Su Huaiming had an unthreatening appearance, but his features were not soft. They were finely sculpted, and the lines of his forehead and nose were clear in profile.
Su Huaiming's brows were drawn tight in pain, and a sickly flush colored the corners of his eyes and his cheeks, a stark contrast to his pale skin.
Su Huaiming's chest rose and fell slightly as he tried to breathe in fresh air, his breathing somewhat heavy.
[Ahhh, my heart aches for him! Su Huaiming can't handle this environment. Get him down the mountain, quick!]
[With altitude sickness on top of strenuous exercise, even a young person who's spent their whole life on the plains could feel unwell, let alone Su Huaiming.]
[I'm guilty, and I'll reflect on my sins, but wife's panting sounds so good!]
[...Me too. I was taking screenshots like crazy just now. Every single one is so beautiful it makes me drool.]
The woman noticed something was wrong with Su Huaiming and was frightened. She hurriedly supported him by the arm and had him sit down to rest.
She unscrewed the lid of his water bottle and held it out to him.
Su Huaiming was about the same age as her son, and there was something fragile and broken about him. Her heart ached for him. "It's all right. I still have a few matsutake mushrooms at home. We can say you picked them, and we'll head down the mountain now. If your boss gives you trouble, I'll deal with him!"
Su Huaiming nodded.
He didn't like strenuous exercise, but he could manage a mountain hike, which was why he hadn't refused at first. He hadn't expected this body's altitude sickness to be so severe.
Su Huaiming nodded and braced his hand against the ground. He was just about to stand when he suddenly stopped.
He could feel a slight bump beneath his hand.
Su Huaiming paused and lifted his hand.
Most of the soil had been brushed aside, revealing a round, brown bump.
The experienced woman immediately recognized what it was. She brushed away the surrounding soil and said in delight, "Oh my, you really are a lucky star! We searched for almost two hours without finding a single one, and you found a matsutake just by sitting down."
The joy of the find eased Su Huaiming's physical discomfort. He leaned closer and watched as the woman carefully brushed away the soil around it. She wiggled it twice before picking it up.
The woman handed the matsutake to Su Huaiming. Just as he reached out to take it, he felt another familiar bump beneath the hand supporting him.
Su Huaiming paused, then copied the woman and brushed away the soil beneath his hand.
It was another matsutake!
The woman's eyes widened in shock. She could hardly believe what she was seeing. "I've never seen matsutake growing in the same spot before!"
For some reason, Su Huaiming had a hunch, so he brushed aside the soil next to it.
He found a third matsutake.
The woman: "..."
She was completely dumbfounded and stared blankly at Su Huaiming. In her mind, he was now associated with the god of mushrooms.
Su Huaiming hadn't expected such a haul either. He immediately dug out the matsutake beneath his hand and carefully placed it in the basket.
Then he dug out the smaller matsutake, muttering, "Your dad's already gone in. Hurry up and go find him."
After that, he found a fourth matsutake nearby. It was the biggest of them all.
Su Huaiming's face was still covered in sweat, and his breathing was especially heavy, but his eyes were bright. The corners of his mouth curved up slightly. "Your son and grandson have already gone in. Go find them too, and then you can all be reunited."
After searching the area and making sure there were no more matsutake, Su Huaiming finally stood up.
He looked at the five matsutake in the basket and smiled in satisfaction. "How nice. A family should be together like this."
The livestream viewers: "..."
[Is this really the time to say a family should be together?]
[Help, Su Huaiming is just like a vicious criminal who murdered a family of five!]
[Especially that smile of his just now. It gave me the creeps.]
[Wife, don't do that. I'm a little scared.]
[Huff, huff. He's such a freak. I love it.]
Chapter 28: 028
With his attention diverted, Su Huaiming felt that breathing had become much easier, and his body felt lighter.
After descending the mountain, they went straight to the woman's house.
The woman thought that since Su Huaiming had found all the matsutake, they should rightfully go to him. To her surprise, the production team refused and insisted on exchanging supplies.
The five matsutake together were worth quite a bit. The woman felt embarrassed to get such a bargain and agonized over it for a full three minutes before something occurred to her.
She went into the inner room and brought out a palm-sized glass jar. The sauce inside was brown, with a few strips visible in it.
The woman handed the jar to Su Huaiming and said enthusiastically, "I fried this sauce earlier using our family's secret recipe. It has more than ten kinds of mushrooms in it, and it's delicious. Take it home and eat it. And remember to stop by my house before you leave. I'll prepare a few more jars for you. You can give them away or eat them yourself."
At that, the woman looked immensely proud. "I'm not bragging, but my fried mushroom sauce is delicious. Whenever this time of year comes around, my kids don't want to eat anything else!"
Su Huaiming took the jar and thanked her.
The woman still felt indebted to Su Huaiming. She walked him to the door and reluctantly waved goodbye, repeatedly stressing that he mustn't forget to come by before he left.
When Su Huaiming and Fu Xiao returned to the cabin, the four groups of guests who had been working in the village were already back.
Sun Siyuan, who had been sitting there anxiously, spotted Su Huaiming in the distance and immediately stood up and hurried over.
Su Huaiming looked pale, but he was still more or less in one piece. Only then did Sun Siyuan breathe a sigh of relief.
Earlier, Ji Mingzhe had reminded him that climbing a mountain not only took a great deal of physical strength but could also cause altitude sickness. When he thought of Su Huaiming's fragile little body, he immediately broke out in a cold sweat.
His head had been filled with images of police officers taking him away in handcuffs, interrogating him sternly, and making him spend the rest of his life in prison.
