Chapter 44: Bamboo Shoot Season and Neighborly Ties

Over the walkie-talkie, Qi Fu explained the key points for planting seedlings: “Don’t water every day—let the soil dry a little between waterings. Be diligent with spraying the Evolved Camphor Tree Sap to ward off rodents. If you spot a seedling with healthy leaves and no sign of pest damage but it’s turning yellow and wilting, odds are, something’s wrong with the soil.”

Squatting by the field, Xia Qing carefully typed Qi Fu’s instructions into her phone notes. Zhao Ze piped up, “Brother Qi, what’s actually wrong with the soil? Can you give us some details?”

“We’re all breaking new ground for the first harvest and have used pesticide and fungicide powders, so there’s not much chance of soil-borne diseases. It’s way more likely to be those two pests—the Evolved Grub and Evolved Earth Silkworm,” Qi Fu said, his voice practically grinding with frustration.

Everyone here had already seen how nasty these two bugs could be—their power on wheat, cotton and mung bean fields was infamous. Even if you spot pest damage early and carefully dig up the roots to kill the bugs, the seedlings get weaker when you cover the soil back up.

Worse, sometimes you dig up the soil, only to find the roots already bitten off and the bug long gone. The poor seedling has now been chewed by insects and uprooted by people; it doesn’t stand a chance.

Every night, some lord somewhere is so angry over this they practically jump out of their shoes.

Thanks to her enhanced hearing, Xia Qing made it her daily routine to sweep through her vegetable garden, farmland, fruit trees and a dozen meters beyond, rooting out trouble before it started. Not only did she avoid any bug-fueled tantrums, but she also struck up good neighborly ties with the four Evolved Magpies and two Evolved Egrets living in her territory.

The two egrets had only recently moved to the patch of dawn redwoods just north of the reservoir. Having not tasted eggs in years, Xia Qing now eyed her new neighbors’ nests with longing, hoping they’d lay soon so she could pinch a few for breakfast.

After switching off her walkie-talkie, Xia Qing looked up and saw that the Chinese toon shoots had reached twelve to fifteen centimeters—just right for harvest. This was her second batch, and she clipped every one she could, swapping them with Tan Junjie for thirty-five liters of diesel.

Though she didn’t have another evolved Chinese Toon Tree to compare with, Xia Qing was plenty satisfied with the crop from her big tree. Hoisting two oil cans, she told Tan Junjie about tomorrow’s plans. “I’ll be out of the territory for half a day. I’ve traded supplies to get people from Plot One to stand guard for me.”

With so many things planted and the supplies stacking up at home, she couldn’t just leave the place empty. It was the first time she’d called on her own security squad. Better to fill Tan Junjie in early, so he wouldn’t get the wrong idea if he saw people from Plot One wandering around Plot Three while he was on patrol.

Tan Junjie nodded and walked off. He didn’t ask what Xia Qing was trading, or where she was headed. Of course, Xia Qing didn’t bother to pry about what Tan Junjie planned to do with the Chinese toon shoots, either.

Curiosity kills the cat—even before the apocalypse that was true, and it’s only worse now. Of course, cats are particularly hard to kill, seeing as most evolved ones are now tough enough to back up their nosiness.

After settling plans with Hu Zifeng for tomorrow, Xia Qing turned to discuss her outing with Boss Sheep. “I’m heading out to dig bamboo shoots tomorrow. Want to come with? It’s that same bamboo grove we cut from before—you know the place.”

Ever since the ‘Chicken Vine’ incident, Xia Qing realized Boss Sheep was a fair bit smarter than she’d thought. She found herself talking more to Boss Sheep these days, half hoping one day he’d actually get what she meant.

Boss Sheep didn’t even flick an ear, just lay on his tatami mat and kept chewing away.

The mat was topped with a brand-new grass mat Xia Qing wove for her seedlings, with a big, comfy grass cushion on top. She’d designed and made it herself—her take on sheep-friendly ergonomic furniture—as a thank you for all of Boss Sheep’s concern.

Judging by his expression, he seemed quite pleased.

