Even though she’d never eaten them before, compared to grubs, crickets, or ants in those wilderness survival shows, grasshoppers were still easier for her to accept.

After all, they often appeared in street food stalls, which meant they had a decent following.

And wasn’t this also the season for cicada pupae?

But ever since she arrived here, she hadn’t heard a single cicada chirping.

Maybe they’d gone extinct.

In her original world, cicada pupae had already reached the point where artificial farming was necessary to meet growing demand.

However, cicadas only came out at night, and in the wastelands, once the sun went down, you had to return home.

Even if there were cicadas here, no one would risk their life just to catch one.

Putting aside what had just happened, right now all Zhuan Xiao could think about was: What’s edible this season? What do those foods look like now?

They called it a “grassland,” but the grass nearly reached Zhuan Xiao’s knees.

People were scattered all over the field, each person occupying barely ten square meters.

Zhuan Xiao was initially afraid to move around in such tall grass.

She was afraid of snakes.

But then she remembered this area had already been cleared by the guards. And judging by the number of people here, even if there were mutated snakes, they’d likely have slithered off by now.

In the wasteland, all plants and animals had grown much larger. Grasshoppers were no exception.

At this moment, a mutated grasshopper stood at her feet—vibrant green, its body nearly the length of her foot.

Had it landed on a blade of grass, she might not have noticed it at all. Unfortunately for it, it chose to land on the bare, yellowish ground.

So when its stout, muscular body came to a stop, it was instantly spotted.

Zhuan Xiao didn’t move her feet. She slowly raised her left hand and fired the dart launcher hidden in her sleeve at the grasshopper. But—missed.

The dart barely grazed the insect’s wing.

Startled, the grasshopper tried to flee, even if it meant losing a wing.

But before it could escape, Zhuan Xiao’s dagger struck true, killing it on the spot.

She glanced at the broken wing and retrieved her dart. Her aim was as awful as ever—missing even at this close distance. She definitely needed more practice.

She wiped the juice off her dagger onto her wristband.

Beep beep. “Highly radiated mutation—inedible.”

So…

So…

Two different weapons used, and that’s the result?

Ahhh, she wanted to die!

They were about to head back soon.

All she had managed to gather was three to five jin of edible wheat grain and a single sack of mystery wheat stalks.

Compared to others’ harvests, hers was downright embarrassing.

She pressed on…

Second grasshopper—“Highly radiated mutation—inedible.”

Third—“Highly radiated mutation—inedible.”

Fourth—“Highly radiated mutation—inedible.”

…

Twentieth—“Highly radiated mutation—inedible.”

Her heart sank with every beep.

Defeated and listless, Zhuan Xiao trudged behind a group of people carrying loads of mutated grasshoppers, her eyes red with envy…

She’d wasted five credits for nothing.

No gains at all.

She’d even planned that if she collected too much or anything too valuable, she’d ask Huo Xiao to come pick her up.

But now, seeing the others’ loot—not even judging whether it was edible or not—just based on the sheer number of sacks, they had completely outdone her.

And here she was, worrying someone might covet her haul? She was the one eyeing theirs with green-eyed envy!

Sigh, maybe she shouldn’t come back to the wheat gathering area tomorrow.

It just wasn’t her place.

She had drawn the worst batch of wheat full of mutated aphids, got barely any edible grains, and then caught twenty mutated grasshoppers—none of which could be eaten. This was just too much for her poor little heart to bear.

By the time her convoy arrived at the northern plaza of the shantytown, night had completely fallen.

Two giant solar-powered floodlights hung from the central columns, bathing the square in daylight-like brightness.

Just like in the morning, the plaza was packed.

Most were probably here to pick up their family members. After all, once they got off the transport, people and goods were no longer under the guards’ protection—and it was night.

Darkness bred crime.

Zhuan Xiao slung her backpack across her chest and hunched slightly under the heavy sack on her back.

Last time, she’d been lucky—ran into Yan Ming just as she reached the road, and he took the 40-50 jin sack of soil off her hands in under a minute.

This time…

Well, she wasn’t counting on that kind of luck.

Today’s sack of wheat stalks was even heavier than that soil. If she had known how useless those grasshoppers would be, she might’ve just stayed in the rest area and tested the wheat until it was time to head back.

She had been a pure brainworker before—physical labor really wasn’t her thing.

And she’d barely trained since coming here; how could she expect her physical strength to skyrocket overnight and start smashing rocks with her chest or lifting bronze tripods with her head?

But alas, hindsight was 20/20.

As Zhuan Xiao trudged forward, panting and looking at the ground, she suddenly felt a weight lift from her back—someone was pulling her sack.

Startled, she thought, Damn it, today has already been unlucky enough!

Who the hell had the nerve to snatch her sack? She’d claw them to death!

She took a deep breath, filled her lungs, and was about to yell, “Thie—” but before she finished, she turned and saw—

Huo Xiao’s handsome face.

Instantly, her aggrieved, pitiful expression returned.

At least someone still remembers his poor, hard-working, bread-winning little sister… sob…

I want meat for dinner!

Huo Xiao easily slung the heavy sack over his shoulder. “Back to training.”

She could barely lift that much. In the wastelands, where the average person could carry 100 jin without blinking, this little girl needed to toughen up.

Zhuan Xiao: ……

All her tears of gratitude were instantly swallowed back.

She’d put her trust in the wrong person.

By the time they got home, Zhuan Xiao was completely exhausted.

Stones, timber, bamboo, and other materials were scattered across the yard. Trenches had been dug everywhere. The original courtyard wall was gone, and the bedroom stood alone in the middle of the yard.

The training target still stood bravely in place.

There was zero sense of security here for sleeping at night!

Huo Xiao stepped over the mess and went straight to the bedroom, switching on the light.

Zhuan Xiao saw that they actually had a door now.

On the dining table, dinner was already set out—two bowls of green porridge.

There was also a small dish of cold purslane salad, glistening with oil—definitely had oil in it.

That gave her some small comfort.

Huo Xiao set the sack down and said, “Eat first.”

Yes, yes, eat first.

Food was the biggest priority.

Starving, her stomach stuck to her back, Zhuan Xiao reached for the bowl—only to be stopped by Huo Xiao. “Wash your hands.”

Right—handwashing was a must.

She’d been handling mutated aphids all day. Her hands were black-green and smelled… strange.