Chapter 114: Salesman Little Liu

Chapter 114: Chapter 114: Salesman Little Liu

After several failed attempts, they realized that even the sound of Xiaqing’s voice couldn’t placate Sheep Leader. Hu Zifeng conferred with Xiaqing. "Should we just tie it up? It’ll be a real problem if it runs into the Evolution Forest."

This couldn’t go on, but tying up Sheep Leader was definitely not a good solution. Xiaqing suggested to Hu Zifeng, "Brother Feng, have Guan Tong hold Sheep Leader down. Then you put its Protective Mask on, turn on its walkie-talkie, and let it hear my voice through the headset."

During the Harmful Rain, Xiaqing had communicated with Sheep Leader for days through the walkie-talkie on her Protective Mask. Since playing her voice over a phone’s speaker didn’t work, the walkie-talkie was the next logical step.

"Okay." After a chaotic scene of flailing men and a bucking sheep, Hu Zifeng and Guan Tong finally managed to put the Protective Mask on Sheep Leader and switch on its headset walkie-talkie.

"Leader, can you hear me?" Xiaqing’s voice was calm.

"BAA—" Sheep Leader panted, its bleat tinged with desperation.

Xiaqing cooed softly, "Leader, I’m okay. I just had to travel a bit far this time, so I can’t come back tonight. You be a good boy and watch the house, and I’ll be back tomorrow. I bought lots of compressed rations. Listen."

Xiaqing crinkled a sealed bag of compressed rations in her hand. Hearing the familiar sound, Sheep Leader’s panting grew less frantic.

"That’s right, these are the tasty compressed rations. I bought a few pounds of every flavor, and they’re all for you." Xiaqing sat on her bed, continuing to soothe Sheep Leader in a gentle voice. "I also got two trees. When I get back, we’ll plant them on the hillside. How about you carry the water to water them for us, Leader? You’re the most capable, the most capable sheep in our entire territory."

"BAA." Sheep Leader bleated once.

Xiaqing could actually hear a hint of grievance in its bleat. Her heart went out to it, and her voice grew even more tender. "If you’re too tired to water the trees, Leader, I’ll carry the water instead. I might not be as strong as you, but I can still manage a water tank of two or three hundred pounds. When I get back, I’ll mix some alfalfa into your compressed rations, and I’ll fill your new tub with water. You can have a nice soak while you eat, how does that sound?"

"BAA." Eating. Sheep Leader’s one true love.

Ten minutes later, Xiaqing had successfully placated Sheep Leader and ended the call. She wrapped herself in her blanket and sighed. ’My reputation and authority... all down the drain because of Sheep Leader.’

Back in the Third Territory, the now-pacified Sheep Leader stood up, shook the dirt and grass clippings from its wool, and headed home. Trailing behind it, just as filthy, Guan Tong couldn’t hold back any longer. "Brother Feng, Sister Qing... she..."

The Xiaqing who had just been cooing at Sheep Leader was a world away from the usual, cold-faced Xiaqing. The difference was so vast that the plain-spoken Guan Tong didn’t know how to describe his astonishment.

"Yeah." Hu Zifeng, who was carrying Sheep Leader’s Protective Mask, was just as stunned.

Before hearing how Xiaqing placated Sheep Leader, Hu Zifeng’s "pursuit" of her had been purely for the sake of his mission. After listening in, he found he genuinely wanted to pursue her for real.

If Xiaqing were to talk to him the way she talked to Sheep Leader, Hu Zifeng would pound his chest and swear that he would be far more reasonable and capable than that stubborn sheep.

「The next morning at eight o’clock」

Xiaqing left the hotel with the other Lords and gathered in the mission hall. The main event for the day was the Territory Management Department selling flour mills, seedlings, and seeds to the Lords at discounted prices.

In addition to a flour mill, Xiaqing also purchased four hundred rice seedlings, two pounds of corn kernels, two hundred sunflower seeds, one hundred fifty cabbage seeds, and two hundred radish seeds (one hundred green radish and one hundred white radish). This was the maximum amount the Territory Management Department allowed each Lord to purchase at the discounted rate.

