Xiuhua's sister-in-law explained that she just picked them up for fun.
"Okay, I understand."
Wei Yuyan remembered a delicious dish: mushroom and meat sauce buns. She would make these mushroom and meat sauce buns next time she went to the market and bought meat.
The two quickened their pace and went up the mountain. They didn't start picking mushrooms until they reached the halfway point, as there weren't many in the lower parts of the mountain.
There were quite a few of these places, so the two of them split up and agreed to meet in front of the bamboo grove around noon.
Wei Yuyan picked up things along the way, and before noon she had almost filled a basket. She didn't want to pick anymore, so she slowly walked back. When she got to the front of the bamboo forest, Xiuhua's sister-in-law hadn't returned yet, so Wei Yuyan went to check on the bamboo forest. Unexpectedly, she made an unexpected discovery.
"Oh my, there are bamboo shoots too."
Wei Yuyan saw a small, pointed bamboo shoot sprouting. It was a pity she hadn't brought a hoe today. Wei Yuyan thought to herself, what a shame.
There weren't many bamboo shoots in the bamboo forest, so it probably wasn't the right time yet. Wei Yuyan thought it would be better to come back in a few days to dig them up.
"Sister-in-law, have you arrived yet?"
A little while later, he heard Sister Xiuhua calling him.
"Sister-in-law Xiuhua, I'm here."
Wei Yuyan, carrying mushrooms on her back, emerged from the bamboo forest and saw Sister-in-law Xiuhua.
"You're even faster than me! You've picked quite a lot too. Luckily we came in the morning; if we had come in the afternoon, we wouldn't have had a chance."
Sister-in-law Xiuhua knew that the older women in the village were all experts at picking mountain produce.
"Sister-in-law Xiuhua, you've picked so many! My goodness!"
Wei Yuyan was shocked when she saw Sister Xiuhua's basket; it was so full it was about to spill out.
"This is nothing. I picked a whole basketful and brought back a whole basketful before. There are lots of mushrooms this time of year. Let's come again next time it rains."
Sister-in-law Xiuhua seemed particularly happy, after all, she had a very fruitful harvest.
"Okay, let's go back. We need to be careful on the way, or we'll fall and it'll be terrible."
Although Wei Yuyan's foot has healed, she is still traumatized and afraid of spraining it again. She will definitely go downhill slowly.
"Yes, especially since the ground isn't dry yet."
It rained quite heavily last night. It's already noon, and the ground is still not completely dry. I guess it's going to rain again.
The two returned home unhurriedly.
"Knock knock knock~, Xiao Lei, Qian Qian, your sister-in-law is back, open the door."
Wei Yuyan knocked on the door.
"Sister-in-law, you're back. My brother is cooking."
Qianqian opened the door and let Wei Yuyan in.
"Is that so?"
Wei Yuyan put down the basket. These mushrooms were quite heavy; she would wash them later.
"Sister-in-law, so many mushrooms! Brother, look! Sister-in-law picked a lot of mushrooms."
Qianqian was surprised and called Wu Lei to come and see.
"Oh, sister-in-law, dinner is almost ready. Why did you pick so many?"
Wu Lei came out of the kitchen, glanced around, and then went back inside, presumably to cook.
Wei Yuyan washed her face with water, and just as she finished, Wu Lei came out with the dishes.
"Sister-in-law, Qianqian, dinner is ready."
Wu Lei went back to get the food, and Qianqian also went to help get the chopsticks.
"Let me see what we're having for dinner today. Oh, it's fried eggs with chili peppers and stir-fried spinach. It looks delicious!"
Previously, Wei Yuyan was injured and taught Wu Lei how to cook. However, Wu Lei's cooking skills were not very good. But Wei Yuyan thought that if he cooked it a few more times, he would definitely improve.
"Sister-in-law, you must have worked hard picking mushrooms today, have some more."
Wu Lei scooped a full bowl of rice and handed it to Wei Yuyan.
