Chapter 171: A Mushroom Hotpot in Winter

When Lin Heng walked over and saw what Xiulan was pointing at, he couldn’t help but look surprised. Growing on the withered tree wasn’t just any fungus—it was a cluster of snow-white silver ear mushrooms.

These were incredibly rare. Even after years of trekking through the mountains, they’d only come across them a handful of times.

“These are enough to make silver ear and lotus seed porridge twice over,” Lin Heng said with a smile. Silver ear mushrooms were known for their nourishing properties—moistening the lungs and skin, making them especially good for women.

Xiulan nodded with a smile and pulled out a small bag to pick them all.

Not long after, Lin Heng spotted a dried lily stalk near the edge of the forest. Unlike the ones they’d seen before, this stalk was especially thick—still about the width of a thumb even after drying out.

After digging for a while, the lily bulb emerged from the soil. It was nearly the size of his palm, with a pale red outer layer and soft pinkish-white flesh inside, resembling a lotus blooming from the earth.

“Wow, it’s huge! Must weigh at least half a jin,” Xiulan said, eyes wide.

“I’d say more than that,” Lin Heng replied with a grin. With one solid swing of his hoe, he unearthed the entire bulb and shook off the dirt. It fit snugly in his large hand, nearly 15 centimeters in diameter.

He handed it to Xiulan with a smile. “This one’s definitely edible. We can dry it and cook it with lotus seeds and silver ear mushrooms for porridge.”

“Yeah, it’s really big,” Xiulan said, placing the bulb into Lin Heng’s basket. Finds like this were unexpected treasures—pure luck.

As they continued uphill, the mushrooms suddenly disappeared. No more enoki or oyster mushrooms—only large, leathery tree fungus growing on dead wood, each one bigger than the last.

These weren’t good for much—maybe just for firewood.

Still, they’d already collected over thirty jin of enoki mushrooms, which was a pretty decent haul.

Before they knew it, they’d reached the valley where they’d hunted the yellow muntjac before. Back in summer, they’d had good luck here, but today, there wasn’t much to find. The wind had picked up, rustling the branches above. Some trees, hollowed out by beetles, snapped and fell with a loud crack.

Their footsteps crunched crisply on the leaf-covered ground. Xiong Ba would walk a few steps, pee, sniff the ground, then lift his head with ears perked, alert to every sound. One rustle, and he was on edge.

Lin Heng turned to his wife. “Let’s head over to the other side.”

Xiulan tucked her wind-blown hair behind her ear and took his hand. “Alright, let’s check it out.”

They stepped carefully across the uneven creek bed, scattered with pebbles and patches of sand. In winter, the mountain stream had shrunk to just fifty centimeters wide—easy enough to step over.

Xiulan noticed some marks on a tree. “Looks like someone already picked the lion’s mane mushrooms here.”

Lin Heng pointed to a distant stump. “There’s still a few left. Should be enough for us to bring home and eat.”

Then he grinned at her. “Doesn’t matter who picked them—whoever did will end up selling them to me anyway. Still our profit in the end.”

Xiulan laughed. “Yeah, but it’s still more profitable when we pick them ourselves.”

They scouted the forest again and managed to find a few baby lion’s mane mushrooms just starting to grow.

These were highly nutritious, but not particularly tasty. If you didn’t blanch them first, they had a bitter edge. Best cooked dry and crisp, or more often dried and made into snacks.

After walking a few hundred meters, Lin Heng spotted a large kiwi vine. A few wild kiwi fruits still clung to it, but most had already fallen to the ground.

“Xiulan, come try some kiwi!” Lin Heng called out.

Wild kiwi ripened late and were usually small, but the ones that had fallen and softened were delicious.

He peeled off the fuzzy skin to reveal bright green flesh, juicy and fragrant.

He took a bite—grainy texture, sweet with a hint of tartness. Delicious.

“Try this one. The ones that ripen and fall naturally taste better than the ones picked early,” he said, handing one to Xiulan.

He preferred the ones that dropped from the vine. People in the village had started picking kiwi a month ago, but the early-picked ones just didn’t compare.

Xiulan took a bite and nodded. “So sweet. Better than the ones Mom picked.”

“Let’s gather some to take home.”

They sat down and ate their fill before collecting more.

Xiong Ba squatted beside Lin Heng, eyes wide, watching him. Lin Heng glanced at him. “Can’t pick it up and eat it yourself? Need me to peel it for you?”

“Woof~”

Xiong Ba stuck out his tongue, clearly saying he didn’t eat the skin.

Lin Heng shook his head and peeled a few for him. After five, Xiong Ba shook his head and trotted off—apparently too sour for his taste.

Lin Heng and Xiulan, on the other hand, were perfectly content. They filled a bag with about ten jin before heading off. Wild kiwi was abundant—some mountainsides were covered in vines. People often hauled back hundreds of jin to make kiwi wine, which was said to taste pretty good.

