I survived the famine by scavenging and supported my family.

After waking up this time, Granny Qian was terrified of dying.

You earn every day you live, but when you die, you have nothing left!

After she woke up, she asked Sun and Wu to help her sit up. For some reason, after she got up, Granny Qian was in pain all over. There wasn't even a decent quilt in the house, so naturally there was no one to put under her blankets.

Granny Qian asked Zhao Huilan to go outside and gather some straw for her to warm up, so she could use it as a cushion.

Zhao Huilan was wondering what excuse to use to go out when she heard her grandmother say this. She readily agreed and went out, then tentatively slid down the slope from where she had picked mushrooms.

After going down, Zhao Huilan searched for a while before finding a few mushrooms under a tree.

Upon closer inspection, she recognized the yellow-cap mushrooms that her family often ate. Zhao Huilan grabbed one and stuffed it into her bosom. She then searched along the slope under the trees for a while before finally finding two clumps of mushrooms.

Fearing that Granny Qian would find out if she brought them back, Zhao Huilan pulled out a cloth bag she had stolen from her bosom and poured the mushrooms into it.

After pouring it all in, Zhao Huilan carefully hid the cloth bag containing the mushrooms in the bushes near the cave.

After making her presence known, she went to help Granny Qian gather weeds.

Finding a place where wild grass grew abundantly, Zhao Huilan plucked a few bunches, carried a large clump, and walked back together.

Back in the cave, Granny Qian scolded her: "You're such a lazybones! You take forever to even pick some weeds! Where have you been all this time?!"

Zhao Huilan lowered her head and carefully made up a lie: "The ones near the cave entrance have all been torn away by the villagers, so I can only look in places further away."

As she spoke, she placed the damp grass from her arms on the ground, carefully avoiding the fire.

Granny Qian was unhappy, but she couldn't bring herself to lash out.

It was getting dark outside the cave, so it wasn't a good day to go out looking for mushrooms.

She could only make arrangements tomorrow. Despite the pain, Granny Qian struggled to turn over and instructed Madam Sun, "Madam Sun, it's getting late. Go and cook some rice bark, eat early and rest. We have to go out tomorrow."

Sun: "Oh!"

—I can go out to pick mushrooms again tomorrow!

Sun was simple-minded and did whatever Granny Qian told her to do. She didn't think about why she couldn't cook some of the mushrooms she had picked that day, and happily went to cook the rice bark.

She was boiling tree bark over there, while the others gathered around the fire to warm themselves. By the time the rice and tree bark were cooked, their clothes were almost dry.

Each person had a bowl of steaming, unpalatable rice bark soup, and the Zhao family members slurped it silently.

Eat up! At least it'll fill your stomach.

Granny Qian didn't eat; her arm was weak and sore, so she had to wait for Madam Sun to finish eating before feeding her.

After everyone finished eating, Sun asked Zhao Huilan to take the pot to the cave entrance to wash it, while she took the rice bark soup, which had almost cooled down, to her mother-in-law.

When the rice bark was fed to her, Granny Qian took a bite and almost spat it out.

She had forgotten that at home, rice and tree bark were only boiled once to save time.

She cooked it herself at noon, and rinsed it once, so it had almost no bitterness or strange taste.

But since it was food, Granny Qian didn't say anything. She frowned and ate the rice bark, refusing to drink the soup.

Not long after she ate, her stomach started growling again.

Zhao Huilan had already washed the earthenware pot and brought it back, and was turning over the wild grass that was being dried on the ground for Granny Qian.

"Huilan," Granny Qian called softly, "go and bring over the mushrooms we picked today."

Setting down the grass, Zhao Huilan stood up: "What are you going to do with it?"

"Cook some for me," Granny Qian said. "Add some salt."

Hearing her grandmother say she was going to cook mushrooms, Zhao Huilan swallowed hard. "Grandma, how many do you want to cook?"

Boiled mushrooms are so delicious! She hasn't had mushrooms in ages! Let alone freshly picked ones like these!

Having fled famine for so long, she has had difficulty even getting a decent meal and can only manage to fill her stomach with water every day. If her grandmother were to take pity on her and cook more food... Zhao Huilan hoped.

"Cook..." Granny Qian hesitated for a moment, glancing at her two sons and several grandchildren. They all kept quiet, but secretly pricked up their ears to listen to what was happening.

We picked so many today, we might as well take out a few to eat!

"Cook one per person, but cook three more for me." Granny Qian thought she was being very kind.

Zhao Huilan agreed, and just as she picked up the pot, Wu took it from her hand and carefully avoided the others to relight a fire behind the cart.

If you're eating alone, of course you have to avoid the villagers!

Sun added water and put the earthenware pot back on to heat. Then, she counted out fourteen mushrooms from the bag.

Thinking that her mother-in-law had finally allowed everyone to eat to their heart's content, she specially chose to cook the largest mushrooms.

