Every three-year-old knows Mo Wanwan is here to take advantage, come on.
[Mo Wanwan is so fake, wants to benefit without being criticized]
[Can you guys not be so harsh? We all know Wanwan’s character, she’s not like that]
[Someone’s fans are even more disgusting and stubborn than the person themselves]
[Jiang Lai is so straightforward, saying exactly what I want to say!]
[Is it necessary to be so petty? They’re sisters, what’s wrong with teaming up and helping each other?]
[Well, why don’t you give all your money to your relatives and friends? Easy to talk when it’s not your money]
The argument continued.
In front of the camera, Mo Wanwan held her basket and sighed helplessly.
"In that case, Grandma Yang, let’s go separately. Your legs aren’t good, walk slowly, and I’ll bring the ointment to you when we return."
Grandma Yang pulled her.
"It’s no big deal! Why fuss so much? Jiang Lai surely isn’t someone petty."
"Yeah, I’m quite generous. Grandma Tian, let’s team up."
No point wasting words, it delays her actions.
Grandma Yang immediately felt displeased, thinking Jiang Lai was unkind and disrespectful, so she directly pulled Mo Wanwan’s hand and walked forward.
"Alright then, we’ll be a team. Hurry up, I know where there are plenty of good mushrooms."
Mo Wanwan looked distressed and helpless, following Grandma Yang, leaving Jiang Lai and the visually impaired Grandma Tian behind.
"Hey, the mushrooms only grow these couple of days, you don’t need to mind me, I’ll go find on my own, walking slowly behind."
Jiang Lai tossed the basket to Yangyang, supporting Grandma Tian.
"You better walk with us, can you find your way back with poor eyesight?"
"Of course I can, I could find my way even blind."
"Alright, I’ll be responsible for picking mushrooms, you just need to guide us out."
Fortunately, Grandma Tian was quite agile and familiar with mountain roads, climbing up and down more nimbly than Yangyang.
With no one else around, Jiang Lai headed straight for a hilltop.
"Over there, the rain can’t reach, there shouldn’t be mushrooms, we should walk northward."
"Run around and look, if everyone heads north then even if there are mushrooms, they’ll be picked over, if we want to make money, we should go where no one goes."
Sounds pretty reasonable.
Grandma Tian silently followed, and after walking a good while, not only nothing edible, barely anything poisonous was seen.
"I told you, this side’s no good, if we head back now, we might salvage something."
[Jiang Lai is so stubborn, goes his own way and doesn’t heed advice]
[Don’t interfere in a beauty’s matters]
[The elderly are so old to run along with her, wasting time without earning money]
[Jiang Lai really doesn’t listen, everyone’s said it rains poorly here and has no mushrooms]
[What’s there to argue about, Grandma Tian hasn’t even said anything]
[A waste of time, just watching is exhausting]
Jiang Lai, walking ahead, suddenly stopped and gestured Yangyang over.
"Son, the basket."
Yangyang hurriedly handed over the basket, squatting to see beneath the tree roots, a patch of seemingly ordinary mushrooms grew, clumped in various sizes.
[Wow, mushrooms!]
[Can they be eaten, just picking willy-nilly]
[Wow! This looks like matsutake!]
[Not looks like, it IS matsutake! Super expensive!]
[Jiang Lai’s luck is through the roof! To find such large matsutake!]
Jiang Lai carefully picked the matsutake, minimizing damage to the base mycelium, then covered with dead leaves.
Grandma Tian picked one, smelled it, delighted.
"This is great stuff! Over three hundred a pound!"
A glance at the basket revealed five or six matsutake the size of a child’s arm, Grandma Tian masked them with a handkerchief from her pocket.
"Cover them, sprinkle some water, they won’t break easily."
If