Liangbo Brigade is located in a mountain valley at the junction of three provinces. There are very few large, flat plots of land here. If people were to rely on growing food to make a living, it is estimated that more than half of them would starve to death.

What do we do when there's no food to eat?

We can only rely on the mountains for sustenance and the rivers for livelihood!

Although the forests belonged to the collective, the brigade leader usually turned a blind eye when the members picked mushrooms, dug bamboo shoots, or caught wild animals.

These things can't be sold for money here. Every brigade has them. Who do you want to sell them to?

So, they picked the crops to eat themselves, and the villagers remained poor.

Grandpa Luo Hongkai took out leg wraps and tied them around Li Xiangdong's calves. This would slow down blood flow, relieve fatigue from climbing, and also prevent insects.

He then took out a packet of yellow powder, and the three of them applied it to their trouser legs; this was supposed to repel snakes.

I also applied a traditional mosquito and insect repellent all over my body to avoid becoming a blood bag from the big mosquitoes in the mountains.

The last person carried a large bamboo basket on his back, while Luo Hongkai and Luo Yonggang each carried a long-handled sickle and a small shovel.

Li Xiangdong took a polished rowan tree trunk as a walking stick, which also served as a weapon to scare away the enemy.

"Let's go to the back mountain. All the mushrooms in the nearby mountains have been harvested," Luo Yonggang suggested. His third sister had brought so much sugar and salt, and they didn't have much to give her in return. He hoped to get some more mushrooms to take back to her.

I heard that Huichuan County doesn't produce mushrooms, but there are bamboo shoots everywhere here, and they're very expensive in Huichuan County!

Bamboo fungus is another name for bamboo fungus. It has a special fragrance and is often used to make soup. It is crisp and sweet.

Luo Hongkai pondered for a moment. The back mountain was steep and full of wild animals, so the team members usually didn't go there for safety reasons.

"The back mountain is too dangerous. I grew up on the plains to the east, so I definitely couldn't climb it! Let's go to Wild Chicken Pass instead. It's far from the village, fewer people go there, but it's safer."

Luo Yonggang thought about it and realized that his father's words made sense, so the three of them packed their lunch and set off for Yeji'ao.

Li Xiangdong thought, "Wild Pheasant Valley, as the name suggests, must be full of wild pheasants. Today I can catch a few wild pheasants to make soup. The wild pheasant soup from a few days ago was so delicious it made my eyebrows fall off. It also had cordyceps flowers in it!"

After walking for more than two hours, the three of them finally arrived at a flat area between two mountains. Looking around, they saw verdant peaks, ancient trees reaching for the sky, bamboo forests towering into the clouds, and the faint howls of wild animals.

Li Xiangdong wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked back at the road he had come from. He could see that his grandmother's three wooden houses had become a small black dot.

"Hey, how's it going, Xiangdong? Do you need to rest for a bit?"

Luo Yonggang asked with concern, "He's a little tired from walking such a long mountain road all at once, but Li Xiangdong doesn't seem tired at all, except for a little sweat."

"No need, let's start looking. Uncle, tell me which ones are edible and which ones are poisonous."

Looking at the colorful mushrooms at his feet and in front of him, Li Xiangdong was so excited his heart was about to jump out of his chest, and his hands were itching to get started.

"Haha, what's the rush? Let your grandpa teach you. My skills are like showing off your axe in front of Guan Yu."

Luo Hongkai is exactly seventy years old this year. Although he has been walking in the mountains for many years, he is old and weak. He took a few breaths and rested for a while before he recovered.

Upon hearing that his son had entrusted him with the important task of teaching his eldest grandson to identify mushrooms, he was immediately delighted. "Come on, face east, follow Grandpa."

Luo Hongkai bent down and parted a layer of dry weeds and pine needles to reveal a plump, orange-yellow mushroom. The cap was not fully open. Luo Hongkai gently patted the mushroom cap with his finger. "This is a milk cap mushroom. It can be eaten raw. In the past, when we were hungry in the mountains and had nothing to eat, we would eat milk cap mushrooms."

As he spoke, he placed his thumb and ring finger at the base of the milk-cap mushroom, gently pried it open, and the little mushroom was pulled out. It turned out that there were two smaller ones hidden next to it, their caps not open at all, like little flower buds.

Luo Hongkai handed the mushrooms to Li Xiangdong, then covered them back up with the weeds and leaves he had just cleared away. "This way they can keep growing."

Li Xiangdong held the mushroom with great affection, looking at it from left to right. Suddenly, he accidentally broke off the cap, and a layer of milky liquid quickly gushed out from the cut surface.

Luo Yonggang said with a smile, "Now you know why it's called milk vetch!"

Li Xiangdong suddenly realized that the reason why the milk-bacterium is called that is because no matter which part of its body is damaged or broken, it will ooze a milky white liquid that looks like milk.

Milk bacteria, a milky liquid that oozes out when touched.

It rained yesterday, and now the temperature is high, so milk bacteria are sprouting in large quantities and rapidly. You can see several milk bacteria of different sizes every two steps.

Li Xiangdong was having a great time picking them. He reached out and touched the umbrella canopy, finding it soft yet sturdy. He patted it, and it felt solid and comfortable to the touch.

Especially when you reach out and pull the mushroom out of the soil with a "pop," you feel a great sense of satisfaction.

What kind of bacteria is this?

Li Xiangdong pointed to a bright red, branched, coral-like thing and asked, "What is this?"

Coral fungus, also known as broom fungus

Luo Yong had just picked four or five large Boletus luridus mushrooms when Li Xiangdong asked him a question. He went over to take a look and said, "These are broom mushrooms. The red ones are edible. Go pick them!"

That's a pretty fitting name!

Li Xiangdong was amused, picked the broom mushrooms, and put them in a bamboo basket.

He peered into Luo Yonggang's bamboo basket, which contained several plump, large, pink mushrooms. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the outer part of the cap and the lower part of the stem were pink, while the inside and top of the cap were a yellowish color. The entire mushroom had a thin layer of pink, making it exceptionally delicate and beautiful.

This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!