Chapter Summaries

Tao Qiu's wheat became flour that brought relief and celebration to Yong'an Base, and residents eagerly bought more after tasting its quality. At the Central Base, Bai Yan saw photos Lou Qing showed her of Lou Yu, Tao Qiu, and their three children.

• Tao Qiu learned that the new flour came from his wheat, and he celebrated with the children over lunch and plans for egg pancakes.
• Lou Yu drove Tao Qiu and the children home through a lively Yong'an Base as residents celebrated the new grain supply.
• Neighbors discovered that food made with the new flour carried some of the aroma they admired from Lou Yu and Chen Lin's homes, and they returned to supermarkets to buy more.
• Bai Yan finished her report at the Lou Family Research Institute and found Lou Qing waiting outside her home with news about Lou Yu.
• Lou Qing showed Bai Yan three photos of Lou Yu, a white-haired man, and their three children, and Bai Yan recognized Lou Yu's features in the children.

Bai Yan reflected on why she opposed the awakening experiments and warned herself that speaking out could put her in danger, while Lou Qing urged her to be careful. At Yong'an Base, Lou Quan proposed turning Tao Qiu’s ability energy into stronger medicine after researchers detected it in his crop seeds.

• Bai Yan studied the photos of Lou Yu with his partner and children, then refused to keep them and shut the door on Lou Qing.
• Lou Qing warned Bai Yan that her opposition to the awakening experiments could attract danger and harm her chances of staying safe.
• Bai Yan recalled Lou Yu’s role in exposing the Shen Family’s deadly experiments and the hardships that followed, and reaffirmed her opposition to illegal and immoral practices.
• Lou Quan listened as a researcher reported finding active ability energy in Tao Qiu’s crop seeds.
• Lou Quan suggested using Tao Qiu’s ability energy in medicine to produce stronger, faster effects, recalling that Tao Qiu had said it could not be transferred directly into a person.

Lou Quan confirmed Tao Qiu’s work had produced a huge cabbage harvest and explored using crops as a medium for ability energy. Tao Qiu returned home with the cubs, and he and Lou Yu planned a hunting trip before winter set in.

• Lou Quan and a researcher concluded that ability energy had to be extracted from crops or seeds before people could absorb it, and Lou Quan ordered them to develop the medicine.
• Tao Qiu finished work at the planting area, where Lou Quan weighed a cabbage at fifty-six jin and arranged for the crop to be harvested and distributed to the military cafeteria.
• Tao Qiu took two cabbages home and cooked a cabbage feast for Lou Yu and the cubs, while soldiers and neighbors were drawn to the cabbage’s fragrance.
• Lou Yu and Tao Qiu decided to go hunting the next day at an unclaimed area near the base, and Lou Yu agreed to borrow a larger vehicle.

Lou Yu, Tao Qiu, and the three cubs went west to hunt mutated goats, with the cubs practicing their hunting skills before Tao Qiu and Lou Yu helped kill the rest of the herd. While Tao Qiu and two cubs carried goats back, two mutated tigers attacked Lou Yu and Second Cub, who fought back as the others were returning.

• Lou Yu secretly took Tao Qiu and the three cubs out of the base, and they traveled west to a herd of low-mutation goats.
• Tao Qiu transformed and carried Lou Yu up the mountain, where the cubs planned their hunt and attacked a buck.
• The cubs killed three bucks, then Tao Qiu and Lou Yu entered the woods and brought down the rest of the herd.
• Tao Qiu and the cubs began carrying the goats back in trips while Lou Yu and a cub guarded the carcasses.
• Two mutated tigers approached Lou Yu and Second Cub, then pounced after deciding to attack.
• Lou Yu hurled two balls of lightning at the tigers as Second Cub grabbed him and flew them out of reach.

Lou Yu’s family returned from a hunt with an intermediate mutated tiger and goats, sold part of their haul, and prepared to sell the remaining goat meat the next day. The chapter ended with the cubs helping maintain order at the busy market stall.

• Second Cub carried Lou Yu out of the tigers’ reach, and Tao Qiu returned and killed the injured tiger as the other tiger escaped.
• Tao Qiu and Lou Yu agreed that the tiger was valuable enough to cover the goats the tigers had ruined, then the family returned to base with their haul.
• Lou Quan bought the tiger, some goats, and their wool, while Lou Yu’s friends helped process the goats the family kept.
• Tao Qiu and Chen Lin cooked goat stew, and news spread that Lou Yu would sell goat meat the next morning.
• The Lou Family’s informants reported Lou Yu’s good fortune, while the family elders discussed trying to use Bai Yan to bring him back.
• Lou Yu’s family set up their stall the next day, where Tao Qiu helped cut meat and the three cubs reminded customers to line up.

