Chapter 31: The Waterwheel Exchange and Spring’s Hidden Gifts

Steady, rhythmic footsteps echoed—Xia Qing could tell it was Tan Junjie. It wasn’t patrol time for checking dangers, so he had to be here alone.

He must be looking for her, probably for Chinese toon shoots. Xia Qing peeled off her mud-streaked gloves and pulled out her phone.

Sure enough, Tan Junjie stopped at the buffer zone north of Territory Three in the New Lands and called her. “Xia Qing, is now a good time? I’d like to trade for some Chinese toon shoots and perilla.”

After Xia Qing gave Chinese toon shoots to Luo Pei, she’d been waiting for someone to offer supplies in exchange—but five days passed and no one came. She almost wondered if they didn’t need safe vegetables anymore.

Xia Qing gave a faint smile. “Sure. How much does Captain Tan want, and what will you trade?”

Tan Junjie didn’t hesitate. “What do you want?”

Such confidence—could she really ask for anything? Xia Qing spoke up with what she wanted most at the moment. “I’d like a water pump to draw reservoir water for irrigation.”

Tan Junjie paused, then suggested, “Water pumps run on either gas or electricity—that’d be tough for you. How about I have someone make you a manual waterwheel?”

She pictured those tall, round waterwheels from the history books—wouldn’t evolved insects chew through it? Xia Qing hesitated, then asked, “Could it run on sheep power?”

Tan Junjie paused a good while before replying, “I’ll go check on that.”

That afternoon, Xia Qing got a call back from Tan Junjie. “Sheep-powered’s doable, but your sheep’s too strong—none of our parts could handle the strain. If it’s manual, though, with your strength, you’d have no problem at all.”

The idea of something that needs no electricity or gas was too tempting. “Manual it is then. Thank you, Captain Tan. What do you want in exchange?”

Tan Junjie suggested, “How about a manual waterwheel for four jin of Chinese toon shoots and two jin of perilla?”

That was much cheaper than Xia Qing expected. “Deal. Just one favor, Captain Tan—please keep it quiet. I don’t want word getting out that I have edible Chinese toon shoots in my territory.”

Tan Junjie agreed right away. “Of course. I hope we’ll get more chances to trade safe food in the future. It’ll take a few days for the parts to arrive from the Safe Zone—I’ll reach out when they do.”

Xia Qing asked, “Will Zhong Tao and the others deliver it?”

“Yes, the roads are clearing up. If you need any other supplies, just let Zhong Tao know and he’ll bring them.”

After the call, Xia Qing didn’t reach out to Zhong Tao. She didn’t have any points left on her card, nor did she have much to trade. She’d already swapped a protective suit with Tang Huai, so for the next three months, she didn’t want to use perilla for more trades. As for Chinese toon shoots, at the moment, she only wanted to exchange those with Tan Junjie and Luo Pei.

Unfortunately, Luo Pei wasn’t interested in Chinese toon shoots. The more Xia Qing thought about it, the more sense it made—wounded or not, Luo Pei used to be the third-ranked strength at Team Qinglong. He’d never have a shortage of supplies, and a few clusters of toon shoots weren’t enough to catch his eye.

Xia Qing tucked away her phone and dropped the thought. She made her way down the terraced fields, searching bit by bit. Spring was the season for new life—maybe she’d find something unexpected.

By midday, she really did stumble upon a surprise.

Xia Qing took out her phone and compared plant photos from the ‘Encyclopedia of Cultivation.’ In a narrow little terrace, she found tiny sprouts only two or three centimeters tall and finally confirmed what they were.

Peanuts!

She grabbed her portable tester. The test showed this six or seven square meter terrace was full of them—every single one was a yellow-light peanut. Her hands shook with excitement.

So this is what peanut seedlings look like—they’re beautiful!

Good thing the spot was hidden, the slope steep, and the sprouts yellow-light. Otherwise, those peanut-green sprouts—prettier than succulents—would’ve been devoured by Boss Sheep ages ago.

The ‘Encyclopedia of Cultivation’ mentioned that dense peanut sprouts wouldn’t grow well; they need to be thinned out and transplanted.

So Xia Qing picked two equally steep terraces lower down and got to work—pulling weeds, tilling, replanting, watering. She didn’t stop until dusk. Boss Sheep had gotten impatient and went home without her.

At last, with everything done, Xia Qing straightened up and gazed at her three peanut fields, grinning from ear to ear.

Peanuts falling from the sky—she now had 220 peanut plants!

Peanuts blossom in spring and bear fruit in autumn, wilting in winter. They cleared the Evolver Forest last winter, right around the peanuts’ wilting period. That means there could be peanut sprouts at the foot of the mountain too!

Xia Qing practically skipped down the slope, already dreaming of autumn days snacking on boiled peanuts. She could barely hold back the urge to holler with excitement.

Over the next several days, Xia Qing searched her entire seventy-five hundred mu territory—and sure enough, discovered two more patches of peanut sprouts. Unfortunately, these showed red lights during testing—the Xiang element was too high to eat.

While she didn’t find any more edible peanut seedlings, Xia Qing did score a new haul: twenty-five yellow-light soybean sprouts, thirty-six green-light garlic sprouts, and fifty-two green-light spinach sprouts.

With so many finds, Xia Qing worried she’d forget where everything was, so she sketched a quick map of her territory and marked the edible plants’ spots.

Once she finished marking, Xia Qing spotted something else—connecting all the edible green- and yellow-light plants formed a line, like a small stream flowing down the mountain.

Her territory’s most vital resource—the spring—was also on that line.

Xia Qing didn’t know geology, but instincts made her guess: this stream of edible plants might trace where underground spring water flows.

If her guess was right…

Xia Qing’s gaze followed the band of edible plants up, toward the part she’d left unmarked—the Evolver Forest beyond the barrier.

If she was right, did that mean there was also an edible plant zone winding through the northern mountains inside the Evolver Forest?

That thought spun through her mind all night—the more Xia Qing pondered, the more excited she became.

Next morning, Xia Qing stood at the second-floor back window, looking north. Her eyes trailed up from the Chinese toon tree and the highland behind the abandoned yard until they reached mountain peaks shrouded in clouds. Gradually, she calmed down.

Even if her hunch was right and untainted mountain spring water flowed down from above, the plants she’d find would still just be wild grasses and edible weeds—annual herbs, maybe some pines, wild peaches, walnuts or persimmon trees. Spring had only just begun; any fruits were a long way from ripe. Risking entry into the Evolver Forest now wouldn’t get her much.

Besides, Xia Qing knew—just by common sense—that mountain springs might also seep straight from deep inside the rocks, not just trickle down from higher up.

Bottom line, for now she’d keep quietly farming in her own territory. She’d head into the Evolver Forest after plenty of prep—in autumn, when it really mattered.