Picking mushrooms

Time waits for no one. The next day at work, Liang Juan told Director Li about Ye Min’s idea.

After careful consideration, Director Li adopted two of the options. The first was to contact the surrounding brigades and invite an old master to come to the compound every morning to monitor the situation. The second was to establish a punishment system, with fines imposed on each person, one yuan per person for each poisoning incident, and a notice of criticism would be posted.

As for limiting medical expense reimbursement, this matter is quite complicated, and Director Li chose to give up after careful consideration.

After the matter was settled, the Women's Federation quickly organized a hospital-wide meeting. This time, not only military wives attended the meeting, but also men and children from various families.

Because there were so many people, the meeting was held on the basketball court. During the meeting, Director Li directly shouted through a loudspeaker to prevent people from making excuses for not being able to hear.

At the meeting, when she mentioned inviting the old teacher to come to the compound to calm the situation, everyone at the meeting applauded, and they all felt that the Women's Federation had done a good thing. But when they heard that people would be fined for poisoning from eating mushrooms in the future, everyone became unhappy and started talking about it, and the more they talked, the angrier they became.

But Director Li was not an ordinary person. He didn't care how much resentment people had. He just held the megaphone and said, "This is the result of our discussion with the higher-ups. If you have any opinions, you can go to the army to make them known. You can also write a letter of guarantee saying that you will be responsible for the consequences of the mushroom poisoning and bear the cost of treatment. You don't want the army to reimburse you."

After hearing this, most people who had opinions were frightened.

A big part of the reason they dared to go mushroom picking with only half a bucket of water was that they thought that if they had any problems with the food, the medical expenses would be fully reimbursed and they would not have to pay for it themselves.

Although the cost of treating food poisoning is not high, it still costs a few dollars per person. If you have to pay for it yourself, it would be better to fine each person one dollar.

But some people also asked, what if the hired technician fails to detect the problem?

The Women's Federation had not anticipated this issue before the meeting, but Director Li responded quickly, saying, "Then we will fine the Women's Federation according to the number of people poisoned. This money will be saved and used to provide benefits to military wives in the future."

The main reason why the fine is not used to compensate the person in trouble is that we are worried that someone may have ulterior motives. If the fine is used for a different purpose, everyone will accept it and it will also show the attitude of the Women's Federation.

Sure enough, after hearing what Director Li said, everyone had no objections.

After the meeting, the Women's Federation posted the relevant documents on the bulletin board at the entrance of the compound to prevent anyone from having a bad memory and forgetting about it after a nap after the meeting.

At nine o'clock the next morning, the old teacher invited by the Women's Federation took office.

Ye Min had to work that day and did not know what had happened until she returned home at noon and Liang Juan came over to chat with her.

"Don't say it, this Mrs. Chen is really amazing. She can tell the ancestry of all the mushrooms with just one look. She knows which ones are highly poisonous and can't be eaten, and which ones are less poisonous but need to be cooked for a long enough time. She knows everything."

After praising Chen's wife, Liang Juan said about the wives of soldiers in the compound: "I usually see them going to the mountains to pick mushrooms every day. I thought they were semi-experts, but today, when I checked them, I found that many of them were only half-baked. No wonder someone is poisoned and sent to the hospital every now and then."

Ye Min said: "It should be better in the future."

"Of course." Liang Juan nodded, then asked, "When will you go into the mountains?"

Qian Xiaoyun, who was listening to their conversation, asked, "Going into the mountains?"

"Isn't there an old master in charge of the compound? I plan to take my brother and sister to the mountains to play when I have time." Ye Min explained, "Sunday, Meng Cheng and I will have a rest then."

Qian Xiaoyun was a little excited and asked, "Which mountain are you going to? Is it steep?"

"It's in the back mountain. I've agreed with Meng Cheng that we'll just go around the outer area and not go deep into the mountains." Ye Min came to his senses and asked, "Do you want to go too?"

"I kind of want to, but..."

Ye Min looked at Qian Xiaoyun's belly. She was only three months pregnant, so it wasn't obvious and wouldn't affect her movements. But the roads in the mountains were definitely not easy to walk on, and accidents were easy to happen.

