Chapter 47: The Appearance of Wild Delicacies

“Woof!”

Xiongba pawed at the green-headed mushroom, knocked it over, and handed it to Lin Heng.

The green-headed mushroom is a type of red fungus, scientifically known as “green-red mushroom.” When it first grows, its cap is spherical and has a protective color similar to grass, making it hard to spot.

As it matures, it flattens out, becoming hemispherical and expanding. The center often sinks slightly, and the cap becomes non-sticky and ranges in color from light green to gray-green, often developing a cracked pattern. When old, the edges have stripes.

“Keep looking; there must be another one nearby,” Lin Heng instructed Xiongba.

Green-headed mushrooms are special—when you find one, there’s always another within a meter’s range.

As expected, they quickly discovered another one under the leaves.

“Woof woof!!”

Xiongba ran to the other side, calling for Lin Heng, wagging his tail and enjoying the process of calling.

“Can’t you stop calling all the time?” Lin Heng gave him a playful tap.

He found that this area was quite good—plenty of tasty beef liver mushrooms and green-headed mushrooms.

Green-headed mushrooms are valuable and have great flavor, considered one of the best in the red mushroom family.

However, in this low shrub forest on Hongfeng Mountain, Lin Heng found a basketful, about five to six pounds of tasty beef liver mushrooms, green-headed mushrooms, and a small amount of yellow fungus.

“Damn it, the mice must have eaten it all.”

Lin Heng found the bag he had thrown away yesterday, but all that remained inside were some bird feathers.

He cursed and turned the bag over, placing the mushrooms from the bamboo basket into it.

Then, with an empty basket, Lin Heng and Xiongba ventured into the towering forest where the badger lived.

He thought that such a tall forest would definitely have more mushrooms to harvest.

But reality is often harsh, like when you go fishing thinking today’s the day to catch plenty, but end up catching nothing.

In the big forest, Lin Heng didn’t see a single red mushroom, only a few poisonous “death umbrella” mushrooms.

“Damn!”

The stark contrast left Lin Heng frustrated, but the fresh, misty post-rain forest soon calmed him: “It’s fine if I can’t find any mushrooms, a walk through the forest after the rain is nice.”

Xiongba, the dog, had run far ahead and was now out of sight. Occasionally, Lin Heng could hear a bark.

Drip!

A light breeze blew, and a leaf dropped a transparent water droplet, which fell with a soft plop into a small puddle.

With a squish, Lin Heng, wearing rain boots, crushed the puddle, causing the droplets to splatter and drift away.

“Yellow fungus, not bad!”

Under an oak tree, Lin Heng spotted two orange-yellow yellow fungus. He patted them and pulled them up by the roots, a slight smile crossing his face.

One of the joys of picking mushrooms is the thrill of not knowing what you’ll find next, full of surprises and excitement.

Though mushrooms were scarce in the forest, Lin Heng was still enjoying himself.

After wandering around for an unknown distance, he finally saw Xiongba, that silly dog, in the distance.

“What are you doing? Eating random mushrooms can kill a dog.”

Lin Heng saw the dog scratching the ground and called out to him.

“Woof woof!!”

Xiongba raised his head and barked twice at Lin Heng, pointing at the ground with his paw.

“Mushrooms?”

Lin Heng walked over to investigate.

“This is!!”

Upon seeing what was on the ground, Lin Heng’s eyes widened.

On the ground, where Xiongba had scratched away the pine needles, a brown mushroom cap had pushed through the ground, covered in brown, hair-like scales. From half a meter away, Lin Heng could already smell a pleasant fragrance.

“Well done, good dog! You really are lucky!”

Lin Heng patted Xiongba’s head. If it weren’t for the dog being a bit dirty, he would have kissed him on the spot.

The mushroom on the ground wasn’t just any mushroom; it was the legendary Matsutake!

Using a stick, Lin Heng quickly dug up two 10-centimeter-long Matsutake mushrooms. Since they had just grown, they hadn’t opened yet and were shaped like sticks.

This is likely why they’re called Matsutake mushrooms, as they resemble deer antlers.

After a sniff, Lin Heng couldn’t wait to continue digging.

These mushrooms grow in clusters, so finding one usually means there’s a whole patch nearby. Their rarity is due to their demanding growth environment.

Another reason is that they are deeply hidden, often half-submerged in soil and covered by leaves, so they decay before being discovered.

With trembling hands and an excited heart, Lin Heng dug up 13 Matsutake mushrooms in just a short time, about two pounds worth.

He roughly shoved the yellow fungus he had carefully stored in his basket to one side and made space for the Matsutakes, carefully placing them inside.

“No wonder Matsutakes grow here, with those two massive pine trees nearby. They must be fifty or sixty years old.”

Lin Heng looked at the two giant pine trees, which one person couldn’t even wrap their arms around. Only under old pines could you find Matsutakes.

Right now, dried Matsutake mushrooms are worth 10 yuan per pound, and fresh ones are worth 3 yuan. That shows their value—they’re expensive, but very rare.

“Today, I’m definitely eating half of these!”

Looking at the mushrooms in his basket, Lin Heng’s appetite surged.

These rare delicacies weren’t something he ate much of in his past life, but now that he’s reborn, he’s going to savor them first.

After digging up the Matsutakes, Lin Heng carefully covered the ground with pine needles again, even gathering some from other places to hide the spot. He couldn’t let anyone discover it.

Once everything was covered, Lin Heng rubbed Xiongba’s head and softly said, “Good dog, I admit I spoke too loudly earlier. Is there more around here? Go ahead and sniff!”

Xiongba blinked, licked his hand, and shook his head. “Woof!”

“None?”

Lin Heng was a bit doubtful, so he went looking around but Xiongba stayed still, sitting and watching his owner scurry about.

“Turns out the dog’s nose is really amazing. Let’s go home!”

Lin Heng shook his head, convinced. If Xiongba said there were no more, then there really were none.

He grabbed the bag with the tasty beef liver mushrooms and green-headed mushrooms and headed home. His older brother, Lin Yue, must have already finished gathering grass for the cows by now.

By the time he got home, it was nearly dark. Xiu Lan and the others had also returned, and they were discussing their finds.

“Mom, you only picked some red mushrooms and chicken oil mushrooms?”

Liu Juan, Lin Heng’s sister-in-law, blinked as she looked at Lin Mother’s basket.

“Yes, not much. There were a lot of people picking mushrooms, but these aren’t bad.”

Lin Mother nodded and asked, “What about you? Did you just pick chicken oil mushrooms?”

“I found some good mushrooms, Mom, over a pound of morel mushrooms.”

Liu Juan moved aside the chicken oil mushrooms, revealing ten or so beautiful black-veined morel mushrooms underneath.

“Good luck! You could sell these for a few yuan.”

Lin Mother praised, then turned to Xiu Lan.

“I picked some shiitake mushrooms, a whole basket, two or three pounds. They all grew on a rotten log.”

Xiu Lan smiled. Wild shiitake mushrooms are also worth quite a bit, similar in price to chicken oil mushrooms.

But their flavor is comparable to morel mushrooms and much better than the later cultivated ones.

“You guys can’t compare to me, let me show you.”

Lin Heng, holding his bag and basket, looked at the three of them.

In terms of quantity, he had already far surpassed them.

(End of Chapter)