Chapter 10: Houttuynia cordata 

Jin Xiaoye left, but Li Damao and Li Ermao still listened to their mother’s words, obediently following Li Qingzhi and watching him carefully.

In the past few days, Li Qingzhi had been telling them stories, and they really liked this father. They secretly vowed to take good care of this father.

But their father was a bit weak… Other fathers could carry them around, but their father had to walk with a cane.

Li Qingzhi watched Jin Xiaoye leave and then looked at the vegetable garden at the doorstep.

The garden was planted with various vegetables like cowpeas, eggplants, cucumbers, and bottle gourds. There were quite a few varieties, with bottle gourds and cowpeas growing along the walls, reaching up to the roof.

Some of the vegetables were already edible, while some were not. Li Qingzhi had basically tasted all the edible ones in the past few days.

Jin Xiaoye’s cooking was basically smashing brown rice and boiling it with vegetables. She smashed the brown rice to shorten the cooking time, considering their shortage of firewood. As for adding vegetables… that was probably to save some grain.

The taste of the food made this way was not great, but for Li Qingzhi, it was already delicious.

Even… now when he saw the vegetables growing in the field, he wanted to rush over and eat them raw.

Using the golden finger required energy. In the apocalypse, he could utilize the crystal nuclei from zombies to obtain energy, but in this era where crystal nuclei didn’t exist, he had to rely on himself.

And undoubtedly, his source of energy was food.

Jin Xiaoye actually prepared a lot of food for him, considering he always finished everything and seemed to have a very good appetite.

But for him, it still wasn’t quite enough.

So these days… he was actually very hungry.

But he couldn’t just openly ask for more food.

This family was very poor and even had debts to repay. If he kept asking Jin Xiaoye for more food, others would go hungry!

He couldn’t eat too much of the vegetables from the field either, because others also needed to eat!

Their family only had this much land, and they planted this much, which wasn’t enough to go around.

Li Qingzhi swallowed his saliva and continued walking forward with his bamboo cane.

They didn’t have bamboo at their house, but Li Laogen’s younger brother had a small bamboo forest behind his house by the river. The bamboo used for the cane was brought back by Li Laogen from his brother’s place.

Li Qingzhi hadn’t spent much time with Li Laogen these days, but with the memories of the original owner, occasional interactions, and what others said, he already knew what kind of person Li Laogen was.

Li Laogen was someone who bullied the weak and feared the strong. He was a bit selfish, and he wasn’t good with money. He also had a gambling habit and wasn’t a good person.

Even Li Laogen seemed to have a bit of disdain for him, considering him a burden.

But he didn’t sense any malice from Li Laogen. Sometimes, Li Laogen would even show him some sympathy.

Because of this, he didn’t harbor any aversion towards Li Laogen.

Li Qingzhi slowly continued walking forward, greeted by the picturesque scenery of lush greenery and rolling hills.

Even though he had been in this world for several days now, seeing all this still filled him with immense joy from the depths of his heart, a smile that he couldn’t suppress appeared on his face.

This world was truly beautiful! It was so beautiful that it made him want to cry!

Step by step, Li Qingzhi slowly moved forward.

Li Damao and Li Ermao had short legs and couldn’t keep up with Li Qingzhi’s pace. They would occasionally run forward and then quickly run back.

The water fields that the original owner bought and the land he used to build the house were not far apart. Even though Li Qingzhi walked very slowly, after about half an hour, he had already arrived at the edge of the land.

Along the way, most of the people passing by would glance at Li Qingzhi, and every time he saw them, he couldn’t help but smile.

These were all living people, living people!

In the apocalypse, there were only zombies everywhere trying to eat him, but now, he was surrounded by living people, which was truly wonderful!

The villagers: “…” This Li Qingzhi seemed a bit off.

Was he overly excited after narrowly escaping death?

Everyone was busy harvesting rice, so no one paid much attention to Li Qingzhi.

As he saw his own land from afar, Li Qingzhi stopped in his tracks.

He couldn’t move forward anymore.

It was both a physical and psychological inability to move forward.

His legs had gone weak, and also… what did he see? Houttuynia cordata!

There was a clump of Houttuynia cordata by the ditch!

Most of the land in Miaoqian Village had owners and was cultivated, but there would still be weeds growing along the river, ditches, and roadsides.

This clump of Houttuynia cordata grew by the edge of the ditch, and some of it had already been trampled by passersby.

Before the apocalypse, Li Qingzhi didn’t like eating this stuff. With its strange taste, he had tried it before but couldn’t accept it.

But after the apocalypse started… he had eaten it.

Once, when he was starving, he had eaten a lot of it, including the leaves and stems.

Before the plants had died off completely, he had eaten a lot of different foods, even poisonous ones, as he had the golden finger. Unfortunately, as the environment deteriorated, there were no more plants left for him to eat.

Because he had eaten it before, he recognized the Houttuynia cordata.

It seemed like people in Miaoqian Village didn’t eat this stuff, but it was edible!

Now was the time for rice harvesting, and there was only a shallow layer of water in the ditch.

In the distance, some children were standing in the ditch, feeling for loaches or snails in the water, occasionally catching small fish.

People in this era lacked meat in their diet, so after these children caught small fish and shrimp, they could also have a good meal at home.

