Chapter 96: Deals at the Territory Stand: Seeds, Allies, and New Techniques

Answering Zhang San’s question, Li Si’s voice warmed. “Kind of curious what Three’s favorite spinach leaf tastes like.”

Everyone picked up on something different in that reply. Even if Zhang San acted cool with Li Si, the two knew each other inside out. What exactly was going on between them?

Once the compost starter trade wrapped up, Xia Qing invited Shi Chong for another deal. “Uncle Shi, would you trade the roots of your Green-glow Water Celery? I want to swap them for rooted Green-glow Chives.”

Xia Qing was around Shi Du’s age, so unlike the other territory heads, she honored Shi Chong as an elder but didn’t call him ‘Brother Shi’ as they did.

Shi Chong asked Xia Qing, “Xia Qing, I’ve already traded away my Green-glow Chives. Anything else up your sleeve?”

“That’s all I’ve got.” Of course Xia Qing had more, but she wasn’t about to say so in front of Li Si.

Shi Chong, with his son nearly yanking his head off, shrugged him away and grinned. “So, Xia Qing, got a lot of wheat in your territory? Once you harvest, can I trade you some water celery seeds for a bit of grain? I’ve got a pig at home, and I swear it could eat us out of house and home.”

Shi Chong obviously meant his son, Shi Du, by ‘pig.’ Evolvers could really pack it away compared to regular folks. Xia Qing grinned. “Once I harvest the wheat, we’ll figure out how much to trade.”

“No rush—the water celery won’t give seeds for a while anyway.” Shi Chong’s voice was gentle and caring. “If you get overwhelmed, just call Du over to lend a hand.”

Xia Qing wasn’t naive. She caught his meaning right away and made her stance clear. “Thank you, Uncle Shi, but I’m a Strength Evolver too. I can handle a little farm work.”

Xia Qing had said enough for everyone to get the message. Sensing Shi Chong might get embarrassed, Qi Fu clumsily changed the subject. “It’s been days with nothing from Plot Eight. Did their walkie-talkie break or something?”

Kuang Qingwei chimed in with a chuckle. “Could be. Brother Feng, have you seen anyone from Plot Eight?”

Plot One was directly north of Plot Eight, the closest of all their territories.

Hu Zifeng replied, “Honestly? Haven’t really noticed.”

After that, the channel went silent.

As was tradition, the Inspection Team handled trades between territory heads. Xia Qing counted out ten spinach seeds Zhang San had gifted her and handed them to the team.

The one delivering compost starter to Xia Qing was Huzi from the Inspection Team.

Huzi passed over two bags of compost starter and a double-sided printed composting guide, then quietly said, “Qing-jie, this trade of yours is a real win.”

A single bag of compost starter weighed four pounds, and you even got a detailed guide for free. Since the Green-glow Spinach seeds Xia Qing traded were a freebie from Zhang San, this was definitely a good deal. She nodded in agreement.

Today’s exchange was under the southern bus stop, and Xia Qing wasn’t wearing her protective mask. From Huzi’s angle, he could see her long thick lashes and the straight bridge of her small nose.

Even with her dark red skin, in Huzi’s eyes, Xia Qing was stunning enough to make his heart race. Unable to help himself, Huzi confessed softly, “If you ever can’t handle all the farm work, just call for me.”

Xia Qing’s already expressionless face grew even colder. “I’ve got it covered.”

Still grinning, Huzi said, “I know. Just wanted to let you know, that’s all. Better head back, don’t want anyone eavesdropping.”

Tang Huai, who’d rushed over to pick up her share of compost starter, overheard…

Xia Qing headed home, reading over the composting guide as she went. It was precious information.

Back in the Safe Zone, even making fertilizer was a technical task—only experienced hands got those jobs. Before the Catastrophe, Xia Qing had just started high school. Afterwards, she’d never studied again or learned a trade, so she ended up doing manual labor for the Construction Crew.

Just a glance told her the guide was written by a professional. It spelled out the tools, conditions and steps with crisp figures—like using insect-resistant Evolver camphor, pear or beech wood for the compost box, with boards at least 1.5 centimeters thick.

The instructions were clear enough for anyone who could read.

Still, following the steps properly took real skill.

Fortunately, Xia Qing had picked up exactly those skills.

Feeling pretty pleased with herself for her woodworking chops, Xia Qing soon built five standard compost boxes, then hauled out four bundles of dried grass from storage. Over the past few months, she’d pulled these from the Hillside growing area—most were Yellow-glow, the rest Green-glow. She’d planned to keep them as hay for Boss Sheep, but now they’d make perfect compost.

Boss Sheep’s winter feed could wait for another day.

Working by the book, Xia Qing quickly built a composting shed in a dry, sunny, well-ventilated spot in the yard. It was different from her vegetable sheds—the floor was covered with rainproof tarp to stop bugs from sneaking into the compost boxes and spoiling the results.

By day, she’d drape the shed in insect netting. At night, when the temperature dropped below 20 degrees, she’d use a rainproof tarp to keep the heat in.

The guide explained every step of the process, from turning the compost to managing moisture and what to watch out for.

Working through each step, Xia Qing couldn’t help feeling guilty toward her idol—because the more she followed the guide, the more she liked Li Si.

After trading White-hairy Chicken Manure Vine for a thousand pounds of Crab Shell Fertilizer, Xia Qing found it had already been ground into powder and was thankfully odor-free.

Just in case, she soaked some crab shell powder in hot spring water and used the Portable Tester to sniff the steam—no poisonous gases. Then she tried the Xiang Tester on the shell water. It showed a red light, but the Xiang element content was under two percent, which wasn’t high.

Of course, that result was partly because Xia Qing had done a blunt, soak-and-test sampling.

After those safety checks, Xia Qing sprinkled earthworm castings and crab shell powder into the trench she’d dug the other day. She smoothed it over—now her cotton’s flowering fertilizer was done.

Next, she treated her vegetables and blossoming mung beans in the garden to another dose of crab shell powder.

As for those potatoes about to flower, they’d get their extra fertilizer in a few days. The pumpkins hadn’t shown a hint of flowers yet, so she held off to keep them from growing even crazier.

Once her fertilizer chores were done, Luo Pei messaged Xia Qing—the wolf evolver threat was over. Time to get back to training on Mountain 49.

Every morning Xia Qing trained under Luo Pei, learning new skills; every afternoon, she entered her private Evolver Forest, clearing out Xiang-infused evolved creatures while practicing hard.

She wasn’t afraid of hard work, danger or getting hurt, always pushing herself just as Luo Pei directed. Her progress was blindingly fast.

That famously strict First Military Academy instructor, Luo Pei, gave Xia Qing the highest praise:

“Xia Qing’s potential and determination were on par with the best cadets at the Academy, like Yang Jin. It’s just a shame she started serious training so late and for so little time—otherwise she’d have a spot among the top ten in Huicheng’s combat rankings.”