Yang Chunyan and her sisters-in-law cleaned up the pots, bowls, and stoves and started packing to go up the mountain to pick mushrooms.
Zhou Jiaming and others had already changed into yellow rubber shoes, carried small backpacks, put on straw hats, and were waiting.
Zhou's mother said to Yang Chunyan, "You don't have to go up the mountain. Let Huai'an go. Help collect the herbs at home and prepare the vegetables in the afternoon. Wait for me to come back and cook together."
Zhou Huaian was afraid that she would foolishly say that she could do it, so he hurriedly said, "That's right, you just got pregnant, listen to your mother and stay at home until the month is a little bit bigger before going out."
Li Qiuyue came out with a straw hat, "Chunyan, our family has a lot of laborers. We used to stay at home when we were pregnant and go out when the pregnancy was a little bit advanced."
"Yes." Yang Chunyan nodded in agreement.
Zhou Huaian was relieved to see her agree. When Aunt Zhou and the others arrived, a group of people went out from the backyard and up the mountain.
Yang Chunyan was drying herbs and red mushrooms at home. After waiting for a long time, it was almost two o'clock when Yang Xiaoxue finally came to the gate of the courtyard by pushing her bicycle. She greeted her and said, "You just came back?"
"Yeah! Zhiqiang went to his sister's place and helped with some work. His sister invited us to have dinner before coming back." Yang Xiaoxue parked her bicycle. "Yan'er, I heard that your family has started construction?"
"We've been working for a few days." Yang Chunyan saw her carrying a backpack and said, "Just come, and bring something with you!"
Yang Xiaoxue took out a few bunches of banana fruits from the basket. "They are freshly cooked, not chewy at all. And these salted duck eggs are soaked by me. They are just seasoned and perfect with sweet potato porridge."
Yang Chunyan took the banana fruit and saw that the bamboo basket was full of green-skinned salted duck eggs. "Why did you send so many?"
"I pickled a whole jar." Yang Xiaoxue took a few sips of tea, "Don't worry, I raised these duck eggs myself, and originally wanted to sell them to supplement the family income.
Now there is money to be made from digging herbs and selling them, so I sold some and kept about a hundred to pickle into salted duck eggs. I’ll give some to you and send some back to my mother for the Mid-Autumn Festival.”
"Okay, then I won't be polite." Yang Chunyan pointed to the dustpan, "That's the good thing I'm talking about. Go up the mountain and pick it up and bring it back to me. I'll charge you 50 cents per pound."
Yang Xiaoxue walked over to the drying mat and grabbed a few to look at. She looked at her in surprise, "Oh my god, there are still people collecting these? We saw no one picking them up."
"Yes! This is called red mushroom. Doctor Xiao Wang said his friend in the provincial capital wanted it, so he asked me to help collect it. If you go to pick it, you must pick it..."
Yang Chunyan told her the characteristics of the red mushroom and thought of asking Zhou Huaian to go to Hengshan to tell her mother and husband.
"Yes, I will call Zhiqiang to go up the mountain to pick it up when I get back."
"I originally thought that you would come earlier and go with your sister-in-law and the others."
"It's okay!" Yang Xiaoxue said as she stood up and was about to leave. "Wait for me to bring them over and you can pick them carefully. You will be able to recognize them when you go there tomorrow morning."
"Yes, wait for me here." Yang Chunyan hurriedly pulled her back, "I'll get you some vermicelli."
"No, we just made it yesterday. If you go and see my yard, it's full of them drying in the sun. We can't finish eating them until next year."
"Okay then!" Yang Chunyan sent her to the door, "Go slowly on the way."
Yang Xiaoxue looked at her with a smile, "Hurry up, go up the mountain to pick mushrooms and sell them for money."
After hearing this, Yang Chunyan smiled and said, "Then I wish you good fortune and good luck. Fill your backpack when you go into the mountains."
Yang Xiaoxue smiled and shook her head, "Don't think too much about picking mushrooms in the mountains this afternoon. Even if there are any, they'll probably have opened their umbrellas. I'll go pick them up first so you can identify them. We'll pick up more tomorrow morning."
