Is the beginning of a catastrophe? The little farm cook is raising a family with a full warehouse.

Cheng Yuntao had previously promised Xiaozhu and Xiaoli to make some more hawthorn cakes. Seeing that the weather had been good in the past few days, she took them back to the valley.

At the end of October, the autumn colors in the valley became more intense. In a blink of an eye, they had moved here for more than half a month.

The autumn wind blows through the valley, dyeing the forests wherever it passes.

The maple trees are burning red, like flags fluttering in the wind; the ginkgo trees are shedding their golden leaves, like stars falling to the ground; the maple leaves become more brilliant after frost, their color as red as cinnabar, dancing in the wind.

The stream in the valley gurgles, the water is clear and winding like a jade belt. Fallen leaves are floating on the water, like a small boat drifting with the current, which contrasts with the colorful pebbles on the bottom of the water.

The mountains in the distance are hidden in the twilight mist, and the mountain peaks are shrouded in clouds and mist, as if the fairy's sleeves are fluttering, as if they are shy to cover themselves. A few birds in the forest are chirping and circling.

Several people walked briskly towards the depths of the valley. The paths in the valley were covered with piles of fallen leaves. When they stepped on them, a slight rustling sound could be heard from time to time, disturbing the quiet autumn scene.

The sun shone through the dense treetops, casting mottled light and shadows. Cheng Yuntao walked in front carrying a bamboo basket, followed closely by Xiaozhu and Xiaoli, each carrying a small cloth bag slung across their bodies.

Compared to this vast forest, they are so small and yet so peaceful. Everything is hazy and poetic, like a paradise on earth, making people intoxicated and forgetting the way home.

Over the past few days, Cheng Yuntao's troubled heart has gradually calmed down. She has adapted to and fallen in love with this world, and cherishes everything she has.

……

After finding the hawthorn tree from last time, seeing that the fruits were ripe, Cheng Yuntao picked all the wild hawthorns hanging on the branches in one go, filling up half of the bamboo basket.

The days passed quickly and the weather became increasingly colder. Later on, it would probably not be so easy to pick wild fruits in the valley.

The reason they didn't take in all the food last time was, on the one hand, that they only had a few mouths and couldn't eat so much, and on the other hand, they wanted to leave some for the birds in the forest so that they wouldn't starve.

Now it seems that all the red fruits on the top and facing the sun have been pecked clean, and the birds don’t even look at the remaining fruits. Instead of letting them rot in the ground, it is better to take them back and process them.

As winter is approaching, it is inevitable to eat some big fish and meat to gain weight. When you feel tired of it, it is also great to have some hawthorn preserves to relieve the greasiness.

Originally, they planned to go back to the cave after picking hawthorns, but their younger brother and sister suggested that they walk a little further inside. Cheng Yuntao looked up and observed, and felt that it was indeed still early, so she agreed.

When they reached a certain spot, Cheng Yueli suddenly shouted in surprise, "Sister, look! There's a chestnut tree over there!"

When a few people heard the sound, they went over and saw a chestnut tree standing in the corner. It had a thick trunk, lush branches and leaves, and chestnuts were hidden in thorny chestnut buds.

When Cheng Yuntao saw the chestnut tree, her eyes lit up and she quickly ran towards it, pulling her younger brother and sister.

Cheng Jingzhu was even more anxious. He immediately took off the cross-body bag he was wearing, squatted down and tried to stuff the chestnuts scattered on the ground into his bag.

Seeing this, Cheng Yuntao was so frightened that she quickly called a halt.

"Xiaozhu, wait a minute! We need to check first to see if they are non-toxic chestnuts. If they are poisonous horse chestnuts, eating them could be dangerous!"

After being scolded by her, Cheng Jingzhu was frightened and immediately dropped the chestnut in his hand.

"Ah...what? It's...it's poisonous."

"I don't know. I feel like these chestnuts all look the same. I thought they were the same kind I've eaten before."

"Sister, I just touched it. Will I be poisoned? I'm still young. I don't want to die. I can't bear to leave you. Woo-wah-"

The child was easily frightened, and his thoughts immediately ran wild and into the sky.

The funny expression made Cheng Yuntao almost laugh out loud. It took her a lot of effort to suppress the smile on the corner of her mouth, and she reached out to cover Cheng Jingzhu's crying mouth.

"Okay, Xiaozhu, stop yelling so loudly. What if you attract dangerous wild animals?"

Cheng Jingzhu choked on the spot, his mouth still wide open, but he didn't dare to make a sound.

"Although Chinese chestnuts and horse chestnuts look similar, you can still see quite a few differences if you look closely."

"For example, the chestnut pods are relatively small, mostly oblate, with a dark brown or reddish-brown shell and short, densely packed thorns. Inside, there are usually two or three brown seeds, one flat on one side and curved on the other."

"The horse chestnut fruit is larger, nearly spherical or slightly flattened, with a hard shell that is dark brown to black brown in color. The thorn-like protrusions are sparse, hard and long, and there are usually only one or two light brown or beige smooth flattened seeds inside."

"Okay, now look at me. Are those chestnuts or horse chestnuts?"

As soon as Cheng Yuntao finished speaking, Cheng Jingzhu closed his mouth, opened his eyes wide and came closer. Cheng Yueli, who was standing next to him, also pinched her small bag and peeked in curiously.

After careful observation, the two shouted in unison.

"This is a chestnut! It's not poisonous!"

After knowing that he was not poisoned, Cheng Jingzhu instantly felt much better and returned to his original lively and clever state.

"That's great, at least it's not poisonous. It scared me."

Cheng Yuntao shook her head helplessly and explained softly.

"Horse chestnuts contain a large amount of saponins, which can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headaches, dizziness and other discomfort symptoms if accidentally ingested."

"But if you accidentally ingest only a tiny amount, inducing vomiting quickly can reduce the toxicity. Only consuming large amounts will pose a threat to your life."

"Its toxicity isn't that terrible. If you just touch it with your hands, there's nothing wrong with it. Don't be afraid."

"Just now I was too anxious. I thought if it was a horse chestnut, it would be troublesome to take it back. That's why I was a little loud and scared Xiaozhu. I'm sorry."

Cheng Yuntao reached out and touched Xiaozhu's head to comfort her.

Cheng Jingzhu naturally knew what her sister's intentions were, so she wouldn't get angry over such trivial matters.

"It's okay, sister. Thank goodness you're here. Otherwise, Xiaoli and I wouldn't know so much. If we really picked up poisonous horse chestnuts and brought them back for grandma to eat, that would be terrible!"

"But since they are non-toxic chestnuts, let's quickly pick some up and take them back. We can use them to make sugar-roasted chestnuts."

"When my mother was still alive, I ate it when she took me to the market in town. It was so soft and sticky and delicious!"

Some vague images flashed through Cheng Yuntao's mind, and a woman with a gentle face was smiling at her deep in her memory.

After a moment of silence, she nodded seriously and said, "Okay, I'll make you some sugar-roasted chestnuts when we get home. Hurry up and pick some chestnuts and fill your little cloth bags!"

"That's great!"

Cheng Jingzhu and Cheng Yueli cheered and rushed excitedly to the chestnut tree.