Chapter 88: Seeds, Deals, and the Oddities of Being a Fan

Feeling generous thanks to his good mood, Zhang San waved off the price. “You don’t need to pay for the premium nutrient solution. I’ll give you 30 grams of additive. When you harvest your spinach, juice it first. Add 1 gram of the solution to every 15 milliliters of spinach juice, and you’ll get results even better than the premium nutrient solution sold in the Safe Zone.”

“Thanks, Third Brother.” Zhang San really is a good guy. Even if he’s petty and holds grudges, Xia Qing had absolutely no regrets about becoming his fan.

Maybe he isn’t good-looking? Wrong. In the eyes of a fan, there’s no such thing as an unattractive idol. They just have… character.

Maybe he’s bald? Please. Any idol willing to sacrifice this much in the name of research and saving humanity practically has a halo over their head. The balder he is, the more sacred he feels. If anything, it just proves Xia Qing chose the right person to fangirl over.

“Guess what’s the best medicine I have?” Zhang San grinned, ready to spill his secrets. “It’s Yi Solution. The stuff you get from me might not be the best in all of Hua Nation, but it’s definitely the best at Hui City Base—minimal side effects. If someone else wants a small pouch, it’s at least 50,000 points, and that’s only if I’m in a good mood. For you, just 45,000. How’s that sound?”

Sounds great, of course. But while Xia Qing was a new fan who’d just traded four hundred spinach seeds with Zhang San, she was no pushover.

Poking her head out of the fangirl pit, she negotiated, “Third Brother, I really don’t have that many spinach seeds. Can I cover the difference with the equipment for making premium nutrient solution, and the special reagent pouches for storing it?”

If Xia Qing was turning down Yi Solution, she clearly didn’t have many spinach seeds left. Zhang San looked a little put out. “You don’t even need the machines for making nutrient solution. I’ll just give you a juicer. The stuff’s super strong, you really shouldn’t use more than one serving a day or it’ll be bad for your health. In half an hour I’ll send someone to pick up the spinach seeds at the North Barrier of your territory. While you’re at it, grab two cucumbers for me. I’ll make stir-fried cucumber and eggs tonight.”

Premium nutrient solution is best for emergencies—it’s not a meal replacement. Xia Qing, at least, knew this much. “No problem, Third Brother. The tomatoes in my field are ready, too. I’ll send two over so you’ve got a cold dish as well.”

“Good.” Zhang San answered, all friendly, but then added, “And don’t trade any native products from your territory to Li Si. I just don’t like her.”

Zhang San’s dislike for Li Si was obvious—just look at where he chose to trade.

Back when Xia Qing traded with Zhang San, he would always have someone meet her at the signpost at the south end of Territory Three, accessible through a passage between Territory Nine and Territory Four. Now that Li Si lived in Territory Nine, Zhang San changed the meet-up to the North Barrier of Territory Three. He wouldn’t even walk near Li Si’s border anymore.

Xia Qing, ever the loyal fan, agreed without hesitation. “Alright.”

After getting the Yi Element Tester, Xia Qing scanned every edible plant and animal in her territory. Only the spinach had a higher than normal Yi element content.

Over the past few days, she’d used her lack of vegetables as an excuse to trade for cucumbers, eggplants, tomatoes, and beans with Territories Four, Five, and Six. All she got were yellowlight veggies, and the tests confirmed their Yi and Xiang element content was pretty much identical to her own yellowlight crops.

So aside from spinach, Xia Qing had no problem trading edible veggies with other lords.

But after months of trading, everyone had all the veggie varieties openly exchanged between territories. Nobody was that eager to trade anymore.

Which meant only the newcomers—Shi Chong and Li Si—were likely to propose new trades.

Luo Pei mentioned Li Si had spent time in the Blazing Fire Unit and was skillful at farming. Playing it safe, Xia Qing had already decided not to trade anything to Li Si except yellowlight pumpkin. So agreeing to Zhang San’s request didn’t bother her at all.

After hanging up, Xia Qing went to fetch the spinach seeds. Counting the seeds one by one, she felt pretty pleased with herself. She finally understood how Fire Phoenix handled feeding a squad of hundreds just by occupying a single mountain.

