Chapter 137: Dissatisfaction—Neglecting the Essentials for the Trivial?

After unloading the goods and seeing Bian Kuang off, lunchtime had already passed. Gu Xu, Qiu Feng, and Qiu Yun had all gone out, each busy with their own affairs, and Gu Pei wasn’t around either. The only ones left in the villa were Wu Dalang, who had limited mobility, Shadow, and their caretakers, A’nan and Aunt Zhao.

Bian Changxi ate the meal Aunt Zhao had saved for her alone at the dining table. She chatted briefly with Wu Dalang, then went to talk with Shadow, who was now awake and basking in the sun on the bed. After that, she pulled A’nan over, called in two of the guards stationed outside the villa, and directed the three of them to help her set up a huge oilcloth in a corner of the villa’s courtyard, right next to the gazebo.

That patch of ground had originally been planted with flowers and grass. Although the plants had been cleared out, the soil remained. The four of them grabbed hoes and, sweating buckets under the shade of the oilcloth, began to till the land.

Once the soil was loosened, Bian Changxi started spreading yellow earth over it. A’nan stared wide-eyed as she seemed to conjure handfuls of yellow soil out of thin air. “Miss Bian…”

“That’s right, I’m a spatial ability user. The base is building in a lot of places, right? I thought this kind of soil would be perfect for growing plants, so I bought a truckload back… Don’t just stand there, help me spread it out evenly.”

Actually, the clothes and weapons she’d worn that morning weren’t originally from the villa either. Someone as sharp as Gu Xu and the others should have realized that at the time. She’d even prepared herself for questioning, ready to boast, “I’m a dual-ability user, pretty impressive, huh!”

But in the end, not a single one of them asked…

Honestly, not even a hint of surprise.

The four of them quickly finished preparing the land. Bian Changxi took out some seeds and asked them to help plant them. Aunt Zhao, seeing this, was both happy and a little uneasy. “Miss Bian, you’re planting vegetables? I always thought it was a shame to waste such a big patch of land without growing anything, but Captain Gu and the others don’t seem too keen on it. Plus, Young Master Qiu likes to stir up trouble everywhere…”

Thinking of Qiu Yun’s occasional bouts of mischief, Bian Changxi was at a loss for words. She’d asked Bian Kuang why he and Qiu Yun had started fighting as soon as they arrived in the early hours. According to him, Qiu Yun had recognized him, realized he was also a wind ability user, and immediately picked a fight. Apparently, wind users just couldn’t resist “stirring up the wind” when they met another of their kind.

She said, “It’s fine, I’ll explain to Captain Gu. This patch isn’t just for vegetables—it’s also my training ground.”

“Training?”

“I went to the plantation today and met a few wood ability users.”

Bian Changxi sighed inwardly. Wood ability users, especially those who farm, all have potential for control-type abilities, yet they’ve all ended up as farmers.

She’d always wanted to train in the direction of control abilities, but it hadn’t been convenient on the road. Now that things had finally settled down, it was time to start. It would help with her advancement, too. After thinking it over, she’d visited the plantation again (though she hadn’t actually gone into the greenhouses, just wandered around outside, but still spotted plenty of wood users) and decided to start with farming—controlling the growth and development of ordinary plants.

Aunt Zhao’s eyes lit up, and she kept wiping her hands on her cloth. “I heard those wood users can make crops mature much faster and grow better. Miss Bian, you’re even more capable than them, right? Does that mean we’ll have fresh vegetables every day?”

You couldn’t blame her for being excited. The kitchen was well-equipped—electricity, gas, all sorts of tools, and plenty of ingredients—but fresh produce was always in short supply. She’d been handpicked by Captain Gu from among the ragged refugees, first working in the main kitchen, then, after several rounds of selection, assigned to the villa. Her quality of life had skyrocketed, and she’d even awakened a strength-type ability. It was like boarding a train to good fortune, so she was especially eager to repay them. The only thing she could do was cook delicious meals, but without vegetables, day after day of frozen meat, dried goods, and flour, no matter how tasty, eventually became cloying.

Of course, vegetables were delivered occasionally, but it was always the base’s main crops—cabbage, potatoes, radishes. The others were either too busy or too injured to care about food, and no one went out of their way to procure rare, tasty fruits and vegetables. Without ideal ingredients, Aunt Zhao worried about her cooking every day.

If Bian Changxi could grow a lot of produce, wouldn’t that mean a vegetable garden right at their doorstep, with fresh pickings every day?

Excited, Aunt Zhao tossed aside her cloth and squatted down to help. “Miss Bian, let me help you. These three men don’t know the first thing about farming. What are you planting?”

Just then, Gu Xu entered with Lu Shaoyang and saw Bian Changxi and Aunt Zhao sprawled unceremoniously over the freshly turned earth, while A’nan and the other two men each held a bottle of drink, not daring to actually take a sip.

“Captain Gu!” They straightened up and greeted him. Bian Changxi, hands buried in the soil as she sensed the seeds, stood up and said, “I’ve opened up this patch to plant some things and explore some new abilities. You don’t mind, do you?”

