◎Happy 80th Day: Non-toxic Ivy and Innocent Mushroom◎

Captain Yu looked troubled when he heard this: "It should be considered Chinese medicine."

What kind of statement should this be?

Zhou Ying whispered, "Maybe it's the bamboo grass?"

It has medicinal value, but it is not usually considered a medicine.

At first, Captain Yu didn't realize what bamboo grass was when he heard such a serious name. He just nodded out of habit and said, "We found some Pinellia and Tripterygium wilfordii. Professor Chen has rheumatism, and he heard about Tripterygium wilfordii and wanted to use it, but he didn't dare. His life is really difficult."

"You also know what the situation is like out there. Even if the medicine is taken, its efficacy is still uncertain. We don't have professional Chinese medicine doctors there, so we dare not use medicine indiscriminately." Company Commander Yu was also a little helpless.

Professor Chen identified Pinellia ternata and Tripterygium wilfordii when he was out looking for edible plants.

Professor Chen suffers from many chronic diseases and has been relying on traditional Chinese medicine for treatment over the years. He knows a lot of Chinese medicine and understands a little pharmacology. He knows that both of these medicines are toxic, so he just digs up the medicine and plants it first, and dares not use it but only look at it.

With the precedent of the unlucky guy who ate mushrooms, their original drug testing plans were put on hold.

What if these two Chinese medicinal herbs also mutate into something outrageously toxic?

If Jiang Muyun and others had a way to identify the toxicity of plants and determine the toxicity of the two medicinal herbs, they would be able to grasp the degree when testing the medicine.

Qin Shiwu pondered, "Forget about the Tripterygium wilfordii. It naturally prefers humidity and heat and is resistant to cold, so it's not surprising that it's growing now. As for the Pinellia ternata, I remember it prefers drought. The Pinellia ternata growing now really can't be judged based on common sense."

Company Commander Yu naturally understood such a simple truth. There was no other way.

Pinellia ternata and bamboo grass are indeed somewhat similar. They're both common weeds, drought-tolerant and resilient. But even the strongest of these weeds has its limits. It's been snowing and raining for so long now, and for Pinellia ternata to still be alive and well, something must have happened to it.

Moreover, regardless of whether there is any mutation or not, Pinellia ternata itself is poisonous and cannot be eaten directly. It must be mixed with other medicines.

If they had a choice, growing pinellia wouldn't be cost-effective. But they're lucky they can find some Chinese herbal medicine now. They can look for other missing medicines later and plant what they can find first.

Otherwise, if something unexpected happens again, the outside will be barren again in a blink of an eye, and they will have no place to cry.

Captain Yu smiled at Qin Shiwu with his big white teeth: "Brother, intellectuals, Professor Chen said the same thing."

"I only have a vague idea about it." Qin Shiwu just smiled.

Jiang Muyun rubbed Dabai and said, "Dabai is indeed sensitive to deadly toxins. If you have any needs in this regard, we can take Dabai to see a doctor."

Captain Yu also understood: "No problem. I can bring you some of those two herbs as well. If we can test their medicinal properties, we'll let you know."

Captain Yu said this with a bit of embarrassment: "But it's hard to say when. The base is also looking for someone who understands Chinese medicine. To be honest, it's difficult."

Jiang Muyun thought of her "Barefoot Doctor's Manual" again.

It seems that after picking all the mushrooms on the mountain in the past two days, she still has to resume normal supply search as soon as possible, so that she can take advantage of the situation to fish in troubled waters.

Pinellia ternata is indeed a common weed, and the insecticide and rheumatism-treating effects of Tripterygium wilfordii are also quite practical in the end times. Jiang Muyun recognizes these two crops.

However, unlike thunder god vine which is famous among survivors for its practicality, the reason why she recognized the grass Pinellia ternata is that it is highly toxic, and the toxicity is seasonal.

The pinellia grown in the rainy season cannot be used as medicine and will be useless no matter how it is mixed. Mixing it with herbs such as Chuanwu will only make the poison worse.

The medicinal properties of Pinellia ternata that grows normally in the dry season are similar to those before the mutation. It is poisonous if eaten alone and can be used as medicine when properly mixed.

The characteristics of Tripterygium wilfordii and Pinellia ternata are interchangeable in some aspects.

The saying "three days in spring, one day in summer, five days in autumn, and seven days in winter" refers to the time it takes for death to occur after consuming Tripterygium wilfordii, harvested in different seasons. This suggests its toxicity is quite strong. However, Tripterygium wilfordii has a unique toxicity, affecting different animals differently. While it is highly toxic to humans and insects, rabbits and mice show no reaction.

