Chapter 64: After-Dinner Dessert

Zhang San, who rarely joined farming discussions, suddenly took an interest in spinach seeds. "Xia Qing, it's me, your Third Brother. Once the green-light spinach matures, the plant gets stimulated and shoots its seeds outward. The blast radius can reach over ten meters, and it has tremendous destructive power."

Ah, huh? The spinach entry in *The Complete Planting Guide* never mentioned that mature spinach explodes its seeds.

Xia Qing listened attentively as Zhang San continued sharing his experience. "So, when the seeds are about to mature, you have to set up a protective cover with high elasticity and toughness in advance. Stitch four layers of waterproof cloth together into a cover, and it can withstand the spinach seed explosion."

Xia Qing hurriedly asked for guidance. "Thank you for the reminder, Third Brother. How do I judge whether the spinach seeds are mature—by color, shape, or smell?"

"None of those are accurate." Zhang San chuckled. "Try plucking a spinach leaf. If it's ripe, it'll fire seeds. Don't waste the leaves you pick—send them all to me. When the spinach is almost ripe, the leaves don't do much anyway, so pinching off plenty of leaves is fine."

Xia Qing……

Sure enough, every time Zhang San opened his mouth, it was for food.

Before Xia Qing could reply, Tang Huai jumped in. "Third Brother, this is Tang Huai from Plot Two. I've been trying to call you these past few days but couldn't get through. We found some wild green-light chrysanthemum greens and horse-ear greens in our territory, and we want to bring them over for you to try fresh. The lamb we traded last time went bad—that was my fault. Please, my lord, be magnanimous and forgive me, give me one more chance. If you agree, our Sufeng Squad's vice-captain Xu Pin will deliver the vegetables to you right away."

Xia Qing raised an eyebrow. Is the Sufeng Squad that free lately? Xu Pin still hasn't returned to the safe zone. What is Zhang San's actual identity, that even the number-one squad at Hui-Three Base has to send its vice-captain to deliver vegetables and apologize to him?

Everyone knew how gluttonous Zhang San was. The last incident was already two months ago, so Zhang San's anger should have faded. But to everyone's surprise, Zhang San refused again, clearly. "I have those two things in my own territory too. No trade. Also, I don't meet people I find disgusting."

Xia Qing immediately nodded. Xu Pin of the Sufeng Squad was exactly the type of person who looked repulsive at first glance.

It wasn't that he was especially ugly, but that swagger of his—acting like he was the handsomest, coolest guy on earth, everyone else was trash, not even fit to shine his shoes—made anyone who saw him want to kick him a few times and spit on him.

Damn it, even Yang Jin, who's stronger and better-looking than you, doesn't strut around like that.

Tang Huai was meek as a grandson in front of Zhang San. Even after being refused, he didn't dare get angry. "Understood, Third Brother, I'll remember. If we find other green-light foods, I'll trade with you again."

Zhang San ignored that line and brought up the reason he'd come online. "Kuang Qingwei, I remember you said the wild boars at the breeding center were found in that valley, right?"

Kuang Qingwei replied immediately. "Right, we found three big wild boars and a group of piglets in the valley. But after the breeding center was built, the safe zone shipped another batch of wild boars in. I don't know exactly how many. What's up, Third Brother? Something wrong?"

The others pricked up their ears too.

Zhang San answered lazily. "That group of wild boars in the valley is very likely livestock raised by the wolf pack. The wolves came back from the deep mountains after overwintering and found their territory cleared by humans, their food captured by humans, so they got furious and hunted the boars. Stay put these next few days. Best not to move around the edges of your territory, and even inside your territory, wear protective gear as much as possible. Don't talk or laugh loudly either, or the wolves might think you're challenging them."

That was the longest speech Zhang San had ever made on the lord channel, and it once again confirmed Tan Junjie's assessment of him: the man really wasn't bad.

Xia Qing was still sighing with emotion when she received a call from Zhang San.

Zhang San gently reminded Xia Qing. "Xia Qing, that sheep of yours is very likely livestock raised by the wolves too. If Yang Jin can't wipe out the wolf pack, they'll come back for the sheep sooner or later—or they may already be lying in ambush in the nearby evolution forest. To keep the sheep from being killed, you can spray high-efficiency odor remover around your territory. I've got thirty-jin barrels of undiluted odor remover here. Dilute it according to standard, and it's enough to spray your territory three times. Guaranteed to work ten times better than what you buy from the safe zone. I'll also throw in a bottle of spray for the sheep itself. Apart from wolves with olfactory evolution, no other wolf will be able to smell that there's a sheep in your territory."

This was something that could save the sheep's life. Xia Qing was quick to play along. "Thank you, Third Brother. I'll go pick spinach leaves and cut perilla right now and bring them to you later. But the quantity isn't much—two jin total, is that enough?"

