Chapter 871: Red Fur and the Queue-Jumpers

“You. Red Fur.”

Xia Qing pointed at the fox father among the three, the one with brain evolution, and tried talking to him seriously for the first time.

Then, pointing at the dusty gray fox cub, she said, “Your little one, Red Three-Fur, doesn’t need medicine every day. When the sun rises here, goes down there, comes up again and sets—then it’s time for another dose.”

After explaining that medicine should only be applied every other day, Xia Qing sped up and grumbled, “And really, who puts on ointment in broad daylight? Aren’t you scared the Inspection Team will hand you a couple of peanuts?”

The fox father, Red Fur, still bristling with his brain evolved, widened his eyes the instant Xia Qing pulled the ointment from her pocket. They practically sparkled.

She tried talking with them twice, but Red Fur, clearly the smartest in the family, just kept staring at the ointment, barely listening to a word she said.

Out of options, Xia Qing signaled Er to bring over the cub, Red Three-Fur, held it down and rubbed the medicinal powder all over its fur. She finished by feeding it some X Nutrient Shake.

This little guy was the S-VIP patient whose medical fees were paid by the Wolf family. Xia Qing hoped he’d bounce back quickly so his parents wouldn’t keep dragging him here for medicine every day.

“Red Fur, your cub Three-Fur—”

Just as Xia Qing let go after the medicine and nutrients, the mother, Red Two-Fur, darted over, grabbed her baby in her jaws and leaped several meters away. The fox father dashed after her in a flash.

Watching the fox trio race toward the Northern Buffer Forest and scale the iron mesh wall she’d spent 250,000 credits building, Xia Qing patted fox hair off her gloves and complained to Er, “This Red Fur family is nowhere near as good as the Plucked family. Even Red Fur himself is a notch below, and Two-Fur can’t compare to White Weasel at all.”

She’d once saved White Weasel and the kits in her belly. At least the Plucked one had the decency to bring her a plucked bird as a thank-you, and White Weasel found her medicinal herbs twice.

Er, who was cheerful every day, got even happier at the mention of his name.

Xia Qing reached out, running her hand through the thick fur on Er’s neck. “It’s way too hot here. Go rest in the shade, Er. I’ll just—”

“Bzzz—”

She paused, digging her phone from her pocket.

“Sister Qing, this is Dai Yan from Security Team One. We just left Territory Six with the thresher, heading to Territory Twenty, when people from Territory Twenty-Three blocked us. They said their wheat’s about to sprout from sitting so long, so they want to cut in line.”

Aside from the lords in chat channels 1 through 10, the rest all wanted to use the machinery from the Ninth Planting Center and had to draw lots for their turn. Territory Twenty-Three drew last, but instead of waiting their turn, they blocked the tractor coming through the northern pass.

Even during years of disaster, soldiers still bear the burden of defending the country, throwing themselves into the front lines. Their humanity isn’t just personal, it reflects the will of the state and the discipline of the military.

But it’s exactly that humanity that gives some selfish rule-breakers the nerve to cause trouble. Deep down, they know soldiers won’t aim their guns at civilians.

So they raise a fuss. If it works, great—if not, worst case, they get scolded and chased off. No real loss. Plus, they’ll say, this is the Territory! They’re here to farm for the nation. Even their troublemaking is for saving crops, so they feel totally justified.

Dai Yan understood the mindset of these troublemakers, which was why he called directly to the highest leader of Territory Nine. He needed clear orders.

Obeying orders is the bedrock of military discipline and combat strength. Even though the Ninth Planting Center employees were all retired soldiers, their way of thinking was set—it wouldn’t change overnight.

Xia Qing had no intention of changing them. She ordered directly, “Cancel Territory Twenty-Three’s right to use the machinery and keep heading for Territory Twenty. Outside the Territory, lords aren’t protected by the Territory Law. Anyone who stops or tries to hijack Planting Center machinery is breaking the law—arrest them and hand them to the Inspection Team for punishment under the Base Security Law. If anyone puts up violent resistance, either shoot them or run them over.”

