Tenth Year After the End CH5
005
Before placing the wild roots in the basket, I shook off the dirt off the roots, went over, picked up the small monster, wrapped it in the clothing again, and tied it around my chest once again.
The little monster's hair was stained with dirt, and as soon as it came into my arms, it rubbed its head against me, rubbing all the dirt onto my clothes. Ignoring it, I started to head back with my things packed. Since I was out, I planned to bring back some vegetables from the fields.
This little monster is really tenacious. Not too long ago, it looked weak, seemingly about to die, but now it looked even better than before, bleating from my arms.
Its cries sounded just like a sheep's. Could it be that this thing actually eats grass? I walked to the field where I planted and started to harvest the cabbage. The cabbages that had survived through winter were very large. I thought they would rot after all the heavy snow pour, but after the snow melted away, they were still good. I have no experience in farming and wonder if this is a special case, after all, as long as it is edible anything goes.
After removing the old outer parts of a large cabbage, I was left with the tender part inside. I tore off a leaf and tried giving it to the little monster. Its big green eyes widened as it opened its mouth and took two bites of the cabbage leaf.
It seems to eat everything, whether it is rat meat or cabbage leaves, it seems to be very happy to eat. I put the cabbage into the basket and then went to the paddy field next to it to pick a handful of water celery. The wild water celery that grew during this season was very tender. It tasted very fresh when boiled in water with a little salt.
I took one and handed it to the little monster to try. It happily opened its big mouth, chewing before swallowing it.
There are not many crops growing in the fields right now, but there are a lot of wild vegetables. During my most difficult times a few years ago, I survived almost entirely on the scattered wild vegetables I found on the road. There were many times I was starving, and even though I am not going through such harsh times anymore, I still have this habit of paying attention to food.
What kind of dangers there are and where there is food to eat is what forms a lasting impression in my mind.
It is raining a lot this spring, but the weather was good these past two days, the sky was clear and beautiful. In the distance, there was a field with many yellow flowers sparsely blooming. They were rapeseed flowers, it was not planted by me, they grew on their own. There were also two yellow flowers by the edge of the field where I passed by. The drooping flowers brushed past the little monster's head. It suddenly sneezed, its eyes rolled around, and it turned its head back to look at the yellow flowers we had passed by.
I had already walked to another field, but the little monster was still stretching its head to look at the rapeseed flowers. I saw it stretching its neck, raising my hand, I pushed it back in. It was obedient and dared not move after I pushed it back. Its tail, leaking out of the wrap, swung back and forth.
I turned around and walked back, picked all the rapeseed flowers, and stuffed them into the wrap.
The excited little monster thumped with its legs twice, stretching out its paws to hold the rapeseed flowers before nibbling on them.
Is it really a herbivore? Looking down at it, I wondered why its teeth were so sharp. At the same time, I felt relieved. If it were a herbivore, it shouldn't be as dangerous as I first thought.
The little monster who didn't know that I had changed my mind about it, was happily eating the handful of rapeseed flowers until only a few green stems were left. When we got back to the tile-roofed house where I lived, I put the little monster down together with the basket of wild vegetables and cabbage, took the wild roots to the yard, and fetched water to wash it.
There is a well in the yard, the oldest type, you had to pour water into it before you could draw water out. The water in the well was warm in winter and cold in summer, and it tasted very sweet.
Cutting the wild root vines, I cleaned the wild roots, cut them into pieces, and boiled them in water. The smell was not very pleasant, a bitter scent. While waiting for the wild roots to boil in the water, I went to see the little monster. It was lying naked in the bamboo basket and had already bitten off a small part of my tender cabbage.
With an innocent look on its face, it turned its head to look at me.
I ignored it and let it continue biting. Turning around, I took out a clay pot and a small charcoal stove from the cupboard. When the firewood is burned in the stove for a long time, it will turn into charcoal. However, this type of charcoal is not well burned and will burn over in one go, turning into scattered white ash. I have already saved about half a small bag of the white ash charcoal, taking out a little, I put it in the small stove to light. Cleaning the clay pot, I pour water into it, and boil four handfuls of rice together.
I don't have much rice left, and it's all stale rice. I don't know how to grow rice, the more I eat, the less I will have. So I've never been willing to eat it. What I usually eat the most is anything made out of flour, which also easily fills me up.
I hadn't eaten in the morning and was feeling hungry. The little monster was eating something in the basket, constantly making a crunching sound. It looked delicious, so I dragged it and the basket over, tore a piece of cabbage leaf from its hand, and ate it raw.
It was quite crispy and a little sweet. As I was still eating the cabbage leaf, the little monster wobbled and held up the remaining half of the cabbage, trying to pass it to me.
I was stunned for a moment, stuffing the last bit of cabbage in my hand into my mouth, I said,「......Eat it yourself.」
It tried handing it over twice, but I pushed it back each time. Then it continued to chew the cabbage happily, with its tail swinging back and forth. I sat on a small stool at the door, staring at the white tail in a daze. This thing is completely different from an ordinary baby, it is too smart. What on earth was it?
