Chapter 9: What to Do If You Can't Eat?

Jiao Yang stared at the green light on the detector, then looked down at the roots in his hand. They looked like neither yams nor sweet potatoes, and his brows knit together on his round face until they formed a sharp angle.

If he didn’t accept them, they were still roots of purification plants, and they were heavy—heavier than the hauls from the previous two groups. If he did accept them, he didn’t recognize them; they weren't leafy greens, and they weren't in the edible plant manual. The real kicker was that if he accepted them, he would have to pay out a ten-percent commission, which made his heart ache.

In a flash, he thought about giving that ten percent in the form of these roots. But then he reconsidered: what if they didn't want the roots and demanded credits instead? Wouldn't he have to shell out a huge pile of credits? No, no—that was a massive amount of credits. Even though they were camp credits, it still hurt his soul! Besides, everything collected went to feed the camp soldiers; if someone ate something unrecognizable and got sick, it would be a huge headache.

After a fierce internal struggle, Jiao Yang decided: no roots that weren't in the manual.

What if there were leafy greens not mentioned in the manual? That was fine; the manual stated that most leafy greens were edible. Plus, he had seen bug bites on some of the leaves—if the bugs could eat them, they could eat them too. He picked out the roots and told the others to weigh the rest.

"Aren't these part of the purification plants too? Why don't you want them?" Corn asked in a low, disappointed voice. Those roots were quite heavy; he had been hoping that if they were accepted, he could trade them all for credits and get a decent sum. Jiang Chen'an also felt it was a pity, though he didn't show it as clearly as Corn.

Gu Xiaomai, however, was quite happy. If they weren't accepted, she would keep them to process into medicinal herbs for her own use. She smiled and asked Jiao Yang, "Officer Jiao, can we take them back?"

Jiao Yang stared at Gu Xiaomai for a moment, then nodded. Gu Xiaomai grabbed her bag and packed all the roots back inside.

When the weighing results came out, Jiao Yang looked at the three of them. "Your group—Gu Xiaomai, nothing. You two, three taels each. Do you want purification plants or credits?"

"Purification plants," Jiang Chen'an and Corn said in unison.

Corn grinned, revealing two small fangs, looking completely delighted. Jiang Chen'an’s eyes also curved into happy crescents. Both of them stared intently at the scale in Jiao Yang's hand as he added the purification plants little by little, watching as he leveled the scale beam with extreme precision, fearing he might add even a fraction of a gram too much.

After carefully packing their purification plants, the three left, and the next group stepped forward.

Standing near other members of the reclamation team who had already handed in their plants, Corn clutched his own and asked Jiang Chen'an, "Brother Chen, how do we eat these?"

Jiang Chen'an didn't know either. "Boil them in soup or stir-fry them..." he guessed.

His memories of eating purification plants while his parents were still alive were blurry. After they passed away, whenever his two uncles' families ate them, they would chase him out beforehand. When he returned, his cousins would flaunt it: one would say, "Mom's stir-fry is so delicious, na-na-na, you can't have any," and another would say, "The soup my mom made is so good; if you want some, go find your mom and make her cook for you."

He supposed boiling or stir-frying was the way to go.

"Then how do you boil them? How do you stir-fry? I don't know how! Brother Chen, do you?"

Jiang Chen'an shot Corn a look of annoyance. Did he look like someone who knew how to cook? His uncles' families guarded their food from him like he was a thief; he never had a chance to learn.

Corn understood—his brother Chen didn't know either. He immediately began to worry. "What do we do then? We’ve got the goods, but what if we don't know how to eat them?"

Gu Xiaomai, who had been listening with pricked ears, chirped up from the side, "Two older brothers, look at me, look at me."

The two looked down to see Gu Xiaomai blinking her large eyes incessantly.

Jiang Chen'an: "Are your eyes uncomfortable?"
Corn: "Did you get something in your eye?"

*Can't they see I'm offering to help? Ugh, what poor perception!* Gu Xiaomai thought to herself, though she replied with a giggle, "Big brothers, I know how to boil and stir-fry. I can help you cook them~"

Corn and Jiang Chen'an exchanged a glance, then turned away simultaneously. Corn looked at the growing line at Jiao Yang's station. "I wonder how many purification plants everyone else is getting?"

