Si Youqin and her group immediately went forward and started pulling the creeping stems of the bitter grass. Jin Ziyu handled the metal off to the side. Their teamwork was even more seamless than it had been that morning.
Meanwhile, Ren Yuanyang was controlling the bitter grass, continuously dragging the supplies from beneath the Banyan Forest to the edge and handing them over to Si Youqin’s team for processing.
Another two hours passed like this before the undercurrent stopped again.
Ren Yuanyang handed the harvested supplies over to Lu Jiamei and the others to sort through. He prepared some provisions for Qin Haonan and sent him on his way.
"Stay in constant contact, and be careful!" Ren Yuanyang urged him again.
"Alright, Boss!" Qin Haonan answered, steering the speedboat into the wind and waves.
These last two undercurrents had brought a great haul for the survivors who could dive, and they were filled with gratitude toward the Aircraft Carrier Base and the Peach Blossom Base.
"Thank you to the Aircraft Carrier Base for giving us information about the undercurrents, and thank you to the Peach Blossom Base for telling us when they would start!"
"Yeah, if it weren’t for them, I never would have been able to gather so many supplies!"
"That’s right! We finally don’t have to eat fish all day!"
Seeing everyone’s thanks on the regional channel, Ren Yuanyang thought for a moment before replying, "You’re all welcome. We’ll all survive better by helping each other out. On that note, I’d like to announce an item our base is looking to purchase—licorice. We’re buying the licorice plant itself, not processed licorice for medicinal use!"
"A priority purchase? Are you still buying other plants?" a survivor immediately asked.
"Of course. It’s just that our base will offer a higher price for priority items!" Ren Yuanyang explained.
"How much higher?" someone pressed.
"At least three times the normal price!" Ren Yuanyang replied.
"That high? Then I have to go look for licorice plants!"
"It’s too hard to find plants on this vast ocean!"
"Of course it’s hard if you don’t go looking. If you hang around the edges of the higher-wind regions, you’ll find you can still get some supplies."
"Isn’t that too dangerous?"
"You’re not wrong. Hiding in the center of the Second-level Wind Sea Region is the safest option. But if you stay there, you’ll probably have a hard time finding any supplies."
"That’s not always true. Three days ago, right in the center of the Second-level Wind Sea Region, I found a wooden crate. It had a bunch of clothes inside!"
"I’m really curious why the Peach Blossom Base is buying licorice plants now. Are they planning to grow herbs and get into traditional Chinese medicine?"
"Developing traditional Chinese medicine isn’t a bad idea. All the advanced equipment was fried in the geomagnetic storm, so without their diagnostic tools, Western doctors are helpless. Traditional Chinese medicine is different—they can make a diagnosis just by observing, listening, questioning, and feeling the pulse!"
"What century is this? I can’t believe people still believe in traditional Chinese medicine!"
Seeing that everyone was about to start arguing again, Ren Yuanyang shook his head helplessly. He knew some mindsets were hard to change, so he stopped reading their conversation.
’Anyway, the advertisement is out there. Now I just have to wait for the business to come to me.’
Lu Jiamei was still leading Si Youqin and the others in sorting the supplies. This haul was even bigger than the last one!
Seeing how hard everyone was working, Lu Jiamei said, "Si Youqin, why don’t you all split into two groups and sort in shifts?"
Si Youqin paused for a second, then immediately understood what Lu Jiamei meant.
"Sister Mei, we can all keep going. Let’s just finish sorting all this and then rest together!" Si Youqin replied with a smile.
Lu Jiamei nodded. "Alright, then. Let’s finish sorting first!"
Another forty minutes of sorting passed before Lu Jiamei and her team finally had all the supplies organized.
As per Ren Yuanyang’s instructions, Lu Jiamei had Si Youqin and the others each pick out another ten packages of goods as a reward for the afternoon’s work.
This time, Si Youqin and her group all chose their favorite snacks, forgoing the instant noodles.
’The boss provides our staple foods, and makes sure we have our fill. All we need to do is pick out some snacks for when we get a craving.’
Just then, Ren Yuanyang walked over. Seeing that they had organized the supplies so neatly, he nodded in satisfaction.
"You’ve all worked hard. Go get some rest."
"Yes, Boss!" Si Youqin and the others replied, laughing as they headed back to the yacht.
"Jiamei, Xin Wan, make sure you pay attention to the expiration dates on all this food," Ren Yuanyang reminded them.
