My village can't be like this

Chapter 723: Mushrooms, Five-fingered Peach, and Figs

Although the barren slope was covered with wolfberry weeds and various shrubs, it was impossible to find a single mushroom within sight with the naked eye.

But Zhou Yang walked around a few steps and searched a little, and it didn't take long for him to find several mushrooms.

It turned out that the layer of dead branches and leaves left on the ground from previous years was too thick, and the newly grown mushrooms were completely covered by them.

"I see there are a lot of mushrooms here, so we won't go anywhere else. This place alone is enough to keep us busy for quite some time."

Zhou Yang showed the mushrooms he had just found to a few people and gave them suggestions.

"Then stay here."

Zhang An also thought this place was pretty good because the terrain here was very suitable for the growth of mushrooms.

Since the two leaders said so, the others had no objections.

After all, the mountain road is not easy to walk on. It took more than an hour to walk from the village to here. No one knows how long it will take to get to the next place.

"Zhang An, how can I find these? I can't see any."

Although Chen Ze had lived in the village for a long time, it was his first time to pick mushrooms in the mountains himself, and he had no experience at all.

He twisted his head and looked around for a long time but found nothing. He quickly asked Zhang An for help to avoid embarrassing himself in front of his future wife.

"You didn't notice it because the mushrooms were covered by the dead leaves. But the places where the mushrooms grow, no matter how covered they are, will still be different. For example, they will be pushed up by the mushroom caps or have obvious differences in color. You can find them as long as you concentrate and observe. So when you walk, you must pay attention to your feet. Maybe a delicious mushroom will appear under your feet."

Zhang An explained very carefully to Chen Ze and Jiang Qiong. He didn't need to teach Su Ying, as she had already started bending down to search in the grass.

Although she is not a descendant of the mountains, she is the wife of a descendant of the mountains after all. After being married for several years, she has gone into the mountains many times with the sisters-in-law and young wives in the village to see mountain products, and has already acquired a certain basic understanding of these.

Chen Ze was different. Although he had stayed in the village for a long time and had gone into the mountains with Zhang An many times, this guy always went there to enjoy the scenery.

As for Teacher Xiao Jiang beside him, there is no need to say more. She was not a rural child to begin with. She came to the village and stayed there for half a year before leaving.

"I see. For example, the places that look a little raised here must have mushrooms, right?"

Jiang Qiong is a girl with a delicate mind. After listening to Zhang An's words, she paid more attention and soon found a mushroom hidden in the dead leaves.

"Whether it's there or not, you can just peel it open and take a look and you'll know."

Zhang An smiled and encouraged them to do it themselves.

Upon seeing this, Chen Ze immediately reached out to pick up the damp, dark, and rotten wolfberry leaves.

Soon, he pulled out a large red mushroom from the dead leaves.

Unfortunately, he used too much force, and although he managed to pick the mushrooms out, he also damaged them.

"Oh, the mushrooms were damaged."

Jiang Qiong felt very sorry when she saw that the cap and stem had been dismembered.

"Most mushrooms are very fragile, so when you pick them, you must be gentle, because they will break if you use a little force, and some mushrooms will affect the taste after being damaged. So be gentle so that the mushrooms you find remain intact, which will make it easier to eat them yourself, give them to others, or store them. Here, I do it like this."

In order to take care of the two novice eggs, Zhang An deliberately moved closer to them and taught them while searching.

"Did you hear me? Next time you do something, be more careful. Don't do it like you did just now."

Although Jiang Qiong hadn't entered the door yet, he could already vaguely see the appearance of Shudao Mountain.

"Okay, okay, I got it. I'll pay attention next time."

Chen Ze kept nodding his head to show that he understood.

"Okay, pick it up. This red mushroom is already quite big."

Zhang An was an experienced person, and he shook his head when he saw the two of them like this.

"Is this mushroom edible? Isn't it said that the brighter the color of the mushroom, the less edible it is?"

Su Ying looked at the red mushroom on the cap and asked in confusion.

"Red mushrooms are edible. Look carefully, their colors are not that bright. It is not entirely true that the brighter the color of a mushroom, the less edible it is. But it is not wrong to listen to it, because most of the very beautiful mushrooms are poisonous. Only a very small number of them are edible. However, no one dares to say that they can distinguish all mushrooms, so if you don't know, don't take the risk."

