The next morning, the inspection team delivered twenty green alfalfa seedlings.
Xia Qing stared silently at the tiny, palm-sized, tender green seedlings, roots and all, still attached to the soil in the straw bag. The seedlings were indeed much more normal in color than the evolved perilla, but was this definitely alfalfa and not clover?
Or perhaps clover's scientific name is alfalfa?
Xia Qing took out her phone and consulted a planting guide, finding another picture of evolved alfalfa for comparison. The mature alfalfa leaves, over a meter tall, in the guide were indeed about 90% similar to the leaves of the seedlings in the straw bag.
She stopped worrying about whether the alfalfa was clover and, following the instructions in the guide, planted the seedlings in the terraced field above the evolved perilla, then surrounded them with evolved jujube branches.
If these alfalfa seedlings survived, she could sow the seeds later. Next year, once she had filled the terraced field, she could remove the evolved jujube branches and let the eldest sheep eat alfalfa as freely as it ate perilla.
Thinking about next year filled Xia Qing with excitement.
After the natural disaster, most of the lower-class humans lived day to day, with no plans, nor the possibility of them having any. Xia Qing was an anomaly among the lower classes. When she planned to rebuild her home in the safe zone, her vision of the future was merely a vague, unrealistic yearning; she had no idea when it would ever come true.
Now, standing in her own territory, thinking about the future, she felt a profound sense of security.
Reaching out to ruffle the curly wool of the sheep boss, who was munching on perilla leaves, Xia Qing excitedly stretched her arm across the entire territory, exclaiming, "My beloved consort, look, this is all the empire I've conquered for you!"
The sheep boss ignored Xia Qing's erratic behavior and continued eating.
By the end of March, the seedlings were ready for transplanting, and it was time for the lords to exchange seedlings.
To ensure fairness, each lord needed to test the seedlings' elemental content to confirm their grade before exchanging them.
Other lords announced in the channel that most of their seedlings were rated yellow, a few red, and a rare green. Nine-tenths of the seedlings in Xia Qingtian's field were yellow-light, one-tenth were green-light, and none were red-light. However, Xia Qing concealed the existence of green-light seedlings and claimed to have some red-light seedlings.
When exchanging seedlings with other lords, Xia Qing dug up only the yellow-light seedlings. She first dug up ten of each of the tomato, cucumber, eggplant, and pumpkin seedlings she had exchanged for plot number one.
Of course, these seedlings weren't exchanged for the nominal micro-tiller; instead, along with fifty spinach seeds, she received forty bags of putty powder and three cans of wall paint.
After the natural disaster, wall paint and putty powder, besides their basic decorative function, also had an added benefit: insect repellent. Both building materials were in high demand, and ordinary people couldn't buy them at all. When Xia Qing was on the construction team, these two items were issued by weight, so she hadn't been able to accumulate any.
She originally planned to trade putty powder with Qi Fu, but Qi Fu said he didn't have any on hand either.
A few days ago, Xia Qing heard Hu Zifeng mention in the lord's channel that they were building a house in Territory Number One, so she tried to trade with him. To her surprise, it actually worked, which once again amazed Xia Qing at the Qinglong Team's formidable strength.
After planting the seedlings and digging up the bamboo shoots, Xia Qing needed to hurry and paint her little house before the next heavy rain, making it feel more like home.
After handing over the seedlings from Territory Number One, Xia Qing traded ten tomato seedlings for five bean seedlings from Territory Number Five and five chili seedlings from Territory Number Seven. It wasn't that she didn't want to trade more, but rather that she only had fifteen tomato seedlings left.
Since she had received pumpkin, cucumber, and eggplant seedlings from all territories, Xia Qing had more left: twenty pumpkin seedlings, twenty-five cucumber seedlings, and thirty eggplant seedlings.
These seedlings, along with the ones she traded, except for the extra pumpkin seedlings, were all planted by Xia Qing in the still-empty hillside planting area.
To ensure the seedlings grew well, Xia Qing used every planting technique she knew. To enrich the soil with nutrients, she composted sheep and bird manure collected from her territory and applied it to the field. After transplanting, she watered the seedlings with her saved spring water.
Now, it was up to them to see how they fared.
For the next few days, Xia Qing practically lived in the vegetable garden.
The fourth, fifth, and sixth lords were even more dedicated than her, keeping their pagers on 24/7 to exchange planting tips.
Zhang San from plot number seven had no interest in anything but eating and was offline during the day; Hu Zifeng from plot number one was always online, but only to stay informed about Xia Qing's activities and needs; Tang Huai from plot number two kept his pager on to know Hu Zifeng's whereabouts. Of course, these two rarely spoke.
At midday, the sun beat down on the transplanted seedlings, causing their leaves to droop and half of the seedlings to bend over. Xia Qing watched with a heavy heart. Following Qi Fu's instructions, she carefully propped up the drooping seedlings with small forks. If she hadn't known that seedlings needed sunlight, Xia Qing would have immediately built a shade structure for them.
As evening approached and the sun's intensity lessened, most of the seedlings' drooping leaves straightened again, and Xia Qing beamed with joy.
The next morning, the drooping seedlings had straightened up again, and Xia Qing was overjoyed.
By noon, the seedlings were drooping again, their leaves and heads drooping from the sun, and Xia Qing squatted by the field, sighing with a worried expression.
The third morning, the cycle repeated itself. Xia Qing's mood fluctuated between excitement and anxiety, to the point that the eldest sheep thought she was sick. It brought a mouthful of grass to the planting area and nudged the jujube branches, urging Xia Qing to graze.
Xia Qing, her anger simmering, didn't understand the sheep's intentions. Thinking it wanted to eat the seedlings, she rushed out and fought it fiercely.
Although Xia Qing had decisively defeated the eldest sheep for the first time in history, it didn't excite her. She continued to sigh and lament while tending to the seedlings.
The defeated sheep brought the grass home and spat it into Xia Qing's bowl. Xia Qing then realized it wanted her to eat the grass.
This grass is edible?
After testing it, Xia Qing discovered that the grass the sheep brought back was also a green-light plant. She cooked it and ate it, but after one bite, she spat it out because it was so unpalatable.
The sheep was unhappy and brought some more back, spitting it into Xia Qing's bowl.
Seeing the sheep's persistence, Xia Qing asked Tan Junjie to inquire and learned that this unremarkable vine was actually the evolved White-haired Chicken Dung Vine, which could treat indigestion, abdominal pain, and itchy skin!
Xia Qing then understood that the sheep thought she was sick and had specially gone to gather herbs for her. Deeply moved, Xia Qing picked a few alfalfa leaves, which she herself hadn't even tasted, and made a special treat for the sheep.
Thanks to Boss Yang, Xia Qing's territory now boasts another valuable green-light medicinal herb—the Evolved White-haired Chicken Shit Vine.
Although the name is unappealing, it's very valuable: the entire plant (roots, stems, and leaves) can be sold for forty points per pound after drying.
When she has time, Xia Qing will definitely harvest some, dry them, and exchange them for points to buy compressed rations for Boss Yang.
Six days after transplanting, ten seedlings in the terraced fields died, mostly cucumbers. Xia Qing believes cucumber seedlings are the most delicate; their thin outer skin seems to be full of water, wilting in the sun and collapsing in the wind.
She absolutely refuses to admit that two of them were accidentally broken while she was supporting them.
Nearly half of the seedlings in plots one and two died. Plot seven wasn't online, so the situation is probably similar. Plots four and six are in similar condition to Xia Qing's, while plot five fared the best, losing only two seedlings. This is because the Qi family were farmers before the natural disaster and have the most experience.