Chapter 69: They've Caught the Person, They're Looking for the Fruit Tree
Fang Guowei's expression didn't seem like he was joking. Cheng Zhiyu frowned and asked, "What's going on?"
Grandpa Zhao's face was full of distress as he sighed, "Someone secretly dug up the seeds of the mutated wheat and barley."
Mutant barley is wheat that has mutated to become larger; a single grain can be almost the size of a palm.
They checked and found about ten of them.
This was done discreetly; who would suspect that someone would dig up seeds in the ground? If the seeds don't sprout, it's only natural to assume that they simply didn't germinate.
However, the other party probably didn't expect that Grandpa Zhao was meticulous and liked to wander around the fields whenever he had free time. He keenly noticed that the soil color in some places was different from other places, as if it had been turned over.
Then he noticed that there seemed to be footprints in the ground, but they didn't look like they belonged to their farming team. They walked very carefully, afraid of stepping on the seeds and affecting their germination.
Grandpa Zhao immediately dug up the part of the soil that was a different color, and sure enough, he didn't find any seeds.
There's no way that such a large mutant barley grain wouldn't have been noticed.
So he immediately told Fang Guowei about it.
Fang Guowei quickly led his men to investigate and discovered that more than one had been dug up.
There were signs of the land being turned over in other places, and they were certain that it was done by humans, not by ground squirrels or anything like that.
Firstly, there were human footprints. Secondly, it seems the other party wanted to fake that the seed hadn't sprouted, so they dug it up from a considerable distance.
If Grandpa Zhao hadn't noticed it so carefully, they might have really thought the seed hadn't sprouted.
Meanwhile, the mutated multi-crop wheat variety was not harvested, which clearly indicates that the other party was very familiar with the types of wheat available.
Knowing that even if the mutated multi-crop wheat were dug up, it wouldn't yield much flour, the other party was clearly planning to dig it up and eat it!
This infuriated Fang Guowei. They worked so hard to cultivate the land, and they wouldn't even touch the seeds themselves, all in the hope that a single seed could grow into more grain so that everyone at the base could achieve food freedom.
They were trying to protect themselves from insects and other things, but they never imagined they would also have to protect themselves from the people in the base!
Grandpa Zhao sighed, feeling a little upset, but having experienced so much, he quickly recovered: "Guowei, you don't need to be angry about this. The people in the base are also from our village. Everyone is human; it's normal for there to be good and bad people."
Fang Guowei knew, but he just couldn't stand it.
This thief is short-sighted; he actually stole the seed directly. He looked at Cheng Zhiyu and felt his face burning. This mutated seed was provided by the other party.
As it turned out, he was too lazy to watch it properly.
Cheng Zhiyu immediately knew what Fang Guowei was thinking and said, "Uncle Fang, I'm not trying to comfort you, but this really isn't your fault. Don't take all the blame on yourself. The seeds have already been planted in the ground, how could you possibly keep an eye on them every second? The blame lies with the person who stole the seeds."
He shouldn't have dug up the seeds in the ground for his own sake.
If the base had no food and was starving, that would be one thing, but they had just received rice recently, so it shouldn't be this bad.
"Sigh," Fang Guowei sighed, "From now on, I'll guard the land. I refuse to believe anyone will dare to steal it!"
Cheng Zhiyu frowned: "This matter cannot be left like this. Otherwise, there will be no cost for making mistakes. Now they steal seeds, and later they will steal grain that is about to mature."
Grandpa Zhao sighed, "There's no other way but to let it go like this. There are so many people at the base, how are we going to find out who stole it?"
That's true; if the other party only steals once, they really can't do anything about it.
Cheng Zhiyu said, "Let's take turns guarding this place. If they dare to come again, we'll be caught red-handed. If they don't come, we'll just have to keep a closer eye on the crops in the fields when they ripen."
Fang Guowei nodded, agreeing that this was indeed the only option.
“The seeds are almost sprouting these days. If they still want to steal them, they’ll definitely have to do it now.” Before Cheng Zhiyu could finish speaking, Fang Guowei immediately said that someone would definitely be watching them at all times.
Grandpa Zhao: "Don't spread this around."
If the person is caught, it's fine to spread the word. But if people find out now, it will definitely alert them. If the person isn't caught in the end, some people who are tempted but too timid will think that there are no costs to making mistakes.
Everyone thought so, and so the matter was quietly suppressed.