If the production crew hadn't stopped him, he probably would have rushed up the mountain with the medical staff!
Now that he saw Su Huaiming was safe and sound, Sun Siyuan could finally feel somewhat reassured.
"Huaiming, are you all right?" Ji Mingzhe asked with concern.
Su Huaiming shook his head, put the glass jar on the table, and said, "The woman who took me to pick matsutake gave me this."
Sun Siyuan's attention shifted. He looked at the sauce in the jar and frowned slightly. "What is this?"
Su Huaiming said, "It's mushroom sauce she fried. It has more than ten kinds of mushrooms in it, and she used a secret recipe."
Sun Siyuan never held back what he wanted to say. He said disparagingly, "Isn't this burnt? Can you even eat it?"
Ning Lei found a chance to speak up. "This was a heartfelt gift from her, and it's also what Su Huaiming earned through his labor. Even if it doesn't taste good, we should appreciate it."
Sun Siyuan felt guilty for inadvertently getting Su Huaiming into trouble and hurriedly said, "Who said this sauce doesn't taste good?"
At that, Su Huaiming, Ji Mingzhe, and Yu Ruicheng all looked at him silently.
Only then did Sun Siyuan realize he had slapped his own face. After a few seconds of being at a loss, he swallowed his grievance.
Su Huaiming suddenly remembered something and asked, "What supplies did you exchange for?"
At that, everyone present fell silent. Sun Siyuan's expression was especially ugly, and even the usually tactful Ji Mingzhe was at a loss for words.
Su Huaiming looked at them in confusion. "Did the production team give you nothing?"
"They did," Sun Siyuan said through gritted teeth. "That tiny bit of food—are they fobbing off beggars?!"
Seeing that Sun Siyuan was about to get angry again, Ji Mingzhe hurriedly placated him. "It's only the first day. What the production team gave us is enough to eat today. Things will keep getting better tomorrow. Didn't the villagers tell us about several local specialties? We'll definitely get to eat them later."
Su Huaiming grew even more curious. "So what supplies did you actually exchange for?"
Ji Mingzhe paused, then said, "A kind of local specialty cake, and some local specialty greens."
Su Huaiming nodded.
The others had also been busy all afternoon and were a little hungry, so they prepared to eat dinner.
Sun Siyuan, however, threw a fit. "Before, we could at least eat some things from the supermarket. There are only cakes and a few vegetables here. How are we supposed to eat?"
Su Huaiming said, "We still have the mushroom sauce."
Sun Siyuan was biased against the jar of sauce and didn't want to eat it, but he was too embarrassed to voice his dislike in front of Su Huaiming. He could only stiffen his neck and keep his mouth shut.
Although Sun Siyuan was much older, he was the same type as Fu Xiaoxiao. Su Huaiming was all too familiar with their behavior and paid him no attention.
They were both the type to make more of a fuss the more they were coaxed. It was best to leave them alone.
As they prepared to eat, Su Huaiming saw the cakes Ji Mingzhe and the others had obtained.
The cakes were off-white, about the size of a palm and half a thumb thick. They were especially soft and sprang back when folded.
Su Huaiming took a bite, wanting to taste their most original flavor.
They were pleasantly springy to chew, with a faint aroma of rice. After he swallowed, a sweetness lingered on the tip of his tongue.
Su Huaiming also saw the local specialty greens.
Their stems and leaves were especially plump and juicy, with the fresh fragrance unique to plants. They were crisp, and he could feel the juice burst in his mouth as he chewed.
But both foods had almost no flavor, so Ji Mingzhe unscrewed the jar of mushroom sauce Su Huaiming had brought back.
The moment the lid came off, an indescribably rich aroma wafted out.
The four children's eyes lit up. They tilted their heads back and took deep breaths, their bodies almost pulled toward the scent.
"That smells so good! What is it?" Yu Xuanxuan kept swallowing.
Yu Ruicheng took a spoon and spread the sauce evenly over a cake, tucked two fresh vegetables inside, and handed it to Yu Xuanxuan.
Yu Xuanxuan held the cake and took a big bite. It was so delicious that he narrowed his eyes and swayed from side to side.
They had all been busy for the whole afternoon and were already hungry. Seeing this, they immediately stared at the jar of mushroom sauce with shining eyes, eager to try it.
Su Huaiming spread a thick layer over a rice cake. The sauce was brown, and he could see mushrooms fried until dry in it. A sheen of oil glistened on the surface, making it look incredibly tempting.
Su Huaiming didn't add any greens. He simply took a bite.
Mushrooms had a distinctive aroma, and it was as if he had been thrown into a world of them. The fragrances of the different mushrooms blended perfectly together, and the savory, salty flavor was especially pronounced without overpowering them.
Fu Jingfan was wealthy, and the chefs in his home were all five-star caliber. Su Huaiming had eaten plenty of fine food, but this humble mushroom sauce was in no way inferior to those feasts. Its distinctive aroma even gave it a slight edge.
For a while, everyone ate with green eyes. The only sound in the dining room was chewing, and hardly anyone freed their mouth to speak.
Sun Siyuan had been unable to sit still from the moment he smelled the aroma. Seeing everyone eating so happily, he stared fixedly at the jar of mushroom sauce, his body leaning toward it uncontrollably.
"I've never eaten this stuff before. What does it actually taste like?" Su Huaiming had dealt with Sun Siyuan last time, and Sun Siyuan knew no one would give him a way out, so he muttered awkwardly to himself.
Afraid someone would stop him, he immediately grabbed a cake, spread a large spoonful of mushroom sauce on it, and put it in his mouth.