Chapter 1005: Honest Conversations and New Deals

There’s something we need to clear up today. Xia Qing took a deep breath.

Hu Zifeng couldn’t help but think Xia Qing sounded way too formal. “Of course. My job is to protect you and Section Three. That helicopter that landed in Territory Seven just now? It’s from our base.”

“Yeah, the base’s Special Forces are taking over defense of Territory Seven from Ji Li’s squad.” Xia Qing held the meeting room door open for Hu Zifeng, then turned away to fill a jug with filtered water. After pressing the kettle’s boil button, she hesitated for a few seconds before finally saying, “When I first arrived last year, my combat power was too weak—so, to keep the territory’s secrets safe, I had to trouble Captain Hu to pretend to be my boyfriend…”

The topic was awkward enough that Hu Zifeng jumped in with a laugh before Xia Qing finished. “Sister Qing, I know you were thinking of my safety. But with things as they are, there’s really no point in keeping up the act anymore.”

Xia Qing had grown so fast. He used to be able to stand in front of her and shield her from anyone with bad intentions. Now she was so brilliant, the kind of person eyeing her wasn’t someone he could keep away.

Hearing Hu Zifeng say that, Xia Qing immediately relaxed. She poured him a cup of hot water and, looking completely sincere, said, “Section Three’s safety will still depend on you and the guys from now on.”

“Sister Qing, you spent credits to hire our squad and even give us quality food now and then. Of course we have to do our best—there’s no way we’d let another team snag a sweet job like this.” The steam from the cup hid the quick flash of reluctance in Hu Zifeng’s eyes. He grinned, head held high. “Too many people are watching you now. To avoid any unnecessary mess, you really need to come up with a plan soon.”

Xia Qing nodded, looking much more at ease, even with a faint smile on her lips.

For a moment, Hu Zifeng’s heart thudded. He tightened his grip on his cup and asked, “So, Sister Qing, do you already have someone in mind?”

Xia Qing shook her head. “Only a rough idea so far.”

She’d have to talk it over with Third Brother and see if it could actually work.

When Xia Qing went to Wolf Valley in Section Three of Hill Forty-Nine to pick up her three teammates, Hu Zifeng was already frantically calling their boss, urging him to get there fast.

Because if he didn’t show up soon, Xia Qing might just partner up with someone else!

Unlike Hu Zifeng’s nerves, Xia Qing felt completely at ease.

The issue with the soybeans was solved, Ji Li’s squad had left, Third Brother’s territory was safer, and her fake relationship with Hu Zifeng was over. Now all she had to do was get ready for the third round of Devastation Rain.

Cheerful, Xia Qing led her companions back to their territory. Some picked cotton, some went bug hunting, and others took turns on the water bicycle to irrigate the fields.

Right now, irrigation and installing the new automatic rain covers on the greenhouses were the two biggest projects. The fields needed to be watered within two days, and the automatic systems all had to be installed and tested before the Devastation Rain.

Old Goat, of course, was the main force behind all the irrigation. For him, pedaling the water bicycle across the fields was more like playing a game.

While cheering Old Goat on, Xia Qing kept an eye on the field irrigation, coached the six squad members from Hu Zifeng’s team on digging pits and assembling the rain covers, and also monitored the progress of Geng Min and Wang Jun, their Magnetic Sense evolved patrol, as they made the rounds.

By evening, Geng Min and Wang Jun had finished patrolling Section One up north, Old Goat had watered eight greenhouses, Flathead was too exhausted to get into fights, Goofball had picked a big sack of cotton, and Xia Qing and her construction crew had the rain cover system done on seven greenhouses.

Tomorrow morning, the construction crew would keep digging and Old Goat would keep irrigating. Xia Qing planned to take Elder Wolf on a trip to Section Three of Hill Forty-Nine to pick chestnuts and torreya nuts for Idol.

After agreeing with Er Yong about the digging schedule for tomorrow, Xia Qing knocked off work for the day. She showered, made a feast for her family of four, and made sure everyone ate their fill before hurrying over to the northern gate.

The profits from the second batch of Cordyceps Fungus she and Yang Jin had cultivated together were finally in. Yang Jin had called around noon to say he’d be picking up the Devastation Element Antidote from Territory Seven in the morning, so he’d drop by a night early to bring Xia Qing the points card and, while he was there, discuss a major business deal.

Once Xia Qing had boiled a pitcher of pure spring water, steeped some dried honeysuckle, and poured a cup for Yang Jin—who somehow looked even better tonight—things got rolling: the night’s main event, the settlement of accounts and negotiations, officially began.

Yang Jin slid the ledger over to her. “This round we used 6,006 Green Lantern Spinach Seeds for hydroponics, got 3,923 spinach seedlings, and ended up producing a certain amount of Cordyceps sprouts…”

The ledger made it clear: after selling the fungus, subtracting the costs for the nutrient solution and starter, labor, material losses, and other expenses, they had a net profit in credits.

Then Yang Jin handed Xia Qing a card loaded with 735,365 credits and moved right into discussing the next round. “Like we agreed, for the next batch, you’ll be providing another 6,000 Green Lantern Spinach Seeds for cordyceps cultivation.”

Without hesitation, Xia Qing produced a bag and handed it over. “X-2, Evolution Element content between 5.5 and 6.0, 6,010 seeds in total.”

There were a few extras because she hadn’t checked closely for damaged seeds.

“It’s always good doing business with you, Sister Qing.” Yang Jin pocketed the seeds. “The Calamity Status at Lan Five has been resolved and the pure spring water from the Death Sea hasn’t dropped in quality. Let’s use water from the spring there for the next spinach batch.”

The spring in Section Three usually dries up in January, so Xia Qing needed to start storing pure spring water in December for use in drinking and bathing. Using Lan Five’s pure spring water was obviously the best option.

Xia Qing proposed, “Third Brother said we’ll be able to use advanced tech to mass-produce the special enzyme for Devastation Element Antidote by year’s end. That’ll mean the demand for Cordyceps fungus will go way up. Should we expand our production ahead of time?”

Making the antidote required Cordyceps cultured with pure spring water and high Evolution Element vegetables. Once the enzyme was ready for mass production, pure spring water supply would be the major bottleneck.

Pure spring water was a rare resource, so even half a year from now, the antidote would still be scarce and pricey. Since both she and Yang Jin controlled pure water sources, it was only logical to scale up.

So long as they managed their risks, this was a surefire moneymaker, and Yang Jin had no objections. “After the next wave of Devastation Rain, I’ll set up another growing room to double output.”

Xia Qing agreed. Their springs weren’t only for hydroponics; they also watered crops, provided drinking water, and more. Doubling output was the absolute limit.

Seeing Xia Qing was on board, Yang Jin immediately got busy laying out the plan. “The third Cordyceps batch starts early next month. It’ll take a month to finish expanding the new cultivation room, so it’ll be ready by mid-October. For the fourth batch, seeds, water, starter, and culture liquid—all of it needs planning right from the start…”

They worked out the investment plans and figured out who would supply seeds and spring water for the third and fourth rounds, eventually signing off on their new agreement.

Now it was time for the “major business deal” Yang Jin mentioned. Xia Qing sipped her fragrant tea with a blank expression, waiting to hear his proposal.

When it came to business outlook and integrity, Yang Jin put ninety-nine percent of all Calamity Era merchants to shame. Deals with him were always win-win—the only question was who would get the bigger slice.

Neither one wanted to take the smaller cut, so this round was all about hammering out who paid for what, and how much each side gave up.

That was the heart of the split. Nobody wanted to earn less.