But seeing that Qian Xiaoyun really wanted to go, Ye Min thought for a moment and said, "Go back and ask Ding Yang. If he has time that day and is willing to go with us, you can go with us."

"Okay, I'll go back and ask her."

The two agreed, and Ye Min asked Liang Juan if she wanted to go.

Liang Juan loves the hustle and bustle, so she was willing to go, and said, "I'll bring my kids along."

"OK."

…

On Sunday, Ye Min and his family moved around as usual.

Ye Min and Meng Cheng started first, followed by Meng Zheng. After washing up, the mother and son started physical training. Since he didn't have to go to work today, Meng Cheng made a fire and cooked a pot of porridge while the two were training. After the two came back, he took about 20 minutes to teach them military boxing.

Ye Min learned very quickly and had mastered the first set of military boxing. Although he lacked strength, he made up for it little by little.

After entering July, she adjusted her daily training content, alternating between running and horse stance, doing a set of boxing every day, and also taking ten minutes to practice fighting with Meng Cheng.

The fighting time is the shortest in the training, but it is the most physically demanding. In such training day after day, she was finally able to last more than three minutes under Meng Cheng.

In addition to these trainings, they recently added the teaching of a second set of military boxing. Because of the previous foundation, Ye Min learned this set of boxing faster, and he had almost mastered the disassembled movements in just a few days.

Compared with Ye Min, Meng Zheng's learning progress lags behind much.

He only started learning martial arts in July, and today he started learning the fifth move of his first set of military boxing.

But he is young and can take it slow, so Meng Cheng is not in a hurry.

After the training, the mother and son did not rush to take a shower as usual. They had to go into the mountains after breakfast and might still sweat by then.

But the two were really tired. After standing for a while, Ye Min went into the house and poured two cups of warm water. He came out and handed one cup to Meng Zheng, and they drank while resting.

Meng Cheng went into the kitchen and cooked two simple dishes. When he was almost done, Ye Min had rested enough and got up to call An An to get up.

An An slept late yesterday and didn't get enough sleep. When she was woken up, she howled for a long time until she wiped her face and was carried to the dining table. She sniffed the aroma of food and stopped crying. She said softly, "I'm hungry~"

Ye Min was happy: "Are you hungry now? Didn't you cry and say you wanted to go to sleep just now?"

She laughed at the young lady but her hands did not stop moving. She scooped up a spoonful of porridge, blew on it, and fed it to her daughter.

The little girl ate the porridge in the spoon with a gulp, smacked her lips a few times, swallowed it, and then raised her chin to the stir-fried cabbage: "An An, eat."

After eating the cabbage, I would then raise my chin to the fried eggs with leeks. After tasting them one by one, I would continue to drink the porridge, and I had to strictly follow the order of one mouthful of porridge and two mouthfuls of vegetables.

Too picky!

This is because An An is young. If she were half a year older, Ye Min would not serve her like this.

After dinner, Meng Cheng cleaned up the dishes and went into the kitchen, while Ye Min carried An An back to the room.

Thinking that she would sweat while climbing the mountain, Ye Min did not change her clothes, but she re-combed her hair, changing the high ponytail into a thick braid to avoid being caught by branches after climbing the mountain.

I washed my face with water, put on some face cream, and changed into a pair of sports shoes that would be convenient for climbing the mountain.

After taking care of herself, Ye Min went to dress up An An. She found a pair of trousers for her, matched them with cloth shoes, and put a straw hat on her head to protect her from the sun.

The straw hat was rather plain. Ye Min looked at it for a while, then found a light blue ribbon from the closet, wrapped it around An An's hat, and tied a bow around it.

Although An An is still young, she has already learned to love beauty. She always dresses herself up neatly when her mother does it.

When Ye Min stopped moving, she stretched out her two fat hands to touch the brim of her hat. The brim was a bit wide, and she felt for a long time before she found the bow. She tilted her head and looked at her mother.