"Got it, Chief!" Lu Jiamei and Xin Wan replied in unison.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
Ren Yuanyang’s phone rang. He pulled it out and glanced at the screen. It was a video call from Qin Haonan.
The moment he answered, Qin Haonan’s voice came through the phone.
"Boss, you really picked a great spot!"
Ren Yuanyang was taken aback. "Why? Is there something special about it?"
"Not special, exactly. It’s just that this Second-level Wind Sea Region has a lot of survivors. They’re bound to have some plants on hand!" Qin Haonan explained.
"More survivors means you need to be even more careful," Ren Yuanyang repeated, starting to sound like a broken record.
"Roger that, Boss!" Qin Haonan gave a mock salute before continuing, "Boss, about those priority items you mentioned on the regional channel... I won’t be able to identify them."
"You don’t have to. Just take a picture and send it to me, or have them send a picture," Ren Yuanyang said, shaking his head.
"Understood!" Qin Haonan nodded. "I’m going to get ready for the trade with the Aircraft Carrier Base now."
"Alright, go on. Keep the line open," Ren Yuanyang replied, saying no more.
Qin Haonan placed the peaches and Cherry Tomatoes meant for the Aircraft Carrier Base onto the inflatable dinghy, then loosened the tow rope and backed away.
All that was left was the boring wait. Fortunately, the team from the Aircraft Carrier Base didn’t keep Qin Haonan waiting for long.
A speedboat rapidly approached from the distance.
"Captain Wang, I see your speedboat. It’s stopped nearby. Can we start the trade now?" Qin Haonan sent a message to Wang Jun.
"Of course. Same procedure as last time?" Wang Jun replied.
"Yes. The supplies on the dinghy are a gift from our boss," Qin Haonan explained. "Your people can take them and then load up the supplies we need."
Hearing that Ren Yuanyang had even prepared a gift for them, Wang Jun paused, then replied with a smile, "Alright then, our thanks to Taoyuan Yang!"
He then gave his team the order to proceed with the trade. The trade team slowly approached the inflatable dinghy.
They first inspected the fruit on the dinghy. Only after confirming there were no issues did they bring it aboard their own boat. Then, they loaded the semi-finished Purification Potions, white mice, and other lab supplies onto the dinghy.
Once everything was loaded, they gave Qin Haonan an OK sign.
Qin Haonan slowly reeled the dinghy back in and moved all the items into his boat’s cabin.
"Pleasure doing business with you. I’m heading back to report," Qin Haonan messaged Wang Jun.
"Good. I hope you can crack the problem of the Evolution Potion soon," Wang Jun replied.
"Our boss is known for being fast, so you shouldn’t have to wait too long!" This was a display of Qin Haonan’s blind faith.
Wang Jun paused for a moment, then replied with a smile, "Then I’ll be waiting for your good news."
After ending the chat, Qin Haonan started steering toward the other survivors, munching on a peach as he went.
BZZZZZ!
Suddenly, the sound of rapidly vibrating wings buzzed past Qin Haonan’s ear.
"Haven’t seen a fly in ages. I thought they’d all gone extinct," Qin Haonan muttered, waving a hand by his ear to drive away the annoying buzzing.
SMACK!
Qin Haonan had actually managed to swat the buzzing thing out of the air!
When he took a closer look, he realized it wasn’t a fly, but a bee.
"Bees! Aren’t these what Elder Hua is always going on about?" Qin Haonan said, looking at the bees in delighted surprise.
He had only waved his hand gently just now, yet he’d knocked down two of them. Another three or four had landed directly on the peach in his hand.
’Are bees this easy to swat?’ Qin Haonan muttered. He picked up his phone, aimed the camera at the bees on his peach, and said excitedly to Ren Yuanyang, "Boss, look what I found!"
When Ren Yuanyang saw the bees on the screen, he was just as surprised. "You actually found bees?"
Not far away, Hua Lingfang, who was still tinkering with his herbs, heard Ren Yuanyang and immediately hurried over.
"I didn’t really find them, they found me. They must have smelled how sweet this peach is," Qin Haonan explained with a laugh. "If we bring them back, we won’t have to break our backs with manual pollination anymore!"
"A few worker bees are far from enough!" Hua Lingfang’s voice came from the side. "Look around and see if you can find a Hive or a beehive nearby. We need to find a healthy colony for this to be sustainable!"

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