Zhang An patiently explained to the two of them again. Although this sentence was a bit vague, the logic was sound.

Even Zhang An himself couldn't recognize the mushrooms in the mountains clearly. In this case, it was definitely right to be prepared.

It is also because of this sentence that some people picked up some mushrooms that looked brightly colored and took them to the market to sell, but no one dared to buy them because they were not sure and were afraid that they would fail to eat them.

After Zhang An's lengthy explanation, Jiang Qiong and Chen Ze were getting into the groove and could go picking mushrooms on their own. Zhang An stopped talking and began to search seriously.

Chen Ze and Jiang Qiong only lack knowledge about the types of mushrooms and cannot distinguish which ones are edible and which ones are poisonous.

But it doesn’t matter. No matter whether it is poisonous or not, or whether it can be eaten or not, just catch it all when you encounter it.

At the end, Zhang An and others will help to make the distinction.

"Wife, let me see, how much have you picked up in such a long time?"

In order not to disturb Chen Ze and Jiang Qiong's flirting and whispering, Zhang An consciously ran to Su Ying's side.

"Look, I've picked up half a basket."

Su Ying opened her small bamboo basket and showed it to Zhang An. The bottom of the basket was already filled with rice, so the harvest was still good.

"Then I have to work harder. I haven't even picked up half of what you have."

Zhang An compared and found that his gains were less than half of his wife's, because he had spent most of his time on Chen Ze and Jiang Qiong.

So, Zhang An turned on the serious mode, kept his eyes on the ground, and began a carpet search.

Less than a minute after I bent down, several creamy yellow milk fungi were discovered.

Once there is a first, there will be a second. Just as I put the milk mushroom into the backpack, he found another huge shiitake mushroom. It was much bigger than the milk mushroom and had a plump body, which made people like it very much at first sight.

Chouchou, who was standing on Zhang An's shoulder just now, ran up to the ground when Zhang An bent down to pick up mushrooms.

Seeing its owner searching on the ground, it began to imitate him.

But alas, it was just a pretense, for ferrets had no talent for finding mushrooms.

Unlike the other side, Qiuqiu, who was following Su Ying, had now started to play his role and was very actively helping the hostess find the treasure.

It discovered one huge mushroom after another, and then ran to Su Ying to take credit.

Su Ying liked the little guy's active attitude very much, so she reached out and gently touched its head as a reward.

After getting the affirmation from the hostess, Qiuqiu became more and more motivated, so he searched in front and Su Ying followed behind to collect. When Zhang An had searched half of the backpack, he found a treasure.

"Yoko, come to my place, I found a treasure for you."

After Zhang An saw clearly what was in front of him, he shouted to Zhou Yang who was not far away, because it was a very nice-looking five-fingered peach.

When Zhou Yang heard the shout, he immediately stopped picking mushrooms and walked quickly towards this side.

"Wow, it's really a treasure. I was just looking for it, but unfortunately I couldn't find it. Now I have it."

Zhou Yang liked the five-fingered peach very much. It was a good thing, especially for Chen Wenwen, who had just given birth to a child. It was really a treasure.

"Zhang An, what is this?"

Zhang An's loud shout attracted Chen Ze and Jiang Qiong as well.

They thought Zhang An had found some incredible treasure, but when they came to take a look, they found it was actually a wild tree.

"This is called the five-fingered hairy peach. You see, its leaves are like five fingers on a palm. This thing is very good. It has many functions such as replenishing qi and strengthening the spleen, removing phlegm and relieving asthma, and eliminating rheumatism. Many people like to dig its roots and stew them in soup. It also has the effect of promoting lactation and postpartum conditioning. Do you think it is a good treasure for Zhou Yang?"

Zhang An pulled the leaves of the five-fingered peach and explained them to the two extremely curious guys next to him.

"You have to remember this thing well. Maybe in less than two years, you will have to run to the mountains to find it."

Zhang An looked at the two of them with a half-smile and said, which immediately made Jiang Qiong blush.

Zhou Yang had already taken out a small hoe and started digging. Yes, like Zhang An, he also brought a medicinal hoe into the mountains.