The wild root water in the big pot was boiling, making bubbles pop up and burst, the bitter smell filled the whole kitchen. I stood up, lifted the lid of the pot, took a look, stirring it a little, and went to the stove to cover the ashes. After the boiling it there was two bowls worth, I scooped some into one bowl with an iron spoon and brought it to the little monster.
The little monster who was suddenly picked up by me, looked at me with its claws retracted.
I looked at it, and it looked back.
I lifted the bowl and took a sip to show that this is how you drink it, and then passed it back to its mouth. Its nose moved and it tried to lick it with its tongue, which was much longer than that of a human.
「Stop licking, drink it.」
It retracted its tongue and whined softly.
I didn't say anything, instead putting the bowl closer to its mouth. After doing it over and over again, it understood and imitated me by lowering its head and drinking it. This thing is very bitter. My mouth went numb after taking a sip. The little monster drank the whole bowl, after that it stuck out his tongue, and whimpered.
I pinched its mouth, 「Retract your tongue back in.」 It didn't understand, so I pushed it back in myself.
At this time, the water in the clay pot boiled, and the white rice was cooking, floating up and down with the churning water, a faint scent of rice began to float in the air.
Putting the little monster on another chair with a backrest, I took out water celery and several other unknown wild vegetables from under the basket, wash them in a basin, and took a small handful to cut into small pieces, placing them into the already boiling clay pot, and finally added in a spoon of salt and two drops of sesame oil.
I ground the sesame oil by myself last year. By the road from town, there is a large sesame field. I spent a week collecting all the sesame seeds there, then tried to use a stone mill I found in the village to grind it into something that looked like sesame oil. Except for the slightly strange taste, everything else was fine. Adding just a bit of it to the dishes made it fragrant.
But I didn't grind out too much, only a small pot. I don't know if those fields will grow sesame seeds again this year. I harvested all the sesame seeds, so they probably won't grow again.
The porridge cooked in a clay pot is fresh, fragrant, and light. The clean look of the rice and fresh wild vegetables mixed together looks very beautiful. Taking a mouthful of the hot porridge, I instantly feel a lot more comfortable in my stomach. My stomach has been in pain since last night, and I can’t tell whether it’s because of the birth of this little monster or if my stomach issues have resurfaced again.
Most people in the apocalypse have stomach issues, as they often starve, and it is normal to not be able to find food for a day or two. Compared with those who starved to death, it is really lucky to only have stomach problems.
During the years when zombies appeared, for some reason, plants were also affected. Many plants died inexplicably. Not only were humans chased by those horrible living dead, but they also encountered famine. There was really almost no way to survive.
But these past two years, things have been good. Many plants have grown again, and they are more lush than before. I finally do not have to be so worried about having nothing to eat, and I can also occasionally change up the food to give myself more choices.
On such a peaceful morning, sitting here basking in the sun and drinking a bowl of freshly cooked porridge, such a pleasant day makes me feel like I am dreaming. I live here alone. Sometimes I can’t help but wonder if this kind of life is just a dream. In fact, I am still in hell, but I have become crazy or am dying, so I have constructed such a beautiful place in my consciousness.
Sometimes I doubt that I am fake, too. There is no other person here, and no one can tell me whether all this is real.
By my side, the little monster suddenly fell off the stool.
I picked it up and placed it on my lap. I looked into its eyes and said, 「You are also fake right? Otherwise, how in the world could I have given birth to a little monster like you?」
I didn't expect it to answer me, I was just talking to myself, I'm used to saying something and no one responding. After asking, I took a bowl of cold vegetable porridge and put it by its mouth like I did when I fed it the wild root water.
The little monster sniffed it, then held my hands with its two paws and buried its head in drinking the porridge, it drank it up, resembling that of a little pig.
The little monster loved the vegetable porridge. I drank a bowl and it drank the rest. I was not full yet, so I went to the cellar, dug up two sweet potatoes, and buried them in the fire, waiting for them to cook to eat later.
This time, after a long while, the little monster was still very active and did not vomit. When I was walking around in the kitchen working, it would crawl behind me. No matter where I put it, when I turned around, I would see it grunting and trying to crawl towards me again. It stuck to me annoyingly like a tail.
After two trips back and forth, the originally white and tender little monster was covered in dust. There was a lawn and two trees in the yard, I put up a bamboo pole on it to hang clothes. I wanted to wash the quilt while the weather was still good. While I was washing the quilt, the little monster crawled from the kitchen door to the lawn.
I turned my head and saw that it was full of energy. I didn't know what it was so excited about. After a while, I didn't hear any more movement. I looked again, and it was sitting on the grass peeing, staring at the water stain that had suddenly appeared. The expression on its little face was a bit dazed.
I continued to wash the quilt, and after washing it, I used the remaining water to clean the little monster.
Children are troublesome, and little monsters are equally troublesome.
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