Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

For a moment, only the faint sound of mud being stirred and suppressed breathing could be heard in the lotus pond.

And occasionally, a crisp "snap" sound would ring out, the sound of a lotus root being broken off from its stem.

Xu Xiaoyan's fingertips explored the slippery mud, touching tangled roots and rotting stems.

With patience, she followed a relatively thick withered lotus stem downwards, and finally, her fingertips touched a hard, smooth object with segmented protrusions—it was a lotus root!

Overjoyed, she instinctively tried to pull it out, but the strong suction of the mud prevented her from doing so.

Just then, a bold idea flashed through her mind—her personal space!

Almost instantly, that familiar, subtle feeling of separation returned, and underwater, the lotus root she had just touched vanished in an instant.

In her consciousness, there was an additional section of plump lotus root covered in fresh mud.

It's done!! Xu Xiaoyan's heart pounded wildly, not because of the gains, but because of the immense convenience brought by this ability.

She didn't need to struggle with the mud at all, saving most of her energy. More importantly, she was incredibly fast and moved without making a sound.

Suppressing her excitement, she began to explore systematically, and she discovered that not all withered stems yielded a harvest.

This seems to be a variety issue. The lotus flowers in Xuancheng are mostly carefully cultivated, so that they can be enjoyed for their flowers and lotus blossoms, and the underground rhizomes can also be produced in abundance.

The ornamental lotus flowers here are obviously some varieties that only bloom and do not produce, or produce very few, edible lotus roots.

As she moved quickly, her hands constantly searching underwater, she silently estimated the distance in her mind.

About every three stems you feel, you can find lotus root nodes of varying sizes on the bottom of two of them, while the third is either empty or has only thin, inedible roots.

"About two-thirds will produce lotus roots, and the remaining one-third will not," she concluded initially.

While this yield can't compare to that of a dedicated lotus pond, it's still a pleasant surprise under the current circumstances.

With the aid of space, her efficiency far surpasses that of ordinary people; wherever she goes, her arms are like the most efficient detection and harvesting machines.

As soon as the fingertip confirms that it has touched a lotus root section that meets the requirements, with a slight thought, that lotus root section will instantly detach from the mud and be stored in the space.

Apart from the tiny ripples caused by her movement, there were almost no signs of digging on the water's surface.

However, despite her joy, she remained vigilant, as she could not reveal the secret of the space.

Xu Xiaoyan stopped and looked back in the general direction where Xie Yingtang and Wang Xiao were. She could faintly hear their panting from there, which meant that their process was much more strenuous.

She thought for a moment, then took out some of the lotus roots from her storage space and carefully placed them on the ridge behind her where she had walked before.

To make them look like they had just been dug out of the mud and were temporarily piled up, she estimated the number and put down fourteen or fifteen lotus root sections of good quality and different sizes.

After making these preparations, she felt a little more at ease and continued to devote herself to the efficient "finding" work, with darkness and reeds becoming her best cover.

As night fell, the three briefly met on the somewhat dilapidated viewing bridge in the middle of the lotus pond.

Wang Xiao's face was a mixture of exhaustion and barely suppressed excitement. He wiped the droplets of water, which he couldn't tell were sweat or mud, from his forehead, and lowered his voice, with a hint of boastfulness:

"Old Xie and I had a good haul! We dug up over forty sections! They varied in size, but they were all definitely edible!"

As he spoke, he tried to pat Xie Yingtang on the shoulder with his dirty hands.

Xie Yingtang dodged to the side, and although he didn't say anything, his tightly pursed lips relaxed slightly, clearly satisfied with his gains.

Xu Xiaoyan's face showed a hint of shame at the right moment. She lowered her head slightly, and her voice was hoarse with exhaustion:

"I...I'm not good at this. I've only dug fourteen or fifteen sections. This silt is too difficult to handle. I'm not strong enough to pull it apart. I'm holding everyone back."

As she spoke, she subconsciously rubbed her arms, which were covered in half-dried mud.

"Hey, what nonsense are you talking about!" Wang Xiao immediately waved his hand dismissively.

He said sincerely, "You saw how hard it is to dig lotus roots. Old Xie and I, two grown men, were almost exhausted. You managed to dig out more than ten sections by yourself, that's already amazing!"

Fearing that Xu Xiaoyan might feel guilty, he added, "We're teammates now, so we'll contribute our strengths and our wisdom, and we'll have different roles!"

Besides, we boys naturally have an advantage in strength over girls, so please don't overthink it!

Xu Xiaoyan glanced at Wang Xiao gratefully, but felt a slight sense of relief.

She smoothly steered the conversation in another direction, mentioning her discovery: "Speaking of which, when I was touching lotus roots, I noticed that it seemed that not every withered stalk had a lotus root underneath."

Through my trial and error, I've found that about three or four out of ten roots are hollow, or have only very thin roots at the bottom, and don't become lotus roots.

Upon hearing this, Xie Yingtang nodded, confirming her statement: "It's the same here, the ratio is about the same, not every plant yields a harvest."

"This situation," Xu Xiaoyan continued, her tone carrying an analysis based on her own understanding:

"I guess this may be related to the variety of lotus. For example, the lotus in our area has been selected and bred over many years to ensure that both the lotus seeds are plump and the lotus roots are abundant."

However, in lotus ponds that are primarily for ornamental purposes, in order to achieve specific visual effects, such as extending the blooming period of the lotus flowers, or making the petals more vibrant in color and more outstanding in shape.

During breeding, it is possible to deliberately select or even cultivate those that supply more nutrients to the flowers.

The underground stem, or rhizome, is partially degenerated or not developed at all in some varieties. In this way, the plant's nutrients can be more concentrated on flowering.

Wang Xiao listened with astonishment, staring wide-eyed at Xu Xiaoyan:

"Not bad, Xu Xiaoyan! You know so much! You can even guess pretty much why the lotus root won't grow? Your knowledge is quite extensive!" He said with admiration.

Xu Xiaoyan was somewhat helpless after being praised by him, and explained, "It's not that I know a lot, it's just that I have the advantage of being born in the 'Hometown of Lotus,' where there are lotus ponds everywhere."

"You've heard so many old sayings like 'admire the flowers but don't eat the lotus root' and 'big flowers bear few fruits,' so you've naturally only scratched the surface. If you had grown up in Xuan County, you would definitely know more than I do."

Xie Yingtang looked at the faintly whitening sky in the distance and reminded him:

"It's almost dawn. Let's move the lotus roots to another place to hide them. We need to leave this place as soon as possible."

"I'm afraid that people on the other side of the road will see someone here, come over to join the fun, and then discover the secret here."

Without saying another word, the three quickly got to work, gathering the lotus roots they had dug under the covered bridge.

As the daylight faded, Wang Xiao and Xie Yingtang counted the more than forty sections of lotus root they had dug. They were of varying sizes, covered in mud, and piled together like a small mountain.

Xu Xiaoyan's dozen or so sections were neatly stacked on the other side.