Chapter 22: 22. Chapter 22: The Sheep-Drawn Plow

Chapter 22: The Sheep-Plough

After five clear days following the Corrosive Rain, temperatures rose rapidly, and the concentration of corrosive elements in Earth's atmosphere dropped to normal levels. Once the corrosive elements in the soil had mostly evaporated, Xia Qing began preparing for sowing.

She utilized these five days to clear weeds and venomous insects from three villages, and she even pulled up the corrosive-evolved grass in the thirty acres of most fertile, level land near the reservoir. Of course, she only pulled the grass that had grown wildly during the Corrosive Rain; she hadn't yet gotten around to the sparse, normal grass seedlings growing beneath it. Aside from what Boss Sheep had grazed on, the rest of the vegetation remained.

However, Xia Qing decided not to clear it all and would instead begin plowing directly. Standing at the edge of the field, she pulled out a cluster of toona sprouts and shook them, shouting, "Boss—want some toona sprouts?"

Boss Sheep, who had been grazing in the field, immediately rushed over. Taking advantage of the moment it lowered its head to eat, Xia Qing fitted it with a specially made plowing harness. This harness was designed based on the style of a vest-type dog leash, ensuring that Boss Sheep could neither break free nor be strangled by it.

Once the equipment was on, Xia Qing turned the bamboo pole attached to the mechanical plow, and the bamboo pole dangling a cluster of toona sprouts began to sway in front of Boss Sheep's head. Because they shared no common language, Xia Qing and Boss Sheep communicated in only two ways: food and fighting.

Having set the bait, Xia Qing shouted loudly, "Boss, your chance to shine has finally come. Get to work!"

After finishing the toona sprouts on the ground, Boss Sheep poked its head forward to eat the ones in front of it, only to find they were out of reach. It stepped forward to reach for them, but the sprouts moved forward as well. Unwilling to lose, Boss Sheep continued to reach; the harness on its body tightened, and the three plowshares sank deep into the soil. Xia Qing gripped the handles of the mechanical plow and began to plow.

This three-share mechanical plow was originally meant to be pulled by a tractor and lacked handles. After Xia Qing dug it up from the village ruins, she modified and repeatedly tested it until it became the current "Sheep-Plough."

Boss Sheep effortlessly pulled the plow from one end to the other. With a backward tug from Xia Qing on the bamboo pole, a cluster of toona sprouts would arrive right at Boss Sheep's mouth. When Boss Sheep stopped to eat, Xia Qing immediately maneuvered the plow to turn around, attached another cluster of sprouts, and then Boss Sheep would pull the plow back from one end of the field to the other.

After one round, a strip of land one and a half meters wide and two hundred meters long was plowed!

After another round, nearly one acre was completed. This was much faster than Xia Qing's shovel-by-shovel method, leaving her grinning from ear to ear.

When Boss Sheep had eaten its fill of toona sprouts and was preparing to throw a tantrum and strike, Xia Qing switched the bait.

With a small piece of ration hanging before its eyes, Boss Sheep's energy doubled, tripled, and quadrupled. It took only over an hour to plow thirty acres, consuming one piece of ration and a handful of toona sprouts.

Xia Qing removed the harness from the great hero and attended to it with water and grooming. Having eaten its fill and been pampered to satisfaction, Boss Sheep lay down at the edge of the field with squinted eyes to rest, watching Xia Qing continue her work with great pride.

After cleaning up the uprooted tree roots, grass roots, and stones, Xia Qing stood up and watched the magpies, sparrows, and crows pecking at the plowed earth for insects. Her mood was excellent.

If the birds ate the insects in the soil, her crops would grow better. With the first day of work after the Corrosive Rain going so smoothly, a bumper harvest was in sight!

However, that evening, when she heard the radio explaining that birds do not only eat insects but also dig up seeds in the soil, Xia Qing's good mood vanished.

