Chapter 5: His mother praised him for the first time.

The sky was tinged with the glow of dawn, and the daylight was bright.

The rice porridge bubbled and overflowed from the crack in the pot, spreading the aroma of millet.

Zhao Sidan's saliva dripped down, he swallowed it with a slurp, and then it flowed out again, much to his dismay.

Cheng Wanwan wanted to get something to wipe the little guy's drool, but found that there were no towels in the house to wipe his mouth. Using her own clothes to wipe it would be too dirty, and she couldn't make such a big sacrifice by wiping it with her hands... Oh well, she'd just pretend she didn't see it.

Before long, six bowls of millet porridge were ready. There was still more than half left in the broken pot, and more could be added after they were finished.

The family finished their porridge with slurping sounds, then sat down in their chairs and sighed contentedly.

If this is a dream, they hope it will continue forever; they would rather stay in the dream forever.

"Now that you've eaten, let's get ready to work," Cheng Wanwan said. "Dashan, go down to the fields and check on things. Ergou, go fetch water. Bring back a couple more buckets today; it's hot enough for a bath. Sanniu, go chop firewood."

Zhao Sidan let out a burp: "Mom, what should I do then?"

“Sidan and Huiniang, come up the mountain with me.” Cheng Wanwan stood up. “We can’t just eat staple food; we need to find something to go with it.”

Wu Huiniang was somewhat taken aback.

Since she entered the family, her mother-in-law has never done any work. Going up the mountain to dig for wild vegetables is her and Sidan's job.

She opened her lips, but swallowed back what she wanted to say.

What if her mother-in-law wants to supervise her work? She doesn't let her mother-in-law come along, as if she wants to slack off.

A family of six went out together, splitting into several groups.

The sun was slowly rising, and more and more people were busy around the village.

Cheng Wanwan saw many experienced farmers standing on the ridges of the fields, sighing at the fields, and some even kneeling on the ridges praying for rain.

Having studied geography, she could tell from the sky that rain was impossible anytime soon, and the crops in the fields were likely to...

As we walked up the mountain, all the wild vegetables in the roadside woods had been dug up, so many women with children had to go deeper into the mountains.

[Ding! Natural, pollution-free chicory has been detected!]

The most abundant plant along this road is sow thistle, which is very resilient and grows everywhere in the woods.

[Ding! Wild wild chestnut mushrooms detected!]

[Ding! Wild black porcini mushrooms found!]

Cheng Wanwan glanced at the floating panel and instantly locked onto the location of the wild mushroom.

She parted a clump of weeds and saw several clusters of white chestnut mushrooms and three or four black porcini mushrooms hidden under a large patch of leaves.

Although it didn't rain, the humidity on the mountain was high enough that mushrooms would naturally grow among the layers of decaying leaves.

She picked the mushrooms and put them in her basket, and the online store beeped with a notification sound:

[Ding! One pound of wild, natural chestnut mushrooms, valued at 30 coins. Want to sell?]

【yes! 】

[Ding! Four ounces of wild black porcini mushrooms, valued at 18 coins. Want to sell?]

【yes! 】

Cheng Wanwan felt her waist bag was heavy.

These wild mushrooms are much more valuable than wild vegetables. This tiny bit sold for 48 coins, which secured her a large cotton quilt.

"Mother, what have you found?"

Zhao Sidan leaned closer, but saw nothing.

Cheng Wanwan said naturally, "There are many leaves here, it's very shady and damp, mushrooms usually grow here, look around and see."

This large forest is full of mushrooms, but most of them are poisonous. Decades ago, a family in the village ate a mushroom with a red stem and white stem, and the whole family died. Since then, people in the village will avoid mushrooms. They will pick common mushrooms, but they dare not touch any that are slightly unfamiliar.

Cheng Wanwan has a notification from the store, so she's not afraid of picking poisonous mushrooms.

The three of them walked deeper into the area.

Zhao Sidan exclaimed excitedly, "Mom, so many mushrooms!"

