Before long, Tong Shi and her two children returned, their clothes bundled full of taro.
Seeing someone take the lead, Qiu Shi and the others could no longer restrain themselves. Whether it was truly edible or not, as long as someone was eating it, they would eat it too.
Fearing they might miss out on the taro, the women hastily led their children up the slope, swarming toward the spot where Xu Yue and the others had been earlier.
But they were too late. The two best patches had already been dug clean by Tong Shi, though the mother and daughter couldn’t carry much, so some remained.
Qiu Shi and another woman fought fiercely over what was left. The remaining two, seeing the commotion, hurriedly scattered to search elsewhere.
Luckily, though they didn’t find as much as the Xu family, they still managed to gather some, giving them a small harvest.
As for Tong Shi and her daughter, they had the taro but didn’t know how to prepare it, so they followed the Xu family’s example.
Seeing them wash the mud off the taro and either boil it in a pot or roast it in the ashes, they imitated the method.
Soon, a fragrant aroma spread across the clearing. Wang Jia Danniang stared intently at the taro rolling in her mother’s pot, swallowing hard.
But she didn’t move, instead fixing her gaze eagerly on Xu Yue and the others not far away.
Xu Yue used twigs as chopsticks to skewer a taro, peeled off the skin, opened her mouth wide, and took the first bite.
The texture was soft and slightly sweet. It wasn’t as tender or fragrant as the taro from later times, but for Xu Yue, who had been eating rice bran for days, this bite of taro was the pinnacle of deliciousness.
Gurgle~
Watching Xu Yue’s blissful expression, Xu Da, Xu Dalan, and Xu Erniang’s stomachs growled in unison.
Unlike Xu Da and Xu Erniang, whose elegance and manners were ingrained, Xu Dalan recklessly reached into the pot of boiling water for the taro.
Fortunately, Xu Yue noticed in time and swatted his hand away with her chopsticks, quickly handing him the taro she was holding. Xu Dalan’s hand was thus spared from a scalding.
“Brother, you must use chopsticks to eat!” Xu Yue scolded sternly, her little face stern. “Boiling water will burn your hand. Do you understand what a burn is?”
“…”
Xu Dalan buried his face in the taro, devouring it in one gulp despite its fist-sized portion. He stared at Xu Yue with wide, pleading eyes, clearly conveying: More!
Xu Yue tilted her head back and took a deep breath, suppressing the frustration rising in her throat. Annoyed, she used her chopsticks to fish out all the taro from the pot.
There were twelve taros in total—three for each person.
Xu Da elegantly brushed aside his messy bangs, cradled his three taros, peeled them, and ate slowly, chewing each bite deliberately. His eyes narrowed slightly, glistening with unshed tears.
This is what humans should eat, damn it!
Xu Erniang ate her three taros silently without a word. After finishing, she rubbed her full stomach, lay down on the half-finished grass mat Xu Da had made, and gazed up at the blazing sun in the sky. She felt so content she wished time would stand still forever.
Xu Yue, being young and cautious, didn’t dare eat too much at once. She only ate one taro, giving the remaining two—one to the ravenous Xu Dalan and keeping the other in her pocket as extra provisions.
Looking at her family lying around contentedly after their meal, Xu Yue puffed out her cheeks like a steamed bun and sighed. She walked to the pond, dug a small pit to channel water, loosened her hair bun, and washed her hair comfortably.
She took the opportunity to wash her grimy little face clean.
The six-year-old girl had a round head, light eyebrows, large eyes, a small nose and a small mouth. Her skin was tanned wheat-colored, with chubby cheeks still bearing traces of baby fat.
Compared to other emaciated children, she looked much healthier.
Xu Yue stared blankly at the completely unfamiliar face reflected in the water.
The memories of yesterday felt both vividly close and yet like a distant dream. Upon waking from that dream, she was confronted with harsh reality.
But… she still had to live on properly.
Xu Yue, you can do this!
In the evening, Wang Shi and the others returned from hunting.
As soon as they entered, they were greeted by the sweet aroma of food and were astonished to see the dark lumps.
Those with wives and children received warm taros handed to them joyfully. The soft, powdery texture with a slight sweetness brought delightful surprise to the hungry crowd.
Upon hearing that the Xu family’s children had found them on the hillside, the villagers from Dawang who had returned empty-handed from hunting immediately rushed to the slopes.
Even as darkness fell and the risk of wild animals emerged, they weren’t afraid. In fact, they secretly hoped some beasts would cross their path, so they could fill their stomachs.
Wang Shi looked at Tong Shi’s joyful expression, then at her own three children running toward her, and momentarily froze.
She hadn’t expected the children at home to be so capable.
“Mother,” Xu Yue and her sister called out, their eyes sparkling as they awaited praise, melting Wang Shi’s heart.
She responded with an “Aye” before snapping back to reality, beckoning the three children toward the fire and setting down the prey she carried on her back.
While the other Dawang villagers returned empty-handed, it seemed all the prey had come to Wang Shi: three pheasants and four rabbits, three of which were still alive.
It was clear the entire rabbit family had been wiped out.
Xu Da brought a wrung-dry cloth for Wang Shi to wipe her sweat and hands, Xu Erniang brought cooled boiled water for her to quench her thirst, and Xu Yue handed her a cooked taro, her eyes filled with anticipation.
Wang Shi was clearly being treated as the head of the household.
“Stew a pheasant to nourish the children,” Wang Shi said, handing the dirty towel to Xu Da while giving the instruction.
Xu Yue and the others immediately broke into smiles.
Thinking of the delicious chicken soup, Xu Da suppressed his disgust, took the towel, selected the plumpest pheasant, and headed to the pond with a kitchen knife.
Only then did Wang Shi taste the new food her daughter had given her. The soft texture was similar to potatoes but much easier to swallow than rice bran rice balls, and it provided a strong sense of fullness.
After just one, Wang Shi felt her starved stomach greatly relieved.
Washing it down with the water her eldest daughter provided, Wang Shi ate three taros in a row. For the first time since her transmigration, she felt the happiness of a full stomach.
“How did you find these?” Wang Shi asked Xu Yue curiously after eating her fill.
Xu Yue pointed to the surrounding hills. “I stumbled upon them on the slope. They’re called taros. Didn’t you know about them, Mother?”
Xu Yue had always felt that among the family members, her mother’s behaviors and viewpoints were the most similar to her own. She had assumed they came from the same world.
But clearly, the taro incident revealed that Wang Shi and she were not from the same world.
Otherwise, how could a citizen of the gluttonous Celestial Empire not know about taros!
Wang Shi shook her head; she had never seen a plant like Taro before.
To be honest, the flora and fauna of this world were, in her eyes, species long extinct in history textbooks—so ancient they were beyond verification.
If not for the memories left by her original body and the survival experience she had accumulated through battles everywhere, she would never have adapted so quickly to this prehistoric world.