Termitomyces are rare, but no one had ever picked them before. The entire Qiao family was out there, so by evening they had searched almost the entire hillside and found enough for one basket and one hamper.
I picked it up and weighed it; it must have weighed at least thirty pounds.
Qiao Lian'er calculated that three catties of raw matsutake mushrooms could yield one catty of matsutake oil, and thirty catties of matsutake oil could yield ten catties.
The Han family in town gave her an extra ounce the first time, so next time they'll settle the bill at the original price. Besides, she used so much of their oil for free, so they should give her an extra discount.
Seven or eight taels can be sold.
If she takes advantage of the fact that this stuff is delicious and no one else has discovered it yet, and starts charging exorbitant prices, then this business won't last long. People can just take the dried mushrooms to a clinic for analysis and find out what they are from the mountain, and then have their servants go find them.
To avoid attracting the attention of the villagers, the Qiao family distributed the termite mushrooms into other baskets.
Besides termite mushrooms, I also found a lot of broom mushrooms and puffball mushrooms that had been verified to be safe, and filled most of the basket with them.
“There are so many on this mountain, but we haven’t searched the other peaks yet,” said Old Lady Qiao.
Qiao Laosan chimed in, "Yes, Mother, that's why we must keep this secret. Every household has brick and tile houses, but ours is just a mud-walled, thatched house. If we collect all the matsutake mushrooms from these hilltops and sell them, maybe we can build a spacious brick and tile house."
The Qiao family members were very excited when they heard this.
If these termite mushrooms could save my family, that would be wonderful.
Grandma Qiao nodded: "Everyone, keep your mouths shut. It's not that our Qiao family is stingy, but every household has enough to eat and houses have been built. The Qiao family is the poorest in the village, and the Qiao family suffers the most from floods in the paddy fields every year. We rely on hunting in the mountains. How many times have we encountered tigers and brown bears and almost lost our lives? How many times have we wandered around in the mountains, exhausted and without any harvest? When we have such an opportunity, we seize it."
Thinking of these situations, Grandma Qiao's nose started to sting.
It's too tough, too tiring.
Even if constantly coming up the mountain to find mushrooms is too conspicuous, and one day it will be impossible to hide, before that happens, we must try to earn as much money as possible.
"Grandma, don't worry, only a fool would tell anyone. This kind of good fortune falling into our family's lap is a blessing from God," Dacheng said.
"This blessing is not a gift from heaven, but a blessing for our Qiao family."
Grandma Qiao patted Qiao Lian'er's head and smiled with satisfaction.
“Yes, it’s all thanks to Sister Lian’er.” Qiao Zhizhi said, touching the pigtails on Qiao Lian’er’s head.
Qiao Lian'er's pigtails were tied into a bud, and then a section of braid extended out, splitting to both sides, which was extremely cute.
Qiao Xier: "Sister Lian'er is the family's little hero."
As he spoke, he touched the ram's horn braid.
The Qiao family members all praised her, men and women, young and old, while stroking Qiao Lian'er's braid.
Before long, Qiao Lian'er's pigtails were bent and loosened by being touched, and she looked distressed. She had worked hard to fix them when she got up that morning.
Seeing this, everyone couldn't help but laugh.
Don't let her young age fool you, Lian'er is quite vain.
"Don't be angry, Lian'er. I'll make you an even prettier one tomorrow morning," Qiao Xi'er said, pulling Qiao Lian'er along.
After descending the mountain, the villagers saw the Qiao family carrying baskets on their backs, which were covered with leaves and tattered cloths, and they couldn't help but ask them questions out of curiosity.
"What did you pick up on the mountain? It's so mysterious."
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