Chapter 117: Cold Tossed Mixed-Grain Noodles

Chapter 117: Chapter 117: Cold Tossed Mixed-Grain Noodles

Soon enough, Xiaqing found out what the squirrel was doing in the bird’s nest. The little critter was clutching a large ball of Red Light Smoke in its two short arms, and it vanished in just a few leaps.

She had traded Yellow Light Mung Beans for that Red Light Smoke. In a single trip, that little rascal had made off with the equivalent of dozens of Yellow Light Mung Beans—even worse than the time it stole her wheat.

’Catch it? It’s too fast. I can’t catch it.’

’Shoot it? With my current marksmanship, I’d never hit an animal that fast. And even if I did, the little thing isn’t worth a Bullet.’

"Let it steal, then. It’s just so darn cute," Xiaqing rationalized. She took a bite of a tomato and continued her idle chat with Sheep Leader. "The alfalfa and Perilla have all bloomed. They stink right now, but once they go to seed, we can plant a lot more. Then you’ll be able to eat as much as you want, Leader."

Sheep Leader seemed to be in a good mood and let out a BAA.

Xiaqing rested her eyes for a moment on the flower-filled cotton field, then turned her ire to the pumpkins. "I’ve tended to you for four months! The vines are crawling all over the place, but you still won’t damn well bloom or grow any pumpkins! What are we even keeping you around for?"

Back in June, Xiaqing had sworn that if the pumpkins didn’t bloom by the next month, she would rip them out and feed them to the sheep. Now, it was mid-July, the pumpkins were still growing like weeds without a single flower in sight, and Xiaqing still didn’t have the heart to do it.

Damn it!

Still fuming over her inability to catch the thieving Evolutionary Squirrel and teach it a lesson, Xiaqing shot to her feet and stormed toward the pumpkin patch. Seeing her aggressive posture, Sheep Leader assumed something was terribly wrong and also rose, following her with a matching air of menace.

Xiaqing waved a hand at Sheep Leader. "You don’t need to come, Leader. You’re the pillar of our territory; you have to save your strength for the important stuff. Go catch some bugs for the fish. Once they’re fed, I’ll make you a nice meal of special feed."

With that, Xiaqing tucked a small packet of compressed rations into the pouch around Sheep Leader’s neck, ruffled the wool on his head, and cooed softly, "You won’t stomp all the bugs into mush, will you, Leader?"

’As if you even have to ask.’ Sheep Leader shot Xiaqing a disdainful glance, then heroically snatched up his basket and trotted off to catch bugs.

In a Buffer Forest that large, a single patrol was bound to turn up a few evolutionary beetles, crickets, centipedes, grasshoppers, or snakes. Sheep Leader would just kill a few, toss them into the fishpond, and that would be more than enough for the small number of Yellow Light and Green Light fish.

Of all the Evolutionary Animals in the Third Territory, Sheep Leader was by far the most obedient. Xiaqing’s mood brightened a bit. She grabbed her knife and headed straight for the Yellow Light Pumpkin patch.

’The potatoes have bloomed, the Perilla has bloomed, the alfalfa has bloomed, the peanuts have bloomed, and I’ve even caught baskets of bugs! But these damn pumpkins have gobbled up so much fertilizer, and Sheep Leader even broke a water-bike watering them, and they *still* won’t bloom!’

’What’s the point of keeping them if they won’t bloom? To look at the leaves? I have tens of thousands of acres of territory and forests. Am I really lacking for leaves to look at?’

Xiaqing passed through the potato field, long past its bloom, and the sweet potato patch where tubers were beginning to form. She stopped at the edge of the pumpkin patch, where each leaf was bigger than Sheep Leader’s head. Selecting the tenderest shoots and youngest leaves, she began hacking away, CHOP CHOP, until she had filled a basket.

The pumpkin vines looked utterly wretched, and Xiaqing’s mood improved immensely. She carried the basket of freshly cut shoots and leaves home to make a meal.

Today, Xiaqing decided to eat something a little different.

First, she soaked several pounds of wheat and mung beans in spring water. Then, she took out the flour mill she had gotten from the Safe Zone and set it up.

The sun had been strong the last few days, so her five solar panels were generating more electricity than she could use. The batteries were fully charged, easily providing enough power for the mill, which could grind five pounds of flour in one go.

Once the wheat and mung beans had soaked, she scooped them into the flour mill. Following the instruction manual, she set the time and speed, and the six blades inside began to spin rapidly. When the grinding was done, Xiaqing passed the flour through the accompanying fine-mesh sieve. The leftover husks—the bran—she poured into Sheep Leader’s food bowl.

