Chapter 208: A Black Harvest and the Taste of Relief

In mid-February, Xia Qing’s territory finally emerged from the Safe Zone. By mid-March, she discovered peanut seedlings sprouting in the highland terraced fields. From that moment on, she treated them like precious treasures and lavished all her care on them.

She poured more effort into these peanuts than the twenty-odd soybean plants on the low slope—at least several times as much. Especially once those thirty-five Greenlight peanut seedlings started to bloom, Xia Qing made sure they were watered, fertilized, loosened the soil around them, and weeded—every single day, she’d even handpick pests to feed the plants, hoping the peanuts would grow big and plentiful.

But just like the soybeans on the low slope, these peanut seedlings turned out to be a plant variety that had gone unnoticed last winter, back when the Squad was clearing out this territory.

If the soybeans were a stash of winter food hidden by small animals—abandoned only because they couldn’t chew through them and so left to sprout—then did that mean the peanuts were the same story?

That possibility left her feeling so miserable!

Xia Qing squatted in the shed for ages without moving an inch. Boss Sheep wandered in from outside, and the Sick Wolf followed, both curious about what had happened.

With a sheep and a wolf watching, Xia Qing stared fixedly at the peanuts. “Boss, Wolfie, you want to try some peanuts? What if we just pull one up for a taste?”

No use just guessing. The only way to know if they’re edible was to dig one up and try it.

Peanut plants were risky. Boss Sheep, who only eats grass, had no interest in such things; and the Sick Wolf, being a carnivore, never paid any mind to the plants Xia Qing had strictly banned him from getting near.

Even though her companions showed no enthusiasm, Xia Qing grabbed a shovel and picked out a Yellowlight peanut plant, making sure it was the furthest from the Greenlight ones, before starting to dig.

The lower leaves had already begun to yellow, so Xia Qing had planned on harvesting at the end of this month or early next month anyway. Digging one up now to test would at least let her rest easy—or be resigned, if it was bad news.

Unlike the excitement she’d felt digging up potatoes, this time she was uneasy, her movements slow. When she unearthed the peanut pods and saw they were at least as big as her thumb, she didn’t even feel the faintest bit of joy.

After carefully prodding around, Xia Qing confirmed that this peanut plant, though it had developed a bit of animal nature, only shivered slightly when its pods were touched. It didn’t lash out like the Greenlight variety, so she let out a breath and picked a single peanut pod.

There’s a classic riddle on Blue Star: “A hemp house, a red blanket, and inside live plump little fellows.” Its answer is the peanut.

Since the Great Evolution, Xia Qing had run countless gathering missions outside the Safe Zone, but not once had she managed to harvest peanuts from the Evolver Forest. So standing here, ten years later, holding a completely normal peanut pod again—the excitement in her chest threatened to boil over.

She gave the pod a squeeze. It was definitely harder than peanuts from before the Evolution, but not as tough as those Iron Soybean pods, and she could crack it open with her hands. That made her even more thrilled.

Still playing it safe, Xia Qing grabbed a knife to open the shell.

But when she split it open, her thumping heart plummeted.

Inside the evolved hemp house sat two peanuts—not dressed in red, but in black.

Their shells weren’t just any black—they were just a shade lighter than the Black-feathered Rooster’s feathers. That rooster was pure, gleaming black; these peanuts were a moist purple-black.

Moist or not, they were still black. Tears welled up in Xia Qing’s eyes.

Boss Sheep, oblivious to Xia Qing’s tangled feelings, bent down to sniff the peanut shell, then swallowed it in one bite. He nudged Xia Qing with his big spiral-horned head, urging her to dig up more.

But there was no way she’d dig up another.

She realized that even though these two peanuts looked odd, the kernels inside were actually white and firm enough. She quickly buried the plant again so the Yellowlight peanut could keep growing.

Back at home, Xia Qing used the Yi Element Tester to check the peanut’s elemental content.

Just as with previous Yellowlight peanut plants: the Yi element was at 0.08%, the Xiang (Life Drain) element at 0.8%, and all other hazardous materials were low. It met the safe standards for edible plants.

Sure, they were black, but they weren’t poisonous. Xia Qing’s worry finally eased. She popped the remaining peanut into her mouth to try.

It was a Yellowlight peanut, a little hard, but it had a sweet edge beneath the astringency. The taste actually wasn’t bad. Feeling completely reassured now, Xia Qing headed down to the underground storage to install interior wall panels she’d hauled over from Territory Seven.

Putting up those panels was meticulous work. Xia Qing spent five days finishing the installation. Once complete, the two storage rooms became the most secure and hidden places in the territory.

She stored the grenade launcher, its shells, and all her ammo in the food storage under the tool shed, since the temperature and humidity for weapons and wheat were about the same. Keeping her heat weapons there would extend their lifespan.

As for the abandoned village’s cellar, with no temperature or humidity control devices, no Yi Stones, and no interior wall panels—though it had a vent fan—conditions still fell short. Xia Qing wondered how other territories’ cellars were holding up.

“Qi, Xia Qing, you two there? How’s your cellar situation?” Just as Xia Qing was pondering about everyone else, Shi Chong’s voice came through the walkie-talkie.

Xia Qing pressed the talk button. “Uncle Shi, I’m here to check the cellar myself. Mine’s at sixty percent humidity and twenty-four degrees.”

Qi Fu answered, “I checked this morning—much the same as Xia Qing. Not good enough, though.”

Shi Chong added, sounding troubled, “If our cellars can’t keep things fresh, we’ll need another plan.”

If food couldn’t be stored in the territory, they’d have to sell it or spend points to store it in the Safe Zone’s warehouse. Neither option was popular with the lords.

Xia Qing could sense their anxiety loud and clear, but she kept quiet. No way was she going to help ease their worries by exposing the food storage she’d built at great cost in her own territory.

Suddenly, the crisp voice of Zhu Li, Kuang Qingwei’s wife from Territory Six, rang out in the Lord’s Channel. “Time to make dinner again. What’s everyone having tonight? Honestly, if our grain and potatoes won’t last, we’re better off just eating them now.”

Yuan Yan, Qi Fu’s wife, chimed in too. “With so many mouths to feed, we can’t just dig into our supplies. We’re having vegetable porridge tonight. Xia Qing, Aunt Shi—what about you two?”

Shi’s mother replied with a cheerful grin, “We’re having pumpkin dumplings tonight.”

Ever since the pumpkin vines got under control, everyone’s been harvesting more pumpkins, and they’ve become a regular on the lords’ tables.

Just hearing about pumpkin dumplings made Xia Qing’s stomach rumble. “I haven’t decided yet, Aunt Shi. How do you season pumpkin filling?”

Shi’s mother explained all the details to Xia Qing: “Wash the pumpkin first, then use a grater if you have one to shred it. If not, slice it into two-millimeter slices, then cut into strips, then dice. Sprinkle with salt to draw out the moisture, then squeeze dry, chop up a few scallions, and season with pepper oil, salt, soy sauce, and a dash of sesame oil. Then you can wrap them up in dough.”

“Got it, thanks Aunt Shi.” Xia Qing thanked her, deciding that pumpkin dumplings were going to be dinner tonight.

But hers wouldn’t be pumpkin and scallion—she was planning on pumpkin and pork instead.