Rebirth 1979: Hunting wild boars and saving educated youth

As soon as she got home, Chen Yufen went straight to the kitchen and started preparing meals.

After a while, the aroma of pheasant soup stewed with matsutake mushrooms wafted out of the kitchen, making people salivate.

Smiling, she brought out a large bowl of hot soup filled with chicken and matsutake mushrooms and handed it directly to Ning Yao. "Come, Ning Yao, try Auntie's cooking. Today is really thanks to you."

Ning Yao took the bowl, feeling warm in her heart, and thanked her repeatedly, "Auntie, you are so kind. This soup smells delicious."

Chen Feng watched from the side, smiled slightly, and then asked, "Ning Yao, why did you go to the police station today?"

Ning Yao was just taking a sip of the soup, which tasted particularly delicious. Squinting his eyes, he heard Chen Feng's words, swallowed the soup, and explained, "Oh, I was originally going to look for Uncle Zhou, hoping he would help me change the place where I can teach. The conditions in Lijia Village are too good, and I want to go to a more difficult place to train."

When these words came out, Chen Feng's family was stunned and began to persuade him, "Lijia Village is already remote enough, you still want to go to a place with even more hardship?"

"Yes, you are a girl, don't make things too hard on yourself." Chen Yufen also joined in the persuasion.

Ning Yao shook his head and said with a smile, "It's too late. Uncle Zhou has already taken care of it for me."

Chen Feng was stunned: "Huh?"

Ning Yao squinted his eyes and smiled, "I will be teaching in Mashan Village from now on."

When Chen Feng heard this, he knew that Ning Yao was deliberately teasing him, but he was still very happy in his heart. They were in Mashan Village and were close to each other.

Chen Yufen's face lit up with joy. She took Ning Yao's hand and said, "That's great. Although our village is poor, the people are honest. You will definitely be able to adapt here."

Chen Feng looked at Ning Yao with a half-smile on his face. There was a hint of teasing in his eyes, which made Ning Yao blush. If it weren't in front of Chen Yufen, she really wanted to reach out and pinch Chen Feng's arm to show her dissatisfaction.

After dinner, Ning Yao hesitated for a moment before finally speaking. "Auntie, there's something else I want to discuss with you. I'm officially starting work tomorrow, but I haven't found a place to live in Mashan Village yet. Can I stay with you for a while? I'll pay you monthly."

Upon hearing this, Chen Yufen quickly waved her hands, "No, no, Ning Yao, you're just too polite. We're all family, why bother talking about money? Just stay here and don't worry about it."

Ning Yao blushed at this and secretly glanced at Chen Feng. Seeing that he was looking at her with a smile, she felt even more flustered.

She lowered her head, twisted her fingers together, and her mind was full of random thoughts. For a moment, she even forgot to drink the soup.

Seeing this, Chen Feng chuckled, "Mom, since Ning Yao said so, we should respect her wishes. No need for money. We are all friends, and it is only natural to help each other."

Ning Yao glanced at Chen Feng and felt warm in her heart.

She knew that her choice this time was right, not only to train herself through teaching, but also to get closer to this person.

Seeing the two of them like this, Chen Yufen understood a little and said jokingly with a smile, "Alright, alright, don't be polite. Ning Yao, don't be polite to Auntie in the future. Just tell me if you need anything."

The next morning, just as the sky was turning pale, Chen Feng and Ning Yao were already sitting at the dinner table.

Chen Yufen served hot pumpkin porridge and homemade pickled vegetables, and the three of them sat around and ate with gusto.

After dinner, Chen Feng decided to take Ning Yao to the teaching place by cart, and take the picked matsutake mushrooms to the town to sell them.

"Ning Yao, sit on the cart and I'll take you to school." Chen Feng said as he pulled out the old cart from the yard. He also covered it with a thick layer of hay to make Ning Yao sit more comfortably.

Ning Yao smiled and nodded, then sat lightly on the cart. Chen Feng placed two large bags of matsutake mushrooms on the back of the cart and tied them tightly with ropes to ensure they would not fall.

Along the way, the two chatted and admired the scenery along the way. Although the mountain road was rugged, the two were in an extremely happy mood.

When they arrived at Mashan Village Primary School, Chen Feng gave a few more instructions before leaving.

Afterwards, Chen Feng pulled a cart full of matsutake mushrooms to the town.

When he arrived at the town market, he found a busy place, spread the matsutake mushrooms on a cart, and started selling them.

"Fresh matsutake mushrooms, five dollars a pound, come and take a look!"

Chen Feng shouted at the top of his lungs, but most passers-by just glanced at him and continued on their way.

Some stopped to ask, and when they heard the price they shook their heads, "Isn't this just wild vegetables? Why are they so expensive?"

Chen Feng had no choice but to explain the benefits of Matsutake over and over again, but with little effect.

Come to think of it, 5 yuan per pound is really expensive these days, but these matsutake mushrooms are freshly picked and of good quality. If he sells them at a low price, he feels like he is losing out.

Originally, he wanted to wait for someone to bargain so that he could lower the price and close the deal, but he didn't expect that half a day had passed and not even one person came to bargain!

As the sun rose higher and higher, he couldn't help feeling anxious because he hadn't sold any matsutake mushrooms.

Just then, a man who looked to be in his fifties walked out of the herbal medicine shop next door.

"Young man, are you selling matsutake mushrooms?" The man squinted his eyes and looked carefully at the matsutake mushrooms on the ground.

Chen Feng nodded quickly when he heard it, "Yes, uncle, I just picked these yesterday, they are very fresh."

The man squatted down, picked up a matsutake, looked at it carefully, and smelled it. "Hmm, not bad, young man, how much do you sell it for?"

"Five yuan per pound, uncle. If you think it's expensive, I can give you a discount." Chen Feng said quickly. It was so hard to find such a potential buyer, so he could only take the initiative to lower the price.

The man smiled and said, "I'm in this herbal medicine shop. You can call me Director Kong or Old Kong. Your matsutake mushrooms are indeed of good quality, but the price is a bit high. Three dollars and fifty cents, will you sell them to me?"

When Chen Feng heard that Director Kong was willing to buy, but the price was lowered to 3.5 yuan per catty, he felt a little reluctant, but thought it was better than not being able to sell it at all, so he nodded and said, "Okay, then I'll take the price you said, 3.5 yuan per catty."

Director Kong smiled and patted Chen Feng on the shoulder. "Young man, that's straightforward! If you have good stuff in the future, remember to come to me, Old Kong."

"Don't worry, Director Kong, I'm an honest person. I will definitely come to you first when I have goods." Chen Feng said as he started to move the matsutake mushrooms into the herbal medicine shop.

Director Kong led the way, and Chen Feng followed behind, carrying a heavy bag of matsutake mushrooms in both hands. They entered the medicine shop. Director Kong pointed to a corner and said, "Put it there. When the apprentice finishes picking the medicine, let him weigh it for you."

Chen Feng agreed without hesitation and began to calculate in his mind how much money he could get from selling this batch of matsutake mushrooms.

Although the price this time was lower than he expected, he thought that Director Kong was a long-term partner, and a steady income would open up a stable source of income for him.

As he was thinking about this, his eyes unconsciously glanced at the apprentice next to him, and saw that the apprentice was busy preparing medicine.

When the apprentice's hand fell on a medicinal herb, Chen Feng couldn't help but let out a soft "Huh", obviously a little surprised by the choice of that herb.