The woods were damp and fresh after the rain, with the aroma of various plants filling the air.
Li Mai was holding Zhu Zhu's hand, followed by Zhou Tao and Zhao Shi. Zhou Lei was carrying a basket, and Zhao Shi was carrying another.
"Sister-in-law, what are we looking for?" Zhou Lei asked.
"I don't know, let's walk around and see what we can eat in the woods after the rain," Li Mai said softly.
In the apocalypse, they dared not eat anything that grew on the ground after the rain, because there was always a mutated plant in some tree or forest that would eat people.
But she had seen documentaries. In the past, many plants and flowers on earth were gifts from heaven to mankind. They could be admired, eaten, and used in all aspects of life to decorate people's lives and make life more beautiful.
But those were all things mentioned in the documentary. Now that she has become Li Mai, although she has Li Mai's memories in her mind, it's just like watching a documentary.
Only now, experiencing this exhilarating feeling firsthand, did she feel completely relaxed and her mind clear.
Li Mai even sensed a touch of spiritual energy in the fresh air. She looked around and saw that some villagers had come in to collect firewood and dig for wild vegetables.
Li Mai took a deep breath of the refreshing air and continued walking into the woods with her family.
"Mom, there looks like there's so much grass in the woods!" Zhuzhu exclaimed happily. "Shall we dig some up for Luhua?"
Li Mai glanced around and whispered, "Okay!"
Zhuzhu immediately covered her mouth, remembering what her father had taught her: she shouldn't talk nonsense when she was out.
The family walked a little further, and when no one was around, they cut some grass and alfalfa. Li Mai sent them into her space with a thought for the rabbit and Lu Hua to eat.
They cut some taller grass and sent it to the space to feed the cows. Then they went to find wild vegetables that humans could eat.
"Mom, look what this is?" Zhuzhu suddenly noticed a dark layer of something on the clearing in the woods.
Li Mai squatted down, picked up a bit to look at it, and it looked a bit like the wood ear fungus in the documentary, but smaller and greener.
"This should be ground ivy," the documentary said. It is an algae that appears in damp places after rain and is edible.
Zhao squatted down, surprised, "Isn't this just thunder god's excrement? Can you eat this?"
Li Mai looked at Zhao Shi in disbelief, "Mother, you call this shit?"
The original owner also remembered picking up and eating this thing; it was her grandmother who taught her to do it. Her grandmother said it was called "earth ear." Now, thinking about it carefully, it seems that other families in Lijia Village don't eat this thing either.
So they call it "Thunder God Shit," is that what it means literally?
Zhao glanced at her, coughed lightly, and said, "Yes, I remember when I was little, my grandma said that this fell down with the rainwater when it rained, it was the Thunder God's... excrement..."
As she spoke, Zhao felt a little embarrassed to continue. Now that she was getting older, she naturally didn't think so anymore. However, she never thought that this thing was edible. Although it didn't look like poop, it was soft, sticky, and resembled snot.
Li Mai's shoulders trembled, and she chuckled a few times before saying, "No, Mother, this thing is called ground ear vegetable. It's edible. It's a kind of algae that only grows in damp places after it rains."
“My grandma taught me,” Li Mai added with a smile.
Zhao chuckled, "Then your wet nurse is more knowledgeable than my grandmother."
Li Mai chuckled, "Mom, let's pick some. We'll fill a basket, soak them in water for two hours, wash them clean, and then boil them and we can eat them."
"How can you eat this, sister-in-law?" Zhou Tao asked curiously.
"You can add it to cold dishes, soups, stir-fries, or even noodle soup. You can also chop it up and wrap it with eggs. If you can't finish it, you can dry it and eat it slowly later," Li Mai said as she squatted down to pick up some and put it in her hand.
After a moment of surprise, Zhao nodded, "Then let's pick some, otherwise we really don't know what to eat, and we don't know how we'll get through the rest of the year!"
Zhou Tao and Zhou Lei agreed and squatted down to pick them up. The whole family picked them up into the basket, and Zhu Zhu also squatted down to pick them up.
Just as the group was busy picking wild vegetables, they suddenly heard a clucking sound behind them. Li Mai instinctively turned around and saw two pheasants running through the woods.
However, when it was not far from them, it suddenly seemed to trip and fall down not far in front of them.
Li Mai: ......
here we go again!
Zhao's mouth was open, and she forgot to close it.
She had heard about Li Mai and Zhu Zhu's incident from Zhou Tao and Old Man Zhou, but she hadn't seen it with her own eyes. This time, she had seen it with her own eyes.
This is truly astonishing.
The main thing is that it just lay there and didn't run away, as if it was bound by something. It just thrashed around in place but couldn't escape. The next moment, I saw my own Zhuzhu, who seemed unafraid, run over and grab the two pheasants in her hands.
After Zhuzhu pinned the pheasant down, she turned back and called to her mother, "Mom, come quick, the pheasant isn't running away anymore."
Li Mai covered her forehead and could only quickly stand up, run over, grab her, and carry her back.
She used her mind to throw two ropes out of the space. After Zhao and Zhou Tao came over to help tie the pheasant's two feet, the group looked at each other and then burst out laughing.
Sigh, should I say I'm lucky or unlucky?
After tying up the pheasant, the family continued to squat down and pick wild greens, intending to fill a basket.
Li Mai said it would be gone in a few days, and she could come back to collect it again at most tomorrow.
Zhao nodded, and seeing that there seemed to be quite a few left in the woods, she asked Li Mai, "Xiaomai, can we ask everyone to come and pick these? If each family picks some, we won't have to eat only steamed buns anymore."
Li Mai nodded, "Sure, this forest is so big, there are plenty of these things. After everyone picks them, they need to be washed clean and soaked in water for a few hours before eating. It's best to boil them first."
"Okay, I understand. I'll go call for help." Zhao stood up.
She didn't want to concern herself with others, but she had the best relationship with the Lin and Wang families, so she naturally wanted to help them.
Zhao went to find Aunt Lin Cai and Aunt Wang Cai, while Li Mai, Zhou Lei, Zhou Tao, and Zhu Zhu continued picking ground ivy.
To avoid trouble, Li Mai used her mind to receive a chicken from her spatial dimension. She planned to stew one for the family tonight.
After a while, Li Mai and the others' baskets were full, and just then, Zhao arrived with Aunt Wangcai and the others.
Six women came in total, most of whom were on good terms with Zhao. She had invited other women, but none of them thought they could eat much and didn't come along.
Aunt Wangcai came over and looked at their basket full of wheat, and asked in surprise, "Wheat, can this really be eaten?"
“Yes, this is called ground ivy, and it’s edible. My grandma and I used to eat it. You need to wash it several times to clean it thoroughly, and then boil it before eating. Remember to dry any leftovers in the sun, and you can soak them in water before using them,” Li Mai instructed.
Aunt Wangcai agreed, then turned her head and saw the pheasant tied up next to them. She was surprised, "You can catch pheasants?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
