Elena took it and bit down.
Her expression changed at once.
It was a richly layered expression—first came the toothache, then indignation, and finally resignation.
Saina watched her, the corners of her mouth twitching downward.
"What is it? Doesn't it taste good?"
Elena chewed the piece in her mouth hard, then swallowed it with difficulty.
"What the hell did your mother knead these pancakes with? Iron sand?"
Su Li broke off a piece, put it in his mouth, and chewed seriously for a few moments.
"These pancakes have strategic value."
Both women looked at him at the same time.
"You can eat them when you're hungry, throw them at bandits when you run into them, and use them to prop up table legs at night."
Saina punched him angrily on the arm.
"My mother made those!"
"I was praising her." Su Li rubbed his arm. "One thing, many uses. Extremely cost-effective."
Elena set down the pancake she had bitten, wrapped it back up in cloth, and stuffed it into her luggage bag.
Saina froze.
"You're not eating anymore?"
"I'm keeping two for self-defense." Elena's face remained expressionless. "This thing might work better than rocks when you throw it."
Saina opened her mouth, unsure whether she should be angry or laugh.
Su Li gnawed on his pancake as he looked down the official road ahead.
The road conditions were worse than in his previous life.
The dirt road was covered in ruts and hoofprints, while the shrubs along the roadside had been hacked to pieces—traces left behind by grain requisition squads clearing their field of view. Every few miles, there were collapsed fences and empty grain-drying yards.
The effects of war had already spread here.
The three continued on their way.
That afternoon, they passed through two empty villages without even