Although Xiao Fei's injuries were effectively treated at the Renxin Hall, he still needed a long period of rest, otherwise the wound would crack and become infected again.
After returning to the refugee camp, he lay in the haystack every day to recuperate. When hungry, he would boil bark, grass roots, and bracken, and supplement his protein with wolf meat.
After eating bracken for a few days, it became increasingly scarce. Although the space maintained a constant temperature, crops still followed their growth cycles.
However, he had a solution: by cutting off the aging sprouts of some bracken, new shoots would emerge.
After another ten days of this, his injuries had recovered significantly, and he could move around appropriately.
The ice and snow outside had long since melted, and the temperature began to rise. Nearby tenant farmers started plowing their fields in preparation for spring sowing.
Stepping out of the refugee camp, he saw many people with their heads bowed, searching for wild vegetables in the barren land. Not only refugees but also the children of nearby tenant farmers were there.
Many tenant farmers had children aged four or five, holding bamboo stakes and running around the fields. Every time they found a wild vegetable, they would shout and call their friends.
Xiao Fei also chose a direction with fewer people to search.
Wild vegetables had only just begun to sprout, and there weren't many in the fields. Furthermore, this area was near the refugee camp, and it was scoured several times a day by people. It was truly difficult for any wild vegetables to survive.
Xiao Fei searched for more than half a day and only found a small handful of wild vegetables.
Compared to the energy he expended during this time, even eating all these wild vegetables wouldn't replenish it. It was a losing proposition.
He found a total of eight shepherd's purses and three potentillas, both delicious wild vegetables.
He also saw some bitter, unpalatable, or slightly poisonous bracken, which he didn't dig up, leaving them for those in need.
Xiao Fei planted all eleven wild vegetables in his space.
After some exploration during this period, Xiao Fei roughly calculated that time flowed about ten times faster in his space than in the outside world.
This meant that for every day outside, ten days passed in his space.
With the rapid growth rate of wild vegetables in the space, they changed visibly every day, growing extremely fast. Finally, they could temporarily replace the bracken.
Two days later, Xiao Fei was eating the wild vegetables he had grown. The shepherd's purse tasted very good, fresh and tender.
Potentilla leaves have green fronts and white backs, hence the name "potentilla," also known as "chicken leg."
This is because a root stem, about the size of a little finger, grows from its root, resembling a chicken leg. It is rich in starch and tastes crisp and sweet when eaten raw, or it can be cooked.
Xiao Fei managed to fill his stomach by eating wild vegetables (eating grass) every day, making his face seem to glow with a green light.
Regardless, he was much better off than those refugees who starved to death that spring.
Since winter began last year, almost every day someone starved to death.
Now Xiao Fei no longer had to worry about starving.
In the past few days, the bracken sprouts in his space began to wither, indicating that the growth cycle of this batch had ended and it was time to harvest.
He spent a whole day in his space, working until he was almost exhausted, to dig out all these bracken roots.
He discovered that the bracken roots grown in his space were exceptionally plump and robust.
Ordinary bracken roots were only as thick as a medium or small finger, and it was rare to find roots as thick as a thumb.
However, the bracken roots dug from his space were at least as thick as a thumb, with the largest being as thick as a baby's arm.
He picked up a bracken root and took a bite. He found it was less bitter and contained more starch.
"Could the space also have the effect of improving varieties? Or is the soil in the space more fertile?"
Xiao Fei pondered for a moment but couldn't figure it out. As long as it was a good thing, it was fine.
He piled the dug-out bracken roots together, estimating they weighed around 100 jin.
From these, he selected the thickest bracken roots, cut them into pieces, and replanted them in the space's soil.
The remaining bracken roots, about seventy to eighty jin, would allow him to harvest another batch in a month, given the bracken's growth cycle.
He planned to sell some of these seventy to eighty jin of bracken roots to exchange for grain seeds. Planting proper grain was the way to go.
Therefore, although his life would improve in the coming month, he still wouldn't be able to eat his fill and would have to supplement with wild vegetables to get by.
In the center of the refugee camp, there was a simple market.
This market was formed spontaneously by the refugees, and the primary mode of transaction was bartering, as everyone was penniless.
Xiao Fei, with a woodcutting axe conspicuously tucked into his waist, walked into the market carrying a large bundle of shepherd's purse.
There were only a few people in the market, with a total of eight stalls. The goods on display were all of little value: tattered clothes, straw sandals, and fresh leaves.
Xiao Fei glanced around and walked directly to one of the stalls.
"Old man, I'll trade this bundle of wild vegetables for your broken earthenware pot."
A somewhat dilapidated earthenware pot lay behind a skeleton-thin old man. Upon hearing Xiao Fei's words, the old man slowly opened his eyes, his gaze lingering on the bundle of shepherd's purse for a moment, and he nodded with difficulty.
Xiao Fei threw the shepherd's purse in front of the old man and was about to take the pot when his peripheral vision caught the sharp corner of something pressed under the old man's clothes.
He calmly moved the pot closer to himself, then squatted down and lowered his voice.
"Old man, how about trading me that knife?"
The elder, who had seemed on his last breath, suddenly had a fierce glint in his eyes. His withered fingers tightly gripped the hilt of the knife, as if ready to fight if they disagreed.
In this refugee camp, no one who had survived this long was weak.
To survive, everyone had to bare their fangs.
"Don't be nervous! Don't be nervous! I only want to trade fairly with you; I have no intention of robbing you."
