Chapter 146: The Jujube-Stealing Red Squirrel

Chapter 146: Chapter 146: The Jujube-Stealing Red Squirrel

The hailstorm and downpour today came suddenly and left just as quickly. After twenty minutes of hail and an hour of heavy rain, the sky cleared up.

Hu Zifeng’s team, full and satisfied, returned to No.1 Territory. Xiaqing packed up her things and went home. She carefully opened the sheep pen’s door and found only three wolves and one sheep inside. The Head Wolf and another one were nowhere to be found.

The Sheep Leader, lying beside the wolf with the injured back, glanced up at Xiaqing with no intention of getting up.

The wolf on guard duty still stood protectively in front of the other two, staring at Xiaqing with utmost vigilance. The wolf with the injured leg, though still looking fierce, had at least made some progress—it didn’t bare its fangs. The wolf with the injured back watched Xiaqing calmly, as if asking what she wanted.

"The rain has stopped. I’m taking off the rainproof cloth, or else it’ll get hot and stuffy in here soon." Xiaqing removed the rainproof cloth, changed the wolves’ drinking water, and then began to assess her losses from the hailstorm.

She had bought the best quality rainproof cloth—it was sturdy and had some elasticity. So, even though the hail had collapsed more than fifty greenhouse supports, the cloth itself had withstood the test and wasn’t torn.

As for her crops, the worst hit was the patch of transplanted Qiang Evolution cotton. Because it hadn’t been protected by the rainproof cloth, the plants were battered into bare half-stalks with only a few tattered leaves clinging to them. There would definitely be no harvest this year.

Although many branches and leaves on the large trees in the Buffer Forest had also been broken by the hail, their overall shapes were intact, and they would surely recover. There was no need to check Zone Three of Mountain 49; the situation there was bound to be similar to the Buffer Forest.

The Earth-raspberry Fruit must have been smashed to a pulp; they were beyond saving. However, Xiaqing had already eaten plenty and dried a good amount of them, so she didn’t feel too heartbroken about it.

The Yellow Light Pumpkins, which she hadn’t managed to cover before the hail, had their leaves shredded and most of their vines snapped. The two small patches of Red Light peanuts, the six *dipaozi* plants, Sheep Leader’s two patches of pasture grass, and the scattered edible Chicken Shit Vine plants—all covered by small awnings within the territory—were the last to be protected and looked just as miserable as the pumpkins.

The Chicken Shit Vine, Red Light peanuts, and pasture grass looked like they could still recover, but the *dipaozi* plants were definitely done for.

The batch of corn planted in late June had been watered just two days ago, so this morning’s fierce winds had knocked down several dozen stalks, but they could be propped back up. The fully mature potato plants had also been completely blown over.

Some of the cotton bolls had been blown off, but the ones that fell were the weaker ones that wouldn’t have held on for much longer anyway.

All in all, the crop losses weren’t too severe.

The Green Light Chickens were already out scratching for food in the mud. The fishpond was deep enough that the hail had little effect on the edible fish. As a result, Xiaqing’s livestock suffered no losses.

Her biggest loss was the solar panels. Because she had covered them too late, three of her five panels were shattered by the hail.

Fortunately, she had just traded for a diesel generator from the Green Dragon Team. She hoped Yang Jin wouldn’t raise the already agreed-upon prices for diesel, gasoline, and the generator because of the storm.

Xiaqing went to check on the cave she had dug a few days prior. Although the cave hadn’t collapsed, its inner walls were covered in water, which was dripping steadily down.

A cave that leaked this badly after only an hour of rain was useless for storing food. Not unless she built cement walls and applied a waterproof layer inside. Unsure of how to deal with it for the time being, Xiaqing decided to put the cave issue aside and focus on other tasks.

After the sun came out, the temperature slowly began to climb. Xiaqing opened the vents on her greenhouses to let the crops breathe. Then, she ran to the High Slope to check on her Green Light Fruit Garden.

Her grapes, passion fruit, and Sichuan peppercorns were protected by rain shelters and hadn’t been hit by the hail. The apple and jujube trees had their branches broken and leaves shredded, but their main trunks were still intact. They would recover.

