“Auntie, try this. These are milk-cap mushrooms. They’re really delicious. They may not look very appetizing, but they taste amazing.”
As she spoke, Qin Ruan used a clean pair of chopsticks to place some mushrooms into Shen Jianing’s bowl.
“Okay. Thank you, Ruanruan.”
“You’re welcome, Auntie. Hurry and eat. Even though we don’t have any meat tonight, all these dishes go perfectly with rice.”
Just as Qin Ruan had said, every dish that evening was incredibly satisfying with rice.
“Let’s rest for one more day tomorrow. Your aunt says she’s still a little tired, so we’ll go to the tea mountain the day after tomorrow.”
Hearing that, Qin Ruan immediately understood.
Her uncle must have confirmed something. Naturally, they couldn’t go up the mountain the next day. If they were waiting until the day after, that meant those people would definitely be captured tomorrow.
The anxiety Qin Ruan had been carrying finally began to ease.
“Sounds good. Then I’ll rest for one more day too.”
After dinner that night, Qin Ruofeng stayed with Shen Jianing until she fell asleep.
Once he was sure she was sleeping soundly, he quietly got out of bed.
Without telling anyone in the family, he secretly headed back to the family’s tea mountain to keep watch on the group hiding there.
If everything went according to plan, the military reinforcements should arrive before dawn.
He needed to keep an eye on the suspects in case any of them tried to leave early.
Qin Ruan heard him leaving during the night, but she didn’t go outside.
There was nothing she could do to help anyway.
Before long, dawn arrived.
After getting up, Qin Ruan saw that Shen Jianing was already awake and asked,
“Auntie, is Uncle up yet?”
Shen Jianing immediately made an excuse for Qin Ruofeng.
“Oh, your uncle went out to exercise. He probably won’t be back for a little while. He told us not to wait for him before eating breakfast.”
Qin Ruan nodded knowingly before heading into the kitchen.
After washing up, Shen Jianing stood in the courtyard, occasionally glancing toward the entrance.
When Hu Yufen got up, she saw both her daughter-in-law and granddaughter already busy with their chores.
Shen Jianing was clearing weeds from the yard and carrying them over to feed the livestock.
Meanwhile, Qin Ruan was in the kitchen preparing breakfast.
“Grandma, how about we have rice noodles for breakfast?”
“Ask your aunt if she’d like that.”
Qin Ruan turned to Shen Jianing.
“Auntie, is rice noodles okay for breakfast?”
“Rice noodles?”
Shen Jianing looked puzzled.
Rice noodles first thing in the morning? Just like how people in Shancheng eat noodles for breakfast?
“Yes! Rice noodles. Yunnan is famous for them. You should try them—they’re really delicious.”
Hearing Qin Ruan praise them so enthusiastically, Shen Jianing found herself craving a bowl.
“Sure. Since you say they’re so good, let’s have rice noodles for breakfast.”
“Great! I’ll go cook them.”
In her previous life, Qin Ruan had made rice noodles before.
But after coming here and watching her grandmother prepare them several times, she had learned to make them even better.
She added the traditional local seasonings: culantro (long coriander), fresh cilantro, ginger-garlic water, ground Sichuan pepper, Sichuan pepper oil, and tsaoko (black cardamom) oil.
The locals in Yunnan referred to culantro as “big coriander,” a herb that had spread into the region from Myanmar.
When Qin Ruan carried out a large basin of rice noodles, she noticed there were still a few small pieces of something mixed inside.
“Grandma, where did these come from?”
“Oh, they’re from the huo.”
“Huo? What’s that?”
“Ham is basically cured pork—salted and preserved meat. It’s the meat from the pig’s hind leg.”
“Ohhh…”
“Auntie, hurry and eat! It’s really delicious—my rice noodles!”
Shen Jianing noticed the bowl was filled with chili peppers, various spices, leafy greens, Chinese chives, ham, and tomatoes.
Grandma Hu Yufen couldn’t help giving Qin Ruan a sideways glance.
“You silly girl, why did you throw so many different things into it today? How is anyone supposed to eat this?”
“Grandma, why wouldn’t they? It’s delicious! Just give it a try.”
Qin Ruan made a playful face after saying that.
Shen Jianing couldn’t wait any longer. She picked up a mouthful with her chopsticks and took a bite.
Her eyes lit up immediately.
“Wow! Ruanruan, these rice noodles are absolutely delicious!”
Hearing such heartfelt praise made Qin Ruan beam with satisfaction.
“See? Auntie, whenever you want to eat them in the future, I’ll make them for you.”
“Just hearing you say that is enough.”
The family was finishing breakfast when Qin Ruofeng returned.
“Uncle, you’re back! Come eat!”
Qin Ruan was the first to spot him.
Qin Ruofeng smiled as he walked in.
“Coming.”
Shen Jianing looked him over carefully.
There weren’t any injuries on him, only sweat covering his face and clothes.
“You went exercising so early in the morning. Look at you—you’re drenched in sweat.”
Her words immediately reminded Qin Ruofeng of the excuse she had made for him, saying he had gone out to exercise.
“It’s fine, Jianing. Go ahead and eat. I’ll wash my face first.”
He scooped some water from the large water jar into a basin and washed up.
Meanwhile, Qin Ruan went back into the kitchen to cook another batch of rice noodles.
The first pot had only been enough for three people, and now there wouldn’t be enough for her uncle.
After washing his face, Qin Ruofeng stepped into the kitchen.
Seeing Qin Ruan busy at the stove, he walked over and whispered,
“Ruanruan, the people on the mountain have been arrested. We can go up there today.”
“Great! Then let’s go pick mushrooms later, Uncle.”
“You really can’t stop thinking about mushrooms, can you?”
“As if you could resist them. I don’t believe it.”
“You’re right—I can’t. So let’s go later.”
“Sounds good, Uncle. We’ll tell Grandma in a bit and head up the mountain.”
“Actually, your aunt will have to bring it up. I’ll talk to her later.”
“Oh, right. Yesterday Auntie was the one who said she wanted to rest instead of going up the mountain.”
“We’ll ask her in a bit. If she doesn’t want to go, she can stay home and rest while we go.”
Hearing him say it so naturally, Qin Ruan couldn’t help laughing.
“You’re really okay with leaving Auntie home by herself?”
“Why wouldn’t I be? She’s not going anywhere. Besides, if she stays home, your grandma will probably stay with her too.”
“All right then. If they don’t want to go, it’ll just be the two of us picking mushrooms.”
“Deal. We’ll gather as many as we can, blanch them, and dry them.”
“We don’t actually have to blanch them. We can dry them directly. It’s just that we’ll have to boil them later before eating.”
“Then let’s just boil them first before drying them.”
“Uncle, are you just trying to save yourself some work later?”
“That’s right. I’m doing it for convenience. What’s wrong with that?”
“I agree. If we prepare them properly now, then later we’ll only need to soak them in hot water before eating. No need to boil them again.”
Qin Ruan grinned mischievously as she said that.
The real reason, however, was that she wanted her uncle and the others to help gather mushrooms.
The mushrooms she picked herself could be secretly sold through the system marketplace.
Thinking of that, Qin Ruan suddenly remembered that she had sold a batch of mushrooms the day before.
She still hadn’t checked whether her points had been updated.
I picked so many mushrooms yesterday… Just how many points did they sell for?