Yang Guang moved closer to look at it. It was a deep-red umbrella-like plant that was as big as his palm. It was growing on the stump of a decaying tree.
"Is that... bracket fungi?"
Yang Guang couldn't hide his excitement when he realized the Method of Divine Farmer was not a scam. It did indeed help him locate a high-grade herb.
Ignoring how dangerous it was, he grabbed a rock that was sticking out with one hand while reaching his other hand into the crack to grab the bracket fungus.
However, he lost his balance. He quickly put the fungus in his mouth while stabilizing himself with both of his hands.
After letting out a sigh of relief, he started to slowly climb down.
If he were to fall from the height he was at, which was around 32 feet high, he would've broken a lot of bones.
Yang Guang's heart was still racing from almost falling, and his clothes were completely soaked with his sweat.
When he finally got back down, he sat on the ground right away, completely exhausted.
After taking a few deep breaths, he lowered his head to check on the bracket fungus he had grabbed.
"This is a red bracket fungus! If I were to guess, it had been growing in there for around sixty years!" Yang Guang exclaimed after examining the marks on the fungus according to the Method of Divine Farmer.
As a doctor, he had some understanding of herbs.
It would be rare to find such an old bracket fungus in the market, and it would be able to sell for a good price.
However, he wasn't sure if he could get $10,000 out of it.
Still, Yang Guang was extremely glad by the result as it didn't even take him a lot of time to find his first treasure. There was still time for him, and there was no need for him to hurry.
He began to return to his village cheerfully and reached back in no time.
A few women from the village were taking a break. The moment they noticed him coming back, they shifted their attention to him.
One of the women in her forties stared at the young man and asked, "Guang, even if you accepted the bet, do you have a plan on how to earn that money?"
"Mrs. Niu, don't worry. I believe I've already earned part of it." Yang Guang smiled.
The women were stunned at first before bursting into laughter. Mrs. Niu was laughing so hard that she had a hard time keeping her body straight. "Seriously! Did you go insane or what? How can you make that much money in just such a short time? Did you find a gold nugget or something?"
"Of course not. But I did find something that's worth quite a bit of money," Yang Guang replied. He wasn't in a hurry to go back home and approached the group of women instead.
He greeted all of them before looking at a woman who was in her early thirties. "Hua, your cousin has a herb shop, right? Can you ask him how much I would be able to this sell for?" Yang Guang asked as he showed He Hua the red bracket fungus.
"Oh? What mushroom is this?" Mrs. Niu, who had never seen a bracket fungus before, was surprised by it.
On the other hand, He Hua, who had seen a few of them, was stunned when Yang Guang took a bracket fungus out. Her eyes widened as she exclaimed, "Oh my god! Guang! You sure are something! How did you find it?"
"I was just lucky. Can you ask your cousin for me? I really need the money," Yang Guang requested with a smile.
"Of course. Let me take a photo of it!"
He Hua swiftly took her phone out and took a photo of the red bracket fungus. After sending the photo to her cousin, she even gave him a call and urged him to take a look at it immediately.
The women who were still around gossiping were completely silent now. Everyone was curious as to how much the thing that Yang Guang got from the mountain could sell for.
A few minutes later, He Hua's phone rang.
She answered it and switched to speakerphone so that everyone could hear her cousin speaking.
"This red bracket fungus looks amazing on the outside," He Hua's cousin, Chen Jianguo, said. "It's quite old as well. Hua, hurry up and ask Guang how much he's planning to sell it for."
Yang Guang was acquainted with Chen Jianguo as he would occasionally buy herbs from the herb shop owner. "Mr. Chen, stop joking around. Why would I ask you if I know how much it costs? Why don't you just tell me how much it's worth?"
"Guang, you sure are lucky. It's really hard to find a good bracket fungus like this. But I think it'll only fetch you $6,000 at the most, and you have to find someone willing to buy it," Chen Jianguo answered.
"I see..." Yang Guang was a little disappointed, but he still nodded. "Mr. Chen, can you help me find a buyer right away? I'm in urgent need of money."
Chen Jianguo was someone that Yang Guang could trust as the shop owner was an honest person. Even though the red bracket fungus was an amazing herb, it wasn't something that could bring back the dead. Not many people would pay a hefty amount of money for it.
Being able to sell it for $6,000 was already a big deal for Yang Guang.
Chen Jianguo had no idea why Yang Guang needed money urgently, but he still smiled and said, "Sure thing. I'll ask around. If you need money fast, why don't you come to my shop when you're in town. You can leave the fungus with me first, and I'll give you $5,000 as a deposit."
"Really? Thank you!" Yang Guang exclaimed happily and safely tucked the fungus into his pocket.
The women were now all staring at the young man with their mouths wide open, especially Mrs. Niu.
Looking at them, Yang Guang couldn't help but scoff, "Do you believe me now?"
"Wow! I have to admit, you sure are something! But you won't be able to find this fungus everywhere, right? How are you going to get the remaining $4,000?" Mrs. Niu asked.
"Well, I'll have to head into the mountain again tomorrow. Maybe I can get lucky and find some ginseng." Yang Guang laughed and turned to leave.
The women looked at him speechlessly.
At first, they thought Yang Guang would make a joke out of himself, not expecting him to find something that was worth a lot of money. They couldn't help but gasp at how lucky he was.
When Wu Xiaolian learned about it, she had the same reaction. Even she could not believe Yang Guang's luck.
However, when she remembered that the reason he entered the mountain was for her, her heart filled with gratitude toward him. "Guang, thank you... It must have been tedious to find it, right?"
Thinking of how he almost fell to his death, Yang Guang forced a smile. "It's not that difficult. I found it not long after I entered the mountain. Look, it's still early, and I'm already back." He laughed and noticed his sister-in-law was still staring at him worriedly. "Don't worry. We've already made $5,000 with this red bracket fungus. All we need is to make another $5,000. I'm pretty confident I can make that by tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. You won't have to leave this home once I have the money!"
"Yes..." Wu Xiaolian smiled and looked down, trying to hide her embarrassed expression.
Seeing her reaction, Yang Guang couldn't help but sigh. "But, still, Xiaolian, you can't stay here forever. Isn't it better you find yourself a new man once Yaya grows up?"
What Yang Guang said made sense as it would be hard for Wu Xiaolian to raise her daughter as a single mother. She would need to step out of her comfort zone for her daughter's future.
"But I'm scared that I will meet someone who will not treat Yaya like his own daughter..." Wu Xiaolian sighed and changed the topic. "Let's not talk about that now. You haven't had your lunch, right? I'll go heat some food up for you."
She then turned around and headed into the kitchen.
Yang Guang watched her leave with mixed feelings.
However, a few minutes later, he heard Wu Xiaolian shriek in the kitchen. He immediately got up and rushed to her.
He noticed that her finger was swelling and blood was dripping from it. The young man immediately grabbed the lady's hand and sucked on her finger.
Wu Xiaolian's face reddened instantly.
When the young man put her finger in his mouth, it felt as if her body was electrocuted. She lost all the strength in her legs and collapsed into Yang Guang's arms.