Chapter 150: Worth Thousands! Stocking the Fish Pond

“Woof woof~”
Xiongba dropped the black truffle in its mouth into Lin Heng’s hand.

Lin Heng took a deep breath and, ignoring the saliva, smelled it. It was that familiar fragrance—this time the muskier scent.

After searching the pine forest for five or six days without finding a single black truffle, he had unexpectedly come across one in the chestnut grove. Lin Heng was momentarily at a loss for words.

Following Xiongba’s lead, they arrived at a patch of soft humus soil. The ground had already been disturbed by wild boars; some black truffles were gone, but quite a few lay scattered on the ground.

“This is just cursed!” Lin Heng shook his head in frustration and quickly pulled out his small hoe to start digging. Within moments, he uncovered a large handful of black truffles.

“I wonder how many there are this time.”

Excited, Lin Heng kept digging and tossing the truffles into his woven sack.

Luckily, he always carried the sack and small hoe with him, otherwise he would have had to dig with his hands today.

An hour passed, and Lin Heng still hadn’t stopped. There were still plenty left even after the wild boars had rummaged through.

“Oh my god, this must be over thirty pounds by now, right?”

Taking a break, Lin Heng stared at the half-full sack of black truffles in disbelief.

Though the density here was a bit lower than the pine forest where he’d searched before, the total quantity was far greater.

“I really was blind. Black truffles aren’t just found in pine forests.”

Lin Heng slapped his thigh.

He’d been stuck in the habit of searching pine forests, since they’re fewer in number, while oak and chestnut groves are everywhere and felt like looking for a needle in a haystack.

But to his surprise, wandering around blindly led him here—it was like searching everywhere with no luck, then suddenly finding what you want effortlessly.

“What a good dog—I almost missed this,” he said, scooping up Xiongba and giving it a big rub.

“Awwooo~”

Xiongba’s eyes showed clear dissatisfaction, as if to say, “Hey, some real reward would be nice.”

“All right, all right, I promise you’ll have meat every day for the next month, okay?” Lin Heng said, clearly reading the dog’s mind.

“Woof!”

Xiongba immediately beamed a Samoyed-like grin, overjoyed.

Lin Heng patted his silly dog and kept digging.

He was worried about spending too much time and running into someone else. If they found out, it wouldn’t be good.

Though foraging mushrooms isn’t a big deal, this forest wasn’t wild land. If the owner found out, it would definitely cause trouble.

When money’s involved—especially this much money—people lose all sense of shame.

So Lin Heng wanted to dig quickly and then slip away.

This time he was determined; aside from leaving a few around the tree bases, he turned over almost all the soil.

When he finished roughly flipping the whole area, Lin Heng looked at his sack—already forty or fifty pounds.

The city’s buying price for black truffles was about 14 to 15 yuan per pound fresh; ten pounds fresh made one pound dried, which sold for 140 to 150 yuan per pound.

This haul alone could fetch six or seven hundred yuan—enough to build two mud houses.

“Let’s see if there’s more nearby.”

Lin Heng tied up the sack tightly. He didn’t bother covering his tracks here—without seeing mature truffles, no one would guess the ground had been dug for black truffles.

They’d probably assume he was digging for Gastrodia or some other medicinal herb.

Besides, the area was too large, and there weren’t many leaves to cover the traces.

He searched around; under every tree he dug a couple of times, making sure not to miss anything.

He kept at it until two in the afternoon, when he finally couldn’t take it anymore. He took out the vegetable-stuffed flatbread his wife had made and ate while thinking.

The filling was sour and spicy shredded potatoes with fermented bean curd chili spread—perfectly suited to his taste.

For Xiongba, he had brought rice, which the dog ate happily.

The sun had been especially bright these past couple of days, but the temperature was much cooler than summer. Lin Heng wore a shirt in the forest, feeling neither cold nor hot.

Dappled sunlight filtered down, neither harsh nor unwelcome, with a faint warmth.

The cicadas’ cries sounded a bit mournful, as if lamenting their fate.

Lin Heng’s conclusion: keep searching. He couldn’t give up now. He’d already made a big profit, so whether he found more or not wouldn’t affect his mood.

