Chapter 56: Face-Slapping

“Being young is truly wonderful.”

Watching the two people laughing and playing ahead of them, Qi Nuanyang remarked with emotion, “This is the only time when one has such boundless energy.”

Tang Lin simply smiled. She glanced at the surrounding mountain forests and urged him to hurry up, “Otherwise, they might disappear before we catch up.”

Qi Nuanyang took down the two baskets hanging from the bicycle. “Let’s go. I hope we can really fill these two baskets today.”

“From the way you talk, it sounds like you don't believe Huihui—that you don't think we'll find many mushrooms today.”

A smile lingered in Qi Nuanyang's voice, but he did not argue.

Sometimes, silence is equivalent to an admission.

Men are generally confident, and Tang Lin intended to break that confidence today, showing them that sometimes, good luck can also be a testament to one's ability.

She snatched one of the baskets from Qi Nuanyang's hands and plunged into the woods.

This mountain forest was dominated by fir trees interspersed with miscellaneous wood, making it the perfect habitat for white agaricus and pine milk mushrooms.

Not long after entering the forest, Tang Lin discovered several white agaricus mushrooms, which locals preferred to call "fir mushrooms."

Generally, where mushrooms grow, there are fungal colonies. Using her ability, it didn't take long for the fir needles scattered on the ground to be pushed upward by emerging mushrooms one by one.

“Deputy Factory Manager Qi, have you found any mushrooms on your end?”

“Not yet. How about you?” Hearing Tang Lin call out, Qi Nuanyang shouted into the air.

Tang Lin lifted the fir needles, picking the freshly grown mushrooms into her basket. “Deputy Factory Manager Qi, I’ve found a lot over here. Hurry up and come help me pick!”

When Qi Nuanyang pushed through the brush to reach her, Tang Lin pointed to the fir needles being lifted by the growth below. “There are quite a few growing under the fallen leaves. Pick those first; I’m going to check on those two kids to make sure they haven't wandered too far.”

Qi Nuanyang had thought they would be picking mushrooms together. Suppressing his disappointment, he smiled and said, “Alright, go ahead.”

Tang Lin called out as she walked, and she soon heard Leng Hui's response.

Just as she was about to find them, Tang Lin accelerated the growth of another patch of mushrooms and called for Leng Hui and Jiang Jingtao to come and pick them.

“Wow, Auntie, you're so lucky! You've found a fir mushroom cluster!”

In reality, what Tang Lin had stimulated were pine milk mushrooms. Because they loved growing in fir forests, locals also called them fir mushrooms.

Tang Lin smiled. “Perhaps we are just lucky today. This patch just poked its head out last night, and we happened to run into it.”

Leng Hui gave Jiang Jingtao a nudge and urged, “Hurry up and pick. Don't forget I said we're filling two whole baskets.”

Jiang Jingtao didn't believe that finding a single cluster would be enough for two baskets. “That’s just luck. Finding one cluster doesn't mean we'll stumble upon a second one.”

Once this cluster was finished, it wouldn't even fill one basket, let alone two.

“Stop talking so much and just get to it!” Leng Hui had already crouched down and started working.

As he picked, Jiang Jingtao asked, “Auntie, where is Uncle Qi?”

Tang Lin replied, “He found a cluster a little further down and is picking them now.”

“He found a cluster too?”

Jiang Jingtao was stunned. Finding one cluster of mushrooms usually meant finding an entire field.

He had never encountered this situation when going up the mountain before. Was it simply because they were lucky this time and had hit the window period of rapid fungal growth?

Leng Hui pursed her lips to keep from laughing out loud.

*Serves you right. Betting against me? Just wait until you have to call me 'Big Sister.'*

While the two of them slowly picked through this small patch, Tang Lin continued up the mountain. Not far ahead, she found more mushrooms and stimulated another cluster.

