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Looking at the vast patches of foxtail grass swaying in the breeze, Xie Jiu’er’s brows finally eased, a rare lightness in her expression. Ground moss was abundant in the mountains, and after the other villagers had picked through the area, there were still plenty of foxtail seeds left to collect. They could grind them down and cook porridge—it would be enough to get by for a while.
Xie Jiu’er filled her entire basket with foxtail grass. Her clothes were bundled tightly at the front, carrying a hefty lump of ground moss. “Returning home loaded with treasure,” she thought to herself. She had been in this foreign world for a whole month now, and for the first time, she genuinely felt happy. They wouldn’t starve to death after all. If they could just hold out a bit longer, then, according to the historical records, the war would soon come to an end.
By the time she descended from the mountain, it was already past noon. Seeing her daughter hauling such a large bundle of dry grass, Zhou shi, lying weakly on the kang bed, murmured, “You already gathered plenty of firewood from the village. Why waste your strength lugging all that back? Save your energy, there’s still a long road ahead. I left some wild vegetable soup in the pot for you. Go drink it while it’s hot—warm soup will help take the chill out of your bones.”
Without a second thought, Xie Jiu’er plucked a foxtail spike and held it in front of Zhou shi. “Mother, in times like these, foxtail grass is practically a treasure. Look, doesn’t this look just like millet? If we grind down the seeds and make porridge, it’ll be much better than just wild vegetables!”
Zhou shi’s eyes lit up for a moment, but quickly dimmed again. “I’ve never heard of foxtail grass being among the edible wild herbs. This girl must be starving to the point of confusion! Just last month, when you were ill, your Sixth Uncle’s family couldn’t hold out from hunger and picked what they thought were wild herbs from the mountains—turned out to be dog milkweed. They were poisoned, vomiting and having diarrhea for days—nearly lost their lives. Later, the village elders said that dog milkweed is toxic and shouldn’t be eaten. No one’s ever eaten foxtail grass before either—what if it’s poisonous too?”
As she spoke, she quickly called out to Wuyang to ladle the wild vegetable soup from the pot and bring it over for Jiu’er. “Eat something first.”
Xie Jiu’er, however, was full of joy upon hearing the name “dog milkweed.” Wasn’t that just solanum nigrum—black nightshade? It could be eaten as a cold dish, and its berries had properties that reduced swelling, eased pain, and helped with inflammation.
“Sixth Uncle definitely didn’t cook it thoroughly,” she said with certainty. “Dog milkweed can be eaten if it’s boiled well. And Mother, I promise you, both dog milkweed and foxtail grass are edible. Look at the livestock—they love eating foxtail grass, don’t they? If it were really poisonous, they’d never touch it.”
Zhou shi’s eyes lit up again. That was true—during the summer, when foxtail grass grew tall and green, livestock loved it. How had she never thought of that? Still, it puzzled her—why hadn’t anyone ever tried eating it before?
Xie Jiu’er took a sip of the hot soup. Her palm-sized face scrunched up at once. With no grains at all, only wild vegetables, the taste was bitter and hard to swallow.
She forced herself to swallow the bitter wild vegetables, pushing them all down into her stomach. “Mother, just listen to me. Times are hard now—what is there left to hesitate over? If livestock can eat it, then it can’t be poisonous. Whether it’s fit for humans, we’ll know soon enough. This afternoon, let’s grind some foxtail seeds and boil them into porridge—won’t we find out then?”
Wuyang nodded beside her. “Mother, foxtail seeds really do look like millet. I bet they taste way better than wild vegetables. I’ll start threshing them now.”
With that, he spread the foxtail grass from the basket evenly across the courtyard. The winter grass was already quite dry. After laying it out, he grabbed a bamboo flail from the corner and began striking the stalks repeatedly to knock the seeds loose.
Zhou shi nodded repeatedly. She had been too famished to think straight, but after hearing her daughter’s explanation, it all clicked into place. Picking up a flat basket, she used her hands to scoop up the mixture of seeds and chaff that Wuyang had just threshed. With practiced ease, she tossed the mixture, letting the wind blow away the dust and debris, leaving behind a clean layer of foxtail seeds.
