Chapter 216: Territory Alliance

Chapter 216: Chapter 216: Territory Alliance

In the end, Xiaqing decided not to leave a single one. Every territory had sunflowers, and anyone who paid attention to the territory channels and broadcasts knew how much trouble they could be. With seventy hours of Harmful Rain on the way, she had too much to do to leave such a hidden danger for herself.

After Xiaqing bent down and pulled up the first sunflower, her phone rang. The caller wasn’t Zhang San or Luo Pei, but Qi Fu.

Qi Fu asked, "Is now a good time? The two of us want to bring you some freshly dug ginger."

After Qi Fu had recovered from his injuries, he had indeed promised to give Xiaqing half of the Green Light Ginger from his territory as a thank you gift. However, ’if they’re just delivering ginger, one person would be enough,’ Xiaqing thought. ’They must have other business that they can’t discuss over the phone.’ "I’m free," she said. "I’ll wait for you at the Northern Isolation Zone."

After pulling up the remaining three sunflowers, Xiaqing sent Sheep Leader and Sick Wolf home. She then went to the Northern Isolation Zone to meet Qi Fu and his wife.

The couple quickly arrived at the Northern Isolation Zone of the Third Territory. They handed the ginger to Xiaqing and explained, "We originally planned to harvest this at the end of October, but this Harmful Rain is going to be too severe. We were afraid the ginger wouldn’t last that long, so we dug some up early. We brought you a few pounds."

Unlike other plants, ginger has three harvest periods during its growth cycle: ginger harvested between late June and early July is called "mother ginger," ginger harvested between September and early October is called "young ginger," and ginger harvested between late October and November is called "old ginger."

Ginger harvested at different times has different moisture content and spiciness. The ginger kept for seeding is the old ginger.

Xiaqing took the bag of ginger, which weighed a good ten pounds, and invited them into her territory. She started the conversation, "Brother Qi, Sister-in-law, are the preparations in your territory just about done?"

The couple followed Xiaqing down the slope as Yuan Yan replied, "We’ve prepared everything we could think of. We actually came over because we wanted to see the oil sunflowers in your fields. You asked Li Si about them last time... did you sense something was wrong?"

’I didn’t expect them to be here for the sunflowers too,’ Xiaqing thought. She answered, "I ran a scan with my detector and found that some of the oil sunflowers have a Harmful Element content close to fifteen per thousand. I’m afraid they might undergo aggressive Qiang Evolution during the Harmful Rain."

After speaking, Xiaqing added with a smile, "I’m just being cautious after being scared by those dancing potato vines last time."

Hearing her reason, Qi Fu and his wife exchanged a glance. Yuan Yan moved closer to Xiaqing and lowered her voice. "If you trust me, take us for a look at where you’ve planted the sunflowers before it gets dark."

’Could it be? Has Yuan Yan also "evolved" an "ability" similar to mine?’ Xiaqing’s mind raced, but her face remained calm as she nodded. "This way, Sister-in-law, Brother Qi."

As they walked toward the terraced fields, Qi Fu explained, "Yanzi’s family farmed hundreds of acres of land before the Natural Disasters. She’s been working in the fields with her family since she was a child, so she knows more about it than I do."

"No wonder you two came out here to farm. It turns out you’re both experts." Xiaqing led them into the greenhouse on the High Slope’s terraced fields.

While Yuan Yan wandered through the sunflower patch, Qi Fu observed Xiaqing’s greenhouse. "This is a great idea. Next year, I’ll build terraced fields too and put up a greenhouse like this. The drainage is good, and the roof is high."

Xiaqing explained, "These terraces were already here. I found the soil quality was good, so I just cleared them out and started planting."

Qi Fu sighed in admiration. "Whoever farmed here before the Natural Disasters must have been a master farmer."

If they weren’t a master farmer, they wouldn’t have been so meticulous, nor would they have had the skill to make the fields so neat and orderly.

In the field, Yuan Yan pointed to a sunflower and said to Xiaqing, "You should pull this oil sunflower, Xiaqing. It’s very likely to cause trouble during the Harmful Rain."

For a Lord, every single seedling in the field is a treasure, so asking someone to pull one up was a very unreasonable request. Qi Fu explained, "Before the second Harmful Rain, Yanzi noticed a few potato vines that seemed off. Later, those very potato plants turned into dancing potato vines. This time, she looked at several oil sunflowers in our fields and said they seemed even more off than the potatoes last time, so we pulled them all up."