Further up, sunlight pierced through the dense needles, casting dappled spots of light. Standing in this tranquil forest, Tang Lin felt the vibrant energy of her wood-element ability.

She closed her eyes, sensing the wood-element energy of the surrounding flora, absorbing its essence to circulate through her body, and finally feeding back pure wood essence to them.

The surrounding plants visibly grew greener and more lush.

“Wow, Leng Hui, there’s another cluster here! Come pick them! We're hitting the jackpot! Did all the mushrooms on this mountain agree to grow crazily today?”

Qi Nuanyang climbed up after finishing the cluster below. Hearing Jiang Jingtao's shouting, he rushed over. Seeing the mushrooms covering the ground, even he, who considered himself well-traveled, was speechless with shock.

It was just as Jiang Jingtao said—the mushrooms seemed to be growing in a collective frenzy today, as if they were gathering for a spring development meeting.

Leng Hui glared at him. “Don't act like an idiot who's never seen the world. Hurry up and pick. Don't shout so loud that the whole mountain hears you. If you attract outsiders, I won't let you off!”

Jiang Jingtao shut his mouth immediately, though he was grinning like a fool.

They continued picking along the direction of the growth until the baskets were full.

There were still plenty of mushrooms left on the ground.

As they kept going, the buckets were filled and the baskets were full, but the vegetation here was even more lush. One couldn't help but notice that even the rabbits and wild chickens were more abundant here than elsewhere.

And they weren't very afraid of people.

A stone flew out at high speed, and a wild chicken fell to the ground. Its two claws and wings flapped desperately, but it couldn't take flight.

Leng Hui rushed over excitedly and grabbed the beautiful wild chicken. “We're having chicken soup tonight!”

“Wow, Leng Hui, you're amazing! You can hit a wild chicken with just one stone. How did you throw it? Teach me!” The admiration in Jiang Jingtao's eyes was unmistakable.

Qi Nuanyang was also shocked by Leng Hui's skill. Suddenly, he pointed to a clump of waist-high cogon grass and said, “Huihui, there's another wild chicken over there.”

“It's me!” Tang Lin said, exasperated.

She pushed aside the grass and crawled out, her front hem holding over a dozen wild eggs.

Leng Hui retracted the stone she had been preparing to throw.

Qi Nuanyang rubbed his nose awkwardly. *Sigh, how careless of me!*

“There are so many small animals in this area. Leng Hui, why don't you wander around a bit more to see if you can stumble upon another 'dead mouse' like a 'blind cat'?” Jiang Jingtao was now solely focused on the thought of stewed chicken soup.

Leng Hui rolled her eyes at him. “How about you, 'blind cat,' try to find a 'dead mouse' for us to see?”

Jiang Jingtao slapped his own mouth and pleaded, “My lady, I was wrong. I am the blind cat. Please, wander around a bit more and find another wild chicken for the soup.”

“Catching even one is incredible luck; wild chickens aren't that easy to catch,” Qi Nuanyang said, still not fully understanding Leng Hui.

Recovering from his shock, he still believed it was mostly a matter of luck.

Leng Hui nodded with a smile. “Right, catching one is already incredible luck. Jiang Jingtao, you want another one? Don't be too greedy.”

After picking the last small patch of mushrooms and using branches to weave a simple basket to hold them, the group of four began their descent.

Before they even reached the foot of the mountain, they startled another wild chicken from the roadside bushes. However, before the chicken could even take flight, it was struck down by one of Leng Hui's stones.

Jiang Jingtao let out an excited howl. He ran over, picked up the chicken, and quickly tied its legs with vines. “We can make a huge pot of chicken soup today!”

In this era, getting a meal with meat was truly difficult; one could see how excited the boy was, to the point of being nearly incoherent.

Qi Nuanyang wiped the sweat from his face. His face felt hot—just a moment ago, he had said catching one was incredible luck, and in the blink of an eye, another one had been caught.

The reality check had come far too quickly.