Chapter 29: Rainwater
Standing next to the fire pit, staring at the yellow soybeans for a while, Huai Yu struggled for a long time before finally suppressing her intense craving for food.
She couldn’t continue like this!
She stood up, estimating that she had enough water, and put on her raincoat and rain boots, going outside to retrieve the bucket, pot, and kettle.
The bucket was filled to the brim with water, so Huai Yu dropped ten purification tablets into it, staring at it for a while.
For some reason, even though there was no visible dirt or impurities, the water still felt dirtier than the pond water.
She looked again and only saw the purification tablets swirling in the water. She didn’t pay too much attention to it after that.
After all, it was just for regular cleaning—washing clothes, washing hands, and such—once purified, it would be fine.
Next, she used a few bricks to create a stand by the fire pit, placing the pot on top to boil the water.
While waiting for the water to boil, Huai Yu didn’t slack off. She grabbed the kettle and washed the bowls she had just bought.
Once the water boiled, she put the new towel into it for a while to sterilize, then took it out to dry, wrung it out, tied the four corners, and hung it above the water jug to serve as a filter.
Previously, she didn’t have the conditions, so she would just drink the purified water after boiling, even with floating particles.
Now that she had a new towel, after boiling the water to sterilize it, she let it cool a bit before filtering it through the cotton towel…
In the future, she wouldn’t have to endure the discomfort of drinking the water with any impurities!
Ah, I forgot to buy gauze today! Otherwise, that would be perfect for filtering the water.
She glanced at the peanuts, realizing that roasting the peanut shells in the pot could turn them into charcoal, which would make the best filtration material!
Maybe… she should just eat the peanuts first?
In the warm treehouse, with the sound of the rain pouring down and the peaceful atmosphere, her craving for food grew. She looked at her seed stash and wished she could just plant all of it, even the yam seeds.
If only the yam was already cooked, she could peel off the thin skin, dip it in white sugar…
Mmm… this is still the iron-stick yam!
But she couldn’t plant that much, right? She was too weak for such heavy farm work!
Well, it doesn’t matter if the seeds are fewer; after all, the mountains are my home!
But… the pile of yam seeds probably weighed about two jin, and she only needed a small patch of land to plant them. When harvest time came, she should be able to get about a hundred jin of yam!
Peanuts too—an acre can yield a thousand jin, so it would be such a waste to eat them now!
Only the soybeans… they seemed a bit ordinary and had a lot of impurities. Huai Yu held them in her hands for a while. They felt different from jujubes, lighter and more effortless to handle.
Vaguely, she felt that her abilities should have been used up, but compared to the previous time when she triggered the purple wisteria’s growth, it was much easier now.
So…
She looked at her palm. After doing so much farm work, her hands were red and swollen during the day, and the blisters would break open. But by night, they would recover.
The energy required to stimulate plant growth was different, and so was the level of fatigue.
So… when would her efficiency improve?
For example, if she encountered bad people, she could throw seeds at them, causing them to take root in their blood vessels, absorb nutrients…
She would finish all of that in ten seconds or less. Otherwise, this ability would be useless—if the seeds hadn’t grown in time, she might be the one to get killed.
She imagined the cool scene—holding a seed in her palm, frowning and applying force, and the seed quickly took root and sprouted.
But before the seed sprouted, it had taken three to five minutes to load!
Now, in her palm, the seed was sprouting and growing vines into the air, but before it even bloomed, Huai Yu was already too tired to keep holding it.
She was so tired. She didn’t want to move at all. Relying on this power to protect herself was simply not feasible.
Sigh, really weak.
The world had become so bad that girls like her needed to mutate or evolve just to protect themselves.
Hmph!
Huai Yu completely lost her appetite. She dumped the soybeans into a bowl and poured some warm water to soak them.
It was early April, and Qingming was around the corner. It was still mid-March, and she had a bit of ability, so planting them early shouldn’t be a problem.
Wait!
Huai Yu suddenly turned her head, and outside the door, the heavy rain was pouring down without stopping.
She froze for a moment, then felt both excited and frustrated:
“Is this fate?!”
The beans were already soaking, and they couldn’t be stored anymore. With the rain pouring so heavily outside, she couldn’t plant them either.
She had no choice but to think of a way to eat them to avoid wasting them.
She shrugged off all her burdens and placed the bowl of soybeans in front of her, trying to pick out the bad ones.
When she used her powers to sift through them earlier, she hadn’t paid much attention. Now, as she stirred through them, she found two beans that had turned black and moldy, which she had to throw away.
Just as she was about to scoop out the soybeans, a sudden series of alarm sounds came from outside.
“Mutation levels in the Rose Corridor District 29 are rapidly rising.”
“Mutation levels in Rose Corridor District 32 are rapidly rising.”
“Rose Corridor District 35…”
“Rose Corridor District 42…”
The alarms echoed, and it seemed no district was spared. The alarm system along the entire Rose Corridor screamed out in panic.
Huai Yu stood frozen.
She stood at the door of the treehouse, and through the heavy rain, the romantic flower wall, now shrouded in dim darkness, seemed to claw and stretch, almost terrifying.
In the distance, the sound of vehicles grew louder. The yellow headlights didn’t penetrate far in the rain, but she could faintly see the flashing lights.
After a while, Huai Yu saw a vehicle heading towards her.
She quickly put on her rain boots and raincoat, rushing into the rain.
Before she had gone too far, the vehicle in front made a sharp turn in front of her.
Inside the car, Zhou Qian’s familiar and stern face appeared, his voice filled with urgency:
“Go back! Go back! Don’t stay in the rain. The rain accelerates mutations—quick, go back!”
Huai Yu froze for a moment, then nodded at him, turned around, and ran off.
Inside the car, Zhou Qian squinted. He could barely see the direction she was heading towards, which seemed to be a small house.
The rain was too heavy, and the headlights couldn’t shine far. He confirmed she was okay and didn’t realize how close her house was to the Rose Corridor, so he left with a worried expression.
At the same time, his voice came through the intercom:
“All units, be on alert! No one is allowed to approach the Rose Corridor! All personnel at the Sanqing Mountain defense line, retreat 50 meters!”
“Mutation levels have increased by five points and are still rising.”
“Be wary of the rain…”
Simultaneously, another voice came from the intercom:
“Captain Zhou, let’s have a meeting tonight to discuss protective measures after the rain. Also, the Ministry of Health will issue a broadcast tomorrow, banning people from harvesting wild vegetables and mushrooms from parks or other areas for a short period.”
“Experts predict that while mutation levels may not reach the critical point, they will rise significantly. After ingesting these items—well, forget it.”
The other person sighed: “They’re so inedible, I doubt anyone would eat them.”
Zhou Qian put down the intercom and couldn’t help but curse:
“Damn!”
The others in the car sighed as well:
“In the past, the mutation levels would only rise with winter snow, and the Guard Army would speed up the thawing and underground river circulation to control it.”
“Who knew it would start with the spring rain? Everyone thought after Qingming would be the best time for planting…”
“Exactly! The old saying goes, ‘Plant melons at Qingming and beans at Tomb Sweeping,’ and there’s still half a month to go. If mutation levels don’t drop by then…”
“It’s okay,” Zhou Qian took a deep breath, comforting everyone.
“The mutated legumes’ root nodules will actively absorb pollutants. This was already accounted for in the emergency plan, which is why everyone received it when they registered. With a mutation level of 25, no one will be eating them.”
“Once the rain stops, we’ll mobilize the public to plant the beans. The Guard Army will send wood-based forces to accelerate the cycle. By June, it should be restored.”
