Chapter 618: Caught in the Net

Zhang San affirmed Xia Qing's speculation, "This point can be confirmed. If it has gone through two years of Yi-synthesized elements plus Calamity Rain torment, it couldn't possibly maintain its current quality."

After talking about Sheep Boss, Zhang San discussed with Xia Qing again, "The gas concentration collected today is much worse than what you collected yesterday. I suspect that the rapid sprouting stage of the Chinese toon is the peak period for gas release. Later, could you pick as many unsprouted branches as possible and bag them? This might be the last chance to collect the gas this year. I've experimented over a hundred times, and with my ability and experimental conditions, I can't stably synthesize this gas in the lab."

Calamity elements and Yi elements are both extremely active and very difficult to artificially control or synthesize. With her idol working this hard, how could fan Xia Qing refuse? "Okay, I'll go bag them right now."

Seeing Xia Qing so cooperative, Zhang San was in a great mood, "Your sheep's quality is so good, don't waste it. I'll contact the various bases to see if I can get a ewe of the same breed back to pair with it."

Xia Qing was silent for a few seconds before carefully asking, "Third Brother, do you think you could get a pair back?"

Sheep Boss's quality was indeed good, and Xia Qing often looked at it and drooled. But asking her to eat Sheep Boss's wife and children, Xia Qing really couldn't bring herself to do it.

Zhang San was silent for a long while, truly at a loss for words, and simply hung up the phone.

These were disaster years of extreme material scarcity. Apart from her ally Seeing Xin Yu, anyone who knew she kept a green-light sheep as a companion and was reluctant to let it mate and have lambs for meat would think she was a weirdo and a big fool.

But the ill-tempered, tsundere, and gluttonous Sheep Boss was the first companion Xia Qing had after five lonely years. In her eyes, it would always be a companion, not food, and its children were not food either.

Its grandchildren, great-grandchildren?

Hmm...

If it weren't for the brain domain evolution, Xia Qing really could bring herself to eat it.

She went home and grabbed a big pack of small-sized bags, then Xia Qing returned to Gao Po, using over three hundred bags to cover the tops of all the unsprouted branches on the big Chinese toon tree.

Her idol wanted her to collect this gas for medicinal purposes. Even if the first batch of Chinese toon sprouts were all sent to her idol, Xia Qing wouldn't feel the pinch.

Picking off the first batch, the second batch would quickly grow. She and Sheep Boss would just be eating them a few days later.

Fortunately, Xia Qing had bagged them just in time. The next morning, shortly after nine o'clock, when the temperature rose back to fifteen degrees, the big Chinese toon tree sprouted for the second time at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Most of the sprouting locations this time were enclosed within the bags Xia Qing had put on, while a small portion of the sprouting positions released gas outward, attracting spotted stem borers and birds to gather around the big Chinese toon tree.

Xia Qing, who was building the greenhouse, saw this scene and immediately tied up Sheep Boss with a rope. After instructing the sick wolf to guard Sheep Boss, she sprinted to the small hut by the farmland, changed into a gas-tight protective suit, shouldered the sprayer, and went up Gao Po.

After reaching Gao Po, Xia Qing slowed her pace, using her magnetic-sense evolution ability to feel the magnetic field fluctuations of the big Chinese toon tree.

At a distance of fifteen meters from the big Chinese toon tree, Xia Qing clearly felt the magnetic field change of the big Chinese toon tree. Then she quickened her pace, rushed under the tree, and began spraying pesticide to eliminate the spotted stem borers and drive away the birds.

This time, Xia Qing also confirmed the duration of the Chinese toon tree's rapid sprouting and release of Yi-synthesized elements: one and a half hours.

After finishing the work, Xia Qing returned to the small hut by the farmland, took off the gas-tight protective suit before returning to the edge of the farmland, untied Sheep Boss, and quickly brought it a handful of yellow-light peanut shells.

Because of the distance, Sheep Boss was not affected by the gas, but Xia Qing suddenly tying it up still made it very unhappy and wanting to fight.

