Blessed Girl From a Farm Family: Surviving the Famine With Space - Chapter 36

“Wow! It smells amazing! Sis, roasting the meat like this makes it so fragrant, it’s making me hungry!” Fu An couldn’t help but swallow his saliva.

“This isn’t for tonight. We need to roast this meat, let it cool, and store it. Otherwise, raw meat will spoil easily and attract wild animals.” Fu Manman placed the roasted meat on a clean rock nearby.

Once it cooled, she would pack it all together. Later, when they were hungry on the road, they could take it out and eat it directly, like jerky.

Fu Qiang, who had been looking displeased, was suddenly drawn in by Fu Manman’s words. He watched her actions seriously.

He glanced again at Fu Manman, who was still plain-looking, and felt she seemed different somehow, a little strange, as if she wasn’t as foolish as before.

“Alright, you two, continue following what I just did. I have other things to take care of.” After giving instructions, Fu Manman left the task to Fu An and Fu Qiang.

She started working on the walnuts. She needed to extract the walnut meat so it could be used as rations.

These walnuts had very hard shells, which might be difficult for some to crack open. But for the incredibly strong Fu Manman, it was as easy as shelling sunflower seeds.

She simply pinched one between her fingers, and the walnut, shell and all, cracked open. She picked out the kernel and placed it into a cloth bag beside her.

The Chang family, watching the three Fu siblings busily working, grew curious and came over to ask what they were doing.

Upon hearing that roasting the meat into jerky would make it easier to store, Chang Zhong joined in as well.

After Lu Hua finished sewing the cloth and covered her own children with it, she said to Fu Manman, “This piece of cloth is quite large. Bring your little brother over; he can sleep with my children.”

Fu Manman didn’t refuse her kindness. Her little brother was so small; he would be warmer sleeping with other children under the blanket.

Once the children were settled, Lu Hua, having nothing else to do, saw Fu Manman working on a type of nut and offered to help.

She had never seen this kind of nut before and didn’t know what it was. But when she saw Fu Manman extracting the edible part from inside, she felt a surge of excitement.

“Can you eat this?” Lu Hua asked.

“Yes, you can. I tried it; it’s quite fragrant,” Fu Manman said, not mentioning it was walnut. Judging by Lu Hua’s expression, she probably hadn’t seen walnuts before.

“Can I try one?” Lu Hua asked.

“Go ahead!” Fu Manman said generously.

Finding the walnuts was a good thing. Tomorrow, she would take Aunt Lu Hua to gather more. She hoped the Chang family children wouldn’t have to go hungry anymore.

If I can help them, I will. The children are innocent.

After tasting the walnut, Lu Hua was immediately astonished by its deliciousness.

“This… is so good! It’s really quite fragrant,” Lu Hua exclaimed excitedly. She then eagerly asked, “Miss Manman, where did you pick these?”

“In the woods. There’s a big tree with lots of them, and many on the ground too. It’s too late today; I’ll take you to gather them first thing tomorrow morning.”

“Alright, it’s settled for tomorrow morning then.” Lu Hua was overjoyed. With these, her children wouldn’t starve.

Thank heavens we left that big cave and met the Fu siblings.

“Miss Manman, I think you are a lucky star. How are you so capable?” Lu Hua admired Fu Manman. In their village, a girl like Fu Manman would be considered very capable, with many families seeking her for marriage!
Fu Manman just smiled and thanked Aunt Lu Hua for her kind words.

Lu Hua wanted to help Fu Manman shell the walnuts. Fu Manman didn’t refuse outright, though she herself could shell them quickly and neatly, whereas Aunt Lu Hua would have to smash them with a rock.

“This nut is really hard to shell. If you don’t control the force well, it just gets smashed to bits,” Lu Hua said, looking sadly at the walnut she had shattered.

This is food! Life-saving sustenance.

“It is hard to shell. Let’s just take our time,” Fu Manman said, slightly helpless.

Even with her great strength, shelling so many made her hands sore. There wasn’t a patch of good skin left on her hands, and Fu Manman felt a pang of self-pity.

The two of them, cracking the nuts, soon attracted the attention of others.

Before long, everyone knew the seed inside this nut was edible, which delighted them all.

In these times, finding anything edible was incredibly difficult.

Fu Qiang tasted a kernel and was astonished. He had picked up these nuts before but found them unpalatable. It turned out the edible part was inside this hard shell.
How did Fu Manman discover that?
Fu Qiang watched Fu Manman diligently cracking the nuts and suddenly found her less annoying than before.

By the time they finished shelling all the walnuts, they didn’t know what time it was.

Fu Manman just felt her hands trembling. Having sat for so long, she felt very cold all over, especially her feet, which were numb from the cold.

She looked at the shoes on her feet—tattered, cloth-made shoes with her big toe sticking out.

“Miss Manman, come over here, let’s squeeze together for warmth!” Lu Hua waved, inviting her to share the blanket.

Fu Manman hesitated for a moment, then took out the silk-floss quilt wrapped in black cloth.

“Let’s use this. It’s warmer. I found it on the road,” Fu Manman said simply.

Chang Zhong and Lu Hua stared wide-eyed at the silk-floss quilt, utterly shocked.

“This is a quilt? So thick? What kind of cloth is this made of?” Lu Hua had so many questions. She approached and touched the quilt carefully, afraid of dirtying it.

“I don’t know either. I found it,” Fu Manman said with a smile.

Chang Zhong and Lu Hua believed her, because they had also found good things.

“Such a fine quilt, we mustn’t get it dirty. Miss Manman, let me help you sew a cover from your old quilt fabric for it. That way, it won’t be conspicuous when we carry it on the road later.”

“Okay, Aunt Lu Hua, I was thinking the same thing, but I don’t have any needle and thread.”

“I have some.” Lu Hua rummaged through her belongings, found a needle and thread, and started altering the quilt for Fu Manman.

Half an hour later, the quilt had a makeshift, worn-looking cover. It would be easier to carry on the road now, and they could use it at night.

Fu Manman placed the large quilt on top of the Chang family’s blanket.

“Mom, there’s a kitten here!” Chang Zuo discovered a furry little cat next to Little Maodan.

He called out happily.

“Little kitten, so cute!” San Ya saw it too and reached out to pet it delightedly.

Lu Hua was surprised. Where did a cat come from here?

“That’s my little tiger cub. Its name is… Ah Fu,” Fu Manman gave the tiger cub a name on the spot.

Children really do love soft, furry, cute little animals.

“Wh…what? A little tiger?” Lu Hua stammered, terrified.

The tiger they encountered on the road was scary enough. How could this girl dare to raise one!

“Where’s the tiger?” Chang Zhong also came over to see the novelty.

Fu Manman briefly explained how she met the mother tiger and her promise to care for the cub.

The Chang couple sighed in amazement. “To think a tiger could be so understanding, recognizing Miss Manman’s kindness.”

“But, this little tiger cub will need to eat meat later. How will you raise it?” Lu Hua worried for Fu Manman.

“We’ll take it one step at a time. We’ll raise it for now.” Fu Manman gently stroked the little tiger cub’s head.

The cub slept soundly, its eyes closed.

The children happily petted the little tiger cub a few more times before finally lying down to sleep.

With the large, thick silk-floss quilt, they wouldn’t be cold tonight.