"Uncle Qian, you've found so many mushrooms!" Qiao Lian'er greeted him warmly.
"Yes, I accidentally fell into a big ditch, and my leg was hurting when I saw a whole bunch of these mushrooms growing in it. I couldn't even pick them all up. That's what you call turning misfortune into blessing."
Uncle Qian is a warm-hearted man, always smiling happily.
"Hmm, where is that big ditch? We can avoid it next time we go up the mountain." Qiao Lian'er thought to herself, that's not a ditch that makes people fall, that's a fairy ditch.
"It's right there, between the two mountains opposite. Go down to the mountainside, there's a slightly steep slope, and below is a ditch. Be careful, or you'll slip and fall."
Qiao Lian'er stroked her chin: "What a terrible place."
"Yes, we should be more careful. We can't risk breaking our bones just to make money."
Uncle Qian was about to go home when Qiao Lian'er called him back.
"Uncle Qian, I'd like to buy these termite mushrooms from you."
Uncle Qian was taken aback for a moment: "Buy? How can I buy it? I'm going to squeeze this dry and take it to town to sell. Aren't your family members also looking for mushrooms in the mountains?"
Qiao Lian'er shook her head: "My family especially loves to eat this kind of mushroom, we can never get enough of it, so I bought it to eat."
"But the price—" Uncle Qian hesitated. The amount of mushrooms he had was a little over twenty pounds, enough to fry seven pounds of dried mushrooms, which would sell for three and a half ounces.
"I'll give you whatever you can sell in town," Qiao Lian'er said. "Not a penny less."
Uncle Qian thought this was a good thing, because then he wouldn't have to use up the oil at home, and it would save weight, making it easier to go to town.
"Sure, sure, I'll come to your house to weigh it right away," Uncle Qian replied hastily.
He had a basket in his other hand, filled with other miscellaneous mushrooms, probably about ten pounds.
As they walked, he said to Qiao Lian'er, "I made more than two taels yesterday. If I hadn't seen this big bunch today, the ones in the basket would only be worth one and a half taels of silver. And since it's not raining, I'm afraid I won't be able to find much more."
He wasn't just talking about himself, but also about the prospects for all the villagers in finding the fungus.
What we can look forward to is the annual torrential rain that comes a month from now. After that rain, the mushrooms will have a short-term outbreak.
Although they didn't know before that those mushrooms were edible or could be sold, the villagers often went up the mountain and were quite familiar with the seasonal changes that occurred there.
When Qiao Yunni and the others saw Qiao Lian'er bring Uncle Qian in, saying that she wanted to buy the matsutake mushrooms he had, they immediately understood what was going on.
Other people sell matsutake mushrooms, but their prices are twice as high.
Qiao Yunni quickly went to find a scale, and Qiao Xier went to call Old Lady Qiao back. They needed to give at least a few taels of silver, as they didn't have that much money on hand.
Qiao Lian'er weighed it, and it was exactly twenty-one jin.
She calculated for Uncle Qian: "Twenty-one catties of dried mushrooms can yield seven catties, or three and a half taels. I will pay Uncle Qian according to this amount."
"Okay, Lian'er is an honest man." Uncle Qian was very happy.
"My cousin asked my grandma for money. Uncle Qian, please have a seat." Qiao Lian'er brought over a stool.
"Okay, I'm not in a hurry to go back."
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