The two started looking for mushrooms. There weren't many left around the cave, so they went further afield, walking as they went. They didn't eat lunch again, not because they were engrossed in the search, but because they didn't have time.
Since they were pressed for time, the two didn't have time to eat. They searched until the afternoon before stopping. The weather was hot, and the mushrooms would spoil. There were also ants and insects on the mushrooms, so many of them were inedible. That's why they stopped searching.
"Shushu, there's an open space up ahead. Let's have dinner a little earlier tonight," Xia Hua said, pointing to the open space in front of her.
An Shuyi nodded, "Let's do it here then!"
The two walked over, and Xia Hua took out a table and chairs, followed by three portable gas stoves and the steamers she had just bought. They were made of bamboo and could be used simply by placing them in the pot. She bought nine of them, putting three steamers in each pot, so that she could steam more food faster.
She took out the dough she had kneaded last night, along with the prepared filling. Xia Hua was in charge of rolling out the dough, while An Shuyi was in charge of wrapping it. Although the wrapping wasn't very good, it didn't matter if it looked a little ugly since it was for her own consumption.
After all the buns were wrapped, Xia Hua took out a portable gas stove, put a ceramic pot on it, and prepared to cook some porridge, otherwise eating buns alone would be a bit too greasy.
"Huahua, bring out the generator so I can heat up some water for a shower. Also, bring out your bathtub and the hot water heater," An Shuyi said from the side, taking out her bathtub as well.
I haven't walked much these past few days, but I've been feeling incredibly sticky. I've been wearing a raincoat the whole time, and I couldn't take it off even when I was sweating. It wasn't until noon today, after the sun came out and there was no water on the tree branches, that I finally took off the raincoat. Otherwise, I would have been wearing it for the past few days.
Xia Hua nodded and took out the generator, as well as her bath tub, a hot water marvel. However, she placed it a little further away. The bath tub was full of water before, but some of it had been used for washing up in the past few days, but there was still enough water left for bathing.
She used bottled water, bought from the mall, to cook, keeping the water warm while she watched the porridge.
Once the water is hot enough, the buns are steamed. Take the buns out in a bowl, put them in a container, and put them in the storage room along with the portable gas stove. Keep the porridge warm on the stove.
An Shuyi washed the steamer clean, and Xia Hua put everything into the warehouse: the generator, the clean steamer, the basin, and the bucket. After that, the two of them took a shower, then put on clean pajamas and threw their dirty clothes into the warehouse.
Take out two steamers of steamed buns, one of each kind, and then ladle out two bowls of porridge. Then we can start eating.
"Be careful, it's hot!" Xia Hua hurriedly reminded An Shuyi as she picked up a bun and put it in her mouth. The bun was extremely hot and had been put in the warehouse right after it came out of the steamer.
"Don't worry, I'll be careful, I won't burn myself." After saying that, he blew on it a few times before taking a bite. Mmm, delicious.
"Huahua, the buns actually have soup inside! I'm so glad I listened to you, otherwise I would have burned my mouth with a big bite. These chicken-of-the-woods buns are really delicious, with soup inside. Do you think they would be even better if they were made with green-headed mushrooms?" After all, green-headed mushrooms will release a lot of moisture when stir-fried.
"No!" Xia Hua shook her head. "Green-headed mushrooms are suitable for soups, but not for making buns. They are too watery and don't taste good because the inner layer is very runny. They don't taste as good as chicken-of-the-woods mushrooms."
Although she had never steamed them before, chicken-of-the-woods mushrooms don't have much moisture, but they can still release broth when steamed. Green-headed mushrooms have even more moisture, so you know they'll release more broth even without steaming. If she used them as soup dumplings, it would be fine, but the dough is tricky, and she couldn't knead it properly.
"Alright, anyway, the termite mushrooms are delicious too." We made so many buns today, enough to last for several days. Tomorrow morning we'll have buns, lunch will be stir-fried porcini mushrooms, and dinner will be stir-fried boletus mushrooms, until she gets tired of wild mushrooms.
After finishing her meal, An Shuyi returned to her tent to sell her harvest for the day. She sold all the poisonous mushrooms, but not as many as yesterday. Her balance only increased by 31,000 taels, bringing it to 66,200 taels. She was only 33,800 taels away from 100,000 taels.
It's a pity I can't pick mushrooms tomorrow, otherwise I could pick them for one more day and buy a time travel pass. I could then open the trading system and buy things. This time, the things I can buy aren't fruit, even though she's been thinking about them.
Instead, there are only ten dessert recipes: mille-feuille cake, cake roll, volcano cake, cookies, egg yolk pastry, cherry cake, blueberry cake, pomegranate cake, grape cake, and pudding cake.
"Make the trading system disappear. 'Huahua, we already have 66,000 taels. What's wrong with it raining for another day?'"
"Don't worry, it's only a little over 30,000 taels short. We can find it in two days at most. There's no use in rushing. Go to sleep. Tomorrow we'll start searching for things while traveling." She wasn't in a hurry. 30,000 taels of silver would be easy to find.
"Go to sleep!" She knew that rushing wouldn't help, so she decided to wait a couple more days.
Unfortunately, despite their good intentions, the two of them only found some saplings that were cheap and could only be sold for a few taels of silver over the next two days. They didn't see any other ginseng, lingzhi, or even poisonous herbs.
"Huahua, we've reached the outer edge!" Looking at the village and paths below the mountain, it's no wonder we haven't been able to find any valuable flowers, plants, or seedlings these past few days.
It's been three days since they found the mushrooms, and the two of them have been searching on opposite sides, but they haven't seen a single precious flower or plant.
“It seems we have to take a section of the official road before we can return to the mountain path.” Xia Hua looked down at the village below as well. “Let’s go. Tonight, we’ll stay at a villager’s house down the mountain and continue our journey tomorrow.”
“Okay, let’s go!” An Shuyi nodded and followed behind her.
The two had just started walking downhill and hadn't gone far when they heard sounds coming from their left, like villagers hunting. Seeing them approaching, the two had no choice but to stop and wait for them to get closer.
"Which village are you from? What are you doing on this mountain?" There were eight of them in total, and the one who spoke was the one in front, who also looked the oldest.
They were at least fifty years old, while the younger ones were in their thirties and were quite strong. They were all carrying bows and arrows, and some were carrying machetes.
“We’re from Xinglin Village. We’re visiting relatives and we’re taking the mountain road. Are you villagers from the foot of the mountain?” An Shuyi asked.
"Yes, we are villagers from the foot of the mountain. We came up the mountain to hunt and are now heading home. Would you two ladies like to rest in our village for the night and continue your journey tomorrow? After all, it's getting late."
An Shuyi smiled and said, "I was just thinking of that. I didn't expect to meet you all. I just wonder if it's convenient in the village?"
"Convenient, definitely convenient." Before the older man could speak, a voice came from the side. It was a younger man, but he wasn't very good-looking.
"Since it's convenient, then I'll take my leave." An Shuyi nodded.
“Then we’ll go ahead, and you two young ladies can follow. Our village is called Chenjia Village. It’s two days’ walk from Baiyun City. You two young ladies are going to visit relatives there. Why don’t you take the main road? The mountain roads are too dangerous,” the older man said.
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