Chapter 15: The Jiang Family Mushroom Picking

“Mother and Father are just biased toward the First House! Lady Jiang didn't lift a finger in that vegetable patch, so why does she get a share! This won't do! I'm going to go watch, so she doesn't empty out our family's vegetable patch!” Lady Qian struggled to get off the ground and rushed toward the door.

Yang the Second immediately blocked her, “Enough! Stop making a scene! Mother is in a rage; she might not be able to do anything about Eldest Sister-in-law, but she can certainly deal with you! Do you feel you haven't been beaten enough? If Eldest Sister-in-law wants to pick them, let her pick them. Those vegetables were originally part of her share too!”

When the First House was split off a few days ago, it was stated that the vegetables in the patch and the grain from the fields would be distributed later. Now that Jiang Ning wanted to pick them, no one could say anything.

“Yang the Second! Whose man are you, anyway! What’s with this side-taking? Since she can pick them, I want to pick them too! And I’ll pick even more than she does!” Lady Qian roared at Yang the Second, scolding him until he felt like a grandson.

Yang the Second took it silently, his expression particularly grim. Only after Lady Qian grew tired of scolding did he stand up and say, “I’ll go look outside. Don't go out.”

By this time, Jiang Ning’s family was already walking home with heads held high, carrying their belongings.

Yang Datou and Yang Santie were carrying straw raincoats; Yang Erdan and Jiang Ning each held a head of Chinese cabbage. The other children followed alongside, hopping with joy.

Jiang Ning looked at them amusedly and teased, “Do you feel better now?”

“Better! Super better! Mother! I’ve never felt this relieved in my whole life!” Yang Erdan grinned like a simpleton, his small face bright and radiant; it was clear he had truly let go of his resentment.

Yang Santie shouted indignantly from the side, “It’s a pity I didn't get to give Fugui a beating myself. And Da Ya and Er Ya—they aren't any good either! They used to always secretly bully Si Zhuang and Xiao Ya, and if I saw them, they’d glare at me. This time, those three were the ones who hit us the hardest.”

At the time, Lady Qian was busy dealing with Yang Datou and Yang Erdan, so the Da Ya siblings had targeted the three younger ones. Although Fugui was younger than him, Da Ya and Er Ya were older, so he simply couldn't fight back and even got scratched several times.

Jiang Ning’s expression darkened slightly. She pursed her lips and instructed, “From now on, stay away from the old house. After the autumn harvest, when they move to the west of the village, you won't have many chances to see them.”

To get from the west of the village to the east, one had to cross a large stretch of dry land, pass through the village, and then cross another stretch of dry land and paddy fields; it would take at least fifteen minutes of walking. The land allocated to Yang the Second’s family was all in the west, and their house site was there as well. Most likely, they wouldn't visit the old house much, let alone come over to their side.

The children responded obediently.

After returning, the women first swept out the water that had rushed into the thatched shed and then blocked it off with wooden boards.

Looking at the unsightly ground, Jiang Ning quickly took the children to the stream to dig up sand and stones. She spread a layer of stream sand over the entire floor of the thatched shed. Although it made noise when stepped on, at least their shoe soles would stay much cleaner.

Feeling the benefits of the sand and stones, the children, without even being asked, took it upon themselves to carry back several more baskets of sand and stones, vowing to pave the entire courtyard.

While digging for sand, Yang Santie also managed to catch a few small stream fish in a bamboo basket. Although they weren't enough to satisfy a real appetite, they could be boiled in the porridge to add a bit of meatiness.

Seeing this, Jiang Ning asked casually, “Do you know how to weave baskets?”

The children all looked toward Yang Datou. “Big Brother knows how!”

Yang Datou nodded hurriedly. “Mother, is there something you need me to do?”

Jiang Ning drew the shape of a fish basket on the ground. “Can you weave something like this? It has a deep bottom, an opening at the top, and a movable partition in the middle.”

“What is this for?” The children looked on with puzzled expressions.

Jiang Ning smiled. “For catching fish. Haven't you seen them?”

The children all shook their heads. Jiang Ning only knew about these things from the original host's memories. However, after the original host married into Rongshu Village, she had spent every day obsessing over her own small plot of land, arguing with this person or that person, and never touched any work outside. She knew nothing about the village, so Jiang Ning naturally didn't know how the villagers of Rongshu Village caught fish.

Yang Datou explained, “Mother, the people in our village use baskets to catch fish. The fish in the stream are only the size of a finger; not only is there hardly any meat, but they are a pain to clean. Unless we are really craving them, no one goes out specifically to catch fish.

If you want to catch big fish, you have to go to the river. From our village, it’s a half-hour walk. Uncle Yang Han from the village once caught a fish weighing over ten catties in the river and sold it for two taels of silver! Do you want to eat fish, Mother?”

Looking at the malnourished children, Jiang Ning sighed softly. “It’s not for me, it’s for you. See if you can make this fish basket.”

Yang Datou nodded hesitantly. “I can try, but I can't guarantee it will work. Mother, should we go to Qingfeng Mountain early to see if we can still pick some melon seeds?”

His mind was currently set on making money.

Jiang Ning didn't stop him. Looking at the sky, she said, “Let’s head into the mountains tomorrow morning.”

It had just rained; there should be plenty of fungi in the mountains. It would be perfect to go picking tomorrow.

After a sleepless night, Jiang Ning rose before dawn. When she stepped out, she discovered that all the children were already awake. Every single one of them was carrying a basket, just like Liu Ye.

She was instantly amused. “Let’s go!”

The children cheered and jogged down the hill.

The Qingfeng Mountain, washed by the heavy rain, seemed to have even more vibrant colors. Once the children reached the spot, they didn't look for anything else, focusing specifically on the melon seeds. Indeed, after two days, they had become more familiar, and many had fallen to the ground; the children squatted on the ground, picking them up with happy, upturned bottoms.

Jiang Ning took a glance and quickly went to look for her mushrooms. She truly didn't recognize many wild mushrooms, but she had the God of Cookery System, which could identify ingredients, so she could definitely avoid the poisonous ones.

After picking a basket of melon seeds, Yang Datou realized Jiang Ning hadn't been working with them at all. He hurried over and, seeing Jiang Ning picking mushrooms, his face turned pale with fright. “Mother! Don't touch those mushrooms! They're poisonous! Hurry, go wash your hands, throw those all away!”

Fearing that Yang Datou would dump her hard-earned results, Jiang Ning quickly protected them. “Don't move, don't move! These are all edible. Look, this is a Termite Mushroom; it looks so good, it's delicious when boiled in porridge or stir-fried. And this one, I searched for a long time to find it, it's called a Morel; it's excellent in soup. This is a Grass Mushroom, which only appears after heavy rain, and there are a few Red Mushrooms.

I didn't expect there to be so many things in our mountains, even White Wood Ear. There is a type of fungus that looks very similar to it but is highly toxic. If you don't recognize it, you must never touch it!”

Yang Datou was stunned. “Mother, you really know them all? Since when did you know so much?”

It was no wonder Yang Datou was shocked; over the past few days, his mother had become someone he almost didn't recognize. Was this really the same lazy, gluttonous Lady Yang Jiang, who did nothing but cause trouble?

Hearing the commotion, Yang Erdan and the others also froze in confusion. Since they were small, adults had strictly warned them never to eat anything unrecognizable in the mountains, with mushrooms being the most important. They hadn't expected their mother to be so capable that she could even distinguish whether a mushroom was poisonous. The group of children looked at her with eyes full of admiration.