Chapter 818: If You Won't Sell, I Won't Buy Either

Although the X nutrient solution blended with nutrient sources has an extremely high cost-performance ratio, its shelf life is only 24 hours. For squads, researchers, and military units that need to undertake long-term missions, they still need to be equipped with premium nutrient solution that has a three-month shelf life.

The reason the Squad Alliance is purchasing qualified X-2 plants is to produce premium nutrient solution.

A catty of high-quality X-2 spinach seedlings at 200 credits sounds not low, but when Yang Jin purchased Xia Qing's spinach seedlings last winter at 600 credits per catty, the price has dropped by two-thirds.

But for the lords, this price is still quite attractive.

"The spinach seeds and spinach seedlings just harvested can be sold without even leaving the territory — that puts my heart at ease. And freshly pulled spinach seedlings are the freshest, so they'll definitely fetch quite a few more credits than if they were transported back to the Safe Zone. Thanks, Captain Yang." After coming online to thank Yang Jin, Kuang Qingwei immediately asked, "Is Feng-ge here? Once Territory Six finishes harvesting, I'll sell — should I just call you in a bit?"

Hu Zifeng came online. "I'm here. Just call in a bit."

Everyone followed Kuang Qingwei's lead, choosing to exchange their seeds and spinach seedlings for credits or supplies immediately after purchase — only then did they feel at ease.

Xia Qing followed suit. "Feng-ge, I'm selling too."

Hu Zifeng replied, "Alright, I'll head over right now to help you harvest."

Nominally, Hu Zifeng is Xia Qing's boyfriend, so him coming over to help is only right and proper. Xia Qing answered simply and crisply with one word: "Okay."

Tang Huai came online in a huff. "I'm not selling!"

The Tang family's demand for spinach seeds and spinach seedlings is huge, so it's perfectly normal that Territories Two and Twelve won't sell to the Squad Alliance. Hu Zifeng responded, "Worm-digger, even if you sell, I still won't buy."

Tang Huai immediately started yowling, "Captain Yang, you hear that? Crazy Hu says he won't buy the spinach seeds from my territory!"

Everyone……

Hu Zifeng scoffed coldly, "Our captain's busy, no time to deal with you."

"Xia Qing! You see that? The guy who just said he was going to help you harvest seeds is still farting into the walkie-talkie right now. What's the use of having a man like that?"

Everyone…… What is Tang Dong busy with? Why doesn't he come out and rein in his son?

Inside Territory Three, Xia Qing, who was carrying a bag and walking up the slope, pulled out the phone vibrating in her pocket. "Captain Yang."

Yang Jin on the other end of the line spoke in a business-negotiation tone. "Xia Qing, I'm coming over now to help you harvest the spinach seeds, and we can chat about the purchase along the way?"

What Yang Jin wanted to discuss was, of course, not the 50 X-2 plants in Xia Qing's terraced fields, but the native spinach seeds and spinach seedlings that Xia Qing had planted.

Thinking of Yang Jin's hand speed, Xia Qing agreed.

With him there, the speed of harvesting spinach seeds could at least double. And he said "help," so Xia Qing didn't need to pay credits.

After escorting Yang Jin into Territory Three, Hu Zifeng returned to Mountain Forty-Nine.

Yang Jin made his way to the Gao Po terraced fields with familiar ease.

Even setting aside subjective bias, he still felt that the crops in Xia Qing's terraced fields were growing better.

Yang Jin walked over, shrewdly helping Xia Qing check the support posts beside the spinach terraced fields, and played to her tastes by chatting about farming with her. "The vegetables and crops in these terraced fields grow with more vitality than those in the standardized planting greenhouse in Territory One — is that because of the soil?"

"It's not just the soil." Every single seedling in the terraced fields had been raised under Xia Qing's meticulous care — this was her achievement, her answer sheet. Yang Jin could tell at a glance that her crop seedlings were growing well, which gave Xia Qing a great sense of accomplishment. "There's also some Gao Yi-element soil in that greenhouse in Territory One."