After a decade fighting to survive at the very bottom of human society, Xia Qing saw right through people. She knew exactly how to settle things fast, sharp and clean.

When it comes to unreasonable adults, a gun works a lot better than words.

“Received!”

Dai Yan replied crisply. Hanging up, he raised his gun and barked out Xia Qing’s order. The Security Team immediately moved in to arrest the troublemakers.

Those who’d been throwing tantrums scrambled up and bolted back to the signpost marking Territory Twenty-Three, where they kept begging for mercy.

Dai Yan ignored them and told the tractor driver to keep going.

“Serves them right!”

When the tractor had moved off, Lord Wen Nengjie of Seventeen, who’d been watching, summed it up for the Lords’ channel: “Sister Qing was already kind enough, sending the Territory Nine boys with the machinery to help everyone harvest. It’s bad enough if Territory Twenty-Three won’t show gratitude—they even have the nerve to cut in line!”

Zhu Li was also furious. “All our crops got hit by the same hail, the same return rain. Who isn’t anxious? If their wheat is sprouting, whose fault is that? They were just lazy!”

The return rain ruined hundreds of acres in Section One North and Section Three. Those hit hardest haven’t had a single break. With the weather so awful, it’s impossible to lay crops out to dry, so the lords stacked racks, set wheat heads, bean pods and corn cobs on top, and slowly dried them over a fire.

Territory Six had racks too. Kuang Qingwei nearly collapsed from exhaustion—if Zhu Li hadn’t pulled him away just in time, he’d have gone headfirst into the fire.

Tang Huai, who’d been on Zhang San’s blocklist for a year and a half, chimed in, “Xia Qing, just block Territory Twenty-Three completely!”

Getting no reply, Tang Huai called twice, “Xia Qing? Sister Qing? You busy? Say something.”

Out in the fields, Xia Qing pressed a button. “Test wheat quality—select for seed.”

Within Xia Qing’s Territory, there were still a whole greenhouse of Winter Yellow Lantern Wheat, half a house of Winter Green Lantern Wheat, one house of spring-sown Green Lantern Wheat, and half a house of spring Yellow Lantern Wheat. These three acres of wheat would all mature in the next half month.

Yellow Lantern Wheat could be harvested, threshed, and dried right away, but for Green Lantern Wheat, every high-quality plant that had already been tagged needed to be tested again in order to select the best for seed.

In just a few months, it would be time to sow Winter Wheat.

Winter Wheat, during its growth, would face one Devastation Snow and two Devastation Rains. Without Yi Stone protection, only about a third would survive to head and grain.

Plenty of lords complain and swear off growing Winter Wheat ever again. But griping is one thing—they always end up planting it anyway.

Because if you plant over twenty pounds of wheat seed in an acre before winter, even with two Devastation Rains and one Devastation Snow, you’ll still harvest a hundred or two hundred pounds of grain and a pile of Green and Yellow Lantern Straw for compost.

If you don’t plant, you get nothing.

Worried about fertilizer, irrigation, manpower?

Fertilizer comes from compost—the lords gather dung and plant stalks themselves, using a few dozen credits’ worth of compost starter. Water is pumped or drawn from the river. Labor? If the lords don’t farm, what else can they do to earn credits?

For ordinary people in disaster years, pouring everything into farming is the best way to get high-quality food.

For a four-system Advanced Evolutionary like Xia Qing, taking on tasks and earning credits to buy food gave her more than she could ever harvest on her own, but the risks outside were much higher.

Most importantly, Xia Qing simply loved farming. It brought her peace, a sense of achievement, and genuine happiness.

But for the next round of crops, Xia Qing wouldn’t protect them with Yi Stone—the Green Lantern harvest from this batch was enough to feed her for two years!