Chapter 345: A Taste of Hope in Sunflower Season

Qi Fu chuckled. “If we didn’t grow these ourselves, where would we get them—buy them? Try these sunflower seeds. If you all hadn’t come over, my wife wouldn’t have had the heart to roast any.”

“You and your wife really know how to farm, Qi.” Xia Qing said with genuine admiration, helping herself to a handful of seeds. “Yours are way bigger than the ones from my field.”

She hadn’t tasted roasted sunflower seeds in so many years she’d forgotten what they were like. All she knew now was—they tasted amazing.

She wasn’t the only one who felt that way. Zhao Ze’s mother looked touched. “I never thought I’d eat roasted sunflower seeds again in my life.”

Shizhong spoke up. “You know, sunflower seeds aren’t just for roasting. We can press them for oil too. Homemade oil’s always better than what you can buy, and it keeps longer than the seeds. Kuang, can you get us an oil press?”

Kuang Qingwei lifted his hand and pointed upwards. “…They’re banning oil presses now. Hui Two Base refuses to supply our base with any. They say they’re worried we’d use corn for oil and end up wasting food.”

Even before anyone could ask, Kuang Qingwei explained why using corn to press for oil was considered wasteful.

Corn only has a 3% to 4% oil content, mostly in the germ. You need to crush the kernels first to get the germ out, and if there’s too much starch or other impurities mixed in, not only is it wasteful, but it also lowers the oil yield. So pressing corn oil means you need large, specialized presses.

Those big oil presses are expensive, and there’s no way regular folks or even lords could buy one. So the base simply decided to ban even the small home oil presses.

Zhao Ze’s mother complained. “Even if that’s the case, they shouldn’t ban all oil presses. What about making sunflower oil?”

Shizhong agreed. “Exactly. The leftover sunflower seed cakes after pressing for oil—people can eat them, or use them to feed chickens, fish, or turn them into fertilizer. Nothing goes to waste.”

Kuang Qingwei gave a wry smile. “Some people still call it waste just because we’re pressing oil from yellow-lantern sunflower seeds.”

In a disaster year, the best resources are all monopolized by those at the top. Folks at the very bottom scrape by with rations made of weeds mixed with a hint of grain, barely staying alive.

If they hadn’t set up their own territory to farm and grow their own sunflower seeds, they could never afford such a precious thing as oil.

Even after working the land, the lords may have some goods in hand, but they still can’t trade for green-lantern or yellow-lantern oil. It isn’t just about the price—it’s that there simply isn’t any for sale.

The only thing they can swap for is oil pressed from red-lantern plant seeds treated with Devastation Element. It can’t compare in taste or nutrition to oil from green- or yellow-lantern seeds.

And that’s what’s most infuriating: No matter how rosy the broadcasts sound, the truth is this—lords break their backs growing sunflower seeds, yet the Territory Management Department buys them up for 25 credits a pound, then when the seeds are processed into food or oil, the lords can’t buy any of it back!

“If you eat well, your body gets stronger, you can resist the pollution and trigger your next evolution. That’s how you get away from being just an ordinary person and become an Evolver. In just six months outside, my wife and I both improved our strength evolution level.”

Qi Fu didn’t say anything about himself. His evolution came from catching a super-bacteria infection, but his wife’s improvements came from eating better, pure and simple.

Xia Qing nodded. “Same for me—my strength evolution level has gone up since I started living out here.”

“My son too. My wife and I are healthier as well.” Shizhong agreed. “But the environment keeps getting worse, and ordinary folks who rely on rations aren’t going to survive much longer. Kuang—how old are you now?”

“Forty-four. But my wife’s just twenty-two, so she still has a chance to evolve. All the good stuff in our house is for her now. We’re planning to wait until she develops her powers before having kids.” Kuang Qingwei replied.

“My wife is thirty-three, so she has two more years left to improve her evolution. We’re also waiting till she’s past thirty-five before we try for a child.” Qi Fu added.

Zhao Ze’s mother shared her own plans. “Aze’s thirty-eight, so he’s past the age for it, but he’s married now and has given me grandkids—that just makes it even more important they eat safe food. Someone’s got to inherit this big territory, right?”

That got everyone laughing.

Before coming out to their territory, none of them ever thought about things like this. Just staying alive used to be a good enough outcome. Sure, farming is tough and risky, but now there’s hope for the future. Everyone’s full of spirit.

With the mood lifted, even talk that used to feel risky was now fair game.

Always one for news, Kuang Qingwei lowered his voice. “I heard a rumor—could be nothing, but—those raids on Territory 158 and 159 for grain yesterday? Might’ve been the Su Feng Squad behind it.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me.” Xia Qing nodded. “Territory 158 has military families; their security should be stricter than ours. If Su Feng pulls a move like this, not only can they hit the Base Chief’s faction, they get to plant their own people in the Inspection Team and scare the lords into handing over their grain and vegetables faster.”

Zhao Ze’s mother was riled up as well. “Most of the nasty business in our base comes from the Su Feng Squad, I’m telling you.”

Shizhong dropped his voice. “Truth be told, I only plan to turn in a few dozen catties of corn. The rest I’m sealing up on our land. This winter, we won’t go back to the Safe Zone—we’ll stay here and build a greenhouse. Even if we don’t make many credits, at least we’ll have fresh green-lantern veggies to eat.”

Qi Fu nodded. “That’s our plan too.”

Zhao Ze’s mother chimed in. “Me and Zhao Ze want to try greenhouses too, so we’ll definitely be bothering all of you for help when the time comes.”

Qi Fu didn’t think it would be a problem. “Auntie, you’ve already planted two crops. Setting up a greenhouse just means adding another fire wall and a sheet of plastic. It’s really the same as what you’re used to. Zhao Ze’s got an engineering background—one look at ours and he’ll get the idea.”

Xia Qing didn’t say anything, but she’d quietly traded for several greenhouse plastic sheets herself, clearly planning to keep them in her own territory.

Kuang Qingwei, who had been set on returning to the Safe Zone with his wife after those recent raids, found himself tempted to stay after seeing no one else planning to leave.

Sure, going back would be safer, but it couldn’t compare to eating well and enjoying spacious living here.

Xia Qing finally spoke. “I asked Third Brother and Luo about it—they’re both planning to overwinter in their territories. With the two of them here, our patch is the safest in all the territories.”

As soon as she said that, Kuang Qingwei made up his mind. “We need to build the greenhouse. We need to grow vegetables. Everyone in the Safe Zone already thinks we’ve got a stash of grain—going back would only bring us trouble.”

Qi Fu agreed. “Xia Qing’s right—this place is a treasure. We’re backed by Hill Forty-Nine, which blocks the north wind and keeps wild beasts away. Captain Tan from the Inspection Team is always responsible, and if we run into any danger, Territory One, Xia Qing, and Territory Seven will help. We even get medical help if someone’s sick or hurt.”

Kuang Qingwei added, “And don’t forget Territory Eight—Xin Yu is planning a factory to produce compost starter there. Once more people move in, our area will be even safer. Plus, Territory Twelve is bound to have folks staying too—Director Tang’s opened up over five hundred acres of wilderness.”