Chapter 39 Mushroom Picking (Part Two) ...

After regaining her composure, Cui Baozhu felt a surge of heat on her cheeks and quickly straightened up.

"Sorry we're late. Which hill are we going to pick mushrooms on?"

“Along the east side, in that mountain where I found black truffles last time,” Miya pointed to the hill where she had picked mushrooms last time.

Liu Limei's family had already learned about the preciousness of black truffles from Miya and were preparing to explore them today.

Hearing Cui Baozhu calm down and breathe properly, his heart, which had been pounding with impatience, began to race.

Following Miya's pointing finger, they quickly approached the hilltop from before.

At first, everyone was determined to head straight for their destination without thinking about anything else.

Unexpectedly, overnight, many mushrooms sprouted up among the grass and trees, each one plump and delightful.

How could the two families, who always cherished food, just stand by and watch the mushrooms go unpicked?

With a quick movement, Miya plucked out a beautiful and delicious red mushroom.

Today, Cui Baozhu followed Miya and saw her pick up bright red mushrooms. She subconsciously held her breath.

She stared worriedly at the brightly colored mushroom in Miya's hand. "Miya, didn't you say that brightly colored mushrooms are inedible?"

Hearing that her teacher shared the same doubts, and that even the erudite Teacher Cui had things she didn't know, Miya felt a surge of pride and a desire to teach.

She immediately stood up straight and handed the red mushroom to Cui Baozhu.

"Teacher Cui, let me tell you, the mushrooms in Yunnan Province are different."

"The one in my hand is called a red mushroom, one of the five poisonous creatures, and it tastes exceptionally delicious. There's also a golden mushroom called chanterelle, which is also very tasty."

After saying that, Miya's eyes quickly searched among the mushrooms on the ground.

When he saw the mushroom he was looking for, he quickly jumped up, picked it up, and returned to Cui Baozhu's side.

"Teacher Cui, look, this is called 'Jianshouqing' (见手青), which is poisonous. But after being cooked at high temperatures, it becomes non-toxic and exceptionally delicious, with an indescribable aroma. It's very abundant in the mountains."

As Cui Baozhu watched Miya speak with great relish, a different kind of light shone in her eyes.

Although she came today for the black truffles, it wouldn't be bad to pick some other mushrooms to take home.

Once you get into the mood, all your fatigue disappears.

Cui Baozhu practically followed Miya picking mushrooms, even though she felt that many mushrooms looked very similar and she couldn't tell them apart.

But all you need to do is have Miya help you distinguish the two when you get home, and you can stir-fry them into a dish.

With this in mind, Cui Baozhu accepted all comers.

Whenever I saw mushrooms, I would put them all into the bag my mother had prepared.

Before long, a group of people arrived at the forest where Miya had found the black truffles.

Everyone's eyes were drawn to Miya, hoping she would offer some advice.

With the experience of being explained by Teacher Cui, Miya felt much more confident, stood up straight, and took a deep breath.

"I found the black truffle here yesterday. It was buried in the pine needles and various decaying leaves. It was hard to walk on, but when I picked it up, it was a black lump with a special fragrance."

Upon hearing this, the eldest child immediately took action.

He didn't care about anything else, and quickly searched through the decaying leaves under his feet with both hands, not even caring whether he could feel anything beneath his feet.

Others also felt that what Miya said was somewhat unrealistic and vague.

But considering that Mia was also discovered by accident, and I didn't have much experience to start doing it myself.

Perhaps the black truffles beneath the dense forest had long gone undiscovered and had already begun to multiply within the woods.

Soon, Da Ni made her harvest.

"I found it!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's eyes turned to look in Da Ni's direction.

A black truffle, about the size of a ping-pong ball, was held tightly in Da Ni's palm.

Da Ni didn't know how much such a large black truffle was worth, but something that foreigners couldn't forget must not be cheap.

Seeing this, everyone became even more excited.

Before long, everyone had something to show for it.

When Ren Qingsong returned from hunting in the mountains, he saw a group of people digging in the soil with their hands.

They were all covered in dust and dirt, their hands and feet muddy.

Even Cui Baozhu, who came from a different background, didn't look like a city person at all.

Cui Baozhu proudly picked up a black truffle from the soil, held it up to Miya's eyes, and exclaimed excitedly, "Miya, look! I've found another nest!"

"sharp!"

Miya gave a thumbs up, and Cui Baozhu shyly stuffed the black truffle into her pocket and continued her search.

Ren Qingsong noticed that the group of people in front of him didn't even have time for lunch and seemed determined to keep digging. He couldn't help but offer a reminder.

"Mom, sister-in-law, it's noon. Go home for lunch and rest, and come back this afternoon."

Upon hearing this, Cui Dani wanted to look up at the sky.

Her aching back didn't give her that chance. Just as she was about to straighten up, a sharp pain shot through her. It took her a while before she could see the sun overhead.

I have to admit, I'm actually a bit hungry.

But she couldn't bear to part with all the black truffles scattered on the ground; whether she sold them or not, they were valuable items anyway.

Cui Dani glanced at the harvest of Miya and Liu Limei's family, and an idea suddenly popped into her mind.

"Limei, let's go home first and bring the mushrooms back, then make some pancakes to fill our stomachs, while the children continue working here."

"Okay, Auntie, I'll do as you say."

Liu Limei couldn't bear to part with either the black truffles, whose value was unknown, or the mushrooms scattered all over the ground.