After so many trades, Xia Qing had confirmed that everything Zhang San offered really was good stuff. No wonder Tang Huai was so obsequious trying to trade with him.

When good food was involved, Zhang San's voice turned so gentle you could squeeze water out of it. "Two jin isn't even enough to cover the materials. At least four jin. Are you out of green-light cucumbers?"

"All gone."

The two green-light cucumbers had always been watered with mountain spring water, and they tasted excellent. Because she didn't know the qiang-element content of green-light plants in other territories, Xia Qing worried that her green-light cucumbers might have a lower qiang-element content than green-light plants elsewhere. So, until she could test the qiang-element content of green-light plants in other territories, Xia Qing decided, out of caution, to stop trading green-light plants that had been watered with spring water.

The spinach and perilla were watered with river water, so they were fine to trade.

Zhang San sounded regretful. "Then wait until your next batch of green-light vegetables grows out to make it up to me. It's dangerous outside, and the patrol teams probably don't have time either. Can I send someone with the undiluted odor remover to exchange at the edge of your territory?"

"Of course, thank you, Third Brother." Xia Qing sincerely thanked him, then seized the chance to ask. "You just said my sheep might also be livestock raised by the wolves. Logically, livestock raising wouldn't stop at just one. Do you have any way to find the other sheep?"

Xia Qing guessed that the sheep Tang Huai had hunted and traded to Zhang San when he first arrived at the territory might have belonged to the same flock as Sheep Boss.

Zhang San answered, "What ability did that sheep evolve? Send me a photo."

"Strength evolution." Xia Qing immediately took a full-body photo of Sheep Boss and sent it to Zhang San.

"Yours is a Small-Tailed Han sheep. This breed has tender meat, a fragrant flavor, and a high meat yield. It was probably raised by farmers nearby before the catastrophe." At the mention of food, Zhang San couldn't help swallowing. "Last spring, there really was a flock of this breed around our territory—eight in total. Seven were captured by squads, and one escaped. But the one that escaped was a ewe, and yours is a ram. Open the sheep's mouth, let me see its teeth."

"Okay." Xia Qing pried open Sheep Boss's mouth again and took a close-up of its teeth, sending it to Zhang San.

Zhang San gave a definitive answer. "Your sheep still has its milk teeth. It should be a lamb born to the ewe that escaped last spring. Don't think about the other sheep. That ewe and the other lambs—if they weren't caught by people, they were caught by wolves. Don't worry about them."

Xia Qing stared at the swaggering Sheep Boss in disbelief. "Third Brother, are you sure this sheep was born last year? It weighs over two hundred jin now."

Xia Qing clearly heard Zhang San swallow. "Before the catastrophe, Small-Tailed Han sheep could reach over a hundred jin in seven months. After evolving, reaching two hundred jin at one year old is normal. After the Great Biological Evolution, a lot of the higher evolved creatures on Blue Star have extended lifespans, so judging age by pre-catastrophe experience will lead to errors. Maybe an evolved sheep born the year before last still hasn't lost its milk teeth."

After hanging up, Xia Qing stared at Sheep Boss in a daze.

This greedy sheep with spiral horns on its head, weighing over two hundred jin, was actually only one or two years old?

No, Xia Qing decided to rename it. "Wolf Lao Er, stay home. I'm going to pick vegetables to trade for life-saving medicine for you."

Seeing Xia Qing about to leave, Sheep Boss immediately stood up. Xia Qing stuffed a few dried yellow-light bamboo shoots into its mouth. "Be good, stay home and guard the place. I'll make you something delicious with concentrated feed tonight."

Xia Qing carried a bundle of waterproof cloth to the planting area on the north slope and carefully wrapped all the spinach that had bolted and was setting seed. She pinched off one spinach leaf—the spinach didn't explode seeds, so it wasn't ripe yet. She then pinched off more than thirty stems with leaves attached and put them in the basket.

She had over fifty spinach plants in total, but she'd told the lord channel she only had a dozen or so, so she couldn't pinch too many leaves, or the lie would be exposed. Although everyone chatted on the lord channel every day, in reality they were all strangers who had never even met face-to-face. Caution against others was essential; no one would reveal their true hand.

After cutting the perilla, Xia Qing was about to head to the signpost at the south side of her territory to trade supplies with the person Zhang San had sent, when she suddenly heard familiar hoofbeats. She rushed into the buffer forest and saw Sheep Boss galloping over with a mouthful of dried bamboo shoots. She was both angry and amused.

What was this? Going to fight wolves and bringing rations along? Wasn't shoving itself into the wolves' mouths enough—it had to bring them a balanced meat-and-vegetable after-dinner dessert too? Xia Qing rushed forward. This time Sheep Boss didn't run or dodge; it skidded to a halt in front of her, lifted its head, and gestured for Xia Qing to put the basket down—it wanted to put the dried bamboo shoots into the basket.