"The mountain's already rented out, how could I possibly give her a share?" Xia Qing sighed.
Besides, if it weren't for the purpose of exploring the mountain, what fool would ignore the abundance of free green hills and insist on paying thousands of points to enter Mountain Forty-Nine? This business is only good for ripping off those with ulterior motives; it won't last long and won't earn many points.
Xia Qing comforted herself as she continued patrolling the buffer forest.
After Tang Zheng and the others entered the evolutionary forest of Mountain Forty-Nine, Yang Jin glanced in Xia Qing's direction, then turned and leisurely returned to Buffer Forest One.
"Brother Jin—"
Hearing Tang Lu's sickeningly sweet voice, Xia Qing, who hadn't gone far, felt a wave of nausea. This gossip was too cloying for her; she hurried away to escape, otherwise her ears would be polluted again.
Even with the same sweet voice, Yang Jin's was definitely the most pleasing to the ear.
"Brother Jin—"
Tang Lu, dressed in a pink bodycon dress, stood gracefully in Territory Two, greeting Yang Jin, who was walking down from the buffer forest north of Territory One, from afar. "Brother Jin, I'm here!"
Yang Jin's face was even more sour than when he'd been facing Tang Zheng. "Miss Tang, is there something you need?"
They were too far apart for Tang Lu to call out; trying to appear gentle was difficult. "I finally managed to buy 50 liters of unpolluted spring water and delivered it overnight. Brother Jin, take it to Instructor Luo for treatment."
"No need. I heard from Miss Tang that the Tang family matriarch is ill. Miss Tang, you should take the spring water back and give it to your elders." Yang Jin walked down the hillside, his figure completely hidden by the tall weeds.
Tang Lu stomped her foot in anger, turning to yell at Tang Huai, "What are you all doing? Can't you see how tall the grass is? Clear it right now!"
Even if the weeds in Territory Two are cleared, those in Territory One will still grow back the same way, and you still won't see Yang Jin! Tang Huai was too lazy to explain, directly accepting the task of clearing the weeds, not wanting to argue with this brainless woman.
After yelling at Tang Huai, Tang Lu started yelling at Tang Zheng, "Why did she mention Grandma's illness in front of Brother Jin? Pretending to be filial? Humph! I knew she came here with bad intentions! Where the hell is Xu Pin? He hasn't been seen for so long!"
"Reporting to Miss, Deputy Captain Xu has taken his men out." Tang Lu's bodyguard finished speaking, then shot dead a palm-sized spider that lunged at Tang Lu.
"What kind of hellhole is this!" Tang Lu screamed, turning and fleeing towards the village. If it weren't for Brother Jin, she wouldn't want to stay a second longer! On the other side, Tang Huai's younger brother, Tang Heng, led Xu Pin, the vice-captain of the Su Feng team, to the signpost for Territory Seven. "Captain Xu, Zhang San is in this territory."
Before them was still a dense wall of grass taller than a person, but even so, Xu Pin accurately pinpointed the locations of two hidden sentries within the wall. He stood obediently under the signpost and called Zhang San.
The phone rang for a long time without being answered, which was expected. Tang Heng pulled out his walkie-talkie. "Team Leader Xu, the people in these territories often use walkie-talkies to communicate. Let me ask if Zhang San is there."
After Xu Pin nodded, Tang Heng turned on the walkie-talkie and asked loudly, "This is Tang Heng from Territory Two. Is Third Brother from Territory Seven there?"
Soon, Kuang Qingwei's voice came through the channel, "Third Brother definitely isn't here this morning. If you want to find him, it's best to come back at 7:45 PM."
Tang Heng looked at Xu Pin with the walkie-talkie. "Xu, right? Zhang San has a bad temper. If we force our way in and he finds out, it'll be difficult to get supplies from him again."
Just because of a piece of spoiled mutton, Zhang San still refuses to trade with Territory Two. Such a petty man must be a disfigured bald man!
"Let's go back." Xu Pin turned and walked back. Since he couldn't find Zhang San, he'd go check out Mountain Forty-Nine. He didn't believe Yang Jin would buy a mountain for no reason; there must be important resources on Mountain Forty-Nine.
With Tang Zheng's inexperience, she wouldn't be able to find anything.
They hadn't gone far when Xu Pin and his group encountered a patrol team along the safety cordon.
