Chapter 452: Trouble Brews Over the Spinach Seeds

Hydroponic spinach shoots break through the soil, so sprouting basically means germinating.

After putting away the seeds, Yang Jin brought up the situation with Fire Phoenix. “Word got out that Hui Three Base is cultivating a breedable batch of High-Evolution Spinach Seeds. Turns out, the leak came from an insider Tang Zhengrong planted near the base director. Now Fire Phoenix is actively reaching out to Tang Zhengrong, hoping to dig up more info on these seeds.”

“But the mole has already been removed. Even Tang Zhengrong doesn’t know where the spinach is actually being grown. Fire Phoenix tried several times but couldn’t get through the director’s office. So Fire Phoenix made the first move and publicly declared that their own crop of spinach seeds had been stolen. I have a feeling Hui One Base will be making moves soon.”

“Fire Phoenix is hunting for the High-Evolution Spinach inside Hui Three Base, looking to wipe it out entirely. They want to protect their monopoly on the High-Evolution Spinach.” Yang Jin guessed, “Given the evolved wolves in your territory with keen hearing and smell, they probably won’t risk sending tamed beasts again. Odds are, they’ll send people in next.”

Xia Qing nodded and took careful notes.

The moment Dan Ying swaggered up to the edge of the territory today and loudly offered to trade High-Evolution Spinach for Er Gou, Xia Qing knew Fire Phoenix now had her pegged as a prime suspect.

After all, she’d bartered spinach with Zhang San plenty of times on the Lords’ channel. Though she managed to pass off ordinary Green Lantern Spinach from Zhang San to Li Si before, if there was High-Evolution Spinach growing in her greenhouse and someone came to pinch a leaf, they’d be able to test it and find out fast. That would quickly spiral into a load of trouble—maybe even expose the secret of the spring water.

Just to be safe, Xia Qing decided not to grow any High-Evolution Spinach this winter. She’d wait until spring next year instead. By then, Hui Three Base would have rolled out High-Evolution Spinach for widespread planting, and every territory would be growing it.

At that point, it would make perfect sense for Xia Qing to plant a patch of Green Lantern Spinach.

She asked, “Will the spinach in Territory One or the batch grown for Cordyceps cultivation get found out?”

Territory One was sure to be on Fire Phoenix’s priority inspection list.

Yang Jin grinned, and he actually looked a bit like Crippled Wolf right then. “Nah, because the spinach isn’t even in Territory One.”

Xia Qing blinked in surprise, then quickly understood. Someone as clever as Yang Jin would definitely keep a backup plan or two. For all she knew, he’d claimed plots of land north, south, east, and west of Hui Three Base—or even snagged territory at other bases as well.

If she was in Yang Jin’s position, she’d do the same thing.

Shouldering his backpack, Yang Jin grinned. “Once you pull up this last batch of spinach, you’ll be out of High-Evolution Green Lantern Spinach until spring, right? Need some leaves? Five hundred credits a pound.”

That was actually a bargain, considering Xia Qing had sold her High-Evolution Spinach Stalks to the Azure Dragon Squad for six hundred credits a pound.

Honestly, a guy like him surviving this long without getting whacked is all thanks to that good-looking face of his!

Xia Qing straightened her back and started collecting her debts. “Not right now. But if you’re not strapped for cash, could you go ahead and pay the 125,000 credits for the Green Lantern python meat trade?”

For the first time, Xia Qing was grinning at him, bright and confident. Yang Jin’s mind went totally blank—he almost wanted to hand over every credit he owned.

After Yang Jin transferred the credits, Xia Qing started thinking about what to give Yan Long to show her gratitude.

Yan Long had agreed to train her. Xia Qing was truly grateful.

When Ji Li brought over the medicine and medicinal herb photos Zhang San had traded for her, Xia Qing earnestly asked his opinion.

The corner of Ji Li’s mouth twitched so slightly it was barely noticeable. He confirmed with her, “You want to give Yan Long a present?”

“Yeah,” Xia Qing replied, noticing how strong his reaction was. She lowered her voice. “Ji, is that a bad idea?”

“Not that it’s wrong, it’s just… no one’s ever really thought about it,” Ji Li said, his gaze softening a little. “Yan Long’s in a special position. I wouldn’t go overboard with anything too valuable. Honestly, you might be better off trading credits with Third Brother for stamina boosters and painkillers. Otherwise, I doubt you’ll survive Yan Long’s training.”

“Thanks, Ji. I’ve already stocked up on medicine.”

She really had prepared everything—but she didn’t plan on using it. Since she was currently taking a body-repair medicine, she couldn’t use any other drugs. No matter how much it hurt, she’d just gut it out.

With no answers from Ji Li, Xia Qing brought the medicine back home. As she reviewed the drugs and their uses, she chatted with her companions. “I’m thinking of giving some of our surplus python meat to Yan Long. What do you think, Old Goat? Er Gou?”

Old Goat was busy spinning away on the pedal-powered bike, totally ignoring her.

Er Gou sprawled in front of her, tongue hanging out, panting. No matter what Xia Qing suggested, Er Gou was always on board.

“Now this is impressive. Just one of these pills can snap someone right out of a sedative’s effect four times faster,” Xia Qing said, examining the first medicine. Her eyes lit up. No wonder Zhang San was called the Idol—he’d actually invented something like this.

She set down the little bottle of pills and grabbed another one, this time filled with pink fluid. After reading the label, she felt a chill. “This stuff can eat through the protective mask’s face shield in no time…”

Now that was next level. If anyone from Territory Nine came to poison the place, all Xia Qing had to do was splash this around and let them reap what they sowed.

“Wow…”

She picked up two ordinary-looking bags of medicine, and after reading the label, she jumped up and stashed them in the fridge immediately.

Her idol Zhang San had actually given her two Evolution Element stim shakes!

The best part—these shakes had a side effect of just twelve hours of muscle weakness, way less than similar products on the market.

Life-saving stuff, right when it matters. Zhang San was seriously generous.

With the medicine stored safely, Xia Qing double-checked the medicinal herb photos Ji Li had sent. There were three kinds, all root medicines. Their purple leaves looked plain at first, but a closer look left Xia Qing sure she’d never seen them before.

She snapped and saved each of the three photos, then, after lunch, went out collecting fallen leaves to fill up the cold-barrier trenches.

It took Xia Qing five days to wrap up the cold-barrier trench work for her two wheat greenhouses, one rapeseed greenhouse, and two temperature-controlled rooms.

Daytime highs had dropped below fifteen Celsius, and at night, temperatures dipped below minus ten. Looking over at the peaks of Hill Forty-Nine and Hill Fifty, the snow had really started piling up. The evergreen trees in Evolved Forest battled the cold winds, but the deciduous trees were just left bare.

Xia Qing noticed Territory Two was still busy investigating the helicopter explosion. Only a handful of refugees left each day for Mountain 51. Meanwhile, Territory Nine’s people kept hiding inside—not even bothering to hunt wolves.

Forecast says the Devastation Snow will hit in two days.

Xia Qing figured now was the time to go collect the Green Lantern peanuts on Hill Fifty.