It turns out, sometimes when you pay a higher price, you really do get better things.
Lin Yirui hadn’t expected it either—the mushrooms tasted surprisingly good.
His cooking skills were decent, and he usually followed online tutorials.
Sometimes the results were average, sometimes they were especially delicious.
Today, he picked recipes based entirely on the mushrooms he had, with the classic Mushroom Stewed Chicken as a must, followed by Black Pepper Beef and Mushrooms, and then Pork Rib and Mushroom Soup.
There were plenty of mushrooms, so the portions of each dish were generous.
For the Black Pepper Beef and Mushrooms, he used Pine Mushroom.
The Pork Rib and Mushroom Soup used Boletus and Chashu Mushroom.
As for the rest of the mushrooms, he tossed them all into the Mushroom Stewed Chicken.
He followed the recipe steps strictly, one by one.
The moment the first dish, Black Pepper Beef and Mushrooms, came out of the wok, the aroma told Lin Yirui he hadn’t been swindled at all—instead, he’d gotten his money’s worth.
Soon after, the light yet incredibly flavorful Pork Rib and Boletus Soup, and the richly fragrant Mushroom Stewed Chicken were almost ready, and the scent…made Lin Yirui start to wonder—
Had he become a master chef?!
Otherwise, how could he make food that smelled this good?!
It was unbelievable!
The aroma was absolutely intoxicating!
He couldn’t even focus on his phone. Every so often, he’d check the timer, then check again.
The result of being dazed by the fragrance was that he almost forgot he was cooking!
Heaven knows, after setting the three dishes on the table and tasting each one, how devastated he felt to realize he hadn’t cooked any rice to go with them?!
Thankfully, delivery was a wonderful thing.
While waiting for the delivery, Lin Yirui didn’t just sit around—he started sipping the soup, planning to fill his stomach a bit.
After the first sip, he grimaced from the heat, but couldn’t bear to spit it out.
So fresh!
Unbelievably fresh!
He’d only added basic seasonings and sprinkled some scallions in at the end, yet it was already so delicious, as if the essence of several free-range chickens had been concentrated into the soup.
The key was, it didn’t have the heaviness of chicken fat, but rather a kind of pure, delicate freshness!
A light saltiness, combined with a lingering sweetness in the aftertaste, gave the soup even more complexity.
As Lin Yirui drank, he felt utterly satisfied.
It was decided—he really had become a master chef!!!
After catching his breath, he couldn’t help but go for a second sip, then took a couple of bites of the Black Pepper Beef and Mushrooms, and a piece of the tender, flavorful chicken.
Each bite had its own unique taste, making it impossible to stop.
As he ate, the delivery arrived.
Lin Yirui muttered, “That was fast.”
He sat down, opened the rice container, took a serving, and was just about to dig in when he suddenly paused—a clear, satisfied burp echoed through the quiet dining room.
Lin Yirui:
He was full!
A steady stream of customers was a good sign.
After seeing off the third customer, Jiang Heng immediately welcomed more guests.
New customers and regulars who’d bought a little to try yesterday came by in turns.
The regulars were obviously buying much more this time.
Passersby, drawn by the aroma of the mushrooms, would come over out of curiosity—some would buy right away, others would hesitate but still buy a little to try.
Jiang Heng greeted everyone with a cheerful smile.
The customers found her pleasant to look at, and were even happier to spend money.
As expected, the Boletus sold out first, followed by Pine Mushroom, then Chashu Mushroom…
This time, there were still two minutes left before eight o’clock, and Jiang Heng had already sold out!
Well, not completely.
There was a little left—some Pine Mushroom and Forest Mushroom that had been picked over, less than half a jin in total.
They were all small or slightly damaged mushrooms.
Jiang Heng originally planned to just take them home, but Song Ming saw them. She hadn’t planned to buy more, but now she simply cleared out the rest.
Jiang Heng even gave her a discount, selling everything at the cheapest Forest Mushroom price.
Song Ming was delighted. “Looks like I’m getting special treatment again. Oh, I just thought of making Mushroom Sauce Sushi. Don’t eat dinner tomorrow—come try my new sushi!”
Jiang Heng raised an eyebrow. “Then I won’t be polite.”
Song Ming waved her hand. “No need to be polite, just eat more and give me some feedback when the time comes.”
Jiang Heng agreed, waved goodbye, and drove away.
On the way home, she was beaming.
She’d sold out!
Even more than yesterday—by two-thirds—and still sold out!
When she got home, she washed up immediately.
