So she only picked the most valuable mushrooms.
But she was grateful that Song Ming would help save a spot tomorrow. As she arrived home, she took a photo of the fish she’d caught today.
【Jiang Heng: Look at the fish I caught! I’ll bring you two big ones tomorrow!】
【Song Ming: Wow, so many!】
【Jiang Heng: There’s more (picture)】
【Song Ming:?!】
【Song Ming: Are these for sale tomorrow too?! They look great. Just give me one. My parents don’t really like fish, and I can’t eat much alone. Sell the rest!】
Jiang Heng: ……………She hadn’t planned to sell them.
A few dozen jin of fish looked like a lot, but they were big—less than twenty in total.
After keeping them for two days, she’d give a few to each uncle’s family, some to her cousin, a few for herself, and one for close villagers.
But now that Song Ming mentioned it—
【Jiang Heng: Yes, I’ll sell them tomorrow.】
Jiang Heng had just bought a sofa.
Yesterday’s rain delayed delivery, and since she lived in the Village, the sofa only arrived this afternoon.
Since she often had to go out to the fields, she bought a leather sofa—not too expensive, after half an hour of careful selection, she chose a blue-gray one for over five thousand yuan, with a deep and soft seat.
She also bought a soft sofa cover from the same shop. Lounging on it was super comfortable.
So now she only had a little over two thousand yuan left.
She’d have to buy seedlings, hire people to plow and transplant, and planned to plant half a mu of wheat.
Once the rest was cleared, she’d sow grass seed and later raise chickens, ducks, pigs, and sheep there.
So she didn’t have enough money!
As soon as she got home and barely had time to sit on the new sofa, Jiang Heng grabbed her bucket and fishing net and headed out again.
Before it got dark, she went to the pond to catch more fish.
Tomorrow, she’d sell fish!
There was no way to cut expenses, so she had to make more money!
The next day
After two days of rain, the air in the Mountain Forest was even fresher and more comfortable.
Take a deep breath, and you could smell all kinds of plant fragrances, along with the moist, earthy scent of decaying leaves and soil.
The abundant rain had quenched the Mountain Forest’s thirst, and today there were even more mushrooms!
As usual, Jiang Heng headed deeper into the Mountain Forest.
There were some predators here, and it took a long walk on foot, so hardly any mushroom pickers came. The mushrooms were untouched, big and plump, each one glistening with water droplets—truly delightful to see.
She’d given this patch of forest several rounds of Spiritual Rain before.
After the heavy rain, all the plants here had grown much better, and the mushrooms were all fat and tempting, no need to force them to grow.
So she just picked them directly.
Much faster that way.
A cluster here, another cluster there.
Harvest after harvest!
But since it had just rained, the ground was slippery, and the mountain paths were hard to walk.
The mountains here were all rolling, with hardly any flat ground, so Jiang Heng was extra careful.
She’d just picked a bunch of Pine Mushrooms from a low slope and was about to climb up when she heard a commotion above—something big.
Judging by the sound, could it be a Wild Boar?!
Jiang Heng immediately sped up—she didn’t want to run into a Wild Boar.
Wild Boars aren’t protected animals, but their meat isn’t tasty!
Wild animals have to survive in the wind and rain, their muscles are tough, and with their habits and not being castrated, the taste… Her sensitive nose couldn’t stand it.
So she beat a hasty retreat.
The commotion was loud—maybe the Wild Boar was going berserk. At times like this, it would attack anything in sight.
But the more she tried to avoid it, the more she ran into it. Jiang Heng deliberately took another path, but the noise came closer and closer.
Then, with a sharp, piercing scream, something smaller rolled toward her.
Jiang Heng looked up and saw a familiar Yellow-throated Marten tumbling down.
And right behind it, a fat and strong Wild Boar thundered over.
Jiang Heng: !
Guo Er got beaten up by a Wild Boar!
The marten’s tumble brought it close to Jiang Heng.
Without thinking, she grabbed a tree trunk, hurried over, and caught the Yellow-throated Marten with her foot, pinching its scruff and spinning away from the charging Wild Boar.
The big Wild Boar couldn’t stop in time and crashed into the tree.
“Bang!” The Wild Boar smacked into the trunk and looked dazed.
Jiang Heng quickly took the Yellow-throated Marten and ran.
As soon as she reached the hilltop, the Wild Boar recovered and chased after her, but the slippery slope made it stumble, charging a few steps and then sliding back.
It looked almost comically furious, but for now, it couldn’t catch up.
Jiang Heng breathed a sigh of relief and looked carefully—several Yellow-throated Martens were watching her from a distance.
To be precise, they were watching the half-dead marten in her hand.
It must have been hit by the Wild Boar just now. Such a nimble little predator, yet it rolled all the way down. Under her gaze, it struggled a couple of times, but its paws were weak.
Did it injure its spine?
Jiang Heng’s expression changed. A wisp of green Spiritual Power appeared in her palm, wrapping around the Yellow-throated Marten and quickly sinking into its body.
“Squeak~” came a weak sound.
Its limp tail flicked.
