Chapter 29: A New Neighbor, A Familiar Face

Even though a 60% germination rate was still far from the 97%+ of pre-calamity seeds, Xia Qing couldn’t help but feel ecstatic about it.

But after years of living through the disaster, Xia Qing quickly regained her composure.

Besides the spring on her own territory, there were already four unpolluted springs officially recognized within Hui San Base. Soaking seeds in spring water to boost germination rates was such a simple trick—someone else must’ve caught on ages ago.

The reason it hadn’t been publicized was probably that the spring water was just too scarce. Or maybe crops started from seeds soaked in the spring water didn’t perform well against the Xiang Rain later on.

As a newbie farmer who barely knew what she was doing, Xia Qing figured she’d better keep a low profile and stay calm. She took a deep breath, but she couldn’t hide the smile on her lips as she jogged back home to check on her small potatoes.

For some reason, the potatoes she’d left to sit as per the radio’s instructions still hadn’t sprouted eyes. Xia Qing was getting impatient and wished she could soak the whole batch in spring water overnight and just get them to sprout already—then she could finally plant them.

That evening, Xia Qing opened the private chat channel for lords, planning to hear how everyone else’s seeds were doing. Instead, she heard a very familiar voice chime in.

“I’m Luo Pei, the new lord of Plot One. Nice to meet everyone.”

Xia Qing shot upright. Luo Pei?!

“Bang!”

Startled, Xia Qing used a little too much force petting Boss Sheep and promptly got kicked off the tatami by its two hooves. Now she was more than just surprised—her leg was throbbing. Ignoring Boss Sheep for now, Xia Qing quickly pressed the walkie-talkie button. “Captain Luo! This is Xia Qing, Strength Evolver and lord of Plot Three. I used to do missions with your unit.”

Hearing Xia Qing call Luo Pei ‘Captain,’ the other lords of Plot Four, Five, and Six snapped out of their shock and quickly introduced themselves as well.

Just moments ago, they all figured it just had to be someone with the same name. Never in a million years did they expect it to be Luo Pei himself—third-ranked expert of the Azure Dragon Unit and the legendary sharpshooter with tenfold vision—coming here to farm!

Luo Pei’s calm voice came over the line again. “Hello to you all. It’s been a long time, Xia Qing. My vision’s been damaged, so I’m no longer captain of the Azure Dragon Unit. No need for titles—just call me by my name.”

At thirty-four, Luo Pei was nine years older than Xia Qing, so calling him by name didn’t feel right. Xia Qing switched to ‘Brother Luo’ instead, and the other three followed suit.

In this world, strength was everything. Age didn’t even matter. If Xia Qing called him ‘Uncle Luo’ instead, they’d all have gone along with it, too.

Finally, Zhang San spoke up, slow as ever. “I’m Zhang San, Plot Seven.”

“Tang Huai, Plot Two,” Tang Huai added last.

Luo Pei’s voice now carried a hint of a smile. “Pleasure to meet you. Have you all planted your seeds? Any signs of sprouting? Anything noteworthy so far?”

Xia Qing could tell Luo Pei didn’t want to be in the spotlight, so she quickly pressed the button and gave a detailed rundown. “Plot Three is all planted and already sprouting; germination rate is around 40%. Watch out for birds and mice. In my experience, the best way to keep birds away without hurting seedlings is to spray a mixture of one part evolved camphor leaf juice to nine parts water. As for mice, find them and wipe them out completely.”

With Luo Pei here, Xia Qing ended up talking more in one go than she had all week. The other lords could really feel just how much she respected Luo Pei.

Qi Fu from Plot Five spoke up too. “My germination rate’s about the same as Xia Qing’s. If I can keep these sprouts alive, this year’s harvest is pretty much set.”

“Problem is, we might get Xiang Rain again in two months. If we can survive that, then we’ll talk about harvests,” Zhao Ze chimed in, sounding troubled. Then came Kuang Qingwei’s long list of complaints, with Luo Pei occasionally offering a quiet reply.

When the private chat ended and she’d put away the walkie-talkie, Xia Qing lay staring up at her smoke-blackened ceiling from her bamboo bed, silent for a long time.

Her odd behavior caught the attention of Boss Sheep, who paused his cud-chewing and watched her for a while. Then he circled the fire, hopped onto Xia Qing’s bed—and the next thing she heard was the bamboo creaking in protest before collapsing under his weight.

Boss Sheep quickly hopped off. Now on the floor for the second time tonight, Xia Qing let out a sigh and thanked him earnestly. “Boss, thanks for dropping by to comfort me in your own way.”

Boss Sheep, eyes still half-closed, seemed quite pleased with Xia Qing’s attitude. After shaking out his fleece, he returned to his grass mat to sleep. Xia Qing got up, took apart the broken bed frame, and set the boards directly on the floor, then grabbed her phone from the nightstand.

Because Luo Pei’s vision was damaged, Xia Qing decided to just call him directly. She’d spent enough time on missions with his unit to have his number, and she knew he was carrying a satellite phone.

The call connected quickly. Xia Qing wasted no time. “Brother Luo, it’s Xia Qing—this is my current phone number. I have safe food—evolved perilla and Chinese toon shoots—grown on my land. I’ll have the Inspection Team bring you some tomorrow morning, all right?”

Luo Pei’s voice was light and almost playful—so different from his strict demeanor before, he’d practically turned into a different person. “Thanks. If anything good grows here, I’ll be sure to send you some to try, too. I never thought we’d end up neighbors after leaving the Safe Zone. Once I’ve settled in, you have to visit.”

Although Xia Qing often accompanied his unit on missions, she only handled logistics and rarely got to talk to Luo Pei directly. After exchanging a few polite words, she hung up, climbed into bed, and chatted idly with Boss Sheep. “Boss, we’ve got a great neighbor now. I feel safer already. But how did Captain Luo get hurt? How bad must his injury be for him to leave the Safe Zone? And how did Yang Jin and the others ever agree to it?”

Obviously, Boss Sheep didn’t have any answers. Xia Qing finally grew tired, yawned, and closed her eyes, falling asleep to the steady rhythm of his chewing.

The next morning, Xia Qing was already waiting at the northern Barrier of her New Territory. She first reported that all was well to Captain Tan, then handed the basket to her team’s resident social expert, Su Ming. “Please deliver this to Plot One.”

Su Ming took the basket with a grin. “Qing-jie, your basket weaving skills just keep getting better. You’ve even made a lid this time!”

Xia Qing smiled. “Practice makes perfect.”

Once they’d walked some distance, Xia Qing overheard the keen-nosed Evolver Yuan Rui whisper, “Smells like there’re toon shoots in this basket.”

“Well, duh. The scent is so strong even I can tell,” Su Ming said longingly. “Qing-jie and Brother Luo get along really well. Do you think she might like him?!”

“Idiot,” Cao Xianyun snapped at him. “Qing-jie told us she got Plot Three by joining the unit that cleared this area. You remember which unit handled Evolver Forest clean-up last year?”

“Brother Luo’s unit did,” Huzi answered for Su Ming. “So of course Qing-jie met him through working together. That’s normal.”

“You guys have rocks for brains!” Su Ming shot back, frustrated. “With so many units in the base, why did Qing-jie only pick Brother Luo’s? It’s obvious she likes him! Yeah, he’s a bit older, but he’s good-looking, right? Not to mention strong, still single—”

“Su Ming.” Tan Junjie’s voice was stern.

“Yes, sir.”

“When we get back, fifty laps and double training for you.”

And with that, Xia Qing grinned in satisfaction at the sound of Su Ming’s groan in the distance.