Yesterday, outside the supermarket, they had seen quite a few people selling mushrooms from pushcarts or baskets—priced anywhere from over ten to over twenty yuan per catty. Some of the mushrooms the siblings didn’t recognize, but most were the kinds they had often eaten in the past.
This was the best time of year for mushrooms in the mountains. In less than half a day, they could easily gather a hundred catties. Once they took them over to the other side and sold them, they could buy themselves two sets of clothes and plenty of rice and flour. Then they wouldn’t have to worry about making it through the winter.
They gathered mushrooms as they made their way toward the patch where Lin Erhu had spotted the ginseng last time.
“Sis, it’s over there. I remember Dad saying that when you dig ginseng, you have to be careful not to break the root hairs. We’ll need to be really careful.”
“I know. I brought a shovel. We’ll dig out the surrounding soil first, then work it out slowly.”
The patch of ginseng Lin Erhu had mentioned was on a shaded slope, surrounded by tall trees and thick weeds. If you weren’t looking carefully, it would be easy to miss.
But when they got there, they found only freshly turned earth. Judging by the traces, it hadn’t been long since someone had dug there.
Lin Erhu was frustrated. “If I’d known someone would beat me to it, I should’ve come earlier.”
Lin Xiaoman was disappointed too, but she tried to comfort him. “If someone else dug it up, then it wasn’t meant to be ours. The mushrooms we gather today will still bring in a good amount of money. If we work hard before it gets too cold, we’ll definitely save up enough grain to last until next year.”
Lin Erhu sighed again. Lin Xiaoman had to add, “If you’d dug it up earlier, it would’ve just been taken by Grandpa and Grandma anyway. Better someone else got it.”
“That’s true! Ahh…” Though he sighed again, Lin Erhu visibly perked up a bit.
They searched the area carefully and eventually found a small ginseng root under a clump of grass by a tree.
The siblings carefully dug it out, wrapped it in a piece of moss they peeled from the ground, covered it with a few layers of leaves, and tied it tightly with straw rope before tucking it deep in the bottom of their basket.
After another sweep of the mountain, aside from the two large baskets of mushrooms, they also gathered quite a few wild fruits. When they got home, they would score the skins, string them up, and hang them under the eaves to dry into dried fruit. In winter, they could steep them in water or steam them with sugar to eat.
Back when their mother was alive, she had made delicious food in all kinds of ways every day. The siblings had tasted many good things and naturally knew a bit more about food than the other villagers.
Back home, they drank a ladleful of water, then dumped out their haul to sort it.
The wild fruits went into a basket and were carried to the kitchen. The mushrooms were sorted by type into two large baskets and two small ones, with any worm-eaten or spoiled ones picked out.
Lin Xiaoman, with her great strength, carried the two large baskets herself. They were filled with hazel mushrooms.
Lin Erhu, not as strong, carried the two smaller baskets—one with pine mushrooms, the other half-filled with lion’s mane mushrooms and three pieces of lingzhi.
Perhaps they had come a bit late; there were even more people on the street than yesterday. Before the siblings even reached the supermarket where they had shopped the day before, someone stopped them.
A plump woman in an elegant long dress asked, “Kids, are these mushrooms for sale?”
Lin Xiaoman and Lin Erhu nodded eagerly. Lin Xiaoman said, “Yes, they’re for sale! Auntie, do you want to buy some?”
The use of “Auntie” made the woman beam with delight. “Oh my, what a sweet-talking child! I’m nearly sixty—I could be your grandmother. Don’t call me Auntie. My surname is Liu. You can call me Granny Liu.”
Lin Xiaoman looked at Granny Liu’s fair face in surprise. There was hardly a wrinkle on it.
She thought of Old Madam Lin, who was barely over fifty but had a face etched with deep wrinkles. If you put the two women side by side, she would have believed it if someone said Granny Liu was twenty years younger.
“Granny Liu, you look so young! What do you usually put on your face?”
Granny Liu was even more delighted by Lin Xiaoman’s words. “Oh, nothing much. I’ve never been one for makeup, even when I was young. I just use some moisturizer—the kind that costs ten or twenty yuan. The key is having a good attitude and protecting yourself from the sun. If women get too much sun, their skin suffers, and they age faster.”
Lin Xiaoman nodded eagerly. The women back in her village all worked in the fields, exposed to the sun all day—no wonder they looked older than the city women!
From now on, whenever she worked in the fields, she would make sure to cover herself up thoroughly.
As they chatted, Granny Liu gestured to the siblings. “Those baskets look heavy. Don’t just stand here chatting—let’s go over there and take a look at the mushrooms.”
Lin Xiaoman and Lin Erhu carried their baskets over and set them down. Granny Liu began sorting through them.
“These mushrooms are really good quality. Hardly any worm damage. How much per catty? If the price is right, I’ll buy a good amount.”
Lin Xiaoman remembered that hazel mushrooms had been selling for sixteen yuan a catty yesterday, and pine mushrooms for twenty-five yuan a catty—and those weren’t as good as the ones they had brought.
She hadn’t seen lion’s mane mushrooms for sale here, but back home they sold for quite a high price. They probably weren’t cheap here either.
But they didn’t have a scale!
Lin Xiaoman pointed at the baskets. “Granny Liu, we don’t have a scale, so let’s sell them by the basket. This big basket of hazel mushrooms is about thirty catties, maybe a bit more. I’ll sell it to you for four hundred fifty yuan. Two baskets would be nine hundred. This basket of pine mushrooms is about five catties—just give us a hundred. As for the lion’s mane mushrooms and lingzhi, we picked those in the mountains too. I’m not sure what they’re worth. Whatever you think is fair, Granny Liu.”
Granny Liu’s mouth twitched. Was this little girl expecting her to buy everything?
She looked at the two large baskets of hazel mushrooms. The baskets were big, and there was easily more than the girl had said.
The price was certainly cheap, but she had only wanted to buy some to make chicken stew when her son’s family came over for the weekend. At most, she might buy another ten catties or so to dry. There was no way she could use this much!
But the two children looked so pitiful. Under their eager gazes, she felt bad about saying no.
With a determined sigh, Granny Liu said, “Alright, come with me to my place. It’s in that neighborhood just ahead. Oh, let me carry this basket. You look so young—how can you carry something so heavy? How did your parents let you go out like this?”
As she spoke, Granny Liu lifted one of the large baskets of hazel mushrooms. The weight nearly threw out her back.
Then she looked at Lin Xiaoman, who didn’t even reach her shoulder and was so thin and small she looked maybe fourteen at most. Yet she was carrying two baskets without any effort, and had walked who knows how far. Granny Liu’s heart ached even more for these children.
Lin Xiaoman and Lin Erhu had no idea Granny Liu had already decided they were pitiful little souls. They happily followed her toward the neighborhood she had pointed out.
Along the way, Granny Liu pulled out the little square device that everyone here seemed to have, tapped it a few times, and held it to her ear. Soon, a voice came from the other end. Granny Liu said, “Old Zhang, do you want to buy some mushrooms? I ran into two kids selling mushrooms over here. The mushrooms look really good, but there’s too much for me to finish. If you want some, we can split it? … Okay, okay. I’ll see you downstairs in a bit. … Yeah, there’s a lot. See if anyone else wants to buy some. Round up a few people. And tell them to bring their own bags—I don’t think these kids have plastic bags.”
“Oh, Old Xu! It’s me… Yes, yes. You have a scale at home, right? Could I borrow it?”
Before they had walked far, Granny Liu had already contacted several people. She put away the little square and smiled. “There, I’ve called a few people. Your mushrooms will sell in no time.”