Chapter 60: Pruning

Chapter 60: Chapter 60: Pruning

’The mountain has already been rented out, so how could she possibly get a cut?’ Xiaqing sighed.

Besides, if they weren’t planning to explore the mountain, what kind of fool would ignore all the free green mountains and instead pay several thousand points to enter Mountain No. 49? This business could only scam people with ulterior motives. It wouldn’t last long or earn many points.

Xiaqing comforted herself with these thoughts as she continued to patrol the Buffer Forest.

After Tang Zheng and her group entered the Evolution Forest on Mountain No. 49, Yang Jin glanced in Xiaqing’s direction before turning and walking unhurriedly back to the Buffer Forest of No.1 Territory.

"Brother Jin—"

Hearing Tang Lu’s cheerful shout, Xiaqing, who hadn’t gone far, cringed. ’This drama is too rich for my blood. I can’t stomach it.’ She quickened her pace to get away.

"Brother Jin—"

Dressed in a pink Protective Suit, Tang Lu stood inside the Second Territory, calling out to Yang Jin as he walked down from the northern Buffer Forest of No.1 Territory. "Brother Jin!"

Yang Jin’s expression was even colder than when he had faced Tang Zheng. "Is there something you need, Miss Tang?"

They were too far apart, so Tang Lu had to shout. "I bought 50 liters of Pollution-free Spring Water and had it delivered overnight! Brother Jin, take it to treat Instructor Luo."

"That won’t be necessary. I heard from Miss Tang that the Tang Family matriarch is ill. You should take the spring water back for your elders." Yang Jin walked down the slope, his figure completely obscured by the tall, wild grass.

Tang Lu stomped her foot in anger and turned to yell at Tang Huai. "What are you lot good for? Can’t you see how tall this grass is? Get it cleared immediately!"

’Even if we clear the wild grass in the Second Territory, the grass in No.1 Territory will still be there. You still won’t be able to see Yang Jin!’ Tang Huai couldn’t be bothered to explain. He simply accepted the task of clearing the grass, refusing to argue with this brainless woman.

After yelling Tang Huai away, Tang Lu angrily demanded, "Where the hell did Xu Pin go? I haven’t seen him all this time!"

"To answer, Eldest Miss, Deputy Xu has taken some men out." As soon as Tang Lu’s bodyguard finished speaking, he shot and killed a palm-sized spider that was leaping at her.

"What is this hellhole!" Having lived her entire life in the Inner City of the Safe Zone, Tang Lu was frightened pale by the Evolutionary Spider and quickly turned to leave.

「Meanwhile」

Tang Huai’s brother, Tang Heng, led Xu Pin, the deputy captain of the Su Feng Team, to the signpost for Territory Land No. 7. "Captain Xu, Zhang San is in this territory."

Before them stood a dense wall of grass, taller than a person. Even so, Xu Pin accurately pinpointed the locations of two hidden sentries within the wall of grass. He stood obediently under the signpost and called Zhang San.

The phone rang for a long time with no answer, which was expected. Tang Heng took out a walkie-talkie. "Captain Xu, the people in these territories often use walkie-talkies to communicate. Should I ask if Zhang San is around?"

After Xu Pin nodded, Tang Heng switched on the walkie-talkie and asked loudly, "This is Tang Heng from the Second Territory. Is Brother San from Land No. 7 available?"

Soon, Kuang Qingwei’s voice came over the channel. "Brother San is definitely not here in the morning. If you’re looking for him, you’d best come back at 7:45 tonight."

Holding the walkie-talkie, Tang Heng looked at Xu Pin. "Captain Xu, this Zhang San has quite a temper. If he finds out we tried to force our way in, it’ll be difficult to trade for supplies from him in the future."

’Just because of one piece of spoiled mutton, Zhang San still refuses to trade with the Second Territory. A man that petty must be a disfigured bald guy!’

"Let’s head back." Xu Pin turned to leave. Since he couldn’t meet Zhang San, he would go check out Mountain No. 49. He didn’t believe Yang Jin would buy a mountain for no reason. There had to be an important resource on Mountain No. 49.

’A woman as inexperienced as Tang Zheng won’t be able to find a thing.’

Before they had gone far, Xu Pin and his group encountered a patrol team inspecting the quarantine belt.

Xu Pin snapped to attention and gave Tan Junjie a military salute. "Mr. Tan."

Tan Junjie returned the salute without taking off his Protective Mask and continued leading his team forward.

