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Lou Quan wanted to give Tao Qiu a surprise and let him know how much he valued his abilities.

While the leaders were still arguing, Lou Quan's trusted aide glanced at the communicator, stepped forward, and said to him, "They've arrived."

He had barely opened his mouth when several leaders wisely shut up and stood aside, pretending to be wooden figures.

Lou Quan's previously expressionless face quickly broke into a warm smile. He turned to one of the leaders and asked, "Are you sure this piece of land has the highest degree of soil mutation and the lowest nutrient content?"

The leader honestly replied, "This soil was dug up from outside and hasn't been treated in any way. Seeds planted in it would probably have a hard time even germinating, let alone maturing and bearing fruit."

"That's good then." Lou Quan's lips curled up even higher.

The soil in the valley where Tao Qiu lived was very poor, and even wild grass could hardly grow. However, he was able to use his special ability to make the valley full of fruits and vegetables.

The soil here is even worse than in the valley, so Lou Quan wanted to see just how far Tao Qiu's special ability could go.

The adjutant led Tao Qiu and the others in, and Lou Quan was the first to greet them, smiling broadly as he exchanged pleasantries, "You've arrived so early? Have you had breakfast?"

Tao Qiu smiled and said, "I've eaten. Thank you for your concern, Commander."

Third Cub remembered the last time Lou Quan poured him tea, so he took the initiative to strike up a conversation, "Uncle, we had steamed buns and porridge for breakfast. What did you eat?"

Lou Quan squatted down, led the Third Cub to him, and said in a soft voice with a smile, "Uncle also had some porridge. It was sweet porridge, and it tasted pretty good."

Third Cub said, "We drank savory porridge, it was so fragrant! Uncle, you can try it sometime."

"Sure, I'll try it and let you know if it's good."

"OK."

The two, one big and one small, chatted happily. Lou Quan picked up the Third Cub with one hand, weighed them in his arms, and said to Tao Qiu, "The children are quite robust; you've raised them very well."

This isn't a sarcastic remark about the child being fat; it's a genuine compliment.

In this day and age, it's no exaggeration to say that anyone who can raise such healthy and fair-skinned children must be extremely wealthy or noble.

Tao Qiu held the Third Cub's round but not chubby little hands and said sincerely, "The children take after me, they eat a lot. Luckily Lou Yu and I can afford to raise them, otherwise they would have to go hungry."

Third Cub grasped Tao Qiu's hand, his purple eyes brimming with pure love, "Daddy is the best dad in the world, I love Daddy the most!"

Seeing this, Lou Quan said, "What an obedient child! I almost want to snatch him away."

Before Tao Qiu and Lou Yu could speak, the Third Cub looked up at Lou Quan and said, "Uncle, you can't snatch children. Snatching children is wrong, and I'll beat you up!"

The adults around them laughed. Lou Yu said, "Did you hear that? Don't do anything naughty. If my little darling finds out, you'll get a beating."

Lou Yu's words seemed casual, yet they also seemed to carry a deeper meaning.

Lou Quan pretended not to understand and said cheerfully, "Then from now on, Yuanyuan will be in charge of supervising Uncle."

The Third Cub raised his chin and said earnestly, "I guarantee I'll complete the mission."

Everyone was amused by her adorable appearance again.

Lou Quan carried her inside, explaining the place to Tao Qiu as he went, saying something similar to what the leaders had just described.

Tao Qiu and Lou Yu believed his assessment of the high level of secrecy. They had to pass through several checks on their way here, making it virtually impossible for anyone trying to gather information to sneak in.

Lou Yu only learned from his adjutant that this place was specially built by Lou Quan for Tao Qiu, so that Tao Qiu could focus on planting crops.

After speaking, Lou Quan looked at Tao Qiu: "Mr. Tao, are you satisfied with this place? If you don't like it, I can have someone change it according to your requirements, or you can choose another place if you wish."

Tao Qiu was able to grow so many crops in the valley before, where there was nothing. There's no reason why he couldn't do it in a place with better conditions. As long as he has a piece of land, even without any other good conditions, he can complete the work on time and in the required quantity.

"That's fine."

Tao Qiu spoke, she handed the bag she had been carrying to Lou Quan.

"Inside are seeds of all the crops we currently have. I've written their names on the packaging, so don't worry about getting them mixed up."

Lou Quan took the package and handed it to several leaders in the adjacent planting area whose eyes were wide with astonishment. At the same time, he said to Tao Qiu, "Mr. Tao, you're so thoughtful. Thank you for your help. I bought the seeds from you. Just name your price, and I'll transfer the money to you later."

Tao Qiu didn't stand on ceremony and stated her asking price. Lou Quan didn't haggle and readily agreed.

The leaders in the planting area didn't know that Tao Qiu was Snow Bird. Lou Quan told them that Tao Qiu was an ability user who had awakened plant-based superpowers, and that he had hired him at a high price, plus by Lou Yu's body. He said that from now on, they should treat him like an ancestor.

Holding the plant seeds supposedly cultivated by superhumans, the leaders were so excited their faces turned red, wishing they could immediately run back to the laboratory to study them.