There's nothing much to do in the fields lately, so it's perfect for the whole family to pick mushrooms.

only……

What should Cui Baozhu do?

At her mother's prompting, Miya asked Cui Baozhu if she wanted to go home with her mother and sister-in-law first.

Cui Baozhu was currently engrossed in picking black truffles, her eyes filled with reluctance.

Cui Dani, being an experienced and shrewd woman, saw through it immediately.

"Teacher Cui lives far away, it's just a matter of one more pancake. When your aunt brings some for Miya, she'll give you one too."

Even so, when Cui Dani went home to make pancakes, she was exceptionally generous with the ingredients.

The main thing was Cui Baozhu's literacy teaching, which was all free. When there was a rare opportunity to get something in return, she went all out to provide the materials.

Miya glanced at it and knew that her pancakes were made with chives and eggs, and that the proportion of white flour far exceeded that of cornmeal.

It's soft and fragrant; after eating one, my stomach is full, but my mouth is still hungry.

Even Cui Baozhu couldn't help but praise it.

"Auntie, your pancakes are so delicious! They're much better than my parents'."

"Hahahaha!" Cui Dani couldn't hide her smile. "Eat as much as you like."

After having a hearty lunch, the group continued working.

As the evening glow descended on the horizon, Miya and her friends reluctantly emerged from the dense forest, promising to continue the journey the next day.

This time, Miya and Liu Limei's family helped Cui Baozhu select mushrooms by herself, which made the process much faster.

Compared to Cui Baozhu's own estimate of stir-frying one plate, she couldn't stop stir-frying five plates of the remaining edible mushrooms.

An excited smile lingered on Cui Baozhu's face for a long time.

She overheard both families saying that if they couldn't finish the food, they could dry it and save it for winter, or send it back to their hometown, and they agreed to continue the next day.

Upon returning home, Cui Baozhu's first act was to boast to her mother.

She proudly held out a black truffle in one hand and a mushroom in the other, showing them off to her mother.

Xu Qingyan was delighted to see her lively daughter. "Our Baozhu is really amazing. Tonight, we'll use the mushrooms you picked to cook a meal, and our whole family will have a happy time together."

"Okay, okay! Miya even taught me how to cook mushrooms. I'll tell you, and you can follow along, Mom."

*

On the other side, Miya and the others quickly selected some mushrooms and placed them on the first floor to air dry. After a simple meal, they hurriedly began their literacy lessons for the day.

She spent half a month like this.

The room was crammed with all sorts of dried mushrooms, and there were almost no tools left to dry them.

Cui Dani and her daughter Miya were picking mushrooms, while Ren Qingsong was looking for all kinds of game. Their storeroom was full of dried wild game.

After much deliberation, Cui Dani decided that she could send some home.

"Mother, I think the Bodhi seed tastes the best, please send more home." When Miya finally got her reward, she was incredibly generous.

Ren Qingsong also felt that sending more food and drinks home was better than just sending money.

Now that he has experience, he knows that the physical product is more important.

"Mom, besides the cured meat, I also have an old army coat that I can't wear anymore. Could you please send it home for Dad to wear?"

As he spoke, Ren Qingsong handed over the military overcoat in his hand.

General Cui Dani examined the coat carefully several times, but couldn't see anything about it that she couldn't wear.

She gently patted the military overcoat twice. "What can't you wear? Your father has clothes to wear at home. You're in the army, so you should dress even better."

"The clothes are a bit small and old, but the team will issue new ones this year."

Hearing her son say this, Cui Dani no longer refused.

She knew that if the old man received the military overcoat, he would definitely show it off in the village, so let him be proud for a while.

"Okay, Mother will send it back."

Cui Dani packed her military overcoat, mushrooms, and dried meat into a single package, took it to the military post office, and prepared to send it all back to her hometown.

Miya followed along, since she was needed to fill out the form.

Having previous experience, sending the package went very smoothly.

Since they rarely get to go out, the mother and daughter decided to visit the supply and marketing cooperative.

Just as I reached the corner, I suddenly saw a familiar couple walking towards me from the direction of the stream.

Although the two were an arm's length apart, anyone who could see them knew that their relationship was unusual.

Miya subconsciously prepared to go forward and greet them, but Cui Dani quickly stopped her daughter.

"Mom, why are you stopping me? That's Teacher Cui."

"It's because of Teacher Cui that you can't go forward."

Miya looked at her mother in confusion, not understanding why the other woman said that.

Nowadays, people advocate freedom of marriage and freedom of love, and no one will gossip about it. Even if you bump into someone, it's not a big deal.

In particular, Teacher Cui, who advocates freedom of marriage, sets an example by talking about free love, which makes people even more curious.

Cui Dani could tell at a glance that Miya had less business to attend to.

"No matter what, they haven't made it public yet, so let's just pretend we didn't see it to avoid damaging the girl's reputation."

"Okay... alright."

Since studying with Cui Baozhu and becoming mushroom-picking partners together, Miya believes her relationship with Cui Baozhu is quite good.

But after hearing her mother's words, she didn't dare to do anything else. She pretended not to have seen anything and walked towards the supply and marketing cooperative.

After the land was cleared, most households had enough vegetables, and the supply and marketing cooperative still had a lot of vegetables left over.

The mother and daughter glanced at the meat stall briefly and moved on, then looked at the empty meat stall and left empty-handed.