Chapter 316: Precious Plants

Half an hour later.

Xia Qing saw Yang Jin walking out of Section Three of Mountain Forty-Nine at the North Isolation Belt, and her usually calm face couldn't help showing a surprised expression.

When she heard Chen Zheng say that Xie Yu had "finally" gotten in touch with Yang Jin, Xia Qing knew Yang Jin had run into quite a few dangers on this herb-gathering trip, but she hadn't expected him to be this battered.

Damn — a perfectly good beauty, and his face got ruined!

When Yang Jin spotted Xia Qing, a smile appeared on his face. The afterglow of the setting sun filtered through the leaves and fell on his smiling, wounded face, and that smile could still dazzle anyone who looked.

Hmm…

Not exactly disfigurement — more like battle-damage makeup. The honey trap can still be deployed.

Others crossed through the Evolution Forest without even wearing a protective mask, but Xia Qing, standing in her own territory, had taken hers off and simply raised a hand in a silent greeting.

Because she had started using body-damage healing potions now and couldn't use other medicines, she couldn't afford to get hurt, so caution first.

As Yang Jin drew closer, Xia Qing noticed his injuries weren't limited to his face — both palms were wrapped in bandages, and there were probably plenty more wounds on his body. In this state, he still insisted on coming all the way over; he must really have something important.

After entering Yang Jin's Territory Three, he spotted at once the camera on the big toon tree on the high slope. "New material?"

His voice was hoarse too, but unlike Tang Huai's rasp after being injured, his was clearly a huskiness from lack of rest.

Xia Qing replied, "Yes, traded with Third Brother from Territory Seven — twenty thousand points each."

"Not expensive." Yang Jin was clearly taken with this camera model. He studied it for a few more moments before telling Xia Qing, "The placement is good, but it's too conspicuous. You'd better paint it with stealth coating. The new-material nano stealth coating doesn't just achieve visual invisibility — it also reduces the chance of the camera being detected and tracked by radar, infrared, and laser detection systems."

"Our Hui Three Base doesn't have this kind of new coating yet. I happened to get a few buckets back on this trip out."

Xia Qing…

Excellent — hadn't even stepped inside yet, her own bill hadn't even been brought out, and the tightwad had already found a new trade item, scheming to make the number on her bill drop fast.

Xia Qing raised a hand. "Captain Yang, please step into the meeting room to discuss."

Meeting room? Yang Jin's eyes lit up slightly.

Following Xia Qing across the stone-slab bridge and through the fields, he saw the wooden sign reading "Meeting Room" hanging on the small hut by the field. Yang Jin fell silent.

"Captain Yang, please." Xia Qing, walking ahead, pushed open the door, took off her protective mask, and invited Yang Jin inside.

Yang Jin nodded, followed Xia Qing into the "meeting room," and discovered that this tool shed wasn't just sporting a wooden sign — the interior had been upgraded too, with new furniture.

A rectangular table sat in the middle of the room, with a stool on each side. Both table and stools were solid wood — there wasn't any other building material to choose from these days — and had been finished with clear lacquer.

Yang Jin praised, "The grain on this wood is very nice."

"This is Evolution Pine. If Captain Yang likes it, I can make one for you — labor and materials included." Having smoothly found a new project, Xia Qing was in a good mood too. She poured Yang Jin a cup of tea. "This is chrysanthemum tea — takes the fire out."

The faint fragrance of chrysanthemum spread through the room, making anyone who smelled it feel refreshed in body and mind. Yang Jin took two sips and felt his throat much more comfortable. "I don't need a table for now. I brought back two herbs from White Seven Base. This kind of herb can only be planted beside an unpolluted spring — otherwise its medicinal efficacy will dissipate very quickly."

Finished speaking, Yang Jin carefully took out a twenty-centimeter square box from his backpack. "Plant this herb by your spring eye. It won't affect the quality of the spring water. Once it's grown, we split the profits fifty-fifty. How about it?"

Xia Qing had seen this kind of box before — it was an oxygenated, constant-temperature planting box specially used to hold precious herbs. Any plant that could be packed into such a box was, without exception, exceedingly precious.

Xia Qing's first reaction was excitement; her second was that the bill she'd just organized was about to turn into an IOU. "Fifty-fifty is fine, but I can't guarantee I'll be able to keep it alive."

