Xia Qing applied medicine to her wounds, put on her clothes, threw on her protective suit, put on a new protective mask, and carried the waterproof cloth out to cover the frame building to the east.
The roof of the small building she lived in was tightly covered with synthetic resin tiles that protected against acid rain, and the windows were also securely sealed, so it didn’t need any waterproof cloth.
After covering the frame building, Xia Qing began to cover the sheep pen.
Although the roof of the sheep pen also used the resin tiles Xia Qing had scavenged, the walls of the pen were built with mud and straw paste, which had not yet fully dried and could not withstand the lashing of heavy rain.
The sheep pen, of course, was prepared for Boss Sheep.
Over the past two days, although Xia Qing had been busy clearing the village, she hadn’t forgotten to cut purple-leaf grass and feed toon sprouts to Boss Sheep. This morning, Xia Qing had even taken it to watch the brutal scene of the military clearing the Evolution Forest, just to let it know how terrifying humans could be, so it wouldn’t rashly run out and try to butt people for fun.
Perhaps it had indeed been frightened, because after returning, Boss Sheep had deigned to descend the mountain and took a stroll around the village. It seemed to have given up on returning to its old nest and was planning to find a place in the village to shelter from the Qiang Rain.
In this entire territory, what place could be more suitable than her home?
On the final day before the Qiang Rain, Xia Qing first went to the reservoir to fetch two large water tanks of dirty water, and then went to collect spring water.
By now, she could already feel the moisture in the wind steadily increasing. It would likely rain tonight, so she had to prepare all the supplies she would need during the rainfall before it started.
After placing the water buckets in the cave, Xia Qing picked up her newly woven large back basket and asked Boss Sheep, “I’m going to cut some purple-leaf grass. Are you coming? …No? I’m off then.”
Xia Qing crossed the Buffer Forest alone and entered the Isolation Belt. She cast a covetous glance at the sturdy wire mesh fence of the Breeding Center before putting on her protective mask and stepping into her new territory.
Although this territory had already been cleared by the Danger Investigation Team and its danger coefficient had lowered, Xia Qing had a wound on her face and didn’t dare to take any risks.
She had just cut a few strokes with her sickle at the spot where the purple-leaf grass grew most densely when she heard the sounds of human activity. Soon, she heard Su Ming calling out.
“Sister Xia Qing!” Su Ming ran over at the head of the group, followed by members of Team Six. Although they were all wearing protective masks that only revealed their eyes, Xia Qing could still tell that Captain Tan wasn’t with them today, and she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
“Are you cutting perilla, Sister Xia Qing?” Su Ming continued, trying to make small talk.
*This is perilla?* Xia Qing’s hands paused in stuffing the grass into her back basket before she replied, “Yes. Thank you for your hard work these past few days.”
“It’s no trouble, just doing our job,” Su Ming said, quickening his pace to approach her. “Sister Xia Qing, you’re cutting so much. How are you planning to eat it?”
Uh…
The color of this grass’s leaves was truly bizarre. Xia Qing had been too busy lately and hadn’t had the time to figure out how to eat it yet, so currently, she was only cutting it to feed her sheep.
Cao Xianyun could tell that Xia Qing didn’t recognize the plant, so he stepped in front of his idiotic teammate to explain, “Although it doesn’t look like it, this is indeed a type of evolved perilla. Once it is heated and blanched, it turns bright green. It’s highly nutritious and is the main ingredient in our base’s Nutrient Solution No. 3.”
Since food had become scarce after the evolution of organisms following the natural disasters, the disgustingly unpalatable compressed rations and nutrient solutions had become the two primary ways for humans to fill their stomachs.
“Yeah, blanched and served as a cold salad, it’s delicious!” Su Ming poked his head out from behind Cao Xianyun.
Xia Qing could hear the longing in Su Ming’s voice. She pulled a large handful of evolved perilla from her basket, tied it up with some vine grass, and handed it over. “Take this back and add it to your meals. It’s not a gift; I’d like to exchange it for any spare supplies you might have.”
Just as Su Ming was about to decline, Cao Xianyun reached out and accepted it. “Alright. If you ever need anything in the future, Sister Xia Qing, just let us know.”
