Chapter 117: Stolen Harvests and Summer Delights

It didn’t take long for Xia Qing to figure out what the squirrel was doing in the bird’s nest. The little thief hugged a huge wad of redlight tobacco fiber in its tiny arms, then darted away in a flash.

That redlight tobacco fiber had cost her yellowlight mung beans in trade. With just one trip, this guy stole the equivalent of dozens of yellowlight mung beans—way worse than snatching a few stray wheat grains.

Catch it? Way too fast, there’s no chance.

Shoot it? With her marksmanship, she couldn’t hit something moving that fast. And even if she could, that squirrel was nowhere near worth a bullet.

“Fine, take it,” she consoled herself, “can’t blame a cute face.” Biting into a tomato, Xia Qing kept chatting with Boss Sheep. “The alfalfa and perilla are both flowering. They stink right now, but once they seed, we can plant more. Then you can eat as much as you want, Boss.”

Boss Sheep seemed in good spirits and let out a satisfied “baa.”

Xia Qing let her eyes wander over the sea of cotton blossoms before turning her complaints to the pumpkin patch. “I’ve been taking care of you for four months, your vines crawling everywhere—and you still won’t flower, let alone grow pumpkins. What’s the point in keeping you around?”

Back in June, Xia Qing had sworn that if the pumpkins didn’t flower by the next month, she’d pull them up and feed them to Boss Sheep. Now it was mid-July, and those pumpkins were still going wild without a single flower. But even so, Xia Qing couldn’t bring herself to rip them up just yet.

Seriously…

Fueled by frustration over the impossible-to-catch evolved squirrel thief, Xia Qing stood up and marched straight toward the pumpkin patch, looking like she meant business. Boss Sheep, seeing her determined expression, thought something major had happened and followed close behind, just as fierce.

Xia Qing waved him off. “No need to come, Boss. You’re the pillar of our territory—save your strength for the big stuff. Go catch some bugs for the fish, when they’re fed I’ll whip up something tasty just for you.”

She tucked a small packet of compressed rations into the little pouch around Boss Sheep’s neck and gave his head a gentle rub, coaxing him in a soft voice. “You’re not the type to stomp every bug to mush, are you, Boss?”

Of course not. Boss Sheep shot Xia Qing a disdainful look, grabbed his basket, and strutted off, full of swagger.

With such a big buffer forest, a single stroll was sure to turn up a few evolved beetles, crickets, centipedes, grasshoppers or even snakes. Boss Sheep could easily nab a handful and chuck them into the fishpond—plenty of food for the precious yellowlight and greenlight fish.

Among all the evolved animals in Territory Three, Boss Sheep was by far the most cooperative. Feeling a little better, Xia Qing grabbed her knife and made straight for the yellowlight pumpkin patch.

The potatoes had flowered. The perilla had flowered. The alfalfa had flowered. Even the peanuts had flowered, with bugs munching several baskets full by now. Yet the pumpkins—after feasting on so much fertilizer, even at the cost of Boss Sheep wrecking a water pedal-bike to water them—still refused to bloom.

Why keep them if they won’t flower? For their leaves? She had tens of thousands of acres of territory and forest—she wasn’t lacking for leaves to look at.

She passed through potato fields already past their prime, then fields where sweet potatoes were sprouting, and finally stopped at the pumpkin patch, where every leaf was bigger than Boss Sheep’s head. Picking out the tender shoots and leaves, she hacked away, filling a basket with the freshest greens.

After gutting the pumpkin vines, Xia Qing felt much better. She carried her basket of shoots and leaves home to cook.

Today, Xia Qing wanted to eat something different.

She started by soaking several pounds of wheat and mung beans in spring water, then pulled out the flour mill she’d traded for in the Safe Zone and set it up.

The past few days had been sunny, and her five solar panels were generating more power than she could use. The batteries were fully charged, easily running the flour mill that could grind up to five pounds of flour at once.

Once the wheat and mung beans were soaked, she fished them out and loaded them into the machine. With the timer and speed set according to the manual, the mill’s six blades spun at high speed. After grinding, Xia Qing sifted the flour with a fine mesh sieve, dumping the leftover husks—the bran—into Boss Sheep’s food bowl.

