Chapter 932: A Taste of Fig Secrets

Hearing that there were no seeds, Feng Jun immediately started cleaning the figs with special disinfectant.

Wang Liang grew curious about the figs. “Sister Qing, aren’t figs supposed to be flowerless? How did they become insect-pollinated then?”

Wiping her hands thoroughly with a disinfectant wipe as she got ready to eat, Xia Qing explained, “The flower of a fig is actually hidden inside the fruit. There’s a type of insect called the fig wasp that has a symbiotic relationship with the tree. This wasp is tiny, barely bigger than a pinhead, and can crawl through a small hole at the top of the fig to lay eggs and pollinate at the same time.”

Still washing fruit, Ma Jun looked impressed. “Sister Qing, it’s wild enough that you’re an expert shot, but how do you know all this stuff? When did you even learn it? You’re seriously amazing!”

Given Xia Qing’s age, she probably just graduated middle school before the apocalypse. No way she’d have come across information like this. Over these tough years, everyone’s just focused on staying alive—nobody has time to study.

That’s why so many young people struggle just to do basic math—they’re basically half-illiterate. Xia Qing has had it just as tough as everyone else, so where would she find time to learn all this?

After sealing the used disinfectant wipe in a small bag, Xia Qing finally explained, “I only learned all this after trading for two Green Lantern fig saplings this spring. When you artificially grow fig trees, you have to regularly spray insect repellent to keep those little insects out of the fruit.”

The fig wasp is so tiny that it can slip right through the mesh of the insect net. And besides wasps, ants and other bugs that can burrow in the dirt love to eat figs too. So every few days, Xia Qing has to spray the fig trees in her yard with insect repellent.

Hmm…

Before the apocalypse, Wang Liang used to pluck fresh figs from his family’s untreated backyard tree and snack away without a care. Now his stomach twisted a bit. “Sister Qing, if those tiny wasps can get inside, wouldn’t there already be eggs in these figs? Will we get poisoned if we eat them?”

Ma Jun gave him a swift kick. “I just checked—there’s nothing poisonous in the flesh! And so what if there are eggs? As long as they’re nontoxic and low in Devastation Element, they’re high-protein!”

With that, Ma Jun handed the biggest of the four figs to Xia Qing. “Here, Sister Qing, try it first. Absolutely safe. The Devastation Element is so low there can’t be any weird aftertaste.”

“Alright.” Xia Qing took the fig, peeled it, and broke open the flesh as she explained to Wang Liang, “Any bugs that make it inside will die there. Just crack the fruit open and check. If there aren’t any bugs inside, you’re good to go.”

“Thanks, Sister Qing.” Wang Liang, who had never even thought to split open a fig before, quietly started peeling his.

Ma Jun pushed the second-largest fruit toward Yang Jin’s head. “Boss, eat up!”

Yang Jin dodged that grimy paw with a look of disgust. “I’m not really hungry right now.”

Since the boss wasn’t eating, there was a spare fig among the four. Obviously, Ma Jun handed the extra one to Xia Qing.

Given a premium Green Lantern fig, Xia Qing accepted it without hesitation and tucked it into a small bag.

These figs tasted way better than any from her own tree. Third Brother would love them!

Yang Jin, who caught sight of Xia Qing stashing away the fruit, asked, “You staying in the Safe Zone tonight, or heading back to your territory?”

“I’m heading back. I already called Captain Hu to have him fly a helicopter over for me.”

Even though Old Goat had Er to keep him company, Xia Qing still needed to go home tonight.

Once the sun went down and the moon rose, Alpha and Crippled Wolf would check the moon’s shape and know it was Medicinal Bath day.

If Xia Qing didn’t come back, Crippled Wolf would take her place, haul out a bag of medicine from the big double-door fridge, and get Alpha into a bath.

It wasn’t the prospect of Crippled Wolf soaking in his own medicine that worried her—it was the risk of him turning the house into a swimming pool.

A flooded house was bad, but what really scared her was Crippled Wolf’s clever streak. If he ever got the idea to clean up all that water, her new clothes, seat cushions, quilt, and even her hair dryer might end up shredded under those big claws.

