This way, Auntie Zhang and Shen Cuilan had already reached the ridge.
It was now spring and the weather was nice, but the two of them were sweating profusely after the ten-minute walk.
At this moment, Boss Ma was sitting under a tree chatting with a few people.
When she saw Auntie Zhang, he greeted her with a smile.
'Hey? Auntie, your family hasn't farmed for many years, so why are you here today?'
Auntie Zhang is an old woman in the village, and half the village is her juniors, so they all have to call her Auntie.
When she heard Ma Laoda ask her, she wiped the sweat from her face and her expression darkened.
'If I don't come here soon, Gu Zi will be drowned in other people's saliva!'
The child, Pianran, is like her own daughter. Gu Zi treats her well and always brings her food. They are like family now.
She is a straightforward person and can't pretend not to hear when she sees others speak ill of Gu Zi.
Seeing that Zhang Sheng was getting out of hand and was about to take up Gu Chen's cause, Boss Ma gave a sheepish smile.
'Auntie, I know you are neighbours and have a good relationship, but even if you do, I'm just telling everyone the truth, you can't be biased towards Gu Chen.'
'Yes, what kind of fur is it anyway? None of us have heard of it before, so what good could it be?'
'It's Auntie Zhang. I say you should just leave it alone. There are some things that are not up to you. This is his retribution for being so greedy!'
The few who hadn't sold their land were now arguing with one another, getting more and more excited.
It seemed that the more miserable Gu Chen was, the more proof there was that they had done the right thing by not renting their land to him.
Now even Auntie Zhang couldn't bear to listen anymore, not to mention Shen Cuilan.
She gave a few people a look, and said, 'That's enough. You've heard just one person's opinion, and you're already jumping to conclusions. We're all from the same village, so is it really interesting to talk about other people like that?'
On hearing this, Boss Ma laughed.
'You see, I'm not the only one saying it, everyone else is saying the same thing. If one person is talking nonsense, and there are so many of us, how can we all be wrong?'
Auntie Zhang really couldn't bear to listen anymore, and walked up in two steps.
Pointing at Ma Lao Da, she said, 'What do you know? What is matsutake? It's an expensive ingredient that can cure diseases. It's expensive, so even if it's not good, it won't harm people! You all, instead of farming properly, are just here gossiping. And while you're gossiping, you're not working!'
'What? Did I hear it right, an expensive ingredient?' Sun Yang, who was with Ma Lao Da, was a little surprised.
Originally, I thought it was some kind of medicinal herb, something harmful.
I never thought it was an ingredient, and an expensive one at that.
Boy, what a contrast.
'So what is it exactly? Do you know, Auntie?' Boss Ma couldn't help but get curious. Everyone had been talking for a long time, and no one really knew what it was.
'I already said it's an expensive ingredient, something more valuable than gold. It's a good thing, not something harmful. I don't know why everyone's just talking nonsense here. You really don't care about your reputation!'
Auntie Zhang looked at Boss Ma and couldn't hold her anger back, her tone rising a few notches.
'Did you hear that? That's a precious ingredient. I told you Chen Zi shouldn't be doing that kind of thing,' Shen Cuilan chimed in.
Everyone froze.
Someone in the crowd said:
'I told you, Chen Zi, this bag of soil is a pretty big expense. No wonder she's made so much money, it seems like she's doing big business!'
'Yes, who among you has ever seen ingredients that are more expensive than gold? I'm really curious.'
'Oh dear, this is bad. I just ran into Chen Zi on the road and said something I shouldn't have. I wonder if Chen Zi is upset?'
The person who had just run into Gu Chen was now working in the field.
Listening to what everyone was saying, he also started to feel guilty.
After all, if Gu Chen really hadn't done anything wrong, he would definitely bear a grudge against him for what he said!
'Oh, I want to go see what those ingredients that are more precious than gold look like!'
As soon as this remark was made, everyone started to respond.
'Me too, this is the first time I've heard of this in my whole life!'
'Let's go, let's go to Chen's house and take a look, just to broaden our horizons, and to apologise to Chen.'
This is how people in the village are like. Everyone knows each other, and they gossip about nothing. No matter who's family it is, everyone has to say something, just to be happy themselves.
Anyway, if you're wrong, just admit it generously, smile when you meet, and then pretend nothing happened.
A few people who were curious about matsutake mushrooms said they were going to go to Gu Chen's house to see what the ingredients that were more valuable than gold looked like.
In fact, they just wanted to go to Gu Chen's house to apologise and chat a little. After all, the Gu Chen of today was really different from the Gu Chen of the past.
No one wanted to make enemies with Gu Chen.
With that said, the group put down what they were doing and walked towards Gu Chen's house.
Over here, Gu Chen and Wu Shuhui were almost at the front door.
The journey had not been easy for Wu Shuhui.
It was as if the few minutes' walk had taken an entire century.
She was so eager to see her daughter. Every midnight dream over the years had been a torment for her.
She was really both excited and scared.
Every nerve was on edge, and Uncle Guang followed the two closely.
To be honest, he was also very nervous.
He had really watched the young lady grow up, and it was false to say that he didn't miss her.
When they arrived at the door, Gu Chen pushed it open.
In order to let them see Ji Pianran clearly, Gu Chen left the door ajar.
At this point, Tang Tang had already woken up.
Ji Pianran had been worried that Shen Cuilan would wake Tang Tang, so she had hurriedly brought the child inside, but she hadn't expected that Zhang Sheng would start chatting with Shen Cuilan outside again.
Their conversation not only woke the child up, but also made Ji Pianran's heart ache.
Gu Chen's matsutake mushrooms could never be fake, and they would never eat anyone!
She knew this better than anyone.
Because she had also eaten matsutake mushrooms, she had been eating a lot of matsutake mushroom porridge these days.
If they were poisonous, she would be the first to suffer.
But she was fine now, without any problems at all.
Tang Tang was awakened by the two women's loud conversation and immediately started crying.
She kept crying for her father.
Ji Pianran originally planned to go find Gu Chen, but the child was making such a fuss that she refused to even put on her coat and insisted on seeing her father right now.
She really had no choice. How could she go out without a jacket?
She had planned to wait until Tang Tang calmed down a bit and then take her to look after Chen.
Unexpectedly, in just a short while, Gu Chen had already returned.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, the little trotter's eyes lit up immediately. He immediately climbed off Ji Pianran's bed and ran outside barefoot, shouting excitedly.
'Daddy! It's Daddy!'
Oh, she missed her father so much!
Seeing that the little one was not wearing shoes, Ji Piran hurriedly picked up the little cloth shoes on the floor and followed her out in two or three steps.
Ji Piran had a ponytail, watery light in her pretty almond-shaped eyes, wearing a slightly worn beige sweater, a pair of simple jeans, and a pair of simple cloth shoes on her feet.
'The shoes, she didn't even wear shoes!'
This child is really too attached to Gu Chen now, and even she can't handle her.
Worried that Gu Chen's feet might get hurt, her pretty eyebrows furrowed, and her face was full of worry for the child.
The little one's eyes were red, and she pounced towards Gu Chen, looking aggrieved.
Seeing this, he quickly crouched down and reached out to pick the child up.
Pretending to be angry, he said, 'No shoes, there are worms on the ground!'
'Daddy, hug me!' The little one's voice was full of tears, she really missed her father.
Ji Pianran walked over to Gu Chen and handed him the hot shoes before looking at him with a heart full of worry.
'I just heard Auntie Zhang and the others talking outside the door, saying that there is something wrong with your matsutake mushrooms. Someone has come to look for them. Is that true?'