The foot of the mountain was frequently visited by people gathering firewood, making the vegetation relatively sparse.
She didn’t stop her steps, heading directly toward the mountainside. This time climbing the mountain, she wanted to find some wild fruit trees to plant in her Space.
Vegetables watered with Spiritual Spring Water became more tender and juicy, so wild fruits should be the same.
Most wild fruits in the mountains tasted sour and astringent, difficult to eat—otherwise they would have been picked clean by others long ago.
However, families with insufficient food supplies wouldn’t pick such fruits to eat as meals, because these sour fruits would only make you hungrier the more you ate.
The higher she climbed, the denser the vegetation became, and Su Qingran saw more and more green in her field of vision.
Using a stick to clear her path, she soon discovered a wild grape vine.
The wild grapes were small and could be eaten directly or used for winemaking. Their purplish-black fruits looked quite appealing.
She reached out and touched the wild grape vine, and with a slight thought in her mind, the entire plant vanished without a trace! Not even a mark was left behind!
Entering her Space to check, she found the wild grape vine had indeed appeared on a patch of vacant black soil.
Su Qingran was delighted—this saved her the trouble of digging things up and replanting them.
Besides the wild grapes, she also found several Jizong mushrooms under an old tree. Jizong typically grew in clusters as fungi symbiotic with white ants. Finding several Jizong here with many White Ant Nest Xues nearby meant there must be more Jizong in the vicinity.
She crouched down and patiently searched the area, and sure enough, found several more spots where Jizong were growing.
To her surprise, she also spotted several snow-white “Chicken Crowns” on a rotting log. Upon closer inspection, the translucent objects could be nothing else but white fungus!
Su Qingran had eaten white fungus in her previous life, but that was after the country had opened up. Currently, white fungus was very rare. Legend had it that white fungus was a tribute used by Empress Dowager Cixi for maintaining her youthful appearance, with a single piece selling for over twenty taels of silver—essentially priceless and unavailable on the market.
Yet on this rotting log, six or seven pieces grew consecutively. Three were small, only about the size of her fist, while the remaining few were palm-sized. These four large white fungus specimens were of quite good quality—she wondered how much they could fetch if sold?
Su Qingran didn’t even spare the rotting log, directly moving it into her Space. Perhaps with the nourishment of Spiritual Spring Water, it could produce even more white fungus?
Afterward, she intentionally searched for rotting wood. If there was anything growing on it, that was better, but even bare logs she moved into her Space to cultivate mushrooms later. Her luck held as she found clusters of plump black fungus on a relatively slender rotting log.
Later, she also moved wild chestnut, wild hawthorn, wild jujube, and other wild fruit trees into her Space. The previously empty Space suddenly became much more lively.
Su Qingran sat down under a tree to rest when she grew tired, taking out a water bottle from her basket and gulping down a large mouthful of Spiritual Spring Water. She drank too hastily and accidentally spilled some on the ground, but didn’t pay it much mind. Unexpectedly, shortly after, she saw a wild chicken eagerly charging toward her.
Her eyes widened as the wild chicken stopped on the slightly damp dead leaves, flapping its wings and continuously approaching her, making Su Qingran’s mouth water.
The plump multicolored pheasant seemed utterly intoxicated by the taste of the Spiritual Spring Water, showing no reaction even when Su Qingran grabbed it by the wings.
So the Spiritual Spring Water actually had this effect!
Following the same method, Su Qingran sprinkled more Spiritual Spring Water on the ground—this time a larger amount—and indeed attracted more prey. She managed to catch three more pheasants and four wild rabbits!
She stored all the animals in her Space, using her will to partition areas to prevent them from trampling the Spiritual Spring and black soil.
Estimating that over an hour had passed, she prepared to descend the mountain. Since the adults in her family were all working in the fields, Su Qingran had taken on the responsibility of cooking. She couldn’t let her parents return home hungry with the meal unprepared.
On her way down, she gathered some dry firewood and placed it in her basket to conceal the items underneath. In these times, everything on the mountain belonged to the collective. While large prey like wild boars had to be handed over to the village, smaller catches like pheasants didn’t need to be surrendered. Still, it was better to keep them hidden to avoid arousing envy.
Sure enough, as soon as she reached the foot of the mountain, she encountered two women gathering firewood. Su Qingran recognized them—both were Educated Youth.