"This is a bow, it looks beautiful when tied." Ye Min said.

An An said "oh" and stopped pulling the bow.

As the mother and daughter got dressed, Liang Juan from next door also came over with her child. Ye Min heard the noise, put on a straw hat, and went out holding An An's hand.

Liang Juan was a person who knew how to liven up the atmosphere. When she saw Ye Min and her daughter coming out hand in hand, she immediately said in surprise, "Oh! Who are they? Where did this little girl come from who is so pretty?"

Although An An often looked confused when adults were talking, she never failed to understand when others complimented her.

Just like now, after hearing Liang Juan's words, An An raised her chin so proudly that her hat almost fell off.

Ye Min held her hat down and said with a smile, "Okay, don't be so proud, your hat is going to fall off."

Upon hearing this, An An immediately raised his hand to touch his hat.

After the greetings, the group went to Qian Xiaoyun's house.

Although Ding Yang was worried about Qian Xiaoyun's health, he saw that she wanted to go, and thought that as long as she didn't go into the mountains, and he stayed by his wife's side closely, it should be fine, so the two of them decided to join in the fun.

When they arrived at the Ding family, Qian Xiaoyun and his wife had just finished breakfast. When they saw them coming, they put away their bowls, hurriedly found a hat and put it on, slung their basket over their shoulders, and went out.

Today is Sunday, and there are more people going up the mountain to pick mushrooms than usual. When they go out, many people dressed like them either walk with them carrying empty baskets, or go against them and return with full baskets.

After leaving the yard, they walked around the family compound and followed the path up the mountain.

Normally, many people in the compound go up the mountain along this road, so although the road has not been repaired, it has been trampled very flat and can accommodate three people walking side by side, so it is easy to walk on on sunny days.

Not long after they walked along the road, they came to a three-way intersection. The two roads that branched out were narrower, and from the marks of weeds on both sides it was apparent that more people went on the wider road.

Anyone with experience knows that the roads are generally easier to walk in places with many people, but at the same time, because there are so many people, the competition when picking mushrooms will be greater. The situation is the opposite in places with fewer people.

They came here mainly to have fun today. There were children and pregnant women in the team. They were not trying to pick as many mushrooms as possible, but only wanted to ensure their safety. Therefore, they did not go to places with fewer people, but walked along the wider road.

After walking for less than two or three minutes, mushrooms began to appear along the way. These mushrooms were of different shapes and colors. Some had been picked, while others were still growing there. I didn't know if they had been missed or if the people ahead were worried that they might be poisonous.

Ye Min, Qian Xiaoyun and Liang Juan were unsure, but Meng Cheng, who often led teams in field training, knew more about mushrooms. He stepped forward to check and said, "It's a scaly mushroom."

The genus Boletus is a type of boletus and is also the most common fungus that causes poisoning[1]. At least half of the people who were admitted to the hospital during this period were infected with the genus Boletus because they had eaten Boletus.

However, it is not always poisonous to cook oyster sauce. As long as enough cooking oil is used, the cooking time is sufficient, and enough garlic is used during the cooking process [2], the probability of poisoning will be greatly reduced.

But... the last two conditions are easy to meet, but adding more cooking oil is something that most families cannot do because oil is a limited supply at that time.

The supply to the troops is relatively high, with each person receiving four liang of oil coupons per month, while in many places the supply is only two or three liang.

This amount is far from enough for an adult's monthly intake of edible oil, so when people cook, many of them just wipe the bottom of the pan with oil, or even worse, boil the food directly in water.

Because of this, most people at this time were malnourished and it was rare to see fat people on the street, which led to the aesthetic style being more rounded.

Having said that, whether inside or outside the compound, the fundamental purpose of those who go up the mountain to pick mushrooms is to save money on vegetables, so few of them are willing to use a lot of cooking oil to cook food.

As the green onion tastes better after being cooked, many people still eat it out of luck, even though they know it may be poisonous.

The army vegetable market does not sell green onion. After the compound invited an old master to take charge of the situation, if green onion is found, there will be a risk of poisoning.

