Chapter 51: Buying a Mountain?

Chapter 51: Chapter 51: Buying a Mountain?

After harvesting two Yellow Light Bamboo Rats and over two hundred pounds of bamboo shoots from the mountain, Xiaqing returned to her territory to a warm welcome from the Sheep Leader.

Judging by the Sheep Leader’s excitement, Xiaqing was sure that if its tail weren’t so heavy, it would be wagging up a storm. She placed her heavy backpack on the Sheep Leader’s back for it to carry home, then generously gave it a small, fresh Yellow Light Bamboo Shoot. "Go on, eat up. Stick with me and work hard, and I’ll make sure you’re well taken care of."

With a tasty treat in front of it, the Sheep Leader had no time for Xiaqing. It just lowered its head and began to KRUNCH KRUNCH on the shoot.

After stowing her supplies, Xiaqing practically dragged herself into the bathroom. Carrying a 770-pound load while force-marching nearly five miles wasn’t her absolute limit, but it wasn’t as easy as she had made it look. After taking off her clothes, Xiaqing leaned against the wall under the showerhead, letting the warm water wash over her burning shoulders.

’Thank goodness for solar power, and thank goodness for my own hard work.’ She could finally use her simple solar water heater and take a hot shower without having to build a fire.

After her shower, Xiaqing rewarded herself for a hard day’s work with a bamboo shoot feast. Before it was even dark, she was in bed, fast asleep.

The Sheep Leader finished its special feed, then TAP-TAP-TAPPED over to Xiaqing’s table and licked all the plates and bowls clean. Then, it lay down on the tatami grass mat to wait for Xiaqing to clear the table.

After waiting for a long time, with Xiaqing still lying there snoring, the Sheep Leader squinted at her for a moment. It then TAP-TAPPED back to the table, picked up a bowl with its mouth, and carried it to the kitchen.

The porcelain bowl landed in the stainless steel basin with a crisp sound.

CRASH!

The sound jolted Xiaqing awake. Grabbing a knife in her left hand and a gun in her right, she leaped up and rushed toward the source of the noise. She saw the bowl, broken in two, and then the Sheep Leader standing by the basin, squinting at her. Her taut nerves instantly went completely slack.

Putting away her knife and gun, Xiaqing reached out and ruffled the short fur on the Sheep Leader’s head, praising its efforts in a soft, gentle voice. "You’re amazing, Leader. You even know how to help clear the table now. It’s okay that the bowl broke; we’ll get a new one."

Pleased by the praise, the Sheep Leader happily TAP-TAPPED back to the table and brought over a plate. Xiaqing used the broken bowl to repeatedly demonstrate how to place dishes in the wash basin. "Like this. Put it down gently and slowly, and it won’t break."

The Sheep Leader squinted at the broken bowl in Xiaqing’s hands, not paying attention to its own jaw strength. With a CRACK, it bit through the plate in its mouth. Half of the plate fell into the wash basin, while the other half remained in its mouth.

Xiaqing took the other half of the plate from the Sheep Leader’s mouth and sat down on the floor, bursting into laughter. Even though the Sheep Leader had broken some of her few dishes, its comical appearance was just too funny. Xiaqing couldn’t help herself.

Her inability to hold back her laughter earned Xiaqing a couple of kicks from the Sheep Leader’s hooves. Grimacing, she quieted down and climbed back into bed to continue sleeping.

The next morning, fully rested and her energy restored, Xiaqing decided to pickle a jar of bamboo shoots. She had helped her grandmother make them as a child, and the process was very simple. Xiaqing found a well-preserved pottery jar in the tool shed and cleaned it. Then, she washed a few Yellow Light Bamboo Shoots—she couldn’t bear to pickle the Green Light Bamboo Shoots, afraid the pickling process might fail and the loss would be too painful. After washing them, she sliced the shoots, placed them in the jar, filled it with mountain spring water, and sealed the opening. That was it.

If all went well, she would have pickled bamboo shoots to eat after letting it sit for a month.

