Lin Aijia was in the kitchen when she heard some noise; she put down the chopsticks and bowls she was washing, wiped her hands on her apron, and came out, just in time to catch Lin Xia at the door.
"Lin Xia, what brings you here?"
Lin Xia explained her purpose, "Auntie, I came to ask Sister Hongmei to help me take a day off tomorrow! Xiaoqiu is going to the clothing factory, and I'm taking her there!"
"That's great! Did your dad get someone to arrange it for you?" Lin Aijia was delighted to hear that Lin Qiu had found a job.
Lin Xia hid the sneer in her eyes and smiled, "No, it was a colleague from my workplace who helped out!"
Lin Aijia pursed her lips, "Ah! Doesn't matter who found it, as long as there's a job, that's good enough!" Then she called into the house, "Hongmei, could you come out for a minute? Lin Xia is looking for you!"
Yu Hongmei was dressed as neatly at home as she was when she was at work, exuding an air of crisp efficiency.
She raised an eyebrow, "You want me to ask for a day off for you?"
Since Lin Xia had just had the idea of going up the mountain to take a look, she naturally changed her plans immediately, "Yes, Sister Hongmei, could you please ask for one day off for me? By the time I've done escorting Xiaoqiu to the clothing factory, who knows what time it will be! It's going to be a delay anyway, so just take the whole day off!"
Lin Aijia felt somewhat disapproving, thinking whether a morning wouldn't be enough to get things done? Delaying work meant no pay!
But seeing her niece's thin little frame and slightly sickly appearance, she ultimately held back and did not say anything.
Yu Hongmei agreed straightforwardly, "Alright, I got it!"
Lin Xia, having taken care of her business, was anxious to get back and prepare properly, so she left directly.
Before she departed, Yu Hongli ended up filling a small basket with hazelnuts for her.
Lin Xia had a pretty good impression of this brother and sincerely thanked him.
After dinner at home, and listening to a radio play for a bit, Lin Xia and the others went to bed quite early.
Listening to Lin Qiu's breathing next to her become steady, Lin Xia lifted her head again to glance, by the moonlight from outside, at Lin Dong and Lin Chun who were on the opposite bed, already snoring softly.
Only then did she feel reassured to touch the Peach Wood Sword on her chest and she focused her consciousness to enter Jade's room.
The room was still empty, except for the work clothes and rubber shoes she had managed to sneak in when they weren't paying attention, as well as several large hemp bags, a sickle, and a small ax were piled on the floor; the entire room was shrouded in mist, completely empty.
The walls around her glowed with a faint green light, which was lucky she was there in consciousness; if she had physically been there, she certainly would have felt cold.
Lin Xia was no longer as scared as she had been when she first discovered the room; she felt certain there was some mystery here that she was yet to discover.
After exploring the entire room, Lin Xia still hadn't found anything useful.
She thought perhaps this room was just a large storage space for keeping things.
The night passed without incident, and the next morning, Lin Xia and her siblings got up very early.
Lin Xia told them she wouldn't be back for lunch, and Lin Dong, curious, pressed her for details. Lin Xia quietly told them about her plans to gather things in the mountains.
Seeing his big sister's eyes sparkling with excitement, Lin Chun didn't have the heart to say anything else but reminded her to be careful, just to gather a few things and to come back early.
Lin Xia and Lin Qiu each rode a bicycle, arriving at the clothing factory after twenty minutes.
Standing at the factory gate, they waited a while and saw Liu Lanying's mother-in-law arrive for work. Lin Xia sweetly approached her and introduced Lin Qiu.
Liu Lanying's mother-in-law exchanged a few words, then took Lin Qiu inside. Only when Lin Xia could no longer see her silhouette did she confidently leave.
Lin Xia headed straight for West Mountain near her home. She had been there before following others, so she had some memory of it.
West Mountain wasn't far from the highway, and she could easily walk there after leaving her bicycle by the roadside.
Seeing several bicycles both near and far in Birch Forest, she knew several people had gone into the mountain.
Lin Xia observed her nearby surroundings to ensure no one was around, then carefully took out her hemp bag and sickle. After all, she had to keep up appearances.
