Chapter 120: Raising Chickens

Chapter 120: Chapter 120: Raising Chickens

Before Xiaqing could even speak, Tang Zhengpo’s unhurried voice came through. "Tang Huai, come over here."

"Okay, Dad. I’m on my way." Tang Huai hadn’t expected his father to be online and immediately straightened up.

After Tang Huai was called away by his old man, the channel fell silent. Xiaqing started her micro-tiller, cut down a large patch of overgrown grass north of her house, then attached a three-bottom plow to Sheep Leader and began to till the land.

It would have been easier to just use the micro-tiller for the plowing, but ever since Xiaqing had returned from the agricultural trade fair, Sheep Leader had become exceptionally clingy and hardworking. To prove his value, he wanted to help with everything—never mind the micro-tiller, he’d even try to assist if Xiaqing so much as shoveled a couple of spadefuls of dirt.

She had no choice but to use Sheep Leader for plowing and hauling heavy loads. She didn’t even have to sweet-talk him into it. Who knew when this burst of enthusiasm would fade.

As soon as the pair began their work, birds from all over the territory flocked to the freshly turned soil to look for insects to eat.

After plowing a few acres, Xiaqing let Sheep Leader rest while she drove stakes and built a fence along the edge of the tilled land. Once the fence was finished, Xiaqing brought insect netting from her house and draped it over the top. The coop for the Green Light Chickens was now ready.

The tilled soil would make it easier for the chicks to dig for insects. The fenced enclosure and insect netting were to prevent Evolutionary Animals and raptors from stealing the chickens. All of this was mentioned in the information Zhang San had sent her.

The day after Xiaqing finished preparing the coop, Ji Li delivered the seventeen chickens.

At one month old, the evolved chickens were already fully feathered, and a single glance was enough to distinguish the ten hens from the seven roosters.

Ji Li helped Xiaqing transfer the chickens into a large bamboo basket she had brought, asking, "Have you found that wolf?"

Xiaqing shook her head. "No, it probably went back to the Evolution Forest."

Ji Li advised her, "The sound of the chickens will attract animals like Evolved Mountain Cats, weasels, foxes, and wolves. You should spray Deodorant in and around the coop every day. After the chickens go into their cages in the evening, it’s best to move the cages back into the house and then let them out again in the morning."

Xiaqing took note and asked curiously, wondering if the Evolution Cat from Land No. 7 would prey on her chickens, "Brother Ji, does the Cat Princess eat chickens?"

"She does." When Ji Li mentioned the Cat Princess, his stern face radiated a glow that could only be called love. "But she doesn’t eat the ones at home; she goes into the mountains to catch wild pheasants. If the Princess or her two little ones come over to steal your chickens, call me immediately. Land No. 7 will compensate you for double the damages. But you don’t need to worry too much. With the scent of a wolf in the Third Territory, the Princess is leading her kittens and probably won’t come near."

’...’ Xiaqing felt conflicted. Not only had she not managed to get a cat, but now she had to be on guard against them.

After seeing Ji Li off, Xiaqing carried the chicken cages down the mountain. As she released the chickens into their coop, she found herself holding a small, blackish rooster, reluctant to let it go.

Evolved chickens were larger than normal. A one-month-old was already over three pounds, and butchering it would yield at least two pounds of meat.

’Seven roosters is a bit much. Maybe... I should butcher one and have a taste?’

The Black Feathered Rooster sensed Xiaqing’s malevolent intent and pecked her hand sharply. Xiaqing quickly let go. The rooster immediately scurried into the coop, turned back, and let out a flurry of chirps at her, looking for all the world like it was cussing her out.

"The fiercer you curse, the sooner you die. I just had stewed chicken in the Safe Zone a couple of days ago, so I’ll let you grow a few more days," Xiaqing muttered. She walked around the coop once, confirming there were no gaps in the fence or netting that a chicken could squeeze through. Then, she mixed some chopped grass with wheat bran and cornmeal for the chicks, placed it in the coop, and imitated a mother hen with a few "cluck cluck" sounds.

Hearing the call, the chicks immediately ran over to eat the feed. Seeing them eat so happily, Xiaqing felt relieved. The feed was mixed with spring water, and the chicken waterer was also filled with spring water. Fed this way, they would surely survive the third Harmful Rain of the year and start laying eggs.

In a month at most, the second batch of crops she had planted would face the most severe test of their lives—the Harmful Rain.

The reason Xiaqing had planted so quickly was that she hoped her second crop would be larger and more resistant when the third Harmful Rain arrived. She also hoped her Green Light and Yellow Light Fish could hold off on spawning and hatching their fry until after the third Harmful Rain. Otherwise, a large batch of the young fish would certainly undergo Qiang Evolution.

Xiaqing shouldered her hoe and went to weed the corn and green beans. A decent, normal rain had fallen a few days prior, and a new layer of weed sprouts had poked through the soil, needing to be cleared out as soon as possible.