On the way back, Cheng Mo looked at Cheng Zhiyu and asked, "Zhiyu, are you in a bad mood?"
Cheng Zhiyu shook his head: "It's not that bad. I was just thinking that some people really are..."
He wouldn't let this kind of person affect his mood; no normal person could imagine the thought process of someone like that.
"If you catch him, give him a good beating." Cheng Mo teased Cheng Zhiyu.
Cheng Zhiyu laughed as expected: "Are you just going to use vigilante justice?"
"So what if we used it?" Cheng Mo didn't seem to think there was anything wrong with it at all: "Who told him to upset Zhiyu?"
Cheng Zhiyu felt a warmth in his heart: "Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. Let's go back and plant the tree quickly. This tree has already borne fruit before. Maybe we'll have peaches and cherries to eat soon after we plant it."
"Are peaches and cherries both peaches?" Cheng Mo, from a culinary wasteland, asked.
Ah... This is the first time someone has asked this question. Cheng Zhiyu: "I don't know either. Anyway, they all have this name, but the two are quite different. Well, you'll find out when the time comes."
Cheng Mo: "Oh."
As the two walked back, they saw a middle-aged man and woman pulling and tugging at each other ahead. One of them was an acquaintance, Xiang Qizheng.
The other one was Xiang Qizheng's wife.
As soon as Xiang Qi saw Cheng Zhiyu, he glared at him, but then, fearing him, he immediately moved far away.
Last time, he was thrown by Xiao Juan so badly that his back almost broke.
Xiang Qi immediately turned and left, afraid of being punished again, while his wife stayed behind and gave Cheng Zhiyu an awkward smile.
"Xiao Cheng, don't hold it against your uncle. That's just his temper; he's petty and holds grudges." Xiang Qizheng's wife looked embarrassed.
Before they had gone far, Xiang Qizheng, who had heard everything clearly, angrily yelled, "Why aren't you following us? You're always the one who talks the most nonsense!"
Xiang Qizheng's wife looked rather uncomfortable after what was said, and gave an awkward smile: "Uh... well, Auntie will be going now, don't take it to heart."
You can't hit someone who's smiling. Xiang Qi and the other person are two different people, so Cheng Zhiyu won't hold a grudge: "Okay, Auntie, go back now."
Xiang Qizheng's wife smiled, turned and left, sighing inwardly, "Oh, that old Xiang, he's really muddle-headed."
...Day after day, Cheng Zhiyu is at least a superhuman, and I heard that he is now the most powerful superhuman in the base. Even Yang Kai is his defeated opponent.
Such a capable person, and the old man is still so proud of himself. It's really good that he has a good temper. If it were Yang Kai, he would have given him a good beating.
Thinking of something else, Xiang Qizheng's wife looked worried and sighed.
"Why are you sighing? It's bad luck!" Xiang Qi was already embarrassed because he ran away after seeing Cheng Zhiyu, but his wife not only didn't help him scold Cheng Zhiyu, but also kept saying nice things.
He considered himself Cheng Zhiyu's elder, and how could an elder speak well of a junior? That's rude!
He also felt that Cheng Zhiyu was ungrateful and was contradicting himself.
"Oh dear, stop talking!" Xiang Qizheng's wife slapped her thigh anxiously. "You really need to change your temper. In the past, this was a society governed by law. If you said something unpleasant, people would at most say a few words to you. But things are different now. The world has changed a long time ago!"
Xiang Qizheng knew that the world had changed, but he couldn't control himself. It seemed that the more he knew this, the more he wanted to prove his own extraordinary nature.
"And that incident before, it makes me uneasy when I hear about it, you should stop doing it." Xiang Qizheng's wife muttered softly.
Xiang Qi waved his hand: "You're just a woman! What are you afraid of? They won't find out!"
Xiang Qizheng's wife hesitated, then stopped herself from speaking: "..."
She wanted to say something, but in the end she didn't. Even if she did, Xiang Qizheng wouldn't want to hear it, so she could only worry about it to herself.
Sigh, why is life so hard?
Cheng Zhiyu and Cheng Mo were unaware of the conversation between Xiang Qizheng and his wife. After returning home, they didn't rush to plant the tree. It was lunchtime, so they decided to eat.
There are many of them, so they now eat at large round tables.
Originally, Cheng's mother and Tian's mother would go out to work, but after they came back, they didn't do it much anymore and stayed home to cook.
Zhou Min and his team would give them a portion of their monthly earnings, as agreed upon initially.
