Chapter 509: Winter Trades and Hidden Intentions

As soon as Xia Qing stepped out, Zhong Tao hopped down from the car and called out, “Sis, are you feeling better?”

Zheng Kui didn’t say anything, but his eyes were full of concern as he looked at Xia Qing.

Even though the calamity at Hill Fifty and the beast tide never made it onto the base’s news broadcast, Zhong Tao and Zheng Kui, both serving in the military, had heard all about it. They even knew Xia Qing had taken an Evolution Element stim shake and killed three rampaging wild boars in just two moves.

Xia Qing managed a wry smile. “Much better, but my strength hasn’t fully come back yet.”

“Well, you could say a blessing came out of disaster this time. Take care of yourself this winter. By spring, you should be back to normal.” The ‘blessing’ Zhong Tao referred to was Xia Qing being appointed as the manager of Hill Fifty.

After he finished speaking, he pulled out a bag wrapped in thermal film from the car. “Old Zheng and I got our hands on three hundred Yellow Lantern pea seeds from Hui One Base. Their stability isn’t great—only good for two generations. We couldn’t store them properly, so we brought them straight to you. Don’t look down on them, Sis. If we manage to get better seeds someday, we’ll bring you more.”

In return, Xia Qing handed them eight pounds of top-grade Evolved Green Lantern Python Meat, a “thank you gift” for the seeds. Even though they were just Yellow Lantern seeds, it had taken everything the two of them had to get them.

These were a type of seed Xia Qing didn’t already have, and as someone who lived for farming, she’d never turn them down.

She accepted the bag with both hands, thanked them, and passed over another bag. “These are Yellow Lantern wild vegetable flakes I dried myself. Tao, do you think you could trade them for a bag of salt or some other Green Lantern seasoning?”

Zhong Tao handed the bag to Zheng Kui to weigh, then grabbed a bag of salt from the car and offered it to Xia Qing with both hands. His hands shook, and his eyes behind the protective mask were pleading. “We only brought salt for Green Lantern seasoning this time, but Sis this bit of wild vegetable flakes isn’t quite enough—you’ll need to give us two more pounds to make it even.”

Xia Qing took the bag and nodded calmly. “Wait here a moment, I’ll go grab another bag of flakes.”

“Sure, sure.” Zhong Tao tried to steady himself, willing his voice not to quiver. Surely people from Territory Two were watching them from nearby.

Xia Qing ran home and came back up from the basement with another bag of vegetable flakes and ten pounds of frozen solid Evolved Green Lantern Python Meat.

When Zhong Tao handed her the salt earlier, he also slipped her a note, asking if she’d be willing to trade another ten pounds of python meat.

Compared to others, Zhong Tao and Zheng Kui had done pretty well for ordinary folks—especially after the new Lord system rolled out. They’d traded a lot of Yellow Lantern and Green Lantern vegetables with the Lords, strengthening their own and their families’ health.

But valuable meat like high-evolution python didn’t exist in their circles—the Lords didn’t own any, didn’t qualify for it, and couldn’t hunt in the Evolved Forest. It was totally out of reach. That’s why, when Xia Qing offered python meat, both men decided to seize what might be their only chance in a lifetime and each trade five more pounds.

Ten pounds was their absolute limit. It wasn’t that they didn’t have enough credits to trade for the meat, but they felt too ashamed to ask for any more. Anyone could see how precious it was.

Xia Qing lived alone in her territory and had already made enemies of the Blazing Fire Squad, so life would only get harder for her. She was definitely going to need the meat to trade for rarer resources or for the protection of the Azure Dragon Squad and Zhang San.

Maybe the only reason she’d become the manager of the Hill Fifty experimental area this time was because she’d traded python meat with Zhang San, the big shot from Territory Seven.

So the two men had already braced themselves to get turned down when it came to trading for more meat. But surprisingly, Xia Qing agreed.

When Xia Qing handed the bag to Zhong Tao, she added, “Tao, see if this is enough. I really can’t give you any more than this.”

The bag felt light in Xia Qing’s hand, but when Zhong Tao took it, it was like he was holding a thousand pounds. At thirty-five, with a family to support on both ends, the tears started spilling down his face.

