With a goal in mind, Chen Lan, familiar with the area, quickly arrived at the woods where she had picked prickly ash buds last year. She saw a large area of tree trunks, as thick as a thumb, covered in sharp thorns. No wonder prickly ash buds were also called "bird-not-landing" (niao bu luo). Because of their high nutritional value and refreshing taste, people often picked their tender shoots to eat, hence the name prickly ash bud.
Chen Lan knew that in modern times, wild prickly ash buds were very expensive and were even exported to earn foreign exchange.
The tender shoots growing at the top of the tree trunks were the prickly ash buds. Currently, the tender leaves of the prickly ash buds at the top of the tree trunks were curled. The shoots were estimated to be over ten centimeters long, and the leaves had not yet unfurled. This was the best time for prickly ash buds! If they were too small, they wouldn't have any flavor; if they were too large, they would be old.
Chen Lan took a small basket from the system's warehouse and tied it to her waist with a rope. She carefully and quickly picked the prickly ash buds and placed them in the basket. As soon as the basket hanging from her waist was full, Chen Lan immediately sold it to the system. In this way, Chen Lan kept picking while continuously selling to the system.
Chen Lan was completely immersed in the joy of picking and forgot about time. When she realized it was getting late, she checked the system time with her mind; it was already past 1:30 PM, long past lunchtime. Chen Lan decided not to rush home and ordered bread and yogurt from the system. She found a large rock, sat down, and had her lunch on the spot. She also sat there and rested for a while.
Looking at this patch of prickly ash buds, most of them had been picked. She decided to let the smaller ones grow for a few more days and come back to pick another batch later.
After resting for a while, Chen Lan decided to look for monkey legs, a type of wild vegetable, near the woods. Since it was so expensive in her past life, this vegetable should be hard to find. Chen Lan decided to try her luck in the woods today.
In her previous life, out of curiosity about why monkey legs were so expensive, Chen Lan had researched the growth environment and edible value of monkey legs. She now recalled her memories from her past life.
She remembered that the research described monkey legs as looking very similar to fiddlehead ferns. The difference between monkey legs and fiddlehead ferns was that the stems of monkey legs were hairy and came in green and purple. Fiddlehead ferns, on the other hand, had smooth stems. This small difference often led to confusion, but there were still some differences in appearance, efficacy, and geographical distribution between the two.
Monkey legs usually grew in mixed forests at altitudes of about three hundred to two thousand one hundred meters, mostly in damp, low-lying areas with plenty of moisture on hillsides.
This should be similar to the growth environment of wild ginseng.
They didn't grow very tall, about forty to one hundred centimeters in total height. However, they grew in patches, and when gathered together, their quantity appeared extremely large, as if they had laid a green carpet on the ground. They could be harvested repeatedly; after one harvest, they would grow again in a short time.
They thrived in sunny environments but were quite delicate and couldn't withstand high temperatures. If the surrounding temperature exceeded thirty degrees Celsius, the plants would be sunburned or die. However, they were extremely cold-resistant and could safely overwinter even in the extremely cold environment of minus forty degrees Celsius in northeastern regions.
Because the growth environment of monkey legs was relatively harsh and they grew naturally in unpolluted mountain forests, they were pure natural wild green vegetables.
Furthermore, because of their extremely rich nutritional value and unique delicious taste, they were very popular.
Knowing the growth habits and preferred environment of monkey legs, Chen Lan headed towards the mixed forest where she had found wild ginseng last year.
Along the way, Chen Lan picked wild vegetables while walking towards the mixed forest. When she passed a pine forest, she found many pine mushrooms growing under the pine trees and stopped to collect half a basket. She sold the half basket of pine mushrooms to the system, and the price was not cheap.
Chen Lan suddenly remembered that it was the season for wild morel mushrooms, and in her past life, wild morel mushrooms were hailed as the "aristocrats" of edible fungi. They not only had high nutritional value but were also exorbitantly expensive. Dried morels could sell for eight hundred to over a thousand yuan per jin.
Morel mushrooms were named for their resemblance to a sheep's stomach. Their flesh was tender and crisp, and their taste was delicious. They were a very precious edible and medicinal mushroom, rich in vitamins and minerals, with high nutritional value. Therefore, it was reasonable for them to be called "mountain delicacies." Sudannovel.com
The growth environment of wild morel mushrooms was also very particular. They mostly grew on the ground in deciduous forests and preferred to grow in areas that had been burned by wildfires.
In the past, ginseng diggers would cut down trees on the mountains in the spring and dig out all the roots, burning everything clean. By April to May, many wild morel mushrooms would grow in the burned areas, though Chen Lan didn't know the reason for this.
Knowing the preferred growth environment of morel mushrooms, Chen Lan consciously paid attention to whether there were any areas burned by mountain fires around her as she walked.
Effort paid off. Finally, she discovered morel mushrooms in the weeds of a deciduous forest. As Chen Lan picked them, she continued to walk forward. Not far ahead, in a mixed area of coniferous and deciduous forests, she found quite a few morel mushrooms on the ground. In total, she collected a little less than half a basket from both times.
These were too rare and a valuable unexpected harvest. This time, Chen Lan decided not to sell the morel mushrooms to the system. She planned to take them back for her mother and mother-in-law, Mother Liu and Mother Cui, to eat and nourish their bodies.
Having made up her mind, Chen Lan didn't delay. She immediately put the basket and the morel mushrooms into the system's warehouse and continued towards the mixed forest where she had dug wild ginseng last year.
As she neared the forest, she indeed found patches of monkey legs. Chen Lan happily ran forward, took out a large backpack from the system's warehouse with her mind, and immediately squatted down, lowering her head to immerse herself in the work of picking monkey legs.
Soon, Chen Lan was completely absorbed in her work. When a backpack was full, she sold it to the system. She only stopped after most of the monkey legs in this area had been picked. She stood up, rubbed her legs which had gone numb from squatting for a long time, and massaged her neck, which was sore from keeping her head down. She let out a long sigh.
She stomped her feet in place to relieve the numbness in her legs. She checked the system time with her mind; it was already 3:40 PM. It was getting late, and she had to hurry down the mountain to go home.
Chen Lan thought that since she was in the mountains today, she might as well catch a few wild pheasants to take back and stew for her mother and the children.
So, she took out her hunting tools from the system's warehouse and started another round of hunting. In this way, Chen Lan hunted while walking back, and before she knew it, she had caught seven or eight. Chen Lan quickly stopped.
Spring was the breeding season for animals. If she wanted to hunt freely, she would have to wait until autumn.