Chapter 295: Breakfast, Harvest, and Trouble at the Greenhouse

With both enhanced hearing and vision, Xia Qing quickly tracked down the culprit tearing holes in the greenhouse’s insect net—a massive evolved cricket hiding beneath the leaves, snacking on her green radishes.

“Chrk—”

As Xia Qing brought down the flat side of her blade, she smashed the palm-sized cricket. Its razor-sharp teeth scraped against the blade with a distinct, grating sound.

After dealing with the cricket, she yanked up the nearly hollowed-out radish and felt her heart ache—it was almost a total loss.

This radish was thicker than her arm. Another two weeks and she could’ve harvested it!

She surveyed the area thoroughly, making sure no other insects had snuck in to devastate her crops. Then Xia Qing replaced the busted greenhouse frame, patched up the insect net and the rain cover, and decided to give the greenhouse perimeter a fresh round of pesticide and insect repellent.

The thunderstorm last night had weakened the treatments she applied two days ago. She’d need to reapply fast, or she’d be patching more holes on the roof soon.

With the radish and the cricket in hand, Xia Qing stepped out of the greenhouse. She spotted Old Goat, who was trotting over with a basket in its mouth. Xia Qing chucked the cricket into the little basket and bargained, “Old Goat, you see this? The cricket wrecked one of our radishes. How about you eat radish for breakfast today? This one’s super juicy, you’ll love it.”

Old Goat stayed silent, squinting at Xia Qing. It started to paw the dirt, clearly getting ready for a stand-off.

“Fine, you eat corn and I’ll have radish. Let’s grab some corn.” Xia Qing tossed the radish into her own basket and led Old Goat down the path. She checked the other greenhouses one by one, then finally entered the corn greenhouse. Under Old Goat’s eager stare, she pulled up two corn stalks. One was a bare stem from where she already harvested last night; the other had two ears—one big, one small.

She snapped off the big ear of corn, stuffed it into her pack, and handed the rest to Old Goat to take home. “Take that back and feed the fish, Old Goat. I’ll spray the treatments and cook for you when I’m done.”

Xia Qing worked fast. She finished treating all seven greenhouses before seven in the morning.

Back home, Xia Qing chopped up corn stalks and the stunted ear, tossed in a bit of compressed ration, and whipped up a hearty breakfast for Old Goat.

As for the big, perfect ear of corn? That was for Xia Qing herself. Just as she was sealing it up to stash in the fridge, Old Goat’s huge head poked over, clearly interested.

“You want corn kernels again? You had half a bowl last night,” Xia Qing nudged Old Goat’s head away, but peeled twenty kernels and dropped them in his dish anyway. Then she gave a stern warning, “The book says you’re a herbivore. Too much corn is bad for your stomach. This one’s mine—what’s in your bowl is yours.”

Old Goat stared at the corn a moment longer, squinting, then lowered his head and dug in.

Since she’d already started, Xia Qing peeled off another handful of sweet young kernels before sealing up the rest of the ear and popping it in the freezer.

She tossed the fresh kernels and some rice into a pot for porridge. She sliced up the edible part of the rescued radish for a cold salad with a few pieces of jerky—that was breakfast.

Gazing at her almost-empty rice sack, Xia Qing let out a sigh.

There was barely enough rice left for two or three more meals. A few days ago, she’d messaged Zhong Tao, hoping to trade for more edible rice, but he was out too.

The Safe Zone’s planting center didn’t sell rice to outsiders. What Xia Qing ate was military ‘welfare’—rations meant for soldiers.

The army had heavy responsibilities and high casualty rates, but the perks were good. They distributed staple food monthly. Soldiers without families traded their surplus for things they needed, and that’s how Zhong Tao had gotten his rice.

Rice was in huge demand. Xia Qing had managed to buy some twice in half a year and felt pretty lucky. If she couldn’t get more, she still had wheat, mung beans, potatoes, and chestnuts in storage.

Come next spring, she’d plant the Green Lantern rice seeds harvested soon—plus those forty pounds of high-grade Yellow Lantern seeds she just received. By June, she’d finally get to feast on her own premium rice.

Those better days were just within reach.

“Cluck cluck, cluck-cluck!”

Hearing the hens crow, Xia Qing’s eyes lit up. She rushed outside the chicken house and peered through the window to spot a newly-laid hen squawking proudly as it hopped off the nest.

Another hen was still nested nearby, probably laying too.

Which meant, today she’d collect two fresh and tasty eggs!

Standing by the chicken house, Xia Qing spun around in delight—then circled the chicken coop and yard, making certain none of the neighborhood animals would steal away such precious food.

While Xia Qing hustled in the yard, Old Goat finished its greens in the house and flopped down on the tatami, eyeing the bubbling porridge pot in the kitchen.

But when Xia Qing returned, she gulped down every last drop of porridge herself, leaving none for Old Goat. His eyes narrowed even more.

Xia Qing, oblivious to her companion’s mood, happily shared the news of the fresh eggs. Then she packed up her supplies and headed off to the Northern Barrier to wait for the Inspection Team.

Once Xia Qing was gone, Old Goat clip-clopped up to the second floor and stared at the locked fridge. After confirming he couldn’t open it, he wandered outside to graze.

When the Inspection Team passed by, Xia Qing asked them to deliver her trade items to Xin Yu and handed Tan Junjie two sturdy Yellow Lantern Fish as a quiet favor, murmuring, “Captain Tan, what’s up with those two from the Jiang Xiong Squad?”

Tan Junjie replied, “This is the most serious and egregious case of territorial invasion since the territory policy began here at Hui Three Base. The base chief issued a personal order for the Territory Management Department to punish them severely. The patrol car will soon escort both offenders back to the Safe Zone for trial, and the rest of Jiang Xiong Squad will return for further investigation.”

Hearing that the Jiang Xiong Squad would be made an example of, Xia Qing was thrilled. With them gone, and their evolved dogs out of the picture, the wolf packs would be safe.

After the briefing, Tan Junjie added, “Staff from the management department will come ask you about the incident. Just tell them exactly what happened. It’s almost autumn harvest, so the Territory Management Department won’t take up much of your time.”

“Understood.” Xia Qing knew exactly what ‘tell the truth’ meant this time.

Since the disaster, Hui Three Base’s average winter temperature had dropped by about ten degrees and winter arrived earlier. That’s why the agricultural broadcast kept emphasizing that the autumn harvest had been moved up ten days, now falling from late October to mid-November.

After the autumn harvest, territory holders had to fertilize, irrigate, turn the soil, then sow winter wheat, rapeseed and other crops. All this had to wrap up before the end of November. Any later, and seeds wouldn’t sprout before the cold wave—they’d freeze to death.

So, Xia Qing would be run off her feet in the weeks ahead. She asked, “Will there be a fall agricultural trade fair soon?”

She hoped to collect the half-pound of rapeseed awarded by the territory management soon and plant it before November ended.

Tan Junjie shook his head. “No word on that yet.”

Su Ming piped up curiously, “Qing, I heard Captain Yan was fishing in your reservoir last night?”

Everyone but Tan Junjie from the Inspection Team crowded around, eyes wide, waiting for Xia Qing’s answer.