Page 207
Hopefully, when I come back next time, the spores I photographed will have grown into new mushrooms.
Jiujiu accompanied them as they picked flowers, occasionally picking up a couple and chewing on them.
Jian Mo glanced at Jiujiu, then held the mushroom under her nose and smelled it.
The mushrooms had a slightly sweet taste, which tempted him, but he still didn't dare to eat them directly.
His stomach isn't as strong as Jiujiu's; even if he doesn't get poisoned after eating, he might still suffer from diarrhea or something similar.
Jian Mo started picking mushrooms while squatting and then sitting down. Her basket gradually filled up, but there were still quite a few mushrooms nearby.
He said with some regret, "What a pity, so many mushrooms are rotten."
Among these rotten mushrooms, some withered and rotted naturally, while others were eaten by birds and insects and slowly decayed.
Wu Jiong: "It can grow back even if it rots. We can come back to pick it in a couple of days."
Jian Mo thought about it and agreed, "The rotten mushrooms can serve as fertilizer for the other mushrooms."
The two of them picked two large baskets of mushrooms. There were just so many mushrooms here, and they still had a lot left to pick.
After they went back, they came back to collect samples twice more, and then maintained a routine of collecting samples every three days.
After picking mushrooms for about ten days, the mushroom season in this alpine meadow gradually ended, and they could no longer find any. Only then did Jian Mo and his group stop coming.
We've picked so many mushrooms lately, even with Jiujiu, we can't finish them all.
Jian Mo then put the mushrooms in the yard to dry, turning them directly into dried mushrooms.
After being dried, the aroma of the mushrooms becomes concentrated, giving them a unique flavor.
After a period of good weather, most parts of the Riverside Tribe began to rain again, and it was still continuous drizzle.
Everyone's been working hard for a while, so let's take this opportunity to get some rest.
Jian Mo wasn't interested in parties, chatting, or singing.
With so many mushrooms at home, he got the urge to cook them, so he simply took out the dried mushrooms, soaked them, diced them finely, and slowly fried them in a pot with lean meat. During the frying process, he added scallop powder and peppercorns, and simmered them into a mushroom sauce.
The aroma of their mushroom sauce was so strong that the entire tribe could smell it.
Zhou Fu and a few others came over together to help out and learn how to make mushroom sauce from Jian Mo.
It wasn't anything special, Jian Mo generously taught them how to make it. It was good that someone was helping out, so they could make more sauce.
Zhou Fu took a spoonful and tasted it, staring at the freshly made mushroom sauce. "Mushroom sauce is delicious. How should we eat it? Should we eat it as a dish?"
Jian Mo: "You can eat it as a vegetable. If you boil the bland-tasting stems, a bite of stem followed by a sip of sauce should taste pretty good. But I'm thinking of putting it in a jar so that when we're out hunting or gathering and get hungry, we can dip freshly gathered wild vegetables and fruits in the sauce."
Zhou Fu couldn't help but say, "If I took it out, I definitely wouldn't be able to resist the urge to eat it before I even got hungry."
Xi Lu rarely agreed, "I couldn't resist either. With such a strong fragrance, I'd be thinking about it as soon as I left the tribe, and I wouldn't have any thought of hunting or gathering."
Jian Mo: "Then Wu Jiong and I should have that kind of self-control."
Zhou Fu: "How long can this sauce be kept?"
Jian Mo thought for a moment, "Now that they've been completely boiled dry, they should last for a month without any problems. I'll put them in a ceramic jar later, steam them, and then put them in a cool, shady place."
Zhou Fu: "What kind of logic is that?"
Jian Mo: "It kills the microorganisms that have gotten mixed in, thus extending the shelf life."
This time, no one understood, and they looked at Jian Mo in complete bewilderment.
Jian Mo didn't explain further, "If you want to make sauce, just follow these steps; it's roughly like this."
Zhou Fu immediately said, "The sauce I make isn't as good as yours. Even if I made it, it would be a waste of ingredients. Can I just bring the ingredients and exchange them for your sauce?"
Since they were all from the same tribe, Jian Mo nodded. "Sure, bring the ingredients over, and I'll exchange them for half the sauce."
Zhou Fu's spirits lifted. "Wait a moment, I'll go get it right away."
Xi Lu and the others chimed in, "Jian Mo, we want some too!"
Jian Mo waved her hand. "Then go get it, and we'll make another batch when we come back."
Every household in the tribe had plenty of meat, shellfish, and mushrooms. Those who didn't want the hassle simply took them and traded them with Jian Mo for mushroom sauce.
Jian Mo didn't mind. The ingredients were ready, and all she had to do was cook it. It was so easy, and since she had nowhere to go on a rainy day, she could earn some extra food.
Their sons, Wu Jiong and Jiujiu, both have big appetites, so it's always good to prepare more.
Especially Jiujiu.
As omnivores, Flying-Winged Beast can eat almost anything.
The tribe provided half of Jiujiu's food, but they couldn't just feed it meat directly. Most of the time, they gave it grass, wild vegetables, and less tasty twigs and the like.
Wild Flying-Winged Beast eat like this too, and it's not even as good as the food given by the Riverside Tribe, so the tribe isn't treating Jiujiu unfairly.
Jiujiu's cravings, especially its love for human-cooked food, put a lot of pressure on Jian Mo and Wu Jiong if they wanted to provide more.
Change the food frequently; it's perfect for feeding the Jiujiu.
Jian Mo and the others raised it with great care, and Jiujiu grew up well, with glossy and smooth fur.
Jian Mo had never seen wild Flying-Winged Beast and couldn't compare them, but they had seen the Flying-Winged Beast of the Tianning Tribe with their own eyes.
The Flying-Winged Beast of the Tianning Tribe are only half the size of Jiujiu, and their bodies are far less robust than Jiujiu's, nor are Jiujiu as lively and cute.
Even so, everyone already thought the Flying-Winged Beast raised by the Tianning Tribe were quite good.
Clearly, raising Flying-Winged Beast in this era is no easy task.
It's not safe to go outside on rainy days, and getting wet in the rain is also uncomfortable.
Jian Mo and her family had plenty of food, they didn't go out much.
Many people don't mind and still go out on rainy days.
People from other tribes, in particular, couldn't stay in their own tribes, so they would come together to the Riverside Tribe to exchange pottery.
Many people from various tribes think that the pottery from the Riverside Tribe is beautiful and leak-proof, and that it's much more cost-effective to come here and exchange their pottery for their own—many tribes have a very low success rate in firing pottery, resulting in many cracks and high costs.