Chapter 585: Picking Wild Mushrooms

After visiting Water-Spitting Lion, Xiao Xiaohui brought these people to another place. One of them was called Cow’s heart.

“Why is this place called Cow’s Heart?” A few visitors asked. Then, they looked around and shockingly found…

“I think I get it now! Look around. When you combine these three mountains, they look like a cow.”

“Yes, you’re right!”

“But why is it called Cow’s Heart?”

Xiao Xiaohui said with a smile, “You’re right. The three mountains do look like a big, strong cow from a distance.

“But those three mountains don’t belong to Taoyuan Village. Instead, our village has this mountain valley between the three mountains.

“This valley is situated right at the spot where the cow’s heart would be, so it’s called Cow’s Heart!”

With Xiao Xiaohui’s explanation, everyone also discovered the special geographical location of this place.

“So that’s why!”

“This small valley protrudes slightly. It does look like a heart. It really lives up to its name.”

Xiao Xiaohui continued to introduce, “Although the scenery heart isn’t as beautiful as Water-spitting Lion, it has a unique feature. Do you see the narrow path between the three mountains? If you take this path, you can go into the valley to pick some wild fruits, wild mushrooms, wild vegetables, and so on.”

Xiao Xiaohui’s sister had said that some city people were very interested in these wild things.

Someone’s eyes immediately lit up and immediately asked, “Wild fruits? Xiao Xiaohui, what wild fruits do we have here?”

Xiao Xiaohui said, “They are wild papayas, wild berries, and so on. However, these things are seasonal. For example, you can only find wild papayas in the fall.”

“Then, what kind of wild fruits do we have in this season?” Someone asked.

Xiao Xiaohui shook his head. “It is now spring, so there aren’t that many wild fruits to be picked, but…”

“But what?” The visitors were disappointed when they heard that nothing was in season, but the ‘but’ had gotten their hopes up again.

Xiao Xiaohui said, “But springtime is the perfect time for picking wild fungus. There’s a kind of wild fungus that is very sweet and fresh. It’s very delicious. Many villagers will take advantage of free time to come up the mountain to pick them.”

“Then let’s go pick wild fungus!” When Ye Feifei heard this, she immediately became excited and eager to try it. She had eaten wild fungus before, and that taste was indeed not bad.

Everyone immediately agreed, “Okay, then let’s go. Little Guides, is this okay?”

The six little guides looked at each other, and their eyes lit up.

Xiao Xiaohui nodded and said, “Of course, it’s not a problem. If you’re interested, we can take you there now. But…” Speaking up to this point, Xiao Xiaohui said very seriously, “If we go to the mountain, there might be some mosquito bites.

“There’s also a certain amount of danger up the mountain. I hope that all the brothers and sisters will listen to our instructions and not blindly enter the mountain forest. There are wild beasts like wild boars that might suddenly appear.”

Mushrooms usually grew at the periphery of the forest, but if they ventured too deep, they might run into danger. Therefore, Xiao Xiaohui had to remind them.

Of course, this was because the place hadn’t been developed. There were many places that needed constant improvement. As a tourist destination, the most important thing was naturally the safety of the tourists.

“Ah, there are wild boars here?!” Someone stopped and said curiously, “I haven’t seen a real wild boar yet. I really want to see it.”

Xiao Xiaohui immediately warned seriously, “Wild boars are very dangerous. Brothers and sisters, please don’t run alone into the forest to see them.”

The visitors, “…”

Someone smiled and said, “Little tour guide, don’t worry. We definitely won’t do that!”

“Okay!” Xiao Xiaohui nodded seriously and said, “Brother and sister, as long as you don’t enter too deep into the forest, there won’t be any danger. At most, we’ll be bitten by mosquitoes.” At this point, Xiao Xiaohui took out a small transparent plastic bottle from his pocket. The bottle was filled with green juice.

