Chapter 37: Game Meat Tastes Much Better Than Pork

Never had he imagined that he could still find bracken roots here.

In his era, this stuff had been a life-saver.

During so many wilderness survival expeditions, it was the discovery of this exact plant that ensured he would never have to worry about food.

After all, in Su Yanwen's world, the mountains were no longer teeming with prey.

The devastation of the ecological environment had turned hunting into a cultural hobby rather than a viable profession.

Springing up briskly and making sure the black wolf was not following him, he hoisted his pickaxe and began breaking the ground.

Perhaps because it had never been dug up by anyone before, the root system was extraordinarily vigorous; every single root was thick, robust, and spread out in dense patches.

A single swing of the pickaxe yielded a massive bounty.

In no time at all, he had gathered a huge bundle.

He tied them together with hemp rope and hoisted them onto his shoulder to carry home.

Zhao Yue'e was foraging for wild vegetables near their doorway, braving the heavy snow and the bitter cold.

Though there were quite a few green plants around, very few were actually edible.

Still, compared to the rest of the villagers who were desperately searching everywhere, this area was relatively easier to forage.

Little Cao'er was helping out nearby.

Carrying a small basket, she gathered anything that was green and tender to bring back home. Even if humans couldn't eat it, the bunnies could.

The rabbits were still small and didn't take up much space, so Cao'er adored them dearly and kept them inside her room to raise.

"Daddy!"

Seeing Su Yanwen return, Cao'er was thrilled and ran over to him quickly.

Su Yanwen hurriedly squatted down and tilted his cheek.

Understanding the gesture, Cao'er gave him a light peck on the face.

Ah!

Su Yanwen smiled so widely his eyes crinkled into slits.

There was simply no feeling better than this; having a sweet, adorable daughter was the ultimate remedy to eliminate an entire day's fatigue.

"What is this?"

Seeing the items on Su Yanwen's shoulder, Zhao Yue'e furrowed her brows into a knot. "Why did you dig these up?"

"They're buried deep in the dirt, making them a hassle to dig, and they aren't even edible."

"Usually, people only resort to digging them when there's literally no other choice, just to dry them out and use them as firewood."

"What?" Su Yanwen was utterly shocked and asked for confirmation again, "You use this stuff entirely as firewood?"

"Yes."

Zhao Yue'e shook her head repeatedly. "Everyone calls it 'even dogs despise it' because it grows too fast, and the fields are completely overrun with this grass."

"It's fine in the spring when the tender shoots can still be eaten."

"These roots and stems, however, are a terrible headache because they interfere with crop planting."

After Zhao Yue'e finished speaking, Su Yanwen jumped up with excitement.

"Hahaha, such a wonderful treasure, and you people treat it like garbage! Splendid, splendid, splendid!" Su Yanwen praised it over and over again.

His reaction left Zhao Yue'e completely baffled.

"Listen carefully, this is going to be our staple food from now on. We are going to extract bracken root starch, and then use it to make bracken cakes and noodles."

Zhao Yue'e listened, utterly lost in a fog of confusion.

Though her mind was full of question marks, she didn't probe further. Whatever Su Yanwen said must be right.

"First, wash them clean in the brook, then pound the roots into a pulp, rinse them in water, and let them settle."

"The sediment at the very bottom is what we need."

"Understood." Zhao Yue'e might not understand, but she would never disobey.

Because the current Su Yanwen was the one keeping her and her daughter alive.

Zhao Yue'e immediately set to work, and Cao'er hurried over to help as well.

That evening, they enjoyed a steaming, fragrant bowl of fish soup with bracken root noodles.

"Wow! This is so delicious!"

Cao'er slurped up a strand of bracken noodle and watched Su Yanwen's preparation process. "Daddy is amazing."

"My daddy is an immortal; even grass roots can be turned into noodles."

"Daddy is the greatest!"

Su Yanwen beamed with pride, his mouth curving upward. He was utterly blissful.

His rhythm in tapping the perforated gourd sped up even more.

In truth, making bracken starch followed the exact same principle as making sweet potato starch.

Due to the weather and time constraints, they couldn't wait to dry the starch completely into powder, so they instead put the wet starch directly into a perforated gourd.

With a gentle tap, the starch flowed through the small holes straight into the hot soup, instantly forming individual strands of noodles.

"Delicious, truly delicious."

Amidst Cao'er's praises, Zhao Yue'e took a bite as well.

The bracken noodles had fully absorbed the savory richness of the fish soup, and with just a tiny hint of salt to enhance the flavor, it was simply mouth-watering.

"This taste is incredible."

"It's the most delicious thing I have ever laid eyes on."

The person exclaiming wasn't Cao'er, but Zhao Yue'e.

The crucial point was that, despite simply being noodles, they felt far more filling than actual fish meat.

After finishing a small bowl, Zhao Yue'e already felt seven-tenths full.

Cao'er, experiencing this food for the very first time, managed to polish off an entire small bowl.

Licking her lips, she leaned back against the straw-matted floor, placing both hands on her round belly.

She let out a loud, contented burp. "I'm so full, but it's so good!"

