49: Chapter 49 Farming When You Have Nothing to Do

"What's going on?"

Wang Jianhua spat on the ground and called for the butler.

"Master, the power is out."

"Old Wang, you've been doing this for so long, do I still need to tell you what to do? If the power is out, go fix it! Or do I have to go myself?"

In the darkness, the butler's head was split open by something thrown at him.

However, he was already used to Wang Jianhua's foul temper and could only endure it silently.

"Master, it's not just us. It seems like many districts have lost power."

The butler was right; it wasn't just the areas within his sight that were dark.

The entire city had succumbed to a massive blackout amidst five days and nights of torrential rain.

In an instant, a colossal darkness crashed down, swallowing everything in its path.

Occasional lightning flashes in the sky brought fleeting moments of light, but they were quickly submerged by the watery world below, falling back into an even deeper darkness.

At first, everyone thought this blackout would be as brief as the last one, so they bombarded property management with demands for emergency repairs.

One hour, two hours, three hours... time ticked away.

The city remained shrouded in darkness.

A greater panic, like ignited dynamite, exploded from all directions.

Qi Yin wasn't sleepy, so she lay in bed with her legs crossed, scrolling through Douyin.

Just then, people in the neighborhood owner group chat she had recently joined began spamming messages.

Sister Zhang, 4th Floor: "Property management, what's wrong with you? Don't you know the power is out? Aren't you going to do something?"

Cool Property Manager: "Don't even get me started. The water has already reached the neighborhood gate. We're actually in good shape; the surrounding neighborhoods are flooded up to the second floor. People have lost their homes entirely, so who has time to worry about electricity?"

Cool Property Manager: "Besides, the officials say this is a city-wide blackout. As for when power will return, that depends on when the heavens stop leaking!"

Big Brother Wang, 3rd Floor: "Where's the government? Is everyone in the damn government dead?"

Tattooed Youngster, 8th Floor: "Exactly! Between that blood rain earlier and this rotten weather, it's been ten days. My supplies are almost gone. Are we even supposed to survive?"

Auntie Shi, 2nd Floor: "My family is almost out of food too. The things at the grocery store are so expensive, we can't afford them at all."

Grocery Store Owner: "Think it's expensive? I'm not begging you to buy it. Just starve then. I'm actually planning to stop selling anyway."

Sister Zhang, 4th Floor: "Stop arguing. Electricity isn't the main problem anymore. Everyone should hurry and store as much water as possible. If the water cuts out in a few days too, life will be even harder."

Seeing this, Qi Yin couldn't help but give Sister Zhang a mental thumbs-up.

She certainly knew how to plan ahead.

Right now it was just the electricity, but in a couple of days, the natural gas would be cut off, followed by water contamination.

When that time came, those who were unprepared wouldn't just lack food—they wouldn't even have a single drop of clean water to drink.

Checking the time, it was nearly six in the morning.

Since she couldn't sleep, Qi Yin flashed into her space, intending to play with Xiao Bai for a while.

"Master, you're here!"

"Oh, Xiao Yu, why are you so happy today?" Qi Yin curled her lips into a smile. Looking at the little sprite's fluttering wings, she couldn't resist reaching out to give them a playful tug.

Xiao Yu seemed to be in a great mood and didn't mind. She waved her tiny paw toward the spiritual field behind her.

"Master, look! This is the empire I've built for you!"

Qi Yin didn't understand at first, but when she turned around, a vast expanse of lush green nearly blinded her.

The vegetable seedlings that were only half-grown three days ago had all reached full maturity under Xiao Yu's meticulous care.

Bright red tomatoes, firm cabbages, deep purple eggplants... the growth was incredibly pleasing to the eye.

Qi Yin couldn't help herself; she plucked a tomato and took a large bite.

"Wow, Xiao Yu, why does this tomato taste so much better than the ones outside?"

It was fragrant and sweet. Qi Yin, wanting more, ate another one.

Xiao Yu stood with her hands on her hips, looking very proud.

"Of course! The spiritual energy outside can't compare to the space. Plus, we use spiritual spring water for irrigation. The vegetables and fruits grown here are countless times tastier than normal ones."

"More importantly, they're not just delicious. If you eat them regularly, they can strengthen your constitution and improve your Supernatural Ability control!"

Qi Yin looked at the overflowing spiritual fields and fell into thought.

There were over a hundred spiritual fields; half were used for vegetables and half for fruits, though the fruits hadn't matured yet.

At this rate of maturation, even without the supplies they had stockpiled, they would never have to worry about having fresh produce to eat.

Furthermore, since the space's produce had health-boosting effects, she had to make sure everyone got some.

Xiao Bai, who had just woken up, didn't know what they were doing. He waddled over, his sturdy body nearly as tall as Qi Yin, and rubbed against her.

And so, Qi Yin and Xiao Yu gained a new laborer.

Because the space was rich in spiritual energy, even simple manual labor like farming could promote the circulation of Supernatural Ability through one's meridians.

Therefore, she didn't have Xiao Yu use a magical harvest. Instead, she led the "two little ones" to begin their hard work.

"Wow, this cucumber is huge."

"Master, mine is even bigger than yours, haha..."

Qi Yin and Xiao Yu darted back and forth through the spiritual fields, while the adolescent tiger, Xiao Bai, resignedly followed behind them pushing a small cart, accidentally crushing quite a few eggplant stalks along the way.

By the end of the morning, Qi Yin was drenched in sweat. She looked up and realized they had only harvested one-fifth of the vegetables.

She finally realized how difficult it was for Xiao Yu to manage these spiritual fields normally.

It seemed she should come in and farm more often when she had nothing else to do.

"Xiao Yu, let's harvest the rest tomorrow. Let's replant these empty fields with some other varieties of vegetables."

Before she could even finish, Xiao Yu and her clones immediately got to work.

"Don't worry, Master! Leave it to me. I'm going to plant every single type of vegetable seed we have."

And then they would rotate through them.

After busying herself for a while longer, Qi Yin finally left the space reluctantly, carrying a large basket of freshly picked vegetables.

"Uncle Chen, let's add some extra dishes to lunch today."

Chen Quan, who was preparing lunch, glanced at the vegetables in her arms and praised her.

"Yin Yin, these vegetables don't look like they're from our warehouse. They're much fresher, like they were just picked."

He took a bite of a cucumber; it was crisp and sweet.

Qi Yin smiled. "Well, they are fresh. Let's make an extra dish, Uncle Chen."

Chen Quan flexed his biceps, tossed the vegetable basket into the air, and caught it steadily.

"No problem. Tianyu, come help out."

Qi Yin scanned the room but didn't see the people she was looking for.

"Where are Yan Xiu and Wenwen?"

Chen Quan didn't turn around, simply pointing his finger outside.

"That boy Yan Xiu said his Supernatural Ability isn't very useful when it rains, so he's out there training Wenwen right now."

Looking at the time, they had likely been training for most of the morning.

As his voice trailed off, Qi Yin heard Lu Yanxiu's determined voice coming from the courtyard.

"Again!"

"One more time..."