Chapter 264

When the loudspeaker on the patrol car blared, every territory nearby could hear it. Lords who needed to barter daily supplies all picked up the things they'd prepared long ago and went to wait beneath the road sign.

When the broadcast reached the outskirts of Territory Three, Xia Qing stepped out through the wild-grass wall carrying her goods and appeared beneath the stop sign.

Tang Huai, who had been leaning against the sign for some time, greeted her with great enthusiasm. "Xia Qing, you're here."

Xia Qing gave a nod.

Seeing that Xia Qing was willing to acknowledge him, Tang Huai grew even more enthusiastic. "What have you been busy with in your territory today? How are you planning to deal with the migratory flock? That goose is no small thing—what quality is it? It's definitely not Green-Light, right? Otherwise you'd definitely have traded it to Third Brother."

Xia Qing answered only the last question. "Red-Light."

Tang Huai stepped forward two paces, about to keep chatting, when he saw Zhong Tao drive over and stop right between him and Xia Qing.

Zhong Tao asked Tang Huai first. "Brother Huai, does Territory Two need to trade supplies?"

Tang Huai snorted. "Do you have Green-Light rice and seasonings?"

Zhong Tao replied, "The rice is only Yellow-Light, but the Green-Light seasonings include cumin and Sichuan pepper."

Tang Huai's eyes lit up. "Where was that cumin shipped in from?"

Zhong Tao answered with a smile, "Lan Two Base. Just shipped in."

The cumin grown at Lan Two Base was the best quality anywhere in Hua Country. Tang Huai immediately told Zhong Tao to bring him a packet so he could inspect it.

While Zhong Tao went to fetch the cumin, Zheng Kui jumped down from the vehicle and walked over to Xia Qing.

This was the first time since the third Calamity Rain that Xia Qing had seen Zheng Kui, who had lost his wife and his baby daughter who wasn't yet a month old. He had lost a great deal of weight, and his whole bearing had changed.

In the past, although Zheng Kui had been a man of few words, his gaze had been resolute. Now his whole being radiated a wooden blankness, and even the air around him was stained a lifeless grey-black.

After every natural disaster, people who had lost hope ended up in this state. Some, after a while, would gather their courage and walk forward again; others would remain lost in grief until the Calamity Element destroyed their bodies and minds, and they walked toward death.

The fact that Zheng Kui was still carrying out missions showed he was the former sort—he just needed more time to walk out of the grief of losing his wife and daughter.

Xia Qing had been through that kind of grief herself, and she knew that no words of comfort would do any good. She only greeted him, then handed over the Red-Light goose in her hands and the Red-Light snakes she'd caught during this period. "All Red-Light. Add these two baskets of Yellow-Light vegetables, and I'm trading for cooking oil."

After weighing them, Zheng Kui asked in a hoarse, rough voice, "The Red-Light animals are all live, fifty-two catties total, one thousand three hundred points. Tomatoes and cucumbers have gone up in price, fifteen points a catty. The other Yellow-Light vegetables are still ten points. Vegetables come to five hundred twenty-one points. Today we have corn oil, sesame oil, and cottonseed oil—some Red-Light processed and refined, some Yellow-Light pressed straight. Which do you want?"

A little over eighteen hundred points would leave some left over for a six-liter bucket of Yellow-Light corn oil, but not much. Xia Qing handed her ID card over. "Six liters of Yellow-Light corn oil, two liters of Yellow-Light sesame oil, and one catty of Green-Light cumin, two catties of Green-Light Sichuan pepper."

After deducting the points, Zheng Kui handed the card back to Xia Qing along with a small slip of paper that read: Sun Zhe and his parents are inside the cargo hold.

Xia Qing gave a slight nod, understanding that Sun Zhe's deal with Territory One had gone through and that his parents were being sent to Territory One to "take refuge."

Zhong Tao, who had been talking with Tang Huai, had been keeping one ear on Xia Qing and Zheng Kui the whole time. Hearing that the trade was done, he immediately went to the rear cargo hold to help Zheng Kui carry the traded supplies.

After Xia Qing took the supplies, she handed over two bags of vegetables weighing three or four catties each. "Cucumbers are the only thing growing well lately. Brother Tao, Brother Kui, take these to soothe your throats."

