Chapter 57: Thatch Shoots
When the inside of the treehouse was finally dried out by the sun, not only had Huaiyu dug up another plot of land and sprinkled it with plant ash, but the soil from the previous patch had also finished sun-drying.
After several days of clear weather following the heavy rain, the surrounding grass seemed to have received some seasonal command—it shot up rapidly each day.
What used to be a wild field, green only when viewed from afar, had now become a lush, fuzzy green carpet.
Scattered across it were baby-blue Veronica persica flowers, bright yellow dandelions, deep purple violets… In a corner stood a lone lilac sprig, only about twenty centimeters tall, with faintly purplish buds just starting to bloom.
Lifting the grass curtain, Huaiyu was greeted by a full display of vibrant spring color. She no longer felt the urgency to farm—instead, she let out a cheer and dashed into the thickest patch of grass, flopping down and rolling around in delight.
The sky was an extremely pale, light blue.
Wispy clouds floated overhead, so faint they barely had a shape. Lying on the ground, Huaiyu could feel the earth’s gentle coolness and smell the unique scent of fresh grass. She reached out and plucked a slender, tender thatch shoot.
Peeling back the green leaves, a soft, milky-white core was revealed, which she promptly bit into with a dramatic “aah—chomp”.
Her face twisted instantly in horror.
“Ptoo! Ptoo! Ptoo! Ptoo!”
So disgusting!
Was this… was this the infamous “not even dogs would eat it” level of gross?!
All the cozy spring vibes scattered instantly under the assault of that vile flavor. Huaiyu sat up, glaring at the patch of thatch shoots in front of her with deep heartache in her eyes.
But she quickly snapped out of it, pulled out another shoot, and peeled it open again—this time tasting it slowly, forcing herself to endure the awful flavor.
In her memory, when these shoots were at their most tender, they were soft and slightly sweet—something that seemed to be tied to the pure joy of childhood.
But now… while the texture was still soft, the flavor was… sour, bitter, with a hint of mustard burn…
She tried another one. Still awful.
But… maybe not completely inedible.
Huaiyu thought for a moment. The mutation value probably wasn’t as high as that “23” she’d seen before.
She didn’t have many points left, but she still needed a hoe for farming. Her soybean supply wasn’t enough to both eat and plant. And on top of that, her evenings were boring—she had nothing to kill time with.
Even purification, in essence, was a pretty dull activity.
With that thought, she stood up and simply returned to the treehouse to grab her basket—might as well start harvesting the thatch shoots.
Unlike before, when she’d always dressed somewhat neatly when going out, today she was still wearing her work clothes. She picked as she walked, and by the time her basket was a third full, she had nearly reached the bus stop.
Normally, this stop was always deserted—just her alone—but today, there were two others there. Both were wearing uniforms and standing straight-backed.
Defense Forces.
Huaiyu took one look and realized she didn’t recognize them. Quietly, she stood off to the side with her basket.
One of the two gave her a strange look, glanced around the bus stop, then looked at her again.
They murmured a few words to each other. One of them even started walking over, as if wanting to say something—just as the bus arrived.
Huaiyu hopped on quickly, and the driver shouted, “Scan your points! No free rides anymore!”
She held up her wristband, and with a beep, two points were deducted!
Her heart ached instantly. Why is it so expensive?!
And then she remembered—she had a basket full of unpurified thatch shoots on her back. She wasn’t even heading to the main shopping street today!
That’s right. Her life had gotten pretty stable now, and she figured it was the same for most other people. The danger level had gone down.
Plus, she lived so far out in the sticks—she couldn’t go all the way to the Hongsheng Market just to buy odds and ends every time.
A round trip took three or four hours—it was just too much hassle.
So today, she decided to check out the nearby Jinyuan Residential Area.
The aunties on the bus were always talking about it—how the area had nearly 30,000 residents assigned there.
And in the central plaza, people set up stalls every day. You could buy and sell just about anything.
If that was the case, then selling a few of her high-mutation (but disgusting) thatch shoots probably wouldn’t be a problem, right?
If no one bought them, she could just take them home and purify them for herself.
But who knew—right when she boarded, two points were gone.
Still wallowing in her grief, she suddenly saw those two Defense soldiers hesitate before slowly approaching her. One of them whispered:
“Miss, why did you get on at that stop? That area’s near the Rose Corridor—civilians aren’t supposed to be there.”
She couldn’t very well say something like “My brother’s stationed there” in front of them.
So instead, she clutched her basket tightly to her chest and said weakly, “I saw the grass shoots over there were growing really well… I didn’t get too close. Just from a distance.”
One of them glanced into her basket. Sure enough, it was full of fresh, dewy thatch shoots.
But then he asked, hesitatingly:
“Can you even eat these?”
Huaiyu’s eyes lit up. She quickly peeled open two of the shoots. “Yes! I’ve tasted them.”
She earnestly offered the peeled, white shoots to the two soldiers, looking at them with hopeful eyes—like she was waiting for their approval.
The two soldiers looked pretty young, maybe still a bit shy. After a moment of awkward hesitation, they accepted the gift from the little girl.
Huaiyu stared at them intently.
And surprisingly, after chewing, neither of them even flinched. Their brows didn’t furrow, and they both looked a bit… curious.
“Not bad, actually. How much are you selling these for?”
Huh?
Now she was the one dumbfounded.
Seriously? That awful flavor was “not bad”?
Now she was starting to wonder—just what did that jujube Uncle Zao had eaten taste like?
But as for pricing—she had no idea.
So she lowered her head and shyly said:
“I don’t really know. My family just told me to sell them casually… Big brothers, you can decide.”
The two soldiers hesitated and exchanged a glance. Finally, one of them said:
“Based on taste, I’d say the mutation value’s probably under 18. How about 12 points per jin (half a kilo)? You’ve probably got about three or four jin in there—do you have a scale?”
But Huaiyu knew they were lowballing her.
It was probably true that the mutation value hadn’t gone over 18. But 12 per jin? That was clearly just humoring a kid.
These days, people judged prices by two things: mutation level and how filling the food was.
Thatch shoots were basically a snack. The only place that might buy them at a high price was Boss Tang’s, and he only accepted quality items. With such a high mutation value, these weren’t even on his radar.
Market price for this kind of stuff? Maybe six points per jin, max.
Huaiyu shook her head. “Not selling for 12!”
“If you two want some, give me two points, and I’ll let you try a handful.”
The two of them froze for a second. Then they rubbed their noses, embarrassed, and chuckled:
“Ohhh, so you do know the market price.”
Too exhausted from running errands today. Still got a full day tomorrow, so I’ll stick with two updates for now. Neighbor’s post is on hiatus today. No time.
Second update. Goodnight!
Tomorrow we go to Jinyuan Residential Area! A new mini-map unlocked!
