Chapter 823: Another Day, Another Bath: Wolves, Squirrels, and Sweet Potato Vines

Old Goat whimpered in pain, trying several times to crawl out, but Alpha kept him in check with nothing more than a stern glare.

When the alarm went off, Alpha stood up shakily. Summer Qing helped rinse him off, carefully washing away the medicinal liquid, then Alpha shook the water from his fur with a determined shake.

“Your Majesty, this is a hair dryer. It dries your fur in no time and feels really nice.” Xia Qing pulled out the powerful hair dryer she’d swapped with Xin Yu and began gently blowing Alpha’s fur.

Hearing the strange buzzing, Broken Back Wolf hustled to the bathroom door, studying the whirring thing in Xia Qing’s hands with rapt attention.

Alpha didn’t care for the hair dryer’s noise. After a quick blow, he wobbled away, settling down on the straw mat laid outside the bathroom.

The medicine was extra strong this time, and Alpha’s badly injured legs ached even more. He just couldn’t hold up any longer.

After Old Goat was hauled out by Er and Xia Qing together, he got the full fluff-and-dry treatment.

To Xia Qing’s surprise, the next pair to soak wasn’t Black Wolf or Lame Wolf but Er and Broken Back Wolf.

Once those two finished bathing, the other wolves outside still didn’t come in. Only then did Xia Qing realize—their job was to stand guard.

So typical of Alpha to stick to such a strict routine.

Er also hated the hair dryer’s racket. Only Broken Back Wolf played along, letting Xia Qing dry his fur and then staring thoughtfully at the cabinet where she put the dryer away before finally closing his eyes.

Leaning against the wall, Xia Qing shuffled out of the bathroom and collapsed straight onto the sofa, falling asleep in seconds. Alpha, who’d been napping near the door, quietly padded over and curled up beside her.

With the wolf pack around, Xia Qing slept better than she had in ages.

By 3 AM, Alpha—first in the bath—was already up and buzzing with energy.

At the sound of cheerful pawsteps, Xia Qing cracked her eyes open and saw Black Wolf and Lame Wolf come in.

So they weren’t skipping the medicinal bath after all. Black Wolf and Lame Wolf just had to wait until Alpha was back to full strength before having their turn. Xia Qing grabbed her phone to set another alarm, then rolled over and went back to sleep.

Alpha barked a few admonishments at Lame Wolf, then when he left the bathroom saw the half-empty straw mat next to Broken Back Wolf. He glanced at the spot Xia Qing had left for him on the sofa and chose to leap up there instead.

Noticing movement beside her, Xia Qing turned over and hugged the fluffy, medicinal-scented fur nearby. Alpha tried to wriggle free twice but couldn’t escape her hold, so he gave up and drifted back to sleep.

“Beep beep, beep beep—”

The alarm went off, and both Xia Qing and Alpha sat up at the same moment, heading for the bathroom.

They’d already gone through one human, a sheep, and three wolves. By the time Black Wolf and Lame Wolf took their turns, the medicinal bath had lost much of its potency, so they left the tub in decent shape.

Once the two shook off the excess water, Xia Qing went in to blow-dry restless Lame Wolf’s fur.

Black Wolf? Proper wolf through and through. Hated human cabins, hated having his fur blown dry. He just shook out his coat and left.

“Your Majesty,” Xia Qing said, shooing the playful Lame Wolf outside and then flopping onto the sofa next to Alpha, who lounged in the hammock chair. “Next time you come for a bath, could you bring Big Wolf too? I really want him to have a bath.”

Alpha fixed her with those regal gold eyes, his face unreadable.

Xia Qing explained, “Big Wolf can carry me wherever I want. I want him to get even stronger. I’ve only got two legs—I can’t keep up.”

Alpha turned his head, looking at Broken Back Wolf.

Xia Qing followed his gaze to Broken Back Wolf, who was squished up on the hammock chair with Old Goat. “Oh, Broken Back Wolf is impressive too, but he’s not Big Wolf. He can’t carry me. Your Majesty, is Big Wolf just staying with the Western Wolf Pack now? Not coming back?”

Of course, Alpha didn’t answer.

Xia Qing yawned, shut her eyes, and dropped right back to sleep.

Once Black Wolf and Lame Wolf were fully recovered, the whole wolf pack left Section Three before dawn. Er didn’t go with them, though. As the sky lightened, he happily set off with his small basket to hunt bugs for the fish.

