Li Ba, a graduate of Huaxia Agricultural University, was the sales manager at a well-known seed company in Wucheng before the apocalypse. When the apocalypse struck and order collapsed, the naturally timid Li Ba faced life-and-death situations and managed to scrape by and survive. By chance, he set aside the rules of post-apocalyptic survival to save a grandfather and his granddaughter, and in return, he received a magical bracelet. The bracelet contained a universe within—a plot of land, a stone trough brimming with spring water, and a Tower—all of which opened up a mysterious realm for him. What to do when food runs out? “My Fengshou Group has mountains of grain—I’ll trade it for crystal cores and jade!” Li Ba declared arrogantly. What to do when zombies attack the city? “The mutated plants cultivated by ‘Lord Ba’ can withstand a tide of a million zombies!” Li Ba said with absolute confidence. What if you’re not an Evolver and someone challenges you to a one-on-one duel? “I’ve got talismanic soldiers guarding me. Anyone who dares challenge me will get beaten so badly, even their own mother won’t recognize them!” said Li Ba, his bald head revealing a menacing expression as he spoke viciously. Using the mysterious space and his expertise, Li Ba cultivated crops and tended fields, determined to become a major farmer in the world of *Horse Herding* and pursue a happy life in the post-apocalyptic world.
Chapter 24: First Signs of Success
The next morning. After getting up, Li Ba hurried out to check on the tomato seedlings. The moment he stepped through the front gate, he knew his transplanting had failed. Through his mysterious connection, he could no longer sense the life force of those tomato seedlings as he left the house—clearly, they had all died. When he reached the yard, his suspicions were confirmed. The tomato seedlings he’d transplanted yesterday were all withered and lying limp in the soil. The transplant had failed! Li Ba wasn’t discouraged. Growing crops in the post-apocalyptic world wasn’t going to be that easy. After breakfast, the workers arrived to paint the walls and got to work. Li Ba had already instructed Da Fang and Xiao Fang to handle the specific details of the renovation. Last night, a new batch of corn had ripened, so Li Ba had to leave the city again today. As he was leaving, Yan'er had tears in her eyes, filled with worry. Zhou Yan and the others all came out to see him off, making it seem as if Li Ba were heading off to battle—the atmosphere was somber. “With all of you looking so gloomy, even if I’m fine, you’ll jinx me into bad luck!” Li Ba deliberately put on a stern face, then burst into laughter and waved his hand. “Go back to work, all of you. I’ll be home by five o’clock sharp at the latest.” With that, he drove off in his farm tricycle, leaving a trail of dust behind him amid the roar of the engine and thick black smoke. He was heading out of town to launder the grain grown in the bracelet’s storage space. The supply store was about to open, and without sufficient grain reserves, how could he trade with the survivors? Li Ba fully understood the concerns of Yan'er, Zhou Yan, and the others. He himself, however, wasn’t the least bit nervous. The Safe Zone, as the name implied, was very safe—there wouldn’t be any danger. Once outside the city, Li Ba found his way effortlessly to the usual spot. There, he repeated the same routine as last time. He opened the cargo bed and laid down a plastic sheet. He took the corn harvested last night out of the bracelet’s storage space and spread it out evenly, confident it would dry in half a day. Afterward, he went over to the earthen slope and sat down against a dead tree. First, he took out some bean seeds he’d prepared in advance; his consciousness entered the space and scattered the seeds evenly across the plot of land within his bracelet’s storage space. Although corn yielded a high harvest, opening the supply store would require a variety of grains to attract customers. He had already planted two batches of corn and harvested nearly 1,200 jin; that should be enough for now. With what remained, Li Ba decided to plant more high-quality grains, such as rice, wheat, and beans. When the supply store opened, he could lower the exchange rate for these premium grains accordingly to boost popularity and draw in customers. Before the apocalypse, Li Ba had been a sales manager specializing in this field, so he knew a thing or two about running a business. With the bean seeds sown, he had nothing to do but sit back and wait for the Sun to set before returning home with a bountiful harvest. Li Ba began to ponder the reasons for this transplanting failure. From a professional standpoint, there were some minor flaws in his approach this time. The seedlings were too tender; under normal circumstances, they couldn’t withstand temperature fluctuations. When transplanting crops in hot weather, one must avoid the peak heat of the day. The survival rate of vegetable seedlings is highest in the early morning and late evening. Yesterday, when he transplanted the seedlings, it was already nearly 9:00 a. m. The Sun was high in the sky, and the temperature was scorching—conditions that were detrimental to the seedlings’ growth. Of course, none of that was the most critical factor. The water source used to irrigate the seedlings was likely the main reason for the transplant failure. Hot spring water is unsuitable for irrigation unless there is specialized purification equipment to filter out the minerals harmful to the seedlings. Li Ba was unable to do this, as he did not have such specialized purification equipment. Therefore, to obtain water suitable for watering the seedlings, he must find another solution. “Purification, purification… How exactly can I purify the hot spring water to remove the harmful minerals?” Li Ba leaned against a tree. The scorching sunlight streamed through the gaps in the branches, stinging his eyes so he could barely keep them open. His mouth was parched, and he instinctively reached into the space within his bracelet to pull out half a bottle of Spirit Spring. “Dilute it with Spirit Spring water!” Looking at the crystal-clear spring water in the bottle, this idea suddenly popped into Li Ba’s head. However, while diluted spring water was suitable for irrigation, it also had the effect of causing crops to mutate. Until he had sufficient strength to defend himself, Li Ba had