Yunling was even more delighted. She loved watching gossip and drama. Her father-in-law had started it all, and she was eager to know the whole story. But just as she was about to listen intently, her son started yelling, "Stop talking!"

"I'm so embarrassed, I'll lose all face if I keep talking."

This remark amused everyone. The father-in-law lightly tapped him and then said:

"Guests are here! Let's go up the mountain and pick some mushrooms to make soup. It'll be delicious and go well with rice."

This was undoubtedly going against Yunling's preferences, so she quickly grabbed Gangzi, slung another basket over her shoulder, and followed her youngest son up the mountain.

The path up the mountain was very steep, but as soon as she took her first step, Yunling's superpowers fluctuated wildly. A large amount of energy irrationally surged from the soles of her feet through her meridians, and her senses became stronger.

There must be lots of good stuff on this mountain!

This was Yunling's first impression. Soon after, she sensed the presence of pheasants—very strong, and not just one, but many, very active. She exclaimed in surprise:

"So many pheasants!"

"Pheasant? Where?"

Gangzi immediately rolled up his sleeves, determined to catch two pheasants to nourish Yunling, but Yunling quickly stopped him and asked her youngest son...

"Brother, I wonder if this pheasant is being raised in captivity by someone in the village?"

The youngest son shook his head and said:

"What you're talking about is known as the 'Fairy Chicken' in our village."

"A celestial rooster? What does that mean?"

The youngest son replied while peeling bamboo shoots:

“In the past, wild boars often came down from the mountain to attack villagers in our village. We all thought it was the work of evil spirits. Later, the village chief led us to use chickens, ducks and fish to sacrifice and drive away the evil spirits. Sure enough, the wild boars never came down from the mountain again. Naturally, the villagers regarded chickens as gods and did not eat the gods.”

Yunling knew that this was all about ecological balance.

It seems I should give up on my idea of ​​trying pheasant.

After picking bamboo shoots, the youngest continued uphill, gathering cucumber leaves, bracken, and toon sprouts. His hands and feet were nimble, snapping them up as quickly as picking beans; Yunling could barely keep up.

She did see quite a few wild vegetables, but following the direction of the vegetables, she spotted some golden coral fungus, and she was so excited she almost jumped for joy.

Without a word, she walked through the branches, and the coral fungus became even more vividly before her eyes. Her youngest son quickly came over, took a look, and breathed a sigh of relief, saying:

"This kind is edible, but those crown-shaped brush mushrooms are not. However, not many people eat this kind of mushroom because it can easily cause diarrhea."

Yunling stopped thinking about taking it back. She then looked up and looked elsewhere, and by sheer coincidence, she discovered the tiger paw fungus.

The cap of this tiger paw mushroom is dark brown and resembles scales, with a layer of fine grayish-white down growing underneath. Because its shape and pattern resemble a tiger's paw, it is called tiger paw mushroom.

Yunling knew this was a treasure, so she was a little envious.

"Oh, that's a roe deer mushroom. It smells so good! I never expected to see it today. It's just a pity that you can't pick it casually. You have to inform the village chief and let him handle it before you can pick it."

Why is that?

"The roe deer mushroom was a tribute item."

The reason was explained simply in one sentence, but Yunling's mind was wandering. She was definitely after him. Seeing that Yunling didn't even move, Gangzi knew what she was thinking and said directly:

"They say it's a tribute item, but if you pick it and eat it yourself without telling anyone, no one else will know."

The youngest son laughed and said:

"That won't do. These roe deer mushrooms smell wonderful. Who knows, as soon as they're put in the pot, people will smell them and come over. Besides, we live near the mountains, and there are plenty of mushrooms on the mountains. We won't be short of something like this. And whoever finds mushrooms will get a reward."

The second half of the sentence made Yunling give up the idea of ​​picking the tiger paw mushroom without permission. She figured it would be useless for her to take it back. The tiger paw mushroom is an ectomycete and must grow in the wild by relying on tree roots, just like the termite mushroom, which relies on termite nests to grow.

She doesn't have the time right now. When she's more free, she can go to the mountains and find a cool, damp place to try and nurture it with her special ability. We'll see.

Yunling stood up, and her youngest son marked the spot near the tiger paw mushroom before continuing forward. To be honest, there were quite a few kinds of mushrooms to see along the way, including porcini, rice water mushrooms, green-headed mushrooms, and those red umbrella mushrooms that emitted poisonous fumes.

Yunling couldn't help but marvel at the variety of mushrooms here, which were rarely seen on the mountain in their village. But that wasn't surprising; even in the same region, the treasures hidden in each mountain were different. Thinking about it that way, she felt relieved.

The youngest son didn't pick any of the mushrooms; he only picked some wild oyster mushrooms and wild shiitake mushrooms that looked relatively normal.

"Hey, it's an August melon! Grandma, come quick!"

Gangzi reached out to pick the akebia quinata, four or five in a row. The shells were cracked, revealing the glistening flesh inside, which looked like a banana, a corn, or an eggplant.

"Come quick! If we don't eat these soon, the ants will eat them all! August melons, September bursting!"

“In October, the fruit is ripe for picking,” the youngest child continued, picking the few remaining shelled fruits from the tree. “When we were little, we always looked forward to eating one. When we were really craving one, we would pick it raw and put it in the rice jar, or cover it with rice husks and wait for it to ripen. Eating one would make us happy all day.”

Yunling broke the shell open a bit more and ate the flesh inside. It was very sweet, even though there were a lot of seeds. Just like eating a pomegranate, it wasn't very satisfying.

Gangzi ate two in a row and said happily:

"When we were little, we didn't have much to eat, so we ran all over the mountains and tasted any fruit we saw. Have you ever eaten yellow raspberries?"

"Of course I've eaten them. There are also berries, which are bright red and used to steam buns. You don't need to add sugar; they taste sweet on their own."

"And also, there's that goat's milk fruit..."

Gangzi and Yao'er chatted away, one sentence after another, while Yunling couldn't squeeze in even if she tried to speak. In comparison, she felt that her childhood was rather bland and tasteless. Apart from going up the mountain to find mushrooms, she was only thinking about earning copper coins. She had never tasted any of these fruits.

Yunling didn't regret it at all. Now her family could eat whatever they wanted and enjoy their lives to the fullest, so there was nothing wrong with that.

After eating the August melon, the three planned to descend the mountain. However, the sharp-eyed Yunling spotted a fairyland through the gaps in the trees. She quickly pulled away and continued climbing, finding an unobstructed spot to look out.

In the distance lies a snow-capped mountain, its peaks covered in snow. The white clouds in the sky hang so low they seem to touch the mountaintop. Below the mountain lies a crystal-clear lake, its waters a vibrant blue, a breathtakingly beautiful sight, like a fairyland.