My village can't be like this

Chapter 727: Complete Guide to Identifying Fungi
During the chat, Zhang An also learned the names of the two people. The boy was Li Hao and the girl was Yu Fang.
In the afternoon, those who went into the mountains probably knew that someone would come to collect the goods today, so they came back earlier than yesterday so that they could sell today's harvest immediately and get the money earlier.

By the evening, all the mushrooms had been purchased. The duo who collected the mushrooms said hello to Zhang An and prepared to send today's goods back.

After dinner in the evening, Zhang An ran to Zhang Jianwen's house.

"Uncle, I saw something good today, and I think we can learn from him."

After finding Zhang Jianwen, Zhang An didn't say anything else and got straight to business.

"Oh? What is that?" Zhang Jianwen saw his posture and looked at him seriously.

"The two young men who came to collect mushrooms today had no experience in picking mushrooms at all, but when they picked mushrooms, they were able to tell which ones were edible and which were not, because they had a booklet with photos and descriptions of various mushrooms. In the past few years, mushrooms from the mountains have brought good income to many families in our village, but no matter how experienced everyone is, it is impossible to recognize all mushrooms. So I think, in order to reduce the harm caused by poisonous mushrooms and to save everyone some unnecessary effort, we should also make such a booklet. When the time comes, everyone will have one, and when they encounter an unknown one, they can take it out for comparison, so they don't have to worry about picking up poisonous mushrooms and missing out on edible mushrooms."

Zhang An didn't pause and spoke out his thoughts in one breath.

Picking mushrooms has become a trend in Changqing now, so identification has become the most important thing.

"That's a good idea, but there are so many types of mushrooms. It might not be easy to make a book like this."

Zhang Jianwen also thought this was a good idea. Even Mr. Huang, the most experienced hunter in the village, could not recognize all types of mushrooms, let alone others.

"Uncle, mushrooms will definitely become more and more expensive in the future. There have always been many people picking mushrooms in our village. This is a major source of income for the village, so this can be regarded as a permanent solution. We can't be afraid of trouble. What people in the city can do, we can do. And we don't have to rush to record all the mushrooms at once. We can take our time and record the common mushrooms that are poisonous or non-toxic first, and then record the rare ones one by one. Sooner or later, we will be able to record all the mushrooms in our mountains."

Zhang An knew that this was a huge and time-consuming project. It was inevitable that it would take time, and it was impossible to find all the mushrooms in a short period of time. However, they were not in a hurry and could just take it slowly.

As for the difficulty, that is for one person. When everyone in Changqing Village gets involved, it won't be that difficult.

"You're right. Picking mushrooms every year is indeed a major income-generating activity for our village. No matter how difficult it is, we have to do it."

As soon as Zhang An finished speaking, Zhang Jianwen made the decision immediately.

Because the villagers' income has always been a big deal for him.

Moreover, after a little calculation, he found that in just these few months, the money the villagers earned from picking mushrooms was no less than that from a season of crops. This was a remarkable thing.

I didn’t notice this before because there was no fixed sales channel.

It’s different now. As long as you can pick it up, you can exchange it for money.

"Uncle, this is what I think. Let's find Wang Hua, and when everyone comes back from the mountains tomorrow, we will collect photos. We can also inform everyone to bring back any mushrooms that they cannot eat or do not recognize. As for identifying mushrooms, we can get the whole village to participate. If they really don't recognize them, we will go to the Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Finally, the matter of making the booklet can be handed over to Wang Hua because he has experience."

Zhang An thought about it and decided not to take the responsibility of this matter. He thought that no one would take it to heart if he just stayed on the sidelines.

Although it costs money to let Wang Hua do it, the village is not short of funds now. Moreover, although the village has spent some money, once this matter is accomplished, the villagers' sense of unity will be further enhanced.

"Okay, let's make it like this for now. I'll notify everyone in a moment that we'll have a meeting tomorrow night."

Zhang Jianwen kept nodding his head. He agreed with the proposal very much. Although it would cost some money, he didn't feel bad about spending it.

Then Zhang Jianwen and Zhang An walked out of their yard together. Zhang An went home, and he went to the village committee.

