Chapter 57: Land Use Rights Certificate

Going down to the basement to retrieve the agreement and contract, and after going over them repeatedly, Xia Qing put forward three items that needed revision:

First, the mountain's lease term was changed from five years to two. Once the two-year lease expired, if both parties were still willing, they could negotiate a renewal; if the two parties couldn't reach an agreement, they could choose not to renew the lease.

Second, an additional clause: during the period the Azure Dragon Squad leased the mountain as a training base, any supplies harvested from the mountain belonged to the Azure Dragon Squad. But if what was harvested was green-light food, Xia Qing enjoyed the right to be informed and the right of first refusal.

Third, the leased area was further clarified: the area leased to the Azure Dragon Squad was the mountain slope within five kilometers north of Territories One, Three, and Four, excluding it, and the other areas belonging to Mountain Forty-Nine as marked on the land use rights certificate. The responsibility and consequences for clearing dangerous evolved creatures in the non-leased areas would be borne by Xia Qing personally.

Xia Qing's reason was to ensure her own territory would not be monitored or threatened by sniper rifles from people on the mountain. Besides avoiding surveillance and threats, Xia Qing had two reasons she didn't voice: one was that this area might be where unpolluted spring water flowed through, and there might be planting zones; the other was that she needed an evolved forest as a training base exclusively for herself.

She had to become stronger.

Twenty-five days later, Xia Qing, gnawing on a freshly picked tender cucumber and admiring the jujube buds and fuzzy green apples no bigger than a thumb pad, received a message from Luo Pei: the mountain had been bought, and Yang Jin wanted to come over at eight tonight to sign the contract with you—is that okay?

Bought it that quickly? Xia Qing wanted to say that right after buying the mountain was a sensitive moment of attracting attention—wouldn't Yang Jin, that dazzlingly golden great Buddha, be afraid of being discovered if he came to Territory Three?

But then Xia Qing remembered they had dug a tunnel from Territory One to Territory Three for transporting supplies, so she replied with the cucumber still dangling from her mouth: Sure, the cucumbers in my field are ready to eat, I'll bring some over tonight for Brother Luo and Captain Yang to try.

After hanging up, Xia Qing grabbed her slingshot and smashed the head of an evolved locust that was flapping its wings with a clicking sound and diving straight toward the peanut seedlings in the terraced planting zone—the evolved locust's biting ability had also strengthened, and if left unchecked, it would break through the insect-proof netting she'd set up and burrow in within minutes.

After Xia Qing shot down the locust, Boss Sheep ran faster than the few birds fighting over the food, and pinned the locust's corpse under its hoof.

"Boss, well done!" Xia Qing, with the cucumber still dangling from her mouth, hopped down two terrace steps, stuffed the leftover cucumber end into Boss Sheep's mouth as a reward, and picked up the headless evolved locust from under its hoof, stuffing it into the grass pouch hanging around its neck. "This time you didn't stomp the bug into mud, so you get a reward. Boss eats the cucumber, the locust goes to feed the fish."

Boss Sheep squinted its eyes, crunching the cucumber amid the chirping of birds, and ambled down the slope to the fish pond to feed the fish.

Xia Qing also picked up the steel ball she'd just shot out, wiped it clean, and stuffed it back into the bullet pouch. Once the steel balls were used up they'd have to be exchanged with points, so not a single one that could be picked up could be lost.

Picking up steel balls shot out at high speed was very difficult and time-consuming unless one was a high-level visual evolver or olfactory evolver.

A visual evolver's eyes could track fast-moving objects, and an olfactory evolver's nose could pick up all kinds of scents. Xia Qing was not only a high-level visual evolver, but also an auditory evolver who could pick up sounds. So for her, this was nothing at all.

At the appointed time, Xia Qing, carrying five cucumbers, marched off spiritedly to sign the first and second contracts of her life.

What did it feel like to see the two heads of the Azure Dragon Squad from Hui Three Base in the same room at the same time? Xia Qing was happy that Luo Pei could move freely; Yang Jin had actually become even more handsome, making Xia Qing unable to resist wanting to stuff all the good food into his hands…

Xia Qing controlled her emotions and handed over the basket. "Captain Yang, Brother Luo."