Eh? Eh!
Su Ming widened his eyes, about to say something, but was dragged away by Hu Zi and Cao Xianyun.
“I say, Old Cao, you…”
“Shut up!”
Once they had walked quite a distance away and thought Xia Qing could no longer hear them, Su Ming aggressively yanked off his protective mask. “Old Cao, you didn’t even ask what Sister Xia Qing wants to exchange it for before accepting it? What if we don’t have it?”
Cao Xianyun rolled his eyes at the fool. “Do you want to eat it or not?”
“Yes!”
The other team member, Hu Zi, spoke up. “Xia Qing ignored the toon sprouts—which make the detection light glow practically blackish-green—and came all this way to cut perilla instead. What do you think that says about the quality of this perilla?”
Su Ming punched Hu Zi hard on the shoulder. “It must be even better than the toon sprouts! Our Hu Zi is finally making progress, actually using his brain!”
“Get lost!” The strength evolution warrior, Hu Zi, grabbed Su Ming’s arm and threw him aside.
Walking at the very back, Cao Xianyun heard the commotion in the distance. He looked back and saw Xia Qing walking out of the woods carrying a back basket and holding two large bundles of evolved perilla. He muttered quietly, “Did it ever cross your minds that she might just be cutting grass to feed her sheep?”
Hu Zi: “…”
The others: “…”
Su Ming: “I wonder if Sister Xia Qing needs another sheep. I’m available.”
“Me too.”
“And me…”
Xia Qing, pretending she couldn’t hear a thing, crossed the Isolation Belt and returned to the cave. When she reached out to pat her sheep’s head, the tactless fellow actually jumped up and lowered its horns, wanting to pick a fight.
Xia Qing let out a disdainful “tch.” “If you keep misbehaving, I’ll kick you out. There are plenty of others begging to be my sheep.”
Boss Sheep squinted its eyes. Only when it saw that Xia Qing was no longer provoking it did it step forward to eat the grass.
Xia Qing placed the empty water buckets from her backpack inside, retrieved the filled drinking water buckets, tightened their lids, and packed them into her bag. Then, she went back to cut a few more large bundles of perilla.
Three days’ worth for the sheep and three days’ worth for herself—all of it had to be cut and brought back before the rain started.
By the time Xia Qing returned once more, she swapped in three more drinking water buckets and finally headed home, carrying the load on her back and in her hands.
The evolved sheep glanced at her, then lowered its head to continue munching on the perilla. After Xia Qing returned, she pulled out the filled water buckets, blocked the cave entrance securely, and then slung on her backpack and picked up the final four large bundles of grass to leave.
Boss Sheep, who was happily eating, was not pleased. It stomped its hooves and lunged to butt her. Without even turning her head, Xia Qing sidestepped to dodge the attack and kept walking, leading Boss Sheep all the way back to her house.
Xia Qing placed a bundle of grass on the bamboo rack inside the sheep pen. “It’s about to rain. If you don’t want to get soaked, stay put inside and don’t go out.”
Having said that, regardless of whether Boss Sheep actually entered the pen or not, she carried the water buckets back into the brick building.
Boss Sheep stood in the yard squinting for a long time, but ultimately succumbed to the fragrant aroma of the grass and walked into the sheep pen.
Standing in the first-floor living room, Xia Qing smiled triumphantly. She cut a piece of waterproof cloth and went to the west yard to build a small greenhouse for the ginger and garlic she had planted.
Although the hillside where she had dug up the ginger and garlic now belonged to her, who knew if there was still any edible ginger and garlic left in that ground? Even if there was, who knew if a single rainfall would cause them to undergo Qiang evolution and become inedible?
Therefore, Xia Qing had to protect these dozen or so transplanted seedlings well.
If they encountered a heavy rain with an extremely high concentration of Qiang elements, it would pose a severe challenge to all living creatures on the Blue Star. If the seedlings were destroyed despite her efforts, there was nothing she could do, as she had already done everything within her power.
Not long after Xia Qing finished tidying up the vegetable garden and returned to the first-floor living room, she heard the distant rumble of muffled thunder.
The sound made her feel restless and uneasy.
Banxia Novels, bringing much more joy.