Chapter 888: Neighbors, Helicopters, and Unfinished Business

Inside the Section One Lords’ walkie-talkie chat group, Tang Huai chimed in, “Hey Madman, was that helicopter you bought just now? The Chuan Yun? Wow, you guys really made it big!”

Over in Territory Two, Liu Jing grumbled, “If they hadn’t raided our warehouse, Qinglong couldn’t have bought a damn thing!”

Huo Zhun joined in. “Brother Feng, that helicopter of yours—the Chuan Yun, third generation, new model this year, right? When it came down, I noticed it had low-noise rotors. If I remember right, this one’s also got the newest active noise cancellation tech. No wonder it runs so quiet.”

Before anyone from Territory One could answer, Da Ya from Territory Seven jumped in. “Huo, that active noise system—is that the kind that cancels out sound with inverse waves?”

Huo Zhun replied, “Yeah, that’s the one. Looks like it delivers on the noise reduction it promises.”

Tang Huai’s sour voice returned. “Hey Madman, everyone’s talking to you, didn’t you hear? Open up Territory One’s main gate so we can come in and take it for a test spin!”

Everyone in the group just… paused.

A calm, authoritative voice came through the lord communicator. “Fellow Lords, this is Luo Pei, Lord of Territory One. Just flew the helicopter back home. If you’re interested in our latest purchase, feel free to drop by and give it a look. Test flights welcome.”

The moment they heard Luo Pei was back, the Lords’ channel exploded. Shi Du was first to post. “Luo, you finally made it back!”

Zhu Li was right behind him. “Luo, welcome home!”

“Luo, welcome back,” added Xia Qing.

Tang Huai sprang to action. “Captain Luo, long time no see! I’m heading over now to take that chopper for a spin!”

“Wait for me, Brother Huai. Let’s go together.” Huo Zhun from Territory Eleven quickly called out.

A senior expert from Territory Seven joined the conversation. “Luo Pei, how long are you staying this time?”

After the Qinglong Squad beat Su Feng and climbed to the top spot in Hui Three, they scored more resources—but the leaders were busier than ever. Luo Pei might be Lord of Territory One, but he was hardly ever home.

Luo Pei answered warmly, “As long as nothing urgent comes up, I’ll stay five days. If you don’t mind, Third Brother, want to share some Lan Yi sorghum liquor with me tonight?”

Zhang San shot him down. “No thanks.”

Everyone in the group… just stopped.

Back in Section Three, Xia Qing couldn’t help but laugh. Luo still didn’t really know the senior expert—Third Brother’s stomach was too frail for spicy food, let alone strong liquor.

After teaching Monkey a new trick, Xia Qing headed out to the Western Buffer Forest to deal with the Red-leaved Bamboo drying there. Suddenly, Little Fei Mao—Section Three’s Employee 001—darted over with a sunflower seed in its mouth, dropped it into Xia Qing’s pocket, and scurried away.

Xia Qing felt the lone seed in her pocket and couldn’t help but smile.

Turns out, Little Fei Mao had managed to find a promising seed from the Yellow Lantern Sunflower Monkey had shelled.

But when she glanced back, that smile faded fast.

There they were—the freeloading Red Squirrels, one big and two small, perched in the trees, just waiting to snatch the seeds. If Er hadn’t been keeping watch, they would’ve already made off with them.

And don’t even get her started on Employee 002, Monkey—slow as ever, plus he kept sneaking bites while working. His pay was definitely getting docked.

Xia Qing sorted through all 294 bamboo poles—then, hauling Monkey and a basket filled with sunflowers, headed to Territory One just as the other lords crowded around the chopper, gawking and making a fuss.

Later, after she’d planted 150 red-fleshed and 150 yellow-fleshed sweet potato vines in the terraces, and helped Old Goat water all of them, everyone else had left Territory One—everyone except Tang Huai, who stubbornly remained.

“Luo, I’ve officially reached intermediate Sniper rank. I heard you plan to take Xia Qing shooting tomorrow—mind taking me along too?”

“President Tang…”

Tang Huai quickly waved him off. “Come on, don’t call me that—makes things awkward. We’ve been neighbors for over a year. If you don’t mind, just use my name, yeah?”

As for all the rivalry and scheming between neighboring territories, that was ancient history—not worth mentioning anymore.

Just then, Chen Cheng, standing nearby, frantically signaled Luo Pei with his eyes. Luo chuckled calmly. “Xia Qing already knows all the sniping skills—there’s nothing left for me to teach.”

Once Tang Huai had finally wandered off, Chen Cheng hurried over and lowered his voice. “Luo, Sister Qing’s had Tang Huai on her blacklist almost ten days now. No matter how much he whines in the Lord’s channel, she just ignores him.”

Luo Pei chuckled. “Hasn’t Xia Qing always acted that way toward him?”

“Well, after Su Feng went down, relations between Territory Two and Three improved for a while, but now it’s back to square one. No idea why—Tang Huai won’t say, and Sister Qing doesn’t bring it up.” Chen Cheng winked, clearly dying for gossip. “Luo, why don’t you ask when you see her?”

Handing the helicopter key to Hu Zifeng, Luo Pei joked with Chen Cheng. “Afraid to ask because she’d deck you, right?”

Suddenly, Chen Cheng had a very bad feeling…

“Chen Cheng, what was your assessment score last month?”

Chen Cheng mumbled, “C grade.”

Luo Pei remarked, “You’re a level five combat mainstay, but your evaluation slipped and you’ve gotten chubbier. Life must be way too cozy in your territory. Hu Zifeng’s Squad, assemble!”

“Yes, sir!” Hu Zifeng shot a glare at Chen Cheng, who looked like he wanted to crawl into a hole.

Once night fell, Hu Zifeng swiped his card and brought Luo Pei into Section Three, before collapsing in a heap by the little house at the edge of the fields. Luo Pei, meanwhile, was ushered over to Xia Qing’s place for dinner.

Xia Qing’s old house had spotless white walls, bright lights, and even an air conditioner—about as comfortable as you could wish for.

Luo Pei took off his protective mask and suit, grinning, “You painted the walls again?”

“Yeah. I’ve been cooking all the time—last winter we had the fireplace going for three months straight, so the walls turned black. Have a seat, Luo. Drink some tea while I finish up in the kitchen.”

After years with the construction team, painting a supply closet was nothing to Xia Qing. This time she used an easy-clean, stain-resistant paint—so, if things get messy, a quick wipe does the trick. No need to repaint for three or five years.

As soon as Luo Pei sat down with a cup of tea, Xia Qing brought out the meal: braised ribs and corn, tomato scrambled eggs, steamed eggplant, stir-fried pea shoots, steaming white mantou and mung bean soup.

Having missed out on dinner back in Territory Seven, Luo Pei was now enjoying a true feast in Section Three.

Xia Qing motioned for Luo Pei to dig in. “The ribs and corn were Er Yong’s doing. The rest is mine. Try it and see if I’m any good.”

Luo Pei took a bite and praised her. “It’s all delicious.”

“That’s really thanks to good ingredients and seasoning,” Xia Qing was well aware of her skills. She used nothing but natural Green Lantern food and spices, so of course it tasted great.

When the meal was done, they chatted about life. After catching up on Yan Long from Hui Five and the now-retired Huo Zhun, Xia Qing asked, “Luo, do you know anything about Zheng Chen, who Red Eleven stationed in Territory Seven?”