RPS – Chapter 52 What Did You Discover Again?

The next morning, Li Feng and his group got up early. After breakfast, the whole family set out together. Of course, the people from the tribe who had been informed the day before were already waiting for them at the center of the tribe. They had thought they were early, but upon arrival, they realized they were actually the last ones to arrive.

Lu, that little child, stood right at the front waiting. When he saw Li Feng coming, he happily ran over. He had promised Uncle Li Feng the day before to go “adventuring” together. But he was a bit puzzled—why did it seem like so many adults were preparing to go too last night? He couldn’t figure it out and decided not to think about it. As long as he got to go with them the next day, it still counted as him leading Uncle Li Feng on the adventure!

“Uncle Li Feng, are lots of people going with us today?” Lu ran up and tugged on the hem of Li Feng’s animal-hide skirt.

“Mm, that’s right. A lot of people are going today—we’re going to find something good. So you must stay close to us, okay?” Li Feng patted Lu’s little head, finding the child rather adorable.

“Uncle Li Feng, don’t forget, we’re taking you there! You’re the one who needs to stay close to us!” Lu said with a serious face.

The others around laughed heartily. “Alright, then we’ll all follow Lu’s lead. But Lu, don’t go running off and leave us behind, alright?” Nuo chimed in. This kid loved to dash around everywhere, so they were deliberately making him feel responsible for leading the group to ensure he wouldn’t run off. After all, if a child really did go missing in that vast sea of reeds, it would be extremely difficult to find them. So if kids were coming along, they absolutely had to be watched closely.

“Mo, you have to stay close to us too,” Li Feng said, holding Mo’s hand and looking down at him. Mo was always obedient and well-behaved—generally not the kind to cause trouble. But Li Feng still didn’t feel completely at ease and thought a reminder was necessary.

“Uncle Li Feng, don’t worry. You guys just follow me, and everything will be fine! That place is our adventure zone!” Lu patted his little chest and made a grand promise, confident that following him would be foolproof.

Mo glanced at Lu and remained silent, but he thought to himself, You’ll probably be the one who ends up following us. We’re not the ones who’ll be getting into trouble.

Of course, Lu had come with his mother, so the concerns Mo had were unlikely to come true. The children were all watched over by adults—just like how he had Li Feng and the others looking after him.

Li Feng didn’t know the way, but nearly everyone in the tribe did. The people from Ka’s tribe in the back probably didn’t, but that didn’t matter—Li Feng simply followed the main group. That way, he was guaranteed to be on the right path.

While walking, the Ju Hao brothers came running over to join them. They stuck close to Li Feng’s group, goofing around with Mo as they ran and played. These kids were surprisingly energetic—practically considered half-laborers already. They walked the whole way to the reed marsh without showing the slightest sign of fatigue. In contrast, Li Feng felt it was quite a distance.

He had initially thought it wasn’t far—especially when even the kids said it wasn’t far. But “not far” in a child’s mind meant really not far, right? In the end, you could see the place from a distance, but actually reaching it was exhausting. This was truly the legendary saying: “Looking at the mountain tires the horse to death.” Still, ever since transmigrating here, Li Feng had been busy every day. His body was now much stronger than before. Otherwise, he’d probably be even more worn out.

Li Feng had heard that the reed marsh was large, but he never imagined it would be this large. Even from a distance, all he could see was an endless expanse of green. Stalks more slender than bamboo swayed gently in the breeze, and the sea of green was enough to make anyone involuntarily let go of their worries.

After all, it was already autumn. Though the leaves were still green, there was no shortage of reed plumes either. The thin green stalks bore long, narrow leaves, with yellowish plumes blossoming at the top.

Reeds typically grew along rivers or marshy areas. Here, the upstream water kept flowing through, creating a space that looked more like a large lake. Li Feng honestly couldn’t tell if this place was a river, a lake, or a swamp. If it was the first two, it wouldn’t be too bad. But if it was the last one, they could only harvest from the banks—going further in would be too dangerous. They didn’t have any tools—especially not boats—so how would they harvest anything from deeper inside?

“Li Feng, is this the useful thing you were talking about?” Li asked, picking a plume of reed and holding it up to Li Feng like he was presenting a rose.

The gesture made Li Feng dizzy. “Yes, this is useful. But actually, all of the reeds are useful.” Li Feng snatched the reed plume from Li’s hand and pointed at the endless expanse of reeds before them.

Looking at this wild yet beautiful scene of untouched nature, Li Feng felt deeply moved. The moment he laid eyes on the reed marsh, what popped into his head was the famous story from the Anti-Japanese War—Baiyangdian.

