Chapter 98: Mung Bean Cultivation Guide

Chapter 98: Chapter 98: Mung Bean Cultivation Guide

Before Qi Fu could answer, Zhao Ze exclaimed, "Xiaqing, your mung bean pods are ready to be picked already?!"

Xiaqing replied calmly, "Not all of them. Only a few of the ones that flowered early have turned black. I read in the Planting Guide that you can harvest them once they’re black."

’The person who wrote the Planting Guide was on a completely different level from Li Si—a much lower one. The Planting Guide only mentioned that the pods could be harvested after turning black, then dried and sealed for storage. It didn’t specify how to dry them, what was considered fully dry, or the proper conditions for sealed storage.’

Qi Fu answered, "We used to dry them with the pods still on. They were considered done when the pods burst open. It should be the same for the evolved mung beans, right, Fourth Sister?"

Li Si wasn’t on the channel and didn’t respond.

Shi Zhong chimed in, "Xiaqing, you should dry them in the pods for now. If Fourth Sister comes online and says to shell them first, it won’t be too late to do it then."

’What Shi Zhong said makes a lot of sense.’ If Xiaqing shelled the mung beans now and it turned out they needed to be dried in their pods, she couldn’t possibly stuff them back in. "I understand. Thank you, Uncle Shi and Brother Qi."

Zhang San spoke up lazily, "Xiaqing, get me two pounds of mung beans. It’s hot; I could go for a couple bowls of mung bean soup to cool down."

Xiaqing replied immediately, "Brother San, the ones that are ripe are Yellow Light Mung Beans."

In her two-mu plot of mung beans, only twenty-seven plants were Green Light; the rest were all Yellow Light. She couldn’t even bear to eat the Green Light ones herself, wanting to save them for seed.

’Of course her idol deserved to eat the mung beans, but that would have to wait until she had enough Green Light seeds for herself.’

The moment he heard they were Yellow Light, Zhang San lost interest. "Does any of you have Green Light ones?"

None of the other Lords made a sound. Then Li Si spoke up. "I do. I’ll send them over to Brother San in a bit."

Zhang San drawled lazily, "I only eat this year’s fresh beans."

Li Si replied instantly, "I don’t have any in the territory right now. I’ll send them to Brother San in five days."

Zhang San said nothing, which was a clear sign he had agreed to the deal.

’From this exchange, Xiaqing confirmed two things. First, Zhang San’s dislike for Li Si was far less intense than his dislike for Tang Huai. Second, when Qi Fu had called for Li Si earlier, she hadn’t responded, but the moment Zhang San spoke, she appeared. If that wasn’t a coincidence, it meant she had him flagged as a priority contact.’

’Do the walkie-talkies even have a feature like that?’

’Or did she have someone monitoring the comms channel 24/7, tasked with notifying her the instant Zhang San came on the air?’

Xiaqing picked a few more mung bean pods and stuffed them into her bag, then repeated her earlier question. "Fourth Sister, this is Xiaqing. May I purchase a copy of the Mung Bean Cultivation Guide from you?"

"You don’t need to announce who you are. I can tell the difference between a man’s voice and a woman’s," Li Si replied coolly. "One Guide for two Green Light cucumbers."

"Deal. Thank you, Fourth Sister," Xiaqing agreed cheerfully. ’She didn’t even need to ask. Li Si wanted the Green Light cucumbers to taste what Zhang San liked so much. Trading two cucumbers for a detailed cultivation guide for evolved mung beans... Xiaqing was scoring big time.’

Qi Fu quickly jumped in, "Fourth Sister, this is Qi Fu from Land No. 5. I’d also like to trade for a Mung Bean Cultivation Guide. Would two Green Light eggplants be acceptable?"

Zhang San had eaten the Green Light eggplants from Land No. 5 as well.

Li Si didn’t answer. About fifteen seconds later, a gentle female voice replied, "Hello, everyone. I am Assistant Liu from No. 9 Territory. I will be responsible for all further transactions."

A new person had appeared. Xiaqing stood up straighter, listening intently.

