Chen Lan tightened the cuffs of her pants and sleeves, slung the basket onto her back, and hurried into the forest. She retrieved her crossbow and six darts with spools from the system's warehouse and used the system's cheat artifact to scan for animals within a 500-meter radius. The system's screen immediately displayed a prompt indicating over a dozen small red dots. Chen Lan started with the closest and worked her way outward, undertaking a round of hunting. After a little over an hour, she had bagged twenty-eight plump pheasants and thirty-five fat rabbits. She packed everything up and stored it in the system's warehouse.
Seeing the wild mushrooms covering the entire mountainside, she began another busy round of collecting. Taking off her basket, she started picking and gathering with gusto. There were "red mushrooms, yellow-egg mushrooms, pine mushrooms, hazel mushrooms, porcini mushrooms, elm-yellow mushrooms, and morels!" Oh, there were so many! Once her basket was full, she dumped them into a snakeskin bag and stored it in the system's warehouse.
"Morels," it was said, were a world-renowned, rare edible and medicinal fungus. They possessed a unique fragrance, were rich in nutrients, and had the effects of tonifying the kidneys, strengthening yang, refreshing the mind, and nourishing the brain. They were also said to have significant anti-cancer properties.
"Porcini mushrooms," it was said, released a fresh aroma when dried, filling the house with fragrance. When stewed with meat, they were exceptionally delicious, with a soft, clear, and fragrant texture and rich nutrition. Hmm! She should collect more of these to dry and stew with meat in the winter.
"Elm-yellow mushrooms," she had heard, made for very delicious dumpling fillings. Hmm! She would collect more to make dumplings for everyone to improve their meals.
"Hazel mushrooms," she had heard, were used in the famous Northeastern dish "Stewed Chicken with Mushrooms," made with hazel mushrooms and free-range local chickens. Hmm! She would collect more to dry and save for stewing chicken in the winter.
Chen Lan picked and gathered tirelessly, collecting the most porcini and hazel mushrooms, three large snakeskin bags of each. Next, she collected elm-yellow mushrooms, filling two large baskets. She dared not use snakeskin bags for them, fearing they would be crushed. Su Dan Novel Network.
She didn't collect much of the other varieties, estimating about two baskets in total.
As Chen Lan continued picking, she discovered three thick dead trees lying nearby, covered in brown wood ear mushrooms. Chen Lan observed that these trees were likely struck by lightning. She instantly felt a sense of kinship, realizing she too had been struck by lightning and transmigrated! After half a second of melancholy, she immediately perked up, knowing that collecting wood ear mushrooms was the priority. After Chen Lan had collected all the wood ear mushrooms from the three trees in one go, she exclaimed, "My goodness! There were three snakeskin bags of wood ear mushrooms!" That was equivalent to one snakeskin bag of wood ear mushrooms per tree. It seemed her intuition about coming into the mountains today was truly accurate.
After storing all her collected items in the system's warehouse, Chen Lan continued forward. Less than three meters ahead, she spotted a plant with a few bright red fruits. Upon closer inspection, Chen Lan's heart filled with joy again. It was a ginseng plant bearing fruit, a testament to the great powers of transmigration! Just by casually walking in the mountains, she encountered ginseng. What incredible luck! It was beyond belief.
Chen Lan calmed herself and thought, it was August, the prime season for ginseng harvesting. The ginseng seeds were bright red at this time. Ginseng diggers called them "red fruits" because their bright red color stood out distinctly amidst the greenery of the mountains.
In the past, ginseng diggers in the Northeast region also had a folk custom of "tying red." People considered red to be a symbol of auspiciousness and good fortune. Therefore, it was natural to tie a red string to a ginseng plant when discovered. Moreover, with a red string tied around it, the ginseng became even more conspicuous, making it easy to find in the vast green expanse of the mountains.
Since she had encountered it, Chen Lan decided to dig up this ginseng and take it back to stew with the wild chicken for everyone today, to properly replenish their strength.