Xu Pin stood his ground and called out loudly, "Mr. Tan, you probably haven’t heard. The Green Dragon Team has bought Mountain No. 49. The Evolution Forest north of this territory is now their responsibility, so there’s no need for you to patrol here anymore."

Tan Junjie walked past him calmly. "I lead my team according to orders. Who the mountain belongs to is none of my concern."

Watching Tan Junjie’s squad walk away, a Su Feng Team member behind Xu Pin spat. "He’s just a squad leader in charge of five or six people, and he still dares to put on airs in front of you. Does he really think he’s still that swaggering military academy instructor from before the Natural Disaster?"

"Shut up." Although Xu Pin said to shut up, his expression showed no sign of blaming his subordinate for speaking out of turn. "Even with the great biological evolution and the re-stratification of humanity based on abilities, there is still much I have to learn from my teacher."

"That passive-aggressive son of a bitch!" muttered Cao Xianyun, the Auditory Evolver. "How could the military academy produce such scum?"

"We’ll deal with him sooner or later!"

"Continue the patrol. Stay alert."

"Yes, sir."

None of the commotion outside had anything to do with Xiaqing. After patrolling her territory with Sheep Leader, she crouched by her potato and sweet potato fields, listening intently. The whistling of the wind, the chirping of birds, the soft rustling of long, thin earthworms moving through the soil, and... the SCRITCH-SCRITCH of a cutworm crawling!

Xiaqing opened her eyes, walked over, and dug out a cutworm—the larva of an evolutionary moth—five meters from the potato field, tossing it to the large Magpies that flew over.

Two of the big Magpies that didn’t get a worm refused to leave, standing beside Xiaqing and waiting to be fed.

After clearing out the evolutionary grubs and cutworms from the soil around the two fields, Xiaqing gazed lovingly at the light-red potato sprouts, which had grown much taller. ’The sprouts are this tall, so there should be potatoes growing on the roots, right?’

’I’m getting so hungry for them. I’ll just dig up a couple of small ones to satisfy the craving.’

Xiaqing took out her phone and scrolled through the *Planting Guide*, disappointed to find that potatoes only start to grow after the sprouts flower.

’The potatoes won’t flower until next month...’

With the potatoes out of her mind, Xiaqing’s gaze shifted to the sweet potato vines. Sweet potatoes could grow without flowering. ’The vines are so long, they must have grown some by now, right?’

After crouching by the field for ten minutes, Xiaqing finally couldn’t resist and reached out her "sinful claws," carefully digging away the soil at the base of a sweet potato vine. She then discovered that while the root had begun to swell, it wasn’t even as thick as her little finger. It couldn’t be called a sweet potato at all.

After patting the soil back in place, Xiaqing moved on to the cotton field.

The cotton plants had already grown knee-high, with the main stems sprouting three to five branches. Yesterday’s broadcast from the base said that cotton at this stage should undergo "topping and pruning."

Topping and pruning meant keeping the fruit-bearing branches that grow flower buds on the main stem, while snapping off the leafy branches that don’t. Because leafy branches grow faster than fruit-bearing ones and consume more nutrients, snapping them off in time promotes the growth of the fruit-bearing branches and increases the cotton yield.

Xiaqing had been very interested in this farm chore when she heard the broadcast last night. Pruning meant snapping off the leafy branches, and she could use the juice from those snapped-off branches to test the Harmful Element content of each cotton plant.

Every crop was precious after the Natural Disaster. Xiaqing compared the pictures of leafy and fruit-bearing branches in the *Planting Guide* with the cotton plants in front of her. The more she looked, the less she could tell them apart, and she didn’t dare to start snapping them off.

She turned on her walkie-talkie and, as expected, heard the Lords of Territories Four, Five, and Six discussing topping and pruning.

Zhao Ze was worried. "These branches all look the same. Which ones are we supposed to snap off? I don’t dare to start."

Qi Fu patiently instructed, "Count from the bottom up. The first fruit-bearing branch usually grows from the ’armpit’ of the fifth to seventh leaf on the main stem. Once you find that branch, just strip off all the branches below it."

Zhao Ze grew even more worried. "Brother Qi, a lot of my cotton plants haven’t even grown their fifth leaf yet. How many leaves do yours have?"

Answering that question would mean revealing the growth status of one’s own crops to others, so no one replied. Xiaqing counted the leaves on the cotton plant in front of her. It already had seven.