Chapter 82: Corn

After the previous ordeal of sitting in a carriage for several straight days, which left everyone with sore backs and nearly shaken apart, the group no longer chose to ride the carriage the entire way; instead they walked, stopped and started, enjoying the beautiful scenery along the route. Of course, Mo De and Ba Ke Er also occasionally went out hunting, catching some small animals nearby to have a bite. Occasionally they would also catch one or two large animals.

That day, it just happened to be Mo De's turn to go hunting, with Ba Ke Er staying behind to protect Zhang Fan and Fei Er. Zhang Fan had been resting in place, but helplessly, Fei Er suddenly felt the urge to urinate and asked Zhang Fan to accompany him to relieve himself.

Seeing Mo De go out hunting, Zhang Fan noted that Ba Ke Er, being male, was not suitable to accompany him, so he had no choice but to go along. Although to Zhang Fan everyone appeared the same externally—all possessing a penis—to the planet's natives, they were indeed different.

It was precisely while accompanying Fei Er to find a nearby spot to relieve himself that Zhang Fan discovered a patch of golden-yellow cornfield that he was very familiar with.

"Fei Er! Do you see that patch of golden-yellow plants ahead?" Zhang Fan exclaimed excitedly, pulling Fei Er and pointing at the cornfield ahead.

Fei Er was feeling the urge to urinate and was looking for a secluded spot; now, following the direction Zhang Fan pointed, he looked over and suddenly began to feel inexplicably happy!

"Hahaha, Fan Fan, you're great! I was worried I couldn't find a place, and you found it! Great! The plants in that field are tall enough to provide cover! Come on, come on, come on—I'm about to burst!" After saying that, Fei Er grabbed Zhang Fan's hand and ran toward the cornfield.

Running closer, Zhang Fan also saw clearly that what grew in that field was indeed the corn he was familiar with! Thinking back to when he was young and living in the orphanage, his favorite thing was when the aunties led everyone to plant a small plot of corn in the vegetable garden. Before the corn had produced ears, he and the older kids would sneak off to break and drink the sweet sap from the stalks. That taste could not be compared to the sugarcane he later ate, even though he was punished when the aunties discovered it. Yet everyone still enjoyed it immensely.

Once the corn stalks grew tall, the children in the orphanage would go to the cornfield to play hide-and-seek. At that time, it was the best playground. They would play and frolic inside, and incidentally contribute some boys' urine to the cornfield to help the corn grow faster.

Afterward, as the corn began to mature, the aunties would boil tender corn for everyone to eat. When the corn was fully mature, they would use fresh cornmeal to make corn porridge, steam corn buns, pan-fry corn pancakes, and various other delicious treats. Whenever that time came, the children in the orphanage would be extremely happy! Of course, this period was also the most joyous time of the year for everyone besides the New Year.

Zhang Fan slowly gathered his thoughts, looking at the cornfield before him, and realized he had suddenly recalled that time in the orphanage which he had thought would gradually be forgotten. Overwhelmed with mixed feelings, he could not help but silently bless it in his heart.

Fei Er pulled Zhang Fan to the edge of the cornfield, left him outside, and went in to relieve himself. When he came out, he happened to see Zhang Fan earnestly breaking off corn. Without asking Zhang Fan, just by watching his actions, Fei Er knew this must be something edible again! Haha! Great! More food to eat! Thinking of the food, Fei Er quickly took out the water bottle he had brought, washed his hands, and then started breaking corn together with Zhang Fan.

"Fan Fan! Great! We found something tasty again! I just don't know what this is. Can you tell me?"

"Fei Er, this is the corn I told you about. However, the corn is now old, so boiling it directly in a pot might not taste very good. But we can grind these corns into flour and use it to steam buns or make corn pancakes and such."

Originally, upon hearing Zhang Fan say that boiling it might not taste good, Fei Er had been ready to give up breaking off the corn, but after hearing Zhang Fan mention the new way of eating it, he once again perked up and began to work hard at breaking off corn.

"Great! Does that mean we can have something tasty today? To be honest, I've gotten a bit tired of eating wheat pancakes for the past few days, but now it's great—we have a new food! Hahaha…"

Zhang Fan heard Fei Er say he was tired of wheat pancakes, couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth, thinking: "Tired? No way! Who is the person who always clamors for wheat-flour pancakes at mealtime?" But after thinking, Zhang Fan understood: Fei Er was just craving corn again, and he didn't expose Fei Er's little scheme. After all, he himself had originally planned to first make some long-missed corn pancakes to try.