Lin Xia thought she was seeing things! She closed her eyes and opened them again, but the thing was still there!
My God! Could it really be what she was thinking?
As Lin Xia hurried to the tree stump, she was so thrilled she almost shouted out loud!
It was indeed Lingzhi!
She had often heard people say that those who went up the mountain to pick mushrooms had found wild Lingzhi!
But how could such good fortune befall her?
She had never even dared to imagine it!
Overexcited and not knowing what to do next, Lin Xia circled the stump, observing several Lingzhi mushrooms, the largest of which was over 20 centimeters in diameter and the smallest was more than 10 centimeters, all brown with a visibly clear texture and distinct ring layers.
Lin Xia leaned in and smelled a faint medicinal fragrance.
She counted them; there were seven in total, large and small.
It's said that Lingzhi can cure all diseases. Wow, if she took these to sell, she could definitely make some money!
She looked at the stump, and since she had space to store it, why not take the tree stump along with it?
The stump was already dead. With the sickle and small ax in her hands, Lin Xia managed to remove the stump and the Lingzhi on it without too much effort.
She carefully picked off the smallest Lingzhi, planning to tell her elder brother and the others that she had only found one, so they too could be delighted.
She would use that one for them to soak in water for their health, and of course, she planned to sell the remaining six!
But she definitely couldn't sell them near her home, otherwise her father and Qian Chunli would find out and surely covet them.
Having found the Lingzhi, the frustration of not catching wild chickens earlier vanished, and Lin Xia merrily hummed a tune, continuing to pick mushrooms with vigor.
She plopped everything she deemed valuable into Jade's room.
Looking at the position of the sun, it seemed to be getting late, so Lin Xia started walking back the way she had come, dragging her tired legs.
With a small half-bag of mushrooms in hand, which she deliberately made to look looser, it wasn't too heavy.
Upon finding her bicycle hidden in Birch Forest and riding it home, none of those who were at work or school had returned yet.
Lin Qiang, who didn't work and just lazed around all day, wasn't home either.
Overjoyed, Lin Xia locked the front door and carried the bag back to Western House, pulling the curtains tight and securing the door behind her.
She then began to clean her harvest after entering Jade's room.
As soon as Lin Xia stepped into Jade's room, she was startled!
She hadn't noticed it while picking! How could there be so much!
Mushrooms and hazelnuts were piled up high, along with wild fruits, walnuts, and heaps of blueberries.
There was also the dried tree stump with Lingzhi on it; she again got closer to it, unable to get enough of the sight.
Today's haul was enormous!
With these Lingzhi, the seed money she wanted for her business dealings had just materialized!
However, she still needed to think carefully about where to sell them.
And it was best to sell them bit by bit; given how policies could suddenly change, she didn't want to be labeled as some kind of black market trader.
Lin Xia felt it was a pity to sell all six Lingzhi to someone else; she had to keep at least two.
It was sheer luck to have stumbled upon them today; how could she always count on such good fortune?
People eat grain; who doesn't get sick?
Her elder brother and Xiaoqiu were generally not in the best health; in future, if she needed them, buying from others would not only be prohibitively expensive but might also not be as good as what she had found herself.
Although she didn't understand what diseases Lingzhi could cure, everyone said it was a great medicine that could cure all sorts of illnesses and would definitely become more precious in the future.
In that short span of time, Lin Xia changed her mind and planned to sell only four plants, keeping the two biggest ones for herself.
Next, Lin Xia used her mind to separate them into piles and picked some wild fruits and such to take outside, only taking out the smallest Lingzhi.
Just as Lin Xia had finished setting everything up, the sound of the front door opening came from the yard.
She looked through the curtains and saw it was her elder brother Lin Chun coming back. Elated, she flung the curtains open, and dashed out the door, "Big Brother! You're back!"
Actually, as soon as Lin Chun entered through the gate and saw his younger sister's bike in the yard, he breathed a sigh of relief.
He had been worried all day at work, afraid that something might happen to her alone in the mountains, encountering a bad person or wild animals, or otherwise getting lost and unable to find her way back.
Seeing how happy she was, the heavy stone in his heart finally fell to the ground.
"Xiaoxia! When did you come back? What did you find?"
"Come inside the house! Big Brother! I found quite a few good things!" Lin Xia said cheerily, pulling Lin Chun's arm as they entered the Western House.
When Lin Chun saw the piles of wild fruits, walnuts, mushrooms, hazelnuts, and such on the floor, he smiled, "You gathered so much?"
"Yeah! Big Brother! There are a lot more in the mountains!" Lin Xia clasped her hands behind her back and chuckled mischievously. "Big Brother! Guess what else I found?"
Lin Chun played along, "What is it?"
Lin Xia picked up the Lingzhi and waved it in front of his eyes, "Big Brother, what do you think this is?"
Lin Chun opened his eyes wide in surprise, joyfully took it to examine closely, and looked at Lin Xia in disbelief, "This is Lingzhi! Xiaoxia! Well done!"
After praising Lin Xia for her good fortune, Lin Chun straightened his expression, "Xiaoxia! While Xiaoqiu and Dongzi aren't back yet, big brother has a few words he wants to say to you!"
Lin Xia dropped her smile, "Big Brother! Speak!"
"Next time you think of going up the mountain, wait for me or Dongzi to go with you! I was so worried today, scared something might happen to you up there alone!"
Lin Chun felt it would be a bit harsh not to allow his younger sister to go, but if she wanted to go again, it would be safer for one of them to accompany her since they were young men.
Lin Xia felt a surge of guilt. She had been caught up in her own whims and seemed to have ignored her brothers' feelings.
But, if she were to bring them along next time she ventured into the mountains, how would she utilize the convenience of the Jade Room?
For a moment, Lin Xia felt conflicted.
However, she quickly reconsidered, thinking that big brother had work, Dongzi had school, and she herself had work. It really wasn't clear when she could go next.
Thus, she cheerfully agreed, "Alright! Big Brother! Next time I go, I'll definitely take you or Dongzi with me!"
Lin Chun was quite pleased. He had thought that his sister, who suddenly had a new resolution upon waking up, wouldn't agree so easily!
"Good! Then it's settled!"
Just then, Lin Dong came back from school.
As soon as he entered the house and saw the pile of wild fruits and mushrooms, he was overjoyed, "Big Sister! How did you gather so much?"
"I'm capable! And there's even more variety! Dongzi…" Lin Xia was just about to show off the Lingzhi to him.
But Lin Dong dropped his backpack and ran straight for the wild pears, picked one up without washing it, wiped it on his shirt, and took a bite, immediately puckering his face, "So sour!"
Lin Xia couldn't help but laugh as she watched, her mouth puckering up at the sourness.
"You messy kid, not caring about cleanliness, not even washing it before eating! What's the rush!"
"The dirt won't kill me! Big Sister! It's too sour!" But Lin Dong, even as he complained about the sourness, devoured the pear until only the core was left.
Lin Xia's heart sank a little. Right now, they really didn't have much good food.
She resolved to work hard to earn money so they could eat whatever they wanted in the future.
"Dongzi! Take a look at what this is?"