Chapter 5 The Rust-Removing Function of Mutant Lemons

Following the original owner's memories, Zuo Shan jogged slowly towards the place where she had dug yams.

The scavenging area in District 50 was originally an open plain, but due to the rise of mutated plants, it now looks more like a huge forest.

The elm and willow trees that used to grow sparsely in the wild have now grown into giant trees tens of meters tall. The wild grasses and shrubs are also growing to a height of one or two meters, and the tallest ones have grown to three or four meters.

A person walks along a path in the darkness of the early morning. Zuo Shan clenches her fists nervously, but she tries her best to adapt to this kind of life, otherwise it would be impossible to survive in such an environment.

She was on high alert the whole way because of the mutated squirrel that had appeared yesterday, but luckily most of the mutated animals were asleep at this time.

Even the field mice, which are active at night, only scurry around in the first half of the night and go back to their burrows in the second half.

After jogging for an hour, Zuo Shan was drenched in sweat. Her physique was too weak. It seemed that she would have to exercise more every day on her way to collect recyclables.

Calculating the distance, they were almost at that area. Zuo Shan slowed his pace, keeping a watchful eye on any animals or people that might appear around him.

Fortunately, she was the only person out scavenging today who walked this path, and there was no other disturbance.

Around 1:15 PM, she finally arrived at her destination. Zuo Shan saw that the long, narrow groove that had been dug out yesterday was still there, so she began to use a cutting tool to cut into the ground that extended vertically.

Over a period of more than two hours, she made a total of forty or fifty incisions and detected more than a dozen yam roots, but unfortunately they were all highly radioactive and inedible.

Just as she was about to give up on finding bargains, a pleasant surprise came: "Beep! Moderately radioactive food detected, non-toxic, safe to eat in small quantities, picking recommended!"

Zuo Shan was overjoyed and, taking advantage of the fact that it was still dark, she rolled up her sleeves and started working hard.

It took a full half hour to finally dig out a two-meter-long trench.

By then it was already broad daylight. When she saw the yam stick, which was about 15 centimeters in diameter and 1.8 meters long, she was so excited that tears streamed down her face.

Although this piece of yam is much thinner than the one from yesterday, it should still weigh about 20 pounds.

This is her first day scavenging, and she's already got such a harvest. She'll probably be able to support herself from now on, right?

Given what happened yesterday, she cut the yam into forty or fifty pieces right there on the ground, then picked a large pile of inedible grass leaves and mixed the yam pieces in with them, stuffing them into a burlap sack.

Logically, today's data collection task should be finished.

However, dragging a sack of inedible grass leaves back for two consecutive days could easily arouse suspicion.

As she was thinking about how to be more secure, she saw a ray of morning sun shining through the gaps in the tall bushes around her. When it shone on the ground where the yam sticks had been dug out, a metallic glint flashed.

She quickly moved closer and reached out to brush away the loose soil beside her, revealing a small patch of uneven metal covered in rust.

She tried digging a few times and realized it was a rather large lump of metal.

Given that Qi Yang had given her old tools before, she felt she should pick up the metal lump and let him see if it still had any use when they met again.

Zuo Shan began digging at the metal lump, and as she dug, she discovered that it was much larger than she had imagined, about the size of a half-grown child curled up.

However, she couldn't tell what it was made of, but she could roughly estimate its weight, which was about seventy or eighty pounds.

These scrap metal lumps, whose original appearance is indistinguishable, can probably only be sold by weight, and the price will definitely be very low, probably worth at most one or two silver coins.

Zuo Shan hesitated, wondering whether to take it back. Was it worth the long journey for such a piece of junk?

The answer is: It's worth it!

For her now, even flies and mosquitoes are meat; even a small gain is better than nothing.

As the sun rises, more and more scavengers appear. Some, who plan to work all day, have already found a shady spot and begin to slowly examine the plant leaves.

Zuo Shan didn't care about arousing suspicion and started walking back, dragging the burlap sack.

