Su Xing reached out a small hand and touched the leaf in amazement.
“It’s a real leaf! Big Sister, you’re amazing!”
Su Yue smiled and decided to cook a quarter of the leaf into a vegetable soup.
A quarter of the leaf weighed about 150 grams.
It wouldn’t be enough to fill them up, but at least it would stave off hunger.
After all, there was no guarantee they would find food tomorrow. Until they had some reserves at home, they had to ration everything carefully.
She needed to stockpile enough food for the next three months within this one remaining month and survive until the weather warmed up in early February.
Su Yue took a careful look around their home.
There wasn’t much inside: one bed, one cooking pot, one chair, one bucket, a simple stove, and a few miscellaneous items. Beyond that, there were only four mud walls and a drafty roof.
When their parents were alive, the family had been poor, but not this poor.
After their parents passed away, however, little Su Yue had been forced to sell their belongings to keep herself and her sister alive through the winter.
That was how their home had become so barren.
Su Yue washed the pot with water, set it on the stove, and poured some water from the bucket into the iron pot.
Then she struck a fire with flint.
While waiting for the water to boil, she used her improvised iron-blade knife to chop the plantain leaves into small pieces.
The water soon came to a boil.
There were no seasonings in the house, so Su Yue simply tossed the chopped leaves into the bubbling water.
The fresh scent of grass filled the room.
Su Xing sat on the chair, staring expectantly at the pot while swinging her little feet back and forth.
When the soup was ready, each of them filled a bowl and blew on it before sipping carefully.
The thick leaves made the soup pleasantly hearty despite being chopped up. The broth had turned a pale green, while the cooked leaves became a deep emerald color, steam rising from the bowls.
It didn’t look particularly appetizing, but the starving, freezing sisters couldn’t afford to be picky.
In a post-apocalyptic world, having anything to eat at all was a blessing.
Su Xing squinted happily as she drank the soup, as though she were savoring an exquisite feast.
As for Su Yue, she had spent her previous life going hungry more often than not. Her taste buds were hardly demanding anymore, and she drank the soup with satisfaction.
After finishing a bowl, warmth returned to her limbs.
With something in her stomach, the gnawing pain of hunger finally subsided.
It was already past seven o’clock, and night had fallen.
There were no lights in the house. Once the fire went out, they could no longer see anything.
“Let’s go to sleep.”
“Mm-hmm.”
Su Xing climbed onto the bed and curled up beside Su Yue like a small animal.
They shared a thin quilt barely three centimeters thick. The cotton stuffing inside had clumped together long ago and offered little warmth.
But they huddled close together, sharing body heat as they slept fully clothed.
Because they had gone to bed early, Su Yue woke up at four in the morning.
Su Xing was still asleep.
Su Yue draped her own half of the quilt over the little girl before getting up to prepare breakfast.
Dawn would break around five, and the first traces of morning light were already visible.
Outside, she could hear the occasional sounds of footsteps and quiet conversations.
Hardworking people had already begun heading out to scavenge.
Su Yue intended to leave early as well.
She took another quarter of a plantain leaf and cooked it into soup, then poured a small portion into an insulated cup.
The rest she left for Su Xing’s breakfast and lunch.
She gently patted Su Xing awake.
“Xingxing, Big Sister is heading out. Stay safe at home. Your breakfast and lunch are in the pot, so remember to eat both meals.”
The moment Su Xing heard that her sister was leaving, she opened her eyes.
“Be careful, Big Sister. It’s okay if you don’t find anything. Just come home early.”
Su Yue smiled and nodded. She reassuringly patted Su Xing’s head before gathering her equipment and heading out.
A biting wind greeted her outside.
Quite a few people were already on the streets, bundled up in hats and heavy clothing as they made their way to scavenging sites.
Su Yue planned to revisit the patch of wild plants where she had searched for food the day before.
As she walked, she deliberately listened to the conversations around her.
“Come on, didn’t you see how many people are gathering over there? Are you going or not?”