After the apocalypse, thunder god vine has undergone some changes in this regard. Its toxicity in all aspects has been reduced, and its anti-itching and insecticidal effects are similar to those of the floral water before the apocalypse. It is usually very useful, but if you really encounter an insect plague, it is useless to plant it at your doorstep, and it is unheard of that it can poison people to death.

However, everything has its pros and cons. If its toxicity had not weakened after mutation, no one would dare to use it.

Jiang Muyun had heard most of these things and had done some simple verification herself. After the apocalypse, traditional Chinese medicine was a treasure in every base, but she didn't have the ability to find someone to answer her questions.

This just shows that no matter how much plants mutate, they will not become another species, and the knowledge before the end of the world is not useless.

She bought the book thinking that it was better to have it than not to have it, in case it came in handy someday in the future.

Now it's all right, just in case. I didn't expect that settling down here would have this benefit, the opportunity to be self-sufficient in medicine, so I have to use the book right away.

Jiang Muyun's mind was racing with calculations, but his expression remained unchanged. "So, shall we set off now? By the way, Captain Yu, are you looking for seeds or seedlings?"

Captain Yu was prepared for this question: "It's best if the potatoes and sweet potatoes have sprouts, but a few seeds are enough for the vegetables."

Zhou Ying calculated the situation of the crops in his mind and said, "Okay, wait a moment, I'll get them for you."

Their main seeds and seedlings are preserved by Zhou Ying.

The others have been learning how to grow seedlings and vegetables, but they haven't mastered it yet. Most of the time they just follow instructions and help out. At most, they take two plants back to grow as potted plants to gain experience. It doesn't matter if they die. They don't dare to waste the plants.

Captain Yu looked at the dirt piled on the ground with some hesitation. Jiang Muyun and the others didn't mind and took the initiative to say, "How about we go over together? I'd like to trouble you to lend a hand and do some hard labor."

They have visited the survival base several times, and they can't just wait at the door when someone comes.

Captain Yu waved his hand and said, "It's not a big deal. These grains of yours are truly life-saving."

Previously, because they did not have enough soil, they left some potatoes somewhere without cutting them into pieces. Now they have sprouted on their own, and they can directly give some of them back to Captain Yu and his men.

They also had a handful of sweet potato vine seedlings. Originally, they had thought they had enough of them, so they could pick the next batch and eat them directly. But now that the rain had stopped and the sun hadn't risen, they figured they wouldn't be short of leafy vegetables for a while, so they could spare some sweet potato seedlings.

Jiang Muyun felt a little emotional when he held the bag for Zhou Ying to fill with sweet potato sprouts.

These leafy greens are not yet in their mature stage, so you won’t be able to get a ride on the roasted mushrooms.

And judging by the weather, even if they waited for another crop to ripen, they might not even see the sun. Burning firewood to dry such a large amount of leafy greens wasn't worth it. Before the sun came out, they would probably only be able to eat one crop at a time. They didn't know whether to be happy or anxious.

Jiang Muyun watched the sprouting little potato balls being packed and packaged, and suddenly thought of something: "Let's pack a bag of soil and take it with us. These potatoes at home have never been the right size. It's a good time to ask Professor Chen if he can find out the reason."

Professor Chen is a national treasure in the field of crop science. The soil that Jiang Muyun and his team brought was not some strangely contaminated soil after the apocalypse. How could she not see this little problem?

Jiang Muyun brought the bag of soil and small potato balls to Professor Chen. Professor Chen touched the soil, asked about the fertilizers used, the lighting and watering conditions, and was able to basically answer the question.

There are mainly two major problems.

One is that the soil is not loose enough, and the other is that there is insufficient light.

The solution is quite simple: loosen the soil more and reduce the frequency of watering during this period. Now that it is not raining, even if there is no sun during the day, move it out to let people see the light and air.

"People will get bored without seeing the sun for a year or two, let alone food." Professor Chen said with a smile, "The soil I asked Xiao Yu to bring you contains coconut brick soil. Mix that with the cultivated soil, and the potatoes you grow will be bigger."

This time, only Jiang Muyun and Chu Buwen followed Captain Yu to the base.

Others are busy picking mushrooms in the mountains, and then they have to string and dry them. The soil cannot be left alone, and all the crops that need to be planted have to be planted.

Things suddenly became more and more complicated, so it was naturally not like before when we could go out for a spring outing with a group of people.

Professor Chen is an old man with a vigorous spirit. Even after experiencing many hardships after the end of the world, his eyes are still bright.

According to Captain Yu, Professor Chen has rheumatism and has been having a hard time recently.

