Chapter 341: Harvest

After seeing off Chang Li and Beard Feng and leaving Territory Three, Xia Qing returned home, gently picked up the head wolf lying on the living room table, carried it back to the sheep shed, set it on a dry, comfortable straw mat, combed its fur smooth, and let it lie down comfortably.

A wounded hero deserves treatment like this.

After the head wolf closed its eyes to rest, Xia Qing carefully examined the new wolf with the broken leg beside it.

The more she looked, the more she felt like time was flowing backward.

Because this wolf—whether in appearance, injuries, or its wild, fierce, untamable gaze—was very much like the broken-leg wolf that had first arrived at her territory three months ago for treatment.

But the broken-leg wolf was male, and this one was female, so this wolf was a bit smaller in build than the broken-leg wolf.

No matter how fierce this wolf's gaze, it couldn't scare Xia Qing, because she was no longer the person she had been three months ago.

Xia Qing asked cheerfully, "The wolf that carried you over—is that your brother or your dad?"

The injured female wolf fixed Xia Qing with a fierce, wary stare; the anesthetic hadn't worn off yet, so it couldn't snarl, swipe its paws, or bare its teeth.

"I'm guessing that's your brother—judging by that unreliable look of his with the broken leg, I doubt any female wolf would give him the time of day."

After gossiping about the two wolves' relationship, Xia Qing went inside, cleaned the first-floor living room, then took the rabbit that had been trembling in its cage in the tool shed and put it, cage and all, into the chicken coop.

If she didn't find this timid rabbit a few companions, Xia Qing was afraid it would eventually be scared to death by the wolves.

The green-light chicken in the coop had also been scared silent by the wolf pack yesterday morning, but by now it was already eating and drinking normally.

However, today the hens laid one fewer egg than yesterday, and Xia Qing put that debt on the broken-waist wolf's tab. She didn't need the broken-waist wolf to pay it back specifically, because the pigeon-egg-sized Yishi it had traded for the protective suit was worth more than enough to cover Xia Qing's loss.

After putting the rabbit cage in the chicken coop, Xia Qing didn't rush to trade for the dog-sized protective suit, but instead took the corn out of the underground storage room and spread it to dry on the cement ground under the eaves where the sun could reach it.

Drying corn under the eaves with a cover over it is even safer than drying it on the roof. Because the little swallows nesting under the eaves have a strong sense of territory, and the corn-drying area falls within the swallows' territory, any other birds that come by will be driven off by them.

So the swallows guarding their territory can guard Xia Qing's corn as well.

After entrusting Sheep Boss and the sick wolf to watch over the two anesthetized wolves and the corn, Xia Qing was just about to head to the fields to work when she heard the beep of a notification.

She opened her phone and saw the red squirrel that loved freeloading, squatting on the ruins of the house next door, staring longingly at the corn Xia Qing had laid out to dry.

Xia Qing didn't even have time to rest, let alone bother with a freeloading squirrel; the green-light rice in the fields was ripe, and she had to harvest and thresh it this afternoon.

The work wasn't tiring, because Xia Qing only had 97 stalks of green-light rice; the yellow-light rice had been planted later and wasn't ripe yet.

Although there were only 97 rice plants, each plant had tillered into three to six-plus stalks, each tiller bearing one panicle, and each panicle could grow dozens of grains of rice. Every single one of those grains was a treasure.

These green-light rice seedlings had been traded to Xia Qing by Zhang San; the variety was the same as the forty jin of yellow-light rice seed Zhang San later traded her—both were two-season rice seed.

Two-season rice means this kind of rice can be planted for two crops a year, spring and autumn, and harvested twice.

So, if these 97 stalks of rice are stored properly and all used next year to raise seedlings for planting, and no natural disasters occur, by next June she can harvest about 800 jin of green-light rice. Add in the second crop, and by this time next year…

Even if she were as picky as an idol and only ate green-light rice, she wouldn't go hungry.

Full of energy, Xia Qing didn't feel tired at all. She cut off all the rice panicles, brought them home to dry beside the corn, drank some water on the way, and checked on the two injured wolves.

The head wolf and Sheep Boss were both asleep, even snoring softly; the broken-leg wolf's little sister was still staring at Xia Qing with her wild, untamed gaze; the sick wolf lay beside the corn, keeping the birds in the trees and on the distant house ruins from pecking at it.

Xia Qing gently scratched the sick wolf under the chin, gave it a piece of jerky, then stripped the rice grains from the panicles and spread them out to dry beside the corn, before heading to the fields to pick green bean pods.

The weather was turning cooler, crops were ripening faster, and what needed to be harvested had to be brought in as quickly as possible.

Xia Qing had just left the village when she saw the red squirrel squatting by the road, waving its big tail and rubbing its little paws together, staring at her longingly.

Xia Qing chuckled, "Want to freeload? Hickory nuts or corn? The hickory nuts are something I only slept three hours from last night till now, treated several wolves, and sprinted sixty li to bring back. The corn is something I spent three months growing before harvesting. There's none for you—go find your own food in the Evolution Forest."

The red squirrel pestered Xia Qing a few more times, and when it saw she wasn't giving it any fruit, it cursed and scurried off to forage. Lots of fruit was ripening in the Evolution Forest, and it was busy too.

Bending over to pick green bean pods with her bundle, Xia Qing deeply appreciated the benefits of the body-damage healing potion Zhang San had traded her.

If she hadn't soaked in two medicinal baths, given today's running intensity, she couldn't have recovered this quickly—she would definitely have had to lie down and rest for an hour after finishing the wolves' treatment.

Now, she could use the time while her body's fatigue eased to harvest the crops, and Xia Qing felt delighted. After picking all the ripe green bean pods, Xia Qing saw it was still early and decided to harvest the alfalfa.

Although alfalfa smells much less after setting seed than when in bloom, to be safe Xia Qing decided to ask everyone how they harvested theirs. Everyone's green-light alfalfa had been traded from Zhao Ze, so it was the same evolution variety, and their experience was extremely valuable to Xia Qing.

"Auntie Zhao, are you there?"

Xia Qing first asked the newly ascended lord of the neighboring territory.

Zhao's mother quickly replied, "I'm here. Qing, what have you been up to? I haven't heard a peep out of you all morning."

If I told you, you definitely wouldn't believe me—I went to the wolves' den this morning and hauled back six bags of green-light hickory nuts.

Xia Qing muttered this to herself, but what came out of her mouth was perfectly calm: "I took advantage of the nice weather and just finished picking the ripe green bean pods. The alfalfa seeds look ripe to me—have you harvested your alfalfa yet?"

Green-light alfalfa was the most valuable native plant in Territory Four, so Zhao's mother definitely took it very seriously.

Before Zhao's mother could answer, Tang Huai popped up gleefully: "Xia Qing, you didn't turn on the walkie-talkie this morning, so you don't know. The alfalfa seeds smell unbelievably bad—Zhao Ze and the others couldn't eat at noon because they felt so sick."

Everyone…

Xia Qing counted silently, one, two…

"Tang Huai." Before Xia Qing could even count to three, Tang Huai's father spoke up. "What did I tell you?"

"Dad, I remember." Tang Huai immediately changed his tone and asked politely, "Auntie Zhao, I've got some evolution lemons here, yellow-light. Cut them up and boil them in water to release the lemon fragrance, which absorbs and drives away bad smells. Drinking lemon water also stimulates saliva and gastric juice secretion and increases appetite. Would you like to trade for a couple to try?"