Ding Baozhu didn’t know much about what had happened to the original owner before her soul transmigrated here, but she wondered if it was because of the several spring rains they had recently.
It was the perfect season; the bamboo shoots they dug up were thick, sturdy, and a beautiful tender yellow. As the segments were gradually revealed, one could tell just by looking that the texture would be exceptionally crisp and fresh. It must be said that in this single moment, Ding Baozhu had already thought of many recipes for spring bamboo shoots.
They dug up a cluster of five or six shoots, eventually placing them all into Ding Baozhu’s basket. They refilled the holes with soil before leaving contentedly to continue their search for other things.
However, the morning passed quickly, and sunlight began to filter through the gaps in the branches and leaves in scattered fragments. Ding Baozhu looked up at the sun and asked, “Baoqin, do you want to take a break?”
The baskets on their backs were more than half full, especially Ding Baoqin’s, which was packed tight with pig grass; it seemed she was determined not to stop until the basket was overflowing.
After the Beginning of Spring, the weather was expected to fluctuate between cold and hot before becoming increasingly warm. Ding Baoqin wiped the fine sweat from her forehead, seemingly tired as well. She nodded, put away her tools, and sat down with Ding Baozhu under the shade of a tree.
Ding Baozhu pulled a cloth bundle from her clothes and unfolded it. Inside was the Liang Gao she had made yesterday, which she shared with Ding Baoqin. As they ate, they looked at the baskets placed before them. Aside from the pig grass and the half-dead insects wrapped in leaves in Baoqin’s basket, Ding Baozhu’s basket contained mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and other items, making it quite heavy.
Ding Baozhu idly poked at the contents with her hand, her mind already occupied with what dishes to cook today. After showing off her skills these past two days and speaking her mind yesterday, she needed to further change and solidify the Ding family’s perception of her. This way, whatever she did next wouldn’t seem too abrupt, and the family wouldn’t find it too strange.
Ding Baoqin, still not satisfied, took small bites of the cake. Seeing Ding Baozhu lost in thought, she asked with a smile, “Sis, are you thinking about how to cook again? You’ve been thinking about nothing else these past two days!”
Ding Baozhu laughed as well. “What? Do you mean you don’t want me to think about it? If that’s the case, I’ll just give these mushrooms and bamboo shoots we worked so hard to carry back to someone else to cook…”
Hearing this, Ding Baoqin hurriedly shook her head in denial. “Don’t do that! Everyone knows how good your cooking is now. We all want to eat what you make!”
As the sisters were laughing and chatting, several sharp bird cries suddenly echoed around them. In the next second, something fell from above with a rustling sound, brushing past the branches and leaves before landing squarely in Ding Baozhu’s basket with a thud.
Ding Baozhu was startled. She looked into the basket and saw a bird twitching inside, but no matter how it tried, it couldn’t fly back out. Before Ding Baoqin could even make a sound, there was the sound of footsteps treading on branches and leaves nearby. They turned their heads and saw the newcomer was…
The son of Hunter Xu!
The atmosphere suddenly became silent. Hunter Xu’s son gave a brief glance at the basket and spoke: “That’s the bird I shot. Give it to me.”
Ding Baozhu didn’t say anything. she reached into the basket, took out the bird—which was barely breathing—and handed it to him. The man took it, but for some reason, he gave her a strange look before turning to leave.
Only after he had left did Ding Baoqin grumble, “The bird landed in our basket on its own; we weren’t going to hide it. Why was he so tense?”
Ding Baozhu gave a self-deprecating smile. “Maybe he was really afraid I’d just pocket it. After all, my reputation in the village isn’t exactly great.”
Ding Baoqin couldn’t find an answer for a moment. No matter how much she supported her eldest sister, given how fierce she used to be and the scandalous rumors that had spread far and wide, Ding Baozhu’s reputation truly was poor. Even her nominal fiancé looking at her like she was a thief didn’t seem that strange.
“Alright, we’ve rested enough. Let’s go,” Ding Baozhu said, hoisting her basket back onto her shoulders. “We’ll look around a bit more to see if there’s anything else to find, then we can pack up and head back.”
Ding Baoqin quickly agreed and followed. Gathering on the mountain was like an exhilarating “blind box” opening; until the very last moment, no one knew what they might find.
While Ding Baoqin continued to cut grass and catch bugs, Ding Baozhu used her spade to tap and dig in areas with rich, thick soil, attempting to find something new. Ding Baoqin looked back at her own basket and said, “Sis, mine is full. Should we head back? we can come again next time.”
In truth, Ding Baozhu’s basket was almost full as well, and since it was packed with heavy items like bamboo shoots, the straps were rubbing against her shoulders. They had walked quite a bit of mountain road, and considering the journey back, they had to be mindful of the time.
But Ding Baozhu didn’t reply. Instead, she suddenly flipped over a large patch of decaying leaves and her eyes widened. Within the layer of leaves she had turned over, a cluster of small mushrooms appeared. They were brown on top and white on the bottom, with blunt, rounded caps covered in dense pits…
This is…?!
Ding Baoqin came over to look and asked in confusion, “Sis, what kind of mushroom is this? I’ve never seen it before.”
In the past, many people from the village came to the mountain to pick mushrooms, following the rules passed down by the older generation: never pick the brightly colored ones. However, the last time that family had picked mushrooms, they were all ordinary-looking black and white ones, yet the whole family died after eating them. Once that news spread, the whole village was panicked, and no one dared to pick mushrooms randomly anymore.