Normally, the Educated Youth should have been working in the fields at this hour, but there were exceptions. The Zhiqing Point required people to take turns cooking, and these two had likely finished early to gather dry grass for kindling on their way back from Crouching Chicken Mountain.
“Zhang Zhiqing, Xi Zhiqing, are you here to gather dry grass too?” Su Qingran greeted them proactively. She remembered that both had some friction with Qiao Manxue. The enemy of my enemy is my friend—she wouldn’t miss any chance to undermine Qiao Manxue.
Zhang Ping and Xi Jiani exchanged a glance before Xi Jiani responded with a polite smile, “Comrade Su, you’re gathering dry grass too?”
“Yes, I was just about to head home. Please continue.”
“Ah, Comrade Su, we’re almost done as well. Shall we walk back together?” Zhang Ping quickly interjected as Su Qingran turned to leave.
Xi Jiani frowned slightly at her in confusion and shook her head gently.
“Sure, let’s go together.”
The three walked side by side, with Zhang Ping in the middle, closer to Xi Jiani, while Su Qingran kept a person’s distance between them.
“Comrade Su, I heard you hit your head. Are you feeling better now?” Zhang Ping asked.
“Much better.”
“I also heard that your engagement with Comrade Lu fell through? If I may ask, was it related to him comforting Qiao Manxue by holding her?”
“Zhang Ping…” Xi Jiani frowned. How could she ask such an impolite question? Comrade Su must be feeling upset about the whole situation.
Ignoring her, Zhang Ping pressed on, “Comrade Su, do you know what the relationship is between Qiao Manxue and Lu Jingxuan? Why did he hold and comfort her but not save you?”
“Zhang Ping! That’s too much. Stop talking!” Xi Jiani halted and looked apologetically at Su Qingran. “Comrade Su, I’m sorry. Zhang Ping is just being nosy; she doesn’t mean any harm.”
Su Qingran lowered her eyes, a flicker of fragility crossing her face. “I know Zhang Zhiqing meant no harm. In fact, I’ve been wanting to understand these questions myself. Lu Jingxuan saved Comrade Qiao even though he didn’t know her, while I’m the one currently discussing marriage with him…”
“You think so too, right? I knew it! The relationship between Qiao Manxue and Lu Jingxuan is absolutely not simple! Before this, I often saw Qiao Manxue running into the woods. She said she was gathering dry firewood, but I always felt something wasn’t right. Perhaps… she was secretly meeting Lu Jingxue in the woods!”
“Comrade Su, don’t worry. I’ll definitely expose this adulterous couple and get justice for you!”
Zhang Ping spoke with conviction, yet couldn’t conceal the schadenfreude in her eyes.
In her previous life, Su Qingran had heard from Lu Jingxuan that at the Zhiqing Point, there was a male Educated Youth surnamed Liao who liked Qiao Manxue, while a female Educated Youth surnamed Zhang liked this male Educated Youth surnamed Liao. Therefore, she targeted Qiao Manxue at every turn. Combined with her identity as a capitalist’s daughter, Qiao Manxue faced ostracism at the Zhiqing Point and lived quite miserably.
Back then, Qiao Manxue had also deliberately approached her and befriended her, so initially, Su Qingran and Qiao Manxue had a reasonably good relationship. Even later, when Lu Jingxuan helped Qiao Manxue secure a job in the Cultural Troupe, although Su Qingran felt uncomfortable inside, she didn’t say anything.
How foolish she had been in her previous life!
“Really… It can’t be…”
Zhang Ping couldn’t hide her excitement. “It’s true! I’ll definitely keep watching them both! Just wait and see!”
Xi Jiani looked somewhat awkwardly at Su Qingran. She didn’t like Qiao Manxue either—not only because of her capitalist family background but also because her words often made people uncomfortable. But what Zhang Ping was saying…
“Comrade Su, we still want to wash our faces by the river. Why don’t you head back first?”
“Alright.”
Xi Jiani pulled Zhang Ping, who still wanted to continue speaking, toward the Qing River. Su Qingran curled her lips into a slight smile and headed home humming a tune.
Several aunties who had just returned from the fields and were preparing to cook dinner looked at her strangely. Had this girl gone mad?
She had just narrowly escaped death, lost her innocence, and been abandoned by her fiancé—yet she could still smile…