Transmigrated Little Farm Girl Bringing Great Fortune

Good morning, Mr. Lu!

"What would you like to order today, Mr. Lu?"

"Mr. Lu, is this your youngest daughter?"

"The little girl is so born well; she's destined for great wealth and honor."

We drove around Qingshi Town.

Jiang Miaomiao discovered that her mother had become a celebrity in Qingshi Town.

Even the little baby became the focus of everyone's attention.

The shop owners all greeted her.

Mother smiled and nodded in response, her smile warm and gentle.

After her mother ordered the bamboo baskets, she took her and Aunt Xiuxiu back to Taoxi Village.

I went home to get the food box, and then went to Uncle Fu's house, the village chief.

Aunt Fu opened the door and said with a smile, "Oh, what brings you here to my house now, my niece-in-law?"

"Auntie, is Uncle Fu home? I need to talk to him about something." Lu Qingyao handed her a jar of wine.

"Yes, come in quickly. You're here, why did you bring anything?" Aunt Fu greeted them with a smile and welcomed them into the house.

Jiang Jiayuan was not a local. His ancestors were scholars who came to Taoxi Village to escape famine.

Even though Jiang Yunze's father and this Uncle Fu both have the surname Jiang, their ancestors were several generations apart.

The oldest member of the Jiang family now is Uncle Fu's father, but he is old and rarely goes out.

Our ancestor had gray hair and beard, but he was in good spirits.

A pair of hands, weathered by time, held Jiang Miaomiao's chubby, fair hand.

There is a sharp contrast.

He slipped a piece of candy into the baby's hand, saying, "Hmm, this child is destined for great fortune..."

Lu Qingyao's eyes crinkled into crescents; her little girl was sure to be blessed.

"Ancestor..." Jiang Miaomiao called out in a childish voice, showing her baby teeth.

The people in the hall immediately laughed and praised her for being well-behaved, clever, and beautiful, just like her mother.

She never mentioned her scumbag father.

Little Miaomiao wondered, does she look like her mother?

That's impossible. Although they are the closest mother and daughter, they are not related by blood.

Most of it was just polite talk.

Mother responded with a faint smile.

After exchanging pleasantries, Mother got down to business.

"Uncle Fu, it's like this, Yan'er and Feng'er found a kind of mushroom in the bamboo forest the other day. We picked some and tried it, and it's non-toxic. It tastes very delicious when stewed, no less than termite mushroom. I'm thinking of buying some..."

"But these mushrooms are quite special. They start growing at dawn and can be harvested at 7 AM. By noon, they will decompose and rot. After being harvested, they need to be dried within three to five hours, otherwise they will also spoil..."

Uncle Fu and Aunt Fu exchanged a glance. Uncle Fu said, "How can there be such mushrooms? We've lived here for decades and have never heard of them before..."

"Do you remember something in the bamboo forest that resembles a deer antler or a white umbrella, and that emits the smell of rotting animal carcasses?"

Uncle Fu thought for a while.

"There is such a thing, but no one dares to pick it and eat it."

Then Aunt Xiuxiu took out a bowl of soup from the food box; it was bamboo fungus stewed with chicken.

When you open the lid, it's still steaming and smells delicious.

Aunt Xiuxiu approached the elderly couple and said, "Uncle, Aunt, these are the mushrooms and bamboo fungus. They smell very good. Would you like to try some?"

"No, no..." The two elders quickly shook their heads and waved their hands, their faces full of refusal.

The family had suffered from mushroom poisoning a few years ago; the mushrooms were undercooked, and the whole family almost died.

What's most infuriating is that when my eldest son was delirious, he even set the family's chicken coop on fire...

Seeing mushrooms now is like seeing a ghost.

I wouldn't dare eat that anymore.

Furthermore, the things in the bamboo forest look strange and smelly.

It might be even more toxic.

No one in the village dared to eat it, not even during years of famine.

People would avoid the bamboo forest if they smelled its scent, for fear of picking up something bad.

Looking at that white strip in the soup now, I felt a chill run down my spine.

