"Stay for a while?" David knows why Mark Watney said this, and after he was accidentally forgotten on Mars in the plot, he was left alone to live on this planet where there was nothing.

His motivation to survive is to wait for the next manned mission to Mars in four years.

How to spend these four years is the biggest problem he has to solve at the moment - not to mention whether the living camp can last for four full years without breakage, whether the oxygen equipment and water production equipment can work normally for four years, for Mark Watney, the biggest problem at this time is food.

The base has enough food for six astronauts to use for 68 days, and even if Mark Watney is alone today, this food can only support him for 300 days, and the appropriate limit can last up to 400 days, which is still a lot less than four years.

It was at this time that Mark, who was struggling to figure out how to grow enough food on Mars for three years, came to David's Winter Village in a daze.

At this moment, Mark Watney saw a new hope - if what David said was true, he could travel between the two worlds freely, then he could live here and find a way to meet up with the next batch of astronauts who would come to Mars and return to Earth together.

So, is there anything wrong with taking in Mark Watney for David?

Of course not!

So David directly expressed his welcome: "It's not a problem, welcome to Winter Village." "If nothing else, Mark Watney is a botanist and might be able to help himself with the problem of the land? Or let yourself acquire some botanical skills from him?

Stretched out his hand to shake Mark, and welcomed him, David didn't feel that he had suddenly learned anything, I wonder if the favorability was not high enough?

David was not in a hurry, and if he was right, Mark Watney would have to live with him for at least a few years, whether it was botanical knowledge or anything else, he was in no hurry.

Unfortunately, Mark Watney is a big living man, and if he wants to become the official village chief, he needs a certain number of villagers.

In David's plan, when Laura helped him get the seeds of high-yield crops and solved the most basic farmland and food problems, he would go to Irontree Fort to recruit a group of villagers, if there were already people living in the village before that, it would undoubtedly be more convincing and persuade more people to stay.

So, even if you ignore the gains brought by the golden finger, Mark Watney only stays for a few years and leaves, he is very welcome.

Mark Watney doesn't know these things at the moment, in fact, even if he knows, he doesn't care, as long as he can urgently solve his existential crisis, everything else is a small thing.

Hearing David's welcome, Mark couldn't close his mouth with excitement, but he didn't know if he was hungry and confused, he seemed to smell the smell of meat.

Soon he realized that it was not that he was hallucinating from hunger, but that there was really a pot of broth waiting for him.

"Our Winter Village is located in the northernmost part of the kingdom, it is a newly established village, there are no good things, I hope you don't dislike it!"

Looking at the steaming broth that David brought in front of him, Mark smiled even brighter: "Why, thank you very much for your hospitality, and I hope to be able to help if possible." ”

Mark doesn't want to be a white eater, and has already started to think about what he can do.

In his opinion, although he doesn't know how he came to this world, and he doesn't know much about this world, as far as he observes, the civilization of this world seems to be in a relatively backward stage, and he should be able to use some advanced knowledge to make this village better.

Over breakfast, Mark said that he would like to visit the village later, not only in the 'interior' of the village with only four wooden houses, but also in the surrounding area.

"Absolutely." David had no reason to refuse, and Fording said he was going to the forest to the north.

David knew that Fording had attacked David's wolves before and wanted to go over to see if he could completely eliminate the hidden danger, and he certainly wouldn't object to that.

Just as a few people were eating breakfast and deciding what to do next, Laura came running again.

When Mark Watney held the wooden bowl and saw a man appear in front of him from nothing, the last bit of doubt in his heart disappeared for the most part, and the last trace of doubt was reserved for 'This may just be a bizarre dream!' 'This option.

"Hello, my name is Laura Crawford!"

When Laura introduced herself to Mark Watney, the botanist from Mars had a strange expression on his face and held for a few seconds before introducing himself to Laura: "Hello, my name is Mark Watney. ”

None of the people present were stupid, and Fording was even more of a human spirit, although he didn't know English at the moment, but after two days, he already knew that Laura's words were a simple greeting and self-introduction, and it was interesting that just such a simple greeting made Mark Watney have this reaction.

