Chapter 646: Confrontations and Consequences

Su Ming and Cao Xianyun jumped out of the truck, raising their guns and aiming them at the Chonglian Security Team members who had their weapons pointed at Xia Qing.

“Drop your weapons!”

The Chonglian guard had only aimed his gun out of instinct, startled by the vicious gleam in Xia Qing’s eyes. He’d never dare admit that.

He holstered his gun at his waist and raised his hands to show he meant no harm. Still, there was a newfound seriousness in his look when he glanced at Xia Qing.

After seeing that fierce look just now, he was certain that if things went south, Xia Qing could easily take his life, sniper rifle or not.

The Lord of Section Three was a high-level evolver. Just from those fierce eyes alone, it was clear she’d seen more bloodshed than most ever would.

Once assured that the two Chonglian guards wouldn’t attack, Cao Xianyun stepped forward. “Miss Xia, was it this man who was spying on you?”

Xia Qing nodded and handed them both the culprit and the measurement form. “He just tried to snatch the form to destroy the evidence.”

Afraid the Chonglian crew might cause Xia Qing more trouble, Su Ming had the culprit tied up and invited her to get on the patrol vehicle with them.

Even on the ride, the man who’d taken Xia Qing’s photo kept pleading. “Miss Xia, I really meant no harm. Please, I beg you, spare me this once—I have a family to support. I can’t lose this job…”

Xia Qing’s face was blank, not bothering to reply. When the patrol vehicle arrived at the South Gate of Section Three, Xia Qing got out and reached for her keys—just as a familiar rustling sound caught her ear.

“Xia Qing.” Tang Huai, holding a little spade for digging bugs, popped out of the scourge grass, hurried up to her, and dropped his voice. “Stay out of whatever mess Xin Yu and Chonglian are in together. Those Chonglian folks play dirty.”

Xia Qing kept her calm. “I’m not meddling in anyone else’s business. I’m just protecting my legal rights.”

It was a Chonglian guy who’d tried to snap her photo, so she acted. If she pretended not to notice being photographed to her face, those Chonglian folks would just see her as easy prey, and who knows what kind of trouble would come up in the next month.

No wonder she’s so stubborn—she’d get along with Hu Zifeng just fine…

Tang Huai grumbled to himself but let the Chonglian topic drop. He grinned. “Hey, when did you start raising a Yellow Weasel? Is it evolved or a regular one? What’s its evolution ability?”

Evolution ability? Please, if you knew, you’d be scared out of your wits. Xia Qing opened the iron gate and asked, “Did your Green Lantern Egg hatch yet? How many chicks did you get?”

“They hatched ages ago! The chicks already have full feathers on their wings. My sister didn’t say how many, though.” Tang Huai’s attention shifted in an instant. “How many chickens do you still have? Are you going to hatch any new ones this year?”

“Yeah, already have two hens nesting.” Xia Qing answered and headed back to her own territory.

“Sister Qing, are you hurt?” Xiao Jiang, who was guarding Section Three, ran over in concern.

Xia Qing shook her head. “Have you two eaten yet?”

“Yeah, we ate. Sister Qing, what are we doing this afternoon?” Xiao Jiang relaxed and was back to his joking self now that Xia Qing was clearly all right.

Xia Qing had work planned. “The rice seedlings for breeding have grown up. This afternoon, I need to clear the weeds from the paddy fields, then flood the field, fertilize, and get ready for transplanting. When I’m watering, I need you two to keep watch in the buffer forest.”

She’s planting two and a half acres of rice, and of course she wasn’t about to haul water bucket by bucket. Instead, Old Goat would be running the waterwheel. Even though the buffer forest was thick, it wasn’t impenetrable, and Xia Qing didn’t want the Chonglian construction crew to catch sight of Old Goat pedaling the water bicycle.

It’s safer for him to just be a stubborn, strength-evolved mad sheep.

“Got it. Don’t worry, Sister Qing.” Xiao Jiang nodded right away.

Before flooding the paddies, all the roots of the weeds had to go. While Da Jiang was off checking their territory, Xiao Jiang helped Xia Qing gather weeds and started chatting about Chonglian Group from Hui Two. “Sister Qing, do you know why Chonglian is so impressive and nobody dares mess with them?”

Xia Qing nodded. “Because they’re involved in the entire supply chain.”

Before the Catastrophe, Chonglian Group used the rich mineral resources in Hui Two Base’s region and, after a series of mergers, became a full-supply-chain steel conglomerate—from iron ore mining to smelting, steelmaking, processing, and finally, mechanical product manufacturing.

On top of that, Chonglian formed strategic alliances with local industry peers and upstream and downstream companies, turning Hui Two into the second-ranked home appliance production center in all of Huaguo.

During the chaotic three years before the Catastrophe, Xin Yu’s parents showed vision and drive, rallying the group’s strengths. They preserved Chonglian’s assets, snapped up other companies’ best resources and experts, and laid a solid foundation for Chonglian to survive and thrive during the disaster years.

Right now, only four mechanical enterprises in Huaguo operate complete full-supply chains—and the other three are all state-owned and focused on military manufacturing.

So, Hui Two Base became the second-ranking force in Huicheng Base and Huaguo’s home appliance center because it had a giant like Chonglian.

Thanks to Chonglian, the prices for appliances and small machines at Hui Three Base, just 900 li from Hui Two, are way lower than almost anywhere else in Huaguo. That’s because, in these disaster years, shipping makes up a huge chunk of a product’s price.

Now, at plenty of other bases, forget about farm equipment or big appliances—even making a simple fan is impossible, since their supply chains have completely collapsed. Even with the know-how, they lack materials and parts.

“Right. Chonglian’s status in Hui Two and all of Huicheng Base is really high.” Xiao Jiang finished introducing Chonglian, worried Xia Qing might not grasp their influence, then added more about the Chonglian Security Team.

“Let’s put it this way: Chonglian Security’s combat skills and gear aren’t any weaker than the Blazing Fire Squad at Hui One, who rank number one. Behind the scenes, we all call them ‘human slaughter machines.’ Anyone who dares rob Chonglian’s delivery or construction convoys won’t get out alive—the security team wipes them out, period.”

If Chonglian Security wasn’t ruthless and strong enough, people wouldn’t hesitate to target their supplies.

“Chonglian management is strict, too. Any construction team they send out sticks to all local rules and never interferes with residents, so this time, the fault’s on them. But…”

Xiao Jiang paused, glancing up at Xia Qing.

Xia Qing got the hint. “I understand. This ends here. However the Inspection Team chooses to handle it, I won’t get involved.”

Once he saw Xia Qing understood, Xiao Jiang finally relaxed. “Chonglian sent people and supplies over for free to build the wall for Lord of Eight’s safety. No matter why that man took photos of you, it’ll get swept under the rug. Sister Qing, just consider it doing Lord of Eight a favor—and don’t bother with that guy.”

Hearing how Xiao Jiang talked about it, Xia Qing realized he had no idea about Xin Yu’s real situation and just smiled, nodding.

Sure enough, things played out like Xiao Jiang said. The Inspection Team arrested the man, and in the end, he confessed to taking Xia Qing’s pictures because he liked her. His punishment: fired, and his team leader demoted.

Taking photos of Xia Qing broke the ‘Territory Lord’s Law.’ Both the punishment and the fine were on him.

Three days later, when Xia Qing went to Territory Eight for seedlings, that’s when Xin Yu finally told her the whole story.