Chapter 248: Taking a Bath

Chapter 248: Chapter 248: Taking a Bath

Xiaqing had bathed the Sick Wolf before, but it had been anesthetized and unable to move. Now, even though she and the Sick Wolf had grown familiar, bathing an Evolution Wolf Dog raised in the Evolution Forest was still a bit stressful for Xiaqing.

But seeing the Sick Wolf’s grinning expression and smelling the foul odor, Xiaqing steeled herself. "Alright, I’ll give you a bath. You’re our SSVIP guest, after all. The sun’s out today, so we have enough hot water in the tank. Sheep Leader, listen for any sounds outside the courtyard. Yell for me if you hear anything unusual."

The Sick Wolf had been on watch duty every night for the past few days. Xiaqing felt a bit uneasy taking it away for a bath. The Sheep Leader, lying on the tatami mat, just chewed its cud with half-closed eyes, seemingly ignoring Xiaqing’s request.

However, Xiaqing knew it had heard her.

"Stand right here, don’t move. I’m going to rinse you off." After adjusting the water temperature, Xiaqing began to wash the Sick Wolf. She only then realized it had put on a little meat. It wasn’t much, but it was an improvement over the skin-and-bones state she’d seen during its first bath.

Thanks to the continuous medication, the Sick Wolf’s skin condition had healed. A fine, sparse layer of new fur was growing in, and seeing it gave Xiaqing a sense of accomplishment. After rinsing the grime off its body, she picked up a bottle of body wash. "This is an antibacterial and insect-repellent body wash. We’ll lather it up and then rinse it off so you won’t get skin diseases. It also repels mosquitoes, flies, and fleas. When we’re done, you’ll smell just like the Sheep Leader."

Xiaqing always talked while she worked when she was with the animals on her territory. After all, the animals in her home were quite intelligent. "Once you finish passing all the parasites in your system over the next few days, your appetite should pick up. Now is the perfect time to fatten up for the fall. I’ll make you delicious food every day..."

Chattering away, Xiaqing rinsed the Sick Wolf clean, dried it with a tattered duvet cover, and opened the bathroom door to lead it out. To her surprise, she found another wolf squatting right outside.

Soaking wet, Xiaqing locked eyes with the intelligent, calm-eyed creature for two seconds before asking, "You want a bath, too?"

The Broken Waist Wolf turned to sniff the medicinal plaster on its back, then looked up at Xiaqing calmly.

’Is it because it hates the smell of the plaster and wants to wash it off?’

Life isn’t easy. Xiaqing sighed. "Alright, bath time! Come on in. But you’ll have to wear another plaster after we’re done. Second, Sheep Leader, you two keep an eye on things outside."

The Sheep Leader remained motionless with its eyes half-closed. The freshly bathed Wolf Dog Second, however, obeyed Xiaqing, opened the security door, and went outside to keep watch.

With a new wolf in the bathroom, Xiaqing got back to washing. This wolf’s physique was even sturdier than the Sick Wolf’s, but Xiaqing wasn’t the least bit afraid as she bathed it.

This was because it was a Brain Domain Evolution Wolf—an intelligent creature. Not only was she unafraid, Xiaqing even complained as she worked. "Broken Waist, you’re taller than the Sheep Leader and furrier than Second, so you use the most body wash. You’re such a pain to clean. Once your back is fully healed, you’d better bring me a pair of Green Light wild rabbits. And I want them alive..."

The soaking wet Broken Waist Wolf said nothing. It watched as Xiaqing turned on the shower nozzle and squeezed the substance from the bottle. If one looked closely, they would see that its eyes were shining much more brightly than usual.

After taking care of the second wolf, Xiaqing felt the exhaustion of a long, busy day. She went upstairs to her own bathroom for a shower, changed her clothes, and came back down to find the two wolves and one sheep lounging comfortably on the tatami mat. The Sheep Leader chewed its cud with half-closed eyes, while the two wolves looked up at her in unison, as if to see whether she would shoo them out.

