Chapter 366: Harvesting Spinach Seeds

Rest?

She had already rested from ten last night until three in the morning, and after downing a vial of premium nutrient solution, Xia Qing was brimming with energy now—no rest needed.

Hu Zifeng didn't return to Territory One either; he helped clear the weeds along the edge of the greenhouse, waiting to lend Xia Qing a hand.

Autumn is the season when weeds put out spikes and set seed—even a blade of grass barely taller than a little finger will quickly grow a spike and produce a string of seeds.

Those seeds fall into the soil and, when the temperature and humidity are right, take root and sprout into a patch of weeds.

A qualified farmer needs to regularly clear the weeds in and around the farmland, reducing the seed content in the soil as much as possible. The cleaner the weeding, the fewer weeds competing with the next crop for nutrients.

Land is the most honest thing there is—every bit of hard work a farmer puts in, the land remembers and repays.

Of course, the premise is that you've done right by the land; otherwise it'll grow pests and breed bacteria, leaving you with nothing to harvest.

When Xia Qing finished clearing the weeds in the sunflower terraces, it was nine in the morning. The sun had already risen high, and the dew in the fields had been evaporated away by the sunlight.

Xia Qing called Hu Zifeng over, and the two of them pulled a double-layered rainproof cloth and carefully covered it over the iron frame above the vegetable terraces.

The spinach seeds had entered the mature stage—breaking even a small piece of spinach leaf could trigger the spinach to shoot out its seeds, so they had to be careful. Hu Zifeng stayed inside Territory Three precisely to work with Xia Qing to protect the precious spinach in the terraces, and to pack the spinach seedlings back to Territory One the moment the spinach was harvested.

After the rainproof cloth was in place, Xia Qing reached her long-handled pruning shears into the cover and gently snipped off a spinach leaf. The spinach didn't launch a counterattack with its seeds, meaning the spinach in the terraces wasn't ripe yet; the two removed the rainproof cloth again, letting the spinach bask in the sun and keep growing.

Then the two went to the greenhouse by the reservoir to test the second patch of Gao Yi Element spinach. Unlike the spinach in the Gao Po terraces, this patch was to be returned to Territory Seven.

After snipping off a small leaf, a drumming sound like a sudden downpour erupted inside the rainproof cover—the spinach seeds here were ripe and had exploded.

Xia Qing and Hu Zifeng exchanged a smile.

Once the pattering stopped, the two lifted the rainproof cover, first cutting down the spinach seedlings riddled with holes from the seeds and shaking them clean, then began collecting the spinach seeds on the ground film, and finally peeled off the ground film to dig up the spinach roots.

With the experience from the first crop, Xia Qing had done her defensive work properly this time, and the vast majority of spinach seeds were collected. This plot was sown with 300 seeds in total; 115 plants survived to maturity—76 female, 38 male—and yielded 8,420 spinach seeds.

Xia Qing was very pleased with this harvest. She immediately contacted the buyer, Zhang San: "Third Brother, the spinach I planted is ripe. The spinach seeds and seedlings have been harvested—shall I bring them over to you now?"

"I'll send Ji Li to pick them up." Zhang San was in low spirits—or rather, Xia Qing's spinach could no longer pique his interest.

When the idol's mood is bad, the fans don't dare disturb him.

After hanging up, Xia Qing timed it and brought the spinach seedlings and seeds to the North Isolation Belt, letting Ji Li inspect the goods: "2,000 spinach seeds, 116 jin of spinach seedlings—please pass them to Third Brother, Brother Ji."

When spinach grows to the seed-setting stage, each plant is over sixty centimeters tall and weighs about one jin.

The lords used the seeds from their first vegetable harvest to grow plenty of vegetables in their own territories. The increased supply caused the price of edible vegetables to drop sharply, but it was still beyond what ordinary people could afford.

After the Safe Zone bought the vegetables back, they processed them uniformly into various foods and sold them to Safe Zone residents; the quality and taste of the compressed rations residents ate now were better than before.

If Xia Qing had harvested ordinary Green Lantern spinach, selling it to the Safe Zone would only earn her 3,480 points. But she grew Gao Yi Element spinach, and according to the exchange agreement she had with Zhang San, these spinach seedlings could be traded back for 38 vials of premium nutrient solution, worth points.

Those vials of premium nutrient solution had a shelf life of two months—more than enough for Xia Qing to build a greenhouse and grow the next crop of spinach. Her own body was healthy and didn't need daily nutrient solution, but the sick wolf was weak, and the wolf recovering from injury also needed nutritional supplements.

After inspecting the goods, Ji Li asked, "Our lord has had a poor appetite lately. Are there any Green Lantern foods in your territory that our lord hasn't tried yet? Can we trade for them?"

Xia Qing asked with concern, "Even the Green Lantern sweet potatoes I sent over—Third Brother doesn't like those either?"

Ji Li nodded.

If even the delicious Green Lantern sweet potatoes are despised by the idol, what could he possibly eat? Xia Qing ran through all the Green Lantern foods in her territory in her head—the only three she hadn't sent to Third Brother were strawberries, Jerusalem artichokes, and Chinese toon buds.

Strawberries and Chinese toon buds weren't in season, so Xia Qing decided on the spot: "Wait a moment, Brother Ji—I'll go get the food."

The Green Lantern Jerusalem artichokes weren't fully ripe yet, but with the idol having no appetite, die-hard fan Xia Qing had to offer up her greatest sincerity. From her only four Green Lantern Jerusalem artichoke plants, she picked the largest one to dig up, then went home and grabbed the fattest rooster, and handed them to Ji Li.

Ji Li didn't mention that Territory Seven also had Green Lantern chickens; after clarifying what Xia Qing wanted in exchange, he took everything straight back to the territory.

After giving to the idol, of course the teacher couldn't be left out either. Xia Qing grabbed the second-fattest rooster from the chicken coop, tied it up, and handed it to Hu Zifeng: "Take this one back to Brother Luo to nourish his body."

Hu Zifeng took it happily: "Once the refugees are settled, let's form a team and head into the nearby mountains—let Brother Luo shoot a few rabbits for you to raise."

Xia Qing had been to the Evolution Forest several times and had seen rabbits, but couldn't catch any live ones. Her own skills weren't enough, but Luo Pei certainly could—because Luo Pei was a top marksman; if he wanted to hit a rabbit's leg, the bullet would never land on its head.

After Hu Zifeng returned to Territory One, Xia Qing went home to prepare lunch. Passing the chicken coop, only the Black Feather rooster puffed up its feathers and rushed at her, clucking away in a frenzy, while the other chickens behaved as usual, scratching the dirt for bugs or fighting.

Xia Qing cheerfully greeted the Black Feather rooster, then went to check on the sick wolf guarding the corn on the roof, before going inside to take out the mung bean flour and white flour she had ground herself, mixing them together and kneading them into dough.

For lunch today, she was going to eat mung bean mixed-flour noodles with a pumpkin and diced meat sauce. The pumpkin was homegrown, and the diced meat was made from rabbits the wolf pack had given her.

From July until now, the wolf pack had brought over twenty kinds of prey. Although Xia Qing didn't recognize all of them, after eating them for so long she had reached a conclusion:

Herbivores have tenderer, tastier meat; carnivores have coarser meat with a relatively poorer texture.

Evolved humans are still better suited to eating herbivores.

Xia Qing finished the fragrant sauced noodles and was in a wonderful mood.