Next, she sealed half the flour for later. To the other half, she added spring water, mixing and kneading it into a smooth dough. Using a homemade rolling pin and board, she rolled the dough out and cut it into noodles. Then, she lit a fire and blanched a handful of green beans before julienning a cucumber. She heated a little oil in a wok with a few Sichuan peppercorns and, once fragrant, poured the hot oil into a bowl of saltwater.

Once the noodles were cooked and drained, she tossed them with the blanched green beans and raw cucumber strips. She dressed it with the peppercorn-infused saltwater, a drizzle of sesame oil, and a splash of vinegar. A large bowl of cold mixed-grain noodles was ready.

The recipe for the mixed-grain noodles had been shared by Qi Fu’s wife, Yuan Yan, in the Lord chat group earlier that day. Xiaqing never imagined that noodles made from a mix of mung bean and wheat flour, paired with fresh green beans and cucumber, could be so delicious.

Xiaqing wasn’t the only one having mixed-grain noodles for lunch. In the chat, Kuang Qingwei was raving about how good they were, and Shi Zhong chimed in, "It’s a shame we don’t have any peanuts. If we did, we could roast them and use the mill to grind them into a paste. Tossing the noodles in that would be even better."

Tang Huai, who was also eating noodles, chimed in. "Grind some white sesame seeds in with the peanuts for a more authentic flavor. Is Zifeng around? I remember you saying No.1 Territory has peanuts. They should be ready soon, shouldn’t they?"

Before Hu Zifeng could reply, Zhang San lazily interjected, "I’ve already reserved all of No.1 Territory’s peanuts."

Tang Huai quickly backpedaled. "Oh, I remember Brother San reserved the peanuts from No.1 Territory. I was just trying to hurry things along for you, in case Hu Zifeng gets too distracted by his kittens and forgets your instructions, Brother San."

Everyone...

’Hu Zifeng isn’t here,’ Xiaqing thought. ’He’s probably off petting his cats.’ Her heart ached at the thought.

Luo Pei picked up the conversation. "The peanuts in No.1 Territory have already flowered. We’ll send them over to Brother San as soon as they’re harvested."

’Brother San’s online, so can Fourth Sister be far behind?’ While eating her noodles, Xiaqing silently counted to three. Right on cue, Li Si appeared. "How many peanuts did Brother San reserve? Can I trade for what’s left?"

Zhang San was clearly displeased. "I reserved *all* of them."

"Understood," Li Si replied calmly.

Luo Peiwen gently explained, "It’s true, Brother San reserved all of No.1 Territory’s peanuts quite a while ago. However, the Green Dragon Team also planted some. We could trade with you, Fourth Sister. How many would you need?"

As expected, Li Si declined. "I’ll let you know if I need to make a trade."

’What Li Si wanted were the native crops from each of the surrounding territories, a goal she made no effort to conceal. After all this time, I wonder what she’s managed to find out by testing all those crops,’ Xiaqing mused.

Hearing a CLICK-CLACK sound, Xiaqing immediately put down her noodle bowl and carried Sheep Leader’s food bowl to his little table. "Here’s your special feed, made with pumpkin leaves and the bran from the wheat and mung beans. Just needs your rations mixed in, Leader."

Outside, Sheep Leader set down the small basket he was carrying. He first rinsed his hooves in the basin of water Xiaqing had prepared, then wiped them dry by stepping a few times on the grass mat beside it. All the while, he watched Xiaqing with narrowed eyes.

Xiaqing immediately showered him with a flood of compliments. "You’re so incredible, Leader! Not only can you catch bugs for the fish, but you’re also so hygienic and tidy! You come home and wash your hooves without even being told. The entire history of personal hygiene among Blue Star’s Evolutionary Sheep begins with you, Leader..."

Satisfied, Sheep Leader nudged the screen door open with his head and trotted inside. Xiaqing immediately pulled the rations from his pouch, tore open the packet, crumbled the contents, and stirred them into the feed in his bowl. "You’ve worked hard, Leader. Dinner is served."

Today’s feed was different. Sheep Leader lowered his head to sniff it, his eyes narrowing dangerously as he began to paw the ground.

"Not a fan of the pumpkin vines? I guess you’ve gotten spoiled on Green Light grass and now you’re looking down on Yellow Light stuff, huh, Leader?" Xiaqing immediately went to the kitchen, chopped up a Yellow Light cucumber and a few green beans, and added them to Sheep Leader’s bowl. She started coaxing him, "The pumpkin vines were getting out of control and still not flowering, so I cut some down to show them what happens when they only grow leaves. You have to eat every last bite, Leader. Let those clueless pumpkins know who’s really in charge here in the Third Territory. If you don’t bloom, you get eaten!"

Sheep Leader narrowed his eyes, took another sniff, and began to eat. He polished off every last piece of cucumber and green bean, but as for the "clueless" pumpkin vines, he only deigned to nibble on the tenderest tips.