Chapter 293: Campfire Feast at Territory Two

Xia Qing crouched nearby, washing vegetables, her ears practically perked as she listened intently to Tang Huai explaining the recipe. She almost wished she could whip out her phone and start recording.

Tang Huai looked up and caught sight of Xia Qing’s face, half-lit by the firelight. He froze, a little dazed.

Beside them, Hu Zifeng’s expression darkened as he finished whittling a stick. He shoved it under Tang Huai’s nose and asked in a gruff tone, “You planning to skewer the eggplant with this?”

Snapping back to himself, Tang Huai shot Hu Zifeng a look of disdain. “Are you dumb? That’s for skewering fish. You need something half as thin for veggies. Xia Qing, Brother Ya, either of you handle spicy food?”

Without pausing her vegetable washing or note-taking, Xia Qing answered, “Yeah, I can.”

Da Ya, having just finished cleaning the fish, dried his hands by the fire and chimed in cheerfully, “As long as it’s not mouth-numbing spicy, I’m good.”

“Splash—”

Hearing movement from the water, Xia Qing only turned to look at the reservoir after Tang Huai glanced over. Soon enough, Yan Long emerged from the darkness, hauling up two evolved yellow eels, each over two meters long and miraculously not electrocuted.

The main light over the reservoir had already gone out. Bathed in the glow of the crab-steaming and fish-roasting fires, Yan Long strode out of the pitch-black water, gripping the writhing eels. It was like watching a deadly, bloodthirsty weapon come to life. The sight was so intense Xia Qing nearly screamed.

After handing the two eels to Da Ya, Yan Long pulled off her goggles and diving cap, looking like she was done with the water for tonight. Xia Qing eagerly waved her over. “Yan-jie, the water must be freezing! Come and warm up by the fire!”

She wanted a closer look at this sharp-as-a-blade and undeniably cool high-level evolved! Up close!

“Crabs are done!”

As Tang Huai lifted the lid, Yan Long, now sitting next to Xia Qing, turned her gaze toward the steaming crabs. For once, she gave a rare compliment. “Smells pretty good.”

Having his cooking recognized by someone with Level 9 Scent Evolution made Tang Huai positively beam.

He grabbed the scissors and started snipping off the crab legs and claws, arranging them on a stone that doubled as their table. “After evolving, crab claws and legs hold even more cold. You’ve got to dip them in baijiu to eat. Give me a second, you and Xia Qing just wait for a bit.”

With practiced, quick movements, Tang Huai snipped open the crab’s shell, pulled off the back, then carefully removed the heart, gills, mouth, stomach, lungs—everything inedible. With a final slice, he split the crab in two and handed half each to Xia Qing and Yan Long. “Go ahead, eat up.”

Then he just as neatly dealt with the second crab, splitting it so Da Ya and he each got a half.

And Hu Zifeng? Sorry—only two crabs tonight. No share for him. He’d have to make do with gnawing a claw.

Hu Zifeng shot Tang Huai a glare but didn’t bother arguing.

The crab roe and meat from the Green Lantern evolved crabs were absolutely delicious. Xia Qing kept her head down, savoring every bite, while Tang Huai handed over a few skewers of roasted vegetables for her and Yan Long. “Try these with the crab—it’s even better.”

With that, Tang Huai took a crab leg in his mouth and went off to tend the roasting fish. Xia Qing couldn’t help but notice he seemed so much more agreeable outside of Territory Two.

Xia Qing bit into a barbecue-seasoned string bean and felt almost transcendent. So good she didn’t even want to speak.

She’d always thought Tang Huai was a bit of a blockhead, but never expected him to have real cooking chops.

When Tang Huai brought over fragrant grilled fish for everyone and grinned as he suggested Xia Qing pick a corn cob to use as a main dish for roasting, she agreed right away. Clutching a skewer of eggplant, she dashed to the corn greenhouse and came back with five Yellow Lantern corns.

One for everyone—no need to fight over it.

Hu Zifeng beat Tang Huai to it, taking the corn. “I’ll grill them.”

Tang Huai snorted. “You sure you know how? Xia Qing worked her tail off growing these—don’t burn them.”

