Chapter 50

The mycelium is underground; they are only picking a few of the newly grown hazel mushrooms, which won't damage the mycelium, so it's okay to pick them.

Even if you don't pick them, they will wither naturally in a couple of days.

The two picked mushrooms slowly, becoming much more cautious as they did so.

During the harvesting process, they discovered that there were quite a few gastrodia elata plants here; they roughly counted and found more than ten.

If nothing unexpected happens, the gastrodia elata will grow more and more abundant here.

Qing Mengzhu said to Zhou Yan, "I'll take a picture and report it after we get down the mountain to see if the police want to protect this place."

Zhou Yan had no objections. "Of course, it's not easy for such a patch of wild gastrodia elata to grow; we shouldn't let anyone steal it."

Wild gastrodia elata cannot be harvested, but this large patch of hazel mushrooms is already quite a pleasant surprise.

After they finished picking, each of them filled half a basket.

It was still early, so after picking the hazel mushrooms, they continued deeper into the mountains.

There were indeed many mushrooms this season. Along their journey, they picked all sorts of mushrooms, including porcini, chanterelles, coral mushrooms, cloud mushrooms, skin mushrooms, termite mushrooms, and matsutake mushrooms, filling their baskets to the brim.

With Qing Mengzhu being so familiar with the mountains and forests, and with two dogs with keen senses of smell assisting them, it would be difficult for them not to have a successful harvest.

As the sun was about to set, Zhou Yan reluctantly followed Qing Mengzhu down the mountain, urged on by her.

Zhou Yan kept looking back. "Mushroom picking today was so exciting! I never imagined there would be so many mushrooms in the mountains!"

Qing Mengzhu: "Maybe when you were picking mushrooms before, you were picking them on mountains that were frequented by people. There aren't many people here, so you picked more mushrooms."

Zhou Yan: "I'll come again next time."

Qing Mengzhu: "Come on, but be careful on your way. It's easy to get lost in the deep mountains and forests. It's best to wear a watch with GPS navigation."

Zhou Yan: "Okay! Let's come together again next time."

Qing Mengzhu and said, "If you have time."

They went down the mountain, found their car parked by the roadside, and drove home.

It was already past six o'clock in the afternoon when I got home.

Zhou Yan had to go back to test the dishes, so he said goodbye to Qing Mengzhu with his basket on his back and hurried back to the courtyard they had rented.

Fortunately, he was the head chef, so no one dared to rush him; otherwise, he would definitely have been scolded today.

Compared to Zhou Yan, who has a job, Qing Mengzhu is much freer.

He calmly led the two dogs into the yard, put down his basket, went to get water for the dogs, and fed each of them two pieces of jerky to tide them over before going into the living room and pouring himself a whole glass of water.

After finishing his water, he went out into the yard to gather the mushrooms he had picked that day.

Thanks to the patch of hazel mushrooms, he picked the most hazel mushrooms today, with other mushrooms making up about half and hazel mushrooms making up the other half.

Qing Mengzhu brought out a small stool and a small knife, intending to scrape off the mud and fallen leaves attached to the mushrooms before washing them.

As he was scraping and washing, he stared at the hazel mushrooms in his hands and suddenly fell into deep thought.

He remembered that the old drawer at home was filled with all sorts of seeds, all left by his grandparents, neatly wrapped in paper packets.

He had seen the seeds when he first came back, but at that time he hadn't had much contact with agriculture, so he didn't have a deep impression of the seeds.

In addition, these seeds have been stored for more than ten or even several decades, so he felt that the germination rate would be very low. Therefore, he rarely checked them and would buy new seeds from the market whenever he wanted to plant something.

If he remembered correctly, the seeds in the drawer seemed to include seeds of Gastrodia elata.

Thinking of this, Qing Mengzhu put down the hazel mushrooms in her hand, got up and went into the house, went upstairs to find the old cabinet in the storage room, and then opened the drawer to look for seeds.

Eggplant, peppers, green beans, mustard greens, okra... The paper packages weren't labeled, so Qing Mengzhu had to open and unfold them one by one.

After unpacking more than a dozen paper packages, Qing Mengzhu saw some familiar seeds—they should be Gastrodia elata seeds.

Qing Mengzhu took out her phone and scanned the QR code using the Mall Assistant.