Although they’d already eaten lunch, the three of them still felt empty inside. Wild vegetables alone couldn’t stave off hunger—they were hardly filling at all.
The three of them stared at the foxtail seeds in the basket, swallowing hard. Zhou shi muttered, “This is my first time ever seeing foxtail seeds. They really do look like grain. Jiu’er, go start the fire. Let’s cook these into porridge and give it a try.”
“Alright, you got it!” Xie Jiu’er responded cheerfully. They were finally about to have porridge—only heaven knew how painful her hunger was right now. The original host of this body had starved to death just last month.
Seeing that Mother and Sister were cooking porridge again, Wuyang suddenly felt strength returning to his arms. He picked up the bamboo flail from the ground and continued threshing with renewed energy.
Before long, the pot began to bubble and boil, and the broth thickened into a porridge-like consistency. Zhou shi couldn’t wait any longer—she scooped out a small spoonful and tasted it. Her eyes lit up at once, and she exclaimed in surprise, “It’s sweet—so delicious!”
Hearing that, Wuyang, still in the courtyard, immediately tossed the bamboo flail to the ground and dashed into the house. “Mother, I’m starving! Hurry, give me a taste!”
Zhou shi affectionately tousled his dry, yellowing hair. “Here, try this first. The rest is still cooking in the pot—if we boil it a bit longer, it’ll taste even better.”
Wuyang took the bowl and nodded eagerly. Watching her mother and younger brother so overjoyed, Xie Jiu’er felt hope rising in her chest as well. When the other villagers had left, she knew that her mother’s spirit had nearly broken too. But now, with all this foxtail grass and the ground moss spread across the hills, there was finally something to look forward to.
Sure enough, when people are pushed to desperation, they’ll find a way to survive. Wuyang tilted his head back and drank the last bit of porridge from the bowl, eyes gleaming. “It’s so good, Mother! Really, it’s delicious! I’ve never had porridge this tasty before. How did we not know foxtail grass was such a treasure?”
Zhou shi let out a sigh, mixed with regret. “Exactly. We starved for nothing.”
Then she broke into a wide grin, as if she’d struck gold. “But discovering it now is still a blessing! With the whole village gone, all the foxtail grass in these mountains belongs to us.”
Wuyang nodded eagerly, craning his neck toward the pot. Seeing that the porridge was just about ready, Zhou shi ladled out a bowl for each of them. The three of them didn’t care about the heat—they hunched over their bowls, gulping it down with loud slurps. As Zhou shi and Wuyang ate, they kept exclaiming how delicious it was, and hearing that made Xie Jiu’er’s heart ache.
She looked down at the thick, husk-speckled coarse porridge in her bowl, a wave of emotion welling up inside her. This… this is real coarse grain. In the modern world, who would eat something like this? Most young people didn’t even know foxtail grass was edible. Right now, she was deeply grateful that her grandmother had once mentioned it to her—and that she’d happened to remember.
Each of them ate a full bowl of soft, sticky hot porridge. Warmth spread through their bodies, and both Zhou shi and Wuyang wore expressions of complete satisfaction. Staring at her now-empty bowl, Xie Jiu’er couldn’t help but muse—Sweet? Where was the sweetness? Most likely, after so long drinking bitter wild vegetable soup, anything that wasn’t bitter would taste sweet by comparison.
After finishing her porridge, Xie Jiu’er seized the chance to start working on Zhou shi’s mindset. “Mother, now you believe me, don’t you? You still haven’t told me—where exactly did you see the dog milkweed? I looked all over the mountain and didn’t spot a single patch.”
At that, Zhou shi quickly shook her head. Her daughter was back to thinking about dog milkweed again. “It’s down below the village. There’s a patch of it there. Even in this freezing weather, it’s still growing all green and lush. But you better stop thinking about eating that stuff! Your cousin nearly died from it! You really are bold, girl—how can you still be so reckless?”
Xie Jiu’er looked at her with utmost seriousness. “First of all, that was because Cousin didn’t cook it thoroughly. Second, to be safe, we just avoid eating the berries. Dog milkweed’s fruit is poisonous when it’s not fully ripe—that’s the part that’s dangerous.”