After finishing two vegetable flatbreads, Lin Heng grabbed his small hoe and resumed the search. Next to the chestnut grove was an oak forest, with tall oak trees thick enough to wrap your arms around, and the ground littered with acorns already rooted after the rain.

“Hm?”

At the border between the chestnut and oak groves, Lin Heng made another discovery.

He dug with his hoe and unearthed two fist-sized reddish lumps.

“Did I get it wrong?”

Lin Heng was startled, brushing off the dirt and bringing the pieces close to his nose. The familiar fragrance greeted him.

“Fist-sized red-skinned black truffles—this one must weigh half a pound!” Lin Heng grinned widely, excited to share the news, but all he saw was Xiongba.

He reached down to rub its head, holding back his excitement for the moment.

This was the first time he’d seen red-skinned black truffles, though he had heard of them.

Continuing to dig, he found fewer black truffles here, but they were large.

After three hours of searching and digging over this field—leaving only the seeds untouched—he found no more.

Looking at his sack, Lin Heng’s excitement was hard to contain: he had dug up another thirty-plus pounds. Incredible.

A real treasure spot.

Lin Heng loved this land—here on this inconspicuous mountain ridge, no one would ever have guessed such wealth was hidden.

Calming himself, Lin Heng glanced at his watch—5:30 pm.

“One more hour,” he muttered, and continued searching with Xiongba.

Xiongba could only sniff out mature black truffles, but Lin Heng’s hoe helped him find the immature ones.

An hour later, Lin Heng shook his head and called out, “Let’s go, time to head home.”

He wasn’t sure if there were more here, but this was enough for now. If he stayed longer, it would get dark and he wouldn’t make it back.

“Awwooo~”

Xiongba barked and followed Lin Heng back.

Carrying the basket, Lin Heng took a detour and walked briskly from another direction, trying to avoid running into anyone.

“Lin Heng, what have you got there? Such a big basket?”

In the field, Liu Sheng’s father, Liu Kai, laughed and called out.

“It’s all gold,” Lin Heng said with a smile.

“You kid, you’re talking nonsense again,” Liu Kai shook his head helplessly.

Lin Heng said nothing and hurried straight home, pounding loudly on the courtyard gate.

He had seen Jin Yan and Liu Lan heading over.

“Lin Heng, what’s the rush? So shy to see people—did you get something good?” Liu Lan called out from afar.

“Let us have a look.”

Liu Lan grabbed Jin Yan and pulled them over, jokingly insisting on opening Lin Heng’s sack.

“Nothing much, just some ordinary medicinal herbs,” Lin Heng laughed, thinking, Here comes that crazy woman again—this is trouble.

“I don’t buy it. How could big tycoon Lin be collecting ordinary herbs?” Liu Lan said, pulling off the string and opening the sack.

The others leaned in to see.

“It smells so good, what is this?” Jin Yan was stunned, still not quite processing it.

Jin Yan and Liu Lan were both dumbfounded, mouths wide enough to stuff a giant geoduck clam.

“This whole sack is black truffles?” Liu Lan was dumbstruck; she had just glanced casually but ended up with such a lemon-sized shock.

“How… how did you get these?” Jin Yan’s beautiful face was full of disbelief.

“And the sack below—could that be black truffles too?” She took a deep breath and asked again.

If that sack was too… oh my god, how much money would that be? Had Lin Heng been stocking up?

She had been gathering mushrooms every day for years but had hardly ever even seen black truffles, let alone Matsutake mushrooms.

At that moment, the gate creaked open and Xiulan appeared, looking curiously at the group.

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing much, just some yellow ginger down there—I got lucky,” Lin Heng said, pulling his wife and child inside without inviting the others to enter or have a drink.

“Are you sure that other sack isn’t black truffles?” Liu Lan hesitated.

Jin Yan thought for a moment and shook her head. “Unlikely. Who digs up that much at once?”

The courtyard gate was still open, but none of them dared to go inside, afraid of being too shocked and losing their temper.

“What exactly happened?” Inside, Xiulan and Xiaoxia looked puzzled.

“See for yourself.” Lin Heng set the basket down in front of his wife.

“Black truffles!” Xiulan gasped, then pointed at the sack below. “That’s also?”

“Yes, all of it!” Lin Heng smiled.

“Oh my…!”