After a night of what felt like an oil change on every joint, Xia Qing finally woke around five-thirty to the racket from the Black-Feathered Rooster.

Before starting her daily farm chores, Xia Qing called Er into the two soybean greenhouses.

Though she’s fenced them off, Er is well-behaved and never harms the crops. Still, Xia Qing was cautious, pointing at the gene-edited soybeans Fire Phoenix cultivated and warning, “Er, these are poisonous. Eat them and you’ll get a stomachache. Don’t bite.”

After suffering serious illness, Er took this to heart and looked dead serious about the warning.

Xia Qing ruffled his head, soothing him in a gentle voice, “Just don’t eat them and you’ll be fine. No need to be scared, Er. Once they’re ripe, I’ll put them away. Go on and catch bugs.”

With Er gone, Xia Qing headed to the breeding greenhouse and quickly turned over all the soil inside. She couldn’t let this plot go to waste—time to plant sweet potato vines.

Thanks to Zheng Kui, Xia Qing had just made a deal with a lord from the Eastern Territory: swapping a hundred sections of Green Lantern sweet potato vines.

The sweet potatoes in Section Three were brought in last year in a trade with Tan Junjie—these are the chestnut sweet potatoes, with a texture like chestnut, drier and starchier than most.

The lord from the East grew yellow-fleshed sweet potatoes—more tender, sticky, and sweet.

After tidying up the breeding greenhouse, Xia Qing moved to clear some space in the planting greenhouse. Yang Jin had delivered five pounds of Green Lantern hybrid rice seeds—wd-6. Time to start raising seedlings in the greenhouse.

Late rice takes a few days longer to raise than early rice, but there’s still time. The hybrid rice doesn’t taste as good as pure strains, but it yields much more.

Xia Qing isn’t picky like her Idol. If it’s Green Lantern produce, she likes it—even if the taste is rough. Just thinking that these seedlings will turn into hundreds of pounds of grain in a few months leaves her feeling wistfully secure.

Rice, if left unhulled and dried, keeps for years in the basement storage. Her grain rack still had plenty of empty space—she was determined to fill that whole storage room with Green Lantern grain!

Once both greenhouses were done, Xia Qing picked a pumpkin from the planting greenhouse and brought it home for breakfast.

The pumpkins in the greenhouse had been sown last winter and were now nearing the end of their season. A dozen fat pumpkins hung from their vines, thriving.

Xia Qing sliced one in half—enough for one person, one sheep, and one wolf in a single meal.

A few chopped pieces mixed into feed for Old Goat, a few boiled for Er, the rest steamed for herself—perfection!

With the pumpkin in the pot, Xia Qing chopped up a Green Lantern cucumber and headed to the sheep shed to drug Little Fei Mao.

But as soon as she stepped into the sheep shed, Xia Qing realized Red Squirrel’s whole family had moved out overnight.

No doubt about it—they’d been spooked by the wolf pack’s visit last night. Even worse, those little thieves took the Yi Stone that had been hanging on the wall!

Good thing Little Fei Mao only had two doses of Miracle Medicine left. Otherwise, Xia Qing would’ve just locked him in a cage.

After breakfast, Xia Qing put on her protective suit and trekked into Section Three of Hill Forty-Nine, expertly heading for the six squirrel nests to go mouse-hunting.

Beneath a tree at the second squirrel nest, she ran into Flathead out foraging. Not wanting it to latch onto her leg, Xia Qing dashed past at speed.

The little honey badger wasn’t about to let food escape—he lumbered after her in hot pursuit.

So naturally, she tracked Red Squirrel’s family’s new hideout, and before she even called Little Fei Mao out, Flathead caught up and started gnawing on her leg.

Honey badgers are the squirrels’ natural enemy—so long as Flathead was here crunching on snake skin, there was no way Little Fei Mao would dare come out.

Xia Qing pulled out a chunk of cucumber from her bag and bent down, offering it to her persistent honey badger. “Flathead, try this. It’s really tasty.”

Flathead sniffed, hesitated a few seconds, and finally let go of Xia Qing’s leg to chomp on the fragrant cucumber.

Omnivores—he’ll eat anything!

Taking the chance, Xia Qing scrambled up the tree. Flathead looked up from his cucumber and, realizing his prey was gone, took out his frustration on the pine bark.