Chapter 137

Song Jingshuo was not part of the team’s official combat roster. He had been assigned to the logistics group.

Song Jingshuo had no objections.

The situation now was completely different from two months ago. Logistics was just as important as ever.

As long as the order supported by the majority remained in place, force was not the only way to gain power. Being in the logistics group would not marginalize him or cause him to lose authority.

After the meeting, he left the clubhouse and saw Manager Wang diligently fertilizing the soil.

Manager Wang had lost contact with his family, and he himself had no superpowers.

Cao Jiacai had died only yesterday, and several others had left. At present, the property management staff consisted of only him, Yang Xinyan, Aunt Pan, and Little Fang.

Seeing how short-staffed they were, Aunt Pan had taken the initiative to help clean that morning. Manager Wang had been so alarmed that he quickly snatched the broom away from her.

“You go take care of your own work. Go on, go on. There’s a meeting later, isn’t there?”

He absolutely refused to hand the broom back to Aunt Pan. Left with no choice, Aunt Pan could only use her superpower to help.

Wherever she went, the dust on the ground swirled after her, looking like tiny tornadoes clinging to the pavement. She made a circuit of the residential complex, gathering all the dust together, then compacted and hardened it until it became granules instead of loose powder. Finally, she moved it all into the flower beds.

The complex looked much cleaner.

Fortunately, the residents themselves were fairly civilized and did not litter everywhere.

With so few people left, Yang Xinyan now had to do physical labor as well.

Manager Wang worked even harder. The weeds he had raked out while planting vegetables the day before had dried, and today he was burning them into plant ash. He was a city dweller and did not actually know much about this sort of thing. Aunt Pan told him what to do, and he simply followed her instructions.

He was quite good at assisting Song Jingshuo.

Aunt Pan came over and touched the patch of soil where he had scattered the plant ash. The earth immediately churned, as if it were stirring itself.

Once it was evenly mixed, Aunt Pan instructed Song Jingshuo, “This is for planting beans. Beans love plant ash. When we plant beans, we always mix the seeds with plant ash. It also helps keep away insects.”

Then she added, “But you can’t use plant ash together with human or animal manure. Plant ash will neutralize manure fertilizer. Once they’re mixed, the manure won’t work properly.”

Song Jingshuo was stunned. “People in the countryside still use manure? Don’t they use chemical fertilizer now?”

Aunt Pan said, “The grain grown for city people is fertilized with chemicals. But for the plots we keep for ourselves, we country folk still prefer manure. Chicken manure and pig manure both work well. The crops and vegetables taste better, too.”

Song Jingshuo fell silent.

He planted the beans he had soaked.

Aunt Pan liked watching him grow vegetables. Although she claimed she was no expert farmer, she was actually quite attached to the soil and the crops.

Song Jingshuo grew soybeans the size of grapes, which left Aunt Pan delighted.

She reminded him to save some seeds each time, then touched the patch of soil again. “Oh, that’s impressive. This plot is worn out now. Use another one and let this patch rest.”

Song Jingshuo asked Manager Wang, “Are we out of plant ash?”

“Yep,” Manager Wang replied.

Song Jingshuo was just about to move to another patch when Manager Wang said, “But the property office has chemical fertilizer.”

Song Jingshuo fell silent again.

The complex had large areas of landscaping that needed to be maintained, so they kept chemical fertilizer in the storage room.

Song Jingshuo pinched the bridge of his nose. “If we have chemical fertilizer, why are we still using plant ash?”

Manager Wang looked aggrieved. “Auntie told me to.”

Aunt Pan nodded. “I did. We don’t like using chemical fertilizer. Besides, Old Ma and Old Jiang told me yesterday that they wanted to make soy milk. Beans grown with plant ash are better for that.”

Fine, then.

Manager Wang called Little Fang, one of the security guards, and went to haul over the chemical fertilizer.

Taking advantage of the interruption, Aunt Pan gave Song Jingshuo a crash course in soil fertility. She explained crop rotation, fallowing, and how to apply fertilizer, as well as which crops preferred which kinds of fertilizer.

Song Jingshuo listened patiently. He had now completely accepted his superpower. And since he had taken responsibility for this work, he intended to do it properly.

