Wasteland Development Diary

By the coast, under a tree.

Aqi was taking big bites out of the bread in her hand.

It was lunchtime, and many of her coworkers liked to stay at their workstations, or go to the dam to enjoy the breeze, but she preferred to come to Yalong Bay.

Aqi had a friend here.

"It's such a pity about those magical trees."

The tree spirit, Ye Qing, couldn't help but grumble, "If it were me, I would definitely make those spiral trees grow better. The way they're doing it now, there's no proper care, it's all relying on nature. That pointy-headed savage is wasting resources!"

Aqi took a swig of water to go with her bread, "Even though you think his methods are crude, they can quickly cultivate trees. Dead Sea fruit is so popular right now, many businessmen are coming to buy it."

"It's like our dam, many workers from other places think the '拼命机' (Pinyin: pīnmìng jī - roughly translates to 'desperate machine') is ridiculous and doesn't have much technical content, but they can't come up with anything more suitable."

"I think if you and him planted trees together, you'd have better results."

"...That guy can't even speak the local language, and he can't use a translator either," Ye Qing said, "There's no way to communicate, and he's always hiding in the trees, he doesn't want to come down at all."

The tree spirit was always talkative with people he knew, but very bad at dealing with strangers.

Aqi started eating cold noodles with cabbage using a fork, "I'll go try, even if we can't talk, I can understand gestures."

"Don't go, that guy might be dangerous."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Aqi said.

The tree spirit was a friend she had made here. At first, she heard the tree spirit muttering to himself, and then she couldn't help but chat with it, and that's how they met.

Ye Qing had never been successful in planting trees. Later, the tall man wrapped in vines came and replaced him.

This made the tree spirit very unconvinced.

But the other party had undeniable results—eight spiral trees growing in the Dead Sea were full of vitality, their winding canopies were becoming increasingly dense, and the Dead Sea fruit born on the trees was sweeping the outside world.

It is said that there are some mutated treasures in the Dead Sea fruit, which can grant special abilities after eating them.

Although the chairman publicly stated that this was only temporary, a short-term side effect, and that consumers should not take it too seriously.

But even a short dream is still a dream, so it is still very popular.

The contrast between the two was too stark.

Ye Qing hadn't even grown seedlings at that time.

As soon as the mysterious man arrived, he activated these tree species, and they immediately changed dramatically.

Ye Qing was originally invited by the chairman from the Tree Herding Master, and was the most outstanding tree planter among the tree spirits, but now he has been forgotten. He was too embarrassed to go to the chairman himself, because he felt too failed and useless, and stood sadly in the corner every day.

Aqi patted the tree trunk and volunteered, "I'll go find him and see if I can talk to him. If you two team up, you'll be invincible!"

Just like those out-of-town workers at the dam.

They initially laughed at the '拼命机', but later they also improved the large '拼命机'. Now there is a machine at each workstation, which is easy to operate, and there is no need to do some dangerous touch operations, and the collection efficiency is several times better than in the past.

...

The spiral tree grows in the Dead Sea. If a person steps into the Dead Sea, they will be like a piece of oil in an iron pot, and they will melt immediately, leaving nothing but bones and clothes.

You can't go into the Dead Sea.

Plus the tree planter is there.

So there is no need to worry about the Dead Sea fruit being stolen.

The tree planter comes down from the tree at night.

Especially when it is pitch black all around, with only some yellow fluorescent mushrooms providing light. In the moonlight, the tall and sturdy giant comes down from the tree.

He stretches his body in the moonlight, and the vines wrapped around his body gradually unravel, revealing the strong and powerful muscles inside.

It seems he really doesn't have the habit of wearing clothes.

No wonder the tree spirit said he was a savage.

Aqi, who was peeking from a distance, thought so while eating dried sweet potatoes.

Strangely, the vines were growing on him, the source seemed to be near his buttocks on his back... it seemed to be his tail.

Even more surprising, the tree planter was actually taking a bath in the Dead Sea.

A layer of water mist lingered around his body, as if he had some kind of power to absorb moisture from the air, washing away the dirt from the surface of his body. The pointy tuft of hair on his head also became soft, and the whole person seemed less strange.

The tree planter wrapped the vines around his body again, and then began to take a backpack from the tree. Then he sat alone on a large rock on the remote coast, eating while looking at the moon.

He would sit cross-legged on the stone for a long time, until dawn, and then he would return to the tree, avoiding everyone's eyes and stares under the sun.

He looked a little lonely.

One day, Aqi plucked up the courage to go over. To show that she had no malicious intentions, she also brought a white flag made of branches and cloth strips.

Her approach startled the other party.

The tall tree planter showed a strange look in his eyes when he saw her, and retreated in a panic.

"I have no malice!"

"Wait a minute!"

"This."

The other party strode away and scurried all the way to the spiral tree.

Aqi could only put her cloth bag on the coast, pointed to the dried sweet potatoes inside, and said loudly: "This, delicious, I give it to you to eat."

Then she left.

Later, Aqi came again and found that the cloth bag was still there, but the dried sweet potatoes inside were gone.

The tree planter was still on the tree, unwilling to come down.

This was a good start.

Relying on this stupid method, Aqi tried to communicate with him with food.

The tree planter gave her a strange fruit pulp in return, the taste was sweet and sour, she didn't know if it was Dead Sea fruit, but it was delicious. After eating it, she felt very energetic, full of strength, and not tired at all when working at her workstation.

