Chapter 538: Why Did You Come Over in Broad Daylight?

Standing beneath the No. 2 Territory signpost, Zhou Xun took the initiative to greet Xia Qing. "Xia Qing, you finished inspecting your territory that fast?"

That familiar tone and manner were as if the person standing across from him were not Zhou Xun speaking with him for the first time, but Tang Huai, who had been standing here for a year.

Xia Qing replied calmly, "I plant less land."

Zhou Xun got excited. "We plant less too!"

Xia Qing...

Seeing Xia Qing turn to lock the door, Zhou Xun immediately issued an invitation. "Are you going hunting in the Evolution Forest today? Let's team up?"

No. 2 Territory took in over a hundred refugees. Within these three months, over thirty died from various causes, over twenty left, and just over fifty remained. The food for the refugees plus the original twenty-plus people of No. 2 Territory relied on supplies delivered by the Sufeng Squad and what they obtained through hunting and gathering.

Because the No. 49 Mountain to the north of this territory belongs to the Azure Dragon Squad, and the No. 50 Mountain to the northeast has been designated as an experimental restricted zone, the people of No. 2 Territory can only go to No. 51 Mountain or No. 52 Mountain.

The people of No. 2 Territory certainly had complaints, but they could only hold them in. Because the instigator that led to No. 50 Mountain being designated a restricted zone was the Blazing Fire Squad backing No. 9 Territory, and they couldn't afford to offend them.

Ever since they discovered that Xia Qing often brought Tier 2 and Tier 3 Evolvers, and even non-Evolver lords, to "work" at No. 50 Mountain, and every time she came back she carried big and small bundles, the people of No. 2 Territory were green with envy. They kept demanding Zhou Xun build a good relationship with Xia Qing so they could also go to No. 50 Mountain to "work."

Zhou Xun wanted to as well, but he didn't have that ability. He could only seek help from Tang Huai, who was recuperating from injuries, but Tang Huai simply refused to engage with the matter. Today, having finally caught an opportunity, Zhou Xun immediately issued an invitation to Xia Qing.

Hearing Zhou Xun's words, Xia Qing turned her head and glanced at him.

Zhou Xun felt as if Xia Qing had seen right through his thoughts in an instant. He forced an awkward smile. "Our territory also has Strength Evolvers."

In other places, Strength Evolvers weren't popular, but in this territory it was different. Xia Qing, the Strength Evolution manager of No. 50 Mountain, liked to use Strength Evolvers.

Xia Qing calmly refused. "I have enough people. I won't team up with outsiders."

Watching Xia Qing lock the big door and leave, Zhou Xun cursed under his breath and returned to the weed wall of No. 2 Territory.

Xia Qing locked the big door and quickly ran home.

Sheep Boss, Sick Wolf, a dozen or so chickens, the green-light yellow mealworms, and strawberries were all at home. The first three were fine, but most of the green-light yellow mealworms had already turned into pupae and were extremely delicate—one slip and they could all die. The strawberries had already bloomed and grown little strawberries, the only fresh fruit in Xia Qing's territory.

Xia Qing rushed home, moved the yellow mealworms out of the dark box attached to the fireplace, put them into an insulated box, quickly carried them into the breeding greenhouse and placed them back in their original spot, then sprinkled wheat bran and green-light vegetable leaves over them.

Seeing that the larvae were still willing to eat, she breathed a sigh of relief. "Boss, Wolf Lao Er, don't look at how ugly these worms are, but this kind of worm has higher protein content than eggs and Boss's meat. From now on we'll be counting on these few worms to improve our lives. Wolf Lao Er, your fish that eat these worms will grow better."

Sheep Boss stared at the vegetable leaves on the yellow mealworm tray, looking very displeased. But it didn't touch the tray holding the worms, because last time it had nudged the tray, and Xia Qing had dragged it outside and had a fierce fight with it, using action to make Sheep Boss understand that this worm-raising tray was not to be touched.

Sick Wolf raised its head and looked at Xia Qing, grinning happily.

