“It’s nothing, Mai Ya. You must store more food. Come with me tomorrow to dig up some wild roots. I secretly overheard my grandpa saying that with no rain for so long, the village well is almost dry.”
Xiaocao paused, glanced around nervously, and squeezed Mai Zi’s hand tightly.
“And these past couple of days, I ran into some people from the north. They said the city is about to fall. Don’t tell anyone.”
Xiaocao tugged Mai Zi toward her home. Both their houses were in the same direction.
Looking at Xiaocao, that familiar feeling from memory returned. “I understand, Xiaocao. I believe you. We’ll go gather wild vegetables tomorrow. I’ll wait for you at the mountain pass at dawn.”
No matter what happened, Xiaocao and Mai Zi would survive.
Mai Zi thought to herself. Returning home, she pushed aside the chaotic thoughts in her mind and started boiling water to soak beans. This clay pot could only hold two jin of beans; she’d have to cook over ten batches to finish.
With no containers for food, she could only pick some large mulberry leaves from outside the door to wrap the beans, making bean rice. She also needed to set aside two jin of beans as a cover outside.
Hopefully, they could find more wild roots on the mountain tomorrow. Lying on her bedding, listening to the buzzing of mosquitoes, Mai Zi remembered she also needed to find some mugwort. Exhausted from the day, she quickly fell into a deep sleep.
As the roosters from two households in the village crowed, Mai Zi noticed the sky was already faintly bright. She packed up, carrying one of the only two baskets in the house, and placed a piece of bean rice inside.
The room now held only a few dried straw mats, one bedding set, a clay pot, and a small bag of beans. Everything else had been stored in her Space. After gathering her things, Mai Zi headed to the agreed-upon spot—the mountain pass.
Dajing Village backed against a low hill, with a river flowing below. Now, it was so dry that only a thin layer of muddy water was visible. On either side were a country road and an official road, interspersed with the villagers’ fields. The foot of the low hill was called the mountain pass.
With many villagers nearby, the mountain had little game left. The few surviving wild rabbits and mountain rats were clever, still evading even old hunter Lin Hu. Looking at the mountain, Mai Zi saw it was already parched and dry; the soil felt completely devoid of moisture.
“Mai Ya! Over here!” Xiaocao stood by the path waving, carrying a large basket on her back that seemed to weigh down half her small frame.
“Let’s go gather wild vegetables.” Mai Zi walked up the mountain path, calling out to Xiaocao.
There wasn’t much left to eat on the mountain. From memory, the most common vegetable Xiaocao and Mai Ya gathered was the goosefoot before them—bitter, with a taste both astringent and fishy.
Because of its poor taste, even villagers rarely picked it, and even so, there wasn’t much left.
Mai Zi recognized this wild vegetable—a plant from the goosefoot family, slightly toxic, likely to cause allergies if eaten in excess. Back at the greenhouse base, she’d spent every day weeding out this plant. That graduate student seemed to be working on some thesis, tending that plot daily.
After gathering the goosefoot, Mai Zi and Xiaocao each had only two small handfuls.
“Let’s go further in. There’s nothing left out here. The ground is too dry; wild vegetables can’t grow well.” Xiaocao scraped at the soil a couple of times; the sandy earth scattered loosely like dust.
Two small, thin, dark-skinned children made their way deeper into the mountains. The wind howled through the forest, but as they ventured further in, the conditions improved slightly, with a faint hint of moisture in the air.
"Xiaocao, look—the mountain spring is almost dried up." Mai Zi pushed aside the withered grass to reveal what was once a sizable spring, now reduced to a slow drip, like a leaky faucet.
The pool below was so parched that its original form was unrecognizable. "It looks like a real drought is coming!"
Xiaocao stared at the spring, remembering how it used to be. A sense of shared sorrow welled up inside her.
"A drought, Xiaocao—you said there’s going to be a drought." Hearing Xiaocao’s words, Mai Zi felt her own suspicions slowly confirmed.
"Mai Ya, do you believe me? The drought is coming! We’re all going to die… all of us…" Xiaocao couldn’t hold back her emotions any longer, her voice turning sharp. These feelings had been festering in the shadows of her heart for days.
