Chapter 93: Secrets of Fertilizer and Market Deals

Zheng Kui didn’t talk much, but when he spoke, he always laid things out clearly. “This Xiang Rain cost the Territory dearly and some people have already abandoned their posts, running back home and spreading rumors that the territory’s even more dangerous than the Evolver Forest. The Base is worried the whole territory project might crumble, so they plan to hold a public trading fair and let the lords bring the vegetables and crops they grew back to the Safe Zone. That way, everyone can see the benefits of farming for themselves and get inspired to get out there and start planting.”

Before Xia Qing could say anything, Zhong Tao shook his head. “No way! That’s impossible!”

Zheng Kui disagreed. “As long as the rewards are good enough and the lords’ safety is guaranteed, some of them are bound to be tempted.”

Zheng Kui definitely had a point. Carrying a sack of earthworm castings back to her territory, Xia Qing thought that if the Safe Zone really hosted a farm goods fair, she’d want to join just to check it out and maybe trade for some edible plants or animals that weren’t available in her own territory.

After these past few months, her farm tools, woodworking and electrical tools needed to be restocked or replaced. Xia Qing didn’t want to depend too much on the Azure Dragon Unit, so she always chose to trade all key supplies with them rather than simply accept help.

There was another, even more important reason: last year, someone messaged her revealing critical information about the territory. If she could really go back this time, Xia Qing planned to bring them a gift—some of the grain and vegetables she’d grown herself—to say thanks.

“We’ll have to see how the Base arranges things,” Xia Qing said, then asked, “Tao, Kui, have you heard anywhere selling phosphate fertilizer? My cotton’s in bloom, and it needs a boost.”

After Blue Star’s great biological evolution, using organic fertilizers became the only way to promote the growth of evolved crops. Xia Qing remembered Qi Fu and Shi Chong talking about it: organic fertilizers rich in phosphorus mainly meant fermented bean cake or bone meal, but the territories lacked raw materials and couldn’t produce enough on their own.

Zheng Kui caught Xia Qing’s eye. Zhong Tao’s voice dropped so low that even Tang Huai, eavesdropping from Territory Two, couldn’t pick it up. “You’re really asking the right person. Someone smuggled a batch of crab shell fertilizer in from the Guilin City Base, but it has to stay on the down-low and isn’t cheap. Sister…”

For months, there’d been radio broadcasts about Guilin City Base in the south being attacked by sea creatures. Xia Qing kept up with the updates and knew the Safe Zone there had been swarmed by legions of crabs.

Crab shells count as bone too, so crab shell fertilizer is absolutely rich in phosphate. Xia Qing lowered her voice. “But is it really safe? There’s bound to be contaminants and parasites on those sea crab shells. Can we really use them straight from transport?”

Zhong Tao leaned in and spoke right into Xia Qing’s ear, barely audible. “Trust me, it’s good stuff. I’d never try to cheat you. Guilin uses crab shell fertilizer for their own crops; how they clean it, I’ve got no idea. This batch was smuggled in and the Planting Center squeezed the price so low the sellers wanted to deal directly with us lords instead. Just think about it, would the Planting Center offer to buy it if it didn’t meet the standard?”

So that’s how it was. Xia Qing kept her voice low. “How much are they asking?”

“Four points a pound. Any less and they’d just sell it straight to the Safe Zone.”

A few months ago, Xia Qing would’ve thought that price was outrageous, but things were different now. Her crops really needed that phosphate boost, and investing in crab shell fertilizer would mean more food in return. “Deal. But I don’t have any points—would they take goods instead?”

Zhong Tao nodded. “The folks at Guilin are fighting battles every day. What they need most is medicine. Do you still have any White-hairy Chicken Manure Vine from your place?”

The Xiang and Yi elements in the White-hairy Chicken Manure Vine were both within safe levels, so it was good for trade. “I do, but with all the farmwork lately, I haven’t had time to dry it. It’ll be a few days before I can deliver.”

“They can’t wait that long; they’re in a rush to get back. Fresh is twenty points a pound—does that work for you?”

Xia Qing nodded.

“Then you prep the goods tomorrow, and I’ll bring you the stuff the day after. Kui and I are taking a risk for you, so keep this to yourself or we’re done for. Of course, we’ll also make sure nobody spreads word about your fertilizer deal. How many pounds do you need?”