Assistant Liu’s voice was gentle, but her words were anything but. "Our Lord’s Evolutionary Mung Bean Cultivation Guide contains five patented cultivation techniques not made public in the Safe Zone. The trade price is set at eight hundred points. After acquiring the Guide, all Lords must strictly adhere to the instructions on its first page regarding the use of these cultivation techniques. If improper use leads to a technological leak, No. 9 Territory will hold you accountable for patent infringement and place you on a permanent no-trade blacklist. We are not accepting points for this transaction. Any Lord interested in a trade, please state your territory number and the type and quantity of goods you wish to offer."

Xiaqing immediately pressed the button. "Sister Liu, excuse me, is the deal Fourth Sister just made with Land No. 3 still valid?"

"It is valid," Assistant Liu gently reminded her. "And please, Miss Xia, address me as Assistant Liu from now on."

Xiaqing immediately corrected herself. "Of course. Thank you, Assistant Liu."

Eight hundred points—the equivalent of eighty pounds of Yellow Light Vegetables or sixteen pounds of Green Light vegetables. And Xiaqing had just acquired something that valuable for two cucumbers, whose weight wasn’t even a factor. For a moment, everyone was at a loss for words.

After carefully weighing his options, Qi Fu decided to make the trade. "Assistant Liu, this is Qi Fu from Land No. 5. Can I trade sixteen pounds of Green Light eggplant for the Guide? The thing is, I only have two Green Light eggplant plants, so I can’t provide that much all at once. Could I pay in three installments?"

Assistant Liu replied in her gentle voice, "Yes, you may, Mr. Qi. We have a deal."

Luo Peiwen spoke gently, "Assistant Liu, can No.1 Territory trade building materials for the Guide?"

Assistant Liu’s voice grew even more gentle. "May I ask what building materials your esteemed territory has available for trade?"

Luo Peiwen replied, "Insect-proof putty, wall paint, and waterproof roof coating."

Assistant Liu answered instantly, "Would forty pounds of the waterproof roof coating be acceptable?"

"That works. Thank you, Assistant Liu," Luo Peiwen agreed.

Next, Tang Zhengpo from Territory No. 12 spoke up. "Hello, Assistant Liu. Can Territory No. 12 trade four portions of barbecue seasoning for it? The seasoning is my exclusive secret recipe, and it sells publicly in the Hui San Safety Zone for two hundred points a portion."

Little Liu’s voice was gentle. "Yes, Chairman Tang. We have a deal."

Zhang San spoke up lazily, "Land No. 7. I’ll trade medicine for a portion of that barbecue seasoning."

Tang Zhengpo’s tone when speaking to Zhang San was no different than when he spoke to anyone else. "Brother San, could I request a bottle of non-toxic insect repellent spray?"

Zhang San replied lazily, "Fine."

Hearing their father strike a deal with Zhang San, Tang Huai and Tang Heng from Land No. 2 were on the verge of tears.

Unsurprisingly, Li Si popped up to get the same item as her idol. "Brother San, I want a bottle of non-toxic insect repellent spray, too."

Zhang San rejected her flat out. "No trade. Make your own."

"HAHAHA—" Xiaqing, standing in her mung bean patch, couldn’t help but burst out laughing. Sheep Leader, who was resting in the shade nearby, glanced at Xiaqing convulsing with laughter among the trellises and turned its head away in disdain.

Xiaqing picked the two most presentable-looking Green Light cucumbers from her vegetable garden and traded them for the Mung Bean Cultivation Guide, which consisted of four double-sided printed pages.

After carefully reading the instructions for use on the first page and confirming she wouldn’t be violating the terms as long as she didn’t teach the patented techniques to anyone else, she began to study it in earnest.

Nowhere in the Guide did it specify which techniques were Li Si’s exclusive patents. But after reading the entire document, Xiaqing felt as if the clouds had parted to reveal the sun. Everything suddenly became clear, and she now knew the correct way to grow evolved mung beans.

It turned out that evolved mung beans had no dormancy period and could be sown immediately after being dried.

It turned out that evolved mung beans were a deep-rooted plant, requiring the soil to be tilled deeply and raked until fine.

It turned out that evolved mung beans needed to be pruned. They also had to be shaded on afternoons when the sun was too intense, or given extra water after a period of scorching heat.

It turned out...

With this Guide in hand, the section on mung bean cultivation in the Planting Guide issued by Hui San Base was now completely useless.