Chapter 48: Does a Stingy Person Have Feathers?

Chapter 48: Does a Stingy Man Have Feathers to Pluck?

After putting the bamboo rat meat into the dehydrator, adjusting the time and temperature, and pressing the switch, Xia Qing hummed a little tune while turning on the radio to listen to the evening news broadcast, continuing to flip through the manuals for the dehydrator and the vacuum sealer.

The news broadcast didn't contain much valuable information; the base weather forecast stated there would be no acid rain or large-scale insect tides for the next five days. However, today's base farming report was actually about how to exterminate evolved rats. Xia Qing raised an eyebrow, closed the manual, and turned on the walkie-talkie.

The first person to speak today was Zhao Ze, who was asking Qi Fu for advice on accumulating organic fertilizer.

As is well known, inorganic fertilizer is a fertilizer containing one or more nutritional elements required for crop growth, produced through chemical or physical methods, also known as chemical fertilizer. Organic fertilizer refers to fertilizer made from by-products rich in organic matter, such as animal excrement or plant and animal remains, after fermentation and decomposition.

Before the Great Biological Evolution of Blue Star, chemical fertilizers were the primary fertilizer for planting crops. But after the Great Biological Evolution, the application of chemical fertilizers—which rapidly replenish various elements needed by plants—actually became the culprit behind increasing the evolution rate of crops. Using organic fertilizer became the only choice to promote the growth of evolved crops.

When it came to farming knowledge, Qi Fu began to talk eloquently, "We don't raise livestock or poultry, and relying only on the few people in our territory, we can't accumulate much manure. The Safe Zone doesn't sell organic fertilizer either. Do you know how many pigs are raised in the wild boar breeding center north of Plots Four and Five? I wonder if they sell pig manure..."

This topic was far too appetite-destroying; Xia Qing was glad she had eaten early today.

Xia Qing wasn't the only one affected; Qi Fu's words were interrupted by Zhang San, "Stop, don't ruin my ability to savor a wonderful dinner."

Qi Fu immediately shut up, and Kuang Qingwei asked cheerfully, "Third Brother, what did you eat tonight?"

Zhang San replied sincerely, "Naturally, incomparably delicious green-light vegetables. If I could find more, I'd be willing to trade any amount of points for them."

Xia Qing knew Zhang San's words were meant for her.

It wasn't just her; Hu Zifeng, who was currently eating bamboo shoots with meat, knew, and Tang Huai, who was eating fried insects, also knew. But Tang Huai couldn't admit he knew, otherwise, he would be incriminating himself; Hu Zifeng left the choice to Xia Qing because she was the one who had discovered that bamboo grove first.

Xia Qing didn't take the bait from Zhang San's comment. Instead, she waited until the small talk ended before dialing Zhang San's number and identifying herself, "Third Brother, this is Xia Qing from Plot Three."

Zhang San's voice was as serious and direct as could be, "Sister Xia Qing, how many green-light bamboo shoots do you have left? Name your price."

Xia Qing was also very candid, "I have ten pounds left, and I need to save those for myself. I have thirty pounds of yellow-light bamboo shoots available for exchange. Are you interested, Third Brother?"

"No," Zhang San refused as expected. "If I can't trade for green-light shoots, can I trade for the location where you found them?"

Xia Qing laid out her conditions directly, "I can. That bamboo grove is at least a hundred acres. We only searched about ten acres today and found one green-light evolved bamboo. I want to exchange the location for two solar panels along with the matching wiring and a battery. Is that okay?"

Evolved forests did not belong to anyone, and such a large bamboo grove could not be kept secret for long. Even if Xia Qing didn't tell Zhang San now, he could deduce the general direction and range, and he could find it within a couple of days by sending people into the evolved forest. Therefore, Xia Qing wanted to use the location to trade for something practical.

If it were anyone else, they certainly wouldn't agree, but Zhang San—who loved delicious food and wasn't short on supplies—was no ordinary person.

Xia Qing was prepared to haggle with Zhang San, but she didn't expect him to agree instantly. "Of course. I'll give you a brand-new set of solar equipment. Where is the bamboo?"

Xia Qing described it accurately, "In the evolved forest north of Territory One, follow the stream in the ravine at the boundary of Territory One and Territory Three, and you'll see it fifteen li to the north."

Zhang San thanked her sincerely, "Many thanks. Tomorrow I'll have the reconnaissance team move the things over to you. Once my cat has kittens, I'll take photos to show you."

The next day, just as Hu Zi finished installing the solar panels for Xia Qing, Zhong Tao arrived.

Xia Qing handed him the four sealed red-light rats and, according to market prices, exchanged them for ten pounds each of yellow-light shoots for Zhong Tao and Zheng Kui. After exchanging some of the points from the red-light rats for thickened vacuum food packaging bags, Xia Qing used the remaining points to buy waterproof tarps.

Zhong Tao couldn't help but ask curiously, "Sister, why are you getting so many tarps?"

Xia Qing explained, "I plan to build a rain shelter for the vegetable garden. Otherwise, one acid rainstorm and there won't be many seedlings left."

"You're really willing to invest heavily. But that makes sense; it would be heartbreaking to let acid rain ruin seedlings that were so hard to grow." Zhong Tao started chatting with Xia Qing about recent news. "In a territory in our North District not far from the Safe Zone, all the vegetable seedlings that had been tended to for over a month were destroyed by rats just the night before last. There were two more in the West District; one lord lost his seedlings and went to steal from a neighboring territory, only to be beaten to death by the owners..."

Zhong Tao drove back and forth between the Safe Zone and the territories, so he possessed a vast amount of information. Hearing his words, Xia Qing finally understood why last night's farming knowledge was about rat extermination.

The inner territories had discovered rats a month later than these peripheral territories. Xia Qing memorized this time difference and headed home carrying her packaging bags.

With sufficient power reserves and food packaging bags, Xia Qing soaked the green-light and yellow-light bamboo shoots in mountain spring water to clean them, then sliced and dehydrated them.

The spring water used to clean the shoots couldn't go to waste, so Xia Qing carried the water up the hillside to water the tree saplings. She had planted the apple and jujube trees in the high-slope planting area, not far from the Toona sinensis trees.

A few days ago, the apple trees had begun to bud. Holding a copy of *Apple Cultivation Techniques*, Xia Qing carefully compared the buds on the branches and confirmed that the two trees had grown a total of thirteen flower buds. This meant she might actually get to eat apples this year.

However, the book stated that it was best not to let newly transplanted saplings bear fruit in their second year; they should bear fruit in the third year after growing for a full year. But, having not eaten a fresh apple in ten years, she couldn't bear to prune the flower buds.

The book was written about apples before the evolution. After the evolution, fruit trees should have become stronger; bearing fruit in the second year should be fine... right?

Even if she didn't let them bear fruit, she could just keep the flower buds to look at the apple blossoms for a few days before pinching them off, right?

Xia Qing's conflicted gaze shifted from the apple trees to the bare jujube trees, her beautiful eyebrows nearly knitting into a knot.

It was worrying. It had been half a month, and the two jujube trees looked exactly the same as when they were planted, with no sign of budding at all. If the jujube trees died, could she ask Yang Jin to compensate her with two more?

Does a stingy man have feathers to pluck?

After watering the trees, Xia Qing carried her bucket downhill to the vicinity of the spring. In a small terraced plot five meters below the spring eye, she had planted two grape vines and two strawberry plants. The strawberries had already bloomed, and the grape vines had grown pleasing little leaves. Once they grew a few more leaves, Xia Qing would finally be willing to pinch one off to test its acid element content.

(End of Chapter)