Xiao Xiaohui said, “This is the mosquito-repellent potion we make locally. It’s a kind of herbal juice. You just need to apply a little on your exposed hands and feet. Don’t worry. There won’t be any side effects.”

Ye Feifei asked curiously, “We only need to use that little?”

“Yes. Apply it on your exposed skin.” Xiao Xiaohui explained, “Mosquitoes hate the smell of this potion. As long as they smell it, they will stay far away.”

“This is really magical!” Someone stared at the herbal juice with burning eyes and asked, “Little tour guide, what exactly is this herbal juice? Can you give me some to take home? I really hate mosquitoes.”

If this potion was really that effective, they would consider taking them home.

Xiao Xiaohui said, “The adults made them. I’ll help you ask when we go back.” His Sis mentioned that the potions were made by the local villagers, and they hadn’t applied for patents. To prevent greedy people from having any ideas, the tour guides could deflect the question by saying they needed to consult the adults.

Xiao Lingyu would apply for the patent eventually. However, the patent right wasn’t hers alone, but the entire Taoyuan Village. Then the whole village would be able to earn from it.

Xiao Lingyu wasn’t greedy for this money because she didn’t need it.

The group followed Xiao Xiaohui and the six guides into the mountain. Once they entered the mountain, they saw a completely different scenery.

There were many pine trees. According to the guide’s explanation, those wild mushrooms usually grew under the pine trees.

There was plenty of iron reed grass. When one pushed away these grasses, one would find clusters of wild mushrooms.

The group of tourists immediately bent down and carefully looked for the wild mushrooms after they heard the explanation from the young guides.

After a while, someone shouted, “Found it! There are mushrooms here.” Everyone immediately ran over and gathered around to watch. They asked, “Where is it? where is it?”

That person carefully picked it up, and a bright red mushroom appeared in front of everyone’s eyes.

Everyone, “…” If they remembered correctly, the knowledge taught in the books told them that the brighter the mushroom, the more poisonous it was

“I say, Chen Cheng, didn’t the teacher teach you that the brighter the mushroom, the more poisonous it is? Do you plan to poison yourself to death?” Li Jian said somewhat speechlessly.

The others were immediately amused and laughed. “Chen Cheng, congrats for finding a fresh mushroom. But it seems like it’s a waste. Or do you plan to poison yourself to death?”

Chen Cheng didn’t mind at all. He laughed and scolded, “You people are vicious! I merely got too excited and forgot about poisonous mushrooms. Do you all need to tease me like this?”

After everyone joked for a while, they continued to look for the mushroom.

Not long after, someone shouted again, “Found it, found it! This can’t be poisonous, right?”

Then, everyone went over to take a look.

Xiao Xiaohui and the other tour guides, “…” These are just some normal mushrooms. Why are they so excited?

The little tour guides didn’t know that this was fun for the backpackers. These backpackers were actually quite rich. They normally visited planned tourist spots, so they hadn’t experienced picking wild mushrooms before. Plus, this time, there was a large group. It was fun.

The person found a type of grayish-black mushroom. They grew in a cute cluster.

Everyone surrounded the pile of mushrooms and discussed it. In the end, they all agreed that these mushrooms should be non-toxic. However, they had to be careful.

“Little tour guides, come over here and take a look at these mushrooms. Are they poisonous?” Ye Feifei immediately waved her hand and shouted at Xiao Xiaohui and the others.

Xiao Xiaohui walked over to take a look and nodded to confirm. “These mushrooms are not poisonous. They are the ones we are looking for.”

“Little Tour Guide, is that true?” The person who found the mushrooms felt pleasantly surprised. “My luck is really good. I should go and buy lottery tickets.”

Xiao Xiaohui and the others, “…” What does finding mushrooms have to do with buying lottery tickets?

“Little tour guides, look at this pile of mushrooms. How much do they weigh?” Someone asked.

Xiao Xiaohui thought for a moment and said, “They should weigh around two or three taels.”

