Su Hua looked up and saw a chubby little umbrella being held in Su Dalang's hand.
The umbrella is dark brown with some cracks at the top and light-colored spots on the sides.
If you get close, you can smell a unique fragrance.
"Which mountain did you find these shiitake mushrooms on?" Su Hua took the small floral umbrella, her bright almond-shaped eyes crinkling into crescent moons with a smile.
These mushrooms were the shiitake mushrooms she had been longing for.
Shiitake mushrooms can be stir-fried with meat or used in soups, and they are an absolute perfect match for hot pot.
Back in China, when she went out for a late-night snack after get off work, if she was having mala tang (a spicy hot pot dish), mushroom skewers and seaweed skewers were always her two must-order items.
Nowadays, Shanghe Village is two prefectures away from the sea, so seaweed is out of the question for the time being, but the presence of these shiitake mushrooms is a consolation.
Looking at Su Hua's expression, Su Dalang knew that the mushrooms were probably a sure thing.
He quickly glanced at Zhao Shi and Su Dahu outside. One of them was moving tofu to prepare for frying, while the other was working with wood to make a money box.
Seeing that neither of them had noticed this place, he immediately winked at Su Hua and pointed to the small hill behind the courtyard.
He lowered his voice to a whisper, “When we went to the hillside to gather hay for the rabbits today, we saw a fawn with shiny fur.”
So they followed and chased after it. In the end, they didn't catch the deer cub, but they did see several dead trees covered with this kind of fungus.
Thinking that oyster mushrooms and wood ear mushrooms were edible, I brought one back to show my aunt.
Ever since Su Hua was chased by a wild boar, not only was she repeatedly warned by Su Bai not to go to Fuhu Mountain, but her three little children at home also had to stay far away from the mountain.
As for the food for the eight rabbits in the family, it has always been wild grass that the three little guys, including Dalang, gather at the foot of the mountain.
"These mushrooms are really good." Su Hua raised an eyebrow and said, "You're too young now. When you go up the mountain in the future, you have to go with an adult. You can't do things on your own, understand?"
Wild animals are highly aggressive; even a wild boar could easily knock a person through. Not to mention the depths of Fuhu Mountain, where who knows if there are jackals, tigers, leopards, venomous snakes, or birds of prey?
When a little baby is in front of a big thing, all they can do is lie down!
"Auntie is right. Next time, we will definitely not chase after her recklessly." Su Dalang nodded obediently.
Su Erlang and Chunhua each led Su Hua by the hand, walking towards the hillside in the backyard. "Little aunt, come on, we'll take you to find these mushrooms."
Before leaving, he didn't forget to take the basket and large crate from the yard.
The mushrooms on the mountain are so plentiful that they can't possibly carry them all back by their own two hands.
Su Hua then pulled Su Sanhu, who was whittling wooden sticks in the yard, to pick up some wood. These shiitake mushrooms, along with the wood ear mushrooms and oyster mushrooms from before, all grew on rotten wood. As long as the wood was picked up and placed in a dark, damp, and cold place, they would grow very well.
She had recently collected sycamore branches and willow stumps and placed them under the big tree in the backyard, occasionally secretly sprinkling some of her spatial water droplets on them.
Now, clusters of wood ear mushrooms and oyster mushrooms are growing very well.
Two adults and three children crossed a small hill and then passed through a mountain path covered with dense shrubs, where a dozen or so towering trees came into view.
Under the tree, layers upon layers of dead leaves lay spread out, crunching underfoot.
A mountain breeze blew, lifting a corner of the withered leaves.
They revealed plump little umbrellas.
"Auntie, these are it. Under this whole patch of trees, there are mushrooms like these everywhere." The three little rascals, Su Dalang, picked up the dead branches and brushed aside the layers of fallen leaves, their eyes and mouths full of smiles.
I was initially a little disappointed that I didn't catch the fawn.
But now that I know this mushroom forest can help boost my family's spicy hot pot business, all my frustration and disappointment have vanished.
"These are linden branches. After they wither and are washed by wind and rain, the wood changes and they easily grow mushrooms." Su Hua smiled and reached out to touch Su Dalang's soft hair.
Wood ear mushrooms grow on parasol trees, and oyster mushrooms grow on willow trees.
This linden forest is the species most likely to produce shiitake mushrooms.
There's no tradition of eating mushrooms in Shanghe Village. The linden branches that have fallen under this tree are almost entirely covered with shiitake mushrooms. Apart from a small portion of dried shiitake mushrooms, the rest are all plump, juicy little mushrooms.
Su Hua accepted them all without hesitation, whether they were dried shiitake mushrooms or small, plump mushrooms.
Two adults and three children bent down to pick mushrooms, and in less than half an hour, the two baskets and three crates they brought were completely full.
The remaining shiitake mushrooms on the withered branches, aside from the newly sprouted small ones, could fill about a basket. Su Hua planned to take the mushrooms and the three little ones back first, and then come back later to collect some linden branches as well.
Just then, a soft moan sounded.
"Awoo~"
The sound was extremely faint, like the weak cry of a small animal.
Su Hua stopped in her tracks and looked up toward the source of the sound. She saw a pile of somewhat withered bushes next to a small patch of mushrooms.
Taking a few steps closer, the whimpering sounds from under the bushes became much clearer.
Sizzle.
He yanked the bushes aside.
Only then did they realize that below was a deep pit about half a person's height, with many sharp branches stuck in it. At the very top of the central branch, a small, snow-white baby was hanging upside down.
The area from the hind legs down was covered in blood, and the snow-white fur was stained crimson.
Her eyes were a deep blue, like two pieces of crystal-clear amber.
The little boy turned his head at the sound, his face a mixture of helplessness and anxiety.
"Roar...woo..."
At this moment, Su Dalang and the others, whose hearing was not as sharp as Su Hua's, finally realized that something was wrong. They threw down the mushrooms in their hands and hurriedly ran over.
When they saw the little cubs at the bottom of the pit, their hearts melted.
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