Neither of them stood on ceremony with Xia Qing. After taking the vegetables, they drove on toward Territory One. To provide cover for Sun Zhe's family, Xia Qing didn't head back into her territory right away, but bent down to sort through the supplies she'd traded for in her carrying basket.

Tang Huai, who should have been watching Territory One, predictably had all his attention on Xia Qing. "You're trading for this much cumin—are you planning to eat roast lamb? Did you find sheep in the Evolution Forest? How about counting me in if you team up? My hearing evolution ability is even stronger than Dajiang's."

"Didn't find any flock."

Seeing Xia Qing lift her basket and start to head back to her territory, Tang Huai hurried two steps forward and asked, "Didn't you trade for a Green-Light Sichuan pepper seedling at the agricultural trade fair? Why are you still trading for so much pepper?"

"It didn't grow." Xia Qing caught Zhong Tao driving straight into Territory One in her peripheral vision, and was about to stride back to her own territory.

"Miss Xia, please wait a moment." Assistant Xiao Liu came out from inside Territory Nine and walked quickly toward Xia Qing.

Tang Huai was terrified of the people from Territory Nine, so he immediately retreated into Territory Two and burrowed into the Calamity Grass to eavesdrop. Zhou Xun, the visual evolver hiding inside the wild-grass wall, was also drawn by the commotion over here and stopped watching the cargo truck entering Territory One.

Xia Qing set down her basket, and after Assistant Xiao Liu came closer, she asked first, "I've been running around like a headless chicken lately. Hearing you call me just reminded me—is this about trading the Bai Mao feiyeteng?"

"Yes." Assistant Xiao Liu pushed up his glasses, which had slipped down because he'd been walking so fast. "Can we trade now?"

Xia Qing nodded. "It's been recovering for over half a month, and the feiyeteng has grown a bit. I can trade one or two catties, but I haven't had time to dry it yet. Is freshly cut okay?"

Of course it was—Territory Nine didn't even want it dried. Tang Huai rolled his eyes and flicked away a small caterpillar crawling on the wild grass in front of him.

Assistant Xiao Liu discussed with Xia Qing, "Could we trade the whole plant, roots and all?"

Xia Qing showed some hesitation. "Assistant Liu may not have heard me say it on the Lord Channel, but the feiyeteng in my territory got smashed by hail, and I lost a lot more in the third Calamity Rain. There aren't many plants left now."

The fact that Xia Qing didn't refuse outright meant the trade was possible, but the points had to be right. Assistant Xiao Liu put on a business smile and offered a high price. "The price our territories trade Green-Light vegetable seedlings at is one hundred points per plant. Miss Xia, give me one small seedling and I'll pay one hundred points. What do you think?"

Xia Qing looked a little troubled. "There are no small seedlings this season. How about you wait a bit longer? When the buds come up next spring, I'll dig one up and bring it over to you?"

Tang Huai gaped and exchanged a look with Zhou Xun. This woman Xia Qing really did make points off everyone.

Assistant Xiao Liu immediately understood, apologized, and asked very politely, "I'm sorry, I didn't make myself clear just now. We don't insist on a small seedling—a big one is fine too. Would three hundred points per plant work?"

Tang Huai gave a thumbs-up and flicked away a small caterpillar in front of him.

Only then did Xia Qing nod. "Of course. Assistant Liu, wait a moment—I'll go dig it up right now."

Xia Qing returned to Territory Three and handed her basket to Sheep Boss, who was waiting for her, then broke off a wooden stick and went to dig up a medium-sized feiyeteng plant. She and Assistant Xiao Liu from Territory Nine made the exchange—goods for points—in one smooth motion.

Of course, the feiyeteng plant Xia Qing handed to Assistant Liu wasn't native to Territory Three; she had traded for it with her idol Zhang San. When it came to screwing over Li Si, Zhang San was always extremely enthusiastic and never refused a request.

Although testing afterward showed that the feiyeteng her idol had given her didn't differ much from the one in Territory Three in terms of Calamity Element, Nourishing Element, or trace-element composition, Xia Qing still very cautiously buried the plant in her territory and tended it for over ten days, waiting until Territory Nine proposed the trade before digging it up and handing it over.

On this deal, Xia Qing earned two hundred points through tears. (End of chapter)