Otherwise, they would feel embarrassed to keep eating at this restaurant.
Cooking inevitably produces a delicious aroma, and people living nearby are drooling as they watch: "Wow, the Cheng and Tian families are living such good lives, eating meat every day!"
"Look how capable other people's kids are, and their friends are all powerful superhumans. How can they not eat meat every day?"
"That's true, I think things are pretty much the same as before the apocalypse." As he spoke, he couldn't help but swallow.
"That's right. I heard that Lao Cheng's wife and Lao Tian's wife cook at home all the time, so they don't need to go out to do odd jobs anymore."
"I can't be envious. Their families are full of people with superpowers. I'd be content if I could just eat meat when I die." They wouldn't even dare to say they eat meat every meal.
Speaking of which, "I smelled a delicious aroma last night, like steamed buns, but I couldn't quite make it out. It really made my mouth water."
They mainly eat noodles and steamed buns here.
"Who still has flour these days? I think you're just drooling and have mistaken the smell for something else!"
"Hey, that's actually quite possible. I dream about big steamed buns."
After the meal, Cheng Zhiyu went off to do his work. He casually left the tree in the system space; he couldn't leave it there any longer, as it would lose its vitality and become difficult to plant.
He planted the cherry trees next to Xiao Er and the peach trees next to Xiao Tie. After planting the two trees, there was absolutely no room left in the system space; it was completely full.
Looking at the land that had been utilized to its fullest potential, Cheng Zhiyu was in a great mood and hummed a song as he left the system space.
Cheng Mo leaned closer and said softly, "Zhiyu..."
Cheng Zhiyu: "?" Why does he look like a ghost?
"A month is a long time," Cheng Mo grumbled.
Cheng Zhiyu knew he was going to say this, but he wouldn't budge now no matter what. It's only been two days, right? It'll take a few more days.
He coughed lightly: "We agreed on a month, who told you to do that before?"
Cheng Mo: "I don't know how to pursue someone."
His life used to consist only of training, and he had absolutely no interest in relationships. Now he regrets it. If he had known more and knew how to pursue people, things wouldn't have turned out this way.
He's now being punished by Zhiyu with a month-long ban on physical contact, which feels like the sky has fallen to him.
However, Cheng Zhiyu remained unmoved, remaining "impartial and incorruptible".
Cheng Mo had no choice but to take off his clothes and use seduction.
Cheng Zhiyu swallowed hard and looked away with difficulty: "Go to sleep."
Cheng Mo pursed his lips: "Zhiyu, why make things difficult for yourself if you like someone? At worst, I'll keep my promise and only you can touch me, I won't touch you."
Cheng Zhiyu was so captivated by her beauty that he was completely bewildered and didn't realize for a moment that there was anything wrong with his statement.
"You really don't want to touch it?" Cheng Mo's handsome face seemed to shine even brighter.
Cheng Zhiyu swallowed hard, unable to resist reaching out to pinch and touch it. He was perfectly justified; things were different now, he was touching his boyfriend.
As he touched her, Cheng Mo began to feel something.
The other person's voice was a little hoarse, and he stared at Cheng Zhiyu as if he could see through her: "Zhiyu, help me."
Cheng Zhiyu was a little soft-hearted and wanted to help, but for some reason, he had a bad idea. He dragged a chair out of the room, sat down opposite the bed, and raised an eyebrow: "Why don't you do it yourself? Aren't you very good at it?"
Cheng Mo pursed his lips. He clearly knew how to do it, but when it came to himself, he seemed completely clueless. After a while, tears welled up in his eyes, and he seemed a little angry: "Cheng Zhiyu, please help me!"
Cheng Zhiyu, as if possessed, raised his foot and stepped on it. Cheng Mo, whom he had been working on for so long, was suddenly stimulated, let out a muffled groan, and came out.
Cheng Mo pursed her lips, avoiding looking at Cheng Zhiyu, and wiped herself haphazardly.
Cheng Zhiyu felt inexplicably guilty, sensing that Cheng Mo was truly angry. He leaned closer and asked, "Are you angry?"
Cheng Mo remained silent.
"Are you really angry?" Cheng Zhiyu didn't know how to coax him anymore. He felt guilty and asked, "Did you feel uncomfortable when I stepped on you?"
"No, it feels very comfortable." Cheng Mo was honest about this, afraid that Cheng Zhiyu wouldn't do this again. He was angry about something else: "You haven't touched me for so long, how could you resist?"