Alone with Mai Ya, she finally broke down. Lin Xiaocao clung to Mai Zi, the frantic words on the tip of her tongue swallowed back, leaving only those two phrases repeated in a murmur.
Mai Zi held Xiaocao tightly without saying a word. She was just a little girl. In another life, a child Xiaocao’s age would only be thinking about catching GG Bond on the children’s channel at six o’clock sharp—a world apart from this Xiaocao, crumbling under the pressure of survival.
After a dazed moment, Xiaocao pulled herself together and resumed searching for wild vegetables. Near the mountain spring, the variety of edible plants was richer, and Mai Zi soon spotted another type.
"Xiaocao, come quick and dig! This one isn’t bitter at all!"
It was marsh pennywort, also known as water shield, which thrives in damp places and is rich in nutrients—perfect for malnourished children. Sigh, what we really lack now is meat.
Xiaocao hurried over to dig alongside Mai Zi. She had secretly tasted this vegetable before. Whenever she found it in the past, she would bring it home for her younger brother to eat—it was sweet.
"Mai Ya, I’ll leave these vegetables at your place. Dry them and keep them for me. If I take them home, I won’t get to eat them anyway. I’ll split my share with you." Xiaocao spoke as she dug, eager to gather every last bit.
Mai Zi agreed without hesitation.
Mai Ya and Xiaocao had been close since childhood. When Mai Ya went hungry, Xiaocao would sneak beans from her family’s fields to bring to her. Once caught, she was beaten nearly to death, and Mai Ya held her through the punishment.
Later, when the Village Head heard the commotion, fearing the two girls might stir up bigger trouble, he returned the relief grain he had withheld from the government. Mai Ya gave the food back to Lin Hu’s family, and things improved slightly. That’s how they managed to survive, year after year, growing up little by little.
"Xiaocao, don’t worry. I’ll take them home and dry them. If a drought is coming, we’d better dig faster." Mai Zi nudged Xiaocao, quickening her movements. As for Xiaocao’s offer to share half the vegetables, Mai Zi had no intention of accepting.
Just when it seemed the matter was settled—
"Why didn’t you ask me how I know all this?" Lin Xiaocao’s bright, dark eyes fixed on Mai Zi as she suddenly spoke, a hint of confusion in her heart.
"If Xiaocao can know, then Mai Ya can know too." Mai Zi said with a grin, giving Xiaocao’s bottom a playful pat—a favorite game from their childhood.
Xiaocao burst into giggles, the weight in her heart lifting. She responded with a hearty smack on Mai Zi’s backside.
After digging up the horsetail grass around the spring, the two had already filled half a basket. They searched for other wild vegetables and found a few more varieties, though they weren't very tasty, eventually filling the basket completely.
However, the weather was extremely dry and hot, so wild vegetables were scarce. Lin Xiaocao and Mai Zi scoured the entire mountain and finally gathered two baskets and one backpack's worth, enough to last them about ten days, though it would only provide a watery fullness.
After finishing this, Mai Zi and Xiaocao went to gather some mugwort to fumigate their house when they returned home.
"Xiaocao, do you know Doctor Yu?" Mai Zi thought for a moment and asked Xiaocao.
"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" Lin Xiaocao looked at Mai Zi, worriedly touching her forehead.
"I just think we should look for medicinal herbs to keep on hand, just in case. We could also gather herbs to sell for a bit of money, and maybe even exchange them for some grain," Mai Zi voiced her concerns.
"Why didn't I think of that? Mai Zi, you're so clever!" Lin Xiaocao slapped her forehead and hurriedly led Mai Zi to Doctor Yu's house.
"Let's go back first and blanch these wild vegetables to dry. The sun is strong today, so they'll dry quickly."
Besides, fewer people were drawing water from the well at noon, making it the perfect time to fetch more water and store it in the Space.
"I'll come find you this afternoon to visit Doctor Yu. You go ahead and handle things here. I'll take these back to report," Lin Xiaocao hurriedly grabbed a handful of goosefoot grass and rushed home.