Chapter 431: A Hard Winter’s Preparations

Xia Qing still wasn’t sure how well protective gear made from high-level Hardness Evolution snake skin would work. What she did know was that the meat from this snake was ridiculously tough—just a notch below the Hardness Evolution Yellow Lantern fish she’d harvested before.

After this bowl of congee, Xia Qing had only one feeling—her teeth hurt.

She figured that with Er Gou’s weak stomach, he probably couldn’t digest such tough meat and wouldn’t get any nutrition from it. If congee didn’t work, she’d have to grind it into a paste for meatballs or make it into steamed meat instead.

The blade on the grain grinder she’d traded for from the Territory Management Department was definitely not strong enough to break down this meat. Just as Xia Qing was debating whether to ask Uncle Huo—at the cost of a scolding—to forge a custom meat grinder for her, Zhang San’s call came through.

“Xia Qing, can you even chew that meat? I have a small meat grinder here. Want me to bring it over?”

Looking for the best idol on Blue Star? Hui Three Base, Section Seven, is where you’ll find ‘em!

Xia Qing was overjoyed and thanked him right away. “Thank you, Third Brother. I made a pot of meat congee and just about broke my teeth on the chunks. I was racking my brain, and your call came at the perfect time.”

Zhang San sounded in good spirits, his tone almost fatherly. “This giant python meat—if you can eat a hundred jin this winter, that’s enough. Eat more and your body just won’t absorb any extra energy. The rest you can trade to whoever needs it. For ordinary evolvers or regular people who haven’t tried high-level evolution meat, giving them this will really boost their immunity and speed up their evolution.”

Xia Qing asked right away, “Do you still need any, Third Brother? I can bring you more if you want.”

Zhang San chuckled. “I have plenty here. Just don’t let too many people know where the snake meat came from. That place has Devastation Snakes, and it’s not only dangerous to hunt them; some might even try to exploit it and breed more Devastation Snakes.”

“Got it, thanks for the heads-up, Third Brother.” After thanking him, Xia Qing brought up the drop in temperature. “I heard it’ll hit minus thirty this winter. Third Brother, do you think our wheat seedlings will survive?”

Zhang San replied, “All the predictions say this will be a colder winter than in previous years, but just how cold depends on how much Devastation Snow we get. The wheat seed I gave you is a strong winter-evolved variety. It can handle minus twenty without a problem. If it gets any colder, you’ll need extra protection for warmth.”

Zhang San didn’t tell Xia Qing exactly how to keep the wheat warm. His methods probably wouldn’t work for most territories anyway.

In the afternoon, while planting chive roots in the greenhouse, Xia Qing asked her allies for advice on keeping fields protected through the winter.

Qi Fu suggested the usual—cover the greenhouse with rain covers at night to block the wind and trap warmth. Madam Shi, though, mentioned something new. “Before the disaster, when we grew winter veggies with small greenhouses, villagers would dig cold-resistant trenches around the greenhouse, line them with foam or polystyrene boards, then fill them with sawdust, weeds or straw for insulation. After packing it tight, they’d cover it with soil. Supposedly, it could raise the temperature inside by three to five degrees.”

Qi Fu’s wife, Yuan Yan, chimed in right after. “Now that you mention it, I remember too. When we drove up north to those cold provinces for veggie loads, the greenhouse growers there told us about this method.”

Zhao Ze asked, “But now that it’s a disaster year, are there even any factories making foam or polystyrene boards? And how many credits would that cost per jin?”

Kuang Qingwei appeared online. “I’ll go and ask around, then update everyone soon.”

Xia Qing asked, “How wide and deep do these cold-resistant trenches need to be?”

Madam Shi answered, “About forty centimeters wide and half a meter deep, I think.”

Li Si suddenly logged on. “The depth isn’t fixed. It depends on the depth of frozen soil in your area. Just dig about ten centimeters deeper than the frost line.”

Xia Qing quickly followed up. “Fourth Sister, do you have an estimate for how deep the frost line will get here this winter?”

Li Si’s voice was as cold and serene as ever. The morning argument between Dan Ying and Zhang San hadn’t affected her at all. “Seasonal frozen soil forms in winter when temperatures drop below zero. The colder it gets, the deeper the frost line goes.”

“I don’t have data from Hui Three Base on frost depth over the years, but based on latitude, it should be two to three centimeters deeper than at Hui One Base. Still, our territory is surrounded by mountains to the east, north and west, so the frozen layer should be one to two centimeters thinner here. That means it’ll basically match Hui One Base.”

So, what’s the actual depth?

Xia Qing pressed for specifics. “Fourth Sister, what was last winter’s lowest temperature at Hui One Base? And how deep was the frost line?”

Li Si answered matter-of-factly, “Minus thirteen degrees, forty-five centimeters.”

Qi Fu jumped in after Xia Qing. “Fourth Sister, is our soil layer about the same depth? So the whole layer will freeze in winter?”

“Exactly,” Li Si confirmed.

Zhao Ze asked, “Fourth Sister, if the soil layer freezes, won’t the wheat and rapeseed die?”

Li Si replied, “No, the wheat you got in spring is the m-11 strong winter-evolved variety. It can survive minus fifteen without dying.”

Xia Qing thought aloud, “So, if we dig a cold-resistant trench, we need to get through the whole soil layer?”

Li Si confirmed, then Kuang Qingwei came back online. “Everyone, rumor is this winter’s going to be harsh. Foam and polystyrene boards are double the price they were two weeks ago, and there’s not even any in stock—they’re all pre-order now. Not worth using in the fields. Haiying, you all should buy some for your walls instead.”

The folks in Territory Fifteen lived in tin-roofed houses with terrible insulation. Yue Haiying responded, “Alright, I’ll try to find a way to get some.”

“Even if we don’t use foam boards, digging a cold-resistant trench is way better than not digging one. I’m doing it,” Qi Fu declared. When it came to farming, he never minded hard work.

Zhao Ze’s mother, always devoted to the fields, echoed him. “Me too. We dried plenty of straw last fall to fill the trenches.”

“Count me in,” said Xia Qing. Her territory didn’t have many people, but the rotary tiller meant she could keep up with the others for digging speed.

After planting chives and watering them with spring water, Xia Qing slung her basket over her shoulder and, along with Old Goat and Er Gou, climbed up to the Northern Buffer Forest to pick toon seeds.

“Baa—”

This leafless toon tree was Old Goat’s pride and joy. Seeing Xia Qing climb up and take out the pruning shears, Old Goat let out a worried bleat.

He thought Xia Qing was going to hurt the big toon tree.

“Don’t worry, I’m not chopping it down—just picking the fruit. See? This kind.” Xia Qing snipped off a few clusters of toon seeds, showing Old Goat exactly what she was doing.

Once Old Goat realized Xia Qing was only trimming the smaller branches, he relaxed at once. He took a sniff of the toon seeds. Realizing he couldn’t eat them, he lost interest and went right back to gnawing on dry toon leaves on the ground.

Er Gou grabbed a bunch of toon seeds, dropped them in the basket and glanced up at Xia Qing.

Perched on the tree, Xia Qing praised him right away. “Good job, Er! You’re amazing. That’s right, put everything I snip into the basket. We’re taking them home.”

Er Gou flashed a grin and let out a happy little laugh.

Old Goat, leaves still in his mouth, looked up a few times before lowering his head and getting back to munching.

“Sister Qing—”

Perched in the toon tree, Xia Qing turned her head at the voice and saw Tiger standing outside the northern gate of Section Three, bike slung over his shoulder.