From Apocalypse Boss to Farmer: My Vegetables Make Me Stronger!-Chapter 232 - 223: You Have to Pay

Since they had decided to farm, the sooner, the better.

After letting Ye Junhan know, Gu Xi took Wei Heng and the Qin sisters to go till the soil.

Shen Yue, meanwhile, found Yang Chi and asked him to investigate the Jingdu Gu Family.

Yang Chi froze for a second, then gave his cousin a strange look. "Bro, you’re not suspecting that Gu Xi’s ’Gu’ is the same ’Gu’ as in the Gu Family, are you?"

It wasn’t entirely out of the question.

Shen Yue glanced at him but said nothing.

Yang Chi frowned slightly. "I’ve looked into that person’s files..." He looked up at his cousin. "If Gu Xi really is who we think she is, then she should be an orphan..."

"Orphans have parents too," Shen Yue reminded him with a glance.

"Of course I know that." Yang Chi’s frown deepened. "But that was right when the apocalypse broke out, and the whole country was in chaos... Besides, her files were deliberately erased back then."

’That would make it even harder to investigate.’

’In any case,’ he thought, ’I don’t have the skills for that.’

"Bro, why don’t you find someone better for the job?" Yang Chi said, displeased. ’I’m on Gu Xi’s side now. What would it look like if I started secretly digging into her past?’

Besides, it really was a difficult investigation.

Shen Yue, of course, knew that.

So... "That’s why I’m telling you to start with the Gu Family, isn’t it?" Shen Yue coaxed his younger cousin, trying to sweet-talk him into doing the work. "Besides, what does investigating the Gu Family have to do with your precious Gu Xi?"

An orphan’s past might be hard to trace, but a behemoth of a prestigious clan like the Gu Family would have had countless eyes on it after the apocalypse. The slightest disturbance would have left a trail.

Yang Chi scoffed.

’He wasn’t an idiot; he knew what his cousin was thinking. What does he mean, investigating the Gu Family has nothing to do with Gu Xi? If it were unrelated, would he be looking so worried?’

But investigating the Gu Family, huh...

"Bro, I actually think you could approach this from our uncle’s end. Go and thoroughly investigate that Base Chief Gu," Yang Chi offered, giving Shen Yue a new idea.

"What do you mean?" Shen Yue looked over.

Yang Chi put on a profound, mysterious air. "That’s a secret."

’A while back, he had secretly hacked the research institute’s server. Sifting through old clues, he’d sensed that the Gu Family’s shadow loomed behind the deliberate erasure of the Blood-colored Asura’s files.’

’And Gu Xi just so happened to share the same surname.’

’It was hard not to read into it.’

Yang Chi was sharp to begin with. He had only just mentioned this to Gu Xi at noon, and a moment ago, Gu Xi had taken the initiative to approach that very same Base Chief Gu... Based on this, Yang Chi decided to give Shen Yue a hint.

Shen Yue gave his younger cousin a rather surprised look, clicked his tongue softly, and turned away, already planning to have a good chat with the old man.

But he’d have to give Gu Xi a heads-up about it first.

When Shen Yue found Gu Xi, several young men from the Special Service Team were crowded around her, full of enthusiasm. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

A large patch of wasteland had already been cleared nearby. Gu Xi had picked out the sweet potato seeds and was now asking for everyone’s opinion on what kind of fruit to plant along the edge of the field.

It would be a good way to improve the convoy’s quality of life.

At the mention of this, everyone got excited.

"Miss Gu, I don’t suppose you have any strawberry seeds?"

"Miss Gu, I hear apples are delicious..."

"Oranges would be nice too, right?"

"I read on the forums that durian is... unique..."

A group of grown men were bickering noisily over fruit. Finally, Qi Xiang stepped forward, waved her hand, and declared commandingly, "We’re all adults. Why choose?"

’Obviously, we should have them all.’

She tilted her head to the side. "Gu Xi, right?"

Gu Xi... what else could she say? Of course, she’d give them what they wanted.

