Chapter 70: Wheat

Zhang Fan was being pulled by Fei Er, under the protection of Ba Ke Er and Mo De, and with difficulty walked out of the Snake Beastmen's stall. As soon as he left there, Zhang Fan took a long breath and then readjusted his mood and condition. Seeing Zhang Fan finally return to his previous state, Ba Ke Er, whose heart had been hanging, finally let it go.

After finishing looking at one stall, the few of them headed toward other nearby new stalls.

As they walked, they happened to meet the three females who had bought thirty candied haws and nine strings of necklaces at their stall yesterday. Seeing Zhang Fan's group, the few females asked why they weren't setting up a stall today, and after receiving the answer that they were out to tour the fair, they prepared to leave.

At the moment when they were about to leave, Zhang Fan inadvertently caught a glimpse of a familiar golden hue in the hands of those three females. He instantly became excited, forgetting all restraint, and rushed over. Ba Ke Er and the others still didn't know what was wrong with Zhang Fan, about to ask, when they saw Zhang Fan already standing before the three females. The three also hurriedly followed.

"Fan Fan, what's wrong?"

"Ba Ke Er, did you see that? What they're holding is wheat! The wheat we've been looking for! Great! Finally we've seen it!"

Hearing Zhang Fan's words, the three females were all a bit puzzled, looking at each other, not understanding, and one of them couldn't help but interject:

"Eh? Are you talking about us?"

"Yes! Yes! That thing you're holding in your hands, can you lend it to me to take a look?"

Seeing this, the three females handed over the "weeds" in their hands to Zhang Fan. Upon taking a look, Zhang Fan became even more excited, almost jumping up! Good heavens! It really is wheat! Wonderful! After looking, he rather reluctantly returned the wheat in his hand to them.

The three females all saw Zhang Fan's reluctance to part with the "weeds" in his hand. Thus, the more outgoing among them, Mia Cui, said she would give all of these to Zhang Fan. Upon hearing this, Zhang Fan's eyes lit up instantly, but he still didn't forget to ask Mia Luo where this wheat came from and why they harvested it.

Mia Luo knew that Zhang Fan called the "weeds" in his hand "wheat", and guessed that he must recognize it. So she explained everything she knew.

After hearing Mia Luo's explanation, Zhang Fan finally understood: it turned out that Mia Luo and her group had also discovered these so-called weeds by chance. They had cut down the weeds merely because the wheat looked nice, so they brought the wheat back to use as decoration for their homes.

It had to be said, upon learning that Mia Luo's group cut the wheat only to decorate their houses, Zhang Fan felt a deep sense of helplessness.

After learning from Mia Luo where the wheat grew, Zhang Fan also told her and her group that this wheat was a type of grain, capable of filling one's stomach. However, eating it was rather troublesome: one had to extract the grains from the stalks, then grind the grains into flour, add water, and make it into cakes or a kind of paste or lumpy soup before it could be eaten.

Mia Luo and her three companions had never seen or heard of such ways of eating before, and they listened in a daze. Fei Er and his three companions, however, immediately thought of using flour ground from rice upon hearing how to eat wheat. Fei Er, having also grasped the analogy, felt somewhat excited but knew the occasion wasn't suitable, so he deliberately lowered his voice and whispered a question into Zhang Fan's ear:

"Fan Fan, how is the way of eating this wheat the same as flour ground from rice? By the way, flour ground from rice can be used to make noodles and vermicelli, so can wheat also be made into noodles and vermicelli?"

Zhang Fan heard this and expressed that he felt relieved! At the same time, he thought that Fei Er, this diligent student, had asked at an inappropriate moment. He didn't answer immediately, after all, these matters could be put into practice once they returned to the tent.

After saying goodbye to Mia Luo, it was already approaching noon; the few of them also lost the desire to continue wandering, so they hurried back to their camp.