Yang Jin sincerely asked for guidance. "Is it because of the water and fertilizer, then?"

"More than that." Xia Qing gestured for Yang Jin to come over and help her hold down the transparent plastic film covering the X-2. This kind of transparent film was specially developed by Hui-Three Base specifically to protect X-2 — it could let the nearly mature spinach seedlings get sun, while also ensuring that when the spinach seeds exploded, they wouldn't pierce through the transparent film and damage the greenhouse. "Because this greenhouse isn't strictly sealed off — it exchanges airflow with the outside. I'm going to snip the leaves now. Hold it tight, Captain Yang, don't let the spinach seeds fly out."

After confirming Yang Jin had pressed the opening tight, Xia Qing gripped the long-handled pruning shears with both hands and snipped a small opening in one leaf. The injured spinach was immediately triggered, and one second later, it shot spinach seeds from the tip of its main stem at high speed in all directions.

Most of the seeds thudded against the plastic film; a small portion hit the neighboring spinach seedlings and triggered them. Within a few seconds, all fifty spinach seedlings had been triggered, shooting out every last seed they had set.

The spinach seedlings, which had just been half a meter tall, were now all lying limp on the ground. After confirming that every spinach plant had lost its attacking power, the two lifted the plastic film and began picking up the spinach seeds and clearing the spinach seedlings.

Yang Jin, whose hand speed was extremely fast, worked while running the numbers. "A standardized greenhouse costs 350,000 to build. If you want to block out Qiang-elements, the monthly air-filter cost is 3,000–5,000 credits. If you don't build a greenhouse and use Yi-stone to achieve the same area's Qiang-element shielding effect, you need at least 240 grams of Yi-stone. Spinach has a three-month growth cycle. If you plant 1.5 mu of X-2 and protect it with Yi-stone throughout the entire growth process, calculated at mid-grade Yi-stone, the cost is 2.4 million."

Xia Qing nodded. "For large-scale planting of crops that need Qiang-element shielding throughout the entire process, building a standardized greenhouse is still more suitable — one greenhouse can last over 15 years. If you only need to block Qiang-element influence during the Qiang-rain period, Yi-stone is more suitable."

After finishing picking up the spinach seeds in front of him, Yang Jin moved forward a bit. "Is the X-2 here shielded from Qiang-elements throughout the entire process?"

Xia Qing replied, "No, only during the Qiang-rain period."

"That plot next to it is fully shielded, right? I saw you planted a ring of purple sweet potatoes around it. Are those native varieties?"

That plot over there was precisely the target of their transaction today. Xia Qing nodded. "Right. So for that terraced field, planting one crop of spinach — not counting inputs like water and fertilizer — just the Yi-stone alone costs 130,000."

So, native spinach seeds are very expensive.

Yang Jin understood and began asking about the spinach's quality. "Are we going to harvest that patch of spinach later? How much has the quality of this crop of native spinach improved?"

"Not harvesting — waiting for it to ripen naturally." Although it hadn't been harvested yet, Xia Qing was still clear on the spinach's quality. "Five days before the Qiang-rain, the result of my last test was a Qiang-element content of 2.5‰ and a Yi-element content of 7.6?. It's now entered the mature period, so the seed quality should be around this level."

Yang Jin was stunned. "You're really something — you actually raised the Yi-element content by 0.8 percentage points more than professional breeders growing it in a standardized greenhouse!"

Xia Qing had long known that her spinach quality was better than the breeding results from the Safe Zone, but she didn't feel the slightest bit proud. "I grew it under Third Brother's detailed guidance, so the improvement was relatively obvious."

Over the past half year, Xia Qing had sent a soil sample to Territory Seven every week. After her idol personally tested it and gave her the dedicated fertilizer ratio, Xia Qing mixed the fertilizer and applied it to the spinach terraced fields — and she had also been protecting the spinach terraced fields with Yi-stone throughout the entire process.

In her idol's view, the Yi-element content improvement of the native spinach was still not up to standard. The target he set for Xia Qing was to raise this crop's Yi-element content by two percentage points, reaching 8.0%.