Yesterday, Xia Qingyue hadn’t picked the oyster mushrooms and wood ear mushrooms she had found, so she decided to go back and gather them first. Today, she wanted to look for staple foods—things like yam or cassava, something filling. The sweet potatoes in the field alone wouldn’t last long.
The oyster mushrooms growing on the dead tree trunks appeared in big clusters. Their caps were gray, stems snowy white, and they came off easily with a gentle twist. From a single tree, she could gather three or four pounds at least.
She picked all the oyster mushrooms and wood ear mushrooms she could find. Along the way, she also discovered some fairly large wild onions and took them as well.
By the time she was done, she had cleared the area of all edible wild plants: over a basket of oyster mushrooms, half a basket of wood ear mushrooms, and a generous handful of wild onions.
She brought everything back to the sinkhole, spreading out the mushrooms with yesterday’s bamboo shoots to dry. Fresh wood ear mushrooms couldn’t be eaten raw—they would cause poisoning.
She planted some of the wild onions in the field, while the rest she placed in the dark part of the kitchen to prevent wilting.
Carrying a hoe on her shoulder, a basket on her back, and two more baskets at her sides, Xia Qingyue set out to find staple foods.
When she was little, she had dug in the mountains with her grandmother and remembered the appearance of yams and cassava. The problem was that in spring, the mountains were lush and green, making it a real test of both eyesight and patience to find them.
Heihe led her along the path to the bamboo forest. She kept her eyes wide, scanning, until they ached. She found no yams, but did come across some tender shepherd’s purse, three astragalus plants, and some bupleurum.
Astragalus replenishes qi and raises yang, while nourishing the body’s fluids and blood. Bupleurum roots are often used for colds and fevers.
She dug and pulled up the medicinal plants, which could be dried for her own use or sold.
Fortune smiled on her: she finally spotted a plant that looked just like a yam. After careful examination, she confirmed it was indeed a yam. She followed the vine down to the root and swung her hoe to dig.
Digging yams was physically demanding. Because tubers come in all shapes, she had to stop and scrape the soil away by hand to avoid breaking them.
When she finally unearthed the whole yam, she was sweating—but it was a joyful sight. It was longer than her arm and as thick as her wrist. She estimated it weighed at least fifteen pounds.
She kept the yam sprout to plant back in the field, so it could keep growing.
Soon, she found another yam nearby. This one was slightly smaller, but any harvest, big or small, brought her satisfaction.
She placed the yams in her basket and continued her search, moving toward the bamboo forest area. No new discoveries there, so she decisively moved on to another spot. With Heihe guiding her, she wasn’t afraid of getting lost.
Heihe led her off the usual path, through an overgrown area. She used her hoe to clear the underbrush as they went.
On a hillside, she found another yam. Then her eyes caught a dazzling sight: among the thick greenery, clusters of ruby-red fruit hung heavily on the branches, bending them under their weight.
“Oh wow, are those raspberries?”
Xia Qingyue was just thirsty, so she ran over excitedly.
Suddenly, Heihe darted ahead, diving into the grass by the edge of the raspberry patch. The vegetation shook violently.
She peered closer, heart pounding. Heihe emerged, chest puffed out, holding a long cauliflower snake in his mouth.
There were few things Xia Qingyue truly feared in her life, but crawling snakes and wriggling maggots were among them. Either one could scare her half to death.
Heihe seemed to know she was afraid, carrying the snake far away before tossing it aside.
“Phew…” Xia Qingyue patted her chest. Seeing Heihe return, she finally relaxed a bit.
She called Heihe over and stroked his smooth head. “Good dog!”
The incident reminded her that the forest was full of hidden dangers, and she would need to be careful in the future.
Still a little on edge, she picked a raspberry, rubbed it clean with her hand, and ate it. Fresh and juicy, it was sweet and tart.
“Delicious!”
She tossed a few berries to Heihe, who swallowed them whole without even chewing.
Heihe looked around, wagging his tail. Xia Qingyue, busy picking berries, said, “Go on, but don’t run too far.”
Heihe shot off.
There were plenty of raspberries—this patch and others farther away—and the bright red fruits were hard to miss.
Thinking of the snake, Xia Qingyue only took a bite and stopped. She carefully grabbed a branch and gently pulled off a cluster of berries. In a short while, she had half a basketful.
Without a refrigerator, she couldn’t keep them fresh for long.
“Hmm… I need to think of a way to preserve these. Maybe make jam? But I’d need sugar… where would I find sugar out here?”
Then she remembered the honey in the mountains.
“Right! Honey can replace sugar, and the beeswax can be used for candles!”
Xia Qingyue had already thought about how to handle the bees carefully; getting stung would be painful. First, she needed to locate the hive.
After picking the berries, she returned to the hillside to dig up another yam. This one was huge, about twenty pounds.
Xia Qingyue was ecstatic, holding the heavy tuber in both hands, and the exhaustion from digging nearly vanished.
By the end of the day, she had dug three yams, totaling around fifty pounds—enough to last her and Heihe for several days.
Nearby, she spotted some mugwort. Using her sickle, she cut as much as her basket could hold. Mugwort was edible and medicinal.
After a while, Heihe returned.
“Let’s go to the reed marsh.”
She wanted to catch wild chickens and ducks and hoped to find honey, but today she hadn’t prepared properly. She needed to set up first.
At the reed marsh, Heihe ran off excitedly.
Xia Qingyue found a suitable spot to set a trap. She propped up a basket with sticks, placed bait underneath, tied a string to the stick, and waited. When the prey stepped under the basket to eat, she could pull the string and trap it inside.
She used worm bodies mixed with sweet potato bits for bait. Handling the worms made her gag, as their wriggling reminded her of snakes and maggots.
With the trap set, she hid nearby and waited.
Soon, two wild chickens wandered over, looking around as if searching for food. Smelling the bait, they pecked toward it.
Xia Qingyue held her breath, barely daring to move.
One chicken, unable to resist, crept closer and pecked at the bait. The other watched cautiously from behind.
The first chicken moved closer, drawn by the promise of more food, until it was directly under the basket.
The second chicken hesitated. Xia Qingyue, anxious it would escape, pulled the string decisively.
“Cluck, cluck, cluck!” The startled second chicken flapped away.
She emerged from hiding, laughing, and lifted the trapped chicken.
Perfect—it was a hen.