Chapter 983: Kuang Qingwei's Call

Seeing little Shiyi smiling happily with a stranger's face on her, Xia Qing really wanted to take a photo of her and send it to Zhang Shi, who was still at Lan Wu, to have a look.

Lan Wu activated its emergency disaster-mitigation program covering the safe zone and the surrounding disaster-stricken evolution forests. This disaster mitigation had two key tasks: first, to curb the spread of the super evolution bacteria as quickly as possible, not giving it the chance to synthesize Qiang-46; second, to clear the Qiang-46 permeating the atmosphere as quickly as possible.

The country had urgently allocated all kinds of disaster-mitigation supplies and shipped them to Lan Wu. Even a batch of the experimental Yi synthetic elements and high-value supplies from the idol laboratory had been urgently requisitioned.

Because Lan Wu needed to build a Qiang-element isolation space in the shortest possible time within the high-danger zone where the super evolution bacteria were rapidly multiplying. Because Zhang He had overseen a similar project at Hui Three-Fifty Mountain, she was also requisitioned and rushed to Lan Wu together with the helicopter carrying disaster-relief supplies.

For the Qiang-46 already permeating the air, Lan Wu had already built a massive system to absorb and filter atmospheric impurities, absorbing as much as it could. What couldn't be absorbed in time or couldn't be absorbed at all would be diluted in concentration as it drifted with atmospheric flow, so even if accidentally detonated, it wouldn't trigger a chain explosion.

Once Lan Wu's disaster-mitigation program ended and shipping resumed, Zhang Shi could find a chance to rush back and see with her own eyes what her daughter looked like now.

Seeing everyone laughing nonstop, Tang Huai looked a bit annoyed. Ye Yang changed the subject, "Sister Qing, Shiyi is six this year. Can she go to school with Sister Qiqi next semester?"

Little Shiyi, holding her melon, immediately turned her head nervously to look at Auntie Qing when she heard about school.

Xia Qing nodded, "If her physical exam shows no problems, she can enroll."

While Ye Yang was asking what items the physical exam covered, when it would be, and where to go for it, little Shiyi keenly sensed that among the few people working fifteen meters away, one person's magnetic field had undergone an obvious change.

He... was very agitated.

Little Shiyi didn't look up, only silently locked onto this person's magnetic field with her magnetoreception ability, and continued nibbling her melon one small bite at a time.

Because making eye contact at this moment would expose her ability. If her ability were exposed, she wouldn't be able to stay here and go to school; if she couldn't go to school, she wouldn't learn more knowledge and skills, and she wouldn't be able to protect her mother.

"Don't be scared, little sister Shiyi. They'll just draw a little blood; it won't hurt at all." Tan Qi, thinking little Shiyi had been frightened, comforted her softly.

"Mm, I'm not scared." Little Shiyi obediently replied.

For little Shiyi, the blood draw wasn't a question of pain, but of whether hiding her ability would be exposed. Xia Qing finished her melon, put on gloves and a protective mask, and went back to work.

According to the schedule, today they had to finish pouring the first-floor walls. In a couple of days, they'd pour the first-floor roof, then the second-floor walls and roof.

So, as long as enough building materials were prepared and there were enough hands, building a house was very fast.

When they knocked off after a busy day, Qi Fu, who also planned to build a house, discussed with Kuang Qingwei, "Old Kuang, building the whole house with reinforced concrete is too expensive. We can fire bricks and build a brick house, then plaster the inside and outside of the walls with insect-proof and corrosion-proof cement. It'll be just as solid and durable."

Kuang Qingwei asked, "Firing bricks needs yellow clay, right? We've never fired bricks before. Can we pull it off?"

Making bricks required digging soil, forming adobe bricks, digging a kiln, and firing the kiln—every step was heavy physical labor. Territory No. 6 was short on hands, and neither he nor his wife were strength-type evolvers. Kuang Qingwei felt it was more suitable for him to just hustle a few more batches of supplies to earn enough points and directly pour a small building.

Qi Fu was very confident, "I heard a territory in the East District fired red bricks with extremely high hardness. If they can do it, we definitely can too."

Wen Nengjie immediately came over, "Qi-ge, you're talking about East District Eighty?"

Qi Fu nodded, "Right, that's him. The houses in his territory were washed away by the beast tide launched by the western wolf pack this spring, and he couldn't scrape together enough points to buy building materials, so he fired his own bricks and built his own house."

Xia Qing listened to them chat for a while and also decided to learn brick-firing, this very useful craft, together with Qi Fu. "Qi-ge, Jie-ge, when are you planning to fire the bricks?"

Hearing that Xia Qing wanted to join in, both of them got excited.

Qi Fu answered, "I want to haul the soil back next month, and after the third Qiang rain, I'll make the adobe bricks and fire the kiln. I don't need to fire a lot—just enough for five rooms. The brick-firing process releases toxic fumes, so I want to go to Territory No. 86 to see what their brick kiln looks like."

Xia Qing nodded, "Once Qi-ge gets in touch, we'll drive over. I'll dig the kiln and fire it together with Qi-ge. Once they're done, just give me five hundred bricks."

"No problem." Qi Fu agreed at once. Partnering with Xia Qing meant he wouldn't have to worry about safety when going out.

Red bricks had all kinds of uses, and Shi Du was also tempted, "I'll go back and ask my dad if we'll fire some too."

"I'll go back and ask too." Watching Huo Zhun followed up, "I want to haul more clay and build two greenhouses to grow vegetables in winter. When the time comes, I'll still have to trouble Sister Qing and Qi-ge to tell me how to make adobe walls."

After finishing the talk about firing bricks and building greenhouses, everyone headed back to their own territories.

Six days later, the main structure of Ye Yang and little Shiyi's house was poured. After a period of curing and removing the solid wood formwork, installing doors, windows, kitchen, and bathroom, it would be a livable roughcast house.

These follow-up tasks no longer needed everyone gathered together to help. So, the lords began busying themselves in their own fields again.

Xia Qing stood inside shed No. 6, quietly looking at the more than five hundred Green Lantern soybean plants that had entered the harvest period, her gaze deep.

If it weren't for Liehu's damned genetic bioweapon, what she had received would have been normal Green Lantern soybeans, and in a few days she could have eaten tofu and homemade broad-bean paste.

But now? These soybeans she had carefully tended for nearly four months had been harvested, and all of them had to be destroyed!

Fortunately, Zhang Shi had traded her a plot of Green Lantern soybeans with a growing area of no less than 10 square meters. She decided to go harvest the soybeans tomorrow.

The soybeans were growing in a valley in the western evolution forest, over 50 li from here. Xia Qing decided to team up with Handsome Giant Wolf to go there, provided she could keep Handsome Giant Wolf around tonight.

Tonight was once again the day for the medicinal bath.

"Buzz—"

Xia Qing was mulling over how to keep Handsome Giant Wolf around when Kuang Qingwei called.

"Sister Xia Qing, is it convenient to talk? I have something I'd like to hear your opinion on."

Xia Qing walked outside the shed and sat on a rock beside Ram Boss, "It's convenient, Brother Qing, go ahead."

"Here's the thing. A friend of mine from the business road just called and said he has a channel to get a batch of high-quality Green Lantern rice, and asked if I want to take some goods with him." After explaining the matter, Kuang Qingwei gave his reason for coming to Xia Qing.

"He said we can get the goods at 250 points per jin. I think something's a bit fishy about this. Does your side have any insider information?"