Doomsday Traveler

Chapter 243 Exchange
Upon hearing Luo Ping's words, Lu Xi'an laughed and said, "Then it seems I really did you a big favor. Not only did I scare the person, but I also got you a horse. You've hit the jackpot. How are you going to repay me?"

Luo Ping said, "We'll repay you! We'll definitely repay you! We brought some good stuff, didn't we, old tree?"

"Hey bro, has that guy left?"

The old tree finally spoke then, before it even showed itself, and asked Lu Xi'an a question.

Lu Xi'an said, "I'm leaving, everything's alright, you can come out now."

Old Tree finally appeared after Lu Xi'an finished speaking. He subconsciously glanced south and then said, "Brother, we brought you some good stuff. We'll get it for you now, just wait!"

He then climbed into the pickup truck.

Luo Ping then said to Lu Xi'an, "Alas... it's a pity there's only one horse... Brother, you just said one, right?"
"If there's only one horse, it's gone once it dies. I'm thinking if I have the chance, I should go find Old Tang again and get one or two more horses from him, so they can have foals."

"Anyway, I don't think that guy is telling the truth. He definitely has more than one horse. If I offer him something in exchange, I should be able to get it."

Lu Xi'an suggested, "In that case, why don't you make a connection with him? You can exchange anything you don't need with him in the future."

"Isn't he very good at handling animals? You can let him handle more, so we won't have to worry about meat in the future."

As he spoke, he pondered for a moment and said, "Hmm... this is indeed a good idea. Thinking about it carefully, Type C new humans are simply born livestock tycoons."

Controlling livestock by relying on pheromones—grazing, feeding, adjusting animal activity levels, managing livestock mood, and even inducing estrus and calving—can all be accomplished through ability.

If we could find some livestock and give them to the Type C new humans, we could probably develop very quickly.

The people of this world only know how to fight with Type C New Humans or indulge in debauchery, without ever considering development in other directions. It's a complete waste of resources!

Upon hearing Lu Xi'an's words, Luo Ping scratched his head and said, "It's a good idea, but I don't know if that guy can swallow his pride and do it."

"They're supposed to be new humans, how could they possibly do the work themselves?"

Alright, Lu Xi'an understood where the problem lay.

Brahmins disdain doing the dirty and tiring work of Dalits, right...?

Luo Ping thought for a moment and then said, "Never mind him, we have Liu Hua anyway, let Liu Hua get things started first and raise the chickens well."

"If we can get other things to raise later, we'll go back to Shanyang County and expand our operations. Now that we've added so many new humans, we're capable of defending ourselves."

"But I can talk to that old Tang guy later. If he can get things going, that beast will trade with us more closely, and we can be more at ease letting him guard against the south."

That guy has a good plan.

At this point, Old Tree got out of the pickup truck, carrying a large basket in his hand.

The basket was woven from tree branches and vines. People at the 923 Institute base usually carried this thing when they went out to pick things.

This is something that Lao Shu made. During his time at Institute 923, Lao Shu racked his brains for a long time before he remembered how to make the old thing, made it, and distributed it to people for everyone to use.

The basket was now filled with many things. Lu Xi'an glanced at it and saw scallions, radishes, eggplants, and lettuce.

These were all varieties from the seeds he had given to Luo Ping before; all of them together filled a whole basket.

Lu Xi'an was slightly surprised: "So many?! We've only been gone a few days, and all these seeds have already grown?!"

Old Tree said, "This is all thanks to the place you gave us, brother. I took you and my sister to see our greenhouse before. When you left, many of the plants inside had already sprouted."

"But these are the only ones that have grown so far. The garland chrysanthemum and green peppers will take some more time to grow."

When Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei returned to Institute 923, Lao Shu did show them the greenhouse in the research area. At that time, the ground inside was already full of vegetables, and they had also gathered a lot of shelves from other rooms, which were also planted with seeds.

When Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei looked, the seeds had indeed sprouted and looked vibrant and pleasing to the eye.

However, neither Lu Xi'an nor Yao Wei were farming experts, and they didn't understand these things, so they only glanced at them once or twice and then stopped looking.

The old tree said, "We have limited space, so these are just for experimentation and we haven't planted many. This time we only brought this much for you, my brother and sister, so please don't mind."

Lu Xi'an said, "No, this is more than enough for us. It'll last us a while. Thank you."

This was a truly unexpected delight for him and Yao Wei. They never imagined that simply "calling" Luo Ping and the others to come and receive a wilted, stunted apple tree would yield such a result.

How long has it been since he tasted fresh vegetables? Along the way, dehydrated vegetables had been enough to satisfy him, and now he could actually eat newly grown vegetables, something he never dared to dream of before.

After a heartfelt thank you, he put the basket of vegetables back into the car, and then led Lao Shu and Luo Ping to the apple orchard, passing through the "useless trees" that people used to call them, and arrived at the thin apple tree.

Upon seeing the thin, small tree, both the old tree and Luo Ping were taken aback.