“Ah! Are they less than half a catty?” They couldn’t believe it.

“Yes!” Xiao Xiaohui nodded. “These mushrooms grow in a cluster, but they are actually very light.”

“Okay. Let’s hurry up and harvest them. Right, what can we use to store these mushrooms? Do any of you have bags?”

“I have them!” Xiao Xiaoqiang excitedly took out a white plastic bag from his trouser pocket and said, “Sister Lingyu said we might come to pick mushrooms, so it’s best to prepare a bag. So I brought one over.”

“That’s great!”

Then, the group of people started to pick mushrooms in a flurry. Basically, everyone in the group found the mushroom. Of course, not everyone was that lucky and found a whole cluster. Some only found one or two mushrooms.

After about an hour and a half, Xiao Xiaohui took out his old cell phone, looked at the time, and shouted, “Brothers and sisters, we should go back and have lunch.”

The visitors were still looking for mushrooms. “Let us stay a little while longer.”

Xiao Xiaohui shook his head and said, “Brothers and sisters, we really have to go back and have lunch now. It’s already 11:30 pm. We have to walk for another half an hour.”

“But we still want to pick mushrooms!” They felt that it was really interesting.

“No,” Xiao Xiaohui refused, and then he said with a half-serious and half-joking tone, “Brothers and sisters, if you pick all the mushrooms, what about the later batches of tourists? You should leave some for them to enjoy the fun of mushroom-picking too, right?”

The tourists were too embarrassed to stay any longer after that.

Li Jian lifted the plastic bag and looked at the half-bag of mushrooms. He asked curiously, “How much do you think these mushrooms weigh?”

“There are so many of them. It should be at least four or five catties, right?”

“I’m afraid not. The first cluster of mushrooms was so large, but the young guide said they only weighed two or three taels. I think this bag only weighs two or three catties.”

“No way.”

“Won’t we find out when we ask the young tour guides?”

The young tour guides, “…” They were not scales, so why would they know?

“Young tour guides, based on your experience, how much do you think these mushrooms weigh?” An Xiaohui asked with a smile.

Xiao Xiaohui thought for a moment and said very conservatively, “I think it’s only two or three catties.”

“See, I told you so.” someone exclaimed. “It’s not easy harvesting these fungi.”

“But these are wild mushrooms. You normally won’t see them in big cities. You won’t get them no matter how much you pay.”

“Hey, Little Tour Guide, let me ask you. How much are the wild mushrooms sold here per catty?” Ye Feifei asked curiously.

Xiao Xiaohui and the others shook their heads and said, “We don’t know that. Usually, we pick the mountains to eat them ourselves. We rarely sell them.” Even if the mushrooms were sold, that was the adult’s business. How could a child like him know things like that?

“We’ll cook these mushrooms for lunch today. What do you think?” Ye Feifei suddenly suggested.

“Sure. We’d like to have a taste of how delicious these wild mushrooms taste.”

“Yes, I’d like to have a taste too.”

..

Hearing that, Xiao Xiaohui’s expression fell into a dilemma.

An Xiaohui immediately asked, “Xiaohui, little tour guide, what’s wrong? Why do you look…” like you have constipation?

Everyone turned to look at Xiao Xiaohui, and they were confused too.

Xiao Xiaohui said, “Brothers and sisters, I’m afraid you won’t be able to eat these mushrooms for lunch today. My second aunt has probably already prepared the dishes and is waiting for you to go back and eat them.

“Moreover, these mushrooms are difficult to wash because you have to clean them one by one.” The few catties would take a while to clean.

“If you don’t mind, we can save these mushrooms for dinner tonight.”

An Xiaohui blinked her eyes mischievously and said, “But little tour guide, we have a lot of people here. We can help to clean the mushrooms!”

“…” Xiao Xiaohui scratched his head and said, “Okay, I’ll tell my second aunt.”

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