Xiaqing moved the jar upstairs and hid it in a place the Sheep Leader would never think of and couldn’t reach. Only then did she take out her phone to message Luo Pei, wanting to send some bamboo shoots his way.

Although Xiaqing knew Hu Zifeng would definitely send some to Luo Pei, a gift from him was different from a gift from her. It had been over two weeks since Xiaqing last visited Luo Pei, and she wanted to see how his treatment was progressing.

Luo Pei replied quickly, telling Xiaqing she could come over anytime.

Carrying one Yellow Light and one Green Light bamboo shoot, Xiaqing headed to the Deserted Village in the southwestern part of her territory to visit Luo Pei. This time, it wasn’t Wei Chengdong who greeted her in the dilapidated house, but Luo Pei himself.

Although he still needed someone to support him, Luo Pei was able to stand. He had put on some weight, no longer looking as frightening as a skeleton draped in skin. The color had returned to his face, and the bloodshot look in his eyes had faded considerably. The treatment for the Qiang Synthesized Poison was progressing even better than Xiaqing had expected.

Following Luo Pei into the basement living room, Xiaqing had already composed herself after her initial shock. She handed him the sealed bamboo shoots. "Captain Hu and I dug these up in the Evolution Forest. Brother Luo, you can make bamboo shoot congee with them. It’s easy to digest and nutritious."

Luo Pei, who still couldn’t keep his eyes open for long, glanced at the bamboo shoots before closing them again. He smiled gently. "Zifeng brought some over last night. They really do taste better than the bamboo shoots from before the evolution. I’m surprised someone your age knows how to cook."

When the Natural Disaster struck, Xiaqing was only fifteen. Back in that peaceful and prosperous era, very few fifteen-year-old girls knew their way around a kitchen. After the Natural Disaster, food was scarce, leaving no opportunity to learn how to cook. Xiaqing didn’t mention that her family used to cook when she was a child, only saying, "I collected a few cookbooks, and one of them happened to have this congee recipe."

The cookbooks Xiaqing collected did indeed have this recipe, but it called for glutinous rice, whereas Xiaqing used regular rice.

After some small talk, Luo Pei brought up the matter of teaching Xiaqing marksmanship. "Come mid-May, you can come over every day to learn how to shoot, whenever it’s convenient for you. We’ll start here with the fundamentals and theory. In June, I’ll take you to the Evolution Forest for live-fire practice."

’In just two more months, Brother Luo’s body will be recovered enough to face the dangers of the Evolution Forest?’ Xiaqing tried to persuade him, "Brother Luo, you should focus on your recovery for the next few months. I’m not in a hurry."

Luo Pei smiled and gestured for the two other people in the room to leave and close the door. Once he was sure no one could overhear, he lowered his voice and said to Xiaqing, "Your timing is perfect. There’s something I want to discuss with you. To be safe, the Green Dragon Team wants to purchase the usage rights for Mountain No. 49, north of your territory. Then, we’ll sign a private agreement to transfer the mountain to your name, making it yours."

After the Natural Disaster, earthquakes, and the great biological evolution, the geography of Blue Star had undergone immense changes. Old place names were abandoned, and mountains and rivers were now marked by numbers.

Hearing Luo Pei say he wanted to buy Mountain No. 49 and transfer it to her, Xiaqing was completely stunned.

Luo Pei kept his eyes closed, his expression gentle. "Whether the spring in your territory is bubbling up from underground or flowing from within Mountain No. 49, once the spring’s source is exposed, the currently unclaimed Mountain No. 49 will definitely become a key resource fought over by various factions. It’s not realistic to buy it directly in your name, because on the surface, you have neither the motive nor the means to buy a mountain. That’s why I’m proposing the Green Dragon Team buys it under the pretext of establishing a training base for our members, and then we transfer it to you. There’s no rush. Take a day to think it over and give me your answer when you’ve made up your mind."

’Only one day to think about it, and he says there’s no rush?’