The Cat Who Farms in the Post-Apocalyptic Wasteland – CH15

Chapter 15 – Chives

The four of them finished off seven fish and one whole chicken, at least 20 pounds of meat in total.

After eating, they all sat lazily in place, not wanting to move as the wind gently blew.

Sitting in the shade, the breeze felt a little cool.

Xia Lu Nong, full and sleepy, his blood rushing to his stomach, leaned against his brother, dozing off.

His brother glanced down at him and took off his jacket to drape it over him.

He sniffed it lightly; the jacket carried his brother’s unique scent, which made him feel very reassured.

Clutching the jacket, he asked, “Brother, aren’t you cold?”

“I’m not cold. Go to sleep.” His brother touched his forehead with a warm hand and asked, “Do you want to rest your head on my lap?”

Half-asleep and dazed, Xia Lu Nong instinctively nodded, scooted down a bit, and naturally rested his head on his brother’s lap.

Yan Xia Nian glanced over at the two brothers, his gaze somewhat peculiar. Without thinking much about it, he adjusted his own jacket and happily drifted off to sleep.

Before falling asleep, Xia Lu Nong vaguely heard Yan Xia Nian say, “The wind’s pretty chilly, and you say you’re not cold. Take my jacket.”

Moments later, another warm jacket landed on his arm—probably from Xia Nian.

He didn’t hear what his brother said after that, but he instinctively pulled the jacket over himself and shared part of it with his brother, then drifted into peaceful sleep.

Xia Lu Nong only slept for a short while. He never felt completely at ease sleeping outdoors. When he woke up, he glanced around. His brother was still there, but Yan Xia Nian and Liao Cheng were gone.

He rubbed his temples, feeling slightly dizzy. “Where did Xia Nian and Liao Cheng go?”

“They said they were going to check out the area nearby,” Xia Huo Qu passed him a water bottle. “Have some water.”

Xia Lu Nong took it and drank. “Brother, are we heading back today?”

“We’ll stay one more night and head back tomorrow,” Xia Huo Qu said. “There will be more prey around tonight. We’ll see if we can catch anything.”

Xia Lu Nong’s heartbeat quickened at the thought, a little excited. “We’re going out tonight?”

“You won’t be coming. Just Xia Nian and me.”

“Huh?” Xia Lu Nong’s excitement deflated like a punctured balloon. “So, Liao Cheng and I are staying here?”

Xia Huo Qu reassured him, “We won’t be out for long. Have you woken up fully? Let’s take a walk around this small village.”

Xia Lu Nong stretched his legs, still feeling groggy from his nap, and shook his head. “Didn’t we already walk around earlier?”

“That was just a quick look. This village has been visited by more than one group of people. We didn’t even find all the hidden supplies, did we?”

He had a point. Xia Lu Nong perked up, shouldered his backpack, and followed his brother.

They strolled around the village again, discovering small vegetable patches near the ruins, though most were scattered and overgrown with weeds.

The vegetables had been left unattended for so long that they were thin and weak, with leaves mostly eaten by insects.

After wandering for a while, they found some garlic, dandelions, and wild lettuce.

Xia Lu Nong had several cuts on his body from the sharp leaves, and the sweat made his skin sting and itch. He scratched himself but didn’t mention it, though the redness on his face and the streaks of sweat on his neck revealed his discomfort.

Xia Huo Qu glanced at the sky. “Let’s head back. Xia Nian and Liao Cheng should be back by now.”

“How about we look around a bit more?” Xia Lu Nong scratched his neck again, waving away a buzzing insect. “I remember seeing more vegetable gardens ahead.”

While they were searching for supplies earlier, he hadn’t been completely oblivious to their surroundings. He could tell the difference between abandoned land and vegetable plots.

Xia Huo Qu agreed, “Alright, let’s keep going.”

Xia Lu Nong tightened his backpack and continued walking, using a bamboo stick to clear the thick grass as they went, wary of any snakes or insects.

The small village had been abandoned for quite some time. Even if they did find vegetables, there wouldn’t be much left to harvest.

Before long, they found a small patch of carrots.

The carrot leaves looked quite lush, but when they pulled them up, the carrots themselves were no bigger than thumbs—short, thin, and with lots of tiny roots.

Xia Lu Nong couldn’t hide his disappointment and sighed, “The leaves look so big, but the carrots are so small.”

“Without proper fertilization, they can’t grow large,” Xia Huo Qu explained. “Let’s pull up more. Even small ones can make a dish.”

Xia Lu Nong nodded and bent down, putting all his strength into pulling up more carrots.

After a while, they had gathered enough to fill half a small bag with the distinctive-smelling carrots.

Xia Lu Nong’s spirits lifted again.

Xia Huo Qu, watching his brother’s mood swing from disappointed to cheerful, smiled too.

Unaware of his shifting emotions, Xia Lu Nong felt energized and continued forward.

Behind one of the ruins, they found another small vegetable garden.

Using his bamboo stick to push aside the weeds, Xia Lu Nong excitedly discovered some small seedlings. “Brother, look! Pepper plants!”

After growing vegetables for a while, Xia Lu Nong had gotten good at identifying seedlings. “There are even two eggplants here.”

He eagerly squatted down to dig them up.

But Xia Huo Qu gently lifted him by the collar, pulling him back up. “No need. These are wild seedlings. Even if they grow, they won’t yield much.”