David knew why Mark was reacting this way, but he was still acting very 'innocent', watching the excitement as if he didn't know anything.

Laura also realized something, but she already had a certain amount of experience, so she didn't rush to ask, at this time she had more important things to deal with first. After asking for some food and water, and then asking David to make up all kinds of buffs for himself, he left in a hurry.

Looking at the golden light that splashed from David's waving hand, Mark suddenly realized that he had not only arrived in another world, but also witnessed the mysterious power that once existed only in various magical works.

"What is this?"

"Holy Light!"

Such a familiar name, Mark Watney suddenly felt that he was actually dreaming, and the possibility became a little bigger.

Watching David skillfully clean up the pots and pans, Mark who followed behind him carefully observed everything, and secretly twisted a few times on his arms and thighs from time to time.

No matter how hard he tried, the pain from his body didn't wake him up, and if he was really dreaming, the details were too detailed and real.

"Wait." Just as he was following David around the village, Mark seemed to have noticed something, and called out to David, who was about to lead him to the river: "I seem to have found something." ”

"How?" David, who was stopped, was stunned, and turned his head to see Mark rushing quickly towards the back of a wooden house: "Is it a beast?" ”

Because the surrounding environment is not safe, David will even keep his weapon at hand when he is resting, let alone when he is usually active.

Reaching out to remove the hunting bow he was carrying, he heard Mark say, "No, I think I found potato seedlings." ”

"Huh?"

The hand that was about to take the bow paused in mid-air, and watched in astonishment as Mark Watney crouched cautiously in the open space behind the hut, carefully observing for a moment, and finally looked up and said, "I read that right, this is indeed a potato seedling." ”

“……”

David wanted to say 'no way' to him, he had lived here for two years, how could he not have noticed the wild potatoes under his nose?

Just as he was about to speak, after a second of eye contact with Mark Watney, he suddenly realized something, and the retort blurted out turned into: "What's that?" ”

"An easy-to-live, high-yielding food." Mark didn't think much of it, he just thought that people in this world didn't know the edible value of potatoes, which was not surprising, after all, in his world, humans didn't know that this thing could be eaten for a long time...... It's also delicious: "The fact that wild potatoes can be found proves that potatoes can be grown here." ”

Mark Watney originally planned to do potato cultivation inside the Martian base, but there are too many troubles to solve in Martian planting, and the probability of success is very low.

In comparison, taking those live potatoes here, and then carving out a potato field in this world, and growing a large number of potatoes continuously, can not only ensure your own food, but also contribute to the village, which is perfect.

In a state of excitement, Mark Watney was not ready to continue visiting, he couldn't wait to start his potato field plan immediately, and his mind was already calculating how much land he needed to open up and where he should open up the potato field.

Looking at Mark Watney with his mouth in his mouth, David did not interrupt the man's thoughts, but turned his head to look at the potato seedlings at his feet.

The green and fresh branches and leaves grew on the black earth, and after a moment of careful observation, David noticed that there seemed to be a slight difference between the land under his feet and the land in the distance.

"Delusion?"

After a few more glances, he couldn't tell if he was wrong; Or maybe you haven't noticed such a small difference before.

But one thing is certain, there were absolutely no wild potatoes in this place before - after living in the surrounding land for two years, he did not let go of the wild vegetables and berries that could be eaten and dug in the surrounding land, and it was impossible for him to ignore the crops under his nose. What's more, it's not that he doesn't know potatoes.

Since there wasn't one before, there's no reason to pop up out of thin air.

The most reliable explanation is that the Mark Watney next to him is babbling and calculating something.

"Could it be that the reward is not just for the skills or talents given to these people, but even for actual items like potatoes?" David pondered: This kind of reward for actual objects should also have a special connection with the characters who 'give out the rewards', just like Mark Watney and potatoes - in the plot, Mark relied on potatoes to survive on Mars until the rescue arrived on Mars and successfully returned to Earth.

"However, this kind of potato that grows in the back of the house is easy to find, if there is something else, how can you find it or get it?"