Jiao Yang looked at the green light on the detector, then at the roots in his hand that looked like neither yam, sweet potato, nor potato. His round face was scrunched up in a deep frown.
If he didn’t accept them, they were clearly purified plant roots—and they were heavy, even heavier than the previous two groups combined.
But if he did accept them, he didn’t recognize them at all. They weren’t leafy greens, and they weren’t listed in the edible plant manual. The key issue was that if he accepted them, the 10% return share would be quite large, which hurt his heart a little.
Then again, that 10% would also be returned in these unknown roots.
But if the other party chose not to take the plants and instead convert everything into points, wouldn’t he have to pay out a large amount of points?
No, no, that was too many points—even if they belonged to the camp, it still hurt to spend them.
Besides, everything collected was meant for the soldiers to eat. If something unrecognized caused food poisoning, that would be a serious problem.
After intense internal struggle, Jiao Yang made his decision:
Any root not listed in the manual—reject it.
As for the green leaves not written in the manual?
That was fine. The manual said most green leaves were edible anyway.
He even noticed some leaves had insect bites. If insects could eat them, so could humans.
So he had the roots removed and weighed the rest.
“This is also part of purified plants—why don’t they take it?” Yu Mi asked softly, slightly disappointed.
Those roots were quite heavy. If they were accepted, they could have been exchanged for a good number of points.
Jiang Chen’an also felt it was a pity, though he didn’t show it as clearly.
But Gu Xiaomai was quite happy. If they didn’t take it, she could keep it and process it into medicinal materials for herself.
“Captain Jiao, can we take these back?” she asked with a smile.
Jiao Yang looked at her for a moment, then nodded.
Gu Xiaomai packed all the roots back into the bag.
The weighing result came out.
Jiao Yang said, “Your group—Gu Xiaomai has none, you two get 3 liang each. Plants or points?”
“Purified plants,” Jiang Chen’an and Yu Mi said at the same time.
Yu Mi grinned, revealing two small tiger teeth, smiling like he had struck it rich.
Jiang Chen’an also smiled with relaxed brows.
Both of them stared at the scale in Jiao Yang’s hand, watching carefully as he added the purified plants bit by bit, making sure the balance stayed perfectly even—afraid even a tiny extra amount would be added.
After carefully packing their share, the three left, and the next group stepped forward.
Standing near other members who had already submitted their plants, Yu Mi asked while holding his bag, “Chen-ge, how do we even eat these purified plants?”
“I guess… boil them into soup or stir-fry them?” Jiang Chen’an wasn’t sure either.
When his parents were still alive, his memories of eating purified plants were already blurry. After they died, whenever his uncles’ families cooked them, they would always send him away.
When he came back, his cousins would mock him, saying things like “My mom’s food is delicious, you can’t eat it,” or “My mom’s soup is great, go ask your mom to make it.”
So… maybe they were boiled or stir-fried?
“But how do you cook them? I don’t know how!” Yu Mi worried. “Chen-ge, do you know?”
Jiang Chen’an shot him an annoyed glance. Did he look like someone who knew how to cook?
His uncles’ families had always guarded him like a thief. He never even had a chance to learn.
Yu Mi immediately understood: his Chen-ge didn’t know either.
“What do we do then? We’ve got the ingredients but can’t even eat them,” he sighed.
At that moment, Gu Xiaomai—who had been eavesdropping—suddenly chimed in cheerfully:
“Two big brothers, look at me! Look at me!”
The two looked down and saw her blinking her big eyes rapidly.
Jiang Chen’an asked, “Something in your eye?”
Yu Mi asked, “Got dirt in your eye?”
(Seriously? Can’t you tell I’m volunteering?)
Gu Xiaomai complained internally, then smiled brightly:
“I can cook and stir-fry them! I can help you make them~”
The two exchanged a glance, then turned away again.
Yu Mi looked at the queue forming near Jiao Yang. “I wonder how many plants everyone will get.”
“Probably not much,” Jiang Chen’an replied.
“Chen-ge, do you think more people will choose plants or points?”
“Probably points, for the first time.”
“I think so too. But getting plants is also good—you can’t even buy them easily in the base.”
Gu Xiaomai puffed her cheeks like an angry little frog.
These two!!
She was kindly helping them and they didn’t believe her at all!
As night fell, Jiao Yang and his team finished counting all the harvested purified plants and led the group back to camp.
On the way back, everyone was smiling—some because they could soon eat purified plants, others because they had earned enough points to improve their families’ lives.
Most people, like Liu Ju’s group, chose points instead of plants.
After all, they were poor, and more importantly, they didn’t have the tools or materials needed to prepare purified plants. They needed to save up first.
Only a few people chose purified plants like Jiang Chen’an and Yu Mi—among them was an old man, Xia Yang.
Walking beside him, Liang Fei asked, “Old Xia, you chose plants? Do you even have the tools to prepare them?”
Xia Yang chuckled. “At my age, I only need to feed myself. Of course I’ve saved up for them. Didn’t you say you wanted to eat purified plants before? Why did you switch to points this time?”
Liang Fei laughed bitterly. “Got a kid at home—he’s a point-eating machine. I need to save up first.”
He had a newborn son, and as first-time parents, they wanted to give him a good life, which meant earning more points.
Although the base provided nutrition supplies, vaccines, and water for children under five, his wife had to stay home to take care of the baby and couldn’t earn points. The burden fell entirely on him.
Nearby, someone asked Zhang Tao, “Why did you choose points too? You don’t have a family, right?”
“I don’t have tools yet,” Zhang Tao said. “I’ll earn points first and buy them later. There will be more chances to collect plants anyway. Besides, this place is safe—no corrupted beasts at all. I’d come every day if I could.”
Someone nearby interrupted, “But didn’t someone shout about a corrupted beast this afternoon?”
“Yeah, I heard it too. I was so nervous I almost froze.”
“I heard it as well! The roar was huge.”
“They probably killed it.”
Zhang Tao said, “Even so, this is safer than going out with full combat teams. At least here, if anything happens, soldiers will come to rescue us. Plus, we can choose points or plants. Outside, teams only give points.”
Xia Yang nodded. “True. I’ve joined many teams before. This is the most relaxed and safest one.”
In some teams, civilians were even used as bait for corrupted beasts. Many died because of that.
Although the base officially forbade it, outside the base, teams still did it.
Hearing this, the soldiers nearby lifted their heads proudly.
Yes—that’s right. Their camp was that good.
They must collect even more purified plants in the future!
After the group left the mountain, a brilliantly colored bird appeared at the peak of Mount 1.
It sniffed the air, identified a direction, and flew down to the place where Gu Xiaomai had first dug up the purified astragalus roots.
It stared at the pit she had left behind.
Its deep blue eyes showed hesitation—but eventually, it dug inside with its claws.
Soon, broken root fragments were unearthed.
Even though they were covered in dirt it disliked, it swallowed them without hesitation, a flash of joy appearing in its eyes.
When it could no longer find any remaining fragments, it shook off its dirty claws in disgust, then flew onto a treetop and looked down toward the mountain base.
The humans and soldiers were crossing the silver metal bridge.
Watching them, its eyes gleamed with cunning.
Later that night, more and more animals appeared on the southern slope of Mount 1.
Their destination was clear:
The place where Gu Xiaomai had dug up the first astragalus root.
Stronger ones ran in front.
Weaker ones, if they ran too fast, were kicked back by those ahead.