Qiao Lao Er thought about it and realized that this made sense. The old lady had lived for over fifty years and had accumulated a lot of life experience.
Everyone put down their tools and sat down at the table. Each person had a bowl of brown rice, and there was also half a bowl in the pot for each person. Since they didn't have any extra money, they could only fill their stomachs with brown rice for the time being.
Grandma Qiao first noticed the two different dishes on the table.
"What's this?"
“Mother, this is a wild vegetable I’ve never eaten before. Zizi and Lian’er met some people from another village when they went up the mountain. They said it’s edible and tastes pretty good,” Madam Lü replied.
"Come on, everyone, try it and see what it tastes like." Qiao Laosan picked up a piece of puffball mushroom and put it in his mouth.
After chewing for a bit, his eyes lit up and he nodded: "Crispy, smooth, and a little bitter, it's delicious."
"Really?" Dayong also picked up a piece and ate it as if he had discovered a new continent.
"Mmm, it's delicious."
Everyone else picked up their chopsticks and ate with great relish.
There's also something that looks like a broom, it's crisp, tender, smooth, and fresh, with a rather unique aroma.
Grandma Qiao was still not quite convinced, so she went inside and got a silver needle. After testing it and finding no problems, she allowed everyone to eat freely.
"I think I've seen this kind of wild vegetable before," said Grandma Qiao.
Song Lian'er: "Yes, it's a long-growing season. There are still many on the mountain now, and you can eat as many as you want."
There were fewer puffballs, but many brooms.
Grandma Qiao muttered, "It's so delicious, how come no one noticed? It's been wasted growing for so many years."
Song Lian'er chuckled inwardly, because many people regarded these things as poisonous fungi, even though they were a type of fungus.
Two large plates of puffball mushrooms and broom mushrooms were piled high on the plates, and everyone ate to their heart's content with their rice.
Even at the end, there was still a little bit of purslane left.
The only downside was that there wasn't enough oil. I can't imagine how delicious it would be if there were more oil.
But oil is expensive; a pound of lard costs thirty coins. Half a month ago, we hunted a roe deer and exchanged it for three taels of silver. We used two taels of silver to buy five bags of coarse rice, and with one tael left, we bought ten pounds of lard. Then we needed to buy salt and soy sauce. In the end, we had five hundred coins left, which we bought some coarse cloth to make clothes. With so many people in the family, some people's clothes would eventually wear out and need to be replaced.
If the fields don't flood, after paying taxes, the grain can last until the following year's harvest. There's no need to spend so much money buying grain, so the family can occasionally eat good meat, wear nice clothes, or save some money to build a house in the future.
Alas, it's difficult, so difficult, the biggest problem is still the floods.
Before going to work in the fields, Grandma Qiao saw that there were still a few pounds of the wild vegetables she had eaten for lunch in her basket. She wanted to tell Mrs. Lü to use less oil, but after looking at her lame daughter and her skinny granddaughter, she swallowed her words.
He then turned his accusations to the only hen: "You're useless! You haven't laid an egg in five or six days. Am I raising you just to eat and drink for free? If you don't lay an egg soon, I'll slaughter you and drink the soup."
The hen looked dejected, her head bowed in distress.
Everyone went to work in the fields. Qiao Xiaomeng and his mother, Ms. Lü, went to the mountain to gather firewood. Qiao Xi'er locked herself in her room and focused on making handkerchiefs. She could earn three hundred coins for the family every month.
Qiao Yunni was still not in good spirits. Seeing that there was nothing to do in the yard, she went to bed and slept soundly, but her brows were furrowed, as if she was having a nightmare.
The sun came out in the afternoon, and cicadas were chirping loudly in the poplar trees outside the yard.
Song Lian'er brought out the basin from under the bed. The chicken mushrooms were in full bloom, each one as big as an open palm, plump and tender.
Song Lian'er thought to herself, "Soon, this family will have a lot of oil and salt to eat."
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