Chen Lan, carrying her basket, walked over quickly. Like everyone else, she converged under the oak tree where Qian Yingzi was climbing. Chen Lan stood behind the group, her gaze also fixed upwards at the two Lion's Mane mushrooms on the oak tree. She saw them, two snow-white, fluffy Lion's Mane mushrooms growing on a high branch, covered with soft bristles, as large as an adult's palm. They clung to the high branch like two little monkey heads.
It seemed that harvesting these two Lion's Mane mushrooms would be quite difficult. However, no amount of difficulty deterred Qian Yingzi, and she was still climbing with all her might.
Chen Lan thought to herself, no wonder, whether in her past life or this one, wild Lion's Mane mushrooms, perhaps due to their rarity, were considered extremely precious and hard to find. And the difficulty in harvesting them probably contributed to their high value.
While pondering, Chen Lan looked up at Qian Yingzi. She then saw Qian Yingzi, like a monkey, tightly gripping the tree trunk with her legs, hugging a nearby branch with one arm, and carefully reaching out with the other hand to pluck the two snow-white Lion's Mane mushrooms from the branch. She then held the root ends of the just-picked mushrooms in her mouth and nimbly slid down the large tree.
Chen Lan, with her basket on her back, walked up to Qian Yingzi, feeling a bit curious and wanting to get a closer look at these two Lion's Mane mushrooms.
The others were still looking up at the tree, continuing to search for Lion's Mane mushrooms. No one noticed Chen Lan had returned. It was Qian Yingzi, who was putting the Lion's Mane mushrooms into her basket, who spotted her first.
Qian Yingzi looked up and exclaimed in surprise, "Xiao Lan, you're back."
Upon hearing Qian Yingzi's shout, everyone else turned around. They all asked enthusiastically, "Xiao Lan, you're back, how was it?"
Chen Lan took off the large basket from her back, nodded with a smile, and said, "It was worth the trip!" She then looked at Qian Yingzi's basket, which contained quite a few wild Lion's Mane mushrooms. The harvest was good, around ten or so. The sizes of the Lion's Mane mushrooms varied, and it seemed the two she had just picked were the largest.
Chen Lan curiously leaned closer, picking them up one by one to examine them, then smelling them. Wild Lion's Mane mushrooms had a unique fragrance, somewhat like a medicinal scent but not quite. It was hard to describe the smell, but it was pleasant. The aroma was quite rich; each mushroom had its own scent. Some were more potent, while others were slightly milder.
Just then, Qian Yingzi and the others behind her let out exclamations, "Oh my heavens! It's three little wild boars."
Everyone asked, "Xiao Lan, did you encounter wild boars again in the valley below?"
Chen Lan nodded again, but corrected their wording, saying proudly, "I encountered a large herd of wild boars."
Upon hearing this, everyone gasped and then asked with concern, "Xiao Lan, are you alright?"
Chen Lan smiled and pointed at the three little wild boars in her basket, retorting, "If I wasn't alright, could I have brought them back?"
Then she asked, "Cui Qiao Jie, Yu Zhen Jie, how about you? You must have had a great harvest too! I see Yingzi Jie picked quite a lot. How was your battle today?"
Cui Qiao, like everyone else, smiled and replied, "It was alright. Not as much as Qian Yingzi picked, but everyone managed to pick at least seven or eight Lion's Mane mushrooms. We also picked a lot of other mushrooms in the forest, all stored in the large baskets by the trees over there."
Chen Lan turned her head to look at the base of the large trees nearby. Indeed, she saw large baskets filled with mushrooms placed at the foot of the trees. She then looked up at the sun in the sky. Through the leaves of the tall oak trees, she noticed the sun was almost directly overhead, estimating it to be around eleven o'clock.
So she said, "Cui Qiao Jie, Yu Zhen Jie, let's hurry back! It's almost noon. If we hurry back now, we still have six large wild boars to deal with!"
Cui Qiao and Hu Yu Zhen, unsurprised and delighted, replied, "That's wonderful! Xiao Lan, everyone is benefiting from your luck again today. We can have pork stew again!"
Qian Yingzi and the others murmured to themselves, looking all around. Apart from the three little piglets in the basket, they didn't see any sign of the six large wild boars. A chill ran down their spines.
Qian Yingzi, bold and fearless, reached out and tugged at Hu Yu Zhen's arm. This startled Hu Yu Zhen, who was squatting down to pack the Lion's Mane mushrooms. Hu Yu Zhen looked up and saw Qian Yingzi, then stood up, patted her chest, and asked, "Yingzi Jie, do you know that scaring people can kill them! In this wilderness, you almost scared me to death!"
Qian Yingzi apologized repeatedly, a little embarrassed, and whispered conspiratorially, "Yu Zhen Mei Zi, I'm sorry. Your Yingzi Jie didn't mean to! It's just, I have something I want to ask you?"
Seeing that Qian Yingzi really had something to ask, Hu Yu Zhen readily replied, "Yingzi Jie, please ask whatever you want. If I know, I'll definitely tell you."
Qian Yingzi glanced around. She noticed everyone else was busy packing things to go back and no one was paying attention to them. So, she lowered her voice and asked quietly, "Yu Zhen Mei Zi, Xiao Lan just said we're going back to butcher pigs? Six large wild boars? You and Cui Qiao also said we're going back to eat pork stew. So, where are the pigs? We haven't seen any!"
Hu Yu Zhen, following her example, looked around. She also lowered her voice and said quietly, "They're at Xiao Lan's father-in-law's place. Our in-laws are helping to transport them back!"
Upon hearing this, Qian Yingzi immediately covered her mouth, turned around in surprise, and quickly began packing her things.
Everyone hurried back, not leisurely admiring the scenery and chatting as they did when they first entered the mountains. They were all accustomed to mountain paths and walked very quickly. It took them about an hour to return to the valley, just in time for lunch at the communal kitchen. They handed over the large and small baskets to the elderly woman managing the storeroom and washed their hands to prepare for lunch.
The elderly woman, while sorting through the Lion's Mane mushrooms from the small basket, clucked her tongue and muttered to herself, "Oh heavens! Truly, ancestors have blessed us! Xiao Lan was right. Changbai Mountain is truly a place of good fortune, there's no better place than this! These treasures that we could only dream of in the past, in the great mountains of Changbai, there are so many good things. Even the wealthiest families in the past couldn't easily obtain them if they wished!"
Chen Lan, hearing the elderly woman's muttering, couldn't help but chuckle, "Grandma, did you doubt me before?"
The elderly woman looked up and saw Chen Lan. Realizing she'd been caught talking to herself, she became a bit embarrassed and said, "How could I? Xiao Lan, I believe you the most! Otherwise, why would I have brought the whole family here with you, right?"