Not far into her walk, she spotted clusters of large mushrooms under the trees.
She walked over excitedly and saw it was Rice-cake Mushrooms, which have a smooth and fine texture, akin to eating meat.
Lin Xia happily began to pick them, thinking that whether she dried them for her personal consumption or managed to sell them, either would be great.
Later, she encountered some Butter Mushrooms, which were very bright in color.
Beside them was a cluster of attractive mushrooms with a color similar to red apples and topped with white spots. Lin Xia carefully avoided that area, tempting as it was, you mustn't pick those, for they were poisonous mushrooms—one touch could be the end.
Walking and stopping intermittently, she also picked a variety of wild fruits, such as walnuts and blueberries.
Storing them in Jade's room, she had no worries about anything getting crushed. Back home, Xiaoqiu and the rest would surely be thrilled.
Finally, she arrived at a Hazelnut Forest where the Hazelnut Trees were neither too old nor too young, but rather a magnificent sight, and underneath them were clusters of Hazelnut Mushrooms.
They say that chicken stewed with mushrooms is best with Hazelnut Mushrooms.
Lin Xia thought to herself, distracted, they hadn't eaten meat for so long; it would be great if she could stumble upon some wild chickens today.
She looked around, but for the moment, she hadn't encountered any wild animals.
At the same time, she thought that even if she did encounter some wildlife, she hoped it wouldn't be wild boars or the like, as her frail arms and legs wouldn't be able to outrun them.
Lin Xia bent down and picked non-stop, and only when she had almost finished picking the Hazelnut Mushrooms did she straighten up to ease her sore back and don her double-layered gloves to start picking hazelnuts.
The difference between Fiery Hazelnuts and Hairy Hazelnuts lies not only in whether their skins have hairs or not but also in that Fiery Hazelnuts have thicker skins, smaller kernels, and harder shells.
Most of what she was picking now was Fiery Hazelnuts, with only a few Hairy Hazelnuts.
Without the worry of carrying them down the hill, Lin Xia picked with ease and joy.
Looking at the mountains that seemed like a treasure trove, she felt that even if something was troubling or vexing her, it could be resolved here.
Lin Xia was engrossed in picking when suddenly, she saw a wild chicken with beautiful tail feathers strut out not far from her.
She was instantly ecstatic—there really was one!
Without a second thought, Lin Xia dashed after the wild chicken, thinking that if she caught it, they would have meat to eat!
Lin Xia ran swiftly, but unfortunately, the forest floor was cluttered with dry branches, logs, and other obstacles. As she carefully navigated around these tripping hazards, she soon lost sight of the chicken after a short chase.
Not giving up easily, Lin Xia looked around for quite a while, but the wild chicken had vanished without a trace, leaving her utterly frustrated.
All that running for nothing!
Lin Xia thought to herself that if it had been winter, with the mountains covered in snow, it would have been better, as the chickens wouldn't be able to run fast. In their panic, they'd sometimes dive headfirst into a snow mound, leaving their rears sticking out.
Such carelessness on their part!
In her single-minded pursuit of the chicken, she hadn't paid attention to which direction she was headed.
Slightly out of breath, Lin Xia finally sat down and took some time to catch her breath before attempting to determine her direction.
Luckily, when she had encountered the wild chicken, she had subconsciously put her sack and sickle into Jade's room, or else it would have been all for naught if she couldn't find her way back.
Looking around, Lin Xia observed that there were plenty of mushrooms under the trees both near and far; it seemed her trip here wasn't in vain after all.
After resting enough, Lin Xia got up, brushed the dirt off her body, and commenced picking mushrooms nearby while she wandered.
Picking mushrooms was indeed addictive; especially now that Lin Xia didn't have the slightest worry about picking too many to carry, she was even more enthusiastic. Whenever her back ached, she would straighten up to rest, then continue.
She wandered unwittingly to the area around a dead tree.
After clearing the mushrooms from under that tree, she noticed several big and small crown-like structures resembling large mushrooms growing on a dead tree stump a few meters away!
Could it be...