Most of the Lords, like Xiaqing, bought the maximum allowable amount. Having already gone through one harvest, the Lords had tasted the benefits of the safe evolution seeds from the Safe Area Planting Center: the chance of them undergoing an aggressive Qiang Evolution was far lower than that of the edible plants native to their own territories.

Besides, after the incident with the potato seeds, this batch of seeds was sure to have undergone rigorous quality control and would be even safer.

Although these Yellow Light Seeds and seedlings completely wiped out her points card, she didn’t regret it in the slightest. She was just eager to get back to her territory and get them all in the ground.

After collecting two large, free barrels of upgraded insecticide and Insect Repellent and patiently sitting through Jiang Quan’s effusive farewell speech, Xiaqing immediately shouldered her heavy pack, cradled a basket of fruit saplings and rice seedlings, and left the Safe Zone. She boarded the military truck under the "enthusiastic farewell" of the Safe Zone staff and residents.

"Damn it. They made us walk all this way out here just so they could save face," Zhao Ze, whose leg still hadn’t fully healed, couldn’t help but curse as soon as he sat down.

"The Safe Zone gave you a huge discount. What’s the big deal about walking a few steps for their PR? This whole process was decided a long time ago. If you didn’t want to walk, you shouldn’t have come." With his sister Tang Ning absent, Tang Huai had reverted to his nasty habit of being unable to speak without starting an argument. After shutting Zhao Ze down, Tang Huai, now satisfied, poked at the rice seedlings in the basket beside him and humbly asked Little Liu, the assistant from Territory No. 9, for advice on planting them.

Business had arrived. Assistant Liu pushed his glasses up, his eyes gleaming.

After the Natural Disaster, the Visual acuity of even ordinary Evolved People had doubled. On top of that, time spent reading books and using electronics had been drastically reduced. As a result, in the tenth year since the Natural Disaster, very few young people had vision problems that required glasses, with the exception of researchers who spent long hours staring at books and screens.

Little Liu’s smile was professional, and his tone even more so. "Mr. Tang, are you interested in purchasing the *Evolutionary Rice Cultivation Guide*? This Guide contains five of our Lord’s exclusive patented techniques. The price is one thousand three hundred points, and the terms of the deal are the same as for the *Mung Bean Cultivation Guide*."

Tang Huai pulled out his points card without hesitation. "I’ll trade."

Wei Chengdong, the representative from No.1 Territory, also requested the trade, followed by the Lord from Territory No. 12. Luo Pei and Tang Zhengpo weren’t short on points, so Xiaqing wasn’t surprised they bought the Guide. What did surprise her was that the Lord of Territory No. 15 also made the trade immediately.

Territory No. 15 wasn’t on the private communication channel for Lords One through Ten, so Xiaqing didn’t know anything about him. But judging by his posture and the look in his eyes, Xiaqing knew he had definitely been a soldier.

Sun Zhe, the Lord from Territory No. 44 who was sitting at the back of the truck, inquired, "Excuse me, but could you tell me what the difference is between the techniques in your *Evolutionary Rice Cultivation Guide* and those in the *Planting Guide* distributed by the Safe Zone?"

Assistant Liu pushed his glasses up with a finger. "There are many differences, but the most direct one is the yield. Let’s take the H-12 Evolutionary Rice you received from the Safe Zone today as an example. If you cultivate it according to the Safe Zone’s *Planting Guide*—and assuming the rice doesn’t encounter a red-level Harmful Rain for more than an hour during its critical growth stages—your yield per acre should be between six hundred and one thousand pounds. However, if you strictly follow our Guide, even if you do get hit by a red-level Harmful Rain for over an hour during a critical stage, your yield per acre can still reach fifteen hundred pounds. If you don’t encounter such a rain, your yield per acre can exceed twenty-five hundred pounds."

WHOOSH—

Hearing that comparison, it wasn’t just the Lords and their representatives who erupted in commotion; even Tan Junjie and the guards responsible for maintaining order on the truck couldn’t help but stare at Assistant Liu in his white Protective Suit.