In later remakes of that story, scenes were even filmed in Baiyangdian. The endless green wilderness and the maze-like waterways shown on TV had fascinated him so much that he’d wanted to visit. During the war, even the Japanese troops couldn’t make it through Baiyangdian easily. It had taken great effort to mount an offensive there.

Now, Li Feng felt that this place was even bigger and grander than Baiyangdian. Even if they had boats, they’d only dare to linger near the edge. If they accidentally got lost in the water channels inside, they might never find their way out—unless they were extremely lucky or heaven showed them mercy.

“Besides the reed plumes, what else is it good for?” Li couldn’t understand the amazement in Li Feng’s eyes. He was only interested in the practical uses—whether it was pretty or majestic didn’t matter to him.

Li Feng rolled his eyes at him. “It has tons of uses! The stalks can be woven into baskets, bins, and mats. The leaves can be used to wrap zongzi.” As he spoke, he plucked a wide reed leaf and fell into a daze. Zongzi… I wonder if I’ll ever get to eat one again?

“Zongzi? What’s that?” The others had never heard of it and asked in unison.

“Oh, nothing. Just something you can use to wrap food,” Li Feng shook his head. He began to twirl the reed leaf around his fingers, winding and unwinding it repeatedly. Yes, you could use it to wrap things—but the ingredients for what he had in mind likely didn’t exist here. Best not to say more, or they’d just pester him with endless questions. And more importantly, it would stir up homesickness—memories of his homeland that left him on the verge of tears.

Especially now, surrounded by the lush green tinged with the desolation of autumn—it was the perfect trigger for nostalgia.

Li might have sensed the helpless sadness and desolation in Li Feng’s heart, so he held the baby and reached out to grasp Li Feng’s hand with one hand. He gave him a bright and radiant smile, instantly lighting up the gloomy sky that had been hanging over Li Feng’s head.

Feeling a little embarrassed, Li Feng returned the smile, then continued his earlier explanation. “The roots of the reeds can be eaten when they’re still tender. And the reeds themselves can be used as firewood. There’s so much here—we can gather some and bring it back so we won’t have to chop or collect wood every day. The tender stems and leaves can also be fed to animals.” Of course, reeds had more benefits than just this—like being used to make paper or fiber for clothing. He had heard about such things, but he dared not say them aloud. After all, it wouldn’t help—he didn’t know how to do any of that.

“Then should we bring all of this back?” Bu interrupted from the side. With so many reeds here, they could use them for a long time.

“Of course not. There’s no way we can take this much. Let’s just gather as much as we can carry back for now,” Li Feng said, turning to look at the tribespeople who had come along with them. They were already collecting reed fluff by the side. Naturally, they only knew that the fluff was useful; few were actually listening to Li Feng’s explanation earlier. But it didn’t matter—those who heard would eventually spread the word.

“But how are we going to carry all this back?” Nuo tugged on a nearby reed and stepped on it, snapping it. Fortunately, the broken end didn’t cut through his straw sandals.

Li Feng looked troubled as well. There really was no good way to bring all of it back. The whole stalks were also difficult to cut, especially without iron tools or sickles—just stone tools and river mussel shells, which weren’t very effective. “Let’s bring a bit back first and make some shoes. We can come back here any time anyway—they’re always here.” Though it was a bit far.

“Okay, that works. Let’s just gather the fluff for now. As for the stalks, we’ll leave them for later—it’s really hard to carry them back.” Li Feng had already taken the baby from Li. Mo was still helping pick reed fluff beside him, and Li Feng reminded him to be careful, as the reeds could be very sharp.

They had brought children with them this time. Though children like Mo were old enough to help, carrying whole stalks of reed back wasn’t feasible. They could only use the baskets and bamboo containers they had brought to collect the reed fluff.

Li Feng’s group mainly focused on gathering fluff. After all, they could still go to the forest later to collect or chop firewood. But the fluff was seasonal—once the season passed, it would be gone. They needed to collect as much as they could before it fell.

The others were much more efficient—they wanted both the fluff and the reeds. Some didn’t even bother plucking the fluff and just broke the reeds off entirely, bundling them up directly to carry back. Li Feng was impressed. It was already tiring enough walking such a long distance, yet they were preparing to haul big bundles back. Judging by how fast they were working, they clearly didn’t plan to just carry one or two.

At that moment, Li Feng really wished for a cart. Not a train or even a three-wheeler—just a flatbed cart or a wheelbarrow would have been better than carrying everything on their backs. But unfortunately, he didn’t have the skills to make one. Besides, with no tools or materials available, even if he wanted to build something, he had no way to start. He could only deal with the most basic, immediate difficulties for now. Comparing oneself to greater things wasn’t always good.