It stood up, shook the dirt off its body, and narrowed its eyes at Xia Qing dangerously.

Xia Qing held a small basin of peanut shells in her hands, beaming with joy, "Boss worked hard, Boss eat something delicious. I've already taken good care of the big Chinese toon tree, how about I mix you some Chinese toon sprout concentrate tonight?"

Sheep Boss's eyes shifted several times between the insufferable Xia Qing and the fragrant peanut shells before it lowered its head to eat.

Xia Qing rubbed its head, then patted the sick wolf beside it, before leaning against a rock, quietly gazing at the big Chinese toon tree on the hillside.

"Boss, today is February 12th."

Sheep Boss, busy eating, didn't give Xia Qing the time of day. The sick wolf, however, looked at Xia Qing with its rust-colored eyes, listening to her speak.

So Xia Qing began telling the sick wolf about this matter, "Last year I entered the territory on February 15th. By then, the big Chinese toon tree had already passed its sprouting period. Then on February 19th, I met Sheep Boss on Gao Po. Its fur was a mess back then, filthy, and after seeing me, it charged up to fight without a word. I wasn't its match, and got beaten up the big Chinese toon tree. Three days later, it became even more frenzied in the Calamity Rain, and our wall was knocked down by it..."

Xia Qing leaned against the rock, quietly recalling the scene back then. After a long while, she said to the sick wolf again, "Fortunately, the two of us met, and then my lord also sent the one with the broken waist, the one with the broken leg, and you, Lao Er. My luck is really good."

The sick wolf bared its teeth in a smile.

In disaster years, hard work didn't necessarily guarantee a harvest, but without hard work, there was definitely no harvest.

The plan of the year lies in the spring; this was the busiest time for farmers. After sighing a few words, Xia Qing drank half a bottle of boiled water and continued building the greenhouse.

Not only Xia Qing, but other lords were also busy reclaiming land and spring plowing, so busy they had no time to chat in the lord channel.

Xia Qing spent six days building five greenhouses. After fastening on the insect-proof nets and rain-proof cloth, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Finally, she had finished everything that needed to be done before the first Calamity Rain of the eleventh disaster year.

That evening, while soaking in the bathtub relaxing her aching shoulders, Xia Qing unexpectedly received a call from Yang Jin.

She stared at the screen for several seconds before taking a deep breath and pressing the answer key, speaking calmly, "Captain Yang?"

Her tone...

Yang Jin, standing on the snowy peak of Gaoshan in the Hui-5 Evolution Forest, paused for two seconds before speaking, "The reward for blocking the monkey troop invasion last time has been issued. The 20 jin of green-light wheat seeds, a thousand bullets, and a microscope you wanted are temporarily stored at the Qinglong garrison. After the Calamity Rain, I'll have someone send them over to you."

The fact that Xia Qing mobilized the northern wolf pack to support the western wolf pack was known only to Yang Jin. So the base issued the reward for that monkey-blocking mission to Yang Jin.

"Thank you, Captain Yang."

Hearing that he wasn't delivering them personally, Xia Qing felt much more at ease. She really didn't want to see Yang Jin's handsome face right now. This had nothing to do with Yang Jin; it was her own issue. She didn't know if the influence of the scent had completely worn off. If it hadn't, and Yang Jin came over to discuss business with her, Xia Qing was afraid she wouldn't be able to hold herself back.

After talking about the reward, Xia Qing asked about the mission Yang Jin and Luo Pei were executing, "Did you and Brother Luo catch Tang Rui?"

If the mission wasn't completed, Yang Jin definitely wouldn't have called her.

"Mm."

Yang Jin, facing the white snow on the mountaintop and the starry sky, broke into a brilliant smile, "He and Tang Zheng escaped to Hui-5. It took some effort to catch them. Jidijiu Sect will send a helicopter over later. The whereabouts of Xue Jinchang from the Dongyang Battle Team have also been tracked down, but the chances of capturing him alive aren't great, because he fled with his people to Hui-1."