Chapter 383: Spinach, Spring Water, and Secrets

The Death Sea in Lan City is one of the forbidden zones for humans on post-evolution Blue Star. Who would have thought there’d actually be a Pure Spring there, and right beside it, spinach growing wild.

That being the case, Yang Jin’s plan actually carries less risk than Xia Qing’s.

Choosing this plan might earn them fewer credits, but safety matters far more than points.

Next year, without having to plant spinach on a massive scale, she’ll save several pieces of Yi Stone and won’t need to rack her brains trading with that wolfish Luo again.

Xia Qing nodded. “Your plan is better than mine.”

Yang Jin weighed the winnowing basket in his hand. “Let’s finish collecting all the spinach seeds first—see exactly how many we’ve got?”

The two of them gathered seeds as they chatted. Within half an hour they’d finished and counted the whole batch. The work went so quickly thanks to Yang Jin’s incredible speed—once again, Xia Qing found herself both admiring and envying his nimble hands.

“That’s the total number,” Yang Jin said as soon as he heard the count, immediately doing the math. “We have to cultivate cordyceps fungus, so you’ll need to set aside 2,250…”

Premium nutrient shake made from high Evolution Element spinach quickly restores physical strength and even helps repair physical injuries, though it won’t heal the damage caused by Devastation Element.

Cordyceps fungus cultivated with pure spring water and high Evolution Element spinach makes the raw ingredient for medicine that treats Devastation Element damage.

Even as high Evolution Element spinach gets planted on a larger scale, clean water for fungus cultivation remains scarce—which means cordyceps fungus production will always be limited. So its price stays high, and raising it remains profitable.

“Captain Yang.”

Xia Qing cut him off. “We don’t need to take seeds for fungus cultivation from this batch. I grew another patch in the fields—harvested 8,420 second-generation seeds. Gave 2,000 to Third Brother, so 6,420 are left.”

A glint flashed in Yang Jin’s eyes. “You’re cautious, and that’s definitely the right call. You gave Third Brother 400 first-generation seeds before, and now another 2,000 second-gen ones. Since the second generation is a little lower quality than the first, he’ll probably assume those first-gen seeds were from last year’s evolved Green Light Spinach, not that you’ve got Pure Spring or Yi Stone in your territory.”

But Xia Qing disagreed. “Third Brother’s probably already figured out that I’ve got Yi Stone or a spring, because the eggs laid by my hens are better than the ones in Territory Seven. He hasn’t asked about it, though—just told me not to trade territory-native plants or eggs with anyone else.”

“He doesn’t know you have a spring.” Yang Jin was very sure about this. “But he probably suspects you have Yi Stone since you built a food storage room in your territory.”

“Back in late January, Zhang San sent his research assistant to this area for intensive soil sampling. After all the tests, he picked Territory Seven. Later, Luo asked him why, and he explained that Territory Seven had far more Evolution and selenium-rich soil than anywhere else. He definitely didn’t find any spring—otherwise, he never would’ve passed up Section Three.”

Xia Qing hadn’t heard that story before and listened intently.

“Luo asked about selenium and Evolution Element levels elsewhere. Zhang San said a couple patches were higher than usual, but they’re small. I’d guess those little terraces in your territory are the high-element areas. But because they’re tiny and on a slope, Third Brother didn’t pick here.”

“So he thinks your chickens lay better eggs because you raise them in that high-quality patch and feed them veggie leaves. In Territory Seven, any good soil gets used strictly for research crops—not raising chickens.”

Hearing Yang Jin lay it all out, Xia Qing felt both relieved and a little anxious. “Thank goodness Third Brother’s sampling didn’t turn up a spring.”

But Yang Jin was more thorough. “Maybe the spring just happened to be dry during that period?”

“Could be.”

By late January, her territory had been cleaned up and Xia Qing had gone back to the Safe Zone. She had no idea whether the spring was in a dry spell or not.

Just in case, she decided to stockpile more spring water in December. Once she’d mapped out how to handle any crisis, Xia Qing started thinking about her idol’s work again. “Captain Yang, for a top-level figure like Third Brother, about how much spring water can they get in a month?”

Most pure spring water goes toward medical research, breeding, and rescue. Since it’s a precious resource, even research staff at the base only get a little each. That’s why Fire Phoenix can recruit top medical and plant experts with promises of spring water.

Yang Jin didn’t know exactly what others get, but he did know about Zhang San. “It’s 250 liters right now. When Luo got poisoned, Third Brother had just received his latest quota—he gave me 200 liters right away.”

“Two hundred and fifty liters must be more than any other researcher at our base gets,” Xia Qing mused. Her idol clearly has a ton of projects requiring pure spring water. The fact he gave Yang Jin 200 liters was already incredibly generous.

“But the spring water for Zhang San’s research doesn’t come from Hui Three Base,” Yang Jin added pointedly, seeing how proud Xia Qing looked. “That 250 liters is probably enough for Third Brother’s use. Don’t go bragging about your spring water to him—he’s got eyes everywhere around him.”

Xia Qing nodded. “Got it.”

Ji Li, Yan Long, and the others in Territory Seven not only protect Zhang San, but also monitor him. They don’t answer solely to him. That’s why he keeps his medicine trades with Xia Qing secret from these people.

Yang Jin continued doing the math. “We’ve harvested a total of [X] seeds from these terraces. Since spinach seeds have a hard shell, we can’t check which ones are accidental hybrids—they all count as first-generation. How many do you plan to keep?”

Xia Qing replied, “Six hundred.”

She still had 600 seeds left from the first planting, and with another 600 from the second, that would be plenty.

Yang Jin kept calculating. “Before we knew the seed quality, you’d already committed to trade 6,721 seeds with me. That quantity can’t be changed at this stage given the trading rules. Any objections?”

“None.” Xia Qing agreed—rules were rules, after all.

“Great.” Yang Jin looked up with a warm smile, slipped a bag of seeds into the pocket of his protective suit, and went on: “So, for everything you traded me earlier, you’re supposed to pay 1.46 million credits. But since we’re working together on spinach breeding, the seeds are priced at a hundred credits each for now. You’ve already paid me in seeds.”

“But breeding cooperation didn’t work out, so that price doesn’t hold, and those goods can’t just be ignored,” Yang Jin added, tossing the seeds he’d set on the spinach stalk bag back into the seed pile. “You still owe me 1.46 million.”

“Thank you.” Xia Qing thought—this iron rooster really does stick to the trading rules. She couldn’t help but feel a little grateful.

Yang Jin smiled again and checked with her, “So, I’ll take first-generation seeds from here to negotiate with the Base Leader, all right?”

Once Xia Qing nodded, Yang Jin handed her a packet of six hundred seeds, then stuffed the rest into his own pocket. “The final sale price for these seeds will probably be around three hundred credits each.”

Xia Qing suggested, “Even a little cheaper is fine, so long as we can get the Base Leader to expand patrol manpower for this territory. If not more people, then maybe more evolved patrol members or better Inspection Team gear.”