This five-fingered peach tree was quite large, so Zhang An did not just stand there and watch. He took out his own hoe and helped in digging.

"Okay, you guys continue picking mushrooms. Zhou Yang and I will dig this thing out here. Judging from its size, it will probably take quite a while."

Zhang An found that Chen Ze and Jiang Qiong were still watching nearby, so he told them to do what they needed to do. It would take at least two hours to dig out all the stuff.

The roots of the five-fingered peach grew very deep in the soil. More than half an hour had passed, and Zhang An and Zhou Yang had been digging and digging, but they had only dug out a part of it.

"Zhang An, we found a tree over there with a lot of wild fruits on it. Come and see if this thing is edible."

Chen Ze, who had run to the front to pick mushrooms, ran back again. This time he grabbed a bunch of fruits in his hand and showed them to Zhang An while talking.

"These are figs, they are edible, but the green ones are not yet ripe. If you want to pick them, pick the ones that have already turned red."

Before Zhang An opened his mouth, Zhou Yang had already introduced him.

"It's edible. I'll pick some more right away."

When Zhou Yang heard that this thing was edible, he immediately turned back and prepared to eat it.

"Don't pick all the ones that have turned red. Just pinch them a little. Don't pick the ones that are too soft. Those are overripe and old, and there must be worms inside."

Seeing Chen Ze in a hurry, Zhang An added another sentence.

When the fig fruit is ripe, it tastes very sweet.

The figs have just ripened and their skin is still very firm, which can protect the flesh inside very well.

However, if the figs are left to ripen for too long, the skin will crack and the sweet flesh inside will attract many insects to drill into it.

"understood."

Chen Ze said this without even turning his head, and disappeared in a moment.

However, this barren slope is not a forest and the view is very wide, so there is no need to worry about any wild animals.

A moment later, Chen Ze and Jiang Qiong came back together, each holding a bag of figs.

"Hey, let me try it. I've never eaten this before. How do I eat it?"

Chen Ze put the bag on the ground, put away the backpack containing the mushrooms, and then took out a red fig.

When he was picking them just now, he didn't eat any.

It’s because he forgot to ask Zhang An how to eat it.

"It's very simple. Just break it open, peel off the peel, and eat the flesh inside."

Because he was digging five-fingered peaches and his hands were covered in mud, Zhang An didn't do anything and just said it verbally.

After hearing what Zhang An said, Chen Ze immediately broke one open and handed it to Jiang Qiong next to him.

"Eat it yourself. I'm going to call Sister Su Ying."

Jiang Qiong didn't want it. She stood up and walked to the front and called Su Ying: "Sister Su Ying, we picked wild fruits, come back soon."

Su Ying, who was picking mushrooms behind Qiuqiu, called Qiuqiu to come over after hearing this.

"So sweet and juicy, really good."

Chen Ze ate half of the fruit in one bite, closed his eyes and started to enjoy it. It was the first time he had eaten this thing.

"Wow, Sister Su Ying, why did you pick so many mushrooms?"

After Su Ying came over, Jiang Qiong started to feel confused just by looking at her backpack, because it was full of mushrooms, almost filling up the entire basket.

Originally, she and Chen Ze had picked up half a basket of grass and mushrooms, and they thought it was a lot. But now, when they compared it with Su Ying's, they were not even a bit behind.

"Haha, I didn't find them myself. Qiuqiu found them. I was just responsible for picking them up."

Su Ying smiled and shook her head. She really didn't have such great ability. It was all thanks to Qiuqiu.

"Ah, is this little thing so powerful?"

After hearing this, Jiang Qiong's eyes were slightly dull and she looked at the little squirrel in front of her in disbelief.

"Qiuqiu is quite capable. When we went into the mountains last year, he found Hericium erinaceus."

Zhang An also helped the little guy to make a proof.

Qiuqiu, who was already chewing a fig, raised his head high when he heard this, looking very complacent.

It can't understand a lot of words, but they include words that others praise or scold it.

Chouchou next to it couldn't bear to see it being so proud and wanted to rush over to teach it a lesson, but Zhang An was quick and pinned Chouchou down. These two little guys really couldn't stay together.

(End of this chapter)