Cheng Zhiyu: "Uh..."
"There's something I haven't told you yet," Cheng Mo suddenly said.
Cheng Zhiyu asked in confusion, "What is it?"
“As long as we Winged Clan have a partner, we can’t do anything without the partner’s help…” Cheng Mo said, and Cheng Zhiyu finally understood why the other party seemed to be getting more and more uncomfortable after trying for so long.
"That's not right. How do you define a partner?" Cheng Zhiyu asked, puzzled. In his view, a partner was someone you were married to and had a marriage certificate with.
"The Winged Clan only loves one person in their lifetime; the person they fall in love with becomes their partner," Cheng Mo said.
Cheng Zhiyu was inexplicably shocked, and his heart felt heavy: "This...you guys are really at a disadvantage." It's unimaginable what it would be like to be betrayed by your partner.
"Therefore, Winged Clan members generally only seek partners who are also Winged Clan members, but there are exceptions." One of Cheng Mo's elders once fell in love with someone of another race.
At first, they lived a good life, but later the other betrayed the elder, who could no longer find another partner and could only be trapped in grief every day, suffering immense torment both physically and mentally.
Many Winged Tribe members use each other's examples to educate their children, telling them that when choosing a partner, they must choose a Winged Tribe member.
After listening, Cheng Zhiyu felt sorry for the elder and also felt sorry for Cheng Mo. He muttered, "What kind of ridiculous rules are these? Is there no way to change them?"
Does this mean that after being betrayed by their partner, the Winged Clan are destined to live as widows forever?
“There’s no other way,” Cheng Mo said. “If there were a way, my father and mother wouldn’t have to watch that elder suffer every day.”
“That’s why, for the Winged Clan, not being loved by their partner is the most terrifying thing.” Cheng Mo actually shed tears: “I was in that state just now, and you didn’t even help me.”
Cheng Zhiyu was heartbroken and quickly hugged and comforted her, saying, "I don't dislike you, really, I just... just wanted to tease you."
“Then even if you tease me in the future, you can’t tease me like that,” Cheng Mo said.
"Okay, okay, I'll listen to you. Oh dear, I wish I could slap myself now." Cheng Zhiyu was filled with regret.
Cheng Mo secretly smiled. He said these things on purpose for Cheng Zhiyu to hear. He knew the other party well, and how could the other party not feel sorry for him after hearing them?
He believed Zhiyu would not betray him, and he said these things only to soften Zhiyu's heart towards him.
"Then what about the month you mentioned before..." Cheng Mo asked, seizing the opportunity.
"It doesn't count anymore." Cheng Zhiyu was incredibly soft-hearted now.
Cheng Mo tried hard to suppress the corners of his mouth: "Then shouldn't you make it up to me for what you just did?"
Cheng Zhiyu coughed lightly: "How will you compensate me?"
Cheng Mo thought for a moment: "I have an excessive request."
Cheng Zhiyu's face turned slightly red, and his heart was beating a little fast. Hmm... how outrageous was it?
Actually, they've known each other for so long and have been in a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. Now that they've gone all the way, it seems like... it's acceptable.
Cheng Mo, that big guy, was still a bit hesitant. He should at least prepare himself. If he were to force it... well.
Cheng Mo had no idea what the other person was thinking and was still pondering what kind of unreasonable request to make.
Still somewhat puzzled, he simply asked Cheng Zhiyu, "How do you think you should compensate me?"
Cheng Zhiyu coughed lightly, feeling that he still couldn't rush to the final step, so he took the opportunity to say, "I'll help you with my legs."
Cheng Mo looked blankly at him: "What do you mean?"
Cheng Zhiyu blinked: "?" Huh?
The other person seems to know nothing about legs or anything, are they really that naive?
"Don't you beastmen have sex education?" Actually, there isn't here either, but he's over twenty, so it's impossible that he doesn't know anything.
Cheng Zhiyu figured there probably weren't any, so he changed his question: "You must have had friends growing up, right? None of them told you these things?"
Cheng Zhiyu didn't really like hearing these things, but he couldn't help it because some people liked to make lewd jokes. Although he didn't interact with them, he would still hear some of them.
Cheng Mo's expression was full of disgust: "Why should I listen to them say this? It's disgusting."
Very well, Cheng Zhiyu understands. It's not that the beastmen don't understand anything, but rather that no beastman dares to make such a lewd joke in front of Cheng Mo. Judging from the other party's expression, if someone did that, they would probably be beaten to death.