Cheng Wanwan glanced at the panel. These were common chicken mushrooms in Dahe Village, and they were edible. The system indicated that they cost 12 coins per pound.

She smiled and said, "Four Eggs, you're awesome!"

Zhao Sidan's eyes widened in surprise; this seemed to be the first time his mother had ever praised him!

"Si Dan, you stay here and pick mushrooms. We'll go over there and take another look." Cheng Wanwan patted his hair. "Remember not to wander off."

Zhao Sidan nodded vigorously.

This was the first time his mother had touched his hair!

Ever since he finished eating last night, he felt that his mother seemed different, and he liked his mother now!

Zhao Sidan squatted down and started picking mushrooms, eager to get his mother to praise him again.

Cheng Wanwan secretly wiped her hands.

This kid hasn't washed his hair in who knows how many days; his hands were covered in oil when I touched them... Oh well, she herself hasn't washed her hair or taken a shower in a long time either.

Cheng Wanwan ignored the devastating situation and walked to the other side with Wu Huiniang. As soon as they got there, they saw a lot of wild ferns.

During this season, bracken fern grows wildly, but some of it is a bit old. It can be dried and stir-fried, and it tastes pretty good.

Wu Huiniang immediately squatted down and dug up wild ferns.

Cheng Wanwan continued her search.

[Ding! Wild black porcini mushrooms found!]

It was black boletus mushrooms again, growing under a tree in a large cluster. The color made the villagers hesitant to pick them, which benefited Cheng Wanwan.

This is the most expensive thing she has seen so far; it sells for 45 coins per pound in the system.

She took a small shovel from her basket and quickly scooped the black porcini mushrooms off the ground and put them into the basket...

[Ding! Three and a half pounds of wild black porcini mushrooms, valued at 158 ​​coins. Want to sell?]

【yes! 】

With a whoosh, Cheng Wanwan's fanny pack bulged.

She calculated that, including what she had left before, her current balance was 211 coins.

This money can buy 100 kilograms of rice in the mall, enough for a family of six to eat for almost two months.

"Waaaah—this is mine!"

Suddenly, the sound of a child crying loudly came from not far away.

Cheng Wanwan didn't want to pay attention, but she felt that the crying sounded vaguely familiar.

She carried an empty basket on her back and walked around. After a few steps, she saw a large group of teenagers surrounding Zhao Sidan.

Zhao Sidan cried so hard he could barely breathe: "I saw it first, it's my rabbit, give it back to me, waaaaah..."

"Don't talk nonsense, you little brat! This is a rabbit we caught!"

"There's no Zhao Sidan's name written on the rabbit, so why do you claim it's yours!"

"The rabbit is in our hands, so it's ours. Let's go!"

Several older children picked up the rabbit and were about to leave.

"stop!"

Cheng Wanwan walked over, her eyes fixed on the rabbit.

She wasn't looking at rabbits, but at braised rabbit pieces, spicy rabbit heads, steamed rabbit meat...

When the group of teenagers saw Cheng Wanwan, they all took a step back. This was Aunt Zhao, the woman who dared to scold even her own mother-in-law. Would she beat them up?

Several people wanted to run, but none dared to be the first to run.

Cheng Wanwan tried to be as gentle as possible: "Tell me, what's going on with this rabbit?"

The leader was Zhang Dagang, the eldest son of Zhang the Scoundrel in the village. He was twelve years old and led a group of teenagers who were always causing trouble.

However, the original owner was a troublemaker in the village, often standing with her hands on her hips and cursing in the street. The women and old ladies in the village had to give her a wide berth, so how could these half-grown boys dare to provoke her?

But we should still fight for what we deserve.

"These are the rabbits we caught!" Zhang Dagang said matter-of-factly. "Zhao Sidan is jealous that we have rabbits, so he insisted on trying to steal them!"

“That’s not how it is…” Zhao Sidan choked up, “Mom, I caught the rabbit first, and they took it away…”