Xia Qing’s answer didn’t surprise Yang Jin at all. Hiding his regret, he started divvying up today’s haul. “Based on your contribution, you’ll get forty percent from this gathering trip. That sound fair?”

“Works for me. Thanks, Captain Yang.” Xia Qing had no complaints.

They were a four-person mission team. Yang Jin was the leader, Xia Qing handled resource discovery, navigation, and transportation. Forty percent was more than reasonable.

Yang Jin went on, “We’ll submit a few branches and fruit to the Mission Hall to claim the five thousand credits reward, and disinfect the rest before splitting it up.”

Xia Qing nodded. “Alright, I’ll take the branches straight home. Yang, are you selling the branches or the saplings?”

Thinking it over, Yang Jin turned to Xia Qing for advice. “Is fig propagation by cuttings really better than from seed?”

Otherwise, why would Xia Qing go through so much trouble to drag the branches home?

“Yep. Seeds mean sexual reproduction and there’s no controlling pollen quality—plus, you can get genetic mutations. Cuttings are asexual, so new plants are genetically identical to the original tree. Basically, a cutting will copy all of the mother tree’s best traits.”

Munching a fig, Ma Jun flashed a thumbs-up. “Sister Qing, with knowledge like yours, you could pass the professional breeder exam, no sweat!”

Yang Jin seriously considered kicking Ma Jun out and making him walk back to the Safe Zone alone. “Are cuttings easy to keep alive?”

Xia Qing replied, “After the second round of Devastation Rain, I propagated four cuttings from my Green Lantern fig—you’ll be happy to know all of them sprouted.”

Yang Jin grinned. “In that case, selling saplings is way better than branches. Are you raising your share yourself, or having the breeding team in Territory One do it?”

Xia Qing shot back, “Do they charge for that?”

Yang Jin answered, “Since we’re friends I can get you a discount.”

Ma Jun…

Wang Liang…

Boss, aren’t you being a bit stingy? Sister Qing’s a top-tier sniper—even if you can’t recruit her, you should at least cut her a better deal to keep her as an ally!

Xia Qing kept a straight face. “I’ll raise the saplings and sell them myself.”

Yang Jin asked with a smile, “How much are you thinking of selling each one for?”

Xia Qing gave him a knowing look. “That’s business information—no comment.”

Ma Jun…

Forget Sister Qing, even I feel like slugging you! Not even your looks will help this time!

The glint in Yang Jin’s eyes deepened, but he wasted no time updating Xia Qing on the situation with the Liangqing Squad.

“Liu Ke, the level-three Auditory Evolutionary from Liangqing Squad, has applied to leave the team. Chen Deng doesn’t want to let him go, so it’s gotten pretty ugly between them. Last night, Chen Deng and She Xing had a huge argument—and now She Xing and Fu Xiaodan want to take the injured Lu Zhengchun and Wang Bo and leave as well.”

Yang Jin added two more nuggets for Xia Qing. “They’ll probably move into Section One with the kids soon. She Xing is the true leader of Territory Twenty-Five and Fu Xiaodan leads Territory Twenty-Two. I have a feeling they’ll come to you for a favor—ask Third Brother to help heal Lu Zhengchun and Wang Bo.”

Back during the second Devastation Rain, Xia Qing had already guessed that Territory Twenty-Five was tied to the Liangqing Squad after spotting their Strength Evolutionary Fang Lin working there.

She asked, “Are Lu Zhengchun and Wang Bo badly hurt?”

Yang Jin nodded. “Surface wounds and broken bones are minor. The real problem is that Chen Dongyang poisoned them with a slow-acting toxin that’s almost impossible to cure. Even if Liangqing Squad burns through all their resources, they might not be able to save them. That’s why Chen Deng and She Xing are at odds.”

Seriously, Chen Deng always brags about being the kids’ benefactor—what’s he gonna do now that they’re poisoned?

Ignore it, and his reputation is ruined.

Step in, and he’ll go broke trying to save them—and it still might not work.

Chen Dongyang’s move was downright vicious.