Chapter 106: Harvesting Wheat

Chapter 106: Chapter 106: Harvesting Wheat

By the time the mud from the first fishpond was dry, most of the pods on the mung bean stalks in the Third Territory had turned black. Xiaqing picked all the mung bean pods and brought them home. Then, she uprooted the stalks. She set aside a small portion for sheep feed, chopped half of the remainder with her knife for fermented organic fertilizer, and burned the other half into plant ash.

After Xiaqing leveled and irrigated her two-mu mung bean field, the wheat also matured. The evolved wheat surprisingly only needed thirteen or fourteen days to go from flowering to maturity. According to the expert, Li Si, this rapid growth was the result of artificial cultivation, specifically designed to prevent the wheat from being eaten by Evolved Insects and birds during this vulnerable stage.

When the wind blew, the wheat transformed into a rustling golden wave. This sound, mixed with birdsong, the croaking of frogs, and the gurgle of flowing water, was absolutely wonderful. Xiaqing recorded a video and saved it on her phone. Although the audio quality was a far cry from the real thing, listening to and watching it still filled her with an immense sense of happiness and accomplishment.

Xiaqing only had a two-fen wheat field, which was a little over 150 square meters. For a Strength Evolver, harvesting such a small amount of wheat was a piece of cake. In just over an hour, Xiaqing had pulled up all the wheat plants and carried them to the compacted threshing ground. She chopped off the rooted lower halves and spread the upper stalks, heavy with heads of grain, flat on the ground. Sheep Leader then pulled a stone roller back and forth to thresh them.

This was when the Evolutionary Birds were at their most frenzied. They flew over in flocks like black clouds to snatch the grain but were shot down by Xiaqing with Bullets and steel balls. Not a single bird succeeded in stealing any grain.

Tang Huai, who was on monitoring duty, heard gunshots from the Third Territory and immediately asked in the group chat, "Third Territory, Xiaqing, what’s the situation? Did a dangerous Evolutionary Animal break in?"

Xiaqing placed the birds into a sealed bag and calmly replied, "No, I’m just dealing with some birds that were pecking at the wheat grains."

Tang Huai was puzzled. "Didn’t you cover your wheat field with insect netting? How could birds have gotten in?"

"The insect netting is for insects." Xiaqing wasn’t about to tell him she had moved the wheat outside the netting’s protection.

Tang Huai was about to curse, but remembering his old man was also present, he forced it back. "You’re right."

Zhao Ze chimed in with a complaint, "The birds pecked through my insect netting too. I barely had any wheat stalks left to begin with, and now they’re completely gone."

Qi Fu shared his experience, "At this stage, you should cover it with a rainproof cloth before doing a rush harvest. If the birds can’t see what’s under the cover, the danger is mostly gone."

After Sheep Leader finished using the stone roller to press all the grains from the wheat heads, Xiaqing gave it a new flavor of compressed ration she had just traded for with Zhong Tao and let it go rest on the side.

Then, Xiaqing quickly used a large three-pronged iron pitchfork to separate the stalks before sweeping the wheat grains into a pile with a large broom. She used the wind to winnow the chaff. The flock of Evolutionary Birds only dispersed after Xiaqing had bagged all the harvested wheat.

The threshing took over half an hour. Xiaqing had shot down two large baskets of Evolutionary Birds and harvested three bags of wheat, which she estimated weighed over 330 pounds. This harvest exceeded her expectations. She cheerfully loaded all three bags onto Sheep Leader, had it carry them home to be stored away, and only then returned to clean up the wheat stalks and the dead birds.

Sheep Leader didn’t like to eat the chaff or the stalks, so she turned it all into organic fertilizer—once again, burning half and fermenting the other half.

The two bags of high-efficiency compost starter that Xiaqing had gotten from Li Si were already used up. The starter she was using now was something she had traded for with Li Si, exchanging one Yellow Light Fish and four pounds of pickled bamboo shoots. To GET his idol’s specialty food, Li Si was very generous.

Of course, the pickled bamboo shoots Xiaqing traded to Li Si and Zhang San were always soaked in distilled water for a while after being taken out of the spring water broth. Xiaqing guarded the biggest secret of her territory with her life.

After cleaning up the chaff and stalks, Xiaqing leveled and irrigated the wheat field. Just as she was about to head home, she suddenly noticed a Red Squirrel on the nearby threshing ground, picking up the wheat grains she had dropped.

While clearing the Evolution Forest recently, Xiaqing had seen plenty of squirrels, but this was the first time she had encountered one so red.

’Even though their names both contained the character for "rat," people wanted to kill mice on sight. But a squirrel, with its big fluffy tail, was just too cute. It made her reluctant to act.’

Xiaqing, who couldn’t keep a cat, briefly entertained the thought of raising a squirrel as a pet. But as soon as she took a few steps closer, the squirrel, its cheeks stuffed full of wheat grains, noticed her. The little creature fled in an instant, as fast as a streak of fire.