Cheng Zhiyu thought for a moment and then asked, "So, do you know what else a couple can do besides what we've done before?"
Cheng Mo felt a sudden pressure, as if he had been put to a test. He didn't know much, mainly because his life had consisted of nothing but training since childhood, and he didn't have many friends. There were also many things that no one dared to bring up in front of him.
So, I don't know much about it.
Cheng Zhiyu thought to himself, "Just as I expected."
He had just been worried about the size, but now it seems there's no need to worry at all. As long as he doesn't bring it up, Cheng Mo won't understand anything.
He was unsure whether to breathe a sigh of relief or hold his breath. To breathe a sigh of relief meant he didn't need to now, while holding his breath meant he might not want to in the future. In this situation, he still had to teach Mo.
Forget it, let him worry about the future.
The problem now is that he just suggested using...legs.
Cheng Mo was very inquisitive and kept asking him what it meant and how to do it.
After Cheng Zhiyu finally spoke, Cheng Mo exclaimed, "!!!"
Cheng Zhiyu: If I had known he didn't understand anything, I wouldn't have brought this up. It's so embarrassing.
Never mind, a gentleman's word is as good as his bond.
In particular, Cheng Mo is usually a cool guy, but at times like this, when the other person is happy, he will shed tears. Cheng Zhiyu's heart pounded, and he couldn't help but kiss the corner of Cheng Mo's eye.
It's wet.
Afterwards, Cheng Zhiyu's legs were a little red and swollen, and Cheng Mo painstakingly applied medicine to them.
Cheng Zhiyu blushed: "No need, it'll be done soon."
Cheng Mo was very firm: "Yes, I want it."
After applying the ointment, Cheng Mo was in a good mood, hugging Cheng Zhiyu like a big puppy: "Zhiyu, I didn't expect it could be like this? Is there anything else?"
It must be said that Cheng Mo is quite perceptive in some aspects, but he was already exhausted even without going all out. If it were to actually happen, wouldn't he be in a terrible state?
Forget it, he resolutely refused to say.
Cheng Zhiyu: "No, I don't understand, go to sleep."
Cheng Mo looked at him and keenly sensed that Cheng Zhiyu was lying, but why? He couldn't figure it out.
He didn't want to ask others about this, so he could only ask Cheng Zhiyu another time.
Cheng Mo was satisfied with what he had for him today. He smiled and said, "Okay, goodnight."
Cheng Zhiyu breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, he needed to calm down before talking about it. He could talk to Cheng Mo about it later if he wanted to.
He coughed inwardly, thinking that what he was doing seemed a bit unfair, but whatever, he'd just leave it at that for now!
Let him worry about the future.
The next day, Cheng Zhiyu was preoccupied with matters concerning the farming department, so after breakfast, he decided to go and take a look.
I wonder if the thief has been caught.
If the other party isn't greedy and knows when to stop, they might not be caught. Cheng Zhiyu actually hopes the other party is a little greedy.
When they arrived at the destination, Fang Guowei came out of the room, looking rather unwell.
Cheng Zhiyu asked, "How is it?"
Fang Guowei sighed: "We caught him, he's inside."
Cheng Zhiyu nodded and asked, "Who is it?"
Fang Guowei didn't say anything, only saying, "Let's go in and take a look. Sigh, you know, this guy is really..."
Following Fang Guowei inside, they saw the person who was tied up. Unexpectedly, it was an acquaintance, Xiang Qizheng, whom they had met yesterday.
Cheng Zhiyu frowned. Why was it him again? He absolutely hated the other man now.
Xiang Qi struggled: "Let me go! Let me go now! What right do you have to tie me up? Untie me now!"
Fang Guowei said with a dark face, "You know perfectly well why we kidnapped you! You've damaged the base's interests. If anyone else finds out, you'll be drowned in spit!"
Xiang Qi felt a little guilty, but then realized that he couldn't admit it. He immediately said, "I have no idea what you're talking about. I was just thinking about the crops in the base and wanted to take a look. Other people like to wander around there too. Why don't you arrest them? Why do you arrest me? I think you're just taking revenge!"
Fang Guowei sneered, not believing his nonsense at all: "Going to check on things at two or three in the morning? Are you kidding me? Other people check their crops openly in broad daylight, but you're doing it in the middle of the night. Don't think we don't know what you're up to!"
Xiang Qizheng vehemently denied it: "Anyway, I'm not doing anything! Just let me go!"
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