Tao Qiu gave free meat to two women who had treated his family kindly, while Lou Yu shut down a customer who tried to provoke him. After the first snow fell, the family visited Lou Yu’s teammates, where Huo Lan welcomed the cubs and gave the girls handmade scarves.

• Third Cub recognized two women who had served Tao Qiu and Lou Yu at a restaurant, and Tao Qiu gave them the mutton they had ordered as thanks for their past kindness.
• A customer tried to provoke Lou Yu by commenting on Tao Qiu’s generosity, but Lou Yu refused to give him free meat and sent him to pay.
• The first snow fell, and Tao Qiu took the bundled-up cubs outside before the family built snowmen together.
• The family visited Lou Yu’s teammates, where Huo Lan greeted Second Cub and Third Cub, while Liu Qi’an took Eldest Cub to play chess.
• Huo Lan gave Second Cub and Third Cub pink scarves she had knitted herself, and the girls thanked her with tearful hugs.

Huo Lan gave the children gifts, and Congcong joined them at Chen Lin’s home, where he met Tao Qiu and the cubs. The children bonded while playing outside, but Congcong was left stunned when Second Cub effortlessly lifted a large snowball.

• Huo Lan gave all three cubs scented balm and gave Second Cub and Third Cub scarves, while Eldest Cub escaped Liu Qi'an’s game of five in a row.
• Congcong arrived with his father, greeted Tao Qiu and the children, and avoided Liu Qi'an’s attempt to draw him into a game.
• The cubs and Congcong played in the courtyard, laughed over Second Cub’s “foot flower” joke, and discovered that they could all read and write some characters.
• Congcong praised the cubs’ reading, and Eldest Cub called Congcong a top student after learning he had placed third in his class.
• While the children built a snowman, Second Cub easily lifted a thigh-high snowball, leaving Congcong shocked and worried she might hurt herself.

The cubs nearly revealed their unusual strength and intelligence to Congcong, but Tao Qiu reassured them after they convinced him it was normal. The family and their friends celebrated New Year's Eve together, and the chapter ended with Tao Qiu and Lou Yu sharing a flirtatious, intimate moment.

• Second Cub alarmed Congcong by showing her strength, but Eldest Cub and Third Cub helped explain it away.
• Congcong told his father about the cubs' quick learning, and his father praised their parents.
• The cubs apologized to Tao Qiu for nearly giving themselves away, and Tao Qiu reassured them that Congcong would not suspect their true identities.
• Tao Qiu, Lou Yu, the cubs, and their friends celebrated New Year's Eve with decorations, a feast, and red envelopes.
• After their guests left, Tao Qiu flirted with Lou Yu, and they kissed before heading to bed.

Tao Qiu and Lou Yu celebrated the New Year, and Tao Qiu learned to drive before the base prepared for the spring mutant monster tide. When the attack began, Lou Yu went to the front lines while Tao Qiu stayed behind with the cubs, and Lou Quan’s poisoned cabbage bait turned the tide against the monsters.

• Tao Qiu and Lou Yu spent the night together, then celebrated the New Year with the cubs and Congcong.
• Tao Qiu learned to drive with Lou Yu’s help and bought a car of his own.
• As spring approached, Tao Qiu sensed the mutant monsters’ arrival before the base alarm sounded, and Lou Yu left to join the defense.
• Lou Yu fought at the front lines, then rested in the rear and recognized Tao Qiu’s cabbage among the bait Lou Quan had deployed.
• The cabbage drew mutant monsters away from the defensive line, and poisoned monsters began attacking one another after the poison took effect.

Yong'an Base defeated the spring mutant-monster wave with poisoned dough made using Tao Qiu’s cabbage, and the battle ended with few casualties. After returning to ordinary work, Tao Qiu took Lou Yu and the children to the valley, where Lou Yu discussed the research institute’s scarce success with awakening reagents and Lou Quan’s reluctance to repeat the last experiment.

• Lou Yu learned that Lou Quan’s forces had used cabbage-scented poisoned dough to kill the invading mutant monsters without losing soldiers.
• Lou Yu returned home safely, and Tao Qiu and the three children welcomed him with relief.
• Yong'an Base credited Lou Quan and Tao Qiu for the successful defense, while the Lou Family’s spies failed to uncover the secret weapon.
• Tao Qiu worked diligently in the planting area, then took time off to bring Lou Yu and the children to the valley to plant crops for Green Python and the others.
• Lou Yu told Tao Qiu that the research institute had disclosed only one successful reagent and that Lou Quan did not want to repeat the previous awakening experiment, in which only Zhao Tao survived.

Tao Qiu and the cubs returned to their valley after winter at the human base, reunited with their animal friends, and prepared to resume farming. Lou Yu went back to work at the base, while Tao Qiu and the cubs settled into wilderness life and ended the day sharing a meal by the fire.