"So many, okay, let's eat them all. Hmm, Xiao Lei's cooking skills have improved."
Wei Yuyan tried the chili-fried egg, and the taste was just right—salty and spicy, perfect with rice.
Hehe~
Wu Lei scratched his head, embarrassed. He was too ashamed to admit that he had tasted the saltiness several times.
If it's too bland, add some salt. If it's too bland again, add a little more salt.
After finishing her meal, Wei Yuyan started fetching water to wash the mushrooms, and the children came over to help.
"Sister-in-law, I'll go get a few winnowing baskets."
Wu Lei stood up and fetched four winnowing baskets. Now that the medicinal herbs weren't being dried, the baskets were just sitting idle.
"After washing them clean, we dried them in the sun so we could eat them when there were no other vegetables available in winter."
Wei Yuyan brought a small stool and carefully washed the mushrooms. They weren't too dirty. It took the three of them about 45 minutes to wash all the mushrooms.
"Oh, we're finally done washing up. Do you want to rest for a while or go out and play?"
Wei Yuyan stretched.
"Sister-in-law, let's not rest, let's go out for a walk, you should get some sleep."
Wu Lei could tell that Wei Yuyan was a little tired.
"Okay, I'll take a break."
Wei Yuyan felt that she was used to taking a midday rest, and at this time she always wanted to lie down for a while.
I fell asleep within minutes of lying down in bed.
After a good night's sleep, I felt completely refreshed.
After combing her hair, Wei Yuyan cleaned the house, sweeping and wiping as needed.
The kitchen was quite dirty, but the children's rooms were clean, with the blankets neatly made.
The next day, Wei Yuyan prepared to show off her skills by cooking a mushroom feast.
"For lunch today, we had mushroom and egg soup, stir-fried mushrooms with chili peppers, and stir-fried mushrooms with greens."
Wei Yuyan looked at the three dishes on the table and seemed quite satisfied.
"It's so delicious, sister-in-law! I want to go mushroom picking next time."
Wu Qian had never picked mushrooms before and longed to do so.
"Hmm~ That's fine too. I'll take you next time when the rain isn't so heavy. If it rains heavily, the roads will be all muddy and you won't be able to walk."
Wei Yuyan comforted her.
"Yay, thank you, sister-in-law."
Wu Qian nodded in satisfaction and ate her meal with gusto. Wei Yuyan picked up a piece of stir-fried mushrooms with chili peppers and said, "Mmm, the taste is just right, especially delicious."
"Eat more, mushrooms shouldn't be kept overnight."
Wei Yuyan felt that mushrooms didn't taste good after being left overnight because they had a high nitrite content.
"Sister-in-law, did you have stir-fried mushrooms today?"
In the afternoon, Wei Yuyan was making her own shoes at home when her sister-in-law Xiuhua came in all the way. As soon as she came in, she asked if there was any stir-fried mushrooms to eat.
"Yes, I stir-fried three kinds of mushrooms. They tasted great, and the kids loved them too."
Wei Yuyan was completely confused.
"I'm telling you, don't eat that. Zhang Si's mother at the village entrance ate some stir-fried mushrooms and died of poisoning."
Xiuhua's sister-in-law looked worried. Yesterday she was happy to have picked so many mushrooms, but in the blink of an eye someone was poisoned to death. It's terrifying.
"What? Poisoned? Already dead?"
If Wei Yuyan was still alive, he might be able to do some first aid for her, such as inducing vomiting.
"He died. Dr. Qian went to see him personally and said he had already breathed his last."
Xiuhua's sister-in-law lowered her voice.
"Xiuhua, don't worry, I know poisonous mushrooms, I didn't pick any poisonous mushrooms."
Wei Yuyan disagreed. She thought the old man must have accidentally eaten a poisonous mushroom, and of course, it was safe to eat a non-poisonous mushroom.
"That's what they say, but in our village, something like this happens every few years."
"It's about food poisoning; everyone just said they'll never eat mushrooms again."
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