Wood-type Spiritual Power nurtures life and has healing properties. Jiang Heng could clearly feel the marten’s panicked eyes relax a bit.
After checking it over, Jiang Heng relaxed too. The injury was indeed to the spine, but thanks to its flexibility, it wasn’t serious.
Still, a spine injury caused limb numbness, and after tumbling while fleeing, it was exhausted and rolled down.
So she conjured a bit of Spirit Water in her palm and offered it to the Yellow-throated Marten.
Water imbued with Spiritual Power is irresistible to animals that mostly live by instinct. The marten instantly calmed down and licked greedily.
The other Yellow-throated Martens tilted their heads, puzzled by its behavior.
But they seemed to relax a bit too.
The Wild Boar was about to climb up. Jiang Heng flicked her finger, sending a burst of Spiritual Power at the ground under the boar’s feet.
The soil suddenly gave way, and the Wild Boar lost its footing and tumbled back down, landing with a thud. The martens all flinched and edged further from Jiang Heng.
This two-legged creature looked dangerous.
There wasn’t much Spirit Water, so she could only do a simple healing to prevent aftereffects.
When the marten finished drinking, Jiang Heng withdrew her hand and set it on the ground.
The Yellow-throated Marten immediately collapsed on the ground, looking at her with big eyes, exposing its belly and making a soft “gugu” sound, clearly longing for more Spirit Water.
“Go on, go on, while the Wild Boar’s still not up here.” Jiang Heng nudged it, reminding it.
Only then did the marten roll over nimbly, glance at her, confirm she wasn’t giving more Spirit Water, and leap back to its companions. They rubbed against each other as if communicating, then all dashed away.
Jiang Heng continued picking mushrooms.
There was still an empty bag to fill.
As she walked, she found several Termitomyces—more precisely, Torch Termitomyces! Most were still unopened, bud-shaped, at their most tender and expensive stage.
These are often used to make Chicken Oil Mushroom, and they’re incredibly fragrant!
Was this a reward for her good deed?
Jiang Heng happily started digging. Torch Termitomyces don’t look tall, but most of their bulk is underground, so you have to dig them out.
But with her earth-type Spiritual Power, she could easily push the best-looking mushrooms up from the soil.
Torch Termitomyces depend on the nutrients in termite nests. Jiang Heng was very careful not to collapse the nest, so more mushrooms could grow there in the future.
Once she’d gathered all the Torch Termitomyces, she could see their long, thick stems and white-gray caps. Holding several together, they looked just like torches.
Jiang Heng carefully placed them in her sack and “cooked” that small patch with a round of Spiritual Rain, then went to find the next cluster.
As for the Forest Mushrooms nearby—sorry, her standards were higher now!
She only picked a few Forest Mushrooms.
The sack was only so big.
As she walked, Jiang Heng found two more clusters of Torch Termitomyces.
After picking them and casting Spiritual Rain, she was about to stand up when she sensed movement ahead.
She looked up and saw two familiar Yellow-throated Martens dragging something over—a creature that looked like a dog, or… a Wild Boar piglet.
It was rather big, maybe three or four months old.
Jiang Heng realized—no wonder the Wild Boar was so mad earlier!
Wild Boars breed quickly, but if their piglets get killed, of course they’d go berserk.
Yellow-throated Martens all look similar, so Jiang Heng couldn’t tell which was which.
She watched as the two martens dragged the piglet close, dropped it at a certain distance, then hopped onto it and danced around, gesturing at her.
Jiang Heng waved her hands:…….No, I’m not eating that!!
The two Yellow-throated Martens looked at her in confusion.
Jiang Heng ignored them and walked away without even glancing at the piglet.
The martens squeaked anxiously, but Jiang Heng walked faster.
They seemed to get the message and stopped calling, dragging the piglet away together.
Jiang Heng breathed a sigh of relief.
Other things aside, even though Wild Boars aren’t protected animals, it’s better to leave wild game to the wild animals themselves.
By ten o’clock, Jiang Heng had finished her picking for the day.
Before leaving, she cast another round of Spiritual Rain over this patch of deep forest—of course, only in the secluded areas, not near human activity.
When she reached the foot of the mountain, she could see her own fields.
Unlike before, with just green everywhere, there were three and a half mu left, and one big Water Field was filled with water.
At the moment, two oxen were plodding along, with two middle-aged men in rolled-up pants following, calling out from time to time.
The plow turned up the earth, softening the land that had been hard from years of neglect—now a single step would leave a puddle.
Soon, Jiang Guoxia and Jiang Changhai spotted Jiang Heng, saw her carrying two full sacks, and exclaimed enviously: “You picked so many mushrooms again, OBJ?”
Jiang Heng smiled and nodded: “Yes, the rain brought out lots of mushrooms today, and I even found some Torch Termitomyces. Uncle, Uncle Changhai, before you leave, come get some.”
Jiang Changhai hurriedly said: “No need, you keep them to sell. These are valuable!”
Jiang Heng: “I have plenty to sell. The rare ones I find, I have to eat myself first. Don’t be shy—let’s all have a taste.”
Jiang Changhai looked embarrassedly at Jiang Guoxia and praised: “This kid is really generous.”