After five sunny days following the Qiang Rain, the temperature quickly rose, and the Qiang element content in Blue Star’s atmosphere dropped to normal levels. Once the Qiang elements in the soil had mostly dissipated, Xia Qing began preparing for sowing.
She had used these five days to clear the wild grass and venomous insects from three villages, and had even pulled out all the Qiang-evolved grass in the thirty mu of the most fertile, flat land near the reservoir. Of course, she only pulled out the evolved grass that had grown wildly during the Qiang Rain; she hadn’t gotten around to the sparse, normally growing grass sprouts underneath. Except for what Old Sheep had nibbled on, the rest of those grasses were still there.
However, Xia Qing decided not to clear them anymore and just start plowing directly. Standing at the edge of the field, she pulled out a bunch of toon sprouts, waved them, and shouted, “Old Sheep—want some toon sprouts?”
Old Sheep, who was nibbling on grass in the field, immediately rushed over. While he was engrossed in eating, Xia Qing took the opportunity to put a specially made plowing harness on him. This harness was designed by Xia Qing in the style of a vest-type dog harness, ensuring Old Sheep couldn’t break free and wouldn’t be choked or hurt.
Once the gear was on, Xia Qing spun a bamboo pole tied to the mechanical plow. The pole, dangling a bunch of toon sprouts, began to swing right in front of Old Sheep’s head. Since they didn’t speak the same language, Xia Qing and Old Sheep only had two ways of communicating: food and fighting.
Having set up the bait, Xia Qing called out loudly, “Old Sheep, your chance to shine has finally arrived. Let’s get to work!”
Old Sheep finished the toon sprouts on the ground and craned his neck to eat the ones in front of him, only to find he couldn’t reach them. He took a step forward to reach them, but the toon sprouts moved forward too. Unwilling to give up, Old Sheep kept trying to reach them. The rope attached to him tightened, and the three plowshares sank deep into the soil. Xia Qing held onto the handles of the mechanical plow and began plowing.
This three-share mechanical plow was originally meant to be pulled by a tractor and had no handles. After digging it out from the village ruins, Xia Qing modified and tested it repeatedly until it became the current sheep plow.
Old Sheep easily pulled the plow from one end to the other. Xia Qing pulled the bamboo pole back, bringing a bunch of toon sprouts right to Old Sheep’s mouth. While Old Sheep stopped to eat, Xia Qing immediately turned the sheep plow around, hung up another bunch of toon sprouts, and had Old Sheep pull the plow back from that end of the field to this end.
With just one round trip, a plot of land 1.5 meters wide and 200 meters long was plowed!
Another round, and nearly one mu of land was finished. This was much faster than Xia Qing turning the soil shovel by shovel; she was so happy she couldn’t close her mouth.
By the time Old Sheep had eaten his fill of toon sprouts and was about to lose his temper and go on strike, Xia Qing switched the bait.
With a small piece of ration hanging before his eyes, Old Sheep’s motivation doubled, tripled, and quadrupled. Plowing thirty mu of land took just over an hour, consuming only one piece of ration and a handful of toon sprouts.
Xia Qing took the harness off her great hero, feeding him water and grooming his fur. Fully sated and thoroughly pampered, Old Sheep lay down at the edge of the field with half-closed eyes to rest, watching Xia Qing continue her busy work with a look of supreme arrogance.
After clearing away the tree roots, grass roots, and stones turned up by the plow, Xia Qing stood up and watched the magpies, sparrows, and crows landing on the plowed land to dig for insects. Her mood was wonderful.
If the birds ate the insects in the soil, her crops would grow even better. With the first day of work after the Qiang Rain going so smoothly, a bountiful harvest was in sight!
However, when she listened to the broadcast that evening and learned that birds didn’t just eat insects but would also dig up and eat the seeds in the soil, Xia Qing could no longer smile.
