People had already started digging in the sweet potato fields.
Even high-radiation sweet potatoes were being taken home.
Eating highly radioactive food could cause stomach pain, increase the risk of radiation syndrome, and in severe cases, even lead to death.
But that was still better than starving to death during the winter.
Food like this was known as secondary rations.
It was already September, and with only a month or so left before the harsh winter arrived, everyone had begun stockpiling secondary rations.
“Oh, come on! I’ve been digging for ages and haven’t found a single sweet potato, let alone an edible one. How are people supposed to survive like this?”
A woman in neat green clothes straightened up and rubbed her aching back before tossing down her hoe.
“Oh, please. You don’t know how to survive? Everyone knows your son found a crystal core a few days ago.”
The people nearby immediately teased her for showing off.
“Exactly. Unlike us, you’ve got a son who’s a beast hunter.”
“Your family already has a crystal core, and you’re still competing with us for food.”
“Competing for food? Bah! Does this field belong to your family?”
The woman in green spat on the ground and sat down, apparently exhausted from digging.
Su Yue happened to be without any tools—there weren’t any at home.
So she stepped forward and asked, “Auntie, I didn’t bring a hoe. Could I borrow yours for a while? I’ll pay you one credit.”
The woman looked Su Yue up and down.
She was tired anyway, and one credit was still money.
“Fine, but only for half an hour.”
Su Yue readily agreed, pretending to wince at the cost as she transferred the credit and picked up the hoe.
Most of the shallow sweet potatoes had already been dug up, leaving only a few buried deeper underground.
If Su Yue’s ability hadn’t leveled up, she probably wouldn’t have been able to sense them at this depth.
She released her wood-element ability and carefully probed beneath the soil.
On the surface, she wandered around, appearing to search for a promising spot.
Eventually, she selected a small patch at the edge of the field.
Not a single vine grew there.
That was why no one had bothered to dig it up.
But Su Yue could clearly sense at least seven or eight sweet potatoes growing beneath the ground.
She only had half an hour.
She needed to move quickly.
Gripping the hoe, she began digging.
The woman in green had been watching her and called out when she saw where Su Yue had chosen.
“Little girl, there’s definitely nothing over there. Don’t waste your energy!”
“It’s okay, Auntie. No one’s dug here yet, so I want to give it a try.”
Seeing that Su Yue wouldn’t be persuaded, the woman let it go.
A young girl scavenging alone was pitiful enough.
Back when her own son was sixteen, he had joined the beast hunters and fought to build a better life for himself.
A few nearby women scoffed.
“Why bother warning her? If she wants to dig, let her dig. At least she won’t come compete with us for food.”
“Exactly! You’re just too tired to dig and want someone else to steal our share.”
The woman in green planted her hands on her hips.
“That’s complete nonsense!”
She was about to continue arguing when the corner of her eye caught sight of Su Yue pulling something from the ground.
A sweet potato.
It wasn’t very big, but it was about the size of an adult man’s hand.
Pretending to be excited, Su Yue quickly stuffed it into her cloth bag without even checking its radiation level.
She had already used her ability to estimate that this one was highly radioactive.
But she now had three mutated reed chickens at home, and high-radiation sweet potatoes would make perfect feed.
Sweet potatoes also stored well through the winter.
Without stopping, Su Yue kept digging.
Soon, she unearthed another one.
The women nearby exchanged glances and started moving toward her.
The woman in green immediately stepped in front of them.
“What? Trying to steal food from a little girl? Have you no shame?”
“Oh, please, Guo Juhua. Stop acting so self-righteous. Why can’t we dig there? Does that patch belong to her?”
Guo Juhua rolled up her sleeves, revealing strong, muscular arms.
“Whoever starts digging first has the right to that spot. That’s the rule. You shameless bunch!”
The women glanced at her powerful arms and took a step back.
“We were just looking. Fine, fine—we won’t look anymore.”
Meanwhile, Su Yue continued digging while listening closely to the commotion.
She hadn’t expected the woman in green to be so fair-minded.
The Sweet Potato Judge, she thought.
In this day and age, people willing to stand up for others were rarer than edible food.
The sweet potatoes were clustered closely together, and Su Yue quickly finished digging up the area.
In total, she found seven sweet potatoes of various sizes, filling her cloth bag to the brim.
The other women stared at her enviously.
They were clearly waiting for her to leave so they could rush over and dig the same spot.
Su Yue didn’t check any of the sweet potatoes with her detector.
She planned to do that after returning home.
But the bulging bag was far too conspicuous.
As usual, she covered the sweet potatoes with dirt so that, at first glance, it looked like she was simply carrying a sack of soil.
People often collected dirt to reinforce their homes before winter, so it wouldn’t attract suspicion.
Even so, the women kept eyeing her bag greedily.
Although Su Yue had her abilities, she couldn’t reveal them in public.
It would be best to have someone escort her home.
Her eyes landed on Guo Juhua.
Walking over with a bright smile, she looked every bit the obedient young girl.
“Auntie, thank you for lending me the hoe. Could you help me with one more thing?”
Guo Juhua looked enviously at the stuffed bag but harbored no ill intentions.
“Auntie, it’s not very safe for me to walk back to the refugee district alone. Could you escort me? I’ll give you half a sweet potato.”
What a deal.
Guo Juhua’s face lit up.
“Of course! No problem. Let’s go!”
She had spent all morning digging without finding anything.
Walking someone home in exchange for half a sweet potato felt like a gift from heaven.
The reward was more than generous.
And she didn’t care whether it was edible or highly radioactive.
Even a high-radiation sweet potato was valuable.
The sweet potato field was close to the refugee district.
It took only about ten minutes to reach it.
Once inside the district, Su Yue broke off half a sweet potato—about the size of her palm—and handed it to Guo Juhua.
“Oh my, thank you, little girl. Go on now. Those women didn’t follow us. Stay safe.”
Naturally, Su Yue had given her one of the high-radiation sweet potatoes.
Using her ability, she had determined that out of the seven she found, only two might be edible.
The rest were all highly radioactive.
When they got home, Su Yue emptied the bag.
Xingxing happily carried the half sweet potato off to feed the chickens.
Meanwhile, Su Yue separated the two sweet potatoes with the weakest life force and tested them.
[Target plant radiation level: 833. Safe for consumption.]
[Target plant radiation level: 671. Safe for consumption.]
Wonderful!
Not only were both edible, but one of them even qualified as low-radiation food.
She could sell it to the wealthy people in the city.
That meant another source of income.
But the conversation she had overheard earlier had also caught her attention.
Crystal cores.
Only adult mutated beasts developed crystal cores in their skulls.
So…
Would adult mutated caterpillars have crystal cores too?
If they did, then that grove would be filled with crystal cores just waiting to be collected.