Looking at that annoyingly smug face, Xia Qing couldn’t even hold onto her old dreams of lamb stew. She smiled. “Goodnight, Boss Sheep.”

After Xia Qing fell asleep, Boss Sheep rested his spiral-horned head on the edge of the grass cushion and slowly closed his eyes too.

The next morning, after doing her rounds for pests, Xia Qing finally let Hu Zifeng’s squad inside. There were ten male Evolvers on the team today—only one stayed behind to watch over Plot One, the rest came by. Four stayed to guard Xia Qing’s territory, while the other five joined her for a day of bamboo shoot digging in the Evolver Forest.

Xia Qing wasn’t worried about anyone from the squad messing around while guarding her place—Yang Jin picked his men carefully, and none of them would risk his reputation.

Plus, this wasn’t her first time working with the team. Ever since Hu Zifeng’s squad started teaming up with Luo Pei’s group, she’d found Hu Zifeng’s bark was worse than his bite—sure, he was loud and intimidating, but he’d always rush to the front in dangerous moments. Points for jobs were split based on effort, so the squad was tight knit and had never betrayed each other. They’d earned her trust.

Wearing her camo protective suit and packing a handgun, Xia Qing stepped out from the western Buffer Forest. She turned and shouted at the Sheep Boss who still hadn’t caught up, “Boss, I’m heading over to the Evolver Forest to dig bamboo shoots. You coming or not?”

Boss Sheep squinted his eyes at the group standing inside the barrier. Hu Zifeng’s squad looked back, equally curious about the chief of Xia Qing’s household. There was a long, awkward silence.

Seeing Boss Sheep didn’t move, Xia Qing just waved. “I’ll go on ahead then. Boss, keep an eye on the house.”

“Baaa—”

Right as Xia Qing was about to cross the barrier and enter the Evolver Forest, Boss Sheep suddenly called out. She was familiar enough with his different bleats to hear the caution in this one. Was Boss Sheep warning her about danger ahead?

But with delicious food waiting, Xia Qing wasn’t about to turn back. “I’m fully geared up, and I’ve got a squad with me. We’ll be fine, Boss—just wait, I’ll bring you something tasty when I get back.”

She also asked the guys who stayed to make sure Boss Sheep didn’t wander into anyone else’s territory. “Even though he’s a red-listed animal and off the menu, it would still be bad if he spooked the neighbors.”

Hearing that, Tang Huai, who was eavesdropping from Plot Two, sighed quietly to himself. If it weren’t for the fact that Boss Sheep was on the red list, he’d have had grilled lamb already.

Once Hu Zifeng’s squad had headed off, Vision Evolver Zhou Xun lowered his voice and reported to Tang Huai, “Boss, Hu Zifeng and his guys are taking Xia Qing to dig bamboo shoots in the Evolver Forest. Should we tail them?”

“Tail what?” Tang Huai stood up, squashing a few bugs that tried to crawl into his protective suit, and went back to guard the vegetable garden. After listening to Qi Fu drone on about farming for days, Tang Huai wasn’t any more interested in planting crops—but he’d developed a real knack for bug-hunting by sound.

For once, both Plot One and Plot Three’s rotary tillers had finally shut up. He wanted to jump at this rare chance and have some real fun digging for bugs. It was way more interesting than eavesdropping.

“Miss Xia, stay behind me. Everyone, stay alert and watch our formation.” Hu Zifeng might not have known Xia Qing supplied the spring water, but he did know Luo Pei had recovered in her territory, so he was especially grateful and respectful. He sounded very polite.

Xia Qing thanked him, then used her headset walkie-talkie—which came with her protective mask—to remind Hu Zifeng, “Bamboo shoots are at their tastiest right now, but keep an eye out for dangerous animals in the grove. My sheep senses danger really well—if he isn’t coming, it means there’s something he really doesn’t want to deal with.”

In Xia Qing’s experience, when tastier plants ripened, evolved animals that liked them always showed up. Who liked bamboo best out of all the evolved animals around? Was it possible…evolved giant pandas?

Her eyes lit up. Opening both her ears and eyes to their limits, she started scanning for that telltale black-and-white shape.

If a giant panda evolved, would it still be black and white?