Li Xiangdong sniffed. The faint, refreshing fragrance wafted into his nose intermittently. The fragrance was quite peculiar. Li Xiangdong's first impression was that it smelled like chicken soup!
And it's chicken soup made with matsutake mushrooms!
Like a hunting dog, Li Xiangdong sniffed and slowly sensed the source of the fragrance, approaching step by step, the fragrance growing stronger the closer he got.
Luo Yonggang saw Li Xiangdong suddenly cross the more than three-meter-deep ditch as if possessed and walk towards the wasteland next to him. He wanted to ask him what he was doing, but before he could open his mouth, Luo Hongkai stopped him. He seemed to have smelled the fragrance as well.
Luo Hongkai said to his son with a smile, "Xiangdong has a really sharp nose! Looks like he's found a chicken coop today!"
"What?"
Luo Yonggang was puzzled. He looked around carefully, but there were no termite mushrooms!
Luo Hongkai pulled Luo Yonggang toward the wasteland. As they walked, Luo Yonggang also smelled the aroma. He exclaimed softly, "I can smell the aroma of termite mushrooms from so far away to the east?"
Luo Hongkai nodded and quickly went to catch up with Li Xiangdong.
The more Li Xiangdong walked, the stronger the fragrance became. He felt dizzy, as if he were dizzy from the fragrance!
When he reached the place where the fragrance was strongest, which was also the middle of the wasteland, he looked closely and saw small black dots among the lush wild grass. The fragrance was coming from these small black dots!
Li Xiangdong squatted down, parted the weeds and wild vegetables, and there was a black bud growing on the ground. Next to it were buds of different sizes and shapes, but their only characteristic was that their caps had not yet opened.
What a thriving and vibrant scene!
Li Xiangdong squatted down and started digging with the wooden stick in his hand. He actually dug out a root that was about ten centimeters long!
At this moment, Luo Hongkai and Luo Yonggang also arrived and stood behind Li Xiangdong.
Li Xiangdong held up the black-capped termite mushroom in his hand, which was in the shape of a bud, and asked Luo Hongkai in disbelief, "Grandpa, didn't you say that black-capped termite mushrooms are hard to find?"
Luo Hongkai was also a little excited, "If it weren't for your keen sense of smell, able to smell the aroma of the termite mushrooms from this far away, no one would come here!"
Nothing grows on this barren land, and it's separated from the mountain path by a deep ravine. Usually, no one would come here specifically to look for mushrooms.
Luo Yonggang punched Li Xiangdong on the shoulder, "Good lad! You're a good candidate for mountaineering, even Black Tiger's nose isn't as sharp as yours!"
Black Tiger was a hunting dog owned by Luo Yonggang. It had long limbs, a pointed snout, and a small head. It could run faster than a bullet and was extremely fierce.
Li Xiangdong chuckled, "If Heaven presents an opportunity and we don't seize it, we'll suffer the consequences. Time waits for no one!"
Although Luo Hongkai and Luo Yonggang did not understand the meaning of this sentence from Zhou Shu, they had the most basic concept: if I see this termite mushroom, then it is all mine!
The three men, without a word, split up and left no trace of the termite mushrooms in their wake!
Large black mosquitoes flew around the three of them like black blobs. Luckily, they had applied insect repellent powder, otherwise they would have been bitten to death. Even so, they still had several large red welts on their hands and faces from the stings.
Time passed by, and the sky gradually darkened. Around the three of them, there were piles of termite mushrooms of all sizes.
Seeing that Li Xiangdong and Luo Yonggang still seemed unsatisfied, Luo Hongkai forcefully demanded that they go home now.
It will take another two hours to walk home along the mountain road. It's dark and the road is slippery, so it wouldn't be good if something unexpected happened.
Although Li Xiangdong and Luo Yonggang were somewhat reluctant, as there were still many termite mushrooms left to pick, they also knew that Luo Hongkai was right.
Several people emptied a bamboo basket of mushrooms and carefully placed the black-capped termite mushrooms inside, with layers of lush green moss between them.
"Grandpa, are we just going to throw these mushrooms away?"
Looking at the green-headed mushrooms that had been thrown on the ground, Li Xiangdong felt a little reluctant to part with them, as he had picked them one by one with his own hands!
Luo Yonggang pulled a cloth bag from his waist. "Hehe, how could I forget my treasure pouch! Here, put your precious mushrooms in!"
When Li Xiangdong saw that the cloth bag was a full meter long and half a meter wide, he was overjoyed. He quickly asked Luo Yonggang to hold the bag open, and he picked out the best mushrooms from the ground and threw them in whole.
By the time he finished all that, it was completely dark. Li Xiangdong turned on his flashlight, and a yellow light appeared before his eyes. However, the flashlight beam was too weak, with visibility of less than two meters.
"Head east, and I'll show you the brilliance of a pine cone torch!"
As Luo Yonggang spoke, he lit a torch he was carrying.
"bass!"
A flame pierced the darkness, its temperature making the skin feel slightly warm, a temperature that brought a sense of peace.
Luo Hongkai also lit a pine nut torch, sandwiching Li Xiangdong between him and Luo Hongkai.
Li Xiangdong used a flashlight to illuminate the path ahead. The three of them walked slowly along the mountain path. From a distance, they could see three yellow orbs of light moving like ants in the mountains.
"Uncle, how are these pine nut torches made?" Li Xiangdong asked curiously, as the torches had a strong pine resin smell.
"Just use dry pine branches and wrap a cloth soaked in pine resin around the head of the torch."
"Pine resin is the resin that flows from pine trees. We usually carve a checkmark on a relatively large pine tree with a knife, and then put a small bucket under the checkmark to collect it. After one or two months, it will be full of pine resin."
Li Xiangdong said, "It's just like rubber!"
He had been involved in the natural rubber industry in his previous life, so he understood immediately.
The same method people use to obtain natural rubber involves creating a wound on the tree, which then secretes a milky white rubber.
Luo Yonggang laughed and said, "When we walk in the mountains at night, we usually use pine cone torches. One reason is to save money, and the other is that the fire can scare away wolves and tigers. Xiangdong, the flashlight you bought for your grandma costs several tens of yuan in our commune! And it needs batteries, so it's expensive!"
Li Xiangdong laughed upon hearing this, "I bought several extra size D batteries so my grandma can use them as she pleases!"
Li Xiangdong and Luo Hongkai each carried a bamboo basket weighing over 50 jin (25 kg) and mushrooms, while Luo Yonggang carried over 100 jin (50 kg). When the three of them returned home, they were panting heavily.
Zhao Sufang and her daughter Liu Jiangsu had been waiting anxiously at the door for several times.
Seeing the three figures, Liu Jiangsu finally felt relieved. She complained to Luo Hongkai, "It's one thing for the two kids to get carried away, but you old man, don't you know any better? Coming back so late, what if you run into a wild boar?"
Luo Hongkai didn't argue, and helped Liu Jiangsu walk into the house. "It's all my fault. Hurry up and come inside. The mountain wind outside is chilly. Your body can't take it!"
Luo Yonggang stayed in the yard to process the mushrooms, while Li Xiangdong rushed into the house and gulped down a large mug of water. He wiped the water from his mouth and explained to Liu Jiangsu, "Grandma, it's not Grandpa's fault. We found a chicken coop!"
Who can move an inch like that?!
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