Chapter 254: The Freeloading Red Squirrel

Then, after walking forward for less than six minutes, Xia Qing saw another red squirrel on a tree ahead, wagging its tail and rubbing its little paws.

This time, Xia Qing didn't find it cute at all.

Damn it, is there no end to this?!

That bastard Yang Jin grew so handsome, and even when he used a beauty scheme on her, he only wanted a discount. Yet this thing, relying on its cuteness, keeps trying to freeload from her again and again?

No way!

Xia Qing, carrying the saplings on her back, stormed past beneath the tree.

She hadn't gone far when another cute red squirrel appeared on a tree, wagging its tail and rubbing its little paws at her. Not far ahead, another one.

Xia Qing gave in. "Tomorrow. Tomorrow morning, when you come to my windowsill to drink, I'll leave you a yellow-light chestnut."

After saying that, Xia Qing charged forward with the saplings on her back, passing several more trees with red squirrels. The red squirrels, after repeated failed attempts to get chestnuts from Xia Qing, leaped about in the trees, shredding quite a few leaves.

After handing the saplings to Ji Li, Xia Qing heard a "bang" from within the territory. She immediately rushed back and found Guan Tong fighting Ram Boss, with Ram Boss having the upper hand.

This wasn't to say Guan Tong couldn't beat Ram Boss—it's just that in a pure contest of strength, his Level Four Strength Evolution couldn't match Ram Boss.

"Sister Qing, the three fertilized fields have been watered." Dajiang explained to Xia Qing. "We were weeding when Ram Boss suddenly stopped treading the waterwheel, charged over to provoke Guan Tong, and Guan Tong went to spar with it."

Xia Qing took off her protective mask and explained why Ram Boss had gone crazy. "I've been too busy these past few days to spar with it. Its hooves are itching."

Dajiang...

Xiaojiang...

Spotting Xia Qing's return, Ram Boss immediately lost interest in Guan Tong and charged toward her. After over a month of running practice with Xia Qing, Ram Boss's speed had noticeably increased.

Xia Qing set down her backpack and protective mask and charged toward Ram Boss.

"Bang!"

Human and ram collided with a tremendous crash, making Guan Tong wince. Anyone who hadn't fought Ram Boss wouldn't know just how much it hurts to be rammed by it.

Xia Qing wasn't stronger than Ram Boss either. After being sent flying by the ram's charge, she used her waist strength to quickly adjust her posture, landed steadily on both feet, and charged at Ram Boss again.

This time she didn't ram head-on but grabbed Ram Boss's two spiral horns and hurled it away with all her might.

"Bang!" Ram Boss slammed into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Moo!"

Ram Boss leaped back up and charged at Xia Qing, covered in dirt. Human and ram fought with tremendous intensity.

From the lord's walkie-talkie, as expected, came Tang Huai's inquiry. "Xia Qing, what's going on? Has your ram gone crazy again?"

Xia Qing hadn't even turned on her walkie-talkie. Tang Zhengpo rebuked his son. "Do your own job and stop poking into other people's territory."

Inside Territory Three, after a satisfying bout between human and ram, they lay sprawled on the ground in a mess.

Xiaojiang asked his older brother, who was squatting in the greenhouse pulling weeds. "Bro, Sister Qing's fight is over. Shouldn't we go over and ask?"

Dajiang shook his head. "Let's wait a bit. I'm afraid if we go over now, Ram Boss will leap up and headbutt us flying."

After resting for a while, Xia Qing and Ram Boss got up—one heading home for water, the other patting the dirt off itself and walking toward the fields.

Only then did Dajiang ask, "Sister Qing, can I buy twenty jin of yellow-light chestnuts?"

Xiaojiang also came over. "The chestnuts taste amazing. We want to trade for some to take home, and my brother wants to send some to my sister-in-law."

"Don't worry, Sister Qing. We definitely won't tell anyone where we picked the chestnuts." Dajiang assured Xia Qing.

Guan Tong had no family, but he had someone he liked, and he asked to buy ten jin. The main combat members of the Azure Dragon Squad, who frequently took on missions, were never short on points.

After successfully trading for the chestnuts, the three cheerfully returned to Territory One.

Watching their retreating backs, Xia Qing would be lying if she said she wasn't envious. Anyone who still had family after ten years of natural disasters was enviable. Xia Qing had no family left, but she had Ram Boss and the wolf pack, with whom she could share the joy of her harvest.

Xia Qing sat by the reservoir and opened the chestnut burrs she'd just clipped. From over twenty burrs she extracted two jin of green-light chestnuts, worth eight hundred points. Xia Qing, who used to earn only five points after a hard day's work in the safe zone, was quite satisfied with this haul.

She first put the chestnuts in the cabin, then took off her "ghillie suit," grabbed a sack, and went to pick cotton.

Among her territory's crops, the cotton that had entered its late growth stage during the third Calamity Rain suffered the smallest loss ratio, aside from the green-light plants protected by the Yishi.

Though it was the smallest, over seven hundred plants had still Calamity-evolved, leaving six thousand four hundred. Xia Qing didn't simply discard the seven hundred-plus Calamity-evolved cotton plants. Instead, just like the ones from the second Calamity Rain, she planted them in fields far from the greenhouse to observe their next-stage growth.

The sun had been good these past few days, and many cotton bolls had split open. Cotton with low Calamity-element content was pure white; cotton with high Calamity-element content was yellow, with the shade of yellow varying according to the Calamity-element level. The lower the Calamity-element content, the paler the yellow.

The yellow cotton was beautiful to look at, but it had a fishy stench. The fruits or flowers of plants with excessively high Calamity-element content all undergo changes in scent, and a fishy stench is a very common manifestation.

Sending it to the safe zone processing center could remove the fishy stench and turn it into clothing for sale. Xia Qing separated the white and yellow cotton, putting them into different sacks.

After finishing the cotton picking, Xia Qing went to check the Calamity-evolved cotton plants cleared out during the third Calamity Rain. These plants had shot up to over three meters tall, and the cotton bolls on the lower fruiting branches hadn't split yet, so it was impossible to tell what color their cotton would be.

After Xia Qing brought the cotton and chestnuts home, she stored the chestnuts in the storage room, spread the pure white cotton out to dry on the second-floor balcony, and put the pale yellow cotton on the warehouse roof, covered with an insect-proof net to dry.

Besides the solar panels, the warehouse roof also had over three hundred cotton seedlings Xia Qing had pulled up before the third Calamity Rain drying in the sun. The cotton bolls on these plants had also split quite a bit, revealing cotton that was both white and pale yellow.

There was still some time before noon, so Xia Qing simply sat on the roof and continued picking cotton. If you ignored the faint fishy stench of the cotton, this work was something Xia Qing quite enjoyed.

In short, she loved harvesting. Harvesting all kinds of supplies made her happy and grounded.

Ram Boss, tired, lay resting in the yard. The sick wolf followed Xia Qing up onto the roof and lay beside her, watching quietly. The concrete roof, baked warm by the sun, felt comfortable to the sick wolf with its upset stomach as it lay there.

Suddenly, the sick wolf's head perked up and it looked to the side. Xia Qing followed its gaze and saw the red squirrel wearing a tracker appear on a distant tree, rubbing its two little front paws together, swaying its big tail, and staring at Xia Qing with eager, pitiful eyes.