Travel to the mountains and make a fortune in silence

They walked down the path in front of the courtyard. When they were almost home, Wang Qing'er saw a patch of empty land covered with mustard greens. Thinking it belonged to someone, she asked Mu Nan, "Brother Mu Nan, whose land is that?"

Mu Nan pointed to the several empty plots of land in front of her, "This whole area belongs to the family, and we've kept it for planting sweet potatoes."

Wang Qing'er then asked, "Is the shepherd's purse inside grown at home?"

"Those are wild; we usually dig them up to feed the pigs."

"Ah! What a waste! This is shepherd's purse, the king of wild vegetables, and they're using it to feed pigs." Wang Qing'er thought to herself, feeling it was such a pity.

"Brother Mu Nan, let's go dig some up. We can eat this too. It's even tastier than lamb's quarters or noodle greens."

"Okay, go dig some if you want to eat them." Mu Nan thought that since chickens and ducks were edible, they must not be poisonous, so he would dig some if his wife wanted to eat them.

Wang Qing'er went down into the field and saw that the shoots were quite tender, probably newly grown. She picked out the larger ones and started digging, and once she started, she couldn't stop. "It's so relaxing!"

She also saw several clumps of wild onions along the edge and in the middle of the field, but they were still very small, so she dug up the ones in the middle of the field as well.

He also reminded Mu Nan, "Brother Mu Nan, this is a wild onion, it's edible. Those along the edge of the field are all like this. Don't dig it up when you turn the soil, wait until it grows bigger before digging it up."

"it is good."

Wang Qing'er saw a few more purslane plants, but they were too small, so she decided to keep them for now.

"Qing'er, that's enough, let's go back first!" Mu Nan urged his wife when he saw that his basket was full.

"Oh, okay!" Wang Qing'er saw that her and Mu Nan's baskets were indeed full, so she stopped and got up to go home.

I thought to myself, I haven't had enough digging yet!

Wang Cuiying was pulling weeds in the wheat field in front of the yard when she saw the two people from afar and thought, "Why are they back so early? Qing'er must be too tired to walk anymore."

As Wang Qing'er approached and saw Wang Cuiying, she waved happily at her, "Mother... Mother, look what we caught?"

Wang Cuiying put down her work and went to greet him. She saw that her son was carrying a large rabbit in one hand, but it looked dead, and she felt a little sorry for him.

Suddenly, I noticed that the bamboo basket in my son's other hand was full of lively rabbits.

He immediately took the bamboo basket with a big smile. "Wow! So many wild rabbits, and they're all alive. Have your dad and second son take them to sell tomorrow morning. Get a good price and buy some rice and flour too."

The group went into the yard, unloaded their things, and placed them on the ground. Wang Cuiying was overjoyed to see that her son had dug up most of a basket of bamboo shoots.

When she saw Wang Qing'er's basket full of mushrooms, she asked, "What are you picking these for?"

“Mother, of course we’ll pick them and eat them!” Wang Qing’er said confidently.

Wang Cuiying glanced at her daughter-in-law and said, "Qing'er, this will cause poisoning if you eat it."

"Mother, no, I often eat mushrooms at my maternal grandparents' house." Wang Cuiying looked incredulous and said to her daughter-in-law earnestly, "Qing'er, you can't just eat mushrooms, they can kill you. Take them away and throw them away."

"That rabbit died, and it won't sell for much money tomorrow. Let's cook it tonight to help you guys recover. Mu Nan, you take care of this, I'll go to the vegetable garden to pick some garlic."

After muttering to herself, Wang Cuiying walked towards the vegetable garden behind the house.

Wang Qing'er was too lazy to explain to her mother-in-law, thinking, "You'll believe me after I cook something delicious."

He took out a large bamboo sieve and carefully poured out the mushrooms, spreading them out to dry.

Wang Qing'er thought that there was too much food to eat, and it would spoil if left for too long, so she decided to clean it out and dry it later.

She took some cleaned items and asked Mu Nan to help start a fire. She wanted to cook something for her mother-in-law while she was away so they could see it.

Wang Qing'er took out a small piece of meat that was left over from the morning from the cupboard, cut a few slices and put them in a pot to render oil.

Pour the mushrooms, torn into small pieces, into the pot and stir-fry, adding an appropriate amount of salt and some minced garlic.

After she finished cooking, she ate it with a steamed bun, and Mu Nan also took a steamed bun and ate with her.

The two of them had only eaten two steamed buns for lunch and were starving. They sat under the eaves and ate heartily.

When Wang Cuiying returned from the vegetable garden, she saw the young couple sitting there eating mushrooms. She quickly stopped them and picked up the remaining mushrooms, placing them behind her.

He yelled at his two sons and daughters-in-law, who were eating with great relish, "Are you two out of your minds? How can you eat anything? You're like reincarnated starving ghosts!"

Just then, Zhou returned from outside with several children. As soon as she entered the door, she saw her daughter-in-law cursing at the two children.

He immediately became displeased and scolded, "Wang Cuiying, you're so clueless! Your granddaughter-in-law only entered the family yesterday, and you're already scolding her today. I'll tear your mouth apart!"

When Wang Cuiying heard her mother-in-law scold her without asking why, she felt wronged. "Mother, I was doing this for their own good. Look at all the poisonous mushrooms they picked!"

Wang Cuiying pointed to the mushrooms in the bamboo sieve on the ground and said, "I went to the back and picked a few garlic cloves and pulled up a handful of grass. The two of them were sitting here eating poisonous mushrooms, and that's when I scolded them."

When Zhou entered the house, she heard her daughter-in-law cursing, so she didn't pay attention to anything else and didn't see the mushrooms in the yard.

She went closer and saw that it really wasn't the kind of mushroom they usually ate, so she asked Mu Nan and Wang Qing'er, "Did you two eat this mushroom?"

"Grandma, Mother, we've eaten a lot," Wang Qing'er said while eating the steamed bun in her hand.

Upon hearing that they had eaten a lot, Wang Cuiying stomped her feet in anger, "Oh dear, what a disaster! What if you get poisoned? You two brats, why don't you listen to advice?"

Hearing this, Zhou was also anxious. "The children have already eaten, what's the use of scolding them? Quickly get Doctor Liu to come and take a look at them."

Dr. Liu is a skilled doctor; people from several neighboring villages also seek his medical attention when they are sick.

When Wang Qing'er heard that they were going to call a doctor, she quickly pulled Zhou Shi aside and said, "Grandma, Mother, this really won't cause poisoning. I've been eating it since I was a child, and I'm still standing here perfectly fine, aren't I? Just trust me, you should try it too, it's delicious."

As she spoke, she reached out to snatch the mushrooms from Wang Cuiying's hand, but Wang Cuiying refused to give them to her and quickly hid the bowl behind her back.

Hearing Wang Qing'er say this, Zhou Shi was clearly starting to believe her, but wanted to confirm it again, "Qing'er, have you really been eating this since you were little?"

"Yes, people on my maternal grandparents' side eat this kind of thing. It's not just this pine mushroom, but also many other mushrooms. And they all taste very delicious."

Wang Qing'er then turned to Mu Nan and asked, "Brother Mu Nan, do you think it's delicious?"

"Hmm, not bad, very fresh." Mu Nan answered honestly. He had just eaten quite a bit himself, and it was indeed delicious.

Wang Qing'er walked up to Wang Cuiying and pouted, saying, "Mom, give me the bowl, I'm not full yet!"