Chapter 26

Chapter 26: You Owe Me a Favor

Qin Xi couldn’t quite share or empathize with Li Zekai’s grief.

Nevertheless, she still raised her hand and patted the young researcher on the shoulder to offer some comfort:

“Focus on staying alive first. As long as you survive, you’ll at least still have a chance to go look for them.”

Hearing this, Li Zekai let out a bitter laugh, offering her a grateful smile in return.

The four of them went downstairs, heading first to Li Zekai’s first-floor dormitory. After waiting for him to grab some clothing and food, they finally stepped out of the office building.

The seedling cultivation plots were all located behind the office building.

They were all short seedlings that hadn’t even grown to calf-height, with informational signs posted in front of every single plot.

This conveniently made identification very easy for Qin Xi. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Turning her head to look at Bai Hanyue and Li Zekai, she divided up the work:

“I don’t need too many of these seedlings—just one or two plants of each variety will do. My big brother and I will start digging from this side, while you two start from over there. For each team, one person digs while the other keeps watch on the surroundings, swapping roles when tired. Let’s finish up as quickly as we can.”

As she spoke, she pulled two small hand hoes out of her spatial dimension, handing one over to Li Zekai.

Taking the hoe, the look on Li Zekai’s face turned somewhat grave while Qin Xi was speaking just now, no one knowing what was on his mind!

Bai Hanyue, on the other hand, cheerfully answered “Okay.”

Just as Qin Xi turned around, however, Li Zekai suddenly called out to stop her:

“Miss Qin.”

Qin Xi’s steps—just about to move forward—paused, and she turned her head to look at him. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Li Zekai hesitated for a moment, glanced at the hoe in his hand, and ultimately couldn’t help but speak up:

“I was wondering if I could trouble you with something?”

Hearing this, Qin Xi raised an eyebrow, gesturing for him to speak first.

Li Zekai then began:

“It’s like this—as you know, my main job is researching the cultivation of these seedlings. Now that the apocalypse is here, who knows what agricultural development will look like in the future; however, if all these seedlings are lost, it would definitely be a massive loss.”

As he spoke, his gaze gradually turned resolute. Raising his head to look at Qin Xi, he continued:

“I was thinking… besides the seedlings you want, could you help me store another batch of seedlings as well? Once order stabilizes, you can hand them back to me. Of course, if I’m no longer around, you may dispose of them as you see fit. As for your conditions, I don’t have anything to give you right now, but you can state your demand—as long as it’s within my power, I will agree to it!”

This speech from Li Zekai genuinely caught Qin Xi by surprise. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Was it fair to say he truly was a high-level intellectual?

While everyone else was still living in panic and terror, he was already starting to contemplate humanity’s future food security issues.

Qin Xi faintly felt that she somewhat understood why the system had tasked her with rescuing him!

Still, she certainly didn’t want to help out for free.

Mulling it over, she gave a slow nod:

“Sure, I can help you out. But as for what requirements I want, I can’t think of anything for the time being, so we can save it for later.”

As she spoke, her gaze shifted toward Bai Hanyue, and she added:

“Hanyue can be our witness. You owe me a favor.“ Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Hearing this, Li Zekai instantly brightened up, nodding repeatedly in agreement.

Following that, the four divided into two teams and began digging up seedlings across the experimental field.

On Qin Xi’s end, every time she dug up a plant, she absorbed it directly into her spatial dimension, hearing continuous system prompts chiming inside her mind:

[Acquired Tomato Seedling No. 1 ×3 plants…]

[Acquired Tomato Seedling No. 4 ×3 plants…]

[Acquired Pepper Seedling No. 1 ×3 plants…]

…

[Acquired Tomato Seedling No. 104 ×3 plants. Obtained 498 Natural Element points. Current task progress: 507/1000.] Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

The small seedlings were not difficult to dig up, but the sheer quantity still took Qin Xi nearly an hour to finish collecting every single seedling variety.

Yet Qin Xi didn’t leave right away; she took another walk around several of the greenhouses to inspect them.

