Chapter 802: Veterinarian Zhang San

Although the sparrowhawk is a small raptor, its flying skills are superb—it can swiftly adjust its posture midair to chase and capture prey at high speed. Most birds in flight can be caught by it with ease, let alone a dumb little red squirrel cub that had just left its burrow and was squatting stupidly on a branch.

The prey's cry for help was very likely to alert other hunters, so the sparrowhawk immediately tightened its talons and sped up, wanting to find a safe place as soon as possible to enjoy its meal.

But this meal was destined never to be eaten.

"Bang!"

A bullet shattered the sparrowhawk's wing, sending it spinning out of control in agony; it could only drop its prey and flee. The red squirrel mother shot over in a streak of red, snatched up the cub, and bolted toward Xia Qing's house. An eagle missing one wing was no longer king of the skies—after a few struggles it crash-landed in the buffer forest of Territory Three.

Seeing the red squirrel mother come back carrying the cub, Xia Qing switched on the walkie-talkie and reported on the lord channel, "Captain Tan, a sparrowhawk entered Territory Three to hunt. I've already shot it down. No support needed."

Tan Junjie replied, "Copy that."

Tang Huai came online, "A sparrowhawk flew into your territory to grab chickens?"

Mother Shi asked, "Xia Qing, your chickens weren't wrecked by the hawk, were they?"

Xia Qing answered, "No. The sparrowhawk caught the red squirrel I keep. I've already rescued it."

Seeing Xin Yu came online, "Is the sparrowhawk dead?"

"No, its left wing is broken. It fell in the buffer forest inside my territory. I'll catch it in a bit and bring it over to you." Because she had a friend who kept birds, Xia Qing's attitude toward birds was—unless they were out of control, if she could catch one alive, she would.

Seeing Xin Yu replied, "Great. Let's have grilled lamb ribs for lunch."

Tang Huai jumped right in, "How about I bring my secret grill seasoning over and roast for everyone? My grilling skills are top-notch—I guarantee once you two eat it, you'll want a second round."

Beard Feng roasted him, "Hey worm-digger, go do whatever you're supposed to do. Your secret grill seasoning has already been handed out to everyone—one per person. It's got no edge anymore."

Tang Huai fired back instantly, "One per person is true, but I never traded any to you, so you don't have any—meaning you're not even a person."

Everyone:...

Zhang San came online, "Xin Yu, what quality is the lamb?"

Seeing Xin Yu answered, "Yellow-grade, but no gamey smell. Want to try some?"

Zhang San refused outright, "No need to try. When you get your hands on some green-grade that isn't gamey, do me the favor of giving me a heads-up."

Liu Jing overheard and muttered into Tang Huai's ear, "Boss, you heard that, right? Zhang San won't even eat a yellow-grade sample that has no gamey smell. You can imagine how badly he must have been craving it last year to trade you for yellow-grade meat—and the stuff he got in return was spoiled. Anyone would be furious..."

"Shut your trap and go shovel worm poop!" Tang Huai drove Liu Jing off, then kept pestering Xia Qing and Xin Yu in the group chat about whether they needed a cook—when a long-unheard voice rang out on the lord channel:

"Ah-Huai, come back for a bit."

Hearing his dad had come to the territory, Tang Huai immediately replied, "Got it, Dad. On my way."

After Tang Zhengpo called his son home, he got online and called the big shot Zhang San: "Third Brother, I brought some green-grade salmon from Lancheng. Want me to send a few over?"

Zhang San's voice turned warm and friendly, "I'll send someone to pick it up. Do you still have plenty of grill seasoning? I want a bottle. Just tell my guy what you want in trade when he comes."

Tang Zhengpo's voice was gentle, "Thank you, Third Brother. Besides the grill seasoning Tang Huai traded you, there's a new version. The new version uses green-grade evolved chili and cumin—it's a purer spicy flavor and easier on the stomach. Want me to send you some too?"

"Sure."

After Tang Zhengpo finished trading with Zhang San, he called out to the others, "Everyone still around, right? I brought the green-grade crab fry you all ordered last winter in one batch—each one weighs 10 to 15 grams. I'll have Tang Huai drive them over to everyone in a bit."

When Tang Zhengpo traded crabs with Zhang San last autumn, Xia Qing, Zhao Ze, Qi Fu, Kuang Qingwei, Shi Zhong, and Yue Haiying had exchanged dozens of crab fry at 47.5 points each, with delivery set for this spring.

Kuang Qingwei was the first to come online, "Ten-plus grams already counts as small crabs, not fry—and you only delivered them after the second Killing Rain. Tang Dong, whether before or after the catastrophe, you've always done business this carefully. Trading supplies with you is so reassuring."

After Xia Qing, who had just put on her protective suit, joined the others in thanking him, Lord Huo Lei came online and politely asked, "Hello, Tang Dong. I'm Huo Lei from Territory Eleven. Do you have any extra crab fry? I'd like to raise a few too."

"Yes, I brought an extra 50. Same price as last winter—47.5 points each. How many would you like?"

"I'll take 20. Thank you very much, Tang Dong."

"No need for the formality, Boss Huo. Tang Heng said the farm tools you forged don't just save effort, they work faster too. I'm the one who should be thanking you."

A group resting at the foot of Peak One of Mountain Fifty, hearing there were still crab fry available, fixed their green, eager eyes on their lord.

Wen Nengjie snorted, "Want to eat crab?"

The group answered in unison, "Yes!"

"Dream on! Once you've rested, get back to chopping seeds!"

Beard Feng came online, "Tang Dong, can Territory One trade for the extra 30 crab fry?"

Tang Zhengpo replied warmly, "Of course. I'll have Tang Huai deliver them to Captain Hu in a bit."

Tang Huai, who was on his way to Territory Twelve, immediately puffed out his cheeks. Liu Jing said right away, "Boss, send the smallest, half-dead crab fry to Territory One!"

Tang Huai opened his mouth and cursed, "Why'd you follow me? Get back here and shovel shit!"

Liu Jing said with a grin, "Boss, when you go deliver the crabs, you've gotta have someone drive you, right? Otherwise it doesn't look impressive enough."

Xia Qing pulled the injured sparrowhawk out of the bushes in the west buffer forest, stuffed it into a cage, carried it home, set it under the eaves, and turned on the camera in the sheep pen.

The cub the sparrowhawk had snatched was the one with tufted fur on its little ears—the one closest to her. The little fellow was probably hurt and needed medicine.

Sure enough, Xia Qing saw two cubs on the hay pile nursing in the red squirrel mother's arms, and a third lying weakly on the hay, sticky and filthy, while the mother licked its fur.

An injury like that wasn't something a few licks could fix.

Xia Qing smeared some colorless, odorless anesthetic on a green-grade cucumber she had picked, and placed it inside the sheep pen.

After the red squirrel family, who loved cucumbers, were knocked out by the drug, Xia Qing went into the pen and found that the cub's fur had been scraped in a few places. Small wounds like these were easy—she could apply medicine to disinfect and stop the bleeding.

The trouble was its belly had been pierced in two places by the sparrowhawk's sharp talons, and blood kept seeping out. That was the truly fatal part.

How much blood could a palm-sized squirrel have? If it kept bleeding like this, death was certain.

Before checking for internal organ damage, Xia Qing didn't dare give the cub any medicine. She immediately called her idol: "Third Brother, a red squirrel cub in my territory was injured by a sparrowhawk..."