After just finishing a round of scheming with Zhou Qianpeng and the others, being together with these two companions who didn't have so many schemes and whose thoughts she could read at a glance made Xia Qing feel especially grounded.

She went home and moved the chickens entrusted to her by No. 7 Territory and the fifteen pots of strawberries back into the greenhouse. The two strawberry plants she had exchanged with Yang Jin in spring had multiplied through runners into fifteen plants. Because the temperature inside the greenhouse was suitable for strawberry growth, every strawberry plant was thriving and had bloomed.

Xia Qing arranged the strawberry pots properly and patiently used a small wool brush to pollinate the strawberry flowers. Just thinking that in a little over a month these snow-white little flowers would turn into rosy strawberries made Xia Qing's mouth water uncontrollably. "Boss, winter strawberries are sweeter than summer ones. Because the large day-night temperature difference in winter helps plants accumulate sugar in their fruit."

Sheep Boss, who was eating tender grass, twitched its ears and continued chewing.

Sick Wolf? It was in the breeding greenhouse watching over its fish, not inside the breeding greenhouse.

"Today someone might come to the south of our territory to install a communication base station and erect a signal transmission tower. You and Wolf Lao Er don't wander outside, just stay in the greenhouse..."

"Buzz." Before Xia Qing finished speaking, she felt the phone in her pocket vibrate.

Buzz, buzz, buzz...

After the phone vibrated several times at a frequency Xia Qing knew very well, she didn't need to take it out to check to know what had happened. "Boss, Wolf Lao Er."

Sheep Boss raised its head, a blade of grass hanging from its mouth, and looked at Xia Qing. Sick Wolf pushed open the plastic curtain between the two greenhouses with its head, walked over, and asked with its eyes what had happened.

Xia Qing instructed her two companions, "Your companion Broken-Waist Wolf is here. You two stay inside the greenhouse and don't go out. I'll go see what it's here for."

Sheep Boss twitched its ears, lowered its head, and continued eating. Sick Wolf grinned, very happy. Xia Qing rubbed its head, put on a protective mask, and left the greenhouse.

When she arrived at the north gate, she saw two rabbits lying by the gate, bodies still twitching. Broken-Waist Wolf, who was enthusiastically going in and out of the north gate, saw Xia Qing come, tilted its head, grinned, and revealed its two cute, snow-white little fang tips.

Xia Qing confirmed that Broken-Waist Wolf's smile was much more pleasing to the eye than before. This guy must have been practicing its posture in front of the mirror out of boredom in its den on No. 60 Mountain!

When it smiled like this, whether the Queen was dazzled or not Xia Qing didn't know, but she couldn't help making starry eyes looking at it, wanting to go up and rub that wolf head.

"Broken-Waist, why did you come over in broad daylight this time?" Xia Qing greeted it, pointing at the two rabbits on the ground and asking, "Does the Queen want roast meat again?"

Xia Qing couldn't be blamed for asking this. Over the past ten-plus days, Broken-Waist Wolf had come three times carrying prey in its mouth. Every time it had Xia Qing roast meat for it, and after it was roasted it didn't take a single bite, just packed it up and took it away.

Broken-Waist Wolf grinned even more happily. Without letting Xia Qing do anything, it picked up the two rabbits, whose hind legs were still twitching, in its mouth and headed straight home.

Xia Qing...

Damn it, it's not even 10 o'clock yet, and she hadn't gone to eavesdrop on information yet, but she already had to go home and roast meat?

However, when Broken-Waist Wolf, carrying the rabbits in its mouth, noticed Xia Qing hadn't followed, it turned its head to look at her. Xia Qing replied, "Broken-Waist, go home first. I'll clean up the footprints you left on the snow in the quarantine zone, then come find you."

If the footprints weren't cleaned up, anyone who saw them would know a wolf had entered No. 3 Territory. Although Tan Junjie and the others already knew wolves often appeared in Xia Qing's territory, Xia Qing still had to clean up the footprints thoroughly to prevent other people from discovering the wolf tracks.