Chapter 401: The Deal in the Greenhouse

Inside the greenhouse, one sheep and one wolf might not understand Xia Qing’s words, but they could definitely pick up on her tone. When they saw her gently scratch the greenhouse plastic film with her paw, then tuck the compressed ration and egg into her pocket, they knew exactly what it meant.

Mess up the film, lose your food. Simple as that.

Old Goat, who loved compressed ration bars more than anything, narrowed his eyes and pretended he didn’t get it.

Er Gou, obsessed with boiled eggs, crept forward and gingerly touched the plastic with his paw, then took two steps back.

Seeing they both understood, Xia Qing was just about to have them help lay down the ground cover when her phone chimed with a new message.

Yang Jin had arrived at the territory and wanted to know if she was free.

If Yang Jin was looking for her, it had to be about the spinach seed deal. With several million credits at stake, Xia Qing was very much available.

Warm and windless inside the greenhouse, while outside the cold wind howled. Xia Qing closed the wooden door of the little house, adjusted her protective mask, crossed the stone bridge, and strolled through the fallen leaves toward the north gate.

When Yang Jin stepped out from the swirling leaves of the Evolved Forest, Xia Qing couldn’t help but secretly sigh—having long legs really did make walking look like an art.

Yang Jin came up and explained why he’d come so late. “Tang Zhengsu and Xu Pin will be here tomorrow morning. It’ll be busy for a while, so I wanted to settle things with you tonight while I still have free time. Zufeng mentioned your greenhouse is done. The steel pipes are working out, right?”

Clearing things up meant Yang Jin was going to transfer credits. Xia Qing quickly invited him into the territory. By now, the sky was pitch black, and the little house by the fields didn’t have very good blackout curtains. She was about to ask Yang Jin to head to her place, but since he brought up the greenhouse, she changed her mind. “Captain Hu and the crew delivered enough steel pipe parts for the greenhouse, installation was a breeze. They helped me put one together just this afternoon. Want to check it out?”

“Sure,” Yang Jin replied, sounding delighted. “If we hadn’t gotten all the right parts, there’s no way I’d be charging ten thousand credits a set.”

From the outside, thanks to the thick straw curtain over the plastic film for insulation, you couldn’t even tell the grow lights were on inside.

Xia Qing asked Yang Jin to wait by the little house. She headed in first, called Old Goat and Er Gou out, and told them to head home.

As soon as Old Goat saw Yang Jin, he stopped, bleated once, and pawed at the ground, signaling to Xia Qing and Er Gou, ‘Let’s go together.’

Er Gou immediately joined the alliance, planting himself by Old Goat’s side and fixing Yang Jin with a fierce look.

Huh? Wasn’t this the sheep that last time only dared shout at him from a safe distance? Where did it get the confidence to challenge him now?

Yang Jin leaned over to Xia Qing and asked quietly, “Which one of you three leveled up?”

Which one? Please.

Honestly, if I told you, you’d just be jealous. All three of us got stronger!

She was secretly smug, but out loud, Xia Qing played it modest. “It’s not that. They’ve just seen you around more, realized you’re not dangerous. That’s why Old Goat dares to act tough. He does the same when Captain Hu’s team comes over.”

After reassuring Yang Jin it was nothing personal, Xia Qing crouched down to soothe her two companions. “Old Goat, Er Gou—go on home first. When I get back, I’ll make boiled eggs and toon sprouts for you.”

At the mention of food, Old Goat forgot all about fighting. He bolted for home at top speed.

Watching that snowy white blur dash off, Yang Jin nearly let his envy show. He wanted to head home with Xia Qing too—and maybe have dinner together.

“Watch your step here, Captain Yang. Haven’t had time to tidy up the floor yet,” Xia Qing said as she opened the door and welcomed him into the greenhouse.

The inside was bright and warm. Yang Jin took off his protective mask and hung it at his waist. Spotting two rolls of black plastic by the wall, he recognized it right away. “The insulation’s solid in here. Humidity should go up too, right?”

Xia Qing quickly wiped off a bench and set it out for him, then explained, “I’ve picked up a few tricks from other lords for dehumidifying. Tonight I’ll cover the ground with plastic film to cut down on evaporation—see if that helps.”

Yang Jin nodded. “Since nothing’s planted yet, ground cover should work great. You laying it lengthwise or across?”

“Either works,” Xia Qing replied automatically, watching Yang Jin hang his backpack on the steel frame and bend to grab the ground cover.

She was just about to stop him when Yang Jin deftly unrolled the film and gestured for her to hold one end. While they worked, he started in about the spinach seeds. “The folks at the Death Sea’s Pure Spring have everything set up now. Today I talked with the base chief and finalized the price—sixty credits per spinach seed.”

Sixty credits per seed was way less than the three hundred Yang Jin mentioned before. Xia Qing asked, “Are you making up the difference with supplies?”

“Yep.” Having unrolled the cover all the way to the east wall, Yang Jin drew a knife from his belt and cut the plastic cleanly, grinning. “Besides two sets of high-grade protective suits and extra weapons for the inspection team here, I bartered seeds for two blocks of new material ore and twenty-five high-grade Yi Stones.”

Yi Stones?!!!

Twenty-five of them?!!!

Xia Qing’s eyes were practically shining brighter than the grow lamps overhead. “How big are they?”

Yang Jin, expecting that reaction, smiled. “Same type you traded to the Wolf Pack, about the size of a pigeon egg. Each values at two hundred thousand credits minimum. If your spinach seeds weren’t top notch, the base chief would never have traded so many.”

As soon as they finished laying the ground cover, Yang Jin dusted off his hands, took out a small box from his backpack, and offered it to Xia Qing. “All the Yi Stones are here. Open one up later and check the quality for yourself.”

While Xia Qing was admiring her treasures, Yang Jin noticed a couple of spots missed on the cover and went back to smooth it out.

After thanking him, Xia Qing turned serious. “If these Yi Stones really are top grade, their effective period is three months each and a twenty-meter protection radius. How do we split the supplies from this deal?”

Seeing her clutching the stone box so tightly, Yang Jin motioned for her to sit. He pulled another box from his pack, handed her a detailed list. “Here’s the breakdown of the supplies we got—take a look.”

One glance at the list, and Xia Qing felt overwhelmed.

They’d traded a set quantity of spinach seeds—Xia Qing held seventy-five percent, Yang Jin twenty-five. Since Yang Jin handled negotiations with the base chief, Xia Qing agreed to pay him a ten percent broker’s fee. That made their actual share of supplies and credits sixty-five to thirty-five.

The total credits came to over 1.62 million, with Xia Qing’s share at 1.09 million.

They got two top-grade protective suits—one each for Xia Qing and Luo Pei, worth sixty thousand. Two rare ore blocks, worth eighty thousand. And those twenty-five Yi Stones at five hundred thousand total, making six hundred forty thousand in all. Xia Qing’s take: four hundred sixteen thousand.

Once she wrapped her head around it, Xia Qing gave Yang Jin back the list. “Captain Yang, what can we do with those two ore blocks?”