The seedlings inside the greenhouses were already mature plants that had begun bearing fruit.

Qin Xi likewise collected a few plants of each variety—whether they survived transplantation didn’t matter, as at least the tomatoes and cucumbers growing on the vines were fresh and could be eaten for a while!

Leaving the research base, Qin Xi pulled out the off-road SUV, and the group climbed inside.

The vehicle quickly drove out of the base, slowly heading toward the mushroom cultivation base located behind it.

Just like the tomato breeding base, the main entrance here was dead quiet, appearing calm and peaceful on the surface.

The four stepped out of the vehicle at the main gate. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Qin Song and Li Zekai walked at the very front, while Qin Xi brought up the rear.

Unexpectedly, not long after stepping inside, their path was blocked by a zombie hound!

Taking a closer look, one could see that this zombie hound was actually a Doberman as well.

Qin Xi suddenly felt a bit curious—could the Doberman zombie hound killed back at the tomato base earlier also have originated from here?

Right as she was thinking this, she heard Li Zekai let out a sigh beside her.

Turning her head to glance at him, she couldn’t help but ask:

“Do you know this dog?”

Li Zekai nodded: Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

“Together with the one outside my door earlier, they’re both dogs from here.”

By the looks of it, it must have run out on its own after mutating!

This zombie hound was still taken care of by Qin Song.

Afterward, the four began collecting mushrooms from one mushroom greenhouse to the next.

Because the greenhouses were situated very deep inward, with poor lighting and cramped layout inside, Qin Xi refrained from venturing too far deep for safety’s sake.

She didn’t plan on collecting the mushrooms located deep inside either.

In any case, the supplies stashed in her space were already more than sufficient, so she didn’t want to waste the extra effort!

Adjoining the mushroom base was a vineyard, and beyond that lay the landscaping nursery Bai Hanyue had mentioned earlier. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Qin Xi parked the car along the roadside, collecting just a few grapevines from the edge before climbing back into the vehicle to drive toward their final destination.

Qin Xi sat in the back, with Bai Hanyue beside her.

Looking out at the sky where torrential rain continued to pour, she was in quite a good mood.

The system task was already more than half completed, yet they hadn’t encountered many zombies along the way, saving a great deal of effort!

The off-road SUV drove continuously toward the foot of the mountain to the east.

They failed to notice that behind them, a figure in purple was sprinting toward their direction through the hazy downpour!

Lin Xin had rushed all the way up to the mountain from the foot of the hill.

That gang of people who had barged into the factory and reached the top floor were a crew of ruthless outlaws. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

He had been hiding in the top-floor restroom all along, listening to the sounds of beatings, screams of pain, and pleas for mercy echoing outside.

Until a man’s voice sounded out, asking a question:

“While you folks were here, did you bump into a man and a woman? The guy is very tall, and the girl is a head shorter than him—both have very fair complexions.”

As soon as this person finished speaking, someone immediately spoke up to curry favor:

“Seen them! Seen them! We just saw them last night!”

Following that was a wave of others jumping on the bandwagon:

“That’s right, we know her—her name is Qin Xi, but she already left!”

“Her and another guy—that guy is crazy strong, he can even discharge electricity!” Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Right at that moment, he heard Wu Dongyan’s voice:

“I know where they went! I secretly followed them downstairs and overheard their plan—they went up the mountain!”

Lin Xin felt an immediate bad premonition.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he climbed out through the restroom window.

Slipping down rapidly along the drainage pipe, he took a shortcut straight across the mountain behind the factory, sprinting up the hill.

By the time he reached the mountain summit, it was impossible to tell whether the moisture covering his body was rainwater or sweat!

Yet right when he ran up to the village entrance, he was suddenly stumped.

He had charged up here in a single breath, but he had no idea whose house Qin Xi’s group was staying in up on the mountain! Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

• Renqing (人情 – rén qíng): A foundational concept in Chinese social dynamics representing interpersonal obligation, social debt, or a favor that is expected to be repaid in the future when called upon.