Fish and shrimp did have a fishy smell, but for those who were always hungry, a little fishy smell was nothing. Sprinkle some salt and add a slice of ginger, then steam them, and they could be eaten directly.

Some households didn’t even bother with the ginger.

Moreover, people from different regions have different diets. When the original owner first arrived at Miaoqian Village, Li Laogen caught some small crucian carp for him to eat. After taking one bite, the original owner felt that it was full of bones and couldn’t swallow it. Even his throat was stuck by the fish bones. But Li Laogen finished the whole fish in a few bites, devouring a plateful without any concern for the bones.

Most villagers steamed or boiled fish, but people in the city had various ways of cooking fish. The original owner even saw restaurants marinating small crucian carp and deep-frying them, and he could smell the fragrance from afar.

But in Miaoqian Village… there weren’t many households willing to use oil in cooking.

Li Qingzhi withdrew his gaze from the children and sat down by the ditch.

“Dad, are you tired?” Li Damao asked, while as for Li Ermao… he couldn’t wait and had already climbed into the shallow ditch.

In the summer, when it was hot, children loved to play in the water.

“Yeah, I’m a bit tired,” Li Qingzhi said, starting to dig into the clump of Houttuynia cordata beside him.

Li Damao glanced at Li Qingzhi and saw that he didn’t seem to be in trouble, so he followed his brother into the ditch to play in the water.

The water was shallow, but there was mud underneath. The two children’s feet sank into the mud, and the water only reached their thighs, wetting their pants and staining them with mud.

But they didn’t care at all. These two children had been walking barefoot all the way, and they would sit anywhere without any fear of getting dirty.

Li Qingzhi also didn’t mind. Before the apocalypse, he used to be very clean, but now… he tore off a leaf of Houttuynia cordata and stuffed it into his mouth to eat.

Others didn’t see it, but Li Damao and Li Ermao did. Li Ermao couldn’t help asking, “Dad, is it delicious?”

Li Qingzhi found it very delicious. As long as it was edible, he found it delicious.

His body urgently needed energy.

Moreover, this stuff… was much tastier than what he had eaten in the apocalypse!

But Li Ermao probably wouldn’t like to eat this…

Li Qingzhi said, “It’s not delicious,” as he ate another piece of the leaf.

He wanted to eat the roots even more, as they had higher calories, but he hadn’t dug them out yet…

Li Ermao didn’t believe what Li Qingzhi said. After all, Li Qingzhi seemed to be enjoying the taste of the leaves as if he was eating something delicious.

After many days had passed, Li Ermao had long forgotten about how Li Qingzhi had eagerly drunk the medicine when he first woke up. Seeing Li Qingzhi enjoying eating the leaves, he picked one and stuffed it into his mouth as well.

There were some herbs that could be eaten, like sour grass, which he often picked and ate.

Since his dad ate this grass, it must be edible.

However… as soon as it entered his mouth, Li Ermao’s face changed.

Seeing Li Qingzhi eating grass made Li Damao a bit envious, but he remembered the lesson from before, so he was secretly relieved that he didn’t rush to eat the grass like Li Ermao did.

Li Qingzhi: “…” He felt that Damao was a bit smarter than Ermao.

As he thought about it, Li Qingzhi took another bite.

Then, Li Qingzhi heard someone shouting, “Jin Xiaoye, is your man’s brain damaged? He’s eating stinky pigweed!”

Li Qingzhi was stunned.

Jin Xiaoye was not far away, harvesting rice.

They only had one sickle in their house, which she bought after she had some money.

And a few days ago, she borrowed another sickle while helping others with their work.

Today, when she went out, she took Li Laogen with her. Before they started harvesting, she even threatened Li Laogen, “If you harvest slower than me, I won’t give you eggs tomorrow!”

There was no food left at home, but during busy farming times, they would give some good food to the people working.

When Jin Xiaoye cooked before going out today, she added more rice.

She planned to steam four more eggs tomorrow, two for Li Laogen and two for herself. But before that, Li Laogen had to work hard!

Jin Xiaoye divided the field into parts, cutting about three-fifths for herself and leaving the remaining two-fifths for Li Laogen. Then she got busy.

Li Laogen usually slacked off when he worked, for example, when Jin Xiaoye occasionally came to the field to weed or fertilize, Li Laogen rarely came.

But now, with the prospect of eggs in front of him… Li Laogen worked very quickly.

He was also a rural person, and he did farm work quite well. In fact, his speed was not slower than Jin Xiaoye’s, and because he harvested slightly fewer rice stalks than Jin Xiaoye, he could take a break from time to time, saying that his back hurt or something similar.

Of course, when he saw Jin Xiaoye’s speed surpassing his, he worked harder, determined not to be left behind.

He wanted those eggs!

The two of them were busy, when suddenly someone shouted that Li Qingzhi was eating stinky pigweed.

Li Laogen didn’t hesitate and said, “I also think his brain is damaged.” He had spoken to Li Qingzhi the day before yesterday, and Li Qingzhi kept calling him “Dad” and smiling at him, which made him feel uneasy.

This adopted son of his used to not be like this!

Jin Xiaoye’s reaction was different. She rushed to Li Qingzhi’s side and snatched the grass from his hand. “Are you crazy? How can you eat everything!”

You can’t eat this stinky pigweed!