Hearing her mother's excited voice, Chen Zhiyao quickly ran in that direction.
She responded in a loud voice, her steps light and quick:
"Coming, coming! I'm on my way! What amazing treasure did you find?"
The person hadn't even arrived yet, but the expectant voice had already reached Yan Shuting's location first.
Chen Zhiyao ran past, panting, and looked down to see a surprising scene.
A piece of wood about 25 centimeters in diameter lay on the ground, covered with large shiitake mushrooms.
These little creatures eagerly poked their heads out, displaying their plump and tender bodies. Chen Zhiyao stared blankly at the piece of wood covered entirely in mushrooms.
Her eyes were wide open, and her mouth unconsciously formed an "o" shape.
Chen Zhiyao could hardly believe her eyes, and muttered to herself:
"My God! So many shiitake mushrooms... It looks like someone planted them here on purpose."
"Could someone have planted it here on purpose?"
Yan Shuting glanced at her daughter as if she were an idiot:
"Who would be so foolish as to grow mushrooms on a public mountain? Enough talk, come and pick mushrooms."
“That’s true, she’s obviously born that way.” As she spoke, Chen Zhiyao ran over with a silly grin.
At this moment, my aunt also hurriedly came over.
"Wow, so many shiitake mushrooms, and they're growing really well. Shuting, you have a sharp eye."
These shiitake mushrooms are huge, almost as big as Chen Zhiyao's fist, and they look exceptionally plump and tempting.
Surprisingly, these shiitake mushrooms, despite their plump appearance, felt surprisingly light in the hand.
After some effort, the three of them finally succeeded in picking all the shiitake mushrooms from the tree.
The baskets in the hands of the three were already stuffed full.
These shiitake mushrooms are the kind of dried shiitake mushrooms commonly found in the market.
If you can't finish it on the same day, you can simply dry it in the sun to preserve it for a long time.
Overjoyed, Chen Zhiyao poured the mushrooms from the basket into the bamboo basket she was carrying on her back.
Then, with great enthusiasm, he picked up an empty basket and continued his search for these delicious little mushrooms.
Shiitake mushrooms mostly like to grow on decaying, dead wood. Chen Zhiyao deliberately walked towards those rotten pieces of wood and carefully observed the surroundings.
Although she didn't find any shiitake mushrooms, she did find a large cluster of black fungus in a dark, damp corner.
Several heavy rains have fallen in the past few days, and thanks to the rain, these wood ear mushrooms are growing extremely well.
Moreover, they are huge, each one thick and plump.
Looking at these wood ear mushrooms, Chen Zhiyao couldn't help but smile and quickly squatted down to pick them all.
In no time, the once empty basket was filled to the brim.
She got up to go take a look, but her gaze was immediately drawn to the fallen leaves beneath the tree roots.
There were two slightly raised bumps, quietly hidden among the surrounding fallen leaves and weeds.
Filled with curiosity and anticipation, she gently reached out and carefully brushed away the withered yellow leaves covering the surface, one by one.
As the fallen leaves were gradually cleared away, a bright and dazzling red suddenly caught the eye.
Upon closer inspection, they turned out to be several bright red mushrooms.
Chen Zhiyao happily picked all the cute little creatures and then continued walking towards the mountainside.
On the way, she came across a piece of rotten wood, but luckily, several mushrooms were growing on it.
Although there weren't as many mushrooms on this piece of wood as there were on the one Mom found earlier, the mushrooms on it were bigger and thicker.
Along the way, Chen Zhiyao found some more red mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms. By the time she reached the mountainside, her basket was almost full.
By this time, she was exhausted and casually found a rock to sit down and rest.
Unexpectedly, as soon as I sat down, I discovered some mushrooms that looked remarkably like coral.
"These mushrooms look like coral! Could they be coral fungi?" Chen Zhiyao stared wide-eyed at the tiny "corals" in front of her, marveling at the wonders of nature.
She couldn't help but murmur to herself: The world is so big, there are so many wonders!
If she hadn't stumbled upon them in these deep mountains, she probably would have mistaken them for beautiful corals from the ocean depths.
Unable to contain her curiosity and excitement, Chen Zhiyao reached out and gently broke off a small piece of coral fungus.
She excitedly carried it to her mother and aunt, beaming with joy as she held up her precious possession to them.
"Look, doesn't this mushroom look exactly like coral from the sea?"
Yan Shuting took a closer look and immediately recognized the mushroom. She explained with a cheerful smile:
"This is coral fungus. Although it looks very beautiful, its taste is just so-so."
The aunt standing nearby laughed and said, "People in the village don't like to eat this kind of mushroom, so it's normal that you don't recognize it."
Knowing that the mushrooms tasted mediocre, Chen Zhiyao stopped paying attention to them.
The mountain behind was quite large, and the three of them didn't plan to climb to the top. They rested for a while halfway up the mountain and then went back.
Back home, Grandma Chen and Grandma Lanhua from next door were just returning from beachcombing.
Yan Shuting warmly greeted her, then took some mushrooms out of her basket and insisted on putting them into Grandma Lanhua's hands.
"These mushrooms were just picked from the back hill, Auntie, take them home and have a taste."
"These mushrooms are growing really well. There are so many loofahs in the vegetable garden that we can't eat them all. I'll get you a few later."
"Great! This weather is perfect for eating loofah."
Grandma Chen had a good day. In addition to earning 80 yuan, she also brought back a few small abalone and more than two kilograms of whelks.
While Yan Shuting was still exchanging pleasantries, Chen Zhiyao had already set her sights on the whelks, looking at her grandmother with a greedy expression.
"Grandma, how about we make whelk and chicken stew for lunch? I'll also stir-fry the mushrooms I picked this morning."
Seeing that her granddaughter was craving something sweet, Grandma Chen smiled and walked outside.
“Okay, I’ll go to the old house and catch a young chicken. We’ll have whelk and chicken stew for lunch. Your sister-in-law has been vomiting a lot lately, so I’ll catch a couple more to help her recover.”
At noon, Chen Zhiyao showed off her culinary skills by preparing four delicious and visually appealing main dishes.
The dishes were abalone and whelk chicken stew, stir-fried pork belly with mushrooms, stir-fried cured pork with red mushrooms, and stir-fried loofah with eggs. Just as the abalone and whelk chicken stew and stir-fried pork belly with mushrooms were ready, Chen Weiqiang and his grandfather walked in with their catch.
The father and son had a good day, but after getting lost in the village for a while, they slowly made their way back.
When the two arrived home, the fish in the bucket didn't look very fresh.
Chen Zhiyao's whelk and chicken stew was so fresh and fragrant that it received unanimous praise, and everyone couldn't stop eating it.
Red mushrooms have a fresh flavor, while shiitake mushrooms are more fragrant. Both types of mushrooms with different flavors are equally popular.
Paired with refreshing and palate-cleansing loofah, a meal like this is perfect.
The table of food was eaten clean, and the last bit of soup was used to mix with rice and fed to Ah Huang and Xue Tuan.
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