a bit worn out. She went upstairs to her own bathroom, took a shower, changed clothes, and came back down to find the two wolves and one sheep comfortably sprawled on the tatami. Sheep Boss was half-asleep, chewing cud, and both wolves looked up at her at the same time, as if wondering whether she'd chase them out.

The freshly washed wolves had started looking down on the smelly sheep pen. Xia Qing didn't object to them sleeping inside. She pointed at the stairs beneath her feet and told the two wolves, "Lao Er, Broken-Waist, you can sleep inside, but you can't go up there. Understand? Lao Er, keep watch over our territory from up top. If anything moves, call me right away."

"Buzz—"

Before Xia Qing had finished giving her instructions, she heard her phone ring. She saw the caller ID was Zhang San and picked up immediately. "Third Brother."

"Xia Qing, I'll trade you rice for your green-light chestnuts. Deal?"

"Third Brother, can we trade for unhusked rice instead? Rice stores longer." Xia Qing agreed very readily. When she'd eaten chestnut chicken the night before, she'd guessed Zhang San would propose a trade, so she'd even thought ahead about what to exchange.

What she lacked now wasn't food, but high-quality seed grain. Relying on the hundred stalks of green-light rice she'd traded with Zhang San back in June—ninety-seven stalks left now—the rice panicles they produced still wouldn't give her freedom to grow her own high-quality rice next year.

In her fields, she also had yellow-light rice she'd traded from the Safe Zone. She'd traded for four hundred stalks; the third Harmful Rain had cost her a hundred stalks outright. That was only because the yellow-light rice had been planted next to the green-light rice and been partly protected by the Yishi; otherwise the loss would have been even greater.

After the third Harmful Rain, Xia Qing tested the remaining yellow-light rice and found that thirty stalks had Harmful Element content exceeding one-thousandth of the food, making them inedible plants that had to be pulled. So she now had two hundred and seventy stalks of yellow-light rice left, with Harmful Element content between ten and fourteen parts per thousand—not a premium variety by any measure.

To expand her planting area, she urgently needed high-quality rice seed.

To Xia Qing's terms, Zhang San didn't answer directly, but asked, "Do you want the rice I'm currently growing in my territory, or the kind the Safe Zone Planting Center grows? Mine's better quality, and the price is higher too."

The Safe Zone didn't sell rice paddy, only polished rice. Because the Safe Zone processed the husks into food to feed more people. Given the choice, Xia Qing naturally wanted the better one. "The kind from your territory."

Zhang San: "The yellow-light rice variety the Safe Zone grows on a large scale is H-12, with Harmful Element content around ten parts per thousand. What I'm growing in my territory right now is J-2, with Harmful Element content a little over six parts per thousand. Polished, the price is over 100 credits; unhusked, sold as seed, it's even more expensive. Your green-light chestnuts are very good quality, the price should be around 400 credits. I'll trade you four jin of unhusked yellow-light rice for one jin of green-light chestnuts—can you accept? But you can't sell the J-2 rice seed, you can only grow it yourself."

"I can, absolutely! Thanks so much, Third Brother." Xia Qing was grinning broadly. Given the choice between grain with Harmful Element content close to green-light food and grain with high Harmful Element content, she'd never pick the high one. Four jin for one jin suited her fine—she wanted to trade for two hundred jin of yellow-light rice seed!

But that depended on how much her idol was willing to part with. Xia Qing asked, "How many jin of green-light chestnuts does Third Brother want to trade for?"

Zhang San asked lazily in return, "How many jin can you put up?"

Generous! Magnificent! Truly worthy of being her idol! Xia Qing answered readily, "Eighty jin."

Hearing that Xia Qing had that many green-light chestnuts, Zhang San's voice was practically brimming with delight. "I can give you at most forty jin of rice, and I can also give you wheat seed of the same quality at the same price—another forty jin. Also not allowed to be sold. Besides those two things, what else do you want?"

Besides rice seed, Xia Qing really did have something she needed—or rather, a problem she needed advice on.