This is probably the main reason why the other species were picked while the green mushroom remained intact.

After hearing what Meng Cheng said, Ye Min and the others looked at each other, all of them hesitant as to whether to take action or not.

The children didn't understand much. They only knew that they were going to the mountain to pick mushrooms today. Seeing that no one was moving, Meng Zheng walked over and asked, "Dad, aren't we going to pick them?"

Meng Cheng said, "It might be poisonous."

"Wow!"

Meng Zheng's eyes widened and he took a half step back. But within two seconds, he could not help but be curious. He squatted down and carefully observed the red umbrella on the ground. He looked up and said, "Dad, this mushroom is so beautiful! Is it really poisonous?"

"It's poisonous just because it looks good." Meng Cheng said that, without stopping his hands, he pulled out all the green hands he could see.

Meng Zheng immediately yelled, "Dad, what are you doing? They are poisonous!"

When Meng Cheng stood up, he lifted Meng Zheng's collar and said as he walked back, "I'll make it for you when I get home."

"But isn't it poisonous? Why do you want to cook it for me?" Meng Zheng stopped abruptly, stared at Meng Cheng's back with wide eyes, and asked in shock, "Dad, are you going to poison me?!"

When these words were spoken, everyone present was stunned, and then burst into laughter.

Meng Zheng, however, didn't find it funny. His eyes gradually turned red and tears welled up in his eyes. He looked extremely pitiful.

Ye Min glared at Meng Cheng and tried to coax her son: "Your father is fooling you. This fungus is poisonous, but it can be eaten when it is cooked. You are his son, how could he want to poison you to death?"

"Really?" Meng Zheng asked half-doubtfully with tears in his eyes.

"Of course it's true," Ye Min nodded affirmatively and suggested, "After we go back and fry the mushrooms, can you let your dad eat them first? We can eat them when he's free."

Meng Zheng thought this method was feasible, so he sniffed and held back his tears, glanced at Meng Cheng and said, "Okay then."

Although he believed that his father did not really want to poison him, Lu Mengzheng, who was behind him, did not dare to follow his father and began to stick to Ye Min. Every time Meng Cheng came over, he circled around his mother, full of defensive psychology.

Meng Cheng was both angry and amused. He took advantage of Ye Min's inattention and rubbed his head hard: "Are you really angry?"

Meng Zheng quickly pressed down his frizzy hair and said angrily, "Dad, you are bad!"

"What's wrong with me?" Meng Cheng asked.

Meng Zheng snorted and said, "You want to feed me poisonous mushrooms!"

"Didn't your mother explain to you that mushrooms are not poisonous if they are fried well?"

Meng Zheng continued to hum: "Who knows?"

Meng Cheng gritted his teeth, ready to pull his son's hair again, but Meng Zheng was quick-witted and ran away before he could do anything.

Seeing the father and son fighting, and An An giggling happily in his father's arms, Ye Min couldn't help laughing.

However, Ye Min still sided with her son in this matter and said to Meng Cheng, "Don't tease Zheng Zheng all the time. We are in the mountains now. Don't let him fall while running."

Feeling that his wife didn't love him and his daughter-in-law didn't care for him, Meng Cheng sighed: "Alas."

The whole family was laughing and playing, and Liang Juan, Qian Xiaoyun and others were watching the fun from behind.

Qian Xiaoyun and his wife were fine. Ding Yang and Meng Cheng had been friends for many years and knew each other's personalities well. Liang Juan, on the other hand, was a little shocked.

Although the Feng family and the Meng family were separated by only a sidewalk, Meng Cheng was still quite dignified outside. He was young, and most of his company commanders and deputy company commanders were older than him. It would be difficult for him to control the situation if he didn't act calm and focused.

And even though the way he teased Meng Zheng was not childish, it was definitely not stable.

Liang Juan thought as she watched, this is true that you can't judge a book by its cover, she didn't expect Meng Cheng to have such a personality at home.

Comparing it with his own Lao Feng, it's not that he doesn't have time today, but when he heard that they were going up the mountain to pick mushrooms, he refused without hesitation.

