Chapter 31: 31. Chapter 31: Human-Powered Waterwheel

Chapter 31: Human-Powered Waterwheel

The footsteps were steady and rhythmic; Xia Qing could tell it was Tan Junjie. It wasn't currently the time for danger-checking patrols, so he was the only one coming.

He was likely looking for her, specifically for the toona sinensis sprouts. Xia Qing took off her mud-covered gloves and pulled out her phone.

Sure enough, Tan Junjie stopped at the buffer zone north of Territory No. 3 and called Xia Qing. "Xia Qing, is now a good time? I want to exchange some toona sinensis sprouts and perilla for something."

After giving the sprouts to Luo Pei, Xia Qing had been waiting for them to trade supplies with her, but five days had passed, making her wonder if they no longer lacked safe vegetables.

Xia Qing gave a light smile. "It's a good time. How much does Captain Tan want, and what are you trading?"

Tan Junjie asked directly, "What do you want?"

Such a bold claim—did it mean she could ask for anything? Xia Qing stated what she wanted most right now. "I want a water pump to draw water from the reservoir to irrigate the fields."

Tan Junjie paused before negotiating. "A water pump would require either oil or electricity, neither of which is convenient for you. How about I have someone make you a human-powered waterwheel?"

A large, circular waterwheel like the ones in history textbooks—wouldn't it be easily chewed to pieces by evolved insects? Xia Qing paused before asking, "Is there one powered by a sheep?"

Tan Junjie also paused for a long time before answering, "I'll go back and ask."

That afternoon, Xia Qing received a call from Tan Junjie. "A sheep-powered one is possible, but your sheep is too strong; I don't have anything on my end that could withstand its thrashing without breaking the parts. If it's human-powered, with your strength, pedaling it won't be much effort."

The fact that it didn't require electricity or oil was truly enticing. "Then let's go with human-powered. Sorry for the trouble, Captain Tan. How shall we trade?"

Tan Junjie negotiated with her, "One set of human-powered waterwheels in exchange for four pounds of toona sinensis sprouts and two pounds of perilla?"

This was much lower than Xia Qing had anticipated. "Deal. I hope Captain Tan can keep this confidential; I don't want more people knowing I have edible toona sinensis sprouts in my territory."

Tan Junjie agreed immediately. "Of course. I also want to have the chance to trade safe food with you in the future. It will take a few days to transport the parts from the safe zone. I'll contact you once they arrive."

Xia Qing inquired, "Will Zhong Tao and the others deliver them?"

"Yes, the roads are almost cleared. If you need any supplies, you can ask Zhong Tao to bring them."

After hanging up, Xia Qing did not contact Zhong Tao, because she had no points in her card and no supplies to trade. Having exchanged a set of protective clothing with Tang Huai, she didn't want to use perilla to trade for supplies within the next three months. As for the toona sinensis sprouts, she currently only wanted to trade with Tan Junjie and Luo Pei.

Unfortunately, Luo Pei had no interest in the sprouts. Thinking carefully, Xia Qing felt this was reasonable. Even if he were injured, as a former top-tier combatant of the Azure Dragon squad, Luo Pei wouldn't lack supplies; he wouldn't care about a few clusters of sprouts.

Xia Qing put away her phone and stopped overthinking. She began searching the terraced fields from top to bottom, bit by bit. Spring was the season of germination; perhaps there would be new discoveries.

After half a day, there was indeed an unexpected harvest.

Xia Qing opened her phone and used the plant images from the *Complete Guide to Planting* to repeatedly compare them against a plant sprout, only two or three centimeters high, that she had found in a narrow, small terrace. She confirmed the name of the plant.

Peanuts!!!

Xia Qing pulled out her detector. After testing, she found they were actually growing in this six or seven-square-meter terrace, and they were all "Yellow Light" peanuts. Her hands shook with excitement.

So, peanuts actually grew so beautifully!

Fortunately, this terrace was in a remote location with a steep slope, and fortunately, these seedlings were "Yellow Light"; otherwise, these little sprouts, which were even prettier than succulents, would have been devoured by Boss Sheep long ago!

According to the *Complete Guide to Planting*, a dense patch of peanut seedlings would not grow well; they had to be thinned and transplanted.

Xia Qing selected the two lower layers of equally steep terraces. She spent her time weeding, plowing, transplanting, and watering until dusk. Boss Sheep had grown impatient long ago and had already gone home.

Finally, after finishing the work, Xia Qing stood up and looked at the three peanut fields with a beaming smile.

A windfall had fallen from the sky—she now owned two hundred and twenty peanut plants!

Peanuts bloom in spring and bear fruit in autumn, withering in winter. They had come to clear the Evolved Forest last winter, which was exactly when the peanuts were withering. This meant there could be peanut seedlings down the mountain as well!

As Xia Qing walked down with a light step, she fantasized about the wonderful days of eating boiled peanuts in the autumn, feeling like shouting out loud to release her uncontrollable excitement.

In the following days, Xia Qing searched her entire 7,500-acre territory. Sure enough, she discovered two more small patches of peanut seedlings, but unfortunately, these seedlings all tested as "Red Light," meaning their toxin content was too high to be edible.

Although she didn't find any more edible peanut seedlings, Xia Qing had an even more gratifying harvest: twenty-five "Yellow Light" soybean seedlings, thirty-six "Green Light" garlic seedlings, and fifty-two "Green Light" spinach seedlings.

Overwhelmed by her harvest, Xia Qing feared she might forget where these plants were, so she drew a simple map of her territory and marked the locations of all the edible plants.

After marking them, Xia Qing made a new discovery: the shape formed by connecting the locations of all the Green and Yellow Light plants she had found in her territory resembled a small stream flowing down from the mountain.

The most important resource in her territory—the spring—was also located on this "stream."

Lacking knowledge in geology, Xia Qing made a bold guess based purely on intuition: this edible plant belt, shaped like a stream, might be the path where underground spring water flows!

If this hypothesis held true...

Xia Qing's gaze followed the edible plant belt upward, looking toward the Evolved Forest outside the buffer zone, which she hadn't mapped.

If this hypothesis held true, did it mean that within the Evolved Forest of the northern mountain range that stretched slowly upward, there also existed an edible plant belt?

This thought spun in Xia Qing's head for half the night; the more she thought about it, the more excited she became.

The next morning, Xia Qing stood at the second-floor back window and looked north. Her gaze climbed slowly along the toona trees and the high slope of the desolate courtyard, reaching toward the distant, cloud-piercing peaks, before she gradually calmed down.

Even if her hypothesis was correct and the untainted spring water really flowed from high altitudes, the edible plants in the high-altitude Evolved Forest would likely just be annual herbs like weeds and wild vegetables, or tall trees like pines, wild peaches, wild walnuts, or wild persimmons. It was currently spring, and it was too early for fruit to ripen; venturing into the Evolved Forest would not yield any substantial harvest.

Secondly, even without formal knowledge of geological structures, Xia Qing knew that besides flowing down from high places, mountain springs could also emerge from the crevices of rocks deep within the mountain.

Therefore, at this stage, she would remain diligent in farming within her territory. Once she was fully prepared, she would enter the Evolved Forest in the autumn.