“I’m not. Those ginkgo fruits are corrosive, and they’re toxic if you eat too many. Not worth the risk. I’d rather try my luck at the sour jujube grove to the east.”
“There are tons of mutated insects in that grove. You’re pretty brave.”
Their hushed conversation drifted into Su Yue’s ears.
Her heart stirred.
Ever since arriving in this world, her wood-element ability had reverted to its beginner level, allowing her to summon only finger-thick vines.
Still, they retained their offensive capabilities.
The vines were covered in sharp thorns and carried a mild toxin.
Based on the original owner’s memories of mutated insects, Su Yue estimated that she could still handle them with her current strength.
Time was running short. Searching for edible leaves alone wouldn’t be enough.
Once she figured out a way to transport larger amounts of food, she would try her luck at the jujube grove as well.
Edible sour jujubes or insects would be ideal, but even edible jujube leaves would help.
Most scavengers worked in pairs or small groups—some with family members, others with friends or scavenging partners.
There was safety in numbers, reducing the risk of being robbed.
People who scavenged alone, like Su Yue, did exist, but they were relatively rare.
If necessary, she would find a trustworthy partner.
She couldn’t reveal her abilities in public. If she encountered bandits and a fight broke out, her current frail body wouldn’t stand a chance.
The person who had robbed and stabbed the original Su Yue was a scar-faced man—a notorious thug who lived on the western edge of the refugee district.
Just wait, she thought coldly. Once my abilities grow stronger, I’ll deal with him myself.
Lost in thought, she arrived at the wild grass patch.
Following the same method as the day before, Su Yue closed her eyes and focused.
Her abilities weren’t limitless. Overusing them would leave her dizzy and exhausted.
Activating her power, she saw clusters of green light flickering in her mind.
She targeted the dimmer clusters—the plants with weaker life force—and scanned them with her detector.
[Target plant radiation level: 1043. Consumption not recommended.]
[Target plant radiation level: 1118. Consumption not recommended.]
[Target plant radiation level: 773. Safe for consumption.]
It was a shepherd’s purse leaf.
Shepherd’s purse had always been one of Su Yue’s favorite wild vegetables because of its delicious flavor.
Delighted, she carefully harvested the leaf and scanned the rest of the plant.
She found another edible leaf.
[Target plant radiation level: 653. Safe for consumption.]
The first leaf, with a radiation level of 773, was larger—about forty centimeters long.
The second, with a radiation level of 653, was a tender young leaf only twenty centimeters long.
Su Yue placed them in her cloth bag.
Then she activated her ability again.
By combining her powers with the detector, she was far more efficient than everyone else.
Crouched among the dense grass, no one could tell whether she had found anything edible.
Using this method, she discovered an edible ground berry.
It was as large as her fist.
Ground berries normally grew in clusters, but only three plants had sprouted in this patch of grass.
After pulling aside the surrounding vegetation and confirming there were no more berries nearby, Su Yue sat down on a cushion of leaves to rest.
It was already past ten o’clock, and the ultraviolet radiation was growing stronger.
During summer, the ultraviolet rays were deadly enough to kill a person through prolonged exposure.
But now, with temperatures so low and trees overhead blocking much of the sunlight, Su Yue only felt pleasantly warm.
There was no one monitoring the area within ten meters of her.
Most scavengers looked down on these wild grasses and preferred other gathering spots.
Besides the shepherd’s purse leaves and the ground berry, she had also collected some vines and broad grass stalks to weave a pair of shoes for Su Xing.
Those didn’t need radiation testing—she could gather as many as she wanted.
Su Yue packed away her morning’s harvest.
Her haul consisted of two shepherd’s purse leaves—one large and one small—a fist-sized ground berry, and a bundle of vines and grass stalks.
Ground berries had a sweet-and-sour flavor and tasted excellent.
However, they contained mild toxins if eaten in excess, so they were best made into jam and consumed gradually.