Once the patrol car had left Section Three—and moved out of range of prying eyes from Territory Two—Zhong Tao finally took off his gloves and mask, covered his face with his hands, and couldn’t speak for a long time. The warmth of his breath seeped through his fingers, only to vanish fast in the cold.

Zheng Kui, eyes red, patted his old teammate’s shoulder, gripped the steering wheel, and looked ahead at the endless, yellow-stained Devastation Snow blanketing the land.

After watching the patrol car disappear, Xia Qing locked the South Gate, then sprinted toward home—she couldn’t wait another second.

Over in Territory Two, Zhou Xun was huddled behind a Wild Grass Wall, bundled up in his cold-weather jacket, muttering, “Damn it, just let me freeze to death already!”

Liu Jing, a level-five Auditory Evolutionary sent by the Sufeng Squad to handle surveillance duties, pulled his jacket tighter and shared his suspicions. “If Xia Qing is already the manager of Territory Fifty, why’s she running back and forth just to trade for a bag of salt? And why is Zhong Tao acting so eager and excited when he talks to her?”

Zhou Xun snorted. “Maybe you’ve just never starved before. That’s Green Lantern Salt we’re talking about. Plus, Xia Qing isn’t just Hu Fengzi’s woman now—she’s got powerful backers. Why wouldn’t a smooth operator like Zhong Tao get worked up seeing her?”

Liu Jing stared greedily at the iron mesh wall of Section Three. “There’s got to be all kinds of good stuff inside her territory.”

“Exactly.” Zhou Xun shot his teammate a warning. “If you think you’re tougher than the Fire Phoenix Trapping Team, go right ahead and try your luck.”

“Xin Yu, you there?”

Suddenly Xia Qing’s voice crackled from the lord communicator. Over in Territory Twelve, Tang Huai, who was leaning on a crutch and feeding evolved insects, perked up at once.

Twenty seconds later, Xin Yu coolly replied, “Here.”

Xia Qing shifted into a casual tone. “Feel like having chive and egg dumplings? The Green Lantern chives I grew are ready to cut.”

For once, Xin Yu said a few more words. “Sounds great. Come over and let’s have lunch together.”

“Alright!” Xia Qing happily accepted the invitation—dinner with a friend was always welcome.

Tang Huai jumped in with a grin. “How are we eating chive and egg dumplings without tiny dried shrimp? Xia Qing—you bring the chives and eggs, Xin Yu brings the dough, I’ll provide the shrimp. The three of us can throw together some proper dumplings!”

Still hiding in a snowy hollow, Zhou Xun grumbled under his breath.

Xia Qing stayed quiet, but Xin Yu’s two-word reply was almost blunt: “Don’t need it.”

Zhang San joined the conversation. “Xin Yu, Tang Huai, what’s the quality of your dried shrimp?”

Tang Huai answered right away. “They’re made from small river shrimp, Evolution Element 1.4, Devastation Element 4.3 per mille. My sister had Captain Zhong deliver half a pound—Third Brother, how much do you want?”

Xin Yu replied, “Mine comes from freshwater prawns raised in artificial seawater, Evolution Element 2.4, Devastation Element 3.6 per mille. I’ve got two pounds—Third Brother, how much do you need?”

Tang Huai was rendered speechless…

As Xia Qing put on her python-skin vest, she couldn’t help but laugh. The Tang household might own a restaurant, but when it came to supplies, even they couldn’t match Xin Yu.

No wonder Zhang San had such an easy choice to make. “Xin Yu, I’ll trade you for a pound of those freshwater prawns. What do you want in return?”

Xin Yu asked, “Do you have any medicine for treating the Evolved Coxsackie virus infection? Can we trade for that?”

Zhang San answered without hesitation. “I’ve got it—and I’m willing to trade.”

Once infected with the Evolved Coxsackie virus, people can develop serious respiratory infections and acute myocarditis. Evolvers might get through it without meds, but for ordinary people, the fatality rate is extremely high.

Not even Xia Qing knew whether Xin Yu was an ordinary person or an evolver, but hearing her trade dried shrimp for antiviral medication, Xia Qing added a pound of Green Lantern Rice to her thermal bag just in case.