These mushrooms were hard to pick, and Sun didn't even want to remove the stems. She just patted off the mud and water on them with her hands, and didn't even need to wash them. Since they were going to be blanched anyway, she just threw them into the pot and added water.

After cooking the mushrooms once, Sun would take them out, secretly carry them outside the cave to dump them, and then come back to add water. This time, she added some salt when cooking them again.

Salt is the king of all flavors. Once added, a faint, fresh aroma began to fill the cave.

Wang Xiaohua and her mother, who were sitting close by, were enveloped by the fragrance from all directions.

Holding her mother's arm, Wang Xiaohua whispered, "Mom, it smells so good."

Halfway through her sentence, she unconsciously started drooling.

Having fled famine for so long, the mother and daughter hadn't had anything decent to eat in ages.

Holding her frail daughter tightly in her arms, Wang Yan said, "Little Hua, Mommy will cook you some porridge tomorrow."

There was also a small bowl of mixed grain noodles in the bag, enough for Xiaohua to make porridge several times.

Wang Xiaohua buried her head in her mother's arms and said in a muffled voice, "Mom, I don't want to eat it, save it."

Wang Yan patted her daughter's head and sighed inwardly.

Xiao Hua and her companion hadn't eaten anything decent for several days; most of the people in the group were now eating rice gruel mixed with tree bark and flour.

This is still considered a relatively good option.

Like the Zhao family, with a large population and their possessions taken away, they've been eating nothing but tree bark these days.

Wang Yan was close by and could see that the last bit of flesh on the faces of everyone in the Zhao family was barely hanging on.

—No, this smell today seems to be coming from Old Zhao's house!

Wang Yan turned over and quietly sized up the Zhao family members beside her.

It was supposed to be bedtime, but they all huddled together in a circle.

It must be them cooking something! What are they cooking? It smells so good!

Wang Yan swallowed as she smelled the aroma.

—Was that big package they brought back earlier filled with food?!

With her eyes closed, Xiaohua Niang carefully discerned the aroma in the air. It smelled a bit like stewed chicken soup... and a bit like mushrooms too. Yes! It was mushrooms!

After so many days of rain, there must be mushrooms outside!

Wang Yan guessed correctly.

Over there, Granny Qian urged, "Is it ready? Is it ready? Serve it out for me to try!"

"I saw people get up because of the aroma, so I quickly put out the fire!"

The water had only been boiling for a short while when Wu wanted to cook it a little longer, but Granny Qian urged her to stop, so she had to reluctantly put out the fire.

Ten people surrounded the extinguished fire, their eyes fixed on the pot in the center.

Sun pushed Wu aside and used a large ladle to serve the food to the group.

There weren't enough bowls, so Zhao Huilan could only watch them eat while she waited by the pot for her bowl to be empty.

Granny Qian wouldn't wait for the second batch to eat. She asked Madam Sun to serve her some, and Zhao Huilan to feed her. Ignoring the heat, she opened her mouth and took a bite.

The tender mushrooms had a slight chewiness; she took a bite and they snapped off crisply in her mouth.

Fresh! Delicious! Porcelain hot!

After tossing it around in her mouth a few times, Granny Qian swallowed it in one gulp, and her bottomless stomach finally felt a little comforted.

"Delicious! Delicious!" Granny Qian whispered, "Give me another bite!"

Zhao Huilan fed her mushrooms.

Granny Qian quickly devoured the four mushrooms, even finishing the broth. Patting her stomach, she exclaimed contentedly, "This is wonderful... I, an old woman, could die happy eating this!"

Zhao Laosan, who was enjoying his mushroom soup, put down his bowl and said, "Mother, how can you say that! Tomorrow, I'll go pick more! I'll bring back enough for you to eat your fill!"

"Yes, Mother! You rest well here tomorrow, and we'll go out and pick lots and lots for you!" Old Zhao patted his chest and made a bold statement.

After her two sons expressed their feelings, the comforting old woman seemed to have drunk two catties of fine wine and was feeling dizzy.

"Good! They're all good kids!" Granny Qian was unusually cheerful, and Zhao Laosan showered her with compliments, making Granny Qian so happy that she slumped back down with a "thud."

As she collapsed, she was still thinking: Huh? Why are there so many mushrooms with legs running this way?

Granny Qian thought she was seeing things, so she rubbed her eyes with difficulty. It was true! A lot of old men in yellow hats were running towards this place like a thousand horses on their thin legs.

—Hahaha, God has opened his eyes! He has blessed us!

"Come here! Come into my arms!"

As she spoke, Granny Qian reached out and gestured towards the sky. After a few gestures, she opened her mouth wide and looked up at the sky: "Oh dear! It's starting to rain rice!"

"Eldest brother, third brother! Quick! Get a basin to catch the rice!" Granny Qian cried anxiously, "It'll get dirty on the ground!"