But ever since Jiang Muyun and Chu Buwen saw her, the smile on her face has never faded.

Jiang Muyun could still tell whether a person was trying to find joy in misery or was truly happy.

The skinny old lady sat on a small stool and took care of the sweet potato seedlings they brought. In front of her were pots of soil that had not yet been planted with crops, and a few ordinary green plants.

One plant that looks like a green, multi-clawed starfish is Pinellia ternata, and another crop with oval, shrub-like leaves is Tripterygium wilfordii.

However, thunder god vine itself is also poisonous, so out of caution, Professor Chen did not use it as medicine even though he recognized it.

Dabai was very brave and had jumped out of Jiang Muyun's arms a long time ago. Now he was sitting next to the thunder god vine and fiddling with its leaves.

Jiang Muyun squatted beside Professor Chen and reached out to touch Dabai's head: "Dabai is not averse to thunder god vine, its toxicity should not be fatal."

Jiang Muyun formed a ball with his hands and joked, "It's such a small ball that even cats don't take it seriously. The harm it can cause to the human body should be limited."

Jiang Muyun never spoke of death, but seeing Captain Yu standing by and taking notes with a pen and paper, she became more cautious in her choice of words.

As for Pinellia ternata, Dabai subconsciously wanted to dig the soil when he stood in front of it.

Jiang Muyun directly picked up Dabai.

She didn't want to bring Dabai back with him covered in dirt.

The weather is too humid now. If I give Dabai a bath now, it will probably take three days for it to dry completely.

For Dabai, who hates water, this is simply a death sentence for him.

"Pinellia is poisonous, very poisonous. Dabai is very repulsive to it. It is a deadly toxin." Jiang Muyun rubbed Dabai's head skillfully, and soon calmed down Dabai who was trying to defend his territory.

Professor Chen looked at Dabai's lively appearance and felt that no one was interested, so he reached out and scratched Dabai's chin.

Dabai raised his head, curled up comfortably in Jiang Muyun's arms and began to enjoy himself.

"This kitten is well taken care of, my dears. You can tell it has never suffered any hardship. You love it." Professor Chen was not surprised by Dabai's sensitivity to poison. Instead, he smiled and praised Jiang Muyun and Chu Buwen.

Chu Buwen also reached out and patted Dabai: "It's just such a small ball, and it doesn't grow much. It eats whatever you feed it, and you can put it in your pocket every day. It's very easy to feed."

Professor Chen couldn't take his eyes off Dabai's innocent appearance: "The world is different now. They know how to survive better than humans."

"Indeed, animals and plants respond much faster than humans." Jiang Muyun said with a smile.

Jiang Muyun then reminded Captain Yu, "Those mushrooms we brought back today are also edible, and we've all eaten them before, but some have side effects. Remember to limit the amount you consume."

Captain Yu spread his hands and said, "Don't worry, no one in the base dares to touch mushrooms now."

Professor Chen stood up and motioned Jiang Muyun and the other man to follow her.

Jiang Muyun was a little curious, so he turned to look at Captain Yu.

Captain Yu smiled when he saw the direction Professor Chen was heading. He waved his hand and said, "You guys go ahead. I'll get some people to clean up this place and come find you later."

Jiang Muyun became even more curious.

The place they were in now was similar to a courtyard house, and several rooms showed obvious signs of renovation.

Professor Chen took the two of them to an empty room on the west side, with only a few spray bottles in the corner.

Jiang Muyun simply asked directly: "Professor, what is this place for?"

Professor Chen said proudly, "This is the room prepared for my daughter."

After listening to Professor Chen's introduction, Jiang Muyun and Chu Buwen both felt admiration in their hearts.

They finally understood what it meant to have a family tradition of learning.

The room Professor Chen took them to was prepared by the base for her little granddaughter.

Prepared area for growing mushrooms.

According to Professor Chen, her granddaughter has been close to her grandmother since she was young and she likes to grow small things at home the most.

One time, her parents bought her a mushroom bag and asked her to grow it for fun. She immediately became interested in this crop that does not like the sun, does not require loosening the soil or fertilizing, and only needs regular watering to grow.

Then all the flowers, plants and vegetables fell out of favor with the little girl, who began to concentrate on studying mushroom cultivation.

Professor Chen's heart and eyes are filled with pride when he talks about his little granddaughter: "She finds books and reads them by herself. She knows what mushrooms are on her own and doesn't want us to teach her directly."

"When I went back, she could already collect spores and grow mushrooms by herself. She was only in the first grade then! It's a pity that my life became uneasy before I could eat the mushrooms grown by my daughter." Professor Chen said this, but there was only some regret on his face, and more of it was anticipation for the future.

