Chapter 15: It's Taro

Xu Erniang was much tougher than Xu Yuexin. She stepped forward, returned the stone to Mother Wang, and pulled the soft-hearted, hesitant Xu Yue away.

"Let's go, don't look at her," Xu Erniang whispered to her younger sister.

But Xu Yue couldn't help but glance back. The little girl was clutching her precious stone with a look of unbearable disappointment, on the verge of tears.

Xu Yue felt a pang in her heart and quickly turned her head away, not daring to look again.

Yet, a stifling feeling remained in her chest, urging her to do something.

Xu Da returned with a large armful of wild grass, including roots and vines. Even Xu Yue, who didn't know how to make straw sandals, could tell that nothing useful could be made from this mess; it was truly a pathetic sight.

Xu Yue reminded her father that it didn't matter if the straw sandals couldn't be made; he could try making straw mats instead, which would be useful for sleeping at night.

That way, when Mother returned and saw them, she wouldn't be angry.

Xu Da stroked his youngest daughter's hair with a look of relief, finding a sliver of comfort for his battered heart.

Xu Yue seized the opportunity and said, "Father, I want to look around nearby, is that okay?"

Xu Da looked at Xu Erniang and Xu Dalang behind Xu Yue. The brother and sister indicated that they would go with their younger sister.

Xu Da looked at the dense grass surrounding them and was hesitant about letting the three children wander off.

Xu Yue immediately promised, "We'll just look around the immediate area, we definitely won't go far. I want to see if I can find any plants I recognize. We won't go into the woods."

Xu Da looked hesitant. Xu Yue knew that if she didn't give him a good reason, he wouldn't agree.

So she said, "Looking at the environment here, it's very likely there's an edible plant. If we can find it, we'll have enough to eat for several days."

"Really?" Xu Da looked at the surrounding bushes. The low-lying ground was covered in either grass or various plants he didn't recognize; none of them looked like something they could eat for days.

But seeing Xu Yue's confident expression, he decided to let her try.

"Don't go out of my sight," Xu Da said, still worried.

Xu Yue immediately nodded with a smile, "Got it! We'll stay right around here, we won't go far!"

With Xu Da's consent, Xu Yue immediately led her brother and sister toward the hillside where she had been hiding earlier.

"What are we looking for?" Xu Erniang asked curiously.

The blisters on her feet made her gasp in pain with every step. Xu Yue hadn't wanted her to come along, but she couldn't resist her sister's overwhelming curiosity.

While directing Xu Dalang, who was carrying her, to move to the left, Xu Yue replied, "A plant with leaves shaped like boats. It grows in hot, humid places. We call it taro."

When she was hiding on the slope earlier, she had seen a few plants with particularly broad leaves that looked very much like taro stems and leaves, but she hadn't had the chance to verify it.

"Taro?" Xu Erniang repeated the word to herself; it was a species she had never heard of.

Out of curiosity, Xu Erniang ignored the pain in her feet and kept urging Xu Dalang to walk faster.

Soon, the three siblings arrived at their previous hiding spot. A few steps further, they saw a cluster of green plants as tall as Xu Yue.

The broad leaves were just as Xu Yue had described—shaped like boats and as large as two palms.

"Is this it?" Xu Erniang asked excitedly.

Xu Yue signaled her not to be impatient. She had her brother put her down, picked up a stone, and dug along the roots of the plant. It was easy to unearth a cluster of oval-shaped tubers, varying in size, each about the size of a fist. There were about a dozen of them.

Xu Yue felt a surge of joy. This was the "multi-child taro," a variety with a relatively good taste.

Although the ones in her hand looked a bit smaller and drier than those from later generations, and the taste would likely be far inferior to those carefully cultivated in the future, having something to eat was already very good.

She estimated that she could dig up forty or fifty pounds from this small patch alone. Xu Yue was already very satisfied.

Xu Erniang waited for a long time without hearing a reply from Xu Yue and couldn't help but ask again, "Is it?"

Xu Yue nodded, climbed up from the ground, and handed the large handful of taro to Xu Erniang.

Looking at the black, muddy things, Xu Erniang couldn't help but doubt, "My dear sister, are you sure this thing is edible?"

Xu Yue nodded, "Of course it is, and it's very filling."

"Sister, go quickly and call Father over to help dig. Remember to bring the basket. My brother and I will stay here and keep digging while we wait for you."

Looking at the patch of taro, Xu Erniang was afraid someone else would find it and snatch it away. Ignoring the pain in her feet, she dashed down the hill.

When she reached the pond, she deliberately slowed her pace to avoid drawing attention, then quietly approached Xu Da and whispered the situation on the hill to him.

Xu Da's eyes lit up instantly. He put down the straw vine mat he had been struggling to weave. The father and daughter sneakily avoided the others, grabbed the basket, and slipped away to the hillside.

With Xu Dalang acting as a human "excavator," Xu Yue had already dug up most of the taro in that short time. The black, muddy taro tubers were piled into a small mound.

Xu Da's breath hitched when he saw the pile of black tubers. Having seen all sorts of strange things in his previous life, the three of them exchanged a look. Without a word, they began to work in silent coordination.

With Xu Da's help, the cluster of taro was soon completely dug up, filling the basket to the brim.

Xu Da weighed it; it was likely at least fifty pounds, maybe even seventy.

Xu Erniang grabbed a handful of grass to cover the basket, picked up the rice balls, meat chunks, and bamboo tubes that had been taken out to make room, and handed a small portion to Xu Yue to carry.

Xu Da shouldered the heavy basket, and the four of them quietly slipped down the mountain.

However, anyone with experience could tell at a glance that the heavy basket contained something.

Tong Shi and Qiu Shi had been searching near the grass for a long time without finding anything. As soon as they looked up and saw the Xu family father and children putting down the heavy basket, they immediately guessed that they had found something good.

For the sake of the crying children in their arms, the two women didn't feel embarrassed and walked straight over with their children.

Not just them, but the other three remaining women also followed, watching the four of them from a short distance away.

Xu Yue thought that her family had to eat, and this couldn't be hidden anyway. She simply had her father bring her and her siblings to the edge of the pond, dig a pit, divert water into it, and dump the taro from the basket to wash.

After the black, round tubers were washed clean, they looked like some kind of fruit.

"What is this? Can it be eaten? Where did you get it?" Qiu Shi asked curiously.

Perhaps wary that Xu Da was a man, and having seen how fiercely Xu Dalang could beat an adult, they didn't dare to step forward and snatch it.

Taro grows in clusters. Xu Yue estimated there should be more in the vicinity. After thinking for a moment, she pointed to the surrounding hillside and told them, "This is called taro. You can boil it and eat it. You can go find some yourselves by looking for the taro leaves."

Qiu Shi and the others looked at the black things with hesitation; they had never eaten or seen such a thing before.

But as soon as Mother Wang heard this, the little person immediately ran off toward the hillside.

Judging by the direction, she was heading exactly where Xu Yue had just been.

Xu Yue watched as Tong Shi followed her as well. The corners of her mouth curled up, and the stifling feeling in her heart dissipated.