As he listened, he suddenly looked up and saw a man standing there with a foam box in his arms. He had no idea how long the man had been there. Clearly, he had been listening to Aunt Pan and waiting for a chance to join the conversation.

The man’s face was familiar, but not familiar enough for Song Jingshuo to recall his name.

Song Jingshuo asked, “Can I help you?”

The man hurried over. “I’m looking for Aunt Pan. No, I mean, I’m looking for both of you.”

He thrust the foam box toward Aunt Pan. “Auntie, you can tell whether the soil is fertile enough just by touching it, right? What about this?”

Aunt Pan did as he asked, placing her hand on the box. She gave a little cry. “Not quite. It’s too strong. It’ll burn the roots.”

“Exactly. You’re right,” the man said. Instead of being upset, he was delighted by the accuracy of her judgment. “There wasn’t enough time for it to finish decomposing, so it’ll definitely burn the roots. And my conditions aren’t good enough for high-temperature composting. I can only use the deep-burial method and let it break down anaerobically.”

He then turned to Song Jingshuo. “But I figured that the vegetables you grow aren’t ordinary vegetables. You must have some degree of control over the plants’ growth process. Could you prevent them from suffering root burn when using fertilizer that hasn’t fully decomposed?”

Song Jingshuo asked, “What do you do, exactly? Agricultural research?”

“Yeah, agricultural research.” The man threw his head back and sighed. “I’m a new-generation agricultural scientist who has devoted himself to agricultural research, yet I don’t have an earth-type or wood-type superpower. Where’s the justice in that?”

Aunt Pan had been born a farmer, and it made perfect sense that she had awakened an earth-type superpower. He could understand that—and even wholeheartedly approve.

But Song Jingshuo, a finance guy who drove an SUV, wore a watch, and used hair gel, had actually awakened a wood-type power.

Good heavens, would you please open your eyes and look?

The new-generation agricultural scientist is right here!

Look at the real agricultural researcher’s dark complexion, then look at the person you chose. At a glance, he was obviously the sort of man who did face masks at home.

Song Jingshuo was quite perceptive. He could vaguely sense that the man had some resentment toward him.

His radar for this sort of thing was especially sensitive.

He sized the man up and analyzed him. “Didn’t you hear what they said? Physical fitness is the first requirement for awakening a superpower. Your body-fat percentage is too high. You probably don’t exercise much. You should really start lifting weights.”

He even folded his arms across his chest and displayed his muscles.

That left the man speechless. The agricultural researcher pushed the foam box toward Song Jingshuo. “Just give it a try.”

What Song Jingshuo had brought upstairs the day before wasn’t limited to beans.

The greens he had planted had already produced seeds, and he had saved some. He had soaked them at home as well. Even if soaked seeds had not yet sprouted, they required less of his superpower to coax them into growing.

Aunt Pan added, “Try some bok choy.”

Perfect.

Song Jingshuo dropped a few vegetable seeds into the foam box. Just as he had done the day before, he stimulated them with his power. Soon, roots and shoots appeared, followed by rapid growth.

But Song Jingshuo suddenly frowned. “Hmm?”

The agricultural researcher asked, “The roots are starting to burn, right?”

He explained, “Root burn happens when the fertilizer concentration is too high. It causes water inside the plant’s roots to flow back into the soil, leaving the plant dehydrated and eventually killing it.”

Aunt Pan suddenly understood. “So that’s what it means. I knew it would burn the roots, but I never knew exactly why. So that’s how it works.”

Song Jingshuo said, “So that’s how it works.”

He understood the tugging force that came from the soil.

The tiny seedling seemed to be screaming.

Song Jingshuo focused his mind. His superpower reached deep into the roots and began wrestling with the force pulling from the earth.

He won easily. The little seedlings quieted down and grew into plump, sturdy heads of bok choy.

Song Jingshuo’s eyes lit up. “This soil of yours is excellent!”

As long as they overcame that pulling force and protected the roots, the plants’ growth afterward was remarkably easy.

It was like a child who didn’t need their parents to chase them around with a spoon. They could eat big mouthfuls all on their own, filling their bellies and growing up big and strong.

Just then, Manager Wang and Little Fang returned, pulling a flatbed cart loaded with several bags of fertilizer.