• Tao Qiu, Lou Yu, and the cubs cleaned the valley cave and aired out their bedding after returning from the base.
• Tao Qiu and Lou Yu collected materials from Red Fox and White Fox, who reassured them that foxes had been patrolling Tao Qiu’s territory.
• Tao Qiu and the cubs filled Lou Yu’s cargo box with prey and said goodbye before he returned to the base alone.
• Black Rabbit visited the cubs, heard about their safe and comfortable time at the base, and warned them to keep their Snow Bird identities secret.
• Tao Qiu brought the cubs to visit Green Python and Little Snake, who welcomed them and gave them prey to take home.
• Tao Qiu and the cubs roasted meat over a fire and reminisced about cooking together.

Lou Yu told Tao Qiu that Lou Quan had taken control of the Lou Family’s remaining informants in the Yong'an Base, who had reported suspicions about the base’s unusually good grain. Tao Qiu trusted Lou Quan to handle the matter, and three days later Lou Quan visited to explain his plan.

• Tao Qiu and the cubs planted crops, and he continued tending the valley and working in the planting area.
• The harvest repaid the grain owed to the Central Base and Yongkang Base, while residents praised the taste of rice and flour sold at the Yong'an Base.
• Lou Yu told Tao Qiu that Lou Quan had secretly turned the Lou Family’s informants and gathered their reports about the grain.
• Tao Qiu learned that the informants’ reports had linked the improved grain to him and his work in the planting area.
• Lou Yu reassured Tao Qiu that Lou Quan had a way to dispel the Central Base’s suspicions, and Lou Quan visited three days later to explain his plan.

Lou Quan and Tao Qiu agreed to use treated seeds and rice to draw the Lou Family’s main branch into a profitable deal while concealing the crops’ active energy. After the old men in Central Base sampled the food and demanded more, they confronted Lou Quan, who realized they had been behind the smuggling.

• Lou Quan explained his plan to present Tao Qiu as the source of Yong'an Base’s improved crops, and Tao Qiu agreed to share in the seed profits.
• Lou Quan planned to reduce the seeds’ active energy so their crops would appear ordinary and produce only one good generation.
• Tao Qiu teased Lou Yu about Lou Quan’s schemes, and the two shared an affectionate moment.
• The Lou Family’s informants sent small samples of rice and flour to Central Base, where food tasters and the old men found them delicious and safe.
• The food tasters became obsessed with the meal and later joined the opposition after learning about its cause through different channels.
• When the old men demanded more food, Lou Quan said smuggling had been stopped, and they confronted him about Tao Qiu’s seeds; Lou Quan realized their people had smuggled the samples.

Lou Quan traded Tao Qiu’s improved grain seeds to the Central Base for weapons, while Lou Qing brought some seeds to Bai Yan, who agreed to buy them. At the Yong'an Base, the new harvest arrived, and Tao Qiu’s role as a planting expert became public, leaving residents excited for next year’s fruits and vegetables.

• Lou Quan negotiated a deal with the Lou Family elders, exchanging improved seeds for weapons and refusing to lower the price of his rice and flour.
• The elders received and tested the seeds, then sent Lou Quan the promised weapons, half the value of which he transferred to Tao Qiu.
• Lou Qing brought seeds to Bai Yan, who insisted on paying for them, and the two bases began planting the new grain.
• After the second-half grain harvest, Lou Quan announced that Tao Qiu was a planting expert who had cultivated the improved seeds.
• Planting-area employees confirmed Tao Qiu’s expertise, and Lou Quan announced that Tao Qiu would cultivate fruit and vegetable seeds the following year.

Lou Quan’s premium crops became a sensation after rice and flour helped a terminally ill patriarch regain his appetite and strength. The resulting surge in demand left the Lou Family’s elders eager to obtain more stock from Lou Quan.

• Lou Quan explained that the old men’s crops came from second-generation seeds, whose quality was lower than the first generation, and refused to reduce their price.
• The Lou Family marketed its premium rice and flour at Central Base with exaggerated claims about their health benefits.
• A terminally ill patriarch began eating after smelling the rice, then regained enough strength to walk and feed fish.
• A doctor attributed the patriarch’s improvement to the Lou Family’s rice and flour, and news of their effects caused the remaining stock to sell out.
• The Lou Family’s elders regretted selling at their original price, held onto their own supply, and repeatedly called Lou Quan for more.

Lou Quan sold grain and seeds to the old men at the Central Base for weapons and ammunition, while the Lou Family profited from scarcity and drew the Shen Family’s envy. At the Lou Family Research Institute, Bai Yan detected a fleeting life-filled energy in Tao Qiu’s seeds and quietly continued investigating, fearing that others would target him.