Chewing on a blade of grass, Sheep Leader had been standing by the chicken coop watching the excitement. Seeing Xiaqing leave, he followed her toward the farmland. As Xiaqing entered the corn shelter to weed, Sheep Leader lay down in the shade of a nearby tree to chew his cud.

Now that she had a clear idea of the germination rate for Yellow Light Seeds, Xiaqing planted them more densely. For corn, for example, the rows were sixteen inches apart. The plants themselves should have been spaced twelve to sixteen inches apart, but Xiaqing planted them at an eight-inch interval. Since sixty percent of the seeds would sprout, this ensured an average spacing of twelve to sixteen inches.

Of course, there were also cases where two or three seeds in a row would all sprout, or none at all. When that happened, she just had to use a transplanting shovel to move one of the seedlings from a cluster to a spot where none had sprouted.

As a result, the corn and green bean seedlings in the field were now neat and uniform, a sight that was truly satisfying to behold.

Xiaqing was strong, and the hoe she used for weeding was one she had modified herself. The blade was wide and the head was heavy, making it perfect for her to use. She finished the weeding in just half a day. She gathered the larger uprooted weeds into a bamboo basket, then shouldered her hoe, picked up the basket, and walked out of the shelter to call Sheep Leader. "Leader, it’s time for lunch. I’m going to pick some vegetables, you go catch some bugs for the fish."

Sheep Leader squinted at Xiaqing, unmoving.

Catching bugs wasn’t strenuous work, which Sheep Leader didn’t enjoy. Neither did Xiaqing.

She walked over and stuffed a compressed ration into the saddlebag Sheep Leader wore. "Go on now. Come home after you’ve fed the fish, and I’ll make you something tasty. You’re the best, Leader. If you didn’t feed them, all the fish in our territory would starve to death."

Only after he’d had his fill of Xiaqing’s soft-spoken praise did Sheep Leader finally stand up, shake out his haphazardly shorn fleece, and trot off to work with the small basket in his mouth.

Xiaqing left her hoe and basket under the tree and strolled over to inspect her fields.

The rice seedlings she’d bought from the Safe Zone had all survived, but they were a bit shorter than the Green Light rice seedlings she’d traded for with Zhang San, and their leaves weren’t as vibrant a green. This was normal, as Yellow Light Plants contained more Harmful Elements than Green Light plants, resulting in a different leaf color.

After passing the rice paddy, Xiaqing arrived at the edge of her potato field and noticed the color of the potato leaves had changed. She keyed her walkie-talkie. "Brother Qi, are you there?"

Qi Fu responded quickly. "I’m here. What’s up?"

Xiaqing rarely spoke during the day, so when she did, it meant something was up. Everyone was used to it.

Xiaqing asked, "My potato plants are starting to wilt and their leaves are drying out. Have you noticed any changes with yours, Brother Qi?"

Qi Fu chuckled. "Yep, we were just talking about that this morning. Once the leaves on the potato plants wilt a little more, we can start digging up the potatoes."

’This is great!’ Xiaqing thought gleefully, and continued on her way.

Kuang Qingwei chimed in, "Xiaqing, haven’t heard a peep out of you all morning. What’ve you been busy with?"

Xiaqing replied, "Weeding the corn and green beans. If I didn’t deal with the weeds, they’d be taller than the corn sprouts."

Kuang Qingwei complained in turn, "We’re busy with the same thing. We can’t use herbicide now, so farming is a lot more work than it was before the Natural Disaster."

Using pre-disaster herbicides now would increase the chances of a crop’s Qiang Evolution. Using plastic film mulch for weed control was also out of the question, because the film would trap the Harmful Elements in the soil after a Harmful Rain, also increasing the chances of Qiang Evolution.

Zhao Ze also chimed in to complain about how hard it was to weed, then asked Xiaqing, "You still have quite a few potatoes in your territory, right? Can you trade me ten pounds once you harvest them?"

’Ten pounds, just like that? You’ve got some nerve,’ Xiaqing thought. She responded coolly, "I don’t have many plants left myself."

While Shi Zhong and Qi Fu were discussing how to weed, Little Liu, the assistant from No. 9 Territory, came online. "Our Lord has just developed a plant-based bio-enzyme herbicide. It’s made from enzymes produced by the plants themselves, so it’s non-toxic, non-polluting, safe, and environmentally friendly. It’s currently in the trial phase. Any Lords who are interested can apply for a free trial."

It went without saying that anyone who tried it would have to bear the risks themselves; No. 9 Territory would take no responsibility. No Lord wanted to gamble with the seedlings they had worked so hard to grow.

Weeding was hard work, but if they used Fourth Sister’s concoction, they might end up with no seedlings at all. Who would they go crying to then?

No one on the Lord channel said a word. Xiaqing wasn’t interested either. She walked past the sweet potato field, where the tubers were already starting to bulge, and stopped by her pumpkin patch. Her eyes suddenly widened. "Everyone, my pumpkins are finally budding!"