Xu Pin stood at attention and saluted Tan Junjie, "Teacher Tan."
Tan Junjie returned the salute, not even removing his protective mask, and led his team forward.
Xu Pin stood still and shouted, "Teacher Tan, you probably don't know yet, but the Azure Dragon Team has bought Mountain Forty-Nine. The Evolution Forest north of this territory is now under their control, so you don't need to patrol here anymore."
Tan Junjie calmly walked past him. "I'm leading a team to carry out orders. Who owns the mountain is none of my business."
Watching Tan Junjie's team walk away, Su Feng, a member of Xu Pin's team, spat. "Just a squad leader in charge of five or six people, and he dares to put on airs in front of you. Does he really think he's still the arrogant military academy instructor who swaggered around before the natural disaster?"
"Shut up," Xu Pin said, but his face showed no resentment towards his subordinate for being so talkative. "Even with the great evolution of life and the redivision of humans based on abilities, I still have a lot to learn from you, Teacher."
"That sarcastic bastard!" Cao Xianyun, an auditory evolutionist, cursed under his breath. "How could a military academy produce such a scoundrel?"
"We'll deal with him sooner or later!"
"Continue patrolling, stay alert."
"Yes, sir." All the hustle and bustle outside was irrelevant to Xia Qing. After patrolling the territory with her eldest sheep, she squatted down beside the potato and sweet potato fields, listening intently. The whistling wind, the chirping of birds, the rustling of long, thin earthworms in the soil, and… the crackling of cutworms!
Xia Qing opened her eyes and went over, scooping out a cutworm larva of an evolved night moth, about five meters from the potato field, and tossed it to the magpies that flew over.
The two magpies, having failed to catch any insects, stopped and stood beside Xia Qing, waiting to be fed.
After clearing away the evolved grubs and cutworms from the soil around the two fields, Xia Qing gazed lovingly at the much taller, light red potato vines. The vines were so tall; potatoes must be growing from the roots by now, right?
She was really craving them; she'd dig up a couple of small potatoes to satisfy her craving first.
Xia Qing pulled out her phone and flipped through a "Planting Guide," only to be disappointed to find that potatoes wouldn't grow until the potato vines flowered.
Potatoes won't flower until next month…
Forget about the potatoes. Xia Qing's gaze then turned to the sweet potato vines. Sweet potatoes can grow even without flowering. The vines are so long, they must have grown by now, right?
After squatting by the field for ten minutes, Xia Qing finally couldn't resist reaching out her wicked hand and carefully digging at the soil around the sweet potato roots. She then discovered that although the roots were starting to swell, they weren't even as thick as her little finger—they couldn't really be considered sweet potatoes.
After filling the soil back in, Xia Qing moved on to the cotton field.
The cotton plants had already grown to her knees, with three to five branches on the main stem. Yesterday, the base's announcement said that cotton plants at this stage should be "pruned and thinned."
Pruning and thinning means keeping the fruiting branches on the main cotton stem that produce flower buds and removing the leafy branches that don't directly produce flower buds. Because leaf branches grow faster than fruiting branches and consume more nutrients, timely removal of leaf branches can promote the growth of fruiting branches and increase cotton yield.
Xia Qing had become very interested in this farm work while listening to the radio last night, because pruning involves removing leaf branches, which she could then use to extract juice and test the nutrient content of each cotton plant.
After the natural disaster, every crop is precious. Xia Qing compared the images of leaf and fruiting branches in the "Complete Guide to Planting" to the cotton plants in front of her, but the more she looked, the less she could distinguish between them, and she hesitated to remove them.
She turned on the walkie-talkie and, sure enough, heard three lords—numbers four, five, and six—discussing pruning and removing leaf branches.
Zhao Ze frowned, "These branches all look the same, which one should I break off? I'm afraid to start."
Qi Fu patiently explained, "Count from the bottom up. The first fruiting branch usually grows in the hollow between the fifth and seventh leaves on the main stem. Once you find the fruiting branch, just remove all the branches below it."
Zhao Ze was even more worried, "Brother Qi, many of my cotton plants haven't even grown to the fifth leaf yet. What number leaves have yours reached?"
Answering this question meant revealing the growth status of their crops, but no one answered. Xia Qing counted the leaves on the cotton plants in front of her; they already had seven leaves.