Xiaqing swiftly pulled up the sunflower Yuan Yan had pointed out and thanked her sincerely. "Thank you, Sister-in-law. If it really had undergone aggressive Qiang Evolution, the loss would have been far more than just this one plant."

Seeing that Xiaqing understood and was willing to trust them, Yuan Yan smiled. The acid rain scars on her face twisted with the expression, making her look somewhat fierce. "We’re neighbors. It’s only right that we help each other."

After clearing out the two sunflowers in the terraced fields, Qi Fu and his wife followed Xiaqing further down to check the sunflowers in the vegetable greenhouse on the cultivated land.

As they passed the sweet potato terrace, Xiaqing took the initiative to explain, "These are the sweet potatoes I grew from cuttings. There’s another terrace below with quite a few more. Once I harvest them, I’ll send a bag over to you."

Only then did the couple look at the plants in the terrace, their eyes lighting up.

Xiaqing had mentioned on the Lord channel that she was propagating sweet potatoes from vines, but she’d said only about twenty-odd plants had survived. Everyone knew she was lowballing the number, but no one expected she had downplayed it by a factor of more than ten!

Looking at this huge patch and the color of the sweet potato leaves, there were definitely more than just twenty Green Light sweet potatoes here!

Qi Fu’s grin stretched nearly from ear to ear. "Well then, we won’t be polite! We’ll follow the rules and trade you grain for them."

Xiaqing remembered the trading rules Yang Jin had told her about and nodded in agreement.

The couple followed Xiaqing across the stone slab bridge and into the vegetable greenhouse on the cultivated land. There, they found two more problematic sunflowers. One of them, shockingly, was a Green Light sunflower marked with a red string.

Xiaqing, who had only two Green Light sunflowers in total, pulled it out without a moment’s hesitation.

After checking the sunflowers, the couple prepared to return to their territory.

They had come over on their own initiative to help, and Xiaqing was grateful. Of course, she wouldn’t let them go back empty-handed. She picked a basket of vegetables for them to take. "I know you two must have planted plenty, Brother Qi and Sister-in-law, but these are Green Light. You can dry them and save them for the winter."

Yuan Yan didn’t stand on ceremony with Xiaqing. She took the basket, handed it to her husband, and then conferred with Xiaqing. "Hey, do you think it would be possible to talk to Brother Luo about paying points to store our autumn harvest in his territory?"

Compared to the Lord Management Department in the Safe Zone, Yuan Yan and her husband trusted the Green Dragon Team and Luo Pei more.

"I was planning the same thing. We can mention it to Brother Luo privately when we have a chance." Xiaqing didn’t want to reveal the food storage room in her own territory, so she planned to store her grain and seeds in No.1 Territory. That way, she would have a legitimate reason not to buy grain from Zhong Tao.

Hearing that Xiaqing had the same idea, Yuan Yan was even happier. "If Brother Luo is willing to help, we’d be fine with paying extra points. As long as we can keep our grain and seeds safe until planting season next year, we won’t have a thing to worry about."

Xiaqing nodded and lowered her voice to give a warning, "Sister-in-law, don’t tell anyone else about your ability to spot when crops are off."

Yuan Yan gripped Xiaqing’s hand firmly with her own coarse, dry hands. "We haven’t told anyone but you."

Yuan Yan wasn’t a woman of many words and didn’t elaborate further, but Xiaqing understood perfectly what she and her husband meant.

By choosing to tell Xiaqing the secret of their Evolutionary Ability, Yuan Yan and Qi Fu had shown immense sincerity. Xiaqing, however, couldn’t reveal that she had a similar ability. She had already exposed her Three Systems Evolution; she couldn’t reveal any more. Still, Xiaqing accepted the sincerity offered by Territory No.5.

Xiaqing clasped Yuan Yan’s hands with both of hers. Her own flushed face was dyed a deep crimson by the afterglow of the sunset as she made a sincere proposal:

"We’re all out here farming. We can’t form a team to take on missions and earn points, but we can form an Alliance. From now on, the Third Territory and Territory No.5 will be in an Alliance. We’ll help each other out. What do you think, Sister-in-law?"

Yuan Yan’s face also flushed with excitement. "Yes! We’re not a team, we’re a Territory Alliance. We’ll farm our land well together and survive together."

Qi Fu, still holding the basket, was so moved his eyes welled up with tears. He was squeezing the handle so hard it was starting to deform. "That’s right! We’ll be an Alliance and live without worrying about food or drink."

And so, in the Hui San Base, a Territory Alliance with the potential to rival the Base Management Department and the Alliance of Teams was formed, just before the most severe Harmful Rain in the tenth year of the Natural Disaster.