She’d already eaten before heading out in the afternoon, so she wasn’t hungry.
She went straight upstairs, lay on her bed, took out her phone, and started tallying today’s income.
Boletus: 345 yuan, Pine Mushroom: 736 yuan, Chashu Mushroom: 518 yuan, Pine Mushroom: 1170 yuan, Forest Mushroom: 821 yuan. That made a total of 3590 yuan!
Added to yesterday’s earnings, her total income was now over five thousand!
Including the cash she still had on hand, she had just over nine thousand yuan.
It shouldn’t have been this little, but after coming back, she found that the appliances in the house, which had been unoccupied for years, were all broken.
Some wires had been chewed through by mice, and the quilts in the closet and the exposed bed boards had all gotten moldy and couldn’t be used.
After replacing everything and buying a Three-Wheeled Vehicle for convenience, she was left with less than four thousand yuan.
Her company paid salaries on the 8th—three days away.
Jiang Heng had planned to wait for payday to pay back the money she owed, but now it looked like she could do it ahead of time.
If nothing unexpected happened, she could pay back the remaining ten thousand yuan she owed her Uncle (maternal)’s family tomorrow!
Thank you, mushrooms!
Jiang Heng almost wanted to stay up all night cultivating, but considering she’d nearly collapsed from exhaustion before—even if most of it had been healed by spiritual power—her foundation still wasn’t great, so she gave up on that idea.
Instead, she planned to pick mushrooms early in the morning and use the Spiritual Rain Technique again, so she could harvest even more.
As for the Mulberry Fruit, she’d found out during the day that no one in the village claimed them—they were essentially wild—so she’d already ordered some Peachwood Beads online.
Peachwood could carry spiritual power.
After nurturing them with spiritual energy, she could use them to set up Formation Arrays, placing an Invisibility Formation over the mulberry trees and her own vegetable plot.
That way, hardly anyone would notice, and even wild animals would pay little attention.
Besides that, she also wanted to set up a Pest Repelling Formation.
Especially for the mulberry trees—since Mulberry Fruits were so prone to harboring all kinds of bugs due to their structure.
Finally, with mid-May coming up, she could plant a batch of grain for herself.
But transplanting rice seedlings was such a hassle that she hadn’t planned to grow rice.
If she could earn another ten or twenty thousand from the mushrooms, she could use that money to hire people to transplant the seedlings for her—it’d be much more efficient.
With her plans in mind, Jiang Heng drifted off to sleep.
The next day, she woke up at the same time as usual.
But today, after washing up, Jiang Heng didn’t start cultivating right away.
Instead, she stood by her bed near the backyard, and in the deep quiet of night, performed a small, localized rainfall to water the vegetable plot.
No need to infuse spiritual power, so the spell was much faster.
In the blink of an eye, a patch of dark clouds gathered overhead, and as they thickened, rain began to pour down.
The tender sprouts that had grown these past two days were pelted by the rain, their leaves shaking and looking a bit pitiful at first glance.
The rain lasted about two minutes, just enough to soak the soil completely.
The newly emerged leaves soaked up the moisture and looked even more vibrant.
But all these changes happened in the middle of the night—the nearest neighbors were over a hundred meters away—so no one noticed at all.
After watering the plants, Jiang Heng went back to cultivate.
By around seven o’clock, after finishing her practice, Jiang Heng—feeling energetic—had breakfast, arranged the leftover mushrooms from the past two days on a bamboo tray, and put the extras in the basket of her Three-Wheeled Vehicle, all facing south to soak up the sun.
Then she grabbed a burlap sack and headed up the mountain.
The path was rough and impossible to drive, but she wasn’t an ordinary person.
She strolled up slowly, and when she was sure no one could see her from outside, she sped up and vanished into the woods in an instant.
Jiang Heng went to the area where she’d used the Spiritual Rain Technique yesterday.
She didn’t bother to be quiet, so unlike her previous visits where she’d barely seen any wild animals, today the forest was lively.
As soon as she entered, she saw plenty of wild rabbits, pheasants, bushy-tailed squirrels, and all kinds of birds.
Most of them were protected species.
They must have sensed the grass was especially lush here and come running. When they saw her, they’d dash away in a flash.
Jiang Heng just pretended not to see them—they didn’t bother each other.
For example, when she found her first cluster of mushrooms and uncovered a snake, the snake was so startled it immediately slithered away.
Jiang Heng watched as the snake wriggled off and disappeared ahead.
It looked quite frightened.