There is no comparison.

Chatting and laughing, they soon arrived at a relatively flat forest.

This forest has been there for many years. Because the trees are dense and leafy, in order to compete for sunlight, the trees in the forest grow straight and tall.

Below the woods was a stretch of grass. The grass was not very tall, probably not even above an adult's ankles, but the leaves looked exceptionally green in the sunlight shining through the gaps between the leaves.

In the grass or at the bottom of the tree trunks, there are a large number of mushrooms of various shapes and types growing vigorously.

Because the forest was large and full of mushrooms, there were many military wives looking for mushrooms here with bamboo baskets. As soon as the group walked in, many people greeted them.

Seeing Meng Cheng and Ding Yang were also there, many military wives were surprised, and some even asked, "Comrade Meng, Comrade Ding, why are you here too?"

"Take a rest today and come visit with my family." Meng Cheng said.

A military wife in a flowered shirt said enviously, "Hey, Captain Meng, you are so thoughtful. My son would sleep whenever he has a day off. He wouldn't even come with me to pick mushrooms. He wouldn't even help me fix the oil bottle when it fell over at home."

Meng Cheng did not take the opportunity to drag down his comrades, but only said: "There is nothing important in our camp this week, so we are relatively free and not that tired, so we are out and about during the holiday."

After hearing what he said, the military wife nodded and said, "My family is indeed quite busy this week."

After a brief greeting, both sides went their separate ways to look for mushrooms.

The friend of the wife in the flowered shirt came over and asked in a low voice, "Why did you call Captain Meng just now?"

Another military wife said, "You just came to the army, you don't understand. In the army, the deputy battalion commander always calls the battalion commander by his last name in front of others, or just calls him comrade. If you call him Deputy Battalion Commander Meng directly, you might offend someone who is stingy."

The wife of the soldier in the flowered shirt said, "I really didn't flatter anyone this time. Captain Meng is really going to be promoted."

"Is it going to be promoted? Why haven't I heard the news?"

"He's going to be promoted now? It hasn't been long since he was promoted to deputy battalion commander, right?"

"Why not just now? It's been more than three years," said the man in the flowered shirt. "Captain Meng may be young, but he has a lot of experience."

"She looks so young!" said the friend in the flowered shirt, "But is this news confirmed? Why haven't I heard about it?"

Another military wife nodded in agreement. There are no secrets in the family compound. Promotion is no small matter. If it is finalized, there is no way they have not heard about it.

"Isn't their battalion commander Liao going to retire and return home? If one leaves, someone has to take his place. My husband said that he will most likely be promoted to battalion commander this time."

It was no secret that Captain Liao was going to change his career, but another military wife was a little puzzled: "He was Captain Liao's subordinate?"

The man in the flowered shirt was surprised and asked, "Of course! You've been with the army for so long, you don't know all this, do you?"

"Our station is so large, and there are so many regiment commanders and battalion commanders. How can I keep track of it?"

The military wife thought, there were so many hundreds of people living in the compound, she could figure out the duties of most of them, and it was already amazing that she didn't yell at the wrong person when she met one on the road. Except for those who were in the same regiment and camp as her husband, she didn't have the energy to find out who the other people had under their command.

The friend in the flowered shirt was even more stunned, as she had just arrived to join the army.

Looking at the expressions on the two men's faces, the wife in the flowered shirt felt a sense of pride in her heart: "You two, your time in our station is still too short. If you have any questions in the future, come and ask me. I know everything."

…

While several military wives were muttering, Meng Zheng had already forgotten what happened on the road and devoted himself to the work of picking mushrooms.

He and Dongdong walked forward along a straight line, picking up mushrooms whenever they saw them. They were lucky and soon their pockets were full. They pulled their clothes by the hem and shouted to the adults, "Mom and Dad! Look how many mushrooms I picked!"

Ye Min was teaching An An how to pick mushrooms. When she heard the voice, she looked up and saw Meng Zheng running towards them, shouting, "Slow down, don't fall."