“We’re here,” they said. “This is everything.”

Song Jingshuo asked, “That’s all? There isn’t any more?”

He didn’t know much about fertilizer, but it didn’t look like very much. He turned to Aunt Pan. “Big Sis, this...”

“It’s nowhere near enough,” the agricultural researcher said excitedly. “That was only enough for one meal yesterday. You have to plan for several hundred people eating three meals a day in the future. Besides, the fertilizer you’re using to accelerate the plants’ growth can’t be compared with ordinary crops in terms of absorption cycles or quantity.”

“I’m telling you, it’s not enough.”

Manager Wang thought to himself, Isn’t running short of fertilizer bad news? Why are you so happy?

He quickly offered an explanation. “This is what we had left over from before. There’s no need to fertilize in autumn and winter, so we were going to buy more next year. That’s why there’s only this much left.”

In fact, Song Jingshuo was the only person present who didn’t know Manager Wang was lying.

The landscaping around the residential complex was supposed to be fertilized once in September. This helped store nutrients safely for the winter and encouraged new growth the following year.

Aunt Pan and Little Fang knew this because they were always dragged out to do the work when the time came. The agricultural researcher knew because he was a professional.

Only Song Jingshuo, the wood-element superpowered person, was completely unaware of it.

The real situation was that after the first disaster ended, Manager Wang returned to work and discovered that a great many residents had died.

Although he had ended up with a large number of vacant apartments under his control, he soon found that he couldn’t make use of them at all, let alone collect any rent.

It was a serious problem.

It meant that property-management fees would plummet in the second half of the year.

Manager Wang’s guess was right. The fees were indeed collected with dismal results.

So he began cutting the budget. The landscaping and maintenance expenses were reduced, and no fertilizer was purchased for autumn and winter.

Aunt Pan and Little Fang both knew this.

But Manager Wang was an old acquaintance and their former supervisor, so neither of them said anything.

The agricultural researcher understood as well. But since yesterday, he had been observing Song Jingshuo planting vegetables and had seen Manager Wang clumsily doing his best to help.

The middle-aged man couldn’t go home, wasn’t a resident, and didn’t have any superpowers. His situation was rather pitiful. There was no need to expose him.

Song Jingshuo didn’t know Manager Wang had been fobbing him off, but he did understand why the agricultural researcher was so excited.

He asked, “What should I call you?”

“Zeng Qiang.”

“Zeng Qiang,” Song Jingshuo said. “How do you make this fertilizer? What does it require, and how much can you supply?”

“Unlimited quantities on a large scale,” Zeng Qiang replied. “But let’s discuss this somewhere else.”

Aunt Pan, Manager Wang, and Little Fang watched as Zeng Qiang picked up the foam box and turned away. Song Jingshuo followed him, and the two of them went to talk beneath a tree in the distance.

Little Fang clicked his tongue. “What are they talking about? Why do they have to avoid us?”

Manager Wang folded both hands over his belly. “Tsk, I could figure it out with my toes.”

“Huh?”

“He’s definitely asking for better treatment,” Manager Wang said. “We’ll have so many people to feed from now on. Xiao Song’s ability is incredibly important, but it has to be used together with fertilizer. So the fertilizer is important too. And since it’s important, he naturally wants better treatment.”

Aunt Pan didn’t think that was right. “What treatment do we have now? Tell me.”

Manager Wang couldn’t come up with an answer.

“Exactly,” Aunt Pan said. “There isn’t any. Everyone’s the same.”

Those with strong abilities went out to fight zombies, while those without them helped out around the residential complex.

At the meeting that morning, they had said that the property-management staff had been reduced so drastically that they wouldn’t even let her cook anymore. They said her superpower ought to be used for something else. From now on, cleaning and other chores would still have to be assigned on a rotating basis.

What special treatment was there? Everyone had to do some work.

They all ate together, and everyone got the same food.

There was no difference in treatment at all.

It wasn’t as though they could be like Cao Jiacai, a toad dreaming of winning over a whole group of city girls.

Xiao Song couldn’t possibly be handed the girls as a reward.

If he really had that kind of idea, Little Zhang and Little Su would beat him to death.

Note: The information about fertilizer was sourced from the internet.