American comic: From Beijing with Love, starting with a mutant.

Zhou Xingxing never dreamed in his life that his feet, which had been tricked by Director Wang, would one day be stepping on fluffy slippers in the business class of a high-speed train.

"Brother Zhou, sit tight! Eat and drink well on the way!" Harry said with a thick Henan accent, leaning against the window and chuckling.

His clear eyes revealed a pure and untainted innocence.

This incredible wealth has finally come to Old Zhou!

"Little Ha, with your level of ideological awareness, it would be a loss for the country if you didn't join the Party!"

Stephen Chow squeezed out tears and waved goodbye, thinking to himself that this foreign lad had really found a way out.

As soon as the train started moving, the emotion on Old Zhou's face disappeared.

He skillfully adjusted the seat, grabbed a free bag of snacks, and found the perfect angle to shoot from below.

"Click."

Send the photo to the "749 Bureau, We Are a Loving Family" group.

Caption: [Family members, who understands? Little Ha is so spontaneously offering gifts, I can't even refuse! This overwhelming wealth is just too much of a burden. Sigh, the life of a field worker is so tedious and boring.]

Three seconds later.

A notification popped up on the screen: [You have been removed from the group chat by the group owner "Deadly Scissors Kick (Director Wang)".]

Old Zhou chuckled, tossed aside his phone, turned over, and closed his eyes.

Hey.

This is blatant jealousy!

Have you broken down, you old man?

I'm in a panic!

The stingy god of war is having a blast today! He'll have to drink at least eight cups of the free tea in the business class seat to break even!

Drinking even a single sip is disrespectful to the ticket price!

Unfortunately, this pleasant experience was completely shattered the moment we arrived in Yongliang, the great northwest region.

The northwest wind, carrying yellow sand, gave Lao Zhou a real rude awakening.

The main theme is a desolate desert where people eat dirt until they die.

After getting off the bus, we transferred to an open-top agricultural tricycle to go to the desertification control base.

This 360-degree panoramic sunroof convertible SUV bounced around on the bumpy dirt road, making Stephen Chow feel like his internal organs were dislocated and his bones were about to fall apart.

"Pah! Pah! Pah!"

Old Zhou spat out sand from his mouth, his face full of grief and indignation.

His white suit, which he had finally managed to clean, was now covered in a patina.

He was so covered in dirt that he looked like a mud man; all he needed was a bronze sword.

"Even birds need to be dried out before they fly over this godforsaken place. Can Aunt Martha stand it?" Zhou Xingxing wiped the dirt off his face, wondering to himself.

I hope that the elderly woman in her sixties won't be blown away by the strong winds in this remote northwest.

If he dies, Director Wang will probably tear me apart.

After an hour of trekking through the muddy terrain, Zhou Xingxing finally arrived at the core site of the Northwest Desertification Control and Afforestation Project team.

Ahead stretched an endless expanse of yellow sand, with undulating dunes.

Dozens of people were lying in the sand dunes, working under the scorching sun.

As soon as Stephen Chow approached, before he could even take out his work ID, a man wearing a straw hat and tanned dark brown grabbed him.

"New guy here to lend a hand? Don't just stand there! Hurry, hurry, we need help with plot three! Grab a shovel and get to the field!"

"No, fellow villager, I am..."

"What?! If we wait even half a day longer, all these seedlings will die of drought! Let's go!"

A wooden-handled shovel was shoved into Zhou Xingxing's hand, and he was immediately pushed to the front line.

Standing on the sand dunes, the heat was intense.

Workers around were frantically digging holes and planting the withered saxaul seedlings into them.

An elderly man next to me was covered in sweat, his hands moving non-stop.

"Young man, dig deeper! The surface is scorching hot; you need to dig down to the moist soil to make it grow!"

Stephen Chow gritted his teeth and rolled up his sleeves.

Okay, consider it a good workout!

What's a little physical work?

When the shovel was driven in, sand and soil flew everywhere.

The temperature is too high, and the groundwater level has dropped drastically.

The newly planted saplings of the pine forest are showing signs of decay, with curled leaves and yellowing stems.

The leader of the desertification control team slapped his thigh, his eyes red-rimmed.

"It's all over! It hasn't rained for days, the water pump is broken, and we can't pump any groundwater. All our hard work over the past six months has been for nothing!"

"This is the culmination of almost half a year's hard work!"

"Go and invite Ancestor Masha!" the old captain roared in a hoarse voice.

Before long, a figure walked over from the camp.

Masha had a white towel wrapped around her head from northern Shaanxi, a bamboo basket slung over her arm, and was humming a folk song from Dezhou.

"Oh, children, don't panic, don't panic at the door."

The old team leader went up to her, "Sister, this land is too dry, the seedlings won't survive! Are you worried about us working so hard?"

"The sand here is very dry, is there any grass underneath?" Martha put down her bamboo basket and walked forward, an invisible wave spreading from the soles of her feet.

This Texas auntie speaks the local dialect so authentically that she even mastered the essence of pronouncing "water" as "fei".

Resonate with the land!

Centered on Masha, the yellow sand within a radius of ten, twenty, and fifty meters visibly changed from a dull yellow to a dark brown.

Water vapor!

Moisture was forcibly drawn up from deep underground.

The saplings of the pine forest, which were originally drooping and about to die, straightened their roots and stems, and their leaves regained their green color under the nourishment of water vapor.

Stephen Chow stood not far away, secretly alarmed.

Didn't Martha say she could only control water vapor within a ten-meter radius?

Upon reaching Northwest China, the area expanded dramatically!

"It's alive! The seedling has survived!"

The workers cheered.

Martha waved her hand with a smile, "There are plenty of doors underground, they're just well hidden. Hopefully, the seedlings will survive now?"

She turned her head and saw Zhou Xingxing leaning on a shovel, her face lighting up with surprise, "Little Zhou? What brings you here?"

Two hours later.

In the project team's logistics shed, Lao Zhou sat on a small stool, holding a follow-up visit record form in his hand.

Martha wiped her hands with a white towel draped over her shoulder and placed a plate of freshly baked pancakes in front of Stephen Chow.

"Zhou, eat more! You've gotten so thin, it's heartbreaking to see you like that."

One bite of the old-fashioned baked flatbread, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

The aroma of wheat, mixed with the ruggedness unique to Northwest China and the rustic charm of a Texas farm, warmed Lao Zhou's stomach directly.

Zhou Xingxing looked at the sprightly old lady in front of him and fell silent.

Mutants have strong learning abilities, and their assimilation speed upon entering a project far exceeds Stephen Chow's imagination.

He began to wonder if Xiao Luo and Xiao Ruan could not distinguish between nasal sounds when they looked at each other.

"Did those burly men bully you?"

Martha smiled. "They're all good kids."

"Yesterday, Little Li saw that I was coughing badly, so he ran more than ten miles to find me some licorice. In this place, it's hard to even grow a tree, but nobody treats me like a monster."

She turned her head and looked at the oasis outside the shed that she had moistened, her eyes filled with peace.

"These poor children finally have a home."

This damn Northwest... the sandstorm is so strong, it's getting in my eyes.

Stephen Chow lowered his head, took out a pen, and gave full marks to all three categories on the follow-up form: "environmental adaptability," "group integration," and "mental health status."

In the notes section at the very bottom, he wrote a line.

This employee has fully adapted to the climate and cultural environment of Northwest China, not only saving a national-level desertification control project, but also mastering the unique technique of baking flatbread.

It is suggested that the National March 8th Red Banner Pacesetter selection be held at the end of the year, and that licorice tablets be included in the medical insurance full reimbursement program.