"What rice?" Old Zhao put down his bowl and walked quickly to the cart, following his mother's gaze to look up at the sky.

The cave was pitch black, with only stalagmites dripping water.

There's nothing there!

"Are you blind!" Granny Qian yelled, then cried out in pain, "Quickly! Start dispensing the silver!"

Old Zhao looked up at the sky again; it was still a cave.

—Has Mom been struck by lightning and gone mad?!

He only dared to guess in his heart, not to say it out loud.

Zhao Laosan, who was standing nearby, suddenly realized what was happening and said, "Brother, something seems wrong with Mother!"

The empty bowl in Sun's hand fell to the ground. Looking at the empty space in front of her, she chuckled foolishly, "A big pancake! Such a big pancake!"

Before Granny Qian could calm down, Madam Sun started shouting again.

Zhao Laosan, with a headache, exclaimed, "Brother! Quickly, take a look at sister-in-law!"

Sun stumbled forward and fell face-first into the mud. Grabbing the nonexistent "pancake," she opened her mouth wide and took a bite, then lay on the ground eating it with relish.

Startled, Wu stood up and went to Zhao Laosan's side. "Laosan, what... what happened!"

"Are they possessed?!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Old Zhao, who was standing to the side, started looking ahead without saying a word.

Terrified, Wu buried her head in Zhao Laosan's arms. Zhao Laosan's voice rang out above her head: "Qiugui, did you see that? There are so many sacks of grain piled up in front!"

Wu Qiugui was startled and quickly broke free from her husband's embrace. When she looked again, she saw a lot of mushrooms on the ground, which were gushing out in spurts, almost flooding the entrance to the cave!

"Mother! Mother! Someone's trying to grab me!" Zhao Sixia dropped the bowl in her hand and stumbled towards her mother.

Zhao Qian, who had only taken a bite of mushroom from Sun's bowl, was so frightened by the chaotic state of his parents and older brother that he burst into tears. The only one who was sober, Zhao Huilan, looked at her family members in a panic.

—What's going on!

—What's wrong, Mom, Dad, and Grandma?

Cao Rouan, being more experienced, calmed herself down and said, "Er Ya! Quickly go and call Doctor Kang! They might have gotten poisoned from eating mushrooms!"

"I heard before that someone got poisoned after eating the wrong mushrooms, and that's just nonsense!"

Cao Rouan's words brought Zhao Huilan back to her senses. Zhao Huilan turned around and saw that Cao Rouan was alright. "Sister-in-law, you didn't eat any mushrooms?"

"Hmm, there aren't enough bowls." Cao Rou soothed her stomach, feeling a wave of fear. Zhao Wenyuan had intended for her to eat first, and she had even brought her mouth close to the edge of the bowl when she inexplicably smelled the food and felt nauseous, almost throwing up.

So I didn't eat it, and thankfully I didn't, thus escaping a disaster.

Cao Rouan patted her belly with relief.

Zhao Huilan made her way through the crowd to find Doctor Kang.

Dr. Kang looked helpless when he was called up.

Old Zhao's family has come to him three times in two days! Even if they're from the same village, he insists on charging them for the consultation this time!

When they arrived at their destination, Dr. Kang realized something was wrong.

Everyone in the Zhao family is perfectly fine, except they all seem a bit—crazy?

Granny Qian tried to jump off the cart frame, while Old Man Zhao crawled on the ground. Zhao Laoda and Zhao Laosan jumped and laughed, while Cao Rouan screamed in fright. It was only when the villagers nearby saw that something was wrong that they came over to help hold her down.

I don't know where Granny Qian got her strength, but even three people couldn't hold her down.

On the ground, Sun picked up a large stone from somewhere and kept gnawing on it until her lips were raw and bleeding.

The villagers nearby tried to take it back from her, but they couldn't even snatch it back!

Not to mention the other people, each of them has their own eccentricities.

"This, this..." Doctor Kang was dumbfounded. "I'm afraid we'll need to find a Taoist priest to take a look. I'm just a doctor with limited skills!"

"Dr. Kang!" Cao Rou'an stamped her foot anxiously, "My husband and the others have been poisoned! They've been poisoned by mushrooms!"

"Mushrooms?" Doctor Kang thought for a moment, and realized it was true! After examining Granny Qian today, he was given a bag of fresh mushrooms.

Their family found it so rare and precious that they couldn't bear to eat it fresh. Instead, they placed it by the fire, planning to dry it and eat it slowly on the way.

—Luckily, I didn't have time to eat it.

Dr. Kang felt a wave of fear. If he had accidentally eaten poisonous mushrooms and collapsed, the only barefoot doctor in his team would have no one to treat him!

Since it wasn't a case of possession, Doctor Kang had the villagers hold Old Man Zhao down while he took his pulse.