As Li Feng and the others were busy, suddenly Mo, who had been gathering fluff with Lu and Ju Hao and the other kids, cried out, “Ah! What’s this?”

Li Feng and the others rushed over at once. Judging by the tone of the shout, it seemed like it could be surprise, joy—or maybe even fear. When they got there, everyone couldn’t help but laugh. But once the laughter died down and they saw what it was, Li Feng became excited again—it was practically a treasure trove.

Autumn was the season when geese and wild ducks flew south. Li Feng didn’t know whether they were in the north or south. He didn’t want to ask, and even if he did, no one would know. Besides, he didn’t really understand such things. So, it didn’t matter to him. But what he saw in front of him made him incredibly happy.

Since the kids were light, and the reed root systems were very developed and intertwined, even adults could stand on them without problems. The kids had walked a little further in, stepped onto the roots, and pushed aside the reeds—only to find a patch of white, round objects.

Eggs. A lot of eggs. Not just one or two nests—there were many. The dense root system made it perfect for wild ducks and geese to nest and lay eggs. There were definitely more eggs elsewhere, too. Though they didn’t know what kind of eggs they were, that didn’t matter—this was clearly a good thing.

Before coming here, Li Feng had already thought that there would likely be various eggs among the reeds—bird eggs, duck eggs, and such. When he was a child, they often found them by the river. Of course, sometimes the eggs came from ducks raised by nearby families. But they didn’t care. Every time they found duck eggs, it felt like finding treasure—it was a fantastic feeling.

Once the kids discovered the eggs, it was like a switch flipped. Everyone put down what they were doing and rushed over. They all knew how to eat eggs. Li Feng had taught them before. When it came to food, they were always the most dedicated—because they had gone hungry too often.

So now, everything was turned upside down. No one was collecting reed fluff anymore. They had previously only stayed near the shore, afraid of getting stuck in the mud or water. Having lived on land so long, they had a fear of water. After all, water wasn’t as safe or comforting as land. But now it was different—someone had found a bunch of eggs inside, and even some places had ducklings or goslings that couldn’t fly yet. They couldn’t tell the difference, and neither could Li Feng—he wasn’t all-knowing.

Finding something edible thrilled them. The reeds could wait—food always came first. So they swept through all the walkable reed patches near the shore. Fortunately, they had brought baskets and backpacks full of reed fluff. Now they could put eggs in as well without worrying about them getting crushed.

Li Feng wanted to say something about this behavior, but in the end, he didn’t. After all, they themselves had ended up collecting mostly eggs too. Who wouldn’t take the most obvious benefit?

Each of them had come with a basket nearly filled with duck eggs—though half of it was still fluff. Otherwise, the eggs might get smashed on the way home. In the end, everyone collected a lot, except for Li Feng’s group. Since this outing was ordered by the tribe leader, the eggs were considered rare goods and would be split evenly. After all, others could collect eggs too, even without hunting.

But Li Feng’s group had gathered a lot of reed fluff, and the tribe leader would definitely prioritize them, especially since Li Feng was thinking about how to weave with it. So this reed fluff was essentially theirs, and they gathered it with extra enthusiasm. As for the eggs, they left those to Mo and the others. Nuo went with them too, leaving Li and the rest to stay with Li Feng and keep gathering fluff. Since Li Feng was holding the baby, he had Li gather the eggs into a basket and then returned to the shore to keep gathering fluff while caring for the baby.

“Li Feng, let’s make something with these eggs when we get back,” Li said, wrapping his arm around Li Feng’s shoulder and pointing to the basket of eggs at his feet. The reed beds housed many birds, and they had startled quite a few while gathering.

“Okay, let’s steam an egg custard for the baby. He hasn’t had one in a long time!” Li Feng’s first thought was for the baby in his arms. He hadn’t had eggs in quite a while—especially ones from the forest, which were hard to find, mostly hidden in tree nests.

“You haven’t had eggs in a long time either,” Li added. He still remembered the delicious taste when Li Feng made scrambled or steamed eggs from wild bird or pheasant eggs. Li Feng clearly liked eating them. But eggs were hard to come by, and whenever they were found, Li Feng usually saved them for the baby or Mo. He rarely ate them himself. So Li always tried to find more eggs or asked Li Feng to cook some, so he could secretly give him more to eat.

Li Feng looked at Li’s face and smiled. Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly noticed something swimming in the water. It looked familiar. He took a step forward to get a clearer look, but when he saw what was following behind that creature—he was truly startled. He had definitely let his guard down.