Now that they were clean, the wolves seemed to have developed an aversion to the smelly sheep pen. Xiaqing didn’t object to them sleeping in the house. She pointed to the foot of the stairs and told the two wolves, "Second, Broken Waist, you can sleep in here, but you are not allowed to go up there. Understand? Second, you’re on watch tonight. Wake me immediately if there’s any disturbance in our territory."

BZZT—

Xiaqing hadn’t even finished her instructions when her phone buzzed. Seeing the caller ID was Zhang San, she answered at once. "Brother San."

"Xiaqing, I’d like to trade my rice for your Green Light Chestnuts. Interested?"

"Brother San, could I trade for unhulled rice grains instead? Paddy rice lasts longer in storage." Xiaqing agreed without hesitation. She had guessed Zhang San would call for a trade when she was eating her chestnut chicken earlier that evening, so she had already decided what she wanted.

What she needed now wasn’t food, but high-quality seed grain. The harvest from the one hundred stalks of Green Rice she’d traded from Zhang San in June—now down to ninety-seven stalks—wouldn’t be enough for her to become self-sufficient in high-quality rice next year.

In her fields, she also had Yellow Light rice she had obtained from the Safe Zone. She had originally traded for four hundred stalks, but she lost one hundred of them during the third Harmful Rain. That was even with the Yellow Light rice being planted next to the Green Rice and receiving partial protection from the Yi Stone; otherwise, her losses would have been far greater.

After the third Harmful Rain, Xiaqing tested her remaining Yellow Light rice and discovered that the Harmful Element content in thirty of the stalks had exceeded fifteen parts per thousand, rendering them inedible. She had no choice but to pull them. That left her with two hundred seventy stalks of Yellow Light rice, whose Harmful Element content ranged from ten to fourteen parts per thousand, hardly a premium crop.

To expand her cultivation area, she urgently needed high-quality rice seeds.

Zhang San didn’t agree to Xiaqing’s terms right away. Instead, he asked, "Do you want the variety that’s currently growing in my territory, or the one from the Safe Zone Planting Center? The quality of mine is higher, but so is the price."

The Safe Zone didn’t sell unhulled rice, only milled rice, as they needed to process the husks into food to support more people. Given the choice, Xiaqing of course opted for the superior one. "I’ll take the one from your territory."

Zhang San said, "The Yellow Light rice variety widely planted in the Safe Zone is H-12, with a Harmful Element content of around ten parts per thousand. The one I’m currently growing in my territory is J-2, with a Harmful Element content a little over six parts per thousand. Milled, it sells for over 100 points. Unhulled, as seed, it’s even more expensive. Your Green Light Chestnuts are very high quality, worth around 400 points. How about I trade four pounds of my unhulled Yellow Light rice for one pound of your Green Light Chestnuts? Can you accept that? But you can’t sell the J-2 seeds; you can only plant them for your own use."

"Yes, absolutely! Thank you so much, Brother San." Xiaqing was beaming. If she had the chance to grow a crop with a Harmful Element level close to that of Green Light food, she would never opt for one with a high level. She was more than happy with a four-to-one ratio; she wanted to get two hundred pounds of those Yellow Light rice seeds! 𝘧𝓇ℯℴ𝓂

However, it all depended on how much her idol was willing to offer. Xiaqing asked, "Brother San, how many pounds of Green Light Chestnuts do you want to trade for?"

Zhang San drawled back, "How many pounds can you spare?"

’So generous! So magnanimous! He really is my idol!’ Xiaqing replied readily, "Eighty pounds."

Hearing that Xiaqing had so many Green Light Chestnuts, Zhang San sounded genuinely pleased. "The most rice I can give you is forty pounds. I can also offer wheat seeds of the same quality, and trade another forty pounds at the same rate—also not for resale. Is there anything else you want besides those two?"

Besides rice seeds, there really was something else Xiaqing needed. Or, to be more precise, a difficult problem she needed to ask about.