Xiulan was stunned and hurried to close the courtyard gate.

Jin Yan and the others had already left. Xiulan shut the door and quickly came back, lifting the top sack.

Seeing that the lower sack was also full of black truffles, she hesitated, paced around twice to calm herself, then asked, “Where did you find so many? That must be seventy or eighty pounds, right?”

“An old chestnut grove. Isn’t it amazing?” Lin Heng lifted his daughter and tossed her gently in the air to express his excitement.

“A chestnut grove?” Xiulan was at a loss for words.

“Actually, when you think about it, it makes sense. No one cuts down chestnut trees; they’re older, so it’s quite possible they have black truffles.”

Lin Heng smiled softly. The past week hadn’t been wasted—today had made it all back.

“I’ll go get a winnowing basket.”

Xiulan didn’t know what to say and went to fetch a large round winnowing basket.

Lin Heng brought a steelyard scale and weighed the two sacks of black truffles.

“Seventy-five pounds, just shy of eighty. Once the dirt’s cleaned off, probably closer to seventy,” Lin Heng said, a little regretful.

Xiulan rolled her eyes but smiled. “Be satisfied. Seventy pounds can sell for over a thousand yuan.”

“Ha, that’s true.”

Lin Heng laughed heartily and dumped the truffles out. He and his wife picked the dirt off carefully.

Washing was out of the question—they weren’t eating them themselves, and a bit of dirt added weight.

Separating the mature from the immature, they filled four winnowing baskets, each about two meters in diameter, before stopping.

“My hero, what do you want to eat tonight? I’ll cook for you.”

Xiulan smiled at Lin Heng.

“Three dishes and a soup with rice.”

Lin Heng slumped heavily onto a bench, exhausted from the day’s labor.

“Okay,” Xiulan nodded and went to prepare dinner.

After resting a bit, Lin Heng went to the backyard to fetch a basin of water and bathe.

Returning, he lit mugwort incense in a Boshan brazier to ward off the damn mosquitoes.

Sitting down, he took a couple of good sips of tea and rested for a moment. Then he gave Xiongba a pound of cured meat, fatty and lean alike, keeping his promise.

Xiongba took the meat to its doghouse and happily chomped away. Jinbao sat nearby, watching longingly.

“You don’t get any. Watching won’t help.” Lin Heng shook his head. The silly cat didn’t understand and kept striking cute poses.

When it was time to eat, Lin Heng finally gave the cat a piece of meat.

After dinner, he put Xiaoxia to bed and comfortably lay on the bed while Xiulan rubbed his shoulders and lower back.

“Are you going again tomorrow?” Xiulan asked as she rubbed.

“No. Going again would probably be pointless. This stuff comes and goes.”

Lin Heng shook his head, having let go.

Like a fisherman who catches a big fish and then has a dry spell, it was better to rest and build luck.

Besides, it was already the 15th, the first day of the ninth lunar month. In a couple of days, he’d check if the road to town had been repaired.

Then he’d head into town to get his business license, negotiate contracts, and buy some supplies.

“I think so too. You were too crazy the last few days.” Xiulan finished rubbing and lay down to rest.

“Ha, there’s always a lot to spend on. Autumn is the perfect time to find black truffles—we have to look carefully.” Lin Heng smiled. He still needed money badly.

After a short chat, he soon fell asleep, truly exhausted from digging all day.

The next morning, his whole body ached and he didn’t want to move.

He had planned to ride to town but decided to postpone it a couple of days.

Looking up, the sky was still clear blue with just a few scattered white clouds.

He laid out the black truffles to dry, fed the animals, and after breakfast, while Xiulan went to do laundry, Lin Heng took Xiaoxia to the river.

The river had long since returned to its original clear, gentle state, but Lin Heng couldn’t help but be surprised: “The riverbed’s shape has completely changed.”

Whether it was the width or the positions of the stones and trees, everything was different.

This stretch of river, which had few large stones before, now had many big rocks, and the fine sandy riverbed was replaced by fist-sized gravel.

The sunlight reflected off these stones, casting golden and silver glimmers like treasures, making the water sparkle.

“There’s a deep pool up there,” Xiulan pointed to the spot where the mudslide had fallen.

“I’ll go take a look.”