“Listen—isn’t that a golden pheasant crowing?” Xiulan pointed halfway up the mountain.

As dusk approached, the golden pheasants had started calling.

Lin Heng listened for a bit and nodded. “Yeah, that’s them. But they’re too far away—let’s forget it.”

They still had golden pheasant and bamboo partridge at home they hadn’t eaten yet. He wasn’t about to chase one down from this far away.

They made their way down along the Baishi Gully. Mushrooms were getting scarce. Lin Heng even climbed into a pine grove and dug around, hoping to find a black truffle—but no luck.

Winter meant fewer mushroom varieties, and even coming this far hadn’t yielded much.

“Give it a few more days, and I bet only enoki mushrooms will be left to pick,” Lin Heng said with a sigh.

Xiulan nodded. “Yeah, let’s just count this as our one trip this year. We’ve got plenty of dried mushrooms at home anyway.”

After trekking so far in the cold wind for just a few mushrooms, their enthusiasm had waned.

By the time they looked up, it was already past four in the afternoon. The sun was long gone, and though the sky was blue, it was gloomy.

Typical winter weather—the sun only showed itself briefly at noon before vanishing again.

The two of them walked side by side through the forest, no longer eager to keep searching.

Just as they were about to leave the valley, Xiong Ba suddenly barked excitedly from a nearby slope. “Woof woof~”

“Let’s go check it out,” Lin Heng said.

They exchanged a glance and hurried over.

Just a few steps later, they saw what Xiong Ba had found. Xiulan gasped with delight. “I can’t believe we found this many oyster mushrooms just as we were about to head home!”

“This must be over twenty jin,” Lin Heng said, equally surprised.

They’d stumbled upon a fallen, rotting willow tree, its trunk covered in clusters of oyster mushrooms. The caps were silvery-gray—not the bright white kind you usually saw in stores.

After years of foraging, they could tell at a glance these were the real deal.

Grinning, they rushed over and started picking. You only felt safe once the mushrooms were in your own basket.

They’d only filled Lin Heng’s basket earlier, but this haul nearly filled Xiulan’s too.

Lin Heng gave Xiong Ba a good scratch on the head. “Alright, let’s head home.”

The two of them and their dog made their way back. No more lucky finds on the way—closer to home, mushrooms got scarcer.

Exiting Baishi Gully, they took another forest path back. Lin Heng kept an eye out for game, but saw nothing—just the distant cries of golden pheasants.

Back in the village, they ran into Liu Lan, who had also just returned from the mountains.

As soon as she saw Lin Heng, she hurried over. “Don’t tell me you found black truffles again?”

Lin Heng waved his hands. “No way! That was pure luck last time. Can’t expect to find them every trip.” Xiulan added, “Just some oyster and winter mushrooms. Barely saw any lion’s mane today.”

Liu Lan took a closer look at their baskets and finally relaxed. If they kept finding black truffles, her heart couldn’t take it. She laughed. “Li Bairen already picked all the lion’s mane mushrooms. Yesterday, he and his son each came back with a basket piled high.”

Lin Heng’s expression shifted slightly in understanding. “Ah, that explains why we didn’t find anything.”

Liu Lan shook her head. “It’s the off-season for farming, so too many people have been heading into the mountains. Digging for kudzu roots, wild yams, herbs, mushrooms, even Kiwi Fruit—if you want to get anything worthwhile, you have to go deep into the mountains.”

The two nodded and were just about to leave when Wang Kaidian, the man who had previously asked Xiulan to braise a pig’s head for him, walked over with a rifle slung over his shoulder. When he saw Lin Heng, he called out, “Lin Heng, didn’t catch anything today?”

He was clearly heading into the mountains to hunt. This guy often went alone and didn’t seem the least bit afraid.

Lin Heng smiled and shook his head. “Nope, Uncle Wang. Just picked a few mushrooms today.”

Wang Kaidian didn’t buy it. “You probably bagged a leopard and got lazy afterward, didn’t bother looking anymore.”

Lin Heng shrugged helplessly. “Seriously, I even went all the way to Baishi Gully and still found nothing.”

Only then did Wang Kaidian reluctantly believe him. “Same here these past few days. I spotted a forest musk deer a while back and have been tracking it for days, but I don’t think there’s much hope. Those things are too skittish.”

Lin Heng was startled to hear that, a bit envious too. He’d actually been looking for a musk deer today as well, but hadn’t found a single trace. The forest was just too vast—finding prey was no easy task.

After a moment’s thought, he said, “Uncle Wang, if you give up on it, let me know where you last saw it. I’d like to take a look myself.”

Wang Kaidian didn’t refuse and nodded. “Sure, but that thing runs all over the place. I can’t guarantee it’s still where I saw it.”

He didn’t have much hope for Lin Heng either. Musk deer were incredibly sly, and even hitting one with a bow was a long shot.