’So the little guy is a Speed Evolver.’ Xiaqing shook her head, returned home, took a shower, and used a handheld steelyard scale to weigh her harvest.

After a busy day, she had harvested 364 pounds of Yellow Light Wheat and about four pounds of Green Light Wheat. She would save all the Green Light Wheat for seed. She also needed to set aside 55 pounds of the Yellow Light Wheat for seed, bring 44 pounds to the agricultural products trade fair, and the rest would be her own food supply.

The agricultural products trade fair would start the day after tomorrow and last for two days.

That evening, after listening to the weather forecast and a special broadcast about the agricultural products trade fair from the enthusiastic Hui San Base announcer—who chirped, "Welcome home, Lords, come and take a look!"—the discussion in the Lords’ group chat also turned to the trade fair.

Zhao Ze spoke first. "Are you all planning to trade for a flour mill? My harvested wheat and mung beans combined aren’t enough to get one. If you get one, can I borrow it? I’ll pay four alfalfa seeds for a day’s use."

The small, household flour mill was one of the supplies the Safe Zone offered to the Lords attending the agricultural products trade fair, available for exchange at an 80% discount.

No one else said anything, but Kuang Qingwei spoke up. "A flour mill costs eight hundred points, and the blades wear down with use. You’re only offering four alfalfa seeds for a full day? Who would agree to that? You’d be better off just trading your alfalfa seeds with Brother Tao for a mill."

Zhao Ze sighed. "My alfalfa has just started flowering; it hasn’t produced any seeds yet. The special price for the flour mill is only available at the trade fair, so I can’t get it."

After the great evolution of life on Blue Star, unhulled seeds could be stored for much longer than processed flour. After experiencing ten years of Natural Disasters, who wouldn’t want to hold on to their food supply with an iron grip?

But turning grain into edible flour required tools.

That was why for the past half-month, the base’s daily broadcasts had been creatively advertising the household flour mill, which was only available at the trade fair for an 80% discount, with a limit of one per Lord. By the time Zhao Ze’s alfalfa seeds were ready, the special offer would be long gone.

Kuang Qingwei, ever the businessman, haggled with Zhao Ze and settled on a price of two points to mill one pound of grain. He told Zhao Ze to bring his grain to the No. 6 Territory to be milled.

Then, Kuang Qingwei continued to solicit business. "There’s really no need for every territory to have its own mill. Wouldn’t it be better to save those eight hundred points for something else? Besides Little Zhao, everyone else is welcome to come to my place to mill their grain."

Xiaqing, who was in the middle of doing push-ups, sneered. ’Why do the Lords want to buy a flour mill? Isn’t it because they don’t want anyone else to know how much grain they have? Only a fool would pass up a cheap mill just to go spend points milling grain in someone else’s territory.’

Seeing that no one was taking his bait, Kuang Qingwei moved on to the next topic. "It’s a mess out there. It’d be safest if we all go together and come back together, what do you guys think?"

"Brother Qing is right. There’s safety in numbers," Zhao Ze was the first to respond.

Qi Fu chimed in, "We’re all taking Brother Tao’s vehicle there and back anyway. And once we’re there, we’ll be in the same trading hall. It won’t be easy to get separated even if we tried."

Kuang Qingwei was still uneasy. "Brother Tao is picking up Lords from fifty territories in the North District tomorrow. With that many people on board, there might be thieves. If we sit together, we can watch each other’s backs."

Of course, this "we" referred to the six Lords who were serious farmers: those from territories Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, and Ten. The Lords of One, Two, Nine, and Twelve were not interested in the agricultural products trade fair and never joined the discussion, so it was unknown if they would be attending.

The Lord of Territory Eight? That one never responded, no matter how many times they were called, and had long been ignored by the group.

「The next day」

Xiaqing began preparing the goods to take to the trade fair. The entry requirement was to bring at least three types of vegetables weighing no less than five and a half pounds, and at least forty-four pounds of grain.

For grain, Xiaqing planned to bring forty-four pounds each of mung beans and wheat. For vegetables, she would bring eggplants, cucumbers, and long beans, plus a small packet of green onion seeds. All of them were Yellow Light, of course.

After trading her crops for the flour mill, Xiaqing also wanted to buy every type of seed available in the Safe Zone. She wanted the good things the other Lords were bringing, too.

On top of that, she needed to repair her machete, buy woodworking and electrical tools, daily necessities, and undergarments. All in all, it would require a lot of points.

Recently, Xiaqing had hauled quite a few plants and animals out of her "private training ground" and exchanged them with Zhong Tao for over three thousand points. However, even with these points and the goods she was bringing, it still wasn’t enough. But Xiaqing had already thought of a way to earn points quickly.

After taking inventory of her goods, Xiaqing took out her phone. With a serious expression, she sent a text message that seemed casual, but had in fact been rehearsed in her mind countless times, to an unfamiliar number she knew by heart.