However, thinking about watching Tao Qiu display his supernatural abilities later, they could only forcefully suppress their excitement.

Tao Qiu turned to look at the soft ground and said to Lou Quan, "Let's start now. The sooner we see it, the sooner you can all rest assured, and you won't have to come over early in the morning to wait anymore."

Lou Quan sensed the teasing in Tao Qiu's tone, but he pretended not to notice and gave his adjutant a wink. The adjutant then presented the prepared seeds to Tao Qiu.

"These are the cabbage seeds we prepared. They're very viable. Mr. Tao, you can take a look. If you don't think they're suitable, we'll get something else."

Tao Qiu took the bag of seeds, placed his hand on them, infused them with a little bit of his special ability, and then carefully sensed them.

After planting crops for several years, Tao Qiu was able to sense whether the seeds were dead or dormant through his supernatural energy.

The adjutant wasn't lying; the seed viability of this generation of cabbage seeds is indeed very high.

Tao Qiu handed the seeds back, saying, "The seeds are fine. Go and sow them. Once they're planted, we'll encourage them to grow."

Back in the valley, it was like growing vegetables for your own family; you had to do everything yourself from start to finish. Now that there's extra labor, Tao Qiu is too lazy to work anymore.

The adjutant Lou Quan, Lou Quan nodded.

The adjutant went to make arrangements, and Lou Quan said to Tao Qiu, "Then, why don't you go and rest for a while? I brought some tea with me, Mr. Tao, please have a taste."

He then said to the children, "I also have some snacks. I don't know what you like, but I've prepared everything I could. Tell Uncle which ones you like after you finish eating, and I'll buy you your favorites from now on, okay?"

Lou Quan knew very well that Tao Qiu and Lou Yu both doted on their children, so instead of spending time trying to please them, he should just make the kids happy.

Once inside the house, they sat down on the sofa. The adjutant brought in two large suitcases and placed them in front of the three children.

Inside was a ton of snacks, all kinds of flavors and types. If it weren't for the simple packaging, it would have looked exactly like the snack gift packs Tao Qiu had seen in her past life.

Tao Qiu glanced over and the first thing she saw was chocolate.

The snacks Lou Yu brought for Tao Qiu and the children were all made by Chen Lin, such as pastries and potato chips. Even the sugar was just rock sugar at most. These kinds of industrially produced snacks were not even available for sale at the Yong'an Base.

Needless to say, it was definitely bought from the Central Base, and the price wouldn't have been cheap.

The three kids had only seen this kind of snack in TV dramas. They thought the snack Lou Quan was talking about was similar to the snacks they had eaten before, but they didn't expect that even the types were different.

The children were momentarily at a loss, and all turned to look at Tao Qiu and Lou Yu.

Lou Quan was also watching the two of them, mainly observing Tao Qiu's expression.

Tao Qiu said, "This is a gift from your uncle. If you like it, please accept it, but don't forget to thank your uncle."

The three children looked up at Lou Quan, smiled sweetly, and said in soft, sweet voices, "Thank you, Uncle."

Lou Quan smiled and said, "No need to thank me, if you like it, that's fine."

With Tao Qiu and Lou Quan's words in mind, the kids accepted it without any qualms.

The adjutant found them small stools so they could sit and choose their favorite snacks.

Lou Quan looked at the three children with a smile in his eyes, but his mind was replaying the changes in Tao Qiu's expression that he had just witnessed.

From the day Tao Qiu appeared at the base, Lou Quan would keep a close eye on him whenever they met.

Lou Quan discovered that Tao Qiu showed no curiosity whatsoever about any of the human civilization at the base, and was very skilled at using various things in daily life.

Just like now, when he saw those snacks that Yong'an Base didn't have, and Lou Yu probably hadn't bought for them before, his eyes didn't reveal curiosity about unfamiliar things, but rather a sense of familiarity upon seeing something familiar.

If he was truly a mutated monster before, and only became human due to some opportunity, then his reaction should be similar to that of the three children.

The products of human civilization cannot be fully understood through books and TV dramas alone.

The feeling that Tao Qiu gave Lou Quan was as if he were a real human being who was born and lived in human society, and that it was an accident that he became Snow Bird and stayed outside for more than 20 years.

Interesting! Did the Snow Bird transform into a human, or did the human transform into Snow Bird?

Lou Yu had known Tao Qiu for several years longer than him, so how could he not have noticed this? What was he thinking?

Lou Quan glanced at Lou Yu out of the corner of his eye. Lou Yu was pouring tea for Tao Qiu, and his gaze never left Tao Qiu's face, where he was smiling more brightly than the sun.

Alright, no need to say more. He's a hopeless romantic. Even if he discovers something's wrong, as long as Tao Qiu doesn't say anything, Lou Yu probably won't take the initiative to investigate.

Lou Quan wasn't investigating these things to use as leverage against Tao Qiu; he simply wanted to figure things out when he encountered a problem. As long as it didn't affect his interests, he could completely pretend he knew nothing about it.

"Dad, Lou Yu's Dad, this black thing is so sweet! You Second Cub should try it." Erzai had tasted the snacks himself and thought they were delicious, so he gave some to Tao Qiu and Lou Yu.