• Lou Quan raised the grain price to three times its previous rate and accepted only weapons and ammunition, while agreeing to send seeds at the old price.
• The Lou Family concealed the grain’s source, raised its price, and limited its supply, attracting attention and prompting the Shen Family to investigate the superior seeds.
• At the Yong'an Base, Tao Qiu and Lou Yu took the children to a restaurant, where the owner eagerly welcomed them.
• Bai Yan spent seven days privately testing the seeds Lou Qing had given her and detected a strange active energy in a shoot.
• Bai Yan kept her findings secret because she feared that people would seek to seize Tao Qiu if they learned what the seeds could do.

Tao Qiu, Lou Yu, and the cubs enjoyed a winter outing before Yong'an Base repelled another mutated monster attack and celebrated the return of fresh crops. At the Central Base, the Lou Family sold its premium grain again and announced limited sales of second-generation seeds to head off pressure from rival families.

• Third Cub made Tao Qiu a snowball bird, and Eldest Cub and Second Cub later brought him snowball gifts too.
• Lou Yu took Tao Qiu and the cubs to Lou Quan's public ice rink, where Huo Lan and Chen Lin taught the cubs to skate while Tao Qiu flirted with Lou Yu under the pretense of needing help.
• When spring came, Lou Yu, Zhao Tao, the poisonous dough, and the strengthened army helped Yong'an Base defeat a mutated monster invasion.
• Yong'an Base opened several supermarkets to sell the new season's rice, flour, fruits, and vegetables, and residents celebrated cooking with fresh ingredients.
• The Lou Family's premium rice and flour sold out at the Central Base, while the Shen Family failed to cultivate the Lou Family's superior seeds and its head punished the project staff.
• The Lou Family announced limited sales of second-generation rice and wheat seeds, warning buyers that the crops would have reduced flavor and nutrition.

Tao Qiu and Lou Yu enjoyed family life in Yong'an Base after the Lou Family profited from selling radishes, but Lou Yu returned from a night shift acting strangely and suddenly embraced Tao Qiu. The chapter leaves Tao Qiu caught off guard as Lou Yu’s condition remains unexplained.

• The Lou Family sold radishes after other families had recouped losses from selling inferior grain, and their new produce proved popular at Central Base.
• Tao Qiu took the cubs shopping at Yong'an Base, then shared a warm evening and dinner with them and Lou Yu.
• After putting the cubs to bed, Tao Qiu and Lou Yu spent an intimate night together.
• One winter night, Lou Yu said he had a night shift and told Tao Qiu to go to bed without waiting.
• Lou Yu returned in the middle of the night with ragged breathing, then pounced on Tao Qiu and pulled him tightly into his arms.

Lou Yu told Tao Qiu that the Ability Stabilization Agent had been developed and a new awakening experiment was beginning. The experiment ended with seven new ability users and many deaths, leaving Lou Yu devastated, but his family helped him recover as Yong'an Base prepared for the spring invasion.

• Lou Yu told Tao Qiu that Lou Quan had prepared the agent and two Awakening Reagents, and that the group had tacitly agreed to begin the experiment.
• Lou Quan gathered the volunteers, explained the preparations and risks, and offered compensation and support for those they designated; everyone stayed in the experiment.
• Lou Yu remained in the underground experimental area through New Year's Eve until the experiment ended, while Tao Qiu and the cubs waited for him at home.
• Fifty participants received reagents made from spider or fox material; three awakened with spider abilities and four with fox abilities, while the majority died and none became defective products.
• Lou Yu returned home exhausted, slept for a day and night, and regained some hope through the care of Tao Qiu and the cubs.
• Tao Qiu made Lou Yu rest for a week before he and Zhao Tao helped the seven new ability users adapt, as the research institute continued developing the agent and the base prepared for spring.

Bai Yan discovered that active energy from the seeds could heal injuries and promote growth, but destroyed her research to protect Tao Qiu from the major families. Meanwhile, Seventh Young Lady Shen struggled to cultivate the Lou Family’s seeds and planned with Eldest Young Master Shen to secretly seek help from a person who had helped develop the Awakening Reagent.

• Bai Yan used extracted active energy to heal a dying rabbit and revive a stunted plant, then erased her experiments to keep Tao Qiu safe from the major families.
• Several families found that second-generation Lou Family seeds yielded inferior grain, while the Shen Family’s own seed-cultivation project continued to fail.
• The Shen Family Head threatened to arrange a marriage alliance for Seventh Young Lady Shen if she could not produce results, and Second Young Master Shen mocked her about the failed project.
• Seventh Young Lady Shen traded insults with Second Young Master Shen before leaving to talk with Eldest Young Master Shen.
• Seventh Young Lady Shen persuaded Eldest Young Master Shen to help her secretly visit a knowledgeable person, and they planned to go the following night while the Shen Family Head was away.