Yang Jin took the basket with a calm expression; Luo Pei's face was flushed, and he wore a smile.

Don't get the wrong idea. Luo Pei's red face wasn't from shyness or excitement, but because the synthetic poison hadn't fully faded. Xia Qing's face had always been a dark red, so no matter the occasion or the person, she always had a red face.

Luo Pei looked at the dewy, fresh cucumbers in the basket. "Why did you bring so many?"

"I got nineteen cucumber plants to survive. Once the vines grow, every leaf can produce a cucumber, it's just that there are fewer green-light ones—today only these few are edible." When Xia Qing mentioned her vegetable garden, she was full of pride.

Watching Xia Qing, whose face, eyes, and heart were full of smiles because of her harvest from farming, Yang Jin's eyes also held a smile as he explained to Xia Qing why Xie Yu hadn't come. "Xie Yu has long wanted to come over and thank you in person, but the three of us need one person to stay and hold down the safe zone, so he still couldn't make it this time. This is a small gift he asked me to prepare for you."

If Yang Jin and Luo Pei were the Azure Dragon Squad's divine weapons, then Xie Yu was the Azure Dragon Squad's brain. Missing any one of the three of them, the Azure Dragon Squad could never have reached its current scale. Although the spring water was very important, Xia Qing really hadn't expected all three heads of the Azure Dragon Squad to come together to sign a contract with her.

Xia Qing took with both hands the small gift of over a dozen jin from the Azure Dragon Squad's second-in-command. "Captain Xie is really too kind."

Only after seeing Xia Qing accept it did Luo Pei explain what was in the box. "Inside are two hundred bullets—you'll need them for shooting practice."

How needed they were! This small gift was so thoughtful and so precious that the words Xia Qing had prepared—asking Yang Jin to take two cucumbers back to Xie Yu as a thank-you—couldn't be spoken.

Fortunately, she had prepared thoroughly for tonight.

Xia Qing took out a small bucket of mountain spring water and two packs of tea leaves from her backpack. "Captain Yang, please take this pack of tea leaves and the water back and give them to Captain Xie for me. Brother Luo, can you brew tea here? This tea tastes all right, let me make some for you and Captain Yang to try."

"Of course, you and Yang Jin sit down, I'll brew it." Luo Pei took on the tea-making job, his face full of anticipation. "It's been so long since I've had tea brewed with mountain spring water."

Once the spring water boiled, the fragrance of the tea quickly spread. It was a tea aroma Yang Jin had never smelled before, and he asked Xia Qing, "You found tea trees in your territory?"

Xia Qing shook her head. "I traded with another lord for this. That person said it was a rare, excellent tea. I don't really know how to taste tea, I just think it smells pretty good and tastes pretty good too."

It must have been Zhang San who traded it to her—no wonder the fragrance was so pure. Seeing that Xia Qing was living well, Yang Jin's expression softened further. "What did you trade for it, green-light cucumbers?"

This was a public trade on the lord channel, and Xia Qing didn't hide it. "Green-light cucumbers, spinach leaves, and chives."

Yang Jin subtly warned Xia Qing. "Zhang San of Territory Seven is someone extremely particular about food texture. The fact that he's willing to trade such good tea leaves with you means he thinks your green-light vegetables are worth that price. Are your vegetables watered directly with spring water?"

Xia Qing shook her head. "They were during seed soaking and the seedling stage, but once they grew up I switched to regular water. Captain Yang, is there any risk in my trading green-light vegetables with other lords?"

The smile in Yang Jin's eyes grew even more obvious. "If the qiang element content in all the varieties of green-light vegetables you grow is lower than other lords', there's a risk of exposure. However, you can trade with the Azure Dragon Squad without worry."

What does a sharp negotiator who drives a hard bargain look like? This is it!

Xia Qing nodded expressionlessly. "I understand."

Luo Pei couldn't help laughing. "A'Jin, bring out the land use rights certificate and the two contracts."