Jiang Chen'an echoed, "Probably not many."

"Brother Chen, do you think people want the plants or the credits more?"
"For the first time, probably the credits?"
"I think so too. But it's great that we got the plants. In the base, even with credits, you can't always buy them."

...

Gu Xiaomai puffed out her cheeks like a little frog. *These two!!!* She was trying to be kind and help them, but they didn't even believe in her. Truly...

As the sky grew dark, Jiao Yang and his team finished counting the day's harvest and marched the team back to camp. On the way, the reclamation team members were all smiles; some because they would soon be eating purification plants, others because they had earned enough credits to improve their families' living conditions.

Most people, like Liu Ju's group, had traded their ten-percent share for credits. They were poor, and more importantly, they lacked the tools and materials to process the evolutionary plants; they needed to save up credits to buy the equipment first. Only a few, like Jiang Chen'an and Corn, chose the plants. Among them was the old man, Xia Yang.

Liang Fei, walking beside Xia Yang, asked, "Old Man Xia, you chose the plants! Do you have the tools and materials to prepare them?"

Xia Yang smiled. "I'm an old man, and I've got no family to feed; how could I not have these things saved up? Weren't you saying you wanted to eat them? Why did you take credits this time?"

Thinking of his son, Liang Fei smiled. "I've got a credit-guzzling machine at home; I have to save up to support the family." Last year, his wife had given birth to a son, and as first-time parents, they wanted to provide a good environment for the child, which meant earning more credits. Although the base provided the necessary nutritional supplements, vaccines, and water for children up to five, it meant his wife had to stay home, leaving the burden of earning to him. He was earning for two, spending for three.

Liang Fei looked at Zhang Tao nearby. "Taozi, why did you choose credits? You should be like Old Man Xia—one mouth to feed, no worries."

Zhang Tao replied, "I don't have the tools, do I? I'll earn some credits first to buy them. There will be plenty of opportunities to pick plants later; I'm not worried about missing out. Besides, the camp soldiers cleared the mountain so thoroughly—we didn't even run into a single corrupted creature. I'd be happy to come pick every day."

A team member walking nearby chimed in, "But didn't someone shout about a corrupted creature this afternoon?"

"Did they? How come I didn't hear it?"
"What kind of ears do you have? I heard it too. I was so nervous at the time."
"Me too. I gripped my machete so tight, afraid a creature would pop out of nowhere."
"I heard a roar; it must have been real."
"Right, right! That roar was huge. I saw Mi Tang and the others running fast toward the sound. Since it went quiet later, they must have killed it."

Zhang Tao said, "Still, this is much safer than going out with the mercenary squads. When there's danger, those squads don't care about us logistics temps. Here, as long as we hold out until the soldiers arrive, we're saved. Plus, we can choose between credits or plants, whereas the squads only give credits."

Xia Yang agreed, "Taozi makes a good point. I've been out with many squads looking for purification plants, and this is the most relaxed I've ever been." In some squads, one of the roles for the temporary logistics crew was to act as bait for corrupted creatures, and many commoners had died because of it. Even though the base prohibited such tactics, once they were outside the perimeter, the squads did as they pleased. If he hadn't been cautious, he would have died countless times by now.

The soldiers, hearing this, held their heads high. It was true—their camp was the best. They would have to find even more purification plants in the future!

After the main group left the foothills, a bird with brilliant, multicolored feathers appeared on the summit of Mountain No. 1. It sniffed the air to orient itself, then flew down the mountain to the spot where Gu Xiaomai had dug up her first root.

Staring at the pit, its deep blue eyes showed a hint of hesitation, but it finally reached out a claw to scrape at the dirt. Soon, a small, broken root of the purification plant was unearthed. Even though it was covered in soil the bird clearly disliked, it swallowed it without hesitation, a flash of joy in its blue eyes.

Only when there were no more root fragments left did it shake the dirt off its claws with disdain and fly to a treetop. Watching the reclamation team and the E4 camp soldiers cross the silver metal bridge, a cunning glint flashed in its eyes.

As the soldiers and the team rested, more and more animals began to appear on the southern slope of Mountain No. 1. Their destination was unmistakably the spot where Gu Xiaomai had dug. The strongest creatures led the way, and if any of the weaker ones ran too fast, they were kicked back by those in front.