“Thanks a lot,” Lin Heng said with a smile before heading off.

This time of year wasn’t just the musk deer’s mating season—it was also when the males had the richest, fullest musk in their bodies.

He planned to go search thoroughly in the coming days. If he could take down a male, that’d be at least 1,500 yuan in his pocket—a small fortune for him.

And if he could catch one alive? Even better. But that kind of luck was rare, and without tranquilizer darts, it was practically impossible.

“Daddy~”

Just as he stepped into the courtyard, little Xiao Xia came running toward him, but Caiyun quickly stopped her.

“Come here, let me hold you.”

Lin Heng set down his basket and scooped up his sweet daughter, giving her a little shake and tossing her gently into the air a few times. She burst into giggles.

“Xiulan-jie, looks like you had a good haul today,” Caiyun said with a smile as she looked at the mushrooms in their baskets.

“Not bad. Here, try some Kiwi Fruit,” Xiulan replied with a grin, handing one to Caiyun. Lin Heng also peeled one and fed it to Xiao Xia.

“Mmm, so sweet,” Caiyun said, her eyes lighting up.

Xiao Xia gobbled it up in a few bites, then tried to lick Lin Heng’s fingers. When she couldn’t, she pouted and whined, “Daddy, I want more~”

Lin Heng fed her another Kiwi Fruit before setting her down.

As Xiulan sorted through the mushrooms, she asked, “Hot pot for dinner?”

Lin Heng nodded. “Sure, just the three of us for now. Let’s give it a try first.”

It would be too much to invite everyone on such short notice—they wouldn’t be able to prepare enough food.

Three people made it simple. Just a few dishes would do.

“Ooh, lucky me then!” Caiyun said excitedly.

Lin Heng glanced at her and smiled. “You’ve earned it.”

With that, he got up to start prepping—he was already starving.

Xiulan and Caiyun handled the vegetables, while he used dried crucian carp to make a pot of fish broth. He lit the charcoal and placed it under the copper hot pot.

The hot pot was a yin-yang style pot. One side he filled with the spicy base he’d made earlier, and the other side he added soybeans and a mix of dried mushrooms—morels, porcini, and matsutake.

Letting the charcoal slowly heat the pot, Lin Heng sliced up some leopard meat, pork, sausages, as well as leopard tripe and intestines.

A hot pot without meat just wasn’t a real hot pot—it needed soul.

“These veggies good to go?” Xiulan asked, holding a bamboo tray full of vegetables, mostly wild golden needle mushrooms they’d picked earlier.

“Perfect, come eat! It’s ready,” Lin Heng nodded. It was a bit rushed, so he’d gone with a sour and spicy flavor for the base.

Hot pot had been around in China for ages—most people knew about it, but only the wealthy could afford to eat it regularly.

This was Xiulan and Caiyun’s first time trying hot pot, and they were visibly curious.

“So we just dip it in the broth and eat?” Xiulan asked.

“Exactly.” Lin Heng smiled and demonstrated for them.

The cured meat, once boiled, was delicious. And those wild golden needle mushrooms? Absolutely divine. The texture and aroma were a perfect combo—no wonder they were considered a top-tier hot pot ingredient.

“This is amazing. Way better than stir-frying. No wonder rich folks love hot pot,” Caiyun said as she savored a slice of tripe.

The tripe, cooked in the spicy broth and dipped in Lin Heng’s sour and spicy sauce, was bursting with flavor and had a great texture.

“Mhm, we’ve got to eat this more often,” Xiulan said, instantly hooked.

Just toss everything in the pot and cook—simple, tasty, and quick.

“Haha, this is still the basic version. Next time I’ll make sesame sauce—the dipping sauce will be even better,” Lin Heng said with a grin. That was the charm of hot pot. No wonder it had become a beloved dish across the country.

Xiulan nodded eagerly. “Next time, let’s invite everyone. This beats slaving away in the kitchen for hours, and it tastes better too.”

“Yeah, and it warms you right up in the winter,” Caiyun added.

The three of them soon fell quiet, focused on eating. The fish broth-based hot pot got more fragrant the longer it cooked. Whether it was the spicy side or the clear broth, it was impossible to stop eating.

Xiao Xia sat beside Lin Heng, mouth open wide, waiting to be fed. She clearly loved the flavor too.

Thin slices of leopard meat were great for dipping, but the tripe and intestines were even better. Maybe not quite as good as ox tripe, but still chewy and flavorful, with a unique aroma of their own.

The four of them ate and chatted, warm and happy. Another perk of hot pot—it kept the food hot, making it perfect for winter.

Just as they were enjoying themselves, a voice called out from outside the courtyard: “Xiulan, open the door!”

“Mom and Dad? What are they doing here now?” Lin Heng blinked in surprise.

“I’ll go open it,” Caiyun said, standing up and running off to the gate.

(End of chapter)