The sweet potato sprouts shot up as if carried by the wind, quickly blanketing the ground.

After Gu Xi withdrew her ability, she didn’t even need to lift a finger. The young men of the Special Service Team jumped into action. Two Earth Ability users stepped forward and unearthed the entire patch of sweet potatoes, while the others grabbed whatever tools they could find...

Liu Hao was the most impatient. He dashed into the sweet potato patch in a few bounds, bent over, picked up a large one, had a nearby Water Element user rinse it off for him, and immediately shoved it in his mouth.

’Damn, that’s sweet.’

Soon, all the sweet potatoes had been gathered and piled into a small mountain on the side.

"The soil quality here is excellent. It seems perfect for growing this new type of sweet potato." Chen Jia and the others were excited after inspecting the quality and yield of the crop. "Gu Xi used reverse-evolved seeds this time. The cultivation data is extremely valuable for research."

It was just a shame they were on a mission and could only stay for a few days.

Otherwise, they could have collected much more data on the subject.

Chen Jia glanced at the girl being led away by Shen Yue, a look of regret on his face.

Nearby, Qi Xiang picked out a few of the less appealing sweet potatoes and shoved them into Wei Heng’s arms. ’It really is a shame,’ she thought. ’Giving such good sweet potatoes to those people from the Guard Team is a complete waste.’

’I don’t know what Shen Yue is thinking...’

Ye Nan was also there.

She glanced at Gu Xi being led away by Shen Yue, then looked back at Qi Xiang picking out sweet potatoes and frowned in confusion. "Are those to be given away?"

"Not given," Qi Xiang said, looking up with a serious expression. "They have to pay."

’Even close relatives should keep clear accounts, to say nothing of the Guard Team, who had shamelessly latched onto them. They hadn’t invited them to travel together, so Gu Xi certainly had no obligation to provide for their needs along the way.’

’So, they want to eat sweet potatoes grown by Gu Xi herself?’

’Fine.’

’But they have to pay.’

Ye Nan thought for a moment. "...How much?"

"You want to buy some too? Sure. We’re running a small business here, you know, fair trade, no swindling..." Qi Xiang said, nudging Wei Heng beside her. "But since we’re all old acquaintances, how about you give her the old-friends discount? We’ll knock... a tenth of a percent off?"

Ye Nan was speechless. ’Thanks, but you really don’t have to.’

Seeing Wei Heng remain silent, Qi Xiang nudged him again. "I’m asking you, Mr. Wei."

Wei Heng: "..."

Not far away, a group from the Special Service Team was passing by and overheard. They couldn’t help but exchange glances.

’Oh crap,’ they thought. ’We just ate a ton of those sweet potatoes. How much is that going to cost?’

The foodies of the group huddled together, whispering amongst themselves.

"How many did we just eat?" Liu Hao nudged Ouyang. "The team still has money, right?"

"We have some, yeah." Ouyang mentally calculated their mission budget, then said while stroking her chin, "But I don’t think we need to use money to buy them..."

"Then what do we use?" Qian Shan asked curiously, secretly stuffing a sweet potato into his pocket.

Ouyang glanced at their captain in the distance, then tipped her chin towards him and winked suggestively at her comrades.

When the others caught on, they all gave her a thumbs-up. ’She’s so calculating. No wonder those guys in logistics always want to run for it whenever they see her coming.’

Just then, in the distance, Ye Junhan suddenly looked up and threw a cool glance in their direction.

Liu Hao and the others instantly fell silent, their scalps tingling with apprehension.

’Did he find out we were plotting to sell him out?’

Ouyang, however, remained calm. "Ahem, I’m just going to go talk to Miss Gu about buying some sweet potatoes."

Liu Hao and the others caught on and quickly chimed in, "There are still a lot of sweet potatoes over there that need to be moved into the factory. I’ll go help."

"Yeah, yeah! Looks like it might rain soon. We’d better hurry and get all the sweet potatoes inside."

In an instant, the group scattered like a flock of startled birds.