Better say it upfront — if it dies, I'm not paying for it.

Yang Jin smiled. "I didn't bring it back expecting it would definitely survive. If it dies, it's not your fault — you don't have to compensate. This herb doesn't need light, and its requirements for temperature and humidity aren't high. Is there a hollowed-out rock or a pit by your spring eye where grass can be planted? As long as it can hold two handfuls of soil, the sooner it's planted the better."

No compensation needed — easy to talk about. Xia Qing stood up at once. "Yes. Shall we go now?"

Yang Jin reminded her, "Just in case, turn off the cameras first, then we'll head over."

Although the cameras were encrypted, they really couldn't guarantee absolute safety.

As Xia Qing took out her phone to turn off the cameras, Yang Jin, already standing, lowered his eyes and quietly looked at her short hair, which had been pressed into a mess by the protective mask.

Her hair, just like the person herself — not a single strand was smooth, yet every strand was full of life.

Actually, the herb could be planted tomorrow too, but Yang Jin just wanted to come over, to see her.

Four years ago, when Yang Jin first stepped through the gates of Hui Three Base, he spotted Xia Qing at a glance — head tilted, shouldering a huge slab of stone. Her clothes were as dirty and disheveled as everyone else's, but her eyes were distinctly black and white, her gaze calm and determined. Those eyes, brimming with vigorous life, struck straight into Yang Jin's heart.

Such a gaze was precious beyond measure to Yang Jin, who had just been through an incomparably brutal battle. In that instant, Yang Jin saw hope — the hope that as long as you strove to live, things would get better — and he felt an unprecedented sense of fulfillment. From then on, every time he returned from a mission, he would go to where Xia Qing worked and gaze at her from afar.

Once she left the Safe Zone, Yang Jin found it harder than before to see her.

"Done." Xia Qing turned off all the cameras, reached for the planting box on the table. "Your hands are injured — shall I carry this?"

Of course Yang Jin wouldn't object. He drained the tea on the table in one gulp, and as he followed Xia Qing out of the meeting room, he saw through the window an Evolution Wolf with a notch in its ear standing not far away.

Xia Qing, already at the door, raised her hand and greeted it warmly. "Queen, my lord!"

The lead wolf glanced at Yang Jin, then fixed its gaze on Xia Qing. Xia Qing somehow received the meaning it was trying to convey. "Queen, my lord, go home first. As soon as I'm back I'll deal with the rabbit — guaranteed you'll eat it tonight."

The lead wolf was satisfied and turned to head home.

"Captain Yang, this way please." After coaxing the lead wolf home, Xia Qing returned to her calm, composed self, fastened her protective mask, and led the way for Yang Jin.

Entering the low-slope greenhouse and arriving at the spring-eye cave, Xia Qing explained, "For secrecy, I extended the greenhouse upward and covered the spring eye and the grapevines too. These are the two vines I traded with you back in March this year — look, they've grown a lot now. They'll definitely bear grapes next year."

When the grapevines were brought over, they were only about a meter long. Now they'd put out several branches and, sparsely but steadily, had climbed all over the trellis Xia Qing had built. They really were growing well.

Yang Jin nodded. "This Evolution variety is very cold-resistant, but when the temperature drops below minus fifteen, it's best to take some insulation measures for the roots."

Xia Qing hadn't expected Yang Jin to know about this, and she took the chance to ask for guidance. "Do you know which insulation measures work better?"

Of course he did — he'd gone and studied it seriously. "The plantation in the Safe Zone uses adobe bricks built into trough shapes. After winter pruning, the grapevines are bundled and laid in the middle. Wooden poles are used to build a shed on top, two layers of straw mats are pressed down, then covered with fifty centimeters of leaves or dry grass. A few ventilation holes are left along the ground, and once the temperature drops to zero, the holes are sealed. The soil around the grape roots won't freeze, so the roots won't be damaged. When spring comes next year, you uncover them and they keep growing."

After finishing his explanation, Yang Jin moved to shift the stone blocking the cave.

Xia Qing hurried forward. "Captain Yang, this stone is heavy — let me do it."

Yang Jin didn't mention that he could move it too, and obediently stepped back.