After trimming the jujube tree’s broken branches, Xiaqing started picking up the fallen jujubes. There had been a total of one hundred and thirty-six green jujubes on the tree. Hu Zifeng had only gathered a little over a hundred, and quite a few had been washed away by the rain.

This was Green Light food. She had to get them all back.

Xiaqing searched the High Slope thoroughly and found a dozen or so green jujubes, but a dozen or so were still missing. ’How could walnut-sized jujubes just disappear?’ Xiaqing refused to believe it. She started turning over rocks and pushing through clumps of grass, continuing her search.

"Found one!"

Xiaqing searched for over ten minutes before finally spotting a large green jujube in a crevice between some broken stones. She let out a cheer and was about to pick it up when she suddenly heard the sound of rushing air behind her.

She rolled away instantly, drawing her knife to block, and saw a red figure flash past in front of her.

The Red Squirrel was trying to snatch her green jujube!

Xiaqing swung her knife in a chop, but she was a step too late. The swift Red Squirrel had already grabbed the green jujube and scurried up a tree.

Watching the Red Squirrel squat on a branch and stuff the jujube into its mouth, Xiaqing was furious. "You little thief! Stealing my tobacco was one thing, but now you dare steal my food! Give that jujube back, or I swear I’ll make you regret it!"

The Red Squirrel stuffed the jujube into its mouth, provocatively flicked its big, bushy tail, then turned and fled. Xiaqing immediately gave chase.

After several months of hard training, Xiaqing’s running Speed, Visual, and auditory tracking abilities had all improved. Although she wasn’t as fast as the Red Squirrel, she could still track its escape route.

She chased it in one breath from the Third Territory all the way to Zone Three of Mountain 49, where the Red Squirrel finally vanished from her sight.

Xiaqing stopped under the pine tree where the Red Squirrel had last been. She fully engaged her auditory and Visual senses, observing quietly for two minutes before looking up at the tall pine tree beside her.

’There must be a hollow in there. That’s probably the Red Squirrel’s nest.’

The tree’s surface was wet and slippery after the rain, so Xiaqing couldn’t be bothered to climb it. She drew her Handgun, loaded a Bullet, and fired at the trunk.

Xiaqing was using armor-piercing rounds, specifically designed for dealing with the thick hides of Evolutionary Animals. The shot blasted a deep hole into the hard pinewood.

After the shot, the crunching sound from inside the tree hollow stopped.

Xiaqing kept her Handgun aimed at the tree and spoke coldly, "Give back the food you stole from my territory."

A rustling sound came from inside the hollow. Xiaqing waited a moment, but when no squirrel emerged, she fired again. BANG!

With accuracy honed by three months and over a thousand Bullets, Xiaqing’s second shot hit the exact same spot as the first.

The tree hollow was shot clean through. The Red Squirrel, which had been hiding inside gnawing on a jujube, let out a sharp shriek, clearly terrified.

Xiaqing raised her gun, her voice colder than hail. "Give back the food you stole from my territory. If you don’t, I’ll chop this tree down and gut your nest."

A rustling sound came from the hollow again. Xiaqing’s gaze followed the sound upward, and she saw a flash of red on a pine branch about six meters high. A green jujube fell from the branch and landed at her feet.

It was a large green jujube with several squirrel bites on it!

Xiaqing grew even angrier and fired another shot into the hollow. BANG!

"SQUEAK!"

The Red Squirrel was terrified. It started tossing out green jujubes one after another—a total of ten jujubes and five pits. Then, the little squirrel stood on the branch, looking down at Xiaqing as if to say that was all it had taken.

’So it knows why I chased it, and it knows these green jujubes are my food. Five pits on the ground, plus the half-eaten one it threw down first... in just this short time, the little thief has already eaten six of my jujubes. If I don’t teach it a lesson today, no matter how many jujubes grow on the tree next year, it won’t be enough for it to steal.’

Xiaqing aimed her Handgun at the Red Squirrel, her voice so cold it could freeze water. "You stole and damaged my food. You have to compensate me, or you die right now."

The Red Squirrel probably couldn’t understand Xiaqing’s words, but it could feel her fury. It shrank back into the hollow, rummaged around for a moment, and then threw down something green with a hint of red.