The Base Commander confided in Xue Dong that there was not enough food and everyone wanted to keep more for themselves. All he could do was to encourage them to be more open-minded, without mentioning other things, because surely, the most stable and convenient way to sell the products from their own farm was to sell them directly to the base.
When he brought down three thousand pounds of pork and a thousand pounds of beef, along with a lot of vegetables, the head chef was so happy that his eyes reddened.
"It's really family. Xue Dong, you care about the brothers, we haven't had meat on various days."
"Doesn't the base raise meat?"
"Hey! It was traded in the rich district for grains. Since it's home-bred and clean, the rich district was willing to exchange grains for it. The Base Commander, fearing that we'd have no food continuity, traded them for coarse grains to feed everyone; our vegetables were also exchanged alongside them."
"Has it become this difficult?"
Xue Dong couldn't help but frown.
"We were originally hoping that those few farms would sell us some potatoes and sweet potatoes to ease the difficulty, but to our chagrin, only three farms sold a small quantity. Counting you and Pan'er, that girl, you two were the most honest, almost entirely selling to the base. Combined, those three farms sold a third, while the remaining farms, despite persuasion, refused to sell, fearing they wouldn't have enough for themselves. What can one say? Everyone is struggling, everyone fears hunger, the chief returns empty-handed and even gets squeezed out."
The head chef wiped the tears from the corner of his eye. "The chief is worried about feeding not only the brothers but also the children in the orphanage, with no food, so he traded both the animal husbandry and the vegetables for coarse grains and bran for the brothers to eat. We can't let people starve; he even traded the reserved ginseng and medicinal materials from the base."
The base had a High-level Wood Power User who specialized in cultivating Spirit Plants and medicinal materials. They could cultivate precious medicinal materials, highly effective in medicine, which were resources of the base used critically for training talents or exchanging for food.
"I didn't realize it was so difficult."
Xue Dong sighed after listening.
"If it weren't for your twenty-thousand pounds of potatoes and sweet potatoes, everyone would have had to shift to one meal a day."
The head chef sighed deeply, facing a universal food shortage. To maintain the base's operation, the Base Commander wished he could convert every single yuan into food.
While the poor struggled to survive, the rich district maintained a pre-disaster standard of living; they didn't depend on your base and abided by your base's regulations — you really couldn't control their lavish meals. You had to exchange goods for whatever you wanted.
The rich district also gave the Base Commander face, after all, by trading goods out, or it would have been even more awkward and embarrassing.
Not to mention, the orphans had to rely on the base for sustenance, their parents dead and with no one to care for them. Older children, aside from attending school, also had to work piecemeal jobs for Contribution points and money.
Everyone was tightening their belts to make ends meet.
It was also unfair to wholly blame the farms for being selfish; they were also scared that if there was a poor harvest later or other circumstances arose, these stored grains would be lifesaving, and nobody wanted to die.
Li Pan felt desolate inside, hoping her own farm could yield a bountiful harvest. Then, there would be grains to sell to the base, slightly alleviating some hardships.
After comforting everyone with a meal — thankfully, the few thousand pounds of meat could last a few days — the head chef, an elderly man, managed the daily meals, ensuring everyone saw a bit of grease on their plates.
Leaving the base, Li Pan went shopping for necessities for her new house.
This time, she also exchanged the Spiritual Fruit she needed; she might advance soon. The Base Commander had specifically called a High-level Wood Power Superpower User to talk to her for over an hour, explaining in detail the precautions needed, including an instruction manual.
The manual contained information on how to advance, how to cultivate high-level Spiritual Materials, what to take note of during long-term cultivation of medicinal materials, and detailed records of how to advance with Companion Spirit Plants after upgrading. Li Pan treasured this information greatly.
The high-level Wood Power User also carefully examined her superpower, confirming its excellence. Such a long time without advancing likely meant her Companion Spirit Plant was a particularly powerful tree type, which required more superpower and could delay the superpower user's advancement; this was a conclusion drawn from past experiences.
Having received the answers she sought and exchanged for the Spiritual Fruit, they were once again broke; the Contribution points and money between three of them, including all of Qin Jianzhong's points and money, had been depleted to afford the Spiritual Fruit.
Red Fruit, containing gentle yet vast energy, also served a protective function for the cardiovascular system and was the preferred choice during advancement.
This type of Spiritual Object was strictly controlled; not entirely overseen by the Base Commander. Every single Spiritual Object moved in and out had to be registered, with a fingerprint required, the identity and origin of the person exchanging had to be checked thoroughly, particularly during audits.
The Base Commander could only reserve them; you still had to exchange them with Contribution points and money, not a penny less. If the Inspection Team came down for an audit and the figures didn't match up, the Base Commander would be instantly dismissed from his post, sent to mine.
The Spirit Fruit was stored in a crystal-sealed bottle, as the High-level Superpower user had already explained in detail. It was best consumed just before the breakthrough attempt, eating it too early would waste energy and could cause the breakthrough to fail, which would be troublesome.
It was best to act in one vigorous effort.
After returning home, Li Pan first went to check on the crops in the field; then she left her child with the Wolf King for the family to have meat in the evening.
She had bought quite a bit of salt, both coarse and fine.
"Sister, I've picked up some Sichuan peppercorns for you. If it's not enough, I'll go again."
"Brother Qin, take me with you to learn the way; if it's not enough later, I'll go by myself."
"No need, it's a far and remote place. I'll pass by there on patrol and can gather some along the way. It's not tiring."
"That works, I'm preparing to smoke some cured meat."
"I'll go check on the pigs."
Qin Jianzhong had just returned from setting the cattle and sheep free.
After being busy for two or three days, they finally moved into their new home, dismantled the board house, and set it up on both sides of the breeding area, with two rooms next to the new yard as storage rooms.
In the afternoon, it began to thunder, and it started raining while they were having dinner.
As it rained, Li Pan wore a raincoat and first went to check on the fields, digging open the field ridges in advance for water protection to prevent flooding.
She then went to the orchard area for a round, Qin Jianzhong and Xue Dong toured around everywhere, checked the breeding area, and went up the mountain to look around.
The next day, it was still raining; Li Pan, as usual, went to the fields to transmit superpower, bringing some warm food to the Wolf King's family. Even if it were raining knives, she would still tend to the fields, as they were the family's hope.
The rain shelter in the vegetable garden was also pulled down, sheltering from the wind and rain, just leaving an opening for ventilation.
In the evening, back inside the house, Li Pan felt her bottleneck thoroughly loosen; she was about to breakthrough.
Following the high-level superpower user's instructions, she sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion, facing the moonlight outside. This position would help her quickly enter the state, calm and at peace.
Unconsciously, she felt the green superpower circulate through the meridians in her entire body, guided by acupoints and routes which had been specially explained and personally demonstrated to her before.
Feeling the meridians swell in pain, she then consumed the Red Fruit. She closed her eyes again and began to sprint with all her might, advancing her superpower.
Xue Dong and Qin Jianzhong came back from outside and felt energy emanating from the second floor.
"Sister is advancing."
"It seems so; let's wait downstairs."
The two of them watched overnight, even prepared breakfast, and it was almost noon before there was any movement from Li Pan.
Li Pan had advanced her superpower to Middle-level Wood Power, awakening a Companion Spirit Plant, which pleased her greatly.
"Brother, I've advanced."
Li Pan couldn't wait to show a smile at the stair entrance, cheering at them.
"Really, come on down, are you hungry? Let's eat something and talk slowly."
Xue Dong waved happily at her.