Over the years, the couple had only had this one son, and he died in vain.
They all tried to comfort the Qi family, but they also knew that no amount of comfort could ease their grief.
Everyone dispersed, letting the Qi family have some time to calm down.
The Qiao family members also silently returned to the courtyard.
"You all saw that, right? Nobody is allowed to touch those mushrooms on the mountain. Even if they don't die in a day, they'll die in a few days."
Old Man Qiao spoke to the Qiao family with a stern expression.
"If anyone dares to pick a single mushroom from the mountain, I'll break their legs."
Song Lian'er thought to herself, "It seems there are a lot of mushrooms on the mountain. The main problem is that people in ancient times didn't know how to distinguish them and ate them indiscriminately, which caused problems and implicated the innocent mushrooms as well."
Just think about the dishes the Qiao family ate at their dinner table; if mushrooms were served, I wonder how delicious they would be.
However, she hasn't voiced her thoughts yet. These things require action to prove them first; if she speaks up beforehand, she'll only face obstacles.
After everyone finished eating the remaining food, Song Lian'er insisted on staying in the kitchen to help Madam Lü wash the dishes, while keeping an eye on the situation inside.
On the long cabinet where the cutting board was placed, there was a bunch of wild vegetables, two bitter melons, and three eggplants, but no meat at all.
She opened the oil container again; the oil was almost gone. The salt container was in the same situation, with only half a bottle of soy sauce left.
Song Lian'er sighed inwardly.
What can relieve sorrow? Only mushrooms.
The next day, Song Lian'er said she was going to the mountain to find wild vegetables.
"Lian'er, I'll go with you." Qiao Zhizhi from the second branch of the family picked up the basket on her back and quickly packed up the sickle.
The three Qiao sisters, the eldest cousin had some skills. She liked to embroider handkerchiefs and make shoes at home and sell them in town. She also liked to go for walks in the mountains.
But she didn't have much company when she went up the mountain alone. She used to often ask the neighbor's girl to come with her, but now she had her cousin Lian'er with her.
Song Lian'er thought about it and agreed, "It's good to have someone to chat with to relieve boredom."
Qiao Zhizhi has slightly dark skin, a round face, and big, bright eyes; she is very cute.
She had loved playing with Song Lian'er since she was little, but whenever she went to Song's house to see Song Lian'er, Old Mrs. Song was always unfriendly, so she gradually stopped going there.
Now that's good, Sister Lian'er is a member of the Qiao family.
Thinking of this made Qiao Zhizhi very happy, and she couldn't help but take Song Lian'er's arm.
They can be together more often from now on.
Datian Village is surrounded by mountains with gentle slopes, making it easy to climb without much effort. The two of them quickly reached the top of the mountain.
Based on the original owner's memories, Song Lian'er knew that there were many kinds of mushrooms in the southern region, and they grew lush and abundant. However, when she arrived at the hillside, she was still amazed by the scene before her.
Here's a porcini mushroom, there's a milk-cap mushroom, over here a green-headed mushroom, then look up and you see chanterelles, then look down and you see puffballs—most kinds of edible mushrooms are there.
However, this also contains a large number of poisonous bacteria mixed in with these edible fungi.
No wonder the villagers dared not eat it.
Qiao Zhizhi muttered, "I wish it were edible."
As she spoke, she used the stick in her hand to knock down the mushrooms.
"It's inedible, yet it's grown so much, and it even poisoned little Liang's brother."
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