Chapter 400: Greenhouse Upgrade and the Great Chicken Move

Xia Qing had thought she was only trading secondhand stainless steel pipes with Yang Jin. To her surprise, it was the whole package—steel pipe frames for the greenhouse, a curtain winder, film hand crank, U-clamps, springs and even six supplemental grow lights!

No wonder Yang Jin had charged her two hundred spinach seeds for the two greenhouses’ worth of pipes. The full set was absolutely worth that price.

Without the hand-crank curtain winder, managing two greenhouses would mean spending over an hour just rolling up and pulling down the insulating straw mats each day. With the winders, Xia Qing could breeze through that in under ten minutes—especially since she was no stranger to hard work.

All that saved time meant she could join drills at the Hill Forty-Nine training field. These two hand-crank winders suited her perfectly.

Guan Tong, who delivered the goods, saw Xia Qing busy assembling the winder and wandered over. “This looks complicated. Do you want one of the Territory One technicians to help with the installation?”

“No need, I’ve got this.” Xia Qing hadn’t worked five years as a Construction Team squad leader for nothing. Welding and assembling greenhouse frames and winders was second nature to her.

Chen Cheng strolled over, grinning. “Sister Qing, is there anything you don’t know how to do?”

“If you need someone to teach you step by step, then I don’t know how to do it,” Xia Qing said lightly. She couldn’t afford anyone’s fee, so nobody ever taught her. Everything she knew, she’d learned just by watching from the sidelines.

Xia Qing nodded for Chen Cheng to steady the steel frame while she climbed onto a bench, welding torch in hand, and started joining the pipes.

In Xia Qing’s territory, the greenhouse stretched fifty meters long, six meters wide. The north wall was three and a half meters tall, so when welding the support beams for the north wall she had to stand on a bench.

The clay walls on the east and west gradually sloped down from three and a half meters to a single meter, giving the greenhouse an overall north-high-south-low slope with a difference of two and a half meters.

This slanted design helped reduce the effect of wind on the greenhouse itself. The slope also meant snow and rain wouldn’t pile up in one spot and risk bending or breaking the frame. It even made it easier for the plastic cover to fit snugly, leaving fewer gaps and keeping everything warmer inside.

Poor construction could lead to slopes that were too steep or uneven, shortening the greenhouse’s lifespan and making it less stable.

But Xia Qing had nothing to worry about. The clay walls had been built by Qi Fu’s crew—definitely up to standard. And the steel frames? She’d installed those herself to make sure they’d hold.

During the day, once the sun was shining, the straw mats used for insulation were rolled up by hand crank to let the greenhouse’s plants and animals soak up the sunlight.

Come sundown, when the temperature dropped, the straw mats came back down, trapping the day’s warmth to help the plants and animals keep growing. As long as the temperature didn’t dip below minus ten degrees, she didn’t need to light a fire for heat.

With help from Hu Zifeng’s Squad, Xia Qing managed to weld the whole greenhouse frame, pull on the plastic film and drape the insulating straw mats—all in one afternoon.

After dark, once the chickens in the yard had all gone back into the Chicken House, Xia Qing donned her night vision goggles and stepped inside. One by one, she gathered the chickens roosting on the racks and loaded them into the coop to carry them into the greenhouse.

The other chickens clucked and fidgeted when picked up, but when it came to the white-feathered hen, it pecked right at Xia Qing’s hand. This was a Green Lantern Chicken with reinforced bones. Its beak and claws packed a punch—one scratch or bite and you were guaranteed an injury.

Xia Qing was ready for trouble. She grabbed the hen’s neck with one hand and clamped its legs with the other, shoving the bird firmly into the coop. Then, she netted the flailing Black-Feathered Rooster and stuffed it in too.

“Baa.” Old Goat called out from the cabin door as Xia Qing carried the coop outside.

“It’s cold tonight. I’m moving the chickens to the greenhouse so it’ll stay warm inside.” Xia Qing set down the coop, went inside to get Old Goat’s night vision goggles and fastened them onto him. Then she asked, “Boss, Second, you two want to come check out the greenhouse with me?”

Since Hu Zifeng’s Squad had been busy in the territory all afternoon, Old Goat and Er Gou hadn’t come over. They had no idea what this massive new construction project was for.

Right now, Xia Qing was itching to show them what all her early mornings and late nights shoveling dirt had been for.

The two greenhouses stood side by side, west of the vegetable greenhouse on the farmland. The western one was for livestock, the eastern one for crops. Each end had a doorway, and beside each door was a two-meter-square, two-meter-high utility room.

These utility rooms could store tools, fertilizer, pesticides and other supplies. They also acted as a buffer so cold outside air wouldn’t rush straight into the greenhouse and mess with the plants or animals inside.

Carrying the coop and leading her two companions inside, Xia Qing reached up and flipped on one of the greenhouse’s supplemental grow lights.

These grow lights mimicked sunlight to give plants the energy for photosynthesis when natural light was scarce. They worked just as well for keeping livestock happy and healthy.

“Click!”

Just as Xia Qing was about to show off the greenhouse, a loud crack came from the coop. The white-feathered hen had snapped two bamboo slats with her sharp claws.

“Seriously?!”

Xia Qing gasped, quickly shoving the coop into the fenced Chicken Yard inside the greenhouse. If she was even a second slower, that fiery hen could have shredded the carefully-installed plastic film she’d just finished.

To prevent any chicken from destroying the plastic, the Chicken Yard inside the greenhouse was made from leftover wire mesh—rock solid. Even the white-feathered hen’s claws couldn’t do much to it, let alone the rest.

Once the flock was secured, Xia Qing glanced at the thermometer on the wall. Even though the greenhouse had only been covered for a couple hours, the plastic and straw insulation had kept the cold out so well that the temperature inside had climbed to six degrees—five higher than outside.

Outside, it was nearly freezing already.

Xia Qing set up the water pail and feeder, filling them with pure spring water and blended feed. Led by the Black-Feathered Rooster, the whole flock charged to the feeder, poking their heads through the bars and pecking away with gusto.

With the chickens settled in, Xia Qing led Old Goat and Er Gou through the plastic-curtained door in the clay wall, into the attached utility room, then outside the greenhouse, then back in. She made sure they knew all the ways to get in and out.

Finally, she stopped them by the plastic film and warned firmly, “You have to use the door. No tearing the plastic. Boss, if you break the film, I’m docking your rations. Second, if you break it, you lose your Green Lantern Egg. Got it?”