Next, she sealed up half the flour for storage and mixed the rest with mountain spring water. After kneading, she rolled the dough out using her homemade rolling pin and board, cutting it into noodles. She blanched some beans, shredded a cucumber, and heated oil with a few peppercorns, pouring the fragrant oil over some salted water.

Once the noodles were cooked, she topped them with the blanched beans and raw cucumber strips, then drizzled over the peppercorn saltwater, sesame oil, and vinegar. A bowl of chilled mixed noodles was done.

This noodle recipe was actually shared today in the Lords’ Group by Qi Fu’s wife Yuan Yan. Who would’ve thought mixing mung bean and wheat flour for noodles, plus fresh beans and cucumber, would taste so good?

And she wasn’t the only one enjoying mixed noodles for lunch. Kuang Qingwei was all praise, while Shi Chong shared in the chat, “It’s a pity we don’t have any peanuts—otherwise, we could roast them, smash them in the mill, and make some peanut sauce for the noodles. That would hit the spot.”

Tang Huai was eating noodles for lunch too. “Add some white sesame to the peanuts for grinding, that’s the real deal. Hey, Madman, aren’t there peanuts in Plot One? Almost ready to eat, right?”

Before Hu Zifeng could reply, Zhang San lazily chimed in, “I’ve already reserved all the peanuts from Plot One.”

Tang Huai quickly explained, “I remember, Third Brother did reserve the peanuts from Plot One. Just reminding you so Hu Zifeng doesn’t get too wrapped up with the kittens and forget what you asked.”

Everyone else could only sigh…

With Hu Zifeng absent, Xia Qing guessed he was probably cuddling with kittens somewhere. Her heart ached a little.

Luo Pei took over, “Plot One’s peanuts are already flowering. Once they’re ripe, we’ll send them straight to Third Brother.”

Third Brother appeared. As Xia Qing counted to three, Li Si logged on as well. “How many peanuts did you reserve, Third Brother? If there are any left, can I trade for some?”

Zhang San was having none of it. “I’ve reserved them all.”

“Alright,” Li Si replied, cool as ever.

Luo Pei explained gently, “Third Brother reserved first, that’s true. But Azure Dragon Unit planted some extra peanuts. We can trade, Fourth Sister, just let me know how much you want.”

As expected, Li Si declined, “I’ll trade when I actually need them.”

Li Si was always after original crops from every surrounding territory, never hiding her goals. After such a long time, no one knew what she’d managed to discover from her testing.

Hearing hoofbeats, Xia Qing put down her noodle bowl and brought Boss Sheep’s food bowl to his little table. “Here’s your special: pumpkin leaves and wheat-mung bean bran—only missing your rations, Boss.”

Outside, Boss Sheep set down his basket, rinsed his hooves in the water basin, then stamped them dry on the straw mat nearby—all the while eyeing Xia Qing with a squint.

Xia Qing unleashed a torrent of compliments. “You’re amazing, Boss! Not just bug-catching and fish-feeding, but you even keep clean—washing your hooves the moment you get home. The legend of clean evolved sheep on Blue Star starts with you, Boss…”

Boss Sheep looked very pleased, used his head to nudge open the screen door, and came inside. Xia Qing dug the rations from his pouch, tore them open, and crumbled them into his meal. “You’ve worked hard today—enjoy your food, Boss.”

The feed was different today. Boss Sheep sniffed it, eyes narrowing dangerously, and started pawing at the ground.

“Pumpkin vines not to your taste? I guess you’ve had too much greenlight grass and now you’re picky about yellowlight.” Xia Qing headed to the kitchen, chopped up a yellowlight cucumber and some beans, and tossed them into Boss Sheep’s bowl, coaxing him. “Those pumpkin vines were getting out of hand and still not blooming, so I cut a few for you. Let them know only leaves but no flowers equals a trip to your bowl! Make sure you finish up, Boss. Show those unruly pumpkins who calls the shots here! No flowers, no future—just a one-way ticket to snack time!”

Boss Sheep sniffed and began to eat. The cucumber and beans vanished quickly, but as for the stubborn pumpkin vines, he only picked at the tenderest tips before losing interest.