The mini-tiller was practically a giant multi-functional toy car for children, captivating the four twenty-somethings. After trying out every single accessory, they confirmed that the machine was indeed incredibly useful, but also incredibly fuel-inefficient.
Given the soil conditions of her land, using a two-furrow tiller to plow one acre consumed about three to four liters of fuel, far more than a sheep-powered plow. Xia Qing happily decided to use sheep power for tilling the land from now on, using the mini-tiller for other large-scale farm work, and handling the miscellaneous tasks herself.
After seeing off Su Ming and the other two, who practically wanted to stay and be her driver, Xia Qing drove her beloved mini-tiller, using the bulldozer blade to clear a smooth path home, and parked it in front of the east courtyard's shed-like building.
The mini-tiller was Xia Qing's most valuable machine. To properly store it, she converted a room in the southwest corner of the first floor of the east courtyard's shed-like building into a garage.
After making two trips back and forth to retrieve the parts, Xia Qing opened the garage door and neatly stacked them at the far end of the garage. Then she drove the mini-tiller in, parked it, closed the garage door, and took a few steps back, admiring her modified work with great satisfaction.
Using usable red bricks, stones, and steel bars collected from three villages, Xia Qing repaired the rickety structure—which only had its main structure poured—into a two-story warehouse with walls, windows, and doors. Because it was pieced together with limited materials, her warehouse looked comparable to Howl's Moving Castle.
Of course, only from the outside. The interior was far inferior to Howl's. It was only sprayed with insect repellent and had some moisture-proof charcoal placed inside; there was no loading or unloading whatsoever—it was completely untouched, its original bare color.
This castle was cramped for living, but perfect for storing supplies.
As Xia Qing turned off the mini-tiller, she also shut down the generator on the second basement floor of the village's southwest side. Using the ample power stored in the battery, the operating room lights stayed on for another eight hours before going out, until it was already past midnight.
While Xia Qing was dreaming about driving the mini-tiller, Sheep Boss stood in front of the garage with his head down, lost in thought.
The next day, just as dawn was breaking, Xia Qing strolled around her territory, catching a dozen or so evolved grubs, crushing eight evolved giant beetles and fluttering moths that tried to attack her, and digging up two small mice from the ground. After her stroll and returning home for dinner, Xia Qing sent Sheep Boss to patrol the territory, then went to open the garage door and took out the mini-tiller.
Today, she was going to repair the road from her home to the reservoir and farmland.
The mini-tiller uses a lot of fuel? No problem, she had two hundred liters of diesel.
Running out of diesel? No problem, she could exchange supplies for more fuel.
Xia Qing happily backed the mini-tiller out of the garage and parked it. As she got out, closed the garage door, and sprayed insect repellent, she heard the rapid hoofbeats of the eldest sheep.
Oh no, the eldest sheep is coming for the machine!
Xia Qing immediately turned around, but she was still no match for the sheep. The creature had already climbed onto the mini-tiller, occupied the driver's seat, and squinted, displaying an unyielding stance.
Seeing that it wasn't there to fight the mini-tiller, Xia Qing relaxed and asked with amusement, "So, all that time you were lying on the hillside watching us test drive yesterday, and then staying up all night at the garage door watching, was this what you were planning? Your hooves are only half-formed, you can't even hold the steering wheel properly, how are you going to drive this machine?"
The eldest sheep ignored her, firmly occupying the driver's seat.
Xia Qing changed her tone, using a tempting offer, "Don't be naughty, eldest, get down. I'll pick some toon sprouts for you to eat?"
"Baa."
The eldest sheep immediately jumped off the mini-tiller and stood in front of Xia Qing.
Xia Qing…
Okay, it seems this glutton isn't trying to monopolize the mini-tiller, but rather to use it to control her.
She's had enough of the toon sprouts; she can feed more to the eldest sheep. After spring, the nitrate and nitrite content in the toon sprouts will increase, making them less palatable.
There are already five kinds of edible vegetables in the territory—toon sprouts, spinach leaves, perilla, chives, and scallions. Xia Qing, who has eaten coarse grains for ten years, is starting to become picky.