Lin Heng, holding Xiaoxia’s hand, walked over with curiosity.

“Wow, it’s so deep!”

Seeing the pool, Lin Heng’s mouth dropped open.

Most of the mud and small stones from the mudslide had been washed away, but these tens or even hundreds of tons of giant rocks remained, lying across the riverbed without moving.

The stones, branches, and sediment swept down from upstream filled the gaps, forming a large deep pool.

The water looked dark and murky—he couldn’t see the bottom—and Lin Heng estimated it to be at least four or five meters deep.

Moreover, this pool was quite long, stretching over ten meters upstream, like a small natural dam.

Xiaoxia picked up a stone and tried to throw it in, but it only went about two meters. She muttered something unintelligible, picked up another stone, and tried again, having a great time.

After taking her back to where Xiulan was washing clothes, Lin Heng looked around some more.

The river snails that had been plentiful were nearly gone, fish sightings had become scarce, and after flipping several stones, he couldn’t find a single crab.

Now it seemed the only good thing was that Shiban River was completely clean.

No algae, no trash—walking barefoot on the riverbed felt quite comfortable.

After helping Xiulan finish the laundry, they ran into Lin Heng’s father on the way home.

Lin Heng knew his dad and older brother had been cutting corn stalks and plowing fields these past few days, preparing to plant rapeseed and wheat soon.

But following Lin Heng’s advice, they had greatly reduced the planting area, only cultivating the best land, and planned to plant fruit trees on the rest next spring.

“Lin Heng, I had someone check the calendar again. Tomorrow’s a good day for releasing fish fry,” his father said.

Lin Yue asked beside him, “Do you want us to help?”

“Of course, otherwise I’d have to do it all myself several times,” Lin Heng laughed.

“Alright then, we’ll get up early tomorrow and help you,” Lin Yue nodded.

“By the way, Dad, don’t rush to plant crops yet. I’ll go into town in a few days to buy seeds that yield a lot more than the ones we saved ourselves,” Lin Heng said.

Many rural folks blindly trust the seeds passed down from their ancestors and resist buying professionally bred seeds, thinking they’re too expensive.

But in recent years, high-yield crop seeds have been gradually spreading. They cost more but produce much higher yields.

“Okay, I’ll wait then,” Lin Heng’s father nodded, not refusing. Now that money was available, he wanted to give it a try and see the results.

That afternoon, Lin Heng went to Hongfeng Mountain to check the fish ponds—everything was fine, drainage worked well after the rain, and no overflow occurred.

Early the next morning, when Lin Heng’s father and older brother came to help, they were stunned.

“Lin Heng, when did you get so many black truffles again?” his father was at a loss for words.

“That… that must be fifty or sixty pounds,” Lin Yue was speechless from surprise.

“Seventy pounds. Dug them on the mountain the day before yesterday,” Lin Heng smiled.

“Awesome!” Lin Yue gave a thumbs-up.

Lin Heng’s father looked again and again. At this rate, he joked that running a procurement station might not earn as much as Lin Heng’s mountain foraging.

“There’s actually quite a lot of these, just hard to find. You guys could try training a dog to search the woods,” Lin Heng explained.

In China, black truffle production is actually quite high, which is why prices have dropped sharply in recent years.

“Finding them depends on luck. You really have the gift for mountain foraging,” his father sighed.

Back in the yard, they cut off the water to the fish ponds, then started netting fish. There were so many fry that a single scoop netted hundreds.

They scooped them into buckets, and once they had enough, the three of them carried the buckets to Hongfeng Mountain.

“All into this one pond?” Lin Heng’s father asked.

“Yes.”

Lin Heng poured the buckets with water into the pond, offering a blessing for their growth.

“Eat well, grow well, no disease, no harm!”

His father loudly gave his blessing while releasing the fry.

The grass carp fry quickly scattered and disappeared into the water.

They returned five more times, releasing most of the fry into the pond.

About a hundred or two remained too elusive to catch, so Lin Heng gave up and let them stay.

They blocked the overflow outlet and cut off the water inlet. For now, no new water would enter the pond. The two-meter water level was enough for the fry to survive.

As they were about to leave, Lin Yue suddenly called out, “Come quick, you won’t believe this!”
(The End of chapter)