Ding Baozhu said with uncontrollable joy, “Of course you haven’t seen it. This is an extremely precious mushroom!”
“Really?” Ding Baoqin asked skeptically. These mushrooms were quite small; although there were many, most were no longer than a finger. They looked unremarkable, just a bit oddly shaped. However, she still trusted her sister and said, “Then let’s hurry and dig them up!”
“Alright, but these are delicate. We have to dig carefully.”
This mushroom was the Morel (Yangdujun). Even in the world Ding Baozhu came from, where large-scale cultivation was possible, they were still expensive. In this era, they were worth a fortune. Even though they were small, if the quantity was large enough, they were worth a bag of gold! It seemed her persistence had paid off!
Harvesting these rare morels usually required a special metal blade or a bamboo blade to avoid damaging the mushroom. Lacking those conditions, she had to continue using her small spade with extreme caution. Seeing her sister’s tension, Ding Baoqin realized this was a very important matter. Fearing she might do more harm than good by helping, she held her breath and waited nearby.
Ding Baozhu carefully cleared the soil around them with the spade, then slowly and cautiously lifted each one whole. She even wrapped them in large leaves before placing them at the very top of her basket.
Having found the precious morels, their mountain trip could come to an end. Ding Baozhu and Ding Baoqin followed the original path back home. By the time they arrived, it was around the same time she had returned from town the other day.
As soon as Ding Baoqin pushed open the wooden gate, she saw the chickens clucking in the coop. Carrying her basket, she immediately wanted to go find Yao Dan.
“Hey, wait!” Ding Baozhu pulled her back instantly. “Leave a handful of wild vegetables; we’ll cook them for dinner.”
In town, fresh vegetables were more expensive than fruit. Even the Ding family almost never bought them, choosing instead to pick wild vegetables like everyone else. Only during the New Year would they prepare some dried or pickled vegetables for use.
Ding Baoqin asked in confusion, “Sis, we dug up so many bamboo shoots and mushrooms. Why are we still eating wild vegetables tonight?”
Though she asked, she simply didn’t want to eat them. Some wild vegetables were truly unpalatable; even when stir-fried with lard, they still had a lingering bitterness.
“Finding those mushrooms and shoots was a stroke of luck, but do you think we can find and eat them every single time? We have enough for this meal, but we need to save the rest. Otherwise, what will you eat tomorrow?” Ding Baozhu smiled and held out her hand.
Seeing her smile, Ding Baoqin shivered for some reason and had no choice but to comply. She pulled out some wild vegetables before heading off to claim her reward from Yao Dan.
Ding Baozhu shook her head, feeling that the parents of the Second Branch didn’t completely favor the eldest daughter; they seemed to treat them quite equally. She pressed down the wild vegetables to make more room in the basket. After spreading them out, she identified them—they were all common varieties for this season—and put them back in her basket to take inside.
“You’re back?”
It happened that Liu Ping was outside the room hanging up freshly washed clothes. The sunlight had indeed been good these past few days.
Ding Baozhu nodded and smiled. “Yes, Third Sister went to find Third Aunt. I came back first—Mom, look what I found!”
“Look at that happy face of yours. What rarity did you find?”
The lower parts of Mount Xiang had no large predators, only small animals. Liu Ping had been up the mountain before and had picked everything there was to pick. She knew what was in those mountains and couldn’t imagine what Baozhu had found to be so excited.
Ding Baozhu took off her basket and began removing her harvest piece by piece. As soon as Liu Ping saw the mushrooms, she couldn’t help but say, “Didn’t I say not to pick mushrooms?”
“Don’t worry, Mom. Aren’t these just ordinary shiitake mushrooms? You recognize them, so nothing will happen,” Ding Baozhu explained, pointing at them.
Liu Ping looked closer and saw the familiar caps. She breathed a sigh of relief but sighed nonetheless. “That may be so, but you forget the Lao Liu family. The ones they picked back then looked exactly like the ones we usually pick.”
“In the end, after eating them, the whole family fell ill. They called a doctor, who said it was poisoning, and they couldn’t be saved! What was worse was that they had even sent some to their in-laws and neighbors… that’s why even now, no one dares to pick mushrooms to eat.”
“Mom, I understand.” Ding Baozhu listened patiently and smiled. “But don’t worry too much. I only picked the ones I recognize and that everyone is familiar with. I won’t pick strange mushrooms.”
“As for the Lao Liu family, I think they must have picked the wrong ones. Perhaps they mistook Amanita (Death Caps) for Du mushrooms (Shiitakes) and ate them.”
“Amanita? Du mushrooms?” Liu Ping didn’t know what those were, but she didn’t think much of it. Anyway, there was plenty to eat on the mountain. For safety first, she chose to ignore the mushrooms and simply gave a few more warnings.
Seeing that Ding Baozhu knew what she was doing, she asked, “What else did you find?”
Ding Baozhu hurriedly presented the bundle of morels and said joyfully, “Mom, look! I found these! Our luck today was truly amazing!”
For her, finding such precious ingredients on her first trip up the mountain was truly a “newbie’s bonus.”
However, Liu Ping looked them over and asked suspiciously, “Zhu’er… what are these? Are they mushrooms too?”