Chapter 326: A Famously Ruthless Character

"Probably not," Luo Pei analyzed. "After she entered the territory, she didn't say a single word in the lord channel for months. She seems to have come over just for the convenience of raising birds. Unless necessary, almost everything she says in the lord channel is about birds."

Raising birds?

Xie Yu thought of the evolved sea eagle carrying a crow in flight today. "Could Xin Yu's evolution ability require birds to use?"

Luo Pei shook his head. "Not sure. I haven't seen her since I came to the territory."

Luo Pei was a top-tier visual evolver, with extremely sharp observation. If Xin Yu often appeared before him, he would have noticed something about her ability.

At this moment, Lord Eight Xin Yu, wearing a single-sided light-transmitting protective mask, holding a pot of roses in full bloom, walked east along the passage between territories One through Ten, hurrying toward Territory Seven.

Tang Huai, standing under the Territory Two signpost, saw her in this state again and knew she didn't want to talk, so he kept quiet rather than make himself miserable, watching silently as she walked past.

This woman has an even stranger temper than Xia Qing.

"Lord Eight, Xin Yu?" Li Si, also standing under the signpost, pushed up his glasses and asked the woman walking over. Tang Huai from the neighboring territory immediately pricked up his ears to listen.

Xin Yu stopped and nodded.

Li Si's gaze moved from Xin Yu's pitch-black mask to the double-petaled pink roses in her arms. "This is an evolved Thousand-Petal Rose, isn't it? Can we trade?"

"No, because I don't have many plants either." Xin Yu politely nodded to Li Si and continued walking with the roses.

Li Si's assistant Xiao Liu politely reminded her, "Young Lady Xin, the fermented fungus powder business isn't easy. Please be careful."

Xin Yu nodded again and continued hurrying toward Territory Seven.

When Xin Yu passed Territory Six, Kuang Qingwei, who had long been waiting, greeted her with a beaming smile and handed over his business card with both hands. "Hello, Young Lady Xin, I'm Kuang Qingwei from Territory Six. Besides farming, I also run a small business trading supplies. I hope to have the chance to serve you."

Xin Yu, holding the roses, took Kuang Qingwei's card with one hand and gave a slight nod. "Alright."

Seeing that Xin Yu was willing to take his card, Kuang Qingwei's smile widened. The few small pitted scars on his face from acid rain burns sank in, making his features look somewhat twisted. He quickly reined in his smile, put on the polite demeanor a businessman should have, stepped back to let Xin Yu continue on her way, and said, "Third Brother is waiting in the territory. Go on quickly, Young Lady Xin. Wishing you a smooth cooperation with Third Brother."

After Xin Yu passed, Kuang Qingwei returned to his own territory. He couldn't be bothered with whether his expression looked good or not anymore, grinning from ear to ear. Hearing Zhu Li, who had followed to watch the excitement, asked quietly, "Husband, what exactly is Xin Yu's background?"

Kuang Qingwei walked back with his wife, lowering his voice. "How would I know? I just figured more friends mean more paths."

Her husband was the type who never stirred without profit. Seeing him this happy, Hearing Zhu Li didn't believe he hadn't heard a single whisper. She grabbed his sleeve, about to press him, when she saw her husband quickly wink at her with his right eye.

Hearing Zhu Li immediately took the hint and shut up.

Tang Huai, who loved eavesdropping everywhere, might be hiding in some grass pit listening right now. Important matters had to wait until night when no one was around.

The lords of Territory Seven and Territory Eight—two adjacent numbers standing at the east and west ends of this stretch of territory—met for the first time in Territory Seven's reception room.

Zhang San was very satisfied with the roses Xin Yu had brought. After clarifying how to propagate them, he got down to business. "Territory Nine uses evolved yeast and two relatively stable strains of evolved lactic acid bacteria. I'll give you the cultivation techniques for four strains of super lactic acid bacteria and three combinations of compost fungus powder. Both can push the kill rate above 96%. Where are you planning to build the production plant?"

Xin Yu answered, "Territory Eight."

Zhang San nodded. "Three conditions: one, keep the techniques confidential; two, the cultivated strains cannot be used for other purposes; three, you cannot cooperate with Huiyi Research Institute, Hui Three Research Lab, or the Blaze Squad."

"Alright." Xin Yu agreed crisply. "For this cooperation producing compost fungus powder, you provide the techniques, I provide the site, equipment, and workers. Shall we split it fifty-fifty?"

"I want twenty percent, and seeds or seedlings of the ten best-tasting green-light foods in your territory. Counting this pot of roses, give me nine more kinds."

Xin Yu nodded. "Alright, I'll have them delivered to you this afternoon."

"No need. Send Ji Li over to pick them up." Zhang San, in a good mood, called Zhang He in. "Follow-up matters for this project, talk to my student."

After the various territories finished harvesting their early-planted corn one after another, Kuang Qingwei's thresher rental business got rolling.

Kuang Qingwei delivered the thresher and organic boron fertilizer to the northern isolation belt of Territory Three on time, sharing the good news with Xia Qing in high spirits. "Sister, have you heard? Qian Lin of the Sufeng Squad went hunting in the Evolution Forest after a thunderstorm and got bitten to death by a venomous bug."

Xia Qing nodded. "This time Brother Qing can rest easy."

With Qian Lin dead, Kuang Qingwei breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Yes, finally I can farm in peace."

Declining Kuang Qingwei's offer to come into the territory to help her thresh, Xia Qing asked, "Can Brother Qing get a straw crusher?"

Corn straw is high in hardness. If the straw is to be returned to the field, it needs to be crushed or cut into small sections with a chopper. Xia Qing wasn't short on electricity or diesel now, so she planned to buy a crusher.

Besides corn straw, the sweet potato vines, pumpkin vines, and so on in the fields could also be crushed for composting. Once Third Brother's fungus powder was ready, the wild grass in the territory could all be crushed for composting. So the crusher would have a high utilization rate—it was worth getting one.

"What a coincidence," Kuang Qingwei said with a smile, his eyes narrowing into slits. "I'm already working on this. What size does sister want, and what price range? Right now there are four-blade and six-blade models, divided into automatic feed and manual feed..."

In the year of disasters, being able to buy machinery was already good enough. Kuang Qingwei could actually let her choose the model and price range—it seemed he'd gotten connected to Hui Two Base. Xia Qing listened carefully and quickly made her choice. "I want a manual six-blade, no electric motor needed."

The six-blade was more efficient than the four-blade, manual feed was sturdier than automatic feed, and she already had an electric motor, so there was no need to buy another.

"Alright, it'll definitely arrive within a month, won't delay the composting." Kuang Qingwei finished, looked left and right, lowered his voice, and said with excitement, "I just got connected to Hui Two's Chonglian Group. Does sister know Chonglian Group?"

Xia Qing nodded. "Chonglian makes farm machinery too?"

Hui Two wasn't only formidable in home appliance R&D and manufacturing—its engineering high-tech equipment R&D and manufacturing was also top-notch. Chonglian Group was Hui Two's largest engineering equipment R&D and manufacturing enterprise. When Xia Qing worked on the construction crew, most of the equipment she installed and used was made by Chonglian Group.

"Makes them. I only found out after getting connected... this person is Chonglian Group's..." Kuang Qingwei lowered his voice even more, holding up fingers to Xia Qing—first an "eight," then a "three." "Major shareholder."

Seeing the surprised expression appear on Xia Qing's usually calm face, Kuang Qingwei, who had shared the news with her, was satisfied. He whispered a reminder, "This is just between us. This person is a famously ruthless character—absolutely don't offend her."