At the north gate of E4 Camp, Mi Tang let the reclamation team return on their own while he followed Jiao Yang and the others into the camp.
“Go back and keep an eye on that girl, Gu Xiaomai. See how she handles those roots of purified plants,” Jiao Yang said.
“Captain, didn’t you say you felt sorry for the points and refused to take those roots?” Mi Tang asked.
Smack—
Jiao Yang gave him a “loving pat.”
“Do you understand anything at all? Just watch her like I told you to.” Feeling sorry for points and wanting to know whether those roots could be eaten were not mutually exclusive!
“Oh, alright…” Mi Tang rubbed the spot where he was hit. This chubby captain really was getting stronger as he got fatter.
“Captain, are we cooking purified plants in the camp tonight?”
“You want to eat?”
“Yeah, hehe… who wouldn’t?”
He turned to the soldiers behind him. “Do you want to eat?”
The crowd immediately burst into chatter.
“Yes!”
“Of course we do!”
“Captain Jiao, we contributed today—shouldn’t we celebrate?”
“I’ve been dreaming of eating purified plants every day since I left the base, hehe—”
“Then just keep dreaming! I want to eat every other day in my dreams.”
“You’re both the same! Go eat in your dreams—dreams have everything!”
……
Mi Tang turned back. “Captain, hear that?”
Jiao Yang clicked his tongue and pointed at him. “Go find the madman and tell him to prepare the fire. I’ll go talk to the camp commander.”
“Yes, sir!”
He raised his voice. “Fat Bun! Come here and take Captain Jiao to see the commander!”
“I’m coming!” A young man ran out from behind, his right arm wrapped in bandages.
If Gu Xiaomai had been there, she would have recognized him—the same soldier who helped rescue her alongside Jiang Chen’an and Yumi.
Fat Bun crouched in front of Jiao Yang. “Captain Jiao, hop on. I’ll carry you.”
“I can walk. It’s not far, and your right arm is still injured,” Jiao Yang said—but still ended up lying on his back anyway.
The weight immediately pressed down on him.
This damn fat guy… how is he heavier again?
If he kept gaining weight like this, he wouldn’t even be able to carry him in the future.
With that thought, he hoisted him up and the two of them disappeared quickly from sight. Fat Bun’s voice floated back:
“Captain, walking would take too long. I’ll get you there in a flash!”
After they left, Mi Tang turned to the remaining soldiers. “The injured go rest. The rest follow me to the cafeteria to help Crazy Feng.”
Most of the soldiers who went up the mountain were either logistical staff or lightly injured personnel recovering in camp. No one was willing to go back and rest at that moment—who knew if these guys would eat everything before calling them later? Getting even a bowl of soup would be lucky.
Since the camp’s cafeteria had been set up after late February, they had only eaten purified-plant soup three times in total.
Each time, there were only a few mouthfuls—sometimes not even a single green leaf.
This time, they were determined to be first in line.
Meanwhile, back with the reclamation team, Yumi was visiting everyone to ask how to cook purified plants.
“Grandpa Xia, how are you planning to eat your purified plants?” Yumi asked.
Old man Xia Yang’s bed was on the left side of Tent 3. Sitting on it, he could clearly see Yumi grinning at the entrance in the moonlight.
“What are you asking that for, kid?” he said.
“Hehe, it’s my first time getting purified plants, so I don’t know how to cook them. You look experienced, so I came to learn!”
“Are you paying consultation fees? If you pay, I’ll tell you,” said Liang Fei from the bed on the right.
“Brother Fei, I want to, but I don’t even have a single point right now,” Yumi sighed deeply.
All his points had been exchanged for nutrient supplies before leaving the base—barely enough for six bottles. He had been short by five points, which Jiang Chen’an had helped cover. He kept three bottles for himself and left three for the orphanage.
Even the bath yesterday had been paid for by Jiang Chen’an.
He was poor.
Seeing his serious misery, Xia Yang laughed and said, “Alright, stop teasing him.”
Then he said, “I’ll cook it tomorrow night. Come watch, and you’ll understand. It’s simple.”
“Really? Thank you, Grandpa!” Yumi said loudly, barely containing his excitement.
From Tent 5, Gu Xiaomai could clearly hear his voice. She didn’t even need to guess what was going on.
Those two kids really were…
She had already told them she could cook it, but they didn’t believe her and insisted on asking others.
At that moment, from the next bed over, Aunt Liu spoke:
“Xiaomai, what are you even doing digging up those unknown plant roots? They’re not yam, sweet potato, or potato. It’s a waste of effort—and Captain Jiao and the others didn’t even accept them.”
Between telling the truth and brushing it off, Gu Xiaomai hesitated briefly before deciding.
“Aunt Liu, have you heard of danggui, codonopsis, and astragalus?”
“Yes. In the pre-disaster era, they were all excellent blood-tonifying herbs. But after the disaster, survival became difficult, and fewer people knew about medicinal herbs that couldn’t be eaten directly. I even drank herbal medicine with those ingredients when I was young… but I don’t recognize what they look like in the ground.”
Then she paused.
“You’re saying the roots you dug up are those medicinal herbs?”
The others—Wei Xiaoqin, Meng Xue, and Wan Chuncui—immediately perked up and listened closely.
After Gu Xiaomai gave a soft “mm,” all three of them turned toward her eagerly.
If they could learn to identify them, maybe they could find the roots the camp refused to take and sell them back at the base. As long as it was a purified plant, it could be sold.
Then Aunt Liu spoke again, a little hopeful:
“Xiaomai… could you teach us how to recognize them? Don’t worry, we won’t ask for free lessons. Next time we find them, we can give you half.”
“We can too,” Wei Xiaoqin and Meng Xue quickly added.
“And me,” Wan Chuncui said, afraid of being left out.