Chapter 872: Silly Cub Little Feimao

On June 1st, outside the northwest of Hui-3 Safe Zone's outer city, two new medicines from Hui-3 Pharmaceutical Factory—Nutrient Source and Scar Remover—went on sale, and the crowd rushing to buy them warped the doors of the factory's dispensary.

The view shifts southeast, passing over stretches of building ruins destroyed by Calamity Bursts, arriving at the Government Affairs Hall in the south outer city. Today was the day Hui-3's officials fulfilled their promise, selling Super Nutrient Solution at a 40% discount to citizens who had picked up two spinach seeds in spring and handed them over to the planting center.

Before Hui-3 promoted X-2, Hui City's premium Nutrient Solution market was monopolized by Blaze, with each tube of premium Nutrient Solution priced as high as 2000 credits.

The batch of premium Nutrient Solution Hui-3 sold today was made mainly from X-2 spinach seedlings, priced at 500 credits per tube—40% off meant 300 credits.

This price infuriated the Blaze Squad to the point of spitting blood, and won applause from squads big and small across Hui-3. Many squads sent people to wait inside the Government Affairs Hall, ready to pay extra to buy the premium Nutrient Solution that citizens had purchased at the 40% discount.

Citizens with the 40% discount purchasing qualification could turn around and earn at least 200 credits.

200 credits was two to three months' wages for the vast majority of ordinary people inside Hui-3 Safe Zone. So the queue, several hundred meters long, was full of laughter and joy, with hope shining in everyone's eyes.

June was also harvest season, and the lords within the territories outside the Safe Zone grew happier the busier they got. Because being busy at this time meant a good harvest.

After half a month of hard work, the half-mu of overwintering wheat and one mu of spring-planted wheat in Xia Qing's territory yielded a total of 1,468 jin of Green Light grain.

The reason for such a high yield was that these Green Light wheat fields had been properly protected by Yi Stones during the Calamity Rain, Calamity Snow, and Return Rain periods, with no plants undergoing Calamity Evolution.

After setting aside 120 jin for her own seed stock and trading 60 jin to allies, the remaining 1,200-plus jin was all Xia Qing's rations. After eating Green Light rice for most of the year, she could now eat her fill of Green Light white flour.

From the one-plus mu of overwintering wheat that hadn't been flipped by the gale, Xia Qing harvested 256 jin of grain. Adding the one mu of overwintering Yellow Light wheat whose rain cover had been flipped by the storm, plus the half-mu of spring-planted Yellow Light wheat, Xia Qing harvested a total of 802 jin of Yellow Light wheat.

Compared to allies who had planted dozens or even hundreds of mu of wheat, and Territory One which had planted several hundred mu, the bit of grain Xia Qing harvested really wasn't much to look at—but in her territory, only one person's staple food was grain.

The boss? Its staple food was grass.

Wolf Lao Er? Its staple food was meat and eggs.

Grain was a precious resource. Ordinary lords who lacked the conditions and combat power to store grain would, on the same day they dried their harvested wheat and mung beans, sell thirty percent to Hui-3's officials and half to the Hui-3 Squad Alliance.

Because the purchase price offered by the Squad Alliance was 0.5 to 2 credits per jin higher than Hui-3's official purchase price.

This year, Hui-3's official purchase price was 22 credits per jin for Yellow Light wheat and mung beans, and 65 credits per jin for Green Light mung beans.

The price of Yellow Light wheat dropped 3 credits from last year, Yellow Light mung beans held steady with last year, and the biggest drop was Green Light mung beans, falling from 250 credits to 65 credits.

From a macro perspective, the drop in grain prices was because the territory policy had begun to show results after two years of implementation, increasing the grain supply—a good thing.

From the lords' perspective, falling grain prices meant they earned less money, naturally a bad thing. But at these prices, the lords weren't losing money either, so after a few complaints, everyone was still full of drive.

The grain that wasn't sold was kept as seed stock and for eating within the territory. This grain was paid to be stored by the lords in Territory One's food storage warehouse.

