Chapter 24 Exchanging Corn Seeds

"Sure," Lin Chuntao replied, glancing at Lin Chunxing diagonally across from her. "Chunxing, are you going mushroom picking tomorrow morning?"

Lin Chunxing shook her head, "I won't go tomorrow morning. Chunhe and the others will go cut pig feed, and I'll go up the mountain to get some dry leaves for the piglets to sleep on."

"Remember to lock the door when you go out tomorrow," Lin Chuntao reminded them.

Lin Chunhe nodded, "We'll cut pig feed right here, we won't go far."

With the matter settled, and knowing she needed to get up early the next day, Lin Chuntao boiled some water to wash up and went to bed early.

She woke up the next day before the system announced anything; it was still dark, and she didn't know what time it was.

She got up, pushed open the door, and went outside. The moon was still high in the sky, and the whole village was still bathed in its gentle moonlight. Just as she was wondering whether she should go back inside to continue sleeping, the sound of roosters crowing came from the village.

Pei Ying also pushed open the door and came out.

Lin Chuntao turned around and looked over. "Did I wake you up?"

"No, I've been awake for a while." Pei Ying said, then asked her, "Shall we leave now?"

"Mm." She responded and went to get a basket and a small bamboo basket, as well as two bamboo poles, so that she wouldn't have to find branches when she went into the mountains.

I had just finished packing when I heard the familiar system announcement.

"Ding dong, ding dong, milk mold has sprouted ten miles away. Please go there immediately, host."

After the broadcast ended, a bright arrow flashed in front of Lin Chuntao's eyes.

Lin Chuntao smiled; the broadcast had come just in time. She looked at Pei Ying and called out, "Let's go."

The two left the courtyard and headed towards the village entrance.

At this moment, at the village entrance, Chen and her two daughters, carrying small baskets on their backs, kept looking in the direction of Lin Chuntao and the others.

The moonlight was bright, and she and Pei Ying saw figures before they even reached the village entrance.

Pei Ying frowned slightly, then took out the butcher knife and held it in her hand. Lin Chuntao saw the figure of a child and said softly, "It should be Chen Shi and her two daughters."

"Is this the one who asked you to take her child mushroom picking?"

"Yes, it should be her."

Pei Ying sighed softly, but did not put the knife away.

As Chen watched Lin Chuntao and Pei Ying approach, a forced smile spread across her face.

Is it Chuntao?

Lin Chuntao replied calmly, "It's me."

Mrs. Chen laughed and said, "Oh my, I knew we'd be waiting for you here. We're going to pick mushrooms too, and we'll go with you."

"sure."

Her voice was calm and she did not seem unhappy. Seeing her attitude, Madam Chen was delighted and quickly took her daughter to follow Lin Chuntao and Pei Ying.

Although the distance reported by the system today was similar to that before, it was not on the same mountain. Chen watched as Lin Chuntao walked past the mountainside but did not enter the mountain for a long time. She asked with some confusion, "Chuntao, why don't you go into the mountain?"

"Fourth Aunt, I want to go to the hill a little further ahead."

"Do you know about mushroom nests?" Chen asked.

Lin Chuntao frowned slightly and smiled, "I don't know, Auntie. I'm going to the county town soon, so I thought it would be faster to get there."

Chen was puzzled, feeling that Lin Chuntao wasn't telling the truth. But they didn't speak the whole way, and Lin Chuntao and Pei Ying were also silent. Chen felt a little awkward and could only try to make conversation herself.

"Chuntao, how are the prices for the mushrooms you've been selling these past few days?"

"It depends on the type of mushroom. They cost nine, ten, or even more than ten coins per pound." Lin Chuntao didn't try to brush her off; she told the truth. But as soon as she finished speaking, Chen pressed on, "How many do you collect each day? Do you collect ten pounds?"

What's the difference between this and asking them how much money they earn in a day?

"That's hard to say."

As she spoke, Lin Chuntao quickened her pace. Chen Shi had to take care of her two daughters and didn't have time to nag anymore. Before long, they reached the edge of the mountain, and Lin Chuntao went straight into the woods.

Chen also brought her daughter in. Although this forest was not a deep mountain forest, there were still many pine trees and shrubs that grew quite tall. The moon could not penetrate the branches and leaves at night, so the visibility in the forest was somewhat dim.

Seeing Lin Chuntao and Pei Ying groping their way through the woods in the dark, Chen frowned and asked, "Chuntao, didn't you bring any torches?"

"No, we were afraid of encountering bad people at night, so we searched in the dark," Lin Chuntao said.

Chen was somewhat skeptical; how could anyone see mushrooms in such darkness?

But she was determined to follow Lin Chuntao closely, so she held her daughter's hand tightly and continued to follow.

Lin Chuntao looked at the Chen family mother and her two children who were following behind her and felt somewhat helpless. Were they going to keep following her forever?

As they approached their destination, Lin Chuntao began to crouch down and search for mushrooms. Pei Ying used a bamboo pole to push aside some of the low branches, letting the moonlight shine down.

Lin Chuntao searched for a long time and found Chen standing behind her with her daughter. Lin Chuntao straightened up and turned to look at her: "Fourth Aunt, aren't you looking for mushrooms?"

Chen twitched the corner of her mouth. "Can't you see that either?"

"Didn't you bring your sisters with you? If all else fails, you can do what Pei Ying did and part the branches so your sisters can search for them."

Hearing Lin Chuntao say this, Chen was a little unhappy, but she still picked up a stick and did the same as Pei Ying.

But this person didn't look around; he just followed closely behind her.

Lin Chuntao didn't care anymore and just followed the arrow forward.

Upon reaching her destination, she took the basket off her back and handed it to Pei Ying to carry. Then, she broke off a small branch from the side and began to strip the leaves from the tree.

