Chapter 686: A Windfall of Bamboo Shoots and the Art of Trading

“Alright!” Kuang Qingwei answered enthusiastically. “Honey, I’ll weigh the shoots, you keep count and start the tab!”

“Okay!” Zhu Li replied with a bright smile. With their credit running low, Kuang Qingwei and his wife had to take the bamboo shoots on credit, promising to pay everyone after they managed to sell them.

Members of the Lords’ Alliance understood Territory Six’s current troubles, so everyone agreed without complaint.

“We’re selling 540 jin of Yellow Lantern shoots and 55 jin of Green Lantern shoots.” Shi Du and his mother had planned this out ahead of time. The two of them had brought back a total of 1,120 jin of shoots—selling all the Yellow Lantern, keeping only one big Green Lantern shoot to try since their territory could already eat Green Lantern vegetables.

Earlier, they’d meant to exchange the Green Lantern bamboo shoots with Zhang San, but luck was on their side this time—they found six Green Lantern bamboo stalks. Xia Qing got over a hundred jin to herself for the trouble, and she’d definitely exchange hers with Zhang San. So, the Shi family decided to sell to Kuang Qingwei.

The other lords had similar ideas. Qi Fu kept only one Green Lantern shoot. Huo Lei didn’t sell his Green Lantern shoots at all; his son had already arranged to gift them to Zhang San as a thank-you.

Seeing Tan Qi carrying her last shoot over as well, Mrs. Tan opened her mouth as if to say something, then closed it again.

When Tan Qi reached Zhu Li’s side, Yuan Yan leaned in to whisper, “The 90 credits for finding the shoots—can I pay you back later?”

Earlier that afternoon, Tan Qi had helped Qi Fu and his wife find five shoots, worth 90 credits by their agreement. Yuan Yan, eyeing Mrs. Tan’s posture, feared that if she paid Tan Qi now, her grandmother might snatch the payment.

Xia Qing didn’t meddle in the affairs of other territories. Once she got the IOU from Zhu Li, she heaved her own share onto her shoulder and left Territory Fifteen.

Tang Huai quickly negotiated terms with Kuang Qingwei for his Green Lantern shoots, then broke into a jog to catch up with Xia Qing.

Standing by the northern gate of Territory Fifteen, Wen Nengjie saw Xia Qing carrying a load and called out eagerly, “Sister Qing, are you selling your bamboo shoots?”

Xia Qing shook her head. “I’ve already sold my extras to Kuang Qingwei. What’s left, not even a single jin is for sale.”

Realizing he’d been beaten to a good business opportunity by the middleman Kuang Qingwei, Wen Nengjie felt a twinge of regret but kept his tone respectful. “You must be exhausted after today, Sister Qing. Let me carry that back for you.”

“I’m fine,” Xia Qing refused without hesitation. She wove through the crowd to the signpost for Territory Seven and called Zhang San.

Zhang San’s voice was warm and kind. “You dug up all this? How much Green Lantern bamboo shoot can you trade me?”

This bamboo shoot expedition was mostly for the sake of treating her Idol and Old Goat, so Xia Qing said, “The shoots are in their prime this season—tender and delicious. Is sixty jin enough for you?”

Zhang San’s reply was so gentle it nearly overflowed, “That’s plenty. Tell Yan Long what you want in exchange.”

As word spread that Xia Qing had just traded sixty jin of Green Lantern shoots, the onlookers lining the passage began calculating how many credits that haul could fetch. At that moment, a tall woman strode out of Territory Seven—no protective mask, expression icy cold. She took the goods and asked Xia Qing directly what she wanted in return.

In the end, Xia Qing traded the shoots for all sorts of insecticides, pesticides and fungicides.

“Wait here,” Yan Long said, understanding full well that Xia Qing wanted everyone watching to know that while she brought back a lot, all that material was going right back into farming—no need for anyone to be jealous.

“Brother Huai.” A few bystanders, too cautious to provoke the armed and intimidating Xia Qing, turned to ask Tang Huai, “Can we trade for Territory Seven’s potions?”

Before the walls went up around the territories, most people were too afraid to step outside their zones. All they knew about Zhang San was that he’d led the disaster response twice, ran the P3 Lab and always had the good stuff, but no one here had directly traded with Territory Seven before.

Tang Huai, well-connected and friend to every lord in the chat channels, answered right away, “As long as you’ve got Green Lantern food that’s both rare and tasty, you can try bartering with Territory Seven.”

The moment he said that, several people started plotting. Tang Huai shot them a sharp look. “If you bring meat or vegetables that aren’t up to Green Lantern quality, or if they turn out to be spoiled, you’ll be blacklisted by Territory Seven and banned from trading. Last spring, Territory Two tried to trade a slab of meat with them, but it wasn’t packaged right and went bad en route—now they’re persona non grata.”

With even the influential Territory Two keeping their distance from Zhang San thanks to Su Feng Squad’s backing, any schemers quickly backed down.

After collecting her new supplies from Yan Long, Xia Qing headed west down the passage, making her way home.

Tang Huai trotted after her, peppering her with questions. “How’d you get so many this time? Wasn’t it only about 1,300 jin last year, when you teamed up with Hu Zifeng’s Squad?”

Xia Qing shot Tang Huai a glance. He grinned and explained, “Hey, can’t help it—I just overheard since I’m all ears.”

Xia Qing didn’t bother arguing. She answered calmly. “Back then, the team only had me and Guan Tong as strength evolvers.”

With fewer strength evolvers, the haul was smaller. Plus, the paths weren’t cleared yet—Hill Forty-Nine and Hill Fifty were crawling with beasts, so moving in and out of the Evolved Forest was a dangerous gamble.

This year, most of the route had been cleared, and there were no big animals on Third Peak or Hill Forty-Nine. The journey was safer, so Xia Qing was confident enough to bring just two defenders while leading six strength evolvers and even a ten-year-old speed evolver to dig shoots.

Still, Xia Qing didn’t expect those six strength evolvers would be able to carry back over 3,000 jin of shoots.

Shi Du, with a strength evolver level of five and a half, hauled 900 jin by himself. Add in his other supplies, and he was shouldering close to 950 jin.

Last year, Xia Qing was a level six strength evolver and packed more than 700 jin back in a forced march, only to end up with swollen shoulders and aching back, waist and legs.

This time, the roads were easier, but they didn’t keep up with regular harvesting squads’ pace and had to stop for two breaks. Even so, Shi Du carrying nearly 1,000 jin for fifteen miles was a feat that nearly cost him dearly.

It wasn’t much easier for anyone else, either. Xia Qing understood why they pushed themselves: they trusted her as captain and knew chances like this were rare. All the lords were starved for credits, so everyone wanted to make the most of it.

When Xia Qing finally got home, she was greeted by a rapturous welcome from Old Goat.

She wasn’t shy about it—she set her backpack right on Old Goat’s back, steadying it as he carried it home. As they walked, Xia Qing chatted, “Boss, I saw White Weasel in the Evolved Forest today—he was with a yellow weasel that looked pretty fierce. Not sure if they were hunting or up to something else.”

“Maaaa~~~” Old Goat answered her in a lilting, sing-song bleat. The smell of those shoots had him in great spirits; as long as Xia Qing was talking, he was happy.

“Oh, and I ran into a honey badger. They’re big on eating snakes. Here’s hoping it gobbles up all the Devastation Snakes that have been popping up in the Evolved Forest.”

“Maaaa~~~”

“Did any of our chickens hatch today?”

“Maaaa~~~”

Xia Qing laughed. “Alright, time for shoots before anything else. We’ll handle the rest after dinner.”