"Rest assured, following Daddy means eating your fill and eating well is just the bare minimum," Su Yanwen said with a smug look on his face.

Zhao Yue'e smiled, pressing her lips together.

In a year of famine, eating one's fill and eating well was precisely the hardest thing to achieve.

"Since these grass roots can serve as food, that's wonderful. The moment the sun rises tomorrow, I'll go dig some more."

"As delicious as it is, it takes an awful lot of them. That huge bundle of yours only yielded this tiny bit of noodles."

"It looks like I'll have to work harder."

Zhao Yue'e nodded heavily, a brilliant gleam in her eyes.

In her mind, she was already calculating how much flour she could extract from the amount she dug up.

Su Yanwen's face radiated a warm, happy smile.

This little family was truly wonderful.

An obedient and sensible daughter.

And a hardworking, resilient wife.

Zhao Yue'e had never been someone afraid of hardship; she had only feared a life devoid of hope, and a companion who constantly thought of oppression and bullying.

"You silly goose," Su Yanwen sighed with emotion.

"With so many idle people in the village waiting to be used, why should you suffer?"

"What do you mean?" Zhao Yue'e asked.

"Naturally, I mean making them do the work for us!"

Hearing this reply, Zhao Yue'e hesitated for a brief moment before saying, "That's true. The one thing the village doesn't lack is this kind of grass root."

"This way, people won't have to starve to death either. Compared to tree bark, this is truly food for immortals."

"Are you out of your mind?" Su Yanwen immediately dismissed Zhao Yue'e's charitable thought.

Rolling his eyes, he said, "Why would I want to make a fortune while everyone else is in the dark, only to act like some kind of saint?"

"What? Am I supposed to expect them to come and redeem me?"

Zhao Yue'e blinked.

Su Yanwen smiled faintly and said with smug self-satisfaction, "I'll have someone step forward to buy them in massive quantities."

"Then I'll have people I trust process the bracken starch."

"And turn that group of villagers who wish for our deaths into our beasts of burden."

Su Yanwen's eyes crinkled with delight.

Seeing Su Yanwen's expression of an exploiter and oppressor, Zhao Yue'e and Cao'er instinctively inched a little closer to each other.

He really looked rather terrifying right then!

"Anyway, you don't need to do a thing. Just focus on eating well and drinking well."

Zhao Yue'e nodded.

Outside, the swirling, powdery snow showed no signs of stopping anytime soon.

Zhao Yue'e glanced outside and sighed, "The snow season has arrived."

"Snow season?" Su Yanwen asked, puzzled.

Knowing that the man before her was no longer her former selfish husband, Zhao Yue'e explained with greater patience, "Whenever this season arrives, it snows continuously."

"Once it starts, it goes on for days."

"During these days, trying to find food becomes even harder, and many people will starve to death."

"Mom, don't be afraid." Cao'er took hold of Zhao Yue'e's hand and said in her soft, childish voice, "We aren't afraid of the snow anymore."

"We have a home. Our home doesn't leak wind, and snow doesn't suddenly fall down from the ceiling."

"Our warm home has a fireplace, meat, noodles, and both Daddy and Mom."

Cao'er was truly beyond satisfied.

"Rest assured, as long as I'm around, the only people in this village who die will be the lazy ones," Su Yanwen declared with absolute certainty.

"Mhm!" Zhao Yue'e nodded heavily.

Early the next morning.

Su Yanwen walked into the village with a wooden pole hoisted across his shoulder.

Two rabbits hung from one end, and two fish hung from the other. He marched straight toward the village chief's house, lingering right outside his front gate.

"That lunatic is down the mountain again."

"I get annoyed just looking at him now. It's driving me crazy with envy."

"I heard the people who helped him build his house all got to eat meat and even brought some home."

"Are they out of their minds? How much meat could they possibly have brought back? Rather than risking your life up on the mountain, you're better off staying honestly at home."

"Yeah, I saw it too. Everyone got a tiny piece, smaller than a child's fist."

"Hmph, that was obviously just a show for the first day. Just wait and see, once the snow stops, the ones who go back to work won't get a single bite."

Su Yanwen couldn't be bothered to pay them any mind and continued strolling back and forth.

In weather like this, the village chief's family was the only one still able to eat white wheat buns and grain.

After all, the grain hoarded over the years was simply rotting in their storehouses.

The only catch was that due to the bad weather, the food on their dining table had grown monotonous—pork, pork, and more pork.

Pork back in those days was uncastrated boar meat, carrying a terribly heavy, gamey odor.

The family had long since grown sick of it.

"Why is it so noisy outside?" Zeng Tianba asked from where he was warming himself by the fire inside his house upon hearing the commotion.

"Young Master, it's that lunatic, Big Brother Su."

"Who knows what he's up to today, parading down the mountain with game. He probably wants to trade it for money."

"But look at the villagers—they're practically starving to death, and most of them are already in debt to the Zeng family. Who has the spare cash to buy meat?"

Others might not, but the Zeng family certainly did!

Zeng Tianba's eyes lit up.

At the mere thought of the flavor of that wild game from last time, Zeng Tianba couldn't help salivating.

Game meat tasted far better than pork.

"Call him in here."