Parting the leaves, you can see seven or eight light orange-brown milk cap mushroom buds huddled together. These milk cap mushrooms have thick flesh, a crisp texture, and a velvety surface. When broken, they release a white sap. They are delicious stir-fried or used in hot pot.

Lin Chuntao quickly picked the mushrooms and put them into her basket.

She had just finished putting it down when Chen, with her sharp eyes, spotted it.

"Oh my, Chun Tao, what kind of mushroom did you find?"

Lin Chuntao said calmly, "It looks like milk thistle, but I can't see it clearly. I'll take a look when it gets light."

Mrs. Chen said, "You have such sharp eyes, you managed to find this."

Lin Chuntao listened without replying. She continued to follow the arrow and search the surroundings, with Pei Ying close by her side, occasionally shielding her from Chen Shi's watchful gaze.

Chen couldn't find a single flower, and after watching Lin Chuntao search several places, he finally couldn't hold back any longer and went straight to her side.

Seeing Lin Chuntao uncover a small mushroom nest, Chen's eyes lit up. She immediately squatted down and said, "Chuntao, you have such good eyesight. There are so many mushrooms in this nest. Let me pick a few." As she spoke, she reached out to pick them.

Lin Chuntao immediately raised her hand to stop her, "Fourth Aunt, is this appropriate?"

After being stopped, Chen's face turned ashen, and her lips trembled as she said, "Chun Tao, is this really necessary? Can you pick all the mushrooms on the mountain by yourself?"

Lin Chuntao frowned and looked coldly at Chen.

“I can’t pick all the mushrooms on the mountain by myself, so I didn’t stop you from looking for them on the side.”

“I dug these out myself, so it’s not your turn to pick them, Fourth Aunt.”

Her tone was firm. Chen looked at the cluster of plump mushrooms under the moonlight. She wouldn't even let Lin Chuntao pick two of them. She really wanted to just go up and stomp on them, but when she looked up, she saw Pei Ying peeling branches with a bamboo pole. Chen gritted her teeth, got up, and pulled her two daughters to the side.

Although they went to the side, it was dark in the mountains, so Chen didn't go too far away from Lin Chuntao and the others.

After circling half the mountain, it gradually got light.

Seeing that Lin Chuntao's basket was full of mushrooms while her two daughters' small baskets were empty, Chen felt a pang of jealousy.

Lin Chuntao says she doesn't know anything about mushroom nests, what a load of rubs!

I didn't know that mushroom nest could find so many in the dark of night?

The more Chen thought about it, the angrier she became.

After searching for milkweed, Lin Chuntao continued wandering around and found a cluster of coral fungus under a clump of camellia trees. She filled half a bamboo basket and hurriedly called the system to sign in.

After checking in, Lin Chuntao couldn't wait to see what seeds she could exchange for.

The system announced: "Host has completed seven check-ins, with a balance of 728 points. Host may choose to open a new server."

Lin Chuntao quickly brought up the control panel and selected to unlock the seed area.

She stared intently as the seed area changed from gray to color. Once inside, she could see all sorts of crop seeds: grains, vegetables, fruit trees, and even fodder and green manure. She was quite astonished.

She needs points to exchange for seeds, and her top priority is definitely grain and vegetable seeds.

I quickly looked at the grain seeds. There were multiple varieties, and each variety was described in detail, including which temperature it was suitable for, when to plant it, its growth cycle, and whether it was drought-resistant or heat-resistant.

Lin Chuntao looked at the seeds for a while and selected corn seed number 009. It costs 10 points to exchange for one jin (500 grams). One mu (667 square meters) of land would require about three jin of seeds. Planting all the corn would require 30 to 40 jin of seeds, and she currently had enough points to exchange for them.

The thought of planting corn in those fields made Lin Chuntao excited, and the corners of her mouth never left her lips.

On the way to the county town, Lin Chuntao was in a good mood. Pei Ying was puzzled to see her smiling for so long, especially since the woman had angered her that morning. He was so curious that he asked her about it.

Is there something good to do?

Lin Chuntao snapped out of her daze upon hearing this; she was so happy that she had forgotten Pei Ying was beside her.

"Let's clear those land and plant corn."

Pei Ying raised an eyebrow slightly. Was this something she was happy about? But he didn't press further, only saying, "Isn't it a bit late to plant them now? Will the corn still grow ears?"

Lin Chuntao said confidently, "We definitely can, let's give it a try."

Pei Ying was somewhat skeptical, but based on her observations over the past few days, Lin Chuntao was very clear about her purpose in everything she did. If she said it could be planted, then it should be possible, right?

When they arrived in the county town, the market was bustling. Pei Ying went to find a butcher shop to look for work, while Lin Chuntao went to sell mushrooms.

My fourth uncle didn't come today. Besides her, there were only two other women selling mushrooms at the market, and there weren't enough to go around. They were all snapped up in no time.

After selling the mushrooms, the woman next to Lin Chuntao greeted her.

"Young lady, are you only bringing one kind to sell? Bring others too, you can sell mixed mushrooms as well."

Hearing the stranger's kind offer, Lin Chuntao smiled and nodded.

"Oh, thank you, Auntie."

The woman waved her hand, "Don't mention it." With that, she picked up her basket, slung it over her shoulder, and waved goodbye, "Going now."

After the woman left, Lin Chuntao was left alone. While packing her things, she quickly brought up the control panel, selected to exchange for 38 jin of corn seeds, and just as the panel showed that the exchange was successful, she watched in disbelief as half a sack of corn seeds appeared in her basket.

The corn seeds didn't take up much space, and the basket wasn't full yet. Lin Chuntao pursed her lips, suppressing a smile, quickly put the small bamboo basket on top to cover it, and then carried the basket to find Pei Ying.