Chapter 530: Springwater Secrets and High-Stakes Deals

Xia Qing didn’t nod or shake her head. She went straight to the point and announced her decision:

“That spring puts out plenty of water. Each territory can easily draw enough for ten people, so that’s not an issue. The real problem is keeping it under wraps. After this meeting, I need everyone to go home and come up with a feasible confidentiality plan. Let’s regroup here tomorrow morning, same time—if all members unanimously agree to your plan, you’ll get access to the water. Once we’ve finalized our numbers and strategies, we’ll immediately start clearing the Hidden Valley and setting up equipment to cultivate rice seedlings.”

Everyone nodded at once.

“I’ve got an idea—hear me out.” Kuang Qingwei, who’d been jotting things down as soon as he heard about the spring, spoke up. Though he said it to the group, he was looking right at Xia Qing.

Seeing Xia Qing nod, Kuang Qingwei continued, “No matter how many people in our territory end up drinking this quality spring water, us Lords are definitely going to have it. Stick with it a while, and our health will noticeably improve. That alone will tip off the rest of the territory—they’ll get curious, and sooner or later they’ll uncover our secret.”

“We’ve all seen way too much ugly greed in people these past years. You can probably imagine exactly how folks will react when they catch wind of this.”

That’s just one of the big downsides of managing a large territory. Everyone agreed immediately.

Kuang Qingwei went on, “So here’s my plan: we pretend to be using high-grade filters. I’ll bring in a batch, make a show of ‘selling’ them to everyone. The rest of you just act like you’re using those high-grade filters to purify river water before drinking it.”

“Our territory’s river isn’t too badly polluted. With high-grade filters, the water will match Green Lantern Water quality. If anyone asks why we’re all so healthy, we just say it’s from drinking filtered water and eating natural food—completely logical.” Kuang Qingwei broke it down for them.

“A high-grade filter costs 550 credits each. With our river’s quality, one cartridge can purify about 50 liters. That puts the price at 11 credits per liter. The average person eats and drinks around 2.5 liters a day, which means 27.5 credits daily. But we only pay our territory workers about 3 to 5 credits a day, so this is totally out of their budget. No way they’ll buy the filtered water from us.”

“Still, if some workers get together to install a high-grade filter or want to buy water from us, we’re not going to stop them. If they get healthier too, it’s no skin off our backs.”

Xia Qing saw the merit in his plan but pointed out a flaw. “Give it enough time and your suppliers will notice something’s up. There’s still a risk of leaking the secret. Better to swap fake filters with Third Brother than to buy them from outside.”

Kuang Qingwei’s eyes lit up right away. “If Third Brother’s on board, that’s the safest bet. We can ‘buy’ from him—outside they’re 550 credits each, but we can offer 700 for his filters. At 700 credits, that’s 35 credits a day’s worth of water.”

“Exactly. With Third Brother’s pharmaceutical skills, 700 credits isn’t too much to ask,” Zhao Ze chimed in. “The only question is, will he agree?”

Zhu Li reminded Zhao Ze, “Third Brother is an Alliance member too.”

On the way back from the meeting, Zhao Ze turned to Xia Qing, looking dead serious. “Xia Qing, I swear, I had nothing to do with Zhao Chong spying on your territory.”

Xia Qing nodded and warned him, “Zhao, both your territory and Section Fifteen have the messiest situations. Go home and talk things over with your mother. You remember the consequences of leaking a top-level secret, right?”

The punishments for leaking a top-level secret are as follows:

First, immediate expulsion from the Lords’ Alliance and getting blacklisted—no territory member will ever trade with that territory again.

Second, the violating territory must pay double compensation for whatever losses their leak caused the Alliance.

Third, the Alliance will reclaim any benefits the territory previously enjoyed within the group.

For most Lords, these rules are basically a death sentence.

All Alliance members drafted these rules together because, during disaster years, chaos reigns and only harsh punishments keep everyone alert and guard the Alliance’s top secrets.

After parting ways with the heavy-footed Zhao Ze, Xia Qing returned to Section Three and found Tan Junjie waiting for her just outside the Northern Gate.

Xia Qing climbed the hillside quickly. “Captain Tan.”

Tan Junjie nodded. “Qi Qi troubled you last night.”

Xia Qing answered honestly. “Not at all. Qi Qi was very well-behaved. Her steamed buns and jerky were both delicious.”

Tan Junjie pulled a thermal bag from his backpack. “I got six pounds of Green Lantern corn seeds, ten pounds of Yellow Lantern wheat seeds, and twenty Greenlight garlic bulbs from Red Eleven Base to trade for your forty pounds of snake meat. The Green Lantern corn is their exclusive Y-3 variety—it’s stable through three generations. The Yellow Lantern wheat is a new m-14 variety, also supposedly stable for three generations, very cold-resistant and disease-resistant.”

He added, “I actually planned to fetch supplies from Red Eleven Base specifically to trade with you.”

He just didn’t expect Yan Long would mention it to Xia Qing first.

Xia Qing grinned, delighted. “I’ve heard of Red Eleven’s Y-3 corn. Captain Tan, you’re amazing—six pounds at once!”

Seeing Xia Qing’s genuine excitement, Tan Junjie finally cracked a smile. “I’ve got an old war buddy who works at the Red Eleven Planting Center. That’s the only reason I went. They say the m-14 wheat comes in a Green Lantern variety too, but my friend’s clearance wasn’t enough to get any. Next spring, plant those Yellow Lantern wheat seeds—you might get a few ears of Green Lantern wheat. Save those for seed.”

If it weren’t for nabbing high-quality seeds to trade for python meat with Xia Qing, Tan Junjie wouldn’t have fought so hard for a spot escorting prisoners.

Xia Qing took the seeds. “Wait here, I’ll get the meat.”

She stashed the seeds in her underground grain storage, then fetched sixty pounds of top-grade Evolved Green Lantern python meat and five pounds of Green Lantern pecans for Tan Junjie. “Give Yan Long her twenty pounds of snake meat as well. Also, here’s five pounds of Green Lantern pecans—great for the brain if you eat them raw. But if it’s just for you and Qi Qi, don’t have more than three a day.”

Before Tan Junjie could say anything, Xia Qing added, “The seeds you gave me are worth this much.”

Tan Junjie solemnly accepted the goods and thanked her, then extended an invitation. “Qi Qi’s staying here instead of going back to the Safe Zone. Next spring, I’m carving out space for her in Territory Fifteen to build a house and courtyard. If you aren’t too busy, maybe you could come help design it?”

Seems like Tan Qi filled her dad in on what happened in the Safe Zone. Xia Qing smiled. “Give me a heads-up and I’ll be there.”

After returning, Xia Qing went straight to the underground grain storage room. She opened the sack bright with golden corn kernels and studied them closely.