Jiang Miaomiao burst into laughter.

Chirping and chattering on her shoulder, it was telling her about the glorious deeds of Uncle Fu's family.

Then she couldn't help but grin.

Her mother patted her head.

How can you laugh at such a serious moment?

Aunt Xiuxiu held the bowl of bamboo fungus soup, unsure whether to add it or not.

This smells so good, she's practically drooling, but these two don't believe her.

Lu Qingyao knew they wouldn't believe her so easily, so she took out a small bowl from the food box, scooped out a bowl of soup, and drank it herself.

This made the two elders very anxious, and they hurriedly prepared to scoop out the golden juice.

"Cuckoo~"

Jiang Miaomiao was laughing so hard she almost choked.

In ancient times, stomach lavage was actually done with liquid gold...

Uncle Fu's family must still remember that taste vividly, which is why they are so resistant to it?

Lu Qingyao quickly stopped them and said with a smile, "Uncle and Aunt, I'm fine. We ate bamboo fungus yesterday, and you can see I'm standing here perfectly fine now."

Uncle Fu also felt that he was being overly suspicious.

"You really don't feel any discomfort?"

"No, we're fine! We ate everything except Miaomiao."

Seeing that the person was alright, Uncle Fu asked with some skepticism, "Is this thing really edible?"

Lu Qingyao nodded vigorously, "Of course I can eat it..."

“According to ancient records, when it rains in the summer months, the sap drips onto the ground and produces fungus that looks like deer antlers, is white, and is edible. [1] This thing that looks like deer antlers should be the bamboo fungus, which is edible as mentioned above…”

Uncle Fu and his wife were somewhat convinced, but they still didn't dare to eat it.

Jiang Miaomiao was somewhat surprised.

It turns out her mother had read about it in ancient books; no wonder she dared to collect bamboo fungus so openly—she probably valued its medicinal properties.

I wonder how my mother plans to sell the bamboo fungus for a good price, since people have an inexplicable fear of the unknown.

It might not be easy to accept at first.

Uncle Fu swallowed hard, smelling the delicious aroma wafting from the bowl.

But I still restrained myself.

"What can I, an old man, do for you?" He was always ready to do anything good for Taoxi Village.

"Uncle, there are two things. One is that these bamboo fungus need to be dried immediately after being picked, otherwise they will spoil. I plan to dry them over charcoal, so I need a large batch of charcoal..."

"It must be thoroughly burned charcoal. Fruitwood charcoal, lychee wood charcoal, and old charcoal are the best. Wood with an oily smell should not be used, and it should not produce smoke... because I am worried that it will affect the quality and taste of the bamboo fungus."

Uncle Fu readily agreed, "That's easy. There are four or five charcoal kilns in the village, and my family has one. We can use them all, it just takes some effort..."

Lu Qingyao knew what he was worried about; he had requirements for the quality of the charcoal, which naturally meant he would have to put in more effort.

The price of charcoal naturally rose accordingly.

"Uncle Fu, this summer in Qinghe County, white charcoal is ten coins a pound, and black charcoal is three coins a pound. I'll offer my fruitwood charcoal at six coins a pound. What do you think?"

Uncle Fu smiled and nodded, "Okay, don't worry, I'll make sure they burn this batch of charcoal properly and it won't delay your business. But how much do you want to burn?"

"We're burning 3,000 catties of silver. This is half of the deposit. Please accept it." After Lu Qingyao finished speaking, Xiuxiu took out nine taels of silver from her pocket and handed it to Uncle Fu.

Uncle Fu was startled.

so much!

But didn't ask much.

"Uncle, there is another matter. In three days, I need to trouble you to gather the whole village and have one person from each family come with us to the mountains to pick bamboo fungus. We need to pick it according to our method."

Jiang Miaomiao understood what her mother meant.

Bamboo fungus is rare and precious, and there are also time restrictions.

In ancient times, it was a scarce resource.

If the villagers harvest it and damage it, wouldn't that be a terrible waste?

Note [1] is taken from "Dietary Therapy Materia Medica".