Once the snake was gone, Jiang Heng calmly picked most of the mature Pine Mushrooms and continued searching for the next cluster.
Maybe because the Spiritual Rain had fallen over several hills yesterday, there were plenty of mushrooms today, and the grass was even lusher than before.
She filled two sacks after just two hills.
Any more would crush the tender mushrooms inside, so Jiang Heng decided to head home.
Back home, she checked her phone and saw a message from Song Ming.
[Song Ming: Look! Beef and Mushroom Sauce! It’s so delicious!]
[Song Ming: [picture][picture][picture]]
Three photos: the finished Mushroom Sauce in a fruit can jar; another bowl of Mushroom Sauce, looking lighter in color; and finally, Beef and Mushroom Sauce Sushi.
The photos were great—the beef and mushroom pieces were clearly visible, and you could tell the ingredients were generous.
[Jiang Heng: Looks good (thumbs up)]
[Song Ming: It’s not just for looks! The taste is amazing. Honestly, your mushrooms are just so fragrant.]
[Song Ming: I made two kinds—one with a lighter flavor, perfect for sushi rolls, and one that’s saltier, which is just Mushroom Sauce. I’ll give you a jar to eat with noodles—just scoop some on top, it’s incredible!]
[Jiang Heng: You’re making me hungry just talking about it]
Jiang Heng looked at the photos, already anticipating how it might taste.
Song Ming’s cooking was impressive—the eel in her Eel Sushi was always delicious—so the Beef and Mushroom Sauce had to be good too.
Especially since she hadn’t had meat for—well, a day!
[Song Ming: Hahahaha (sunglasses)]
[Song Ming: By the way, I wanted to ask—can I buy some of your less perfect mushrooms at a lower price?]
[Song Ming: I don’t mean you should sell them cheap—I just noticed all the mushrooms you sell look great, so you must be sorting them.]
[Song Ming: I don’t need perfect ones for this, since they’re all going to be chopped up anyway.]
Jiang Heng’s eyebrows twitched slightly as she looked at the pile of mushrooms she’d accumulated over the past two days.
Aside from the bit she’d given to Da Boiniang and the two jin Jiang Peng had taken, there was still quite a lot left.
Adding today’s harvest, it was almost five jin.
She’d originally planned to give them away, but now there was another solution.
She replied at once: [No problem, about five jin right now. I’ll knock 20 yuan off per type—does that work for you?]
[Song Ming: That’s perfect!]
The two of them discussed how much to buy.
Jiang Heng sent photos over—honestly, the mushrooms weren’t that bad.
Some had grown too fast and the caps had split, others had been squashed in the bags and had damaged caps, but most of the blemishes weren’t serious.
After drying in the sun for a bit, they looked even better.
Song Ming, thinking of how tasty the Mushroom Sauce was, got a little carried away and bought them all.
Jiang Heng weighed them at home and sent photos of each type.
Altogether, five jin of various mushrooms came to 215 yuan.
Song Ming transferred the money right away.
Jiang Heng packed up Song Ming’s order, then dealt with the new mushrooms she’d brought back.
By around eleven, after brushing off the dirt and cleaning the mushrooms, she was about to cook when she checked her phone.
Song Ming had messaged again.
She’d posted about the Mushroom Sauce on her Moments, and now her friends wanted some too—both the sauce and the mushrooms.
What she’d just bought wasn’t enough, so she wanted to buy more at the regular price.
Jiang Heng asked: [How much do you need?]
[Song Ming: Three jin of Boletus, and one jin each of the rest.]
[Jiang Heng: …I only have a little over two jin of Boletus.]
[Song Ming: I’ll take it all, then. Weigh it and let me know the total.]
Jiang Heng weighed everything.
The Boletus came to about four hundred yuan, and the rest added up to 708 yuan.
Since she hadn’t even set up her stall yet and had already sold so much, she rounded down, so soon she received a transfer of 700 yuan.
Looking at her balance from last night and these two transactions totaling nine hundred yuan, Jiang Heng realized… her total funds had reached ten thousand yuan!
Five minutes later.
Jiang Heng’s balance had swooshed down to—126 yuan.
Her Uncle (maternal) called right after: “Xiao Heng, did you sell the gold necklace your mom left you?! Didn’t I tell you? There’s no rush for the money—just rest at home after quitting your job. When you’re ready, go back to work. You’re a university graduate—what’s there to be afraid of!”
Jiang Heng:
She’d only sold some mushrooms—would her Uncle (maternal) even believe her?