As soon as Zhang An arrived home, the sound of a loudspeaker announcing a meeting to all villagers echoed throughout the village.

The next morning, Li Hao and Yu Fang arrived early.

When we got back home last night, we found out that they had done a great job collecting mushrooms, and Li Li praised them for it. They will also receive a bonus at the end of the month.

So they came early this morning, fearing that some villagers still had mushrooms that they hadn't sold last night.

After having breakfast, Zhang Jianwen went to the Dongli yard to find Wang Hua.

After hearing the whole story, Wang Hua agreed very readily and offered to charge only the cost price and material fees.

He has been here for so long that he has long considered himself a part of the village.

But Zhang Jianwen refused, thinking that he should charge as much as he should. After all, Wang Hua was doing business here, and he would not be able to live with it if he made others work at a loss.

In the afternoon, the village entrance became lively again. Li Hao and Yu Fang were collecting mushrooms, and Zhang Jianwen was taking Wang Hua to take pictures of the mushrooms.

After dinner in the evening, everyone came to the village's threshing ground as agreed, and the place was already crowded with people.

Because not only the villagers came, but also the tenants of Dongli Yard came.

They could all hear the sound of the loudspeaker last night, and since they had nothing to do at home, they all came to join in the fun.

As soon as the time came, Zhang Jianwen started talking.

As soon as he finished speaking, someone asked in confusion: "Village Chief, is it necessary to go through so much trouble? Can't we just pick up the ones we can recognize?"

"That's what you say, but will everyone do it? In recent years, no one in our village has had any accidents from eating mushrooms, but there are people who have been poisoned to death from eating mushrooms in other villages around us. Old Wang from Wujiao Village knows more mushrooms than you do, and he's even better than Damingzi's grandfather, but didn't someone in his family die from eating poisonous mushrooms last month? Some mushrooms look very similar, and you may think you know them, but they just can't be eaten. At this time, it is very important to know how to distinguish them. Besides, if you can recognize which mushrooms are edible and which are not, how about the rest of your family, or can the other villagers recognize them as well?"

Zhang Jianwen spoke for a long time with great effort, then spread his hands and said, "I have finished what I have to say. If you are willing to cooperate, you can take a look when you go into the mountain. If you are not willing, I will not force you."

He wouldn't say much. There were many people in the village, so many of them would definitely listen. There was no need to force him.

"If there is nothing wrong, Village Chief, we will definitely try our best to do it. It is not a difficult task."

After hearing what Zhang Jianwen said, the man hurriedly started to explain, fearing that he would be branded as a loner if it was too late.

After all, regardless of whether this matter is useful or not, it is indeed the village’s good intentions towards everyone.

In the following days, the villagers who went into the mountains to pick mushrooms brought back many different kinds of poisonous mushrooms, with more varieties than the edible mushrooms that had been photographed before.

Zhang An immediately sighed and said that there is strength in numbers. If he were to look for so many poisonous mushrooms by himself, it would probably take him a lot of time, and he might not even find so many.

However, with so many people in the village going up the mountain, after a few days, the number of new mushrooms Wang Hua could receive became fewer and fewer, so he started to make booklets.

Each page in the booklet represents a type of mushroom. In addition to photos and names, it also records whether it is poisonous or not, whether it can be eaten, how to distinguish it, etc.

It took a lot of time to sort out this long list of information. During this period, Zhang Jianwen also found a lot of people to help identify it.

I don’t know if it’s because the villagers have a lot of knowledge about it, or if it’s because no one has found it, but after so many days, the villagers haven’t brought back a single mushroom that no one recognizes.

However, Zhang An felt that it must have not been discovered. After all, the mountain was so big that it would not be possible to search it all in a short time, so he would wait until it was found later and then add it in.

A week later, Wang Hua came to Zhang An and Zhang Jianwen and said, "Village Head's Book, the booklet has been completed. Come and see if there are any changes that need to be made." "So soon? Let me take a look."

Zhang Jianwen was very happy when he heard this. He immediately took the brand new thick booklet and looked through it with Zhang An.

There are a few big words printed on the cover: Encyclopedia of Fungi Identification—Printed in Changqing.

