"Don't be afraid. When we get closer, Mom will put you down and take a closer look at this mushroom and see what it looks like growing on the ground."
Nature is amazing! When this bamboo fungus grows and opens its cap, it looks like a beautiful young woman wearing a dress—it's so pretty!
After walking three or four meters forward, the mother and daughter stood in front of a cluster of bamboo fungus.
There weren't many mushrooms in this cluster, only five or six. They looked like they had just finished opening their caps, with the white veils already about 80% open. They were over ten centimeters tall, and the stems were thicker than an adult's thumb.
Yu Yang struggled for a moment, and Chen Hong squatted down and put him down. She checked the area to make sure there were no snakes, spiders, or other insects before letting him start picking mushrooms.
In the primeval bamboo forest, the grayish-white bamboo fungus eggs, like epiphyllum flowers, quietly emerge from the soil like chicks hatching from their shells, growing snow-white like umbrellas.
They have been listed as one of the eight treasures of herbs since ancient times and are known as the queen of fungi.
Bamboo fungus grows on decaying bamboo rhizomes, branches, leaves, and other detritus, which in turn provides nutrients to the bamboo and improves the soil quality.
While teaching her son how to pick bamboo fungus, Chen Hong explained to him the characteristics and habits of bamboo fungus.
"Before artificial cultivation, wild bamboo fungus could sell for thousands of yuan per kilogram."
Bamboo fungus is a saprophytic fungus found in bamboo forests. It has four parts: the eggshell is its volva, the cap is its cap, and there is a tunic under the cap.
It is especially beautiful after it unfolds its skirt, a pure white net-like skirt that spreads down from under the cap. Because of this feature, it is called the Snow Skirt Fairy.
Isn't this name beautiful and lovely, even a bit ethereal? Actually, its cap smells really, really bad.
However, its odor has a great purpose: to attract insects to help it spread its spores.
People usually eat its stem and skirt, which are delicious, beautiful, and fragrant, making it a perfect combination of color, aroma, and taste.
It only takes a few hours from growth to death before it rots away on its own.
The fresh bamboo fungus we harvest should be dried in the sun or oven as soon as possible, otherwise it will rot on its own after two hours.
Dried bamboo fungus has a wonderful aroma, and it makes soups even more delicious after being dried.
Under her mother's guidance, Yu Yang carefully picked all six bamboo fungus, removing the outer shell and the inner egg carcass.
It was getting late, so Chen Hong picked up her son and left. "Let's settle in the cave first before we come out to pick bamboo fungus. It's almost noon, time for lunch."
"Mom, where are Black Tiger and Glasses? Where did they go? Are they lost?"
Chen Hong carried her son on her back and ran quickly towards the stream, saying to Yang as she ran, "Black Tiger knows the place, he must have gone to the cave."
As they spoke, Chen Hong carried Yu Yang to the end of the stream, where, sure enough, two dogs were waiting for their owner in front of a boulder.
"Haha, you can't get in now, can you? What's the point of you two running so fast? You can't get in on your own without me!"
Chen Hong saw two dogs squatting by the stream, barking loudly at the huge rock at the cave entrance.
Yu Yang climbed off his mother's back, laughed heartily, ran to the two dogs, and patted their heads, saying:
"What are you two shouting? You should shout 'Open Sesame'! Come on, shout it with me, 'Open Sesame'!"
Two dogs: Woof woof woof! Woof woof woof!
Chen Hong put down her basket, walked over, and pushed the large rock to the side, creating a gap of about one meter.
The blocked stream water immediately gushed out, and the stream became even larger.
After waiting for a while, the water level in the cave dropped, and Chen Hong led her son Gouzi into the cave.
"Mom, this cave is so deep and big! The stream water is so warm!" After entering the cave, Chen Hong cleaned a spot, laid out a burlap sack, and helped Yu Yang take off his coat and cotton-padded clothes.
He found a few more stones of similar size to set up the pot, took out a bucket to fetch water, and brought back some water from his spatial storage.
I went into the bamboo forest and broke off a few thin bamboo branches. I quickly wove a simple bamboo tray and steamed the steamed buns and yellow sticky rice cakes I had brought.
I also tore up six fresh bamboo fungus that had been soaked in lightly salted water and threw them into the pot to make a soup.
The mother and daughter first had a simple lunch, drank some soup, ate some fruit, and then took their empty bamboo baskets to the bamboo forest outside to pick bamboo fungus.
She took her child straight to the spot where she had sprinkled water last year, believing that more bamboo fungus would surely grow there this year.
After walking for less than ten minutes, a patch of white bamboo fungus appeared ahead. Yu Yang cheered and ran forward, with two dogs protecting their young master on either side.
"Black Tiger, Glasses, watch out for the bamboo fungus!"
"Woof woof woof, woof woof woof!"
The two clever dogs responded to their little owner, "No, no!"
Chen Hong put some sulfur on her son so that snakes would stay far away from him.
With two intelligent and protective dogs guarding her, Chen Hong felt reassured about her son's safety.
Yu Yang had already started picking bamboo fungus into the bamboo basket. Chen Hong looked at it and realized that one bamboo basket wasn't enough for the mother and son!
"Son, why don't you pick the bamboo fungus by yourself, and I'll pick the bamboo shoots? How about we divide the work?"
Without looking up, Yu Yang replied, "Okay, Mom, don't worry, I will pick the bamboo fungus and arrange it neatly."
"Go pick bamboo shoots. Black Tiger and Glasses are with me; it'll be safe."
Perhaps because it was still too early, Chen Hong noticed that there weren't many tender bamboo shoots exposed above the ground.
Upon closer inspection, there were many raised mounds of soil on the ground, and some cracks as well.
Chen Hong used a short knife to dig into the soil, and after going down ten centimeters, she saw the winter bamboo shoots.
Winter bamboo shoots are great! They're plumper, more tender, and sweeter!
After greeting Yu Yang, Chen Hong ran back to the cave, activated the mechanism, let the air out for a while, and entered the stone chamber.
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