Hauling and trading goods on the side during official work hours definitely put them at risk. Xia Qing, though, was just using the White-hairy Chicken Manure Vine she’d already traded before to get fertilizer, so there was hardly any risk for her.

She nodded again, then asked in return, “How much can they supply?”

“Honestly, I didn’t ask, but there should be tens of thousands of pounds, at least.”

“That’s a rare opportunity, I’ll take a thousand pounds,” Xia Qing whispered. Any more and she wouldn’t be able to afford it. “If there’s not enough White-hairy Chicken Manure Vine, I can use some dried yellow-light bamboo shoot to make up the difference.”

With the deal made, Xia Qing lugged five bags of earthworm castings home, hauling three straight out to the fields.

Last time, she’d run short on fertilizer so the cotton that was already blooming missed its top dressing. If she didn’t add enough phosphate and potassium soon, the cotton flowers might bloom, but wouldn’t have enough nutrients for the bolls to set and stay healthy.

After more than three months of hard work, the crops in Territory Three were thriving. The hillside was covered in fruits and vegetables, and the wheat south of the reservoir was over a meter tall and already showing heads. The first green beans to flower had grown into pods and were almost ready to pick, and even the lowest branches of the cotton plants had started blooming.

These days, Xia Qing’s favorite spot in the territory wasn’t the vegetable garden where she could pluck melons to eat, but the cotton field—because the cotton flowers were just so beautiful.

Evolved cotton flowers had petals that actually changed color.

On the morning of the first day, the flowers were white; after soaking up sunlight, they slowly turned red and by afternoon, they were a lovely pink. By the next day, they’d blossomed again in a rich purplish-red. Xia Qing took photo after photo to record their changing colors.

It wasn’t just the cotton. Xia Qing made sure to photograph and record the growth of every crop she raised, building up experience for next year’s planting season.

In fact, the Xiang-evolved cotton that she’d moved out from under the insect netting had also started blooming, growing more than two meters tall. If not for her need to keep a record, Xia Qing wouldn’t have bothered photographing those dark purple, almost black, demonic flowers. After they wilted, if those flowers grew cotton bolls and tiny little fairies jumped out, Xia Qing wouldn’t have been surprised at all.

“Cotton is gorgeous but it attracts way too many bugs,” Zhao Ze complained in the lord’s channel, “My insect net is crawling with them.”

“Didn’t you spray pesticide?” Qi Fu asked, puzzled.

After losing so much in the second Xiang Rain, Zhao Ze was taking farming a lot more seriously and humbly turned to Qi Fu for advice. “I did, but it’s not working. Brother Qi, what are you spraying, and how often?”

“I spray evolved monkshood sap and insecticide, once in the morning and once at night. That’s not as effective as before, but it still helps some,” Qi Fu answered.

Shi Chong from Plot Ten asked his own question: “Qi, how do you dilute the evolved monkshood sap?”

“One to twenty. Any stronger and it’ll burn the leaves,” Qi Fu shared, then asked Shi Chong, “Shi, how do you deal with pests?”

Shi Chong shared his experience. “I noticed insecticide doesn’t really work anymore, so I put up sticky bug boards. They work pretty well.”

Sticky bug boards? Xia Qing perked up her ears as she dug a trench in the cotton field, getting ready to fertilize.

Shi Chong explained in detail how to make sticky bug boards. “Use the evolved pumpkin vine from last time’s Xiang rain—crush it, smear the juice thick on cardboard, and it’ll catch bugs like a charm.”

That Xiang-evolved pumpkin vine could corrode even a shovel, so it’d be death for bugs. Xia Qing filed this tip away and almost regretted selling off all her Xiang-evolved pumpkin vine to her idol Third Brother.

Qi Fu was just as regretful. “Shi, do you have extra Xiang-evolved pumpkin vine? I’d like to trade for some and give it a try.”

Good thing that during the second Xiang rain, Plot Ten didn’t have a walkie-talkie and didn’t know that Zhang San was buying up Xiang-evolved pumpkin vines. If they had, they would’ve sold to him and never discovered you could use that sticky pumpkin vine to make bug boards.