Chapter 360: The Eighth Lord's Hobby

"Xin Yu, is it convenient to talk now?" After Yang Jin left the territory, Xia Qing immediately called Xin Yu.

"It's convenient, go ahead." Xin Yu's voice was calm, giving away no emotion.

Xin Yu wasn't one for pleasantries or beating around the bush either, so Xia Qing got straight to the point: "The machinery you used to build the compost fungus powder factory—was it shipped over from Hui-2 Base?"

"Yes."

"Has your cargo already been dispatched? I want to buy wire mesh from Hui-2 Base to fence in my territory. If your cargo hasn't shipped yet, we can ship together and save on freight." It wasn't just Xia Qing saving—it saved for both sides.

The straight-line distance from Hui-2 Base to Hui-3 Base was over 900 li. When Blue Star's creatures evolved, the terrain between the two bases changed dramatically—mountains and rivers were nothing like before, and the ground roads and bridges built before the catastrophe had been destroyed.

When transporting large goods between the two bases—farm machinery, bulk building materials and the like—they went by air; smaller shipments were carried by merchant or combat teams traveling between the bases.

The supplies Xia Qing wanted weren't precision items that couldn't take a bump, and their total value wasn't high either, so they normally went by land—cheaper but slower. She couldn't afford to charter a whole transport aircraft by herself, which was why she wanted to pay to piggyback on Xin Yu's transport.

Even if it cost over ten thousand more in shipping, Xia Qing was willing, because the refugees were about to arrive and she couldn't afford to wait for land transport.

Xin Yu was very decisive: "My cargo is being loaded right now. If you buy wire mesh from the heavy-train machinery maker, you'll make it in time."

She'd caught the window! Xia Qing was delighted and immediately reported the specs and quantity of wire mesh she needed: "Will it all fit?"

"This time it's a small transport plane—we'll need to add another one." Xin Yu quoted directly: "Wire mesh plus supporting materials, transport and installation included, 250,000. If you want anti-climb and anti-theft spikes installed, add another 20,000."

"I'll take the spikes." With the spikes installed, it could keep humans and large animals from climbing over. Xia Qing wasn't short on points, so of course she wanted them. "27,000 total—shall I come over now and transfer the points to you?"

Xia Qing being so straightforward made Xin Yu feel pretty good too. She asked, "What's the content of the two elements, Qi and Yi, in your Green Light chicken eggs?"

Not only asking about Green Light eggs but pressing further on the Qi and Yi element content meant what Xin Yu lacked wasn't eggs, but quality eggs. The eggs laid by the Green Light chickens Xia Qing raised with pollution-free spring water had higher amino acid and taurine content than even Idol's flock's—truly premium eggs.

Precisely because of that, she couldn't directly trade her own eggs with other territories—she had to swap them one-for-one for eggs laid by chickens in Zhang San's territory before trading.

But Xin Yu had asked too late: "Yi element around two ten-thousandths, Qi element around four thousandths. I just used eggs to trade for Green Light soybeans from Territory Nine, and another 30 eggs to trade with other territories for protective suits—I won't have any eggs to spare before New Year."

Hearing that Xia Qing had no eggs to trade, Xin Yu agreed to let Xia Qing pay directly with points, and added a small additional request: "Could you photograph the swallows' nests in your territory from multiple angles and let me see?"

That, of course, was no problem.

After hanging up, Xia Qing immediately carried a ladder up the wall and went wild photographing the row of little swallows' nests. A few swallows resting in the nests flew out and perched on the eaves, their cries very indignant.

After finishing the photos, Xia Qing gave Sheep Boss a few instructions, said hello to Hu Zi-feng, and went to pay for the goods.

In the small hut by the Territory Eight road sign, Xin Yu carefully examined the pictures Xia Qing had sent her and asked, "Do the swallows in these two nests poop right at the edge of the nest?"

"Only the swallows living in these two nests perch at the edge to poop. The others don't."

Xia Qing had only recently learned that swallows' living habits varied enormously. Some were clean and diligent, keeping their nests very tidy and never relieving themselves near the nest; others were slovenly and lazy, not even flying out of the nest when they needed to go, with droppings hanging right outside. If these little swallows didn't catch insects and chase off other birds, Xia Qing would have driven the messy ones away long ago.

Xin Yu didn't show any sign of distaste, though. She patiently asked, "What kinds of insects will the ground under the nests attract? Does it need daily sweeping and disinfecting?"

"Swallows catch insects, so no flying bugs will come near the nests, but bacteria will definitely breed." Xia Qing scrolled down and showed Xin Yu the wooden boards she'd hung beneath the swallow nests: "Hanging boards solves the problem. Keep a couple of spare boards, carry them down to the river each evening to rinse and dry, and that's all."

"Do you just drill holes and use expansion screws?"

……

After answering many questions about raising swallows and chickens, Xia Qing, having paid the points, returned to her territory. While watching over the corn on the roof with Sick Wolf, she sighed, "Xin Yu really, really likes birds—she even likes chickens, which are birds. She's even worried swallows will find her villa walls too smooth to nest on, so she's planning to build a special brick wall…"

On the roof, Head Wolf was resting with closed eyes; Sheep Boss was in the sheep pen playing head-butting with Broken-Leg Girl. Only Sick Wolf was polite enough, gazing at Xia Qing with clear eyes.

"We're getting a territory wall—over three meters high. We'll be even safer." Xia Qing stroked the well-behaved Sick Wolf, sharing her joy with it. After resting a while, she asked Head Wolf and Sick Wolf to keep watch over the corn on the roof while she went downstairs, hauled out the sheep-powered waterwheel, and called over the companion that was currently head-butting with the broken-waist wolf sister who could only move on two legs.

"Boss, let's go play on the waterwheel first. We can wrestle when we get back."

"Baa."

Sheep Boss, who loved treading the waterwheel, immediately followed. Head Wolf on the roof glanced down, turned his head the other way, and went on sleeping.

Seeing the humans gone, the birds flying overhead and the ones perched around began chirping louder.

Head Wolf got annoyed, opened his eyes, bared his teeth, and growled low. Not only did the restless flock of birds freeze, the red squirrel behind the rock gave up too.

Although the reservoir had been cleared once by lightning, Xia Qing didn't dare be careless in the slightest. As always, she installed the fish-prevention net first before setting up the waterwheel.

Without needing to be called, Sheep Boss immediately hopped onto the waterwheel and trod it rapidly a few times, then squinted at Xia Qing.

Praising Sheep Boss had become Xia Qing's daily routine—she didn't even need to think: "Boss, you look so handsome right now! No matter how many kinds of animals or humans we have in our territory, you'll always be the most capable one. You're my pride, the pride of Territory Three, the pride of Hui-3 Base, the pride of China, the pride of Blue Star…"

Sheep Boss was satisfied and trod the waterwheel like crazy; the water drawn up flowed swiftly along the channel toward the fields.

Xia Qing, shouldering a shovel, walked along the channel to clear weeds from the field. The weather had been good these past few days—watering the fields today, and in a few days she could plow and sow.

She hoped the Lord Management Department would come through and deliver the rapeseed before she started plowing.

Before even one greenhouse was fully watered, Tan Junjie's voice came through the Lord Channel: "My lords, the refugee resettlement policy has been officially issued. Broadcasting now—are all lords online?"