Hu Zifeng glared back. “If you know so much, you do it!”

Tang Huai just grinned. “I’m busy. No time.”

Then what’s your problem? Hu Zifeng had no interest in bickering with Tang Huai and got to grilling the corn.

Roasting corn was pretty simple—just skewer it on a stick, hold it over the fire, and turn it now and then. Once the husk was blackened, peel it off, dry the excess moisture, and it was ready to eat.

By the time everyone finished off the fish and veggies, the corn was just perfectly cooked. Xia Qing hadn’t even brushed on any seasoning, but one bite filled her mouth with pure corn sweetness.

Everyone ate until they were completely satisfied. Afterward, the five of them lingered by the campfire, savoring the meal a little longer before finally packing up and heading back to their homes.

Hu Zifeng and Tang Huai helped the two folks from Territory Seven carry their freezer home. Xia Qing packed her eight frozen edible fish into a bag to stow in her fridge for continued cold storage. Once done, she went out to reset all the sound traps around her territory before heading home to sleep.

With the wolf pack gone, Old Goat took it upon himself to handle night patrols. Even with night vision goggles, he was, after all, still a sheep—and a strikingly white one at that. Xia Qing couldn’t rely on him alone, so she started setting up more traps.

Of course, traps alone wouldn’t cut it forever. Luckily, a single lightning strike had cleared all the fish out of Section Three’s reservoir, netting Xia Qing over 109,000 points. She planned to use that windfall to upgrade her territory’s defenses.

With this chunk of legitimate income, she could finally afford cameras and a fence for her territory. Once those were up, her home would be a lot more secure.

Another upside to spending this unexpected fortune in plain view—no need to worry about thieves eyeing her stash. Xia Qing yawned, closed her eyes, and was out like a light.

Back in Territory Two, Tang Huai lay in bed, still replaying memories of gathering fish and grilling food. “The food was great and all, but it was the relaxed feeling… Like going back ten years. Plus, there was—”

Across the room, Tang Heng asked from his own bed, “What?”

“Nothing. Get some sleep.” Tang Huai faked a yawn, rolling over to stare at the white wall.

And there was something more: Xia Qing’s skin had lost a lot of that reddish tint. Up close, Tang Huai noticed her eyelashes were really long, her eyes bright and clear. When you looked closer, she was honestly quite pretty.

Too bad her taste was questionable. How did she end up liking Hu Zifeng? Like throwing a fresh rose onto a cow pie.

Over in Section Four, Zhao Ze and his mother were huddled together, bawling.

All the farming these past six months, and nothing had gone their way. Every natural disaster cost them dearly. Zhao Ze even had his leg broken and had spent months recovering. One relative got dragged off to forced labor for meddling with Xia Qing, not to mention several workers had died. The second crop in their greenhouse produced less than a third of what they hoped. After autumn harvest and paying wages, they couldn’t even afford enough seeds and fertilizer for the next planting.

No fertilizer, sickly crops. Sickly crops, no harvest. No harvest, empty stomachs. It was a curse of a cycle with no end in sight.

Then, just as Zhao Ze was ready to give up, fate gave them a lifeline. A lightning bolt struck Section Three’s reservoir, electrocuting a ton of fish. The river running through Zhao Ze’s territory connected to Xia Qing’s, and the current sent plenty of dead fish floating his way. All told, after an hour of frantic collecting, Zhao Ze’s people fished up 526 jin of fish, shrimp, and crabs. Only about six jin were actually edible, but quantity was on their side!

Zhao Ze sold the haul to Territory One at 23 points a jin. Suddenly, they had point income. Not only could Zhao Ze afford to buy seeds and fertilizer for the next crop—he could finally get some warm supplies for winter too.

Wiping his nose and eyes, Zhao Ze choked out, “I knew when I lined up for a territory that Xia Qing had what it takes. Following her’s always been the right choice. See? Our good days are finally here.”

His mother dabbed away her tears. “Qi Fu was right. Hard work pays off. You’re just too lazy, always treating the fields like those construction jobs you used to do—good enough is never good enough. That’s why we always end up in trouble. I’ll take charge of the next crop myself.”

Zhao Ze could only stare…