Chapter 13
Jiang Zhi put on the work gloves that came with the real fireplace and pulled out a water calamus.
The mutated water calamus rhizome is several times larger than before, and when broken open, it is very juicy.
Jiang Zhi smelled it and found no strange odor.
"Beep—Highly toxic, not recommended for consumption."
"Tsk."
Jiang Zhi threw away the root she was holding.
A beeping sound came from the side.
Jiang Shu quickly measured all the leaves of the water calamus next to him.
They are all highly toxic.
As the tests progressed, Jiang Shu grew impatient. "That's the problem with this detector. It has to scan different areas at once. Can't it scan everything in one go?"
As Jiang Zhi pulled out the water calamus, she replied, "Yes, the base has advanced detection equipment specifically for mutants, but it costs 2,000 points each."
Jiang Shu asked suspiciously, "How did you know?"
"Don't you want to look at the Mutant Creatures Catalogue? It lists the instruments invented by the base and their specific prices."
Jiang Shu: "...This advertising method is pretty cool."
He paused, then added, "Sooner or later I'll buy two, use one, and throw the other away!"
The brother and sister chatted while getting tested.
Before I knew it, I had walked nearly a hundred meters along the shore.
Just when Jiangzhi had given up hope, an electronic voice suddenly came from behind her: "Beep—moderate toxicity, moderate consumption recommended."
The two of them paused in perfect unison.
Jiang Zhi turned around quickly to look over.
"You got it!?"
Jiang Shu looked at the water calamus root in his hand, which was about the size of a basketball, and swallowed hard. They had been there for half an hour and almost given up hope, but they had won by a small margin.
He couldn't resist taking the test again.
"Beep, moderate toxicity, consumption in moderation is recommended."
Jiang Shu's face lit up with a smile, and he looked at it several times: "No mistake, it really is edible."
"I wonder how much starch Mom will be able to produce by then."
When the time comes, we can make the calamus starch into noodles or balls. Whether boiled or grilled, they will taste delicious, at least better than eating wild vegetable porridge.
He's a grown man, and he's really tired of eating porridge and mush. He can't stay full for long before he gets hungry again.
Jiang Zhi laughed too. "Mom's glass noodles are delicious, but it's a pity there's no chili or oil."
But anyway, today marks the start of our business.
Jiang Shu happily pulled an Oxford cloth bag from his pocket, peeled off the highly toxic parts, and stuffed the rhizomes inside.
It's only 8 a.m. now.
They had to find a place to rest before the sun came out, or they would be scorched by the sun.
Jiang Zhi checked the time on the monitor; there were still more than three hours until midnight.
The odds of winning here are too low, so Jiangzhi decided to give up.
Just as she was about to speak to her brother, Jiang Zhi spotted two fist-sized snails on the roots of the water calamus in front of her.
Her eyes lit up, and she quickly pulled out a watermelon knife and picked off the snail.
This watermelon knife is made in Germany. Needless to say, its quality and sharpness are excellent. Even after several years of use, it still looks almost new.
Seeing this, Jiang Shu also ran forward.
Upon seeing what Jiang Zhi was holding, his eyes widened and his breathing became heavier.
There's meat inside snails!
"Ah Zhi, quickly get tested!"
Having learned from her experience with the fanged rabbit, Jiangzhi didn't let the snail shells go this time either.
"Beep—Highly toxic, not for consumption."
As the saying goes, the higher your expectations, the greater your disappointment.
Jiang Shu sighed listlessly, "Oh well, if we can't eat it, we can't eat it. Anyway, this little bit of meat is nothing—"
"Beep—Moderate toxicity, consumption in moderation is recommended."
Jiang Shu swallowed his words back abruptly, "Y-Y-A-Zhi!! Did I hear that right!?"
Jiang Zhi finally smiled. "You're not deaf."
She drew a dagger from behind her waist, plunged it into the protruding snail meat, skillfully pulled it out, and put it into a prepared plastic bag.
Jiang Shu couldn't wait to weigh it in his hand; it must have weighed at least half a pound.
Before the cataclysm, the ginger tree's favorite food was stir-fried conch meat with chili.
Cut the conch meat into slices, heat oil in a pan, add Sichuan peppercorns and stir-fry until fragrant, then remove them. Add dried chili peppers, scallions, and ginger slices and stir-fry until fragrant. Add fermented bean paste and stir-fry. Before serving, add green chili peppers and cilantro. It smells incredibly delicious.
Jiang Shu slurped his saliva.
"It's a pity there were no chili peppers."
The Jiang family loves spicy food, but they only managed to give it up in the last few years after the Great Cataclysm.
Jiang Zhi said, "The book on mutated creatures says there are mutated chili peppers near this valley. We can go take a look later."
After eating bland porridge for a long time, her mouth was almost completely tasteless.
If it weren't for the large supermarket near their base, where they could grab all the food, they don't know how they would have survived the past three years.
Jiang Shu was astonished: "How come this collection contains all sorts of things?"
Jiang Zhi: "It's because you didn't look carefully."
Jiang Shu has never liked reading since he was a child, and he still does now. He urged Jiang Zhi to test the remaining snail as well.
The other snail was significantly smaller than the first one.
"Beep, highly toxic, not for consumption."
Jiang Shu stood to the side like a deflated balloon.
"No wonder everyone at the base looks pale and thin. With such a low winning rate, how could they possibly have enough to eat?"
As he spoke, he couldn't help but lean closer and whisper to Jiang Zhi, "Zhi, use your abilities to see if there's anything good nearby."
Without batting an eye, Jiang Zhi picked out the highly toxic snail meat, saying, "There's nothing good here, only red and green labels."
Green only represents organisms with strong vitality; plants like weeds will not be displayed at all.