On the way, he also asked the children playing on the road to call Master Huang over, and when they encountered someone they didn't know, they would read out the name to Master Huang for confirmation.

Finally, a group of people checked it several times and found several errors. After correcting them, the booklet could be mass-produced.

This booklet is very thick, much thicker than the one Li Hao and his friends brought, because it contains more types of records.

Although everyone who has seen it thinks it is a treasure, only Zhang An knows that this booklet will definitely become famous in the future.

That night, Zhang Jianwen was so happy that he called everyone home for a big meal.

After Wang Hua finished making the booklet, every household in the village received a copy, even the tenants of Dongli Yard.

Although they don't pick mushrooms, this allows them to feel the enthusiasm of the village.

After getting it home, Zhang An took it out to look at it. It was made of hardboard, which is not easy to fade or blur, and can be better preserved.

In the end, Wang Hua returned the original copy to the village. Although no one talked about it, he himself was aware of copyright.

Although he followed the entire recording process, the village did not lose out on his salary.

Besides, his name was included in the book, and this alone made him satisfied.

Time flies, June ends and July comes.

"Zhang An, we have to get ready. We are going to Wang Min's place tomorrow."

After answering the phone, Su Ying spoke to Zhang An.

Su Ying used to call Zhang An "husband", but the older sisters-in-law and younger wives in the village would call their husbands by their names.

After a long time, Su Ying was also affected.

But Zhang An didn't care. His mother at home always called his father by his name, so how could he have any objection?

"Then let's go. Do you think we should take the train or drive ourselves?"

Zhang An thought it was no big deal, he could just go if he had to, it would only take a few days anyway.

"Let's not drive. It's too tiring to drive such a long distance, and the road conditions are not good in some places. Let's take the train. It's more convenient. I'll ask Dad to buy the tickets later."

Su Ying thought about it and decided to take the train. Now, if you want to drive to the provincial capital, you can only take the national highway. The road conditions in some places are very bad, so it is better not to drive unless necessary.

And if I use the gas money for driving back and forth to buy train tickets, how many tickets would I need to buy?

"All right, then shall we take Qiqi with us?"

Zhang An thought taking the train was fine and had no objection.

"No need to bring him, let's just go by ourselves. Let him stay at home. Zhou Yang can't do without him right now."

Su Ying couldn't imagine how resentful Zhou Yang would become if they took their son with them.

In fact, it’s good not to bring him along. Without the burden, it’s more convenient for the two of them to go wherever they want.

The next morning, Zhang An and Su Ying prepared to go out.

When Xiao Siqi saw this, he quickly asked, "Mom and Dad, where are you going?"

He is very smart, because usually his parents don’t bring anything even when they go to grandma’s house, but today is obviously different.

"We're going out to play for two days. You stay at home and listen to grandma."

Su Ying didn't plan to hide it from her son, because she couldn't lead the way in lying, as it would corrupt the child.

"I'm going, I'm going."

When the little guy heard that he was going out to play, he immediately ran to the car.

"Be good, just stay at home, otherwise who will go to play with Jia Yan, and the delicious food made by your brother Zhou Yang will be eaten by others."

Su Ying rubbed her son's head and spoke earnestly.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Siqi was obviously persuaded. Although he was a little hesitant, he finally chose delicious food over playing.

"Then mom and dad, you have to come back soon and bring me lots of delicious food."

This was the first time that little Siqi left them, and they were still a little reluctant to let her go.

But a foodie is a foodie and they can’t forget about food.

"Okay, okay, just be good at home and mom will buy you something delicious when she comes back."

Su Ying was really speechless about her son. She was afraid that one day she would be gone and her son would still be talking about having a banquet.

The two men arrived at the county, parked their car in the staff compound, and went upstairs to pick up their train tickets.

Although it was the middle of the year, between June and July, there were still quite a few people riding the bus.

With the boom in working in recent years, people are running out almost every day.

Nowadays, Changqing Village is developing well overall, and everyone's life is getting better. They can earn more by taking care of the orchard at home than they can by working outside in a year, so few people in the village go out to work, and even those who went out in the past few years have returned.

But if nothing changes like in later generations, there may not be many young people left in the village, and at most they would only be seen during the Chinese New Year.

(End of this chapter)