Chapter 50 Mutant Tartary Buckwheat
Zuo Shan and Pan Duole had discussed it and decided they couldn't keep going to that little ditch. If Tong Laoda and his gang had their eyes on that place, it might end up like those mutated chrysanthemum plants, becoming the Tong family's private property.
The next morning, when Zuo Shan got up, she found that Xiao Bao was not sleeping in the crib next to her. When she asked Mao Li, he said that when the little guy got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, he would sleep by the door, probably because he was afraid that they would leave him alone at home again.
She pulled open the left door, and sure enough, a fluffy creature rolled down at her feet. Seeing the little guy rubbing its eyes and looking so pitiful, she felt heartbroken and decided to take it with her to scavenge.
She habitually leaves early and jogs all the way to exercise, so she almost never encounters scavengers on the road.
Mao Li led the way to light the way for her, and Xiao Bao ran very fast so as not to hold her back.
The little one had been running to the bamboo forest with her every day recently, and had developed a running speed. Although he was a little out of breath, he could still keep up.
Today, Zuo Shan decided to go scavenging in a slightly farther place so that Xiao Bao wouldn't have to hide in his backpack for fear of being seen and could run around and play freely.
Yesterday she noticed that the area with the highest concentration of scavengers was in the southeast, so today she specifically chose the northwest direction, still about 500 meters away from the main group.
Nobody wants to come to this area, mainly because there are no familiar wild vegetables. However, her experience living in the countryside of Lanxing tells her that many kinds of wild plants are edible; the key is whether you know how to cook them.
Zuo Shan wasn't worried at all that he would leave empty-handed.
At this moment, the sky was just beginning to lighten. She looked at her little baby, who was yawning and clearly hadn't had enough sleep, and found a relatively low, shady branch for him to cuddle and go back to sleep.
As for Mao Li, she was sent to check the surrounding area for energy fluctuations. Although she knew the chances of finding another energy stone were slim, she figured she might as well try her luck and maybe she'd find one.
After settling the two birds, it was already dawn. She began to carefully examine the area, and suddenly, a broad, triangular leaf the size of a banana leaf caught her eye.
Now, when she sees other leaves, she habitually draws a miniature version on the ground with a twig. This helps her determine which wild vegetable she remembers is most similar to the plant, and then she knows whether it is edible or not.
At that moment, she drew a small leaf based on the large leaf. Upon closer inspection, she exclaimed, "Hey! This looks familiar. Isn't it just a buckwheat leaf?"
Two years ago, when I went back to my hometown to pay respects at my grandmother's grave, I saw that many families had stopped growing wheat and started growing buckwheat instead. They said that buckwheat is now a health food and is very popular, so the price has naturally gone up.
Therefore, she had a deep impression of buckwheat leaves, and when she saw the miniature picture, she recognized it at a glance.
Looking back at the original owner's memories, it turns out that the scavengers called this "heart-piercing bitterness," and no one was willing to collect it if they could find other wild vegetables.
Its fruit is even more bitter. When it is unripe, one bite fills your mouth with bitter juice. When it is ripe, it is even more bitter. Even though the test results show that it is non-toxic and edible, no one picks it.
This area originally only had a few buckwheat plants, but because no one has been harvesting them for a long time, it has grown into a buckwheat forest, roughly estimated to have twenty or thirty plants. No wonder no one comes here.
Zuo Shan didn't bother collecting buckwheat leaves first; he looked for buckwheat grains first. Putting aside other nutrients, these were a treasure rich in starch and protein, and could be used as a staple food.
Since the agricultural civilization era, no one among the Green Algae Star People has eaten its fruit. Generation after generation, no one has known that it is edible.
As for agricultural experts, they are often more concerned with new species that have not been included in the catalog. There are so many wild plants that have existed before, and it is impossible for them to test the components of each one and study how to eat them.
Zuo Shan felt he had struck gold again today; he estimated he could take a whole sack of buckwheat grains home, enough to feed him for months.
However, her ideal was far from reality. She soon discovered that because this area was closer to the edge of the energy shield, the plants there had a higher level of radiation.
She thought she could find a bargain in this field of buckwheat, but most of it was highly radioactive. It took her two whole hours to detect a single buckwheat grain with moderate radiation.
If we rely on buckwheat as our staple food, we'll probably starve to death.
However, Zuo Shan carefully put this hard-won buckwheat grain into his inner pocket. It was at least the size of a thumb and the grain was quite plump.
She decided to find an opportunity to plant it. Even if she didn't expect it to fill her stomach, at least the sprouts that would appear half a month after it was planted would be edible.
Whether it's served cold, stir-fried, pickled, or used in soup, it has a unique flavor—slightly bitter yet full of fragrance, just the kind she likes.
As the sun was about to rise higher, Zuo Shan decided to take a break. But when she looked down, she saw two newly sprouted buckwheat leaves.
The mutated buckwheat plants are tall, with each plant reaching two or three meters in height. Even the newly sprouted leaves are the size of a palm.
Zuo Shan didn't bother with the testing; she simply picked off both new leaves and then slowly tested them with a testing knife, because she knew that newly sprouted leaves received relatively less radiation.
Sure enough, both leaves were low-radiation leaves. She was so happy she almost jumped for joy. She wished she could stay there and wait for the new leaves to sprout so she could pick them immediately.
I had just finished collecting two new leaves when a fluffy thing covered my face. It turned out that Xiao Bao had woken up.
It was already very hot. Xiao Bao was covered in sweat, and his fur was a little damp. Zuo Shan couldn't help but shake her head and sigh: "Aren't you stupid? It would be so much cooler at home. Why did you have to come here with your sister to suffer?"
Xiao Bao responded with a string of "aww" sounds. Zuo Shan, feeling helpless, took out a few yam strips from her pocket and gave them to Xiao Bao as a snack to chew on.
As the two were getting cozy, they saw a flash of silver light, and the cat version of Chestnut leaped from a distance and landed right in front of them.
“Master, I have made a major discovery! I sensed a strong energy fluctuation two kilometers to the west. I speculate that there are definitely high-grade energy stones there.”
Unfortunately, that place is outside the energy shield, in a high-radiation zone, so we can't go there." Mao Li was both excited and regretful.
“If living things can’t go, can we send a robot?” Zuo Shan asked.
"Robots? Master, you're thinking too simply. We mechanical beings are much more radiation-resistant than ordinary robots."
"Where I can't go, ordinary robots would be quickly destroyed by the intense radiation once they step outside the protective shield, turning into piles of scrap metal."
Mao Li looked at her with a "Master, how can you be so ignorant?" look, while Zuo Shan glared at him angrily and said, "So what if you're from an advanced civilization? If you were born in the wasteland, let's see how much knowledge you can still store!"
"Hey? Mao Li, do you think if I had the ability to teleport, I could go and come back quickly, and take back that energy stone before the high radiation zone can harm me?" Zuo Shan's mind was racing.
"That's how it is in theory," Mao Li nodded.
At that moment, Zuo Shan suddenly remembered that Modi Lan Dun, the sperm donor for A Chen Bao Bao, who had the ability to teleport.
Sigh! What a pity, if only her baby Chen had the teleportation ability.
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