“Of course not. I’ll remind Qiu Yun to behave.” Gu Xu replied. “Dr. Lu is here. As for Su Chensi, Qiu Feng will probably bring him over tonight. You two talk—I’ve got something to handle.”

“Alright, go ahead.”

Gu Xu took a few steps, then stopped and said, “The five-colored grass will arrive today. We’ll use it to treat Shadow. As for you…”

Bian Changxi understood his meaning. “Since it was Liang Ziyin’s suggestion, let him do it. I’ll supervise.”

Gu Xu naturally trusted Bian Changxi more, both in terms of character and ability. He’d been treated by both her and Liang Ziyin, and while their energy levels weren’t much different—both being second-tier—the finesse of Bian Changxi’s energy manipulation and her healing efficiency were worlds apart.

Bian Changxi was skilled and efficient, her energy steady, broad, and flexible, with a strong capacity for healing—far more reassuring. He would have preferred her to take the lead, but having her supervise was just as good.

“I might not make it back in time, so I’ll leave everything to you.”

“Where are you going?”

“The Jiandai Tunnel. I need to make a trip.” Gu Xu said, hurrying upstairs. He soon came down with a bag. His driver and assistant were waiting outside, which showed how important the contents were—otherwise, he wouldn’t have fetched it himself.

Bian Changxi frowned slightly as she watched him leave. Not having a spatial container was such a hassle. With all this new technology, she’d even heard that prototype devices for detecting spatial abilities had appeared, but there was still no sign of spatial containers. Was it because the technical requirements were too high, or was it intentional?

After all, if spatial containers became available, it would be a huge blow to spatial ability users.

She invited Lu Shaoyang to sit under the terrace. “Sorry to trouble you on such a hot day. I’ll get straight to the point—I want to heal Wu Dalang’s leg, and I need your advice.”

“Mm, Captain Gu mentioned it on the way.” Lu Shaoyang was still quite surprised to see her. He and Bian Changxi were on decent terms, and he knew the whole story of what happened at Longyue Town. He’d thought she was as good as dead, so seeing her alive was a shock. But her calm, natural demeanor made it seem like the most normal thing in the world.

She really was a remarkable girl.

“You were the first to treat Wu Dalang’s leg, and you’ve no doubt checked on him since. You must know his condition well. My plan is to re-break his leg, restore it to its original state, and then reconnect the bones bit by bit. But breaking a leg like that—massive blood loss and pain—could have a huge impact on his body. I want your professional opinion: can he handle it in his current state? If not, and he goes into shock or something, do we have the medical means to save him?”

Lu Shaoyang grew serious. “You want to break it again? Last time, Mr. Wu only had a few IV drips and stayed conscious throughout. His constitution is incredibly strong, but after so many days—he’s had swelling, infection, even necrosis—his body is much weaker now. The tendons, nerves, and circulation in that leg are all damaged. If you break it again, I’m afraid he won’t make it.”

Bian Changxi frowned. She had ways to nurse Wu Dalang’s body back to health, but it would take time. If she delayed, his leg would only get worse. Her plan was to break the leg first, heal it as it grew back, and by the time she advanced to tier three, it would be almost fully healed and she could finish the job.

But as Lu Shaoyang said, Wu Dalang might not survive the process, and current medical technology couldn’t save him. So that plan wouldn’t work.

She explained her thoughts to Lu Shaoyang, who considered for a moment and said, “Find an experienced traditional Chinese doctor to help Mr. Wu with herbal remedies. Combined with your wood ability, his recovery should speed up.”

“That’s the only way, then.”

With the main issue settled, Lu Shaoyang asked, “Miss Bian, when will you have time to visit the medical department? We still have over a thousand cases—people infected by that strange illness around Mid-Autumn. We’re just dragging things out now; we haven’t found a real cure.”

Bian Changxi thought of Cheng Haijun and replied, “I’ll definitely go to the medical department, but not today—I need to deal with Shadow first. Maybe tomorrow.”

Lu Shaoyang sighed. “Our Jiangcheng people have been in the base for so long. First, we fought for proper status, then for land and housing, internal management, external coordination, dealing with all sorts of overt and covert obstacles. We’ve never had a moment’s peace. Just as things were settling down, that freak rain came, and suddenly countless people fell ill, draining our manpower and resources. Even now, there hasn’t been much real progress.”

“Oh?” Bian Changxi was surprised. “You mean we’ve fallen behind?”

“We’re basically living off our old supplies. Only a handful go out on missions. Most of what we know about the outside comes from hearsay. As for abilities, there’s been little improvement. If it weren’t for Captain Gu being a rare tier-three, people would think Jiangcheng had no one left. Even as a doctor, I hear complaints every day about how we’re just holed up here. I just hope that once we get through this, Captain Gu can lead people out, to interact more with the outside world.”

Bian Changxi’s expression grew serious. She could hear a note of dissatisfaction in Lu Shaoyang’s words. He was clearly complaining that Gu Xu had focused too much on internal construction and maneuvering within the base, neglecting the development of their overall strength by venturing out—neglecting the essentials for the trivial.

Thanks to anna0626 for the safety charm!

This is a make-up chapter for last night—so sorry, I only managed to finish it this morning."