Chapter 984: Risky Deals and Wolfish Preferences

Yellow Lantern rice with a Devastation Element content of 12 to 15 per mille sells for 40 to 50 credits per catty. Medium-grade Yellow Lantern rice at 8 to 12 per mille Devastation Rain sells for about 80 credits. Premium Yellow Lantern rice with 5 to 8 per mille Devastation Element goes for around 150 credits.

Premium Green Lantern rice, with Devastation Element under 4.5 per mille and a decent taste, easily goes for over 300 credits a catty, and there’s never enough to meet demand.

Someone offering it at 250 per catty is fishy. Either the quality doesn’t match the label, or the source of this batch is shady.

Xia Qing asked, “Qing, did that guy mention how many catties of rice he actually had?”

Kuang Qingwei replied, “He didn’t give a specific number, but judging by the way he talked, it’s at least two hundred catties.”

Two hundred catties—that’s 50,000 credits’ worth of goods. For a broker like Kuang Qingwei, this is a big deal. Taking it on would mean betting everything he’s got.

Xia Qing leveled with Kuang Qingwei. “Last month on the sixth, one of White Seven’s transport planes carrying sixteen tons of Green Lantern food was hijacked. It was classified as a major criminal case. The special task force, led by Red One, is going all out to find that plane and the stolen food.”

The news sent Kuang Qingwei into a cold sweat. “White Seven produces rice. If it was stolen, it must have been rice! Sis, I get it now. You just saved my skin again.”

As a broker, Kuang Qingwei was well aware that real goods sold cheap were usually hot. But given how chaotic things were nowadays, everyone pretended not to notice where the goods came from.

But that’s just typical business. Anything listed as a major criminal case is on a whole different level. Cases like that are hit hard. If you take stolen goods in one of those cases, there’s no way to wipe your hands clean.

Kuang Qingwei was just a small-time retailer at the very end of the sales chain. If they ever traced the goods back to him, there’d only be one ending: taking the fall.

Explain yourself? They’d make sure you never got the chance.

Xia Qing wasn’t in charge of investigating the case, nor did she press Kuang Qingwei on the friend who’d contacted him. She just warned, “Qing, this is something you should keep to yourself. Don’t mention it to anyone.”

“Got it, Sis. Don’t worry.” After hanging up, Kuang Qingwei slumped weakly onto his bamboo mat. The more he thought about it, the more rattled he felt.

Zhu Li, an Auditory Evolutionary, asked softly, “Honey?”

“Yeah.” Kuang Qingwei nodded. “That’s definitely stolen goods. The authorities are staying quiet about the case because they’re waiting to catch them red-handed when they try to unload it. The arrest isn’t important—recovering all the food is what really matters.”

Zhu Li shivered at the thought. “Do you think Lai Zi knows what’s going on?”

Lai Zi, full name Lai Zhengzhi, was Kuang Qingwei’s own supplier—and the guy who’d just called about that premium Green Lantern rice.

Kuang Qingwei managed a wry smile. “He’s been in this game longer than I have. If I can smell trouble, he definitely can too.”

Zhu Li frowned a little. “Maybe he realized something was fishy after getting the goods and now he wants to get rid of them fast and skip town?”

“Could be. Anyway, this ends here for us—we’re not involved, and we’re not asking. The less we know, the safer we are.” After pulling himself together, Kuang Qingwei called Lai Zi. He told him that Section One had already produced a batch of Yellow Lantern rice, and none of the local lords would buy top-grade rice at inflated prices anymore. No matter how Lai Zi tried to persuade him, he refused the deal.

After the call, Kuang Qingwei felt a chill in his heart. He knew then and there that he’d never get another shipment from Lai Zi. Whether his other contacts would still work was anyone’s guess.

Meanwhile, after hanging up, Lai Zhengzhi made another call to Old Zhou the Skinflint at Wantong Trading Company, then collapsed onto his bed.

The scar-faced assistant beside him fanned the boss and whispered, “Lai, what do you think Old Kuang did to piss someone off? Old Zhou seems out to ruin him.”

“I’ve got no idea, but whoever it is—we can’t afford to cross them. Spread the word: never sell to Old Kuang again. Someone else can handle Section One’s business from now on.”

“Understood.”

While Kuang Qingwei was fretting about supplies, Xia Qing and Old Goat were hauling water home to prepare the evening’s medicinal bath.

Elder Wolf, feeling a lot better these days, trotted around the territory with a basket, catching insects to feed the fish.

The fish ate more than the chickens by far, but their meat was awful—Elder Wolf absolutely hated the fish pond and would have loved nothing more than to drag out every last fish and bite it to death.

Little Fei Mao scurried all over looking for food. Any grass seed good enough to store, it brought back to its wooden nest in the wall. The best seeds got stashed in Xia Qing’s pocket.

As dusk fell, the people and animals of Section Three returned home—those who needed to cook made dinner, and the rest settled down to rest.

First Xia Qing settled Old Goat’s dinner menu, then called up to Elder Wolf on his perch. “Number Four, how about some boiled eggs tonight?”

Number Four stared off into the distance in silence.

“Want some chicken?”

Still no response.

“How about some roasted breadworm or freeze-dried meat?”

Number Four finally lowered his head and looked down at Xia Qing standing in the yard.

“Alright, I’ll get started.” Xia Qing happily grabbed the basket and went to collect eggs. After more than ten straight days of eating nothing but eggs and chicken, Number Four finally wasn’t obsessed with chicken anymore. That was a win.

Even though Number Four wouldn’t eat them, Xia Qing still boiled a few eggs for herself, for Er and Crippled Wolf who’d be coming for a bath, and for Handsome Huge Wolf—she needed the eggs to bribe him into joining her in collecting soybeans.

Just as Xia Qing finished her meal, the Wolf Pack strode into Section Three right on time, ready for their medicinal bath.

Along with Alpha, Crippled Wolf, Handsome Huge Wolf and Er, there were two more wolves that Xia Qing didn’t recognize—these had to be the bodyguards for the night.

Alpha raised his dazzling golden eyes, squaring off with Elder Wolf who stood tall among the ruins.

Xia Qing had zero interest in their standoffs. She coaxed Er into the house with the promise of boiled eggs and pumpkin.

The moment Alpha padded into the house and dipped his paws in the water, Xia Qing started her cheerleading. “Queen, did you win? Queen, you truly belong at the very top of Blue Star’s food chain. Surely you’re the king of the Northern Evolved Forest…”

As Xia Qing kept lavishing praise, Alpha lounged in the house with an unreadable expression while Elder Wolf lay quietly atop the grass outside, gazing at the endless northern mountains.

Down below the ruins, the two bodyguard wolves Alpha brought glared fiercely at the outsider wolf on the heights, low growls rumbling in their throats.

After finishing her pep talk with Alpha, Xia Qing moved on to Crippled Wolf, complimenting his newly grown leg fur. Only then did she head outside to Handsome Huge Wolf and hand him a basin filled with delicious eats. “Big Wolf, want an egg?”

Handsome Huge Wolf, lying down, turned his head away.

Not hungry? Xia Qing took the egg out and poured pure spring water into the basin. “Big Wolf, want some water?”

Handsome Huge Wolf sniffed the water, then turned away again.

Not thirsty? So you’ve come well fed and watered? Xia Qing tried one last lure—a premium nutrient shake. “Big Wolf, want a nutrient shake? Finish this and you could run fifty miles in one go, easy.”

This time, Handsome Huge Wolf did turn back, fixing his eyes on what was in Xia Qing’s hand.