The withered old man relaxed slightly upon hearing this, but he still did not let go of the knife.
"You won't survive on this bundle of wild vegetables alone. You'll eventually die in this camp, and who knows who will benefit from your demise."
"I'll trade you something more filling. Eat it for a day or two, regain some strength, and perhaps you can get through this."
As Xiao Fei spoke, he took down a bundle of dry grass from his back, reached inside, and pulled out two bracken roots, each as thick as a thumb.
When the elder saw these two bracken roots, he was already tempted. He recognized bracken roots; they were a rarity among refugees, and the places where they could be found on the mountains had been thoroughly searched by everyone.
Although he didn't know what starch was, he knew that these bracken roots provided strength and were good things, unlike wild vegetables like shepherd's purse, which provided no strength even when eaten to fullness.
However, he still shook his head firmly.
"Not enough!"
"How many do you want for it? I don't have many."
"Ten."
"That's a lion's demand. If I had ten such bracken roots, it would be enough for me to live comfortably for ten days to half a month."
"How many more days can you survive in your current state? At most five days. I might as well watch you every day, and when you breathe your last, I can come and pick up a dead fish. Wouldn't that be more profitable!"
Xiao Fei's words were cold and heartless, but they were the truth. The elder was extremely weak, finding it difficult even to walk.
Even with this bundle of shepherd's purse, he wouldn't live for many days.
But if he could eat a few bracken roots and replenish his body with some energy, he might have the strength to go out and find food. As the weather warmed, more wild vegetables and leaves would appear, and perhaps he could survive this ordeal.
"I'll give you six at most. If not, forget it!"
Xiao Fei made a move as if to get up and leave.
"Deal!"
The withered old man uttered the word, but he did not put down the knife. Instead, he stared intently at Xiao Fei, preventing him from suddenly snatching it.
"Don't worry, I've always been kind and won't rob you."
As Xiao Fei spoke, his eyes narrowed slightly. He reached into the dry grass and fumbled around, actually using his consciousness to retrieve several bracken roots from his space.
These bracken roots were as thick as thumbs, each weighing over a jin. Six of them totaled at least six to seven jin, enough for the old man to eat for several days.
Xiao Fei placed the six bracken roots in front of the elder.
The elder then inverted the hilt of his knife and handed it to Xiao Fei. He then hastily gathered the bracken roots into his arms and covered them with his clothes.
Xiao Fei hung the old man's knife on his waist and, carrying the earthenware pot, left the market.
Back in his thatched hut, Xiao Fei examined the small knife carefully.
The blade was about seven inches long, the body of the knife was black, and there was no rust. He took out a bracken root and lightly sliced it with the knife. The cut was smooth as jade.
"A good knife!"
Xiao Fei knew he had made a great deal. If the old man had any strength left, he could have sold it for a good price in Qingyang Town.
However, the elder could barely sit up now and could only wait to die in the refugee camp. Trading the knife to Xiao Fei was equivalent to exchanging it for a chance at survival.
For the elder, whether it was a profit or a loss was hard to say.
With this sharp blade in hand, Xiao Fei felt more confident when facing people like Li Da Er Duo in the future.
The original woodcutting axe, while a knife, could only chop and was full of nicks. Unlike this black knife, it could cut, carve, stab, and thrust, and it was extremely sharp.
He played with it in his hand for a while and then hung the black knife back on his waist.
Having a knife on his waist was convenient and practical. Most importantly, it provided sufficient deterrence. If the color were brighter, it would be even better; black was inconspicuous.
He had traded for the earthenware pot this time to make bracken root starch. His own ancestral black pottery pot was too small and insufficient.
To make bracken root starch, he first had to wash the dirt off the bracken roots, then smash the roots and wash out the starch in clean water.
Next, he filtered the starchy water to remove the residue, let it settle for a period, and the starch would settle at the bottom of the earthenware pot. Pouring off the clear water from the top yielded bracken root starch.
This starch still had a bitter taste and required repeated washing, rinsing, and settling for more than seven days to remove most of the bitterness and obtain relatively pure bracken root starch.
Xiao Fei worked secretly for two days, letting the bracken roots settle in his space, and finally produced the first batch of bracken root starch.
Bracken root starch could be processed into noodles or directly boiled with water and eaten.
Making noodles was too complicated, and doing so in the refugee camp would be too conspicuous. He feared attracting Li Da Er Duo before he could even finish.
Xiao Fei mixed the bracken root starch with water to form a paste and heated it over the fire, stirring constantly to prevent sticking.
Once the paste came to a full boil, he stirred it for a few more minutes until it was completely cooked.
After moving the earthenware pot into his space to cool, the paste solidified into a whole mass. He then used the knife to cut it into small square pieces.
This was what Xiao Fei often heard elders mention in his previous life as "jue ba" (bracken cake). Elders would often shed tears when mentioning this item, as it evoked memories of hardship.
Later, as life became more prosperous, it became fashionable in the city to eat wild grasses. Local farmers sold bracken root powder and other wild grasses at high prices to city dwellers, contributing to the development of new rural areas.
Xiao Fei picked up a small piece of "jue ba." It was black and semi-transparent, with a good elasticity.
He took a bite, and the texture combined the distinct flavors of chewiness and delicate smoothness, with a slight hint of bitterness.
"So, the 'jue ba' that made the older generation cry is actually so delicious!"