"If Nannan hadn't gone up the mountain to look at mushrooms today, she would have been happier if she had told you all these things herself."

Professor Chen said that they went up the mountain to see mushrooms, not for the children's spring outing, but her granddaughter wanted to go to the mushroom growth area to observe and see how the mutated mushrooms were different from those before the apocalypse.

At that time, Jiang Muyun covered his heart and said, "You can eat it. You can definitely eat the mushrooms grown by your daughter. Your daughter is as talented as you in this area."

Jiang Muyun thought he was already competitive enough in his studies, but he didn't expect there was a natural born academic master here.

Jiang Muyun, who has been a child of other people's families since childhood, felt for the first time the impact of a poor student facing a genius student.

When the two returned to their own hill with thunder god vine in their hearts, all they saw to greet them was a pile of mushrooms on the ground.

It seems that my companions are still picking mushrooms in the woods.

Jiang Muyun casually put the bag of rootless thunder god vine aside, picked up a large oyster mushroom and said to Chu Buwen, "You said that when we went back to Nanshi before, the base location we found out about shouldn't be here at the resort."

Jiang Muyun, who relied entirely on experience to grow mushrooms, recalled what Professor Chen had said to them and observed the gills of the oyster mushroom with melancholy.

It has already unfolded and the spores can be directly extracted.

Chu Buwen affirmed: "No, the previous base was in the western suburbs of Nanshi. I thought I was quite lucky at the time."

West City is just to the west of South City. In their previous lives, they walked from West City to South City and could find the base without entering the city.

Jiang Muyun pondered and said, "Then who do you think Professor Chen and the others are?"

Was it because they were ambushed and fell on the way, or did they return to the western suburbs to establish a base?

Chu Buwen couldn't say for sure, but he felt the former was more likely.

Captain Yu must be crazy to take the old man and the child back to the western suburbs mountains to grab territory.

"Forget it, let's not think about it for now." Jiang Muyun changed the subject: "It's good to have Professor Chen's help. We can grow mushrooms in one go, and if there are any problems, we can discuss it with external help."

Actually, growing mushrooms is not difficult, it’s just that too few people know how to do it.

It is common for people to grow flowers and vegetables at home when they have nothing to do. There are also people who buy mushroom bags and water them, but there are not many people who collect spores and grow mycelium by themselves.

This led to the fact that for a long period of time after the end of the world, many people who grew mushrooms simply dug up the soil where mushrooms grew on the mountain and tried their luck.

If they can grow, keep them. After picking one wave, leave a few plants there and see if they can continue to grow in the next wave.

Occasionally, someone who knows how to grow mycelium appears, and the nearby base will immediately snatch that person away, and then do their utmost to prevent the outflow of the mushroom cultivation method.

These lucky people who had found a base of rare talents relied on their monopoly on the food market to rapidly expand themselves during the third year of the apocalypse when a large amount of food expired. They also took advantage of information asymmetry to collect a large amount of disinfectants and culture materials needed for artificial mushroom cultivation.

By the time mushroom cultivation methods became popular, few ordinary survivors had the conditions to be self-sufficient by growing mushrooms.

And perhaps because of the inconvenience in the flow of information, in Jiang Muyun's memory, the method of growing mushrooms did not spread among ordinary survivors until around the fifth year after the apocalypse.

At that time, all major bases had already established a firm foothold, and simple trade exchanges had appeared between different places. Although the industry was still a mess, at least agriculture had shown some improvement and was no longer in a state of relying on fate and living off the resources.

But now, Professor Chen directly tells them how to grow various common edible fungi.

Captain Yu obviously knew what Professor Chen was going to do, but he had no intention of stopping him.

Judging from the series of actions taken by the survival base during this period, Captain Yu is obviously a very smart leader. He cannot be unaware of what this kind of food that is large in quantity, easy to grow and easy to preserve means to the world today.

But he still did not stop Professor Chen from leaking the planting method.

Rather than saying that Captain Yu trusted them to keep the secret, Jiang Muyun believed that Captain Yu had no intention of taking advantage of the monopoly to make a profit.

In Jiang Muyun's opinion, Captain Yu was a good man, but not a completely good man. She certainly didn't believe that Captain Yu did this to save all living beings.

Is it because of those potatoes and vegetables that he saw greater benefits?

Or is there some kind of information gap between them and Captain Yu, which causes her to be unable to understand the logic behind the other party's behavior?

This matter cannot be figured out by just imagining it, Jiang Muyun can only let it go for now and think about looking at it again when he has the chance.