Since arriving here at the end of April, they had been busy with work, except when it rained. Now, their tasks were even more demanding, with house construction and farming. With the autumn harvest fast approaching, it was indeed time to replenish everyone's energy.
With this thought, Chen Lan's movements became even more rapid. She thought to herself, since they would be stewing chicken soon, she wouldn't worry about breaking the root. She very efficiently dug up the ginseng. It was quite a decent size! If her mother-in-law saw the carelessly dug up, broken roots, she would surely call her a spendthrift.
Checking the system time, it was getting late! It was almost lunchtime. Chen Lan decided to take a different route back, continuing to hunt along the way. If she encountered prey, she would hunt it; if she found mushrooms or wood ear, she would pick them.
As Chen Lan walked, she pondered in her mind. She had encountered ginseng today, but why hadn't she seen any "king of mountain delicacies," the Lion's Mane mushroom? In reality, Chen Lan was overthinking. She had been focused on picking mushrooms and wood ear, not looking up at the trees, so how could she have spotted the Lion's Mane mushroom? Lion's Mane mushrooms grow on trees.
Continuing forward towards the direction of the RV parking spot in the valley, she hunted and collected mushrooms without stopping. Along the way, she encountered two more ginseng plants. Chen Lan didn't dig them up. No one was in urgent need of them now, and it would be better for them to continue growing in the ground. Chen Lan marked the locations of the two ginseng plants, then moved on. By the time Chen Lan arrived back at the parking spot, carrying snakeskin bags and wearing her basket, Xiang Xi and the others had already gone to the valley to deliver food and work.
Even her mother-in-law, Mother Cui, and Mother Liu, along with Ming Wei, Ming Zhe, Wen Kai, and Wen Qi, had gone to the valley to plant vegetables.
Only Lin Mai and a few others remained at home, drying vegetables and pickling them. Of course, there were also Mother Wen Rou and Mother Xiao Shan, responsible for watching the four children.
When everyone saw Chen Lan returning, carrying two large snakeskin bags and her basket, they all rushed forward to greet her.
Chen Lan urged them to quickly unpack the items. The weather was too hot, and they couldn't be left out, for fear of them spoiling!
Everyone immediately divided the tasks. Lin Mao and Cui Qiao were in charge of preparing the game. Hu Yuzhen and Zhao Xiaoyue handled the mushrooms and wood ear.
At this point, Mother Wen Rou and Mother Xiao Shan had managed to lull the four children to sleep and joined in.
Mother Wen Rou approached Chen Lan and told her to go eat quickly, "Lan'er, go eat. You've been climbing the mountain all morning and hunted so much game and collected so many wild mushrooms. Your stomach must be hungry by now. Lunch has been brought out and is on the dining table in the RV. Hurry up! It's not too late to work after you've eaten!"
How could Chen Lan dare to eat now? There was still a pile of things in the system's warehouse that hadn't been brought out yet. So, she agreed with her mother and quickly ran out. In a short while, she returned carrying two more snakeskin bags of game and two baskets of mushrooms and wood ear, one in front and one behind. Chen Lan made three trips back and forth like this, finally emptying the system's warehouse. She was so exhausted she didn't want to move.
Mother Wen Rou looked at Chen Lan with great sympathy. She quickly poured her a cup of warm water, telling her to drink it slowly and rest for a while before eating.
After speaking, she also quickly joined the task of sorting the mushrooms and wood ear. Chen Lan saw that they didn't have enough drying tools and immediately purchased thirty large winnowing baskets from the system for them to dry the mushrooms and wood ear.
Chen Lan only said to her mother-in-law, "Mother-in-law, don't dry the elm-yellow mushrooms. We'll use the fresh elm-yellow mushrooms this afternoon to make dumplings."
Her mother-in-law was delighted to hear this and said, "Good! Good! It's about time we had dumplings. We've been here for months and haven't eaten dumplings. I've been missing them terribly!" With that, she bustled off to continue her work.