228 Deep Mountain
Apart from snow fungus and some precious things from the mountains, Qiao Xuan, with her superpower, saw some ganodermic, few of which were too small and difficult to find, or just too far from them. So, she gave up mentioning them.
They only ‘ran into’ two pieces which were of beautiful colors and in the size of an adult’s hand.
She did not manage to hide the Ganodermas when she was picking them, so she decided to sun dry them to stew chicken and ducks as supplementary ingredients.
She had plenty of money right now, and she did not want to head to the town just to run this errand.
In a moist forest with rotten leaves, Qiao Xuan picked several orchid trees.
She did not recognize the species, but she went with her intuition. She believed that they were rare things. So, when no one was watching, she put a couple of pieces into the space, which did not turn her down and accepted them all.
These newly arrived orchids were obediently planted on the edge of the other kinds, slowly taking root in the soil. The branches and leaves stretched, and the space was instantly filled with a touch of greenery and vitality.
They ate some food in the mountains and walked for one more hour, before Shao Yunduan said, “It is getting late, let’s head home.”
It would take them a lot of time to arrive home.
Shao Xiaoqi let out a small cry and scratched his head in distress. “We didn’t have much luck today, we haven’t seen any big things. Let me atleast take some small ones home!”
Shao Taotao smiled. “Seventh Brother, it would be too scary if we really run into some big things! I think roosters and rabbits are enough! Also, the Fifth Sister-in-law has found so many snow fungus, which should be better than those big things!”
The three of them laughed, so did Shao Xiaoqi. “That is true!”
Shao Xiaoqi concentrated on looking for other prey. They were deep in the mountains with hardly any people and excellent ecology. As a result, there were many prey to be hunted.
Qiao Xuan helped along. She led the way and soon, Shao Xiaoqi got three roosters and two rabbits.
They could have run into wild boars and tigers, but Qiao Xuan foresaw those animals and guided them away.
Soon the four of them headed home.
They picked some wild bamboo shoots on the way home again.
There were normally two kinds of wild bamboo shoots available in this season of the year, the sweet and the bitter, both of which were of a small size and turned out to be just slightly bigger than a coin after being peeled.
Sweet bamboo shoots did not need to be blanched. They could be cut into thin slices and put directly into the pot. They could be fried or made into soup. It would taste very sweet and fresh with no need to add meat. The original taste of fresh bamboo shoots would be retained in the dish.
Bitter bamboo shoots needed to be blanched so the bitterness could be removed. It could be cooked with meat and chilies.
When she got home, Qiao Xuan placed those white fungus in a dustpan and put them in the garden to expose them to the sun. The two ganoderma lucidum were also dried together.
There were a lot of porcini mushrooms, Hericium erinaceus, and red mushrooms that were picked this time. Such mountain goods were too precious, and they needed to be kept and eaten slowly. Qiao Xuan also dried some of them.
The remaining would be used for chicken stew at dinner.
The orchids were planted in the corner of the yard rather than in the pot. Qiao Xuan planned to take care of them with her superpower and see if they could grow well.
In the evening, Ms. Xu and Yang Xiaoni came home.
There were many weeds growing in the floral field, and the roots were stubborn in the first year. Therefore, cutting weeds became a very difficult job.
Ms. Xu had some plans of her own. She could be calculative, but she never idled around, whilst Yang Xiaoni decided to start fresh, so she worked very hard as well.