Luo Ping said, "No wonder no one has been able to find this tree for so many years. Hiding here, no one can find it!"

The old tree nodded repeatedly, agreeing with Lu Xi'an. He wasn't even sure if the fruit on it, which didn't look like an apple, was edible.

It was only after Lu Xi'an picked the fruit from the tree for him that he ate it with some skepticism, then couldn't help but grimace and grimace. Luo Ping did the same, grimacing and yelling, "Sour! So sour!"

But acid is also a good thing.

Old Tree collected all the apple cores that he and Luo Ping had left over, and even had Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei pick the remaining apples.

Old Shu said they could just move the tree back. Once the tree was planted, there would be plenty of apples to eat at the base. His older brother and sister wouldn't have that convenience, so they might as well harvest some now and have them as a snack to satisfy their cravings.

Lu Xi'an laughed and said, "How can something so sour be a snack?" But Lao Shu said, "What if you ever feel bland? Besides, it's good to slice it and soak it in water."

Hearing what the old tree said, Lu Xi'an's eyes lit up.

That's a good idea. Why didn't I think of that?

However, soaking these "apple" slices in water doesn't make apple juice; it makes lemon juice instead...

So he took the apples and Yao Wei separately, and brought them back to the car.

As for the tree, they only looked at it and did not move it immediately.

It was already late, and Lao Shu and Luo Ping would have to wait until tomorrow daytime to set off. They would have to rest here tonight.

Since it was a rare opportunity for them to get together, Lu Xi'an cooked a simple meal for them. The rice, cooked with dehydrated vegetables and sliced ​​sausage, received unanimous praise from Luo Ping and Lao Shu.

Old Shu, in particular, was moved to tears while eating, saying, "I feel like I'm tasting the flavors of my childhood."

Luo Ping exclaimed in admiration, "Delicious! Delicious! Really delicious! I've already memorized how to make this dish. I'll have to cook it properly for the people at the base when I get back."

"It's a pity that our stock is limited and we'll have to eat it all eventually. We have to eat it sparingly and can't afford to eat it every day. We need to make a plan for how to allocate the food in the future."

Lu Xi'an suggested, "When you get back, have a nice meal. Why not treat this day as a holiday, and then have a meal every year or every month? Let everyone rest, have some fun, and relax."

"Just be as busy as you normally would, and allocate your meals as you normally would."

Old Tree nodded repeatedly and said, "That makes sense! We used to celebrate the New Year on the first day of the Lunar New Year and the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth. During the festivals, everyone would rest, get together, eat and drink, and have a great time. How wonderful! Why don't we go back, have a good meal, and treat it as the New Year?"

After a moment's thought, Luo Ping clapped his hands and said, "Okay, I'll do as you say!"

That night, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei slept in the RV, Luo Ping in his pickup truck, while Lao Shu went to the apple orchard and lay down under the apple trees that were not bearing fruit. He closed his eyes and said he wanted to find the feeling he used to have.

Lu Xi'an, Yao Wei, and Luo Ping could all see that the old man really wanted to lie down under the tree, so they didn't interfere and let him do as he pleased.

The next morning, the group ate a simple meal of corn that Luo Ping had brought from his truck and then got to work.

Guided by the old tree, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei dug the tree out of the ground, carefully moved it to Luo Ping's pickup truck outside, and secured it with ropes.

Luo Ping originally wanted to participate in this task, but his strength was far too little for Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei, so they chased him away.

After the tree was installed, the old tree said happily, "Now we have staple food, vegetables, and now fruit, plus horses and chickens. Life is getting better and better."

Luo Ping listened with amusement, repeatedly saying, "Yes!" From the old tree's words, he seemed to see hope for the future.

After tying the tree up, there was still the horse. Luo Ping and Lao Shu originally wanted Lu Xi'an to help load the horse into the trough at the back of the pickup truck, but the horse was too big. After putting the tree down, the horse couldn't get on, so they had to tie it with a rope and have Lao Shu lead it.

Fortunately, the horse seemed to have been trained enough by Old Tang, and it was very obedient. It let the old tree put a noose around its neck and walked away without struggling at all.

"Sigh, this horse doesn't even have a saddle, otherwise, I might be able to ride it."

As the old tree climbed into the manger at the back of the carriage, looking at the tree and leading the horse, it uttered this remark.

Luo Ping asked, "Then how come Old Tang can ride without a saddle?"

Old Tree glared at Luo Ping and said, "How can that be the same? He's a new human, what am I? He can even make a horse go into heat with you, can you do that?"

Luo Ping: “…”

He was speechless for a moment and silently drove off.

The pickup truck slowly made its way back to the city. Unlike when it came, there were trees and old trees on the truck, and horses behind it. For some reason, this reminded Lu Xi'an of the four people who went on the journey to the West.

"Alright, it's time for us to continue our journey."

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei got into the car after talking.

Yao Wei hummed in agreement and got into the passenger seat.

The RV started and drove in the opposite direction from the pickup truck, getting further and further away.

(End of this chapter)