Chapter 114: Talking Down the Stubborn Ram

After several attempts, Xia Qing realized even her voice couldn’t calm Boss Sheep. Hu Zifeng turned to her and suggested, “Maybe we should just tie it up? If it bolts into the Evolver Forest, we’ll have real trouble.”

Something had to be done, but tying up Boss Sheep wasn’t a real solution. Xia Qing discussed with Hu Zifeng, “Brother Feng, have Guan Tong hold Boss Sheep steady, then you put the protective mask on it. After that, turn on its walkie-talkie—let it hear my voice through the earpiece.”

During Xiang Rain, Xia Qing spent several days talking to Boss Sheep through the protective mask’s walkie-talkie. Since broadcasting through her phone didn’t work, she relied on this instead.

“Okay.” After a wild chase of people flying and sheep leaping, Hu Zifeng and Guan Tong finally managed to get the protective mask on Boss Sheep and switched on its earpiece walkie-talkie.

“Boss, can you hear me?” Xia Qing’s voice was calm and steady.

“Baa—” Boss Sheep panted hard, anxiety coloring its bleating.

Softly, Xia Qing soothed, “Boss, I’m fine, I just had to travel farther this time and won’t make it back tonight. Hold down the fort for me, and I’ll be home tomorrow. I bought you lots of rations—listen to this.”

She crinkled the sealed bag of compressed rations in her hand. The familiar sound drifted to Boss Sheep, and its frantic breathing slowed.

“That’s right, it’s your favorite rations. I’ve picked up all sorts of flavors, all for you.” Xia Qing sat on her bed, her tone gentle as she coaxed Boss Sheep. “I even got two trees to plant on the hillside when I get back. How about you help carry water for them, Boss? You’re the most capable sheep in our whole territory.”

“Baa.” Boss Sheep let out a bleat.

Xia Qing actually heard a note of grievance in its cry. Her heart softened instantly, and she spoke with even more tenderness. “If you’re tired and don’t want to water the trees, I’ll do it myself. I may not be as strong as you, but I can still manage two or three hundred pounds of water in a tank. When I get back, I’ll mix alfalfa with your rations and fill your new bath tub to the brim, so you can soak and eat all you want. Sound good?”

“Baa.” Eating was always Boss Sheep’s favorite thing.

Ten minutes later, after finally settling Boss Sheep, Xia Qing ended the call and let out a long sigh beneath her quilt. There went her prestige—completely ruined by that stubborn ram.

Back in Territory Three, a finally comforted Boss Sheep shook off the dirt and grass stuck to its wool and headed home. Guan Tong, just as filthy, couldn’t hold it in any longer. “Brother Feng… Did you hear how Qing-jie was just now…?”

The way Xia Qing had soothed Boss Sheep was a night-and-day difference from her usually frosty demeanor. Even the ever-clueless Guan Tong was lost for words at how shocked he felt.

“Yeah.” Hu Zifeng, holding the protective mask for Boss Sheep, was just as stunned.

Up until now, Hu Zifeng’s ‘pursuit’ of Xia Qing had only ever been about the task at hand. But after listening to her coax Boss Sheep, he suddenly found himself actually wanting to chase her for real.

If Xia Qing ever spoke to him the way she did to Boss Sheep, Hu Zifeng could swear on his life—he’d be even more obedient and hardworking than that stubborn ram.

The next morning at 8, Xia Qing left the hotel with the other Lords and gathered at the Mission Hall. Today’s main event: the Land Management Department was selling flour mills, rice seedlings and seeds to the Lords at special discounted prices.

Besides the flour mill, Xia Qing also bought 400 rice seedlings, two pounds of corn, 200 sunflower seeds, 150 cabbage seeds and 200 radish seeds—half green radish, half white. These were all at the maximum quota allowed for Lords by the Land Management Department.

Like Xia Qing, most Lords bought right up to the maximum. Having already seen the benefits from planting a crop once, they knew Safe Zone Planting Center’s evolved seeds were far safer; compared to their own territory’s native edible plants, the chance of those evolving aggressive Xiang traits was much lower.

And after the potato incident, these seeds had clearly been thoroughly vetted and were even safer.

The price of these yellowlight seeds and seedlings wiped Xia Qing’s points card down to zero, but she didn’t mind at all—she just couldn’t wait to get back and start planting.

Everyone also got two big buckets of upgraded insecticide and repellent for free. Xia Qing endured Jiang Quan’s flowery farewell speech as best she could, then slung her heavy bag over her shoulder, picked up a basket of saplings and rice seedlings, and left the Safe Zone amid the staff and residents’ ‘see-you-soon fanfare,’ climbing aboard the military truck.

“Damn, just so they’d look good on paper, they made us walk all this way.” As soon as he sat down, Zhao Ze, whose leg still hadn’t fully healed, couldn’t help but grumble.

“Safe Zone gave you such a big discount—what’s a little walk for the PR? They’ve had this routine planned for ages! If you didn’t want to show your face, you could’ve just stayed home.” With his sister Tang Ning nowhere in sight, Tang Huai was back to his usual snarky self. After roasting Zhao Ze, he felt better and started flipping through the rice seedlings in the basket, gamely seeking rice-planting advice from Assistant Liu of Plot Nine.

Business was business. Assistant Liu pushed up his glasses, eyes suddenly gleaming.

After the disaster, even ordinary Evolvers’ eyesight had doubled, and with everyone reading less and using electronics less, by year ten few young people still needed glasses, except for researchers who still stared at screens and books all day.

Assistant Liu smiled with professional polish, his voice even more so. “Are you interested in purchasing the Evolved Rice Cultivation Guide, Mr. Tang? The guide contains five patented technologies exclusive to us Lords. The price is 1,300 points—the same trade terms as the mung bean guide.”

Tang Huai didn’t hesitate. He pulled out his points card. “Deal.”

Wei Chengdong from Plot One signed off too, followed by the rep from Plot Twelve. Luo Pei and Tang Zhengbo never lacked money, so their buying the guide didn’t surprise Xia Qing. What caught her off guard was that even the Lord of Plot Fifteen traded for a copy without hesitation.

Plot Fifteen wasn’t in the main Lords’ group chat, so Xia Qing didn’t know much about them. But just from the way he sat and his piercing look, she knew at a glance—he had definitely been military.

From the back of the truck, Sun Zhe, Lord of Plot Forty-Four, asked, “Could I trouble you to explain how your Evolved Rice Cultivation Guide differs from the techniques in the Encyclopedia of Cultivation handed out by the Safe Zone?”

Assistant Liu pushed his glasses up again. “There are plenty of differences—the most obvious is yield. Take the h-12 evolved rice you received today: if you follow the Encyclopedia of Cultivation from the Safe Zone, and there’s no more than one hour of red-level Xiang Rain during each critical stage, you’ll get between 600 and 1,000 pounds per acre. But if you strictly follow our guide, even if you get hit with over an hour of red-level Xiang Rain, you’ll hit 1,500 pounds per acre. And if you get lucky and dodge the rain, you’ll see yields over 2,500 pounds per acre.”

The whole truck erupted.

After hearing the numbers, not just the Lords and their reps were excited—even Tan Junjie and the other officers tasked with keeping order couldn’t help but stare at Assistant Liu in his spotless white protective suit.