Although this forest looks flat and the flowers and plants are not very tall, there are many fallen and rotten branches in the grass, and it is easy to trip if you are not careful.

Meng Zheng was very obedient. He slowed down his pace and turned from running to jogging. He soon came to the three people and showed off to them by pulling his clothes: "Dangdangdang! Look at me picking so many mushrooms!"

Meng Cheng, who was picking mushrooms nearby, looked up at the brightly colored mushrooms lying on Meng Zheng's clothes and exclaimed, "So many poisonous mushrooms!"

As he said that, he stood up and was about to ask Meng Zheng to put the mushrooms down, but Meng Zheng ignored him, stepped back, and carefully put all the mushrooms in his pocket on the ground, saying unhappily: "They are not poisonous mushrooms, Mom said that cooked mushrooms are okay!"

"The poison of the mushrooms is not strong. If they are cooked long enough, they can be eaten," Ye Min looked carefully at the mushrooms that Meng Cheng had brought back. Most of them were normal in color, but there were two that were dazzlingly red. She said, "But these two mushrooms may be a bit poisonous. They can't be eaten."

"But I think they all look the same!" Meng Zheng said unconvinced.

After picking the mushrooms, An An looked up at the pile of mushrooms, his eyes lit up and he said, "It looks good!"

Meng Zheng immediately became proud: "Right, I picked them because I thought they looked pretty!"

An An nodded in agreement and reached out to touch it, but Ye Min quickly grabbed her hand and said, "You can't touch it."

Instructing Meng Cheng to take the girl away, he said to Meng Zheng, "Don't pick mushrooms just for the sake of appearance. The brighter the color, the more poisonous it is." He took out the green lily he had picked earlier and said, "Compared to this, the green lily isn't that bright, right?"

With the facts in front of him, Meng Zheng had no choice but to nod and say, "Yes." But he was a little unwilling to accept it and asked, "Are the mushrooms I picked really inedible?"

"Of course not. Eating them will cause harm." Ye Min said sternly, "We don't want these mushrooms anymore."

Seeing the expression on her face, Meng Zheng could no longer care about being unconvinced and asked nervously, "Will I be poisoned if I pick mushrooms?"

"Let me see your hand." Ye Min took Meng Zheng's hand and checked it to see if there was any injury. She said, "It's okay, but remember not to wipe your mouth with your hand. Just wash your hands thoroughly with soap when you get home."

Meng Zheng breathed a sigh of relief: "Oh."

Because of this incident, Ye Min and Liang Juan no longer dared to let the children run far, and they did not stay in the woods for long. They returned after filling their baskets.

When I got to the family compound, I went to the Women's Federation to ask the teacher to check me out. Today was Sunday, so there were a lot of people going up the mountain, and there was a long line in the courtyard of the Women's Federation.

Meng Zheng and Dong Dong were a little nervous because they picked poisonous mushrooms, so Ye Min asked Meng Cheng to take the children back to wash their hands first, while she and Liang Juan stayed behind to queue.

Although Meng Cheng liked to tease his son, he felt a little distressed when he saw how pitiful he was. Without saying much, he took the children and left.

After returning home, Meng Cheng went into the bathroom and got out a piece of soap. He asked the two older children of the Feng family to wash their hands first, then he went in to find a pair of clean clothes for Meng Zheng and helped him change his dirty clothes.

Dongdong asked his elder brother Feng Qingping to go home and find some clothes, and after they changed, he let them gather around the sink. He then fetched a basin of water and washed the hands of the girls who could not reach the sink.

After washing their hands, the two brothers who had just committed suicide breathed a sigh of relief. After knowing that they had picked poisonous mushrooms, they were very nervous all the way, fearing that they would accidentally wipe their mouths with their hands and get poisoned.

Although they didn't cry together after surviving the disaster, they gave each other long speeches. However, as they chatted, the topic gradually changed.

Before washing their hands, they were both convinced that they had not wiped their mouths with their hands, but after washing their hands, they were not so sure.

So when Ye Min and the others came back with the selected mushrooms, they saw the two little guys crying and saying, "Mom, I think I've been poisoned!"