Along the way, the metal lump made a sound as it hit the ground. Some people saw the rusty metal through the opening of the sack and showed disdain.

Such heavy scrap metal probably wouldn't even fetch a single silver coin at the recycling station. Dragging it home would be exhausting enough to cover the energy loss. They're so desperate for money that they'll pick up any kind of junk!

Zuo Shan never expected that because of this lump of scrap metal, no one would suspect that she had made a gain today, and she returned home safely without even realizing it.

It was already 9 PM, and the solar radiation was about to exceed the standard, making it the perfect time to stay home and rest.

Zuo Shan locked the door and plopped down on the ground. A strong feeling of hunger overwhelmed her, and her head spun. She quickly grabbed a handful of nearly dried-out yam strips and stuffed two into her mouth.

I ate more than a dozen yam strips in one go before I finally came back to life.

She murmured to herself with a heavy heart, "Mom, Dad, Grandpa and Grandma, Grandpa and Grandma on both sides, do you know that your precious little fan is suffering from hunger?"

No one answered her. She wiped away her tears, got up again, and went to deal with today's spoils.

She ate another pound of steamed yam while it was still hot, and only when she felt full did she lie down to rest, satisfied.

In the evening, after she had slept enough, she got up and went out to take a walk around the neighborhood, just to familiarize herself with the surroundings.

At this moment, many scavengers returned one after another. Judging from their expressions, most of them looked numb and haggard. Even if some of them had a good haul, they dared not show their joy in order not to attract the covetousness of others.

This is the habit of wastelanders; in order to survive, they are forced to hide even their true joys.

Zuo Shan felt increasingly heartbroken as she looked around. Turning her head, she saw a small plant growing in front of her house, bearing a dozen or so lemon-yellow fruits.

The fruit was about the same size as a cherry tomato. She looked through her memories and knew that it was an ornamental plant that her ancestors had brought from the Inner Ten Districts.

The fruit is extremely sour and astringent; even some of it is moderately irradiated and no one can eat it. However, it has a refreshing smell and a very fragrant taste.

It has a very strong vitality. It can grow on its own without needing to be watered or fertilized. In extremely cold weather, the plant will wither, but when extremely hot weather comes, it will come back to life.

Several households in District 50 asked her for seeds to plant in front of their homes, and this plant has become a common ornamental plant in District 50.

Zuo Shan casually picked a small fruit, held it in his hand and smelled it. The taste was actually similar to that of a lemon, except that it had a slightly bitter taste.

Looking at this fruit, it looks like a miniature lemon.

Zuo Shan suddenly had a bold guess: could this fruit be a mutated lemon?

After the Big Bang, most plants mutated into giants, but a very small number mutated into miniature versions. If this is indeed a mutated lemon, then it has many uses.

She picked all the dozen or so fruits from the branches of the plant, which was less than a meter tall, and immediately went home.

The simplest way to prove it's a lemon is to smear its juice on that rusty metal lump.

Lemon juice is a strong acid and has rust-removing properties.

Fifteen minutes later, the squeezed juice was spread on the metal lump, and the whole room was filled with the fresh scent of lemon.

Where the juice touched, the rust began to peel away slowly, revealing the silvery, pristine metal underneath. Zuo Shan was so excited he almost jumped for joy!

With lemon juice, she can make a variety of drinks at home, and it also adds an extra ingredient to her cooking. If she's lucky enough to detect lemons with low levels of radiation, she'll make a fortune.

Food with low levels of radiation can fetch exorbitant prices at recycling stations because it is said that regular consumption can improve genes and promote the awakening of supernatural abilities.

Of course, the probability of scavengers in District 50 obtaining low-level radiation food is extremely low; they might only encounter it a few times a year. Even if they eat it all, they have no chance of awakening superpowers.

Instead, you should exchange it for silver coins, which can buy more moderately radioactive food.

This is similar to how, during difficult times, the poor are willing to exchange refined grains for more coarse grains; survival is the most important thing.