Page 43

After An Wa spat out the mushroom in his mouth, he sat upright on the ground and barked loudly at Shi Wen. "Woof!"

His fluffy yellow tail kept wagging behind him, and he looked to be in an excellent mood.

That performance was obviously him asking for credit.

Shi Wen had not even had time to inspect it.

Le Wa also darted over to him, likewise spitting out an enormous mushroom.

Le Wa was even more impatient. After spitting it out, he pawed at it and pushed it toward Shi Wen. "Woof woof!"

Where had these huge mushrooms come from? Shi Wen bent down in confusion and picked up the two mushrooms.

Both were heavy, with thick, solid flesh. They weighed heavily in his hands, each at least over a pound.

Looking at the mushrooms covered in dirt, Shi Wen had no way of telling what kind they were. Had the dogs stolen mushrooms grown in someone's greenhouse?

Otherwise, how could they be so large?

But there did not seem to be anyone nearby who grew mushrooms.

Holding the mushrooms, Shi Wen turned to Yan Kexing. "Do you know what kind of mushrooms these are?"

Yan Kexing stepped forward and identified them. "Delicious Mushrooms."

Shi Wen blinked in surprise. "What?"

"Their name is Delicious Mushroom. They are also called Reed Mushrooms and several other names. They are a type of mushroom that grows underground." Yan Kexing looked at the two tail-wagging dogs. "The puppies might have smelled them and deliberately dug them up."

The two dogs did not know whether they understood, but they held their heads high, their fluffy faces carrying a hint of pride.

Holding the mushrooms, Shi Wen finally remembered. "I think I've heard of them. Aren't they the only local mushrooms buried in the soil? Like winter bamboo shoots, where you have to dig up the mound before you can see them?"

"They do need to be dug up, though they are not necessarily buried in the soil. There are also Late-Autumn Silk-Cap Mushrooms here, which are likewise buried underground and somewhat resemble Delicious Mushrooms."

"Huh? Are those two kinds easy to tell apart?"

"They are fairly easy to distinguish. The main thing is to look at the ring on the stalk. Delicious Mushrooms have one." Yan Kexing said, "For unfamiliar mushrooms, it's best not to eat them. Sometimes you may think you've identified them, but they could be poisonous mushrooms that academia has yet to discover."

"That can happen?" Shi Wen weighed the big mushrooms in his hands, worried. "Then these two are edible, right?"

"They are."

While they were talking, Black Kid came over, herding the sheep.

Black Kid had a large mushroom in his mouth as well.

He was the largest of them, and the mushroom he carried was the largest too. It was so huge that it nearly split his mouth apart.

Yet his expression remained calm. He dropped the mushroom at Shi Wen and Yan Kexing's feet and merely gave his tail a slight wag.

After carefully identifying it, Yan Kexing confirmed that Black Kid had brought back a Delicious Mushroom as well.

The dogs had returned from herding with gifts. Shi Wen patted each of them on the head, then went back to the living room to fetch jerky as a reward.

After eating his jerky, An Wa was still not satisfied. He pawed at Shi Wen's shoe and let out little whimpering noises through his nose, looking rather anxious.

One look at him told Shi Wen that he wanted to eat the mushrooms.

Shi Wen had trained the dogs not to eat food from outside sources, and they could generally manage it.

Shi Wen broke off a piece of Delicious Mushroom and sniffed it, then turned to Yan Kexing. "Can they eat raw mushrooms?"

"Better not."

"Then we can only cook them first?" Shi Wen rubbed An Wa's head, stroking the fur on his head upward. "Go play first. When we get back tonight, I'll cook mushrooms for you."

Not far away, the cattle and sheep had already entered their pens on their own. The sun was slanting westward, nearly at the horizon. The evening breeze was far cooler than it had been during the day, carrying the distinctive scent of summer.

If they did not head out soon, it would be dark before long.

Shi Wen still wanted to go up the mountain with Yan Kexing to watch the sunset, so he definitely could not keep dawdling.

Black Kid and Le Wa had no objections, but An Wa clamped onto Shi Wen's pant leg and would not let him leave. "Whine, whine, whine."

Shi Wen tugged at his pant leg, trying to rescue it. "Really, I'll be back soon to cook mushrooms for you."

An Wa barked, "Woof woof woof!"

"You're such a big dog already. No acting cute!" Shi Wen finally managed to free one side of his pant leg, only for An Wa to seize the other. "Move aside."

An Wa was stubbornly determined and refused to let go of his pant leg.

Finding it amusing, Le Wa circled around Shi Wen's feet a few times before coming over and grabbing the other side of his pant leg.

Black Kid paced around nearby. As the leader of the dogs, he did not stop them at all. Clearly, he did not want Shi Wen to leave either.

The dogs had not done anything wrong, so Shi Wen could not exactly beat them up just because they were acting cute.

He freed one side of his pant leg, only for the other to be snatched away. He kept tugging back and forth with the dogs.

Le Wa even thought they were playing. His pink tongue hung out as he bit Shi Wen's pant leg with increasing enthusiasm.

Yan Kexing stood nearby, his face full of amusement.

Shi Wen was at his wits' end. "Come help me already!"

"Even if I help, you probably still won't get away. Can you outrun this pack of puppies?"

He really could not. His dogs were sheepdogs, after all. Shi Wen stared blankly. "Then what do we do?"

"Let's watch tomorrow morning's sunrise instead," Yan Kexing said. "We should cook the mushrooms first."

For now, that was the only option. Shi Wen flicked An Wa on the forehead. "Let go. We're going to cook."

An Wa tugged at his pant leg and met his eyes for a moment. Seeing that he was not lying, he finally released it.

Shi Wen cupped the dog's face in both hands and gave it a vigorous rub. "Why are you especially clever at a time like this?!"

Shi Wen and Yan Kexing picked up the three mushrooms from the ground and took them into the kitchen to scrape and wash.

They first had to scrape off the dirt and old roots, then wash and slice them.

Shi Wen's cooking skills were average, and he was not particularly deft at scraping mushrooms either. With his eyes lowered as he used the small knife, he looked especially clumsy.

Standing beside him, Yan Kexing was much more skillful. His long fingers moved swiftly, and before long, the mushrooms in front of him had been scraped perfectly clean, revealing their firm, porcelain-white interiors.