no intention of growing large quantities of mutated crops. “I’ve tried watering crops with a one-to-ten dilution of the spring water before. The resulting grain did mutate, but it was already quite weak. If I water them with a one-to-one hundred or one-to-one thousand dilution, would the degree of mutation be negligible? Or would it merely enhance the crops’ survivability without causing any mutations at all?” A smile began to spread across Li Ba’s plump face. He had a feeling that this line of thinking was absolutely correct and would surely yield results. Now, stranded in this desolate wasteland, all he could see was parched, cracked earth—not a single drop of water in sight. Therefore, to test this idea, he would have to return home. He finally made it through the afternoon; glancing at his watch, he saw it was already 4:30. He’d bought the watch yesterday at the market for ten jin of grain coupons, mainly to keep track of time. The corn had all been sun-dried. After Li Ba packed it up, he drove his agricultural tricycle back home. As he neared his front door, Li Ba spotted Yan'er standing at the crossroads from a distance. When she saw him, her little face lit up with excitement, and she waved at him nonstop. Although the little girl could be a bit clingy, in this post-apocalyptic world where people were full of deceit and treachery, her sincere affection was a rare sight—enough to warm Li Ba’s heart. “Little one.” Li Ba stuck his head out the cab window, waved back, his chubby face beaming with a smile. Another successful trip. A full six sacks, packed with golden-yellow corn. After unloading the cargo, Da Fang, Xiao Fang, and the four women all cast admiring glances at Li Ba. Of course, Li Ba didn’t miss the chance to brag, exaggerating his martial prowess to the level of a fierce general from the Three Kingdoms era—one capable of charging through thousands of troops to take the enemy commander’s head. Everyone believed him—except Zhou Yan, who remained half-convinced by the fat man’s boasts. In any case, it was a fact that Li Ba had returned with a full load. Zhou Yan was also delighted; like a dutiful young wife, she handed him a towel to wipe his face, then passed him a can of ice-cold beer—thoughtful and attentive. “This woman really is a good wife… but I still prefer her when she’s doing that sexy dance—so flirtatious and sexy, absolutely amazing!” Li Ba sipped his beer while grinning like an idiot at Zhou Yan. She could tell right away what dirty thoughts were running through his head, so she shot him a disdainful glance and swayed her slender waist as she headed to the kitchen to prepare dinner. After two days, the store’s renovation was mostly complete, with only a few minor tasks left. He estimated that in seven or eight days, once the wall paint had dried completely, the supply store would be ready to officially open. Li Ba didn’t forget to inspect the place and was quite satisfied. The space, over 100 square meters, was divided into three areas according to his design. The front section, of course, was the counter area for transactions. The middle section was his office as the owner—about thirty square meters, quite spacious, with a Simmons bed inside. The back section was the warehouse, not very large at just sixty or so square meters. For a newly opened supply store, that should be more than enough. Of course, on the right side of the store, they’d left a passageway leading to the kitchen built in the back. After all, Zhou Yan’s restaurant was still in operation, and they didn’t want to disrupt her business. They had dinner at a street food stall. Three men and four women—just enough to fill a table. They chatted and laughed, enjoying each other’s company, just like a family. That evening, after Yan'er had gone to bed, Li Ba quietly slipped out the front gate with a bucket of water and made his way into the courtyard. A gentle evening breeze brushed against his skin, carrying a faint chill. Soft moonlight spilled down, adding a touch of brightness and tenderness to the post-apocalyptic night. He took out a few more tomato seedlings from the space within his bracelet. After planting them in the flower bed, Li Ba scooped up a ladleful of water and poured it at the base of each seedling. He had infused three drops of the spatial spirit spring into this bucket of water, diluting it at a ratio of one to two thousand—so the proportion of the spirit spring was practically negligible. After watering, Li Ba set down the bucket, closed his eyes slightly, and focused his awareness to sense the growth of the tomato seedlings. Ten minutes later, he opened his eyes, a hint of delight on his face. Through a mystical connection, he could clearly sense that these tomato seedlings had taken root in the soil and were beginning to grow slowly. This was far better than the seedlings he had planted the day before. “It works!” The experiment was a preliminary success. In the days ahead, he would simply need to observe whether these seedlings could withstand the high temperatures and monitor for any growth abnormalities to determine the experiment’s ultimate success. The space within the bracelet was too small, so the success of the transplant was of critical importance. Once he could cultivate fruits and vegetables suited to harsh environments, it would bring Li Ba an endless stream of wealth. Irrigating the crops with hot spring water purified by diluting the Space Spirit Spring is, so far, the only method Li Ba has found to increase the seedlings’ survival rate. He had also tried to extract some soil from the plot in the bracelet’s space, as this would almost certainly greatly benefit the growth of transplanted crops. However, just as the bracelet’s space was magical, so too was the soil in that plot. The entire plot was like fermented dough—indivisible as a single unit. The soil clung tightly together, and when harvesting crops, not a single root came away from it. Although Li Ba’s consciousness could control everything within it, he was unable to extract even the slightest bit of soil from that plot. Fortunately, diluting the spiritual spring within the space had yielded initial results. He nodded in satisfaction and glanced at his watch—it was exactly eight o’clock. “The show probably hasn’t started yet…” he muttered to himself. Li Ba gave a sly grin, slipped out the door, and walked along the concrete road toward the Villa where Zhou Yan lived.