Immediately following that, the radio introduced countermeasures: "The experts from our Base's Planting Research Center recommend two methods to all Lords: First, mix seeds with insect-repelling powder before sowing; this not only repels birds but also prevents evolved soil pests from damaging the seeds. Second, use a level-three scent-evolved cinnamon or camphor juice, diluted with water at a ratio of one to ten, to spray the sowing area. This method effectively repels most bird species; using both methods simultaneously yields even better results. Experts remind all Lords not to take shortcuts by scattering seeds directly on the surface. For wheat, the sowing depth should be three to five centimeters, the row spacing... for cotton... to improve germination rates, seeds can be soaked the night before, but the water temperature must be strictly controlled..."

Xia Qing leaned over the table, taking diligent notes by candlelight.

Before the cataclysm, China's urbanization rate had exceeded seventy percent, and most of its arable land had been handed over to large-scale professional farms. After ten years of disaster, the elderly who knew how to farm but had low resistance had passed away, and most territory Lords did not understand how to plant crops. Therefore, although the mobile phones issued to Lords contained the *Encyclopedia of Planting*, the Base still broadcasted detailed planting knowledge every day without fail.

Xia Qing had worked at the Safety Zone's planting center and understood the basic processes of farming, but she did not dare to be careless. The planting center utilized rainproof greenhouses, whereas she was now planting in the open air.

Following the Corrosive Rain, corrosive-evolved plants grew explosively, and transportation between the Safety Zone and the territories had been cut off. Xia Qing's two power banks had not been recharged in time, so she had to prioritize battery life for listening to the daily radio broadcasts. She used her phone directly for calls and avoided reading the *Encyclopedia of Planting* whenever possible to save power.

Once she finished sowing, she would have to find a way to get some solar panels back.

Xia Qing put away her notebook and sat on the tatami mat, petting the sheep while thinking about the news from the radio.

It had been five days, and the Hui San Base radio had not once mentioned the death toll caused by this Corrosive Rain. Xia Qing conservatively estimated it must have exceeded seven thousand.

Although they did not report specific casualty figures, the announcer would every day tell moving stories with great emotion. Today, the broadcast featured the heroic deeds of the Sufeng Squad, who sacrificed six members to repel evil forces in order to protect public facilities and property.

Xia Qing suspected that Feng Teng might be among those six, which was why Feng Wen had cried so heartbreakingly during Zhong Tao's phone call.

As for Feng Teng's cause of death, it certainly wasn't the reason given on the radio, because when Feng Teng encountered danger, he ran faster than anyone.

What did the "evil forces" mentioned on the radio actually refer to? Where did they get the audacity to confront the Sufeng Squad and Tang Zhengrong, the second-in-command of the Base behind the squad?

Before Xia Qing could figure it out, Boss Sheep stood up and skillfully opened the door to go out. Over the past few days, Boss Sheep had learned how to use its hooves to operate the door, so the house was secure.

Xia Qing stopped thinking about Feng Wen, stood up, took out the seeds, and began soaking them according to the method taught on the radio. She used filtered water for half and higher-quality mountain spring water for the other half.

In the Safety Zone, like most people, Xia Qing had grown vegetables in flowerpots. Although she took great care of them, most of the vegetables would grow wildly during the Corrosive Rain, leaving very little to actually eat. However, after the Red Corrosive Rain, out of the seventeen ginger and garlic seedlings she had transplanted upon arriving at her territory, only three had undergone corrosion. This corrosion rate was even lower than that in the Safety Zone's planting center greenhouses.

After analyzing this, Xia Qing felt that the low corrosion rate was likely eighty percent due to her watering with mountain spring water after transplanting, and twenty percent because the soil here was better. To verify this and for safety, she cautiously decided to use both types of water.

The seeds using filtered water were planted in the thirty acres of farmland, while the seeds using mountain spring water were planted in the area she had plowed once before the Corrosive Rain and once again after it.

To ensure the water temperature remained consistently between 30°C and 40°C without constant-temperature equipment, Xia Qing simply used her own body temperature to test the water, barely sleeping all night.