Xia Qing, whose territory had two storage rooms, did the same as everyone else.

She sold 500 jin of Yellow Light wheat, and stored 300 jin of Yellow Light wheat, 100 jin of Green Light wheat, and 50 jin of Green Light mung beans in Territory One's food storage warehouse.

These grains, plus the two bags kept within the territory, made up the total summer harvest figure Xia Qing announced publicly.

Given her planting scale, without Yi Stones, this was the yield she'd get.

Only the Beard Feng Squad, who often worked in Territory Three, knew that Xia Qing had a lot more grain hidden at home. As for the conditions and safety of Xia Qing's grain storage, the Beard Feng Squad said there was absolutely no need to worry.

Xia Qing, who could produce dozens of Yi Stones to protect over five mu of farmland, could naturally use Yi Stones to extend the grain's storage life. As for the source of these Yi Stones, although no one said it, the Beard Feng Squad understood in their hearts: this was what Xia Qing had earned by leaving her territory on New Year's Eve to hunt down the escaped Squad Leader Su Feng and the squad's core combatants.

Xia Qing was an important combatant in hunting down Tang Zhengsu's gang, so the Beard Feng Squad didn't envy her for earning these Yi Stones. But using such precious resources to protect farmland—across all of Blue Star, probably only Xia Qing would be willing to do it.

Whether the grain was safe at Xia Qing's home? The Beard Feng Squad didn't need to worry about that even more.

Even when Xia Qing wasn't home, the grain at her house was still guarded by the incredibly powerful boss and Wolf Lao Er. Not to mention humans—even rats, snakes, or mosquitoes would have no chance of sneaking into Xia Qing's home to steal grain.

Mosquitoes—exaggerated?

Not exaggerated at all! Over forty swallows with strong territorial instincts that loved eating bugs lived under the eaves of Xia Qing's house. These swallows were the nemesis of flying insects.

Apart from Tang Huai, who raised insects, everyone in this territory—including Seeing Xin Yu, Lord of Territory Eight who raised eagles—envied Xia Qing's home for having swallows to guard it.

At this moment, the little swallows were lined up in a row, perched on the eaves of Xia Qing's house, chirping as they watched the hundreds of birds circling overhead.

Inside the yard, three lords were busy at work.

The pile of hard mung bean pods Xia Qing had picked the day before yesterday and spread out on the rain cover in the yard to dry had all turned black and were popping open with a crackling sound.

With so many beans, there was no time to pick them up one by one by hand.

So Xia Qing brought out the blower and bicycle she had traded with Jiang Ying, assembled them, then used a portion of rations to coax the sheep boss onto the bicycle, letting it pedal the bicycle to drive the blower.

Then Xia Qing used a winnowing basket to scoop up the mung beans, using the wind from the blower to blow away the bean pods mixed in with the beans.

The wolf dog Wolf Lao Er, meanwhile, watched the flock of freeloading birds in the sky—if any bird was foolish enough to land and steal mung beans, it would become Wolf Lao Er's food.

Now recovered, Wolf Lao Er could leap several meters high; one wolf could cover the entire yard.

The cooler Wolf Lao Er's posture when catching birds, the more brutally it ate them.

A single mung bean splashed onto the ground outside the rain cover and was spotted by a juvenile scabby red squirrel. It ran out from its nest, picked up the mung bean, and ran back, completely unafraid of the brutally fierce giant wolf dog.

Wolf Lao Er glanced at the juvenile red squirrel picking up the mung bean, then continued watching the birds.

After filtering a basketful of mung beans, Xia Qing reached into her protective suit pocket and felt the bulging mung beans and wheat inside, seriously suspecting that Little Feimao had been infected by that Daigua hanging on the clothes-drying pole and suffered brain degradation.

While its mother and its two littermates woke up earlier than Xia Qing every day and slept later than her, busy picking up the grain Xia Qing dropped everywhere and stuffing it into several tree holes, this silly cub was also busy every day.

But! It had actually given up on tree holes and was using the pocket of Xia Qing's protective suit as its nest…

This… counts as settling a debt?