Soon, the Mall Assistant provided accurate information: these seeds came from Gastrodia elata and were classified as "Good Grade."

The Mall Assistant specifically noted that these seeds had very low activity due to being stored for too long, and planting was not recommended.

Looking at the notes, Qing Mengzhu felt deeply moved.

These are seeds left by his grandparents. Although their activity level is very low, if he wants, he can buy another batch of Gastrodia elata seeds to continue the lineage, just like resuming the family tradition.

Author's Note:

See you this afternoon! I'm going to buy bamboo this afternoon~

Chapter 50

There are several kinds of Gastrodia elata, and the one that Qing Mengzhu and the others encountered on the mountain was black Gastrodia elata.

He found that Gastrodia elata has good medicinal effects, so after researching it online, he found a seller who specializes in growing Gastrodia elata and bought several seeds.

Vine City has a well-developed logistics system; he bought the seeds online one day and they were delivered the next.

Zhou Yan happened to see Qing Pingdun delivering the package to him.

Zhou Yan looked at the seeds wrapped in a sealed bag in his hand. "You're really planning to grow gastrodia elata?"

Qing Mengzhu: "Gastrodia elata doesn't require much management; it's a one-time investment with multiple harvests, making it a pretty good medicinal herb."

Zhou Yan doubted whether it was possible to grow Gastrodia elata from seeds, but he didn't get discouraged. He simply asked, "Isn't Gastrodia elata used to treat headaches?"

"Not only that, it can also treat dizziness, rheumatic paralysis, numbness in the hands and feet, etc. It's a fairly commonly used medicinal herb." After answering, Qing Mengzhu looked at him, "Did you need something from me?"

Zhou Yan held up the basket he was carrying. "The confit duck we talked about last time is ready now. Would you like to try it?"

Hearing this, Qing Pingdun glanced at them curiously.

Zhou Yan immediately said, "Pingdun, come too, help me judge the dishes."

Qing Pingdun grinned. "How could a roughneck like me know how to critique dishes?"

Zhou Yan patted his shoulder. "That's not like everyone's a roughneck. We're all human, with the same tongue. If it tastes good, it tastes good; if it doesn't, it doesn't taste good. It's all the same."

Qing Pingdun was genuinely curious. "Then I won't stand on ceremony."

They all entered Qing Mengzhu's house together. The Dharma Protector and Guard who were sleeping in the corridor got up and happily called out twice when they saw Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan was holding something in his hands, so he couldn't easily pet them. He could only raise his hand to greet them, "Dharma Protector, Guard!"

Two dogs. "Woof woof!"

Qing Mengzhu led them to the kitchen and found plates, bowls, and chopsticks to serve the food. "Here, shall we have confit duck?"

Zhou Yan: "And our lotus seed broth stew and ham rolls with truffles."

Zhou Yan explained, "I thought about the honey-glazed ham from last time, and it was indeed a bit too rich. The whole menu should be made lighter, since most of our customers are older and they eat similar dishes quite often."

As he spoke, Zhou Yan opened the food box he had brought and deftly divided the dishes inside.

The duck meat of the confit duck has turned a beautiful reddish-brown color, and the skin is golden. Cut into small pieces and arranged in a snow-white bowl, it looks very tempting.

In the ham and truffle roll, both the ham and truffles are sliced very thinly and arranged in a flower shape, releasing the aromas of meat and mushrooms simultaneously.

The most wonderful thing is the lotus seeds simmered in broth, with bright green lotus leaves added. When it's presented in such a beautiful way, it doesn't look like a bowl of soup, but rather like a small potted lotus plant.

Qing Pingdun exclaimed, "It's so beautiful!"

Zhou Yan's face was full of smugness. "You guys try it and see if you can taste the difference?"

Qing Mengzhu was the first to taste the lotus seed soup. One bite and she was overwhelmed by the umami flavor—the umami of the soup, the umami of the fish maw, and the umami of the lotus seeds. All these flavors combined to create an unparalleled taste experience.

Qing Mengzhu: "This soup is so delicious! It has fish maw in it, but it's not fishy at all. Also, all the different flavors come together, but why don't they clash at all? I can even taste the unique umami flavor of the lotus seeds!"

Zhou Yan: "It's very harmonious, isn't it?"