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This termite nest was enormous; when we dug it open, it was about the size of a ping-pong table.
They kept digging to the side until they could see small holes.
The cave was filled with a jumble of sclerotia of charcoal fungi, some covered with white mycelium, others just like black eggs.
After searching for a while, Yan Kexing pointed to something resembling antlers sticking out of the ground. "This is what charcoal fungi look like when they grow out of the ground, hence the name charcoal fungi."
Shi Wen, "That's really amazing."
They dug up the entire termite nest and finally found thirty-four sclerotia of the anthracnose fungus.
We could have dug up even more, but unfortunately some of it had already decayed.
It seems this termite nest has been there for quite a while; the anthracnose fungi have already grown several times.
After they finished digging, they filled the large pit back in.
Fortunately, the soil here is relatively loose; otherwise, digging and filling would have taken them a lot of time.
Shi Wen at the anthracnose fungus sclerotia in the basket, Shi Wen said, "Life is truly amazing. I never imagined that such a small termite nest could produce both delicious fungi like termite mushrooms and nourishing products like anthracnose fungus sclerotia."
"It's amazing." Yan Kexing patted his shoulder. "Let's go, the little guy up ahead is almost hoarse from shouting."
Just as they were about to leave, the little fox suddenly let out a long cry.
Shi Wen down and saw the little fox puffing out its fluffy chest, staring at them with its bright black eyes.
Shi Wen the little fox like this, Shi Wen immediately understood, suppressed a laugh, and patted its head. "Little fox, you're so clever, you found such a good thing."
The little fox was satisfied now, let out a long cry, and then stood up and followed them demurely.
The place where their cries can still Shi Wen.
The Wolf King was calling, and Wolf King had found a nest of termite mushrooms.
Finding the termite mushroom seemed to have given it confidence; it squatted down beside it with its head held high, patiently Shi Wen and the others to come over.
The quality of this nest of termite mushrooms is also very good; they are mostly good termite mushrooms that haven't opened yet.
Shi Wen the Wolf King's proud demeanor, Shi Wen quickly went up and praised it.
They continued digging for termite mushrooms.
The harvest was good this time, a total of twenty-one termite mushrooms, some big and some small, all looking very plump and delicious.
After digging up the termite mushrooms found by the Wolf King, Shi Wen and the others went to dig up the termite mushrooms found by An Wa and the little snow leopard.
The termite mushrooms these two found were also quite good.
After they finished digging, they waited in the same spot for a while. When no other little creatures chirped, it meant that none of the others had found the termite mushrooms.
It's already past 3 PM. We've only eaten a few sandwiches and drunk some water in between.
There are definitely other termite mushrooms in the orchard, but they've already found enough, so there's no need to dig up all of Zhake's termite mushrooms.
Shi Wen looked up at everyone and said, "How about we go back?"
No one had any objections; even the little ones didn't want to run anymore.
So Shi Wen called Zhake and told him that he was getting ready to go back.
Zhake came out to see them off.
Shi Wen had left a basket of the termite mushrooms he had dug up for Zhake's family.
Zhake refused, then insisted on giving it back to Shi Wen: "You guys take it back to eat. We'll be able to dig up more in a couple of days if we want to."
Shi Wen that he was very determined, Shi Wen stopped refusing.
Today's trip to dig for termite mushrooms was fun, but also really tiring. They quickly returned to the car, and everyone except the driver closed their eyes to rest.
It was already evening when we got back to the ranch.
Shi Wen that they were going to prepare a chicken mushroom feast, Gong Jiang went to kill chickens, Shi Wen and Yan Kexing cleaned the chicken mushrooms, preparing to process them using various methods.
That evening was naturally a delicious chicken and mushroom feast, and everyone, including the little ones, ate until they were stuffed.
They also had chicken soup made with the sclerotium of the charcoal mushroom, which was also delicious.
Everyone felt very sleepy after drinking it.
Shi Wen told Gong Jiang and the others not to drive back to the city, but to just stay in the village for the night.
Anyway, they often stayed in the village, and the village had all kinds of tools.
Everyone agreed.
Shi Wen was really tired today, so she quickly took a shower and went to bed.
He lay on his side, covering himself with the blanket, and said to Yan Kexing beside him, "I don't know if it's because we're particularly tired today or if this chicken soup with charcoal mushrooms and matsutake mushrooms is really effective, but I'm so sleepy I can barely keep my eyes open."
Yan Kexing: "It's chicken soup with black ginseng and matsutake mushrooms."
Shi Wen yawned, "Whatever it is, it's that thing anyway, I'm so sleepy."
Yan Kexing out and patted his back, whispering, "Go to sleep."
Shi Wen fell into a deep sleep before Yan Kexing had even finished speaking.
He felt like he wasn't asleep, but rather unconscious; otherwise, how could he have fallen asleep so quickly and so deeply?
He opened and closed his eyes, and when he woke up again, it was already broad daylight the next day.
He looked at the sunlight outside the window, momentarily losing track of time.
It was so bright outside that it was hard to tell if it was morning or afternoon. Did he wake up after sleeping all night or just take a nap?
Yan Kexing walked in from outside and placed clean clothes on the bed. "Get up and have breakfast."
"What time is it?" Shi Wen felt refreshed and in excellent condition after getting up. "Have the livestock been let out yet?"
"No, the dogs are sleeping too." Yan Kexing's eyes were smiling. "They're sleeping too soundly to wake them. Let the livestock eat hay at home all day."
Shi Wen was stunned. "The dogs are sleeping too?"
As he spoke, he incredulously picked up his phone from the bedside table; the phone showed that it was already 9:37 a. m.
Shi Wen, "Is that anthracite mushroom poisonous?"
Yan Kexing: "It's non-toxic, but it has a strong sedative effect."