Trading spring water and high-Yi element crops grown with it could easily net her tens of thousands of points every time.

If you’re never short on points, how could you not build a powerful squad?

Carrying the spinach seeds, Xia Qing picked cucumbers and tomatoes on her way through the hillside fields—all greenlight, of course. Trades with Zhang San had to be greenlight veggies, same goes for gifts.

Ever since Xia Qing arrived, the only time Zhang San accepted a yellowlight food trade was with Territory Two. That food went bad, and so Territory Two ended up on his blacklist.

Xia Qing was determined never to wind up on her idol’s blacklist.

After swapping goods at the barrier with Zhang San’s people, Xia Qing hauled a big box home. Besides the juicer, the box held a packet of spinach seeds labeled greenlight, and a set of freshly printed instructions with the faint scent of ink.

The first page of the manual was in bold handwriting: “Spinach Cultivation Guide—Not for Distribution.”

The bag of seeds bore a printed label: Spinach Seeds. Yi element: 0.025%. Xiang element: 0.4%.

Xia Qing understood Zhang San’s intentions. The manual was so she’d have the best shot at growing the spinach, and the packet of regular greenlight spinach seeds was to cover any emergencies.

And if there was an ’emergency,’ it would definitely be someone Zhang San couldn’t stand—like Li Si.

In the end, Zhang San really was an ideal idol—never putting his fans in a tough spot. Xia Qing contentedly dug herself deeper in the fan pit and made herself comfortable.

After dinner, Xia Qing picked up the manual and read it all the way through.

Out of all the cultivation requirements listed, four stood out as absolutely critical: first, using cultivating soil with a precision element ratio measured to two decimal places; second, a fully automated greenhouse that could control temperature, humidity, and atmospheric molecules; third, a pond solution for soaking the seeds and fertilizing—which she had no idea even existed; and fourth, instruments for monitoring nutrient changes in the soil so you could supplement the right fertilizer at the perfect time.

Only by strictly following all these conditions could you slowly increase the Yi element content in spinach, generation by generation. But even a small mistake could drop the content right down.

To be honest, Xia Qing didn’t have the resources for this kind of precision farming—and even if she did, she wouldn’t bother.

Following these guidelines would tie her up in so much work she’d need eighteen clones just to keep up. Better to stick with trading spinach seeds for Yi Solution from her idol.

Still, the cultivation techniques in this manual were worth learning from.

For instance, to improve the quality of greenlight spinach, you had to use fully decomposed greenlight animal manure—chicken manure was best—for nitrogen. For potassium, you burned bug-free greenlight plants into ash and spread that on the fields. Best to use pure water for irrigation, and if that wasn’t possible, distilled water was the next best thing.

She had pure spring water. Her greenlight chicks were about to hatch so by the time her spinach seeds woke from dormancy, she’d have greenlight chicken manure. Once she harvested, she’d also have greenlight plant ash.

Spring water was plentiful, greenlight plant ash was second in supply, but greenlight animal manure was the scarcest—ten small chicks just didn’t make enough.

So Xia Qing set her sights on Boss Sheep dozing nearby. Boss Sheep had gone a little wild during the first Xiang Rain of the year—its body should be full of Xiang element—but it still needed testing.

She hadn’t tested it before, since gauging animal Xiang element meant drawing blood. Boss Sheep had a temper, and Xia Qing worried it might wreck the place if pricked. Besides, even if it turned out Boss Sheep was edible, she’d never have the heart to actually eat it, so why bother?

But now, she had a reason.

That night, Xia Qing decided to give Boss Sheep a bath and sneak a blood sample at the same time.

Boss Sheep had long since learned—thanks to Xia Qing’s relentless coaxing—how to turn on the shower, rinse off, and shake itself dry. Xia Qing’s only job was to spray it down with deodorizing spray after its bath.

So tonight, Xia Qing said with utmost sincerity, “Boss, how about I wash you tonight? Gotta check for parasites—ticks, botfly grubs, those nasty things.”

Boss Sheep, no stranger to parasites or to Xia Qing’s warnings, knew they were bad news. It stopped, glanced back, and gave her the squint that meant: Get on with the bath already.