Chapter 1087: A New Calf and Land Ambitions

Little Shiyi gently tugged on Tan Qi’s hand and whispered, “Qi Qi, aren’t dairy cows supposed to have black and white spots?”

Tan Qi looked at the large yellow-furred animal being pulled off the wooden plank and scratched her head. “Maybe it’s an evolved breed.”

“Makes sense!” Little Shiyi kept watching. “Even if it’s an evolved type, it has flat teeth and blunt hooves, no sharp claws. Doesn’t look aggressive at all.”

Tan Qi grew more cautious. “Still, it’s really strong. If it kicks or rams you, that’s dangerous.”

Tang Huai, with his sharp hearing, glanced from the calf to the two kids keeping their distance. He couldn’t help feeling a twinge seeing how different kids born after the cataclysm were from before. “A dairy cow just means a cow that’s good at producing milk. Some have black and white patches, some yellow and white, brown, or even red. This little dairy cow is a new miniature breed developed at Lancheng Base. It’s hardy, resistant, and really gentle.”

That gentle temperament made Tan Qi even more tempted. The smaller size seemed a lot safer too.

“Devastation Element content 4.3 per mille. Green Lantern quality.” After confirming its quality, Xia Qing paid 100,000 credits for the calf.

Seeing a calf go for that much, even the lords—including Tan Qi—had their eyes light up, only for the excitement to fade.

Way too expensive. They just couldn’t afford it. And even if they somehow scraped up 100,000 credits, none of them had Xia Qing’s nerve. Raising livestock is way riskier than growing crops. If anything happened—illness, predators, or just bad luck losing the calf—the credits would all go down the drain.

If you bought a cow for 100,000 credits and left it in your territory, you’d never sleep easy at night unless you kept watch.

Kuang Qingwei tried to lighten the mood with a smile. “Brother Huai, can we see your sheep?”

Tang Huai grinned. “Of course! Anyone interested, hop in the car—we’ll head to my territory!”

“You bet!” Since they’d made it this far, everyone tagged along to have a look.

Little Shiyi didn’t want to squeeze into the same car as the rest. She’d rather stay in Section Three to see the calf, but since Tan Qi wanted to see the sheep, she obediently followed, finding a spot close to the car door.

Xia Qing watched her allies leave, then led the calf back to her own territory. She gave a tug—no response. Gave another—still the calf just pulled back.

Xia Qing paused, studying the little cow that was about the same size as Old Goat. After confirming it wasn’t a Brain Evolution, she coaxed gently, “Come on, let’s get to the territory.”

But the little yellow cow only backed up and shook its head, trying to slip out of the rope.

With a sigh, Xia Qing just picked it up and carried it into the territory.

“Moo—!” Hooves dangling in the air, the calf struggled and let out a frightened cry.

“Don’t be scared, you won’t fall. Once we’re down the slope, you can walk on your own.” Carrying the calf, which weighed about as much as Old Goat, Xia Qing made her way down the bumpy slope with steady steps.

“Moo—!” The calf kept crying, still afraid.

Old Goat, munching on grass in the pasture shed, and Er, by the fish pond cleaning rabbit meat for the fish, both heard the ruckus and rushed over.

“Moo!!!” As the little calf caught the scent of blood on Er, it trembled even more, kicking Xia Qing several times during its struggle.

Seeing the newcomer getting bullied, Old Goat thundered over. Xia Qing hurriedly called, “Old Goat, I’m fine. Er, quick, stop Old Goat!”

She’d dropped 100,000 credits on this calf—if it got rammed before it even touched the ground, she might be down one cow before the night was through.

Er bounded in front of Old Goat, calming him down in just a few moves.

Only then did Xia Qing set the struggling calf down, letting it scuttle behind a tree before quickly tying its rope to the trunk.

After the calf hid, Xia Qing called Old Goat over. “Old Goat, come check it out. I got you a new little brother—he eats grass and even chews cud just like you!”

Old Goat strutted over, giving the stranger behind the tree a long, narrow-eyed stare.

Xia Qing gave a grand introduction. “Old Goat, Er, meet the newest member of our territory—he’s a little cow.”

Er grinned from ear to ear, delighted.

Old Goat narrowed his eyes, still clearly annoyed.

Xia Qing chuckled, “Old Goat, are you hungry? Want some corn leaves?”

Old Goat’s eyes instantly brightened. “Baa~~”

“Alright, I’ll get you some corn leaves. While you’re here, watch your new little brother—don’t let him run off.”

“Baa~~” Old Goat was always easy to please when there was good food involved.

“Old Goat, you’re seriously the best. You’re truly the pride and leader of our territory, making Blue Star all the more beautiful for having you!”

Once Xia Qing was sure Old Goat wasn’t going to attack the calf, she set off for Shed 8 with Er, gently reassuring him, “Er, cows are herbivores. They’re timid, so it’s normal for them to be afraid of you since you’re a meat eater.”

Not every herbivore is as delightfully weird as Old Goat.

Seeing Er smiling with delight, Xia Qing gently reminded him not to bite the cow, then went on to plan their lunch. “For lunch, I’ll make noodles—spinach noodle soup with freeze-dried meat. Sound good?”

Er, a fan of noodles, broke into an even wider grin. Xia Qing gave his head an affectionate pat. “Time to feed the fish, Er. Try not to scare our new cow.”

As Xia Qing picked corn leaves, she got a call from Yue Haiying. “Yan Meng’s Devastation Element content just hit 31 per mille. His brain’s already been corroded. Even the best Devastation Element Antidote won’t hold out much longer.”

With Yan Meng’s contributions to the base, no way would he get priority for such a rare antidote.

Once a person’s brain is corroded by the Devastation Element, they’re legally classified as incapacitated. Which means Yan Meng can’t change his will anymore.

Once he passes, Territory Fourteen will become unclaimed land.

Xia Qing answered, “Brother Yue, let’s take over Territory Fourteen and double the size of the Ninth Center. Same management style, same standards. You and Yan Yue, please work hard to draft a feasibility report on merging Territory Fourteen with the Ninth Center by four o’clock tomorrow afternoon. We’ll hold a meeting then.”

Yesterday, Hui Three Base held a post-disaster summary meeting. During his speech, Base Director Qi Zhongye mentioned Section One North’s disaster relief and praised the Ninth Center’s role. Afterward, the Agriculture Department notified Xia Qing to return to the Safe Zone for a meeting in two days to share her experience in disaster relief.

Base Director Qi Zhongye would be at the meeting too.

Xia Qing was determined to seize the chance and propose expanding the Ninth Center’s planting area. And it all depended on one thing: land.

There were plenty of eyes on Section One North. Taking the land wouldn’t be easy. But if Xia Qing spoke up, it was because she was confident. Yue Haiying grew excited, determination blazing. “Don’t worry, Director. We’ll get it done.”

To make this work, they’d still need help from a big shot.

But which big shot?

In Hui Three, who else but Zhang San qualified as the boss? One word from their Idol was worth more than ten pages Yue Yan wrote.

As Xia Qing left the greenhouse, arms full of corn leaves, she happily called her Idol. “Third Brother, busy today? Want to come over for dinner with the crew in my territory tonight?”