They had no means of contact at the moment, and going into the woods to look for someone would easily lead them astray, so Jiang Muyun decided to go with Chu Buwen to plant the thunder god vine first.

If you were to ask what type of plants are most suitable for artificial cultivation in the apocalypse, it would definitely be shade-loving crops.

Even if the sun is shining brightly outside and there is drought for three years, shade-loving plants can be moved indoors and grown without any impact on the light. However, sun-loving crops will be difficult to grow when there is no sun.

The potato balls that Jiang Muyun and his team harvested this time, which did not grow even though they were exposed to the sun every day, are a typical negative example.

Mushrooms that thrive in the apocalypse and become a staple food, and thunder god vine, a popular and commonly used medicine, are positive examples.

Jiang Muyun and Chu Buwen brought back a total of five thunder god vines with roots, which they temporarily placed together with the vegetables.

Thunder god vine likes shade and coolness, so when the ice cellar is opened in summer, they move it to the cave where the ice cellar is located.

After planting a few thunder vines, Jiang Muyun and Chu Buwen were about to go back to see if they had finished picking mushrooms. They happened to meet at the entrance of the big cave.

"You came back quite late. What did they say over there? Can the medicine be used?" Qin Shiwen poured out the mushrooms from the net bag, breathing slightly while speaking.

Jiang Muyun: "Pinellia is extremely poisonous. Dabai gets angry when he gets close to it, so it can't be used. Tripterygium wilfordii is not very toxic, but its medicinal properties are still uncertain. I just planted it."

Everyone else was a little disappointed, but Qin Shiwu thought it was okay. "Since we've brought back the pinellia, we need to find a prescription. We can't use it now anyway. Tripterygium wilfordii is also good. It kills insects, reduces inflammation, and relieves rheumatism, all of which we urgently need."

As he spoke, he took off the special gloves on his hands, twisted them hard and actually squeezed out a few drops of water.

Looking again, the other people's actions were similar.

Jiang Muyun picked up the bag that had just been placed beside him: "We brought some extra back. We'll use it to soak in insecticide later."

Zhao Jiahao's back was soaked. He fanned himself and complained, "It's so damp in the woods I can barely breathe. It's so wet and stuffy, and I don't even dare to take off my gear."

Qin Shiwen also smiled bitterly. "And then there are those little bugs, huddled in clusters in the corners. When I squatted down to pick mushrooms, a whole bunch of them suddenly appeared. If I hadn't been so strong-willed and kept my mask on, I'd probably have been fed to them. It wasn't this scary yesterday, but it became like this overnight."

"You haven't felt it yet today. The woods are like the hottest version of the returning south winds, exponentially increased in temperature." Wang Qingqing's face flushed abnormally. "Please don't let this rain fall again. I'd rather not eat mushrooms than let it fall again. If it were this humid in the summer, I'd be unbearable to live."

The temperature is not that high now, so they have to cover themselves with blankets when they sleep at night. This temperature makes them so stuffy, if it were summer, they would be like a steamer.

I can’t even imagine it.

Jiang Muyun raised the oyster mushrooms in his hand and said happily, "In that case, we won't go into the woods to pick mushrooms anymore. We won't be short of mushrooms anyway."

Wang Qingqing blinked: "What do you mean?"

Jiang Muyun turned the gills upwards and showed them to her: "What I mean is, this time when we went to our neighbor's house, our neighbor's technology helped us get out of poverty - we can grow our own mushrooms in the future."

"Wuhu!" Wang Qingqing, who was tortured by the environment in the woods and reluctant to give up the food, rushed over directly, half hanging on Jiang Muyun, and kissed her on the jaw.

Jiang Muyun gasped in shock at the sudden attack and quickly pushed Wang Qingqing away: "What are you doing?! Have you mastered your skills? If not, don't touch me with your mouth. I'm afraid of getting infected!"

Wang Qingqing angrily threw the mushroom at Jiang Muyun: "Do you know what a unique skill is? How could it be so easy to pass it on to you? What good things are you thinking? You're dreaming!"

Jiang Muyun grabbed the innocent mushroom and kept muttering that he wanted to go to Wang Qingqing's house to pay his respects to the little clay figurine. Wang Qingqing was so angry that she claimed that she would hang a banner on the door when she returned and would not allow the air Jiang Muyun exhaled to enter her house.

Jiang Muyun shook the mushrooms in his hand: "What about the mushrooms grown under Jiang Muyun's guidance?"

Wang Qingqing pondered for a moment: "The mushroom is innocent, it shouldn't be implicated by you."