Jiang Shu was somewhat disappointed. "That's true. If it were really that easy to find food, our family wouldn't need to settle down at the base."
As he spoke, he craned his neck to look at the calamus, "These snails usually climb up in bunches, how come there are only two?"
To be honest, when Jiang Shu looked at it, he actually saw something good.
Ten centimeters underwater, the water calamus was covered with dense clusters of red snail eggs.
"Ah Zhi, is this edible?"
Before the catastrophe, I had never heard of anyone eating snail eggs.
But each of the mutated snail eggs is as big as a glass bead. Several strings of them together are even more impressive than the snail meat.
The two carefully removed the snail eggs that were stuck to the water calamus.
The mutated snail egg membranes were much tougher; Jiang Shu poked one and it felt bouncy.
Direct testing of ginger twigs revealed: "Highly toxic, not edible."
"Drip, highly toxic, not for consumption."
...
I tested two skewers in a row, and not a single one was edible.
The brother and sister looked increasingly pale.
finally--
"Drip, low level of toxin, edible."
Jiang Shu had already lost all confidence, and upon hearing this, he thought he had misheard.
He retested the snail egg and got the same result.
In such a short time, they tested the food like they were playing a lottery, and suddenly a low-toxin sample appeared, which was almost like winning the grand prize.
Jiang Shu couldn't help but jump up!
"Holy crap! I finally won!!!"
Jiang Zhi:......
This silly brother, is he really afraid that others won't hear him?
Seeing Jiang Zhi's speechless expression, Jiang Shu quickly covered his mouth, but his excitement did not diminish at all. He couldn't help but touch the low-toxicity snail egg again and tested the rest in one go.
Fortunately, we were lucky this time.
The two palm-sized snails, except for the one with low toxin content, were all edible with moderate toxin content.
The mutated snail eggs look crystal clear, and their texture and feel are like jelly.
"Ah Zhi, shall we eat this skewer tonight?"
Although he didn't know how to cook this thing, with his mother around, Jiang Shu didn't even think about whether it would taste good or not.
Even if it doesn't taste good, it's still better than porridge.
"We'll talk about it when we get back." Jiang Zhi put the snail eggs into a plastic bag and placed it together with the calamus roots from before.
With this achievement, the brother and sister gained more confidence.
Jiang Shu: "A-Zhi, where do we go next? We can't exactly go into the water, can we?"
After the cataclysm, the rivers were actually much more dangerous than the banks, and even the mutants in the base dared not go into the water easily.
Because it's impossible to predict which direction aquatic organisms will mutate in.
Jiang Zhi smiled and said, "Brother, do you know why I chose collection area number 3?"
"Why?"
Jiang Zhi pointed to the river not far away.
Jiang Shu was stunned for a moment, then quickly realized, "You really want to go into the water?"
Jiangzhi didn't reply to him, only saying, "The resources in the river are no less than those on the shore: shrimp, crabs, clams, frogs, wild ducks..."
As each ginger branch was counted, Jiang Shu swallowed hard, thinking, "With such a wide variety, I can always find something edible."
Jiangzhi wouldn't say that she was also craving meat.
But compared to hunting mutated beasts, fishing is obviously much safer.
Jiang Shu gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, let's take the risk. We have to get some meat to take back today."
He then started to take off his clothes and go into the water.
Jiang Zhi's face turned black.
"Who said we were going to go into the water?"
"Huh? How can you catch fish without going into the water?" Jiang Shu was completely bewildered by his sister.
Jiang Zhi sighed, "Brother, the difference between humans and animals is that we humans use tools."
As he spoke, he took a net bag out of his bag.
This is a simple fishing net that she specially made last night before going to bed, using a camping hammock net.
Jiang Shu's eyes lit up.
"Well done, Azhi! You've prepared quite thoroughly!"
He took the net from Jiang Zhi's hand. "I'll use it! I guarantee I'll catch a few big fish!"
Jiang Shu spent some time in the village when he was a child. Back then, he and his two cousins were never home. They were very good at fishing and catching chickens.
When catching fish by the river, people usually look for places with lots of aquatic plants.
Logically, this should be a hiding and feeding ground for fish. In addition, fish often swim in the area where deep and shallow waters meet.
After searching for a while, Jiang Shu finally chose a spot in a ditch or puddle connected to the riverbank.
"Azhi, use the bone stick to splash the water upstream and scare them away!"
Jiang Zhi responded and walked ten meters away.
Jiang Shu cast the net into the water, while making a "ready" gesture to Jiang Zhi.
When Jiang Zhi splashed around in the water a few times with the bone stick, he successfully startled many fish and shrimp.
One of the mutated river shrimp, the size of a giant lobster, jumped out of the water and sprayed a jet of water.
As soon as the unusual movement in the water entered the net, Jiang Shu quickly pulled the rope tight and then scooped it up, using the water resistance to let the fish and shrimp into the net.
Seeing that there was a catch in the net, Jiang Shu used all his strength to pull the net backward.
He had just taken a step back when a tremendous force propelled him forward.
Holy crap!
Jiang Zhi's expression changed as she watched Jiang Shu being pulled into the river. She rushed over, grabbed Jiang Shu's waist, and pulled him back.
Jiang Zhi gritted her teeth and said, "Brother, I'll count to two, and we'll all back up together!"
Jiang Shu was completely speechless at this moment, his face flushed red from the exertion.
I was afraid that if I held my breath and let it out, I would be pulled to the other side like in a tug-of-war.
He nodded reluctantly.
"One, two!!"
"One, two!!"
The two of them used all their strength and, after several attempts, finally managed to pull the fishing net up.
The brother and sister collapsed onto the shore, panting heavily.
Before Jiang Shu could catch his breath, he climbed over to look at what was in the fishing net.
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