Afraid that evolved rodents might damage the mini-tiller, Xia Qing drove it back to the warehouse, took the eldest sheep to pick more toon sprouts, and then returned home to drive the mini-tiller out to repair the road.
Hearing the machine's sound coming from Territory Number Three, Su Ming and the other two, who were patrolling nearby, looked on with envy. Wei Chengdong, on the first basement floor of the deserted village, chuckled, "Turn on the generator and charge the battery for a while."
The distance from Xia Qing's small building to the stone bridge across the stream to the north is 470 meters. Xia Qing used a shovel to smooth out the path she had trodden, then compacted it. The process was incredibly therapeutic; Xia Qing felt completely relaxed.
But her relaxation lasted less than half an hour. The eldest sheep, having eaten and drunk its fill, returned, raising its head to block the tractor, its expression saying, "If you don't let me on, I'll fight you."
Xia Qing wasn't angry, because she was looking for someone to share the joy of driving. She was alone in her territory, so sharing with the sheep was fine. So, Xia Qing turned off the tractor, let the eldest sheep sit in the driver's seat, and then, while chattering away, she removed the small metal box containing a wrench and pliers from the right side of the tractor's track cover. With practiced ease, she installed a large wooden reclining chair on the cover, large enough to support the sheep's weight, and laid down a hay mat.
Once the chair was in place, without Xia Qing even asking, the eldest sheep immediately moved over and claimed the more comfortable seat. Xia Qing cheerfully started the engine and continued driving the mini-tiller to repair the road, while Boss Sheep lay back in its special seat, chewing its food. Both man and sheep were quite satisfied.
The people in Territory Two had lost interest in the faint sound of the mini-tiller, but those in Territory Four to the east were quite intrigued. They even climbed to the tallest pine tree in the buffer forest north of Territory Four to observe the situation in Territory Three.
They spotted a machine about the size of a cat slowly moving about 1.5 kilometers away. Zhao Chong, perched in the tree, took out his binoculars and adjusted the focus. He first saw the mini-tiller's digging shovel, then moved the binoculars slightly backward before letting out a scream in fright and falling from the tree, his scream carrying all the way to Territory Three.
This wasn't Zhao Ze's voice. Xia Qing holstered his gun, pulled out a walkie-talkie, and contacted Tan Junjie. "Team Leader Tan, this is Xia Qing from Territory Three. Someone was just spying on my territory with binoculars from a big tree in the buffer forest of Territory Four. When I spotted them, they were so startled they fell from the tree."
Tan Junjie immediately replied seriously, "Roger that, we'll investigate right away."
"Thank you for your hard work, Team Leader Tan." Xia Qing put away the walkie-talkie and continued repairing the road.
Why use a walkie-talkie? Walkie-talkie conversations could be overheard by people on the same frequency, and Xia Qing wanted to make this a big deal. Besides, satellite phone calls weren't cheap, and Xia Qing wanted to save money wherever possible.
After repairing the road from her home to the stone bridge she had paved herself across the river, Xia Qing was working on a straight road leading to the farmland and reservoir when she received a call from Tan Junjie. "We've captured Zhao Chong in plot number four. He'll be dealt with according to the Territory Law. How did you discover he was spying?"
According to the Territory Law, if a lord is discovered spying on other territories, they are penalized with 500 points, their discount on lordly resources is revoked, and their tax exemption period is reduced from five years to three. If a hired employee within a lord's territory is discovered spying on other territories, in addition to the aforementioned penalties for the lord, the employee is expelled from the territory and penalized with 500 points. If the points are insufficient, they are forced into labor, and they are permanently barred from applying for A-level and B-level positions within the safe zone.
In chaotic times, harsh measures are necessary. 500 points are equivalent to two years' income for an ordinary person who dares not venture outside the safe zone. In years of natural disasters where even food is scarce, ordinary people have no savings. The forced labor projects for which you can't accumulate enough points are repairing protective walls or clearing evolutionary forests, which for ordinary people are basically a death sentence.
Xia Qing was very satisfied with Tan Junjie's efficiency and calmly replied, "I noticed the glare from his telescope lenses."