“Brother-in-law, the cordyceps in these jars are dried cordyceps dug up last year. The ones you and I dug up today will be sold separately.”

Lu Fangfang was worried that Xiao Aiguo would mess things up, so she gave him a special reminder.

The hay all belonged to Old Xu; after selling it, she still had to give the money back to the sellers.

As for the more than fifty fresh cordyceps that Lao Xu dug up today, she was too lazy to separate them. She planned to give Lao Xu some money after she sold them all.

Looking at all the cordyceps on the ground, Lu Fangfang felt a little regretful.

Cordyceps is cheap now and doesn't fetch much. But in twenty years, a whole bunch of these would be worth at least several hundred thousand.

"If cordyceps could be stored for decades like ginseng, that would be great."

She shook her head, sat on the stool, picked up a small brush, and began brushing the cordyceps she had dug up that day.

Shufen's family of four quickly finished cleaning their own, and then came over to help.

We were busy until after 9 p.m. before we finished cleaning all the cordyceps from both families.

Carefully stuffing it into a sack, Lu Fangfang handed it over to Xiao Aiguo with peace of mind, and then wanted to go home.

"Fangfang, I'm going to the city tomorrow. Do you want to buy anything?"

Seeing that Lu Fangfang was about to leave, Xiao Aiguo quickly asked her a question.

"Mingcheng bought me a lot of food and supplies before he left, so I don't need anything for now."

Lu Fangfang thought for a moment and then said, "By the way, brother-in-law, could you bring me a kang mat, a double kang mat? And if you can find bamboo in the city, could you buy me some bamboo as well?"

The kang (heated brick bed) in her house is almost dry, and she plans to move to sleep on it in a few days, so she needs a kang mat.

There are also bamboo poles for hatching quail eggs. They'll hatch in a few days, so she'll have to build a big cage to keep the quails.

Quails are little creatures that can fly, and ordinary cages can't hold them.

Thinking that Sister Shufen also wanted to raise quails, she talked to Sister Shufen about the cages again.

“Kang mats are easy to buy, but I don’t know if bamboo is available in the city. I’ll go check tomorrow.”

Xiao Aiguo scratched his head, somewhat unsure.

This place is quite close to Sichuan, so maybe they sell bamboo in the city, but that depends on fate.

“Okay, brother-in-law, you can use the money from selling cordyceps to buy it.”

Lu Fangfang yawned, turned around and went home.

After a busy day, she was exhausted and sleepy. She soaked her feet for a bit and then quickly went to sleep.

...

The next day, before dawn, Lu Fangfang was woken up by a knock on the door.

She got up and realized she had overslept.

She quickly got dressed, went out and opened the door. The person outside was Wang Shufen.

"Hey girl, hurry up, we need to head to Team Six."

Wang Shufen was in high spirits; she had dug up nearly three yuan yesterday and was in high spirits right now.

"Sister Shufen, wait for me a moment."

Lu Fangfang yawned and went back to wash her face.

She didn't even bother with breakfast. She packed everything up, poured a kettle of hot water, and carried it out with Wang Shufen.

When the two arrived at the sixth team, the villagers were driving horses to continue grazing their livestock at the foot of Guona Mountain.

Uncle Guo was at home and had already prepared everything.

Upon seeing the two arrive, he drove the carriage to greet them, saying, "Comrade Xiao Lu, Comrade Wang, please get in."

Uncle Guo was thanked by Cadre Xiao last night, and now is the time to be proactive.

Once the two were on the carriage, he cracked his whip, and the carriage sped off.

"Boom!"

Lu Fangfang yawned, and only then did she fully wake up.

She turned on the kettle, took a small sip, then took out a butter cake, rolled it up with fried small fish, and ate her breakfast.

I must say, sitting in the carriage and watching hundreds of horses galloping was quite an experience.

Lu Fangfang smiled and shook her head, feeling that she was quite good at finding joy in hardship.

"Comrade Xiao Lu, how did you fry these little fish? My wife said they were delicious."

"Uncle Guo, there's nothing special about it, I just fried the small fish with butter."

Uncle Guo was taken aback, then suddenly realized what was going on.

No wonder it smells so good, it turns out they used butter. Hey, eating fish is like eating beef.

"Giddy up!"

"Smack."

When the carriage reached the Guona Valley, the six teams of horsemen had already arrived, and their horses were grazing on the grassland.

Lu Fangfang jumped off the carriage, not in a hurry to go up the mountain to dig for cordyceps.

She walked up to a chestnut horse and stopped in curiosity.

"Old Xu, can I touch this horse?"

Xu Huayun was half-lying in the sea of ​​flowers, a blade of grass between her teeth.

Hearing Lu Fangfang's question, he nodded gently, "Comrade Lu, please touch it gently, it's alright, it's a mare, it has a very gentle temperament."

With Lao Xu's assurance, Lu Fangfang suppressed her excitement and reached out to touch the horse's back.

"Neigh~"

The chestnut horse, which was grazing on fresh grass, sensed something, raised its head, and glanced at Lu Fangfang.

Finding no danger, it snorted and continued eating grass.

Hey~

Lu Fangfang gently stroked the horse, feeling its muscles.

She turned around and quickly waved to Wang Shufen, "Sister Shufen, come here, let me touch this horse, let me touch this horse."

Wang Shufen strode over and, like Lu Fangfang, curiously touched it as well.

"This animal is really strong, even stronger than the mules and horses in our brigade. If it were to plow the fields, it would be so fast."

"Pfft, Sister Shufen, this horse is for riding. It's not as good as a mule or horse for farm work."

Lu Fangfang was overjoyed.

But this horse is truly captivating; it's so handsome.

As she touched it, she couldn't help but touch the horse's mane.

Just as Lao Xu said, this chestnut mare had a very gentle temperament, only focusing on eating grass and showing no other reaction throughout the entire process.

After giving her a gentle hug, Lu Fangfang reluctantly let go.

"Old Xu, I'll go down the mountain early this afternoon. You can teach me and Sister Shufen how to ride horses. I'll ride this one."

Xu Huayun was taken aback and immediately sat up from the grass.

He was a rightist and didn't want Lu Fangfang to encounter anything bad because of him.

"Comrade Lu, why don't you find someone else to teach you? I've only just learned to ride."

"Uncle Guo said he wants you to teach him. Among the people in Team Six, Sister Shufen and I only know you and Uncle Guo, so please don't refuse."

"Alright then," Xu Huayun could only reluctantly agree.

"Old Xu, don't worry. I learn things very quickly with Sister Shufen."

Lu Fangfang smiled and told Xu Huayun about the cordyceps before leaving with Wang Shufen.

The snow-capped mountain is still the same snow-capped mountain. The sun has just risen, and climbing it has a unique charm.

However, Lu Fangfang had no time to appreciate the beautiful scenery; she was so tired that she started panting heavily again.

After climbing back to where she was yesterday, she rested for a while before starting to dig for cordyceps.