As expected, we didn't get much from picking mushrooms in the afternoon, so everyone just brought back a basket.
Seeing that there were no good mushrooms, Zhou Huaian simply took everyone to look for herbs in the woods. He dug up some isatis root and some herbs, and also found two chicken blood vines. They cut them and weighed dozens of kilograms. Together with the herbal seeds he picked, it was not a wasted trip.
Yang Chunyan picked out some not-so-good red mushrooms, washed them, and prepared to make pig's trotter soup.
When Zhou's mother saw this, she thought that people in the provincial capital were paying ten yuan per pound for dried red mushrooms, so she boldly agreed to stew them once.
The stewed soup is blood red in color and tastes particularly sweet. The whole family says it is delicious.
Zhou's mother cleaned the inferior red mushrooms that Yang Chunyan had picked out and planned to dry them for her own consumption.
In the following days, several families went up the mountain at daybreak and spent more than ten days in the mountains, finally drying more than 100 kilograms of dried red mushrooms.
Zhou Huaian sent the amount that Wang Zhen needed to Ning'an, and there were still about thirty kilograms left at home.
Wang Zhen told Zhou Huaian that the supplies sent to the provincial capital last time had been received, and if there were any more on the mountain, they would continue to pick them up and send them over.
Zhou Huaian agreed to deliver the rest, and the others would have to wait a few days because it was time to harvest the millet.
The day before the millet harvest, the construction site stopped. After the earthen kiln was sealed, they waited to open it after the millet was harvested.
The children had only attended classes for two days after they registered, and then there was a half-month busy farming season, so they went to class after the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Early that morning, Yang Chunyan thought the rooster had just crowed for the first time when she heard people walking and talking in the yard. She patted Zhou Huaian beside her and said, "Get up. We're going to harvest the grain today."
Zhou Huaian turned over, hugged her and whispered, "Yan'er, sleep a little longer."
"The old man and the others are up, hurry up and get up. If you slack off these few days, I will not let you off with my pipe."
"Oh! What a miserable life! I can't even get enough sleep!" Zhou Huaian scratched his head, closed his eyes and sat up. Hearing her sitting up, he asked, "Why don't you sleep a little longer?"
"Everyone's up. How can I be the only one lying here?" Yang Chunyan got up from the bed and handed him the long-sleeved shirt and long pants he wore for work. "Wear this to avoid getting itchy when the straw cuts your body."
"Yeah!" Zhou Huaian sat down on the edge of the bed, "Are you feeling well? When my third sister-in-law was pregnant with Xiaolin, she vomited everything she ate and became so thin that her eyes were sunken."
"No, I don't even feel anything when washing the pig intestines!"
Zhou Huaian pulled her over and gently touched her belly, "Be good, take good care of your mother. When you come out, I will drive a tractor to take you to Ning'an to watch a movie."
Yang Chunyan looked at him with a smile on her face and said, "It will take at least three years for him to be able to sit firmly on a tractor."
"That's true!" Zhou Huaian put on his clothes and they left the room together.
The moon was still hanging in the sky, and Zhou Huairong and Zhou Huaijun had already packed up the mixing barrels, fences, baskets, serrated sickles and drying mats and placed them in the yard.
Zhou's father is guarding the construction site. The old man said yesterday that he would go to help the eldest son with work today, and might leave early in the morning.
"Wash your face and have dinner." Zhou's mother and Zhao Huifang walked towards the main room carrying the food.
"Hey!" Yang Chunyan went to the main room after washing up. All the adults were at the table except a few children. They sat around the table and started eating.
After dinner, Zhou's mother said to her, "Chunyan, I have fed the pigs. I will ask Jialiang and Jiakang to go to the construction site to watch over it. You stay at home and take care of Jiaming and the others to dry the grain."
"Yes! You guys go and I'll clean up the dishes." Yang Chunyan said as she started to pick up the dishes.
Li Qiuyue came out with a straw hat, "Chunyan, Xiaolin is still sleeping, call her to get up and pee later, so she doesn't have to pee on the bed."
"Okay!" (End of this chapter)
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