Immediately after, the broadcast introduced countermeasures: “Experts from our base’s planting research center recommend two methods to all lords: First, mix the seeds with insect repellent powder before sowing. This method not only deters birds but also prevents evolved soil pests from damaging the seeds. Second, use the sap of level-three odor-evolved cinnamon or camphor trees, diluted with water at a one-to-ten ratio, and spray it over the sown plots. This is highly effective at repelling most birds. Using both methods simultaneously yields even better results. The experts remind all lords not to simply scatter seeds on the surface to save trouble. The ideal sowing depth for wheat is three to five centimeters, with a row spacing of… for cotton… To improve the germination rate, you can soak the seeds the night before, but you must carefully control the water temperature…”
Xia Qing leaned over the table, carefully taking notes by candlelight.
Before the cataclysm, China’s urbanization rate had already exceeded seventy percent, and most of its arable land had been handed over to large, professional farms. During the ten years of the cataclysm, the elderly who knew how to farm but had low resistance died off one after another. Most of the territory lords had no idea how to cultivate land. Therefore, even though the mobile phones distributed to the lords contained a copy of the *Comprehensive Guide to Planting*, the base still tirelessly broadcasted detailed planting knowledge every day.
Having worked at the safe zone’s planting center, Xia Qing understood the basic farming process, but she didn’t dare to be careless in the slightest. The planting center had involved farming inside rainproof greenhouses, whereas now she was planting in the open air.
After the Qiang Rain, Qiang-evolved plants had grown rapidly, cutting off transport between the safe zone and the territories. Xia Qing’s two power banks hadn’t been recharged in time. She had to prioritize saving power to listen to the daily broadcasts and make direct phone calls; she would avoid looking at the *Comprehensive Guide to Planting* on her phone as much as possible to conserve electricity.
Once she finished sowing, she would definitely have to find a way to get a few solar panels.
Xia Qing put away her notebook, sat on the tatami mat, and petted Old Sheep while pondering the news from the broadcast.
It had been five days, and the broadcasts from Hui San Base had never mentioned the death toll from this Qiang Rain. Xia Qing conservatively estimated that it must have exceeded seven thousand.
Although they didn’t report specific casualties, the announcer passionately related touching stories every day. Today’s broadcast was about the heroic deeds of the Su Feng Team, which had sacrificed six members to repel evil forces and protect public facilities and property.
Xia Qing guessed that Feng Teng must have been among those six, which was why Feng Wen had cried so bitterly during Zhong Tao’s phone call.
Feng Wen wasn’t crying because she had such a deep bond with her brother, but because with Feng Teng dead, she had lost her reliance. She was crying and making a fuss to trade for more survival supplies.
As for Feng Teng’s cause of death, it certainly wasn’t the reason given in the broadcast, because Feng Teng ran faster than anyone whenever he encountered danger.
Who were the “evil forces” mentioned in the broadcast, and where did they get the nerve to clash with the Su Feng Team and the base’s second-in-command, Tang Zhengrong, who backed them?
Before Xia Qing could figure it out, Old Sheep stood up and skillfully opened the door to head out. Over the past few days, Old Sheep had learned how to open and close doors with his hooves, so the front door of her house was now safe.
Xia Qing stopped thinking about Feng Wen. She stood up, took out her seeds, and began soaking them according to the method taught on the broadcast. She used filtered water for half of them and higher-quality spring water for the other half.
Back in the safe zone, Xia Qing, like most people, had grown vegetables in flowerpots. Even though she cared for them diligently, most of the vegetables would grow wildly during the Qiang Rain, leaving very little edible produce in the end. However, of the seventeen ginger and garlic seedlings she had transplanted after arriving in her territory, only three had mutated after experiencing the red-level Qiang Rain. This mutation rate was even lower than inside the greenhouses of the safe zone’s planting center.
After analyzing it, Xia Qing believed there was an eighty percent chance the low mutation rate was because she had watered them with spring water after transplanting, and a twenty percent chance it was because the soil here was better. To verify this and to play it safe, Xia Qing cautiously decided to use both types of water.
The seeds soaked in filtered water would be planted in the thirty mu of cultivated land, while the ones soaked in spring water would be planted in the area she had turned over once before the Qiang Rain and turned over again after it.
To ensure the water temperature remained consistently between 30°C and 40°C, Xia Qing, who lacked constant-temperature equipment, simply used her own body temperature to test the water. She barely slept all night.
Banxia Novel, so much happiness.