“Oh,” Xia Lu Nong looked down at the plants, feeling a bit disappointed.

“Let’s keep looking. Maybe we’ll find something better,” Xia Huo Qu said as he led the way.

“I doubt it. Vegetable gardens usually have eggplants, peppers, winter melons, or pumpkins. Even if we find more, they probably won’t be in great shape…”

As Xia Lu Nong trudged along, his eyes suddenly caught sight of something green. He grabbed his brother’s arm excitedly. “Brother, look! What is that?”

“What?”

“Chives! Aren’t those chives?!”

Xia Lu Nong hurried ahead, parting the weeds, and found a large clump of green plants growing vigorously amidst the overgrowth.

He pulled off a leaf, and the tender, thick flesh immediately released a strong, pungent chive smell.

Xia Huo Qu smiled. “Looks like we’re in luck.”

“Shall we cut them and take them back?” Xia Lu Nong cleared away the surrounding weeds. “One, two, three, four, five, six—there are six plants, plenty for us to eat.”

“Cut it,” Xia Huo Qu said. “Be careful; there might be ants inside. Let me handle it.”

Xia Lu Nong pulled out a pair of work gloves from his backpack and put them on. “I’ll help too.”

The two brothers began cutting the chives, one plant at a time.

Since their backpacks couldn’t hold all of them, each time they cut a bundle, they used some nearby weeds to tie the chives together.

The chives had been growing wild for an unknown amount of time, and there were plenty of old and yellow leaves that they had to discard.

After a quick cleanup, they had fourteen bundles of chives, weighing about ten pounds.

Hugging the chives, Xia Lu Nong grinned. “Feels like we’re cutting grass.”

Most vegetables didn’t yield this much.

Xia Huo Qu nodded. “Chives are easy to store. We can divide them up when we get back. Didn’t Liao Quan Nan give you some bamboo shoots? Give him a bundle in return, just to show our appreciation.”

Xia Lu Nong was surprised that his brother still remembered that and quickly nodded.

Xia Huo Qu wiped the sweat from his brow. “Let’s go. I don’t think we’ll find any more vegetables. Your brother Xi Nian and the others should be back by now.”

As they started walking, Xia Lu Nong suddenly stopped.

Xia Huo Qu glanced at him. “What’s wrong?”

Xia Lu Nong turned to look at the cut chives. “Brother, do you think these chives were planted before the disaster?”

The neat rows didn’t seem like wild growth.

Xia Huo Qu immediately understood what he was thinking. “You want to dig them up and replant them?”

“Yeah! Since chives grow from the leaves, after cutting one batch, they’ll grow back. We don’t have much growing behind our house, so we might as well plant these chives.”

Xia Huo Qu, who had initially been reluctant to bother, saw no harm in it now. “Alright, let’s dig them up.”

Xia Lu Nong eagerly pulled a small hoe and a cloth bag from his backpack. “Brother, let’s split the work and dig from both sides. It won’t take long.”

Since they had already cut all the leaves, it was easy to dig up the roots.

Xia Huo Qu’s strength made the task easier, with each hoeing turning up large clumps of dirt. He could dig up a whole plant in just a few swings.

Xia Lu Nong, though slower, was full of enthusiasm and didn’t take long to dig up each plant.

They made sure to leave some soil around the roots, and after gathering the chives into the cloth bag, though heavy, it was filled with a sense of accomplishment.

When the two returned to their temporary camp, Yan Xi Nian and Liao Cheng were already back.

Liao Cheng, upon seeing Xia Lu Nong, joked, “Whoa, what have you two been up to? You’re covered in dirt.”

“We dug up some chives.” Xia Lu Nong set down the bundles of chives and opened his backpack to show them. “The roots are really strong, and they grew well. Want some, Liao Cheng? We can give you two plants.”

Liao Cheng took a glance and laughed, “Why bother with this stuff? You can just swap for some at Old Liu’s place—way easier and safer.”

Xia Huo Qu interjected, “They didn’t mutate, and they grew quite well.”

Hearing that, Liao Cheng dropped the matter and pulled out his own backpack to show them. “Well, while you were cutting chives, we found a nest of eggs. Probably laid by those chickens from earlier. How about we cook scrambled eggs with chives tonight?”

Xia Lu Nong had no objections. “We can even use the chicken fat for frying.”

“Exactly! It’s been a while since we had scrambled eggs with chives. I accidentally cracked one on the way back, and the yolk was bright orange. These are real free-range eggs, and they’ll taste amazing with the chives.”

The two chatted excitedly, almost making themselves drool just by talking about the meal.

Yan Xi Nian glanced at the sky. “Let’s start cooking early then, so we can head out and be back sooner tonight.”

“Sounds good. Xia Lu Nong, I’ll help you out. What’s for dinner?”

Xia Lu Nong thought for a moment and consulted his brother. “We also found half a bag of carrots this afternoon. How about scrambled eggs with chives, chicken soup with carrots, and shredded chicken? We can cook the chicken first and make it easier to preserve.”

Liao Cheng was the first to agree. “No objections here! I’ll chop the peppers. It’s been ages since I had shredded chicken.”

Xia Huo Qu shook his head. “These days, is there anything we eat often?”

“Of course not,” Liao Cheng said cheerfully. “But since we have the ingredients and some free time, let’s make a proper meal and treat ourselves.”

—

Translator Note:

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