...

Soon, a rumor appeared on the dam that the tree planter who managed the eight spiral trees was very popular with women recently.

"That guy is tall and strong, and a genuine enhancer, and he is also valued by the chairman. Although his dress is a bit strange, it is normal for women to like him."

"There are several women, there is Sister Shui from the Sandport Bar, she has a killer waist and butt, I feel itchy in my heart when I look at her, but she is also eyeing that guy."

"There is also Miss Chestnut, she even rejected Sand Boss's marriage proposal before, but she seems to like him very much. I heard that she also gave him a handkerchief and chewed wine."

"There are also two out-of-town girls, who said they came from a big city. They are dressed really beautifully, and they seem to be twin sisters. They said they hugged and kissed the tree planter... City people really play wild."

"What are you talking about? I also heard that that guy played with two women and three men at the same time! The vine on his body is his other thing..."

"How can so many people play together?"

"It's like this, I'll draw it for you."

Everyone was excitedly talking about dirty jokes and love affairs.

Aqi also listened with great interest.

One of the workers suddenly turned around and said: "Sister Aqi, it is said that you often go to the coast at night, you wouldn't have gotten along with that guy too, right?"

"No, no."

Aqi waved her hand: "I just brought him some food, we didn't say a word, I just felt curious."

"You have to be careful."

The worker immediately said with a serious face: "That guy is very lewd and wild, and has love affairs with many women, don't be fooled."

"And don't go there alone, that place has no camera surveillance. If something happens, it's not easy to call for help, that guy is an enhancer, and if he becomes兽性大发 (Pinyin: shòuxìng dàfā - overcome by animalistic desires) it will be a big trouble."

"That's right!"

"You have to be careful! Don't go there."

"And he doesn't understand our language, no one knows what kind of person that guy is. It's better to be safe than sorry."

Everyone was talking at once, reminding her to keep her distance from the other party.

Aqi could only say she knew, she knew.

She knew this was everyone's kindness.

The workers all regarded her as a sister from their own family, she was indeed not very old, 16 years old this year, and there were very few women working at the Guangtai Dam.

In addition, she worked hard, was serious and responsible, and had a carefree personality, which was very appreciated by the men.

Most importantly, Aqi was very ugly.

She had a big face and small eyes, and a very strong figure. She was the kind of person that you would think of at a glance—ah, what an ugly young girl, I feel sorry for her.

For ugly women, men's friendship is usually sincere.

Aqi had been ugly since she was a child, and she was used to it.

Her only regret was that her mother was obviously very good-looking, but she inherited her father's appearance.

She also heard many workers say in private.

"Aqi is really a good woman, she never complains about anything, always does her job well, is always happy, and is very healthy."

"Yes, it's a pity..."

"I hope she can find a good man."

"Anyway, she is considered our team's younger sister, we can't let outsiders bully her."

"That's for sure!"

Everyone was very kind to her, they would always leave her a share of good food, and they would tell her about good things as soon as possible. Not long ago, they also helped her fight for a worker quota to go to the glider manufacturing side, although it was a pity that it failed.

Aqi was very satisfied with her life.

She could earn enough money to eat her fill without worrying every day, and the company was constantly launching so many new foods and equipment, and employees could try them for free.

This was something that residents of other cities dreamed of.

She still went to the coast every night.

As rumored, there were indeed many women there.

Aqi also observed carefully.

These women were either curvy, or had beautiful faces, they were the kind of good-looking girls who would typically be popular.

Faced with them, the tree planter naturally relaxed and got off the tree, and gestured to them at close range, with a much kinder attitude.

It was completely different from the frightened look of avoiding her when he saw her.

However.

Everyone is just making friends.

She had to help Ye Qing get in touch with him.

Aqi went to the mushroom forest to participate in learning, and learned that even if they couldn't speak, they could communicate with each other through sign language, basic pronunciation, and other methods.

Facing Aqi, the tree planter still kept his distance.

She tried hard to use body language to talk to him, but the other party just looked confused and retreated back to the tree.

A fair-faced woman also said to her: "Don't bother, your innate conditions are not suitable for doing this, you can't seduce him. Find another job, this kind of thing has to be done by older sisters."

Aqi could only explain: "I just want to talk to him about something."

The other party responded with a chuckle.

Autumn is getting colder and colder.

On the coast at night, those women were still competing for this enhancer, and even to improve their self-awareness, the clothes on their bodies were getting less and less.

This attracted many other men, who were very attentive to them, but most of them had no results.

One day, suddenly the women on the coast disappeared without a trace.

Maybe it was too cold, and they were wearing too little.

Aqi waited here for a long time, but did not wait for the tree planter to come down from the tree.

However, two strange people appeared.

They were a man and a woman, wearing strange masks, the man wearing a flower mask that looked like a monkey, and the woman wearing a red and white mask that looked like a fox.

The man said: "Nige wants to meet you, are you willing to talk to him?"

"Who is Nige?"

Aqi asked puzzled: "And who are you?"

The woman next to him said: "Nige is the tree planter you are talking about. We are Nige's friends."

"Oh."

Aqi said: "Since he wants to talk to me, why does he run so far when he faces me?"

The man hesitated.

"Because you are too beautiful, he doesn't dare to approach you."

"..."

Aqi felt that this was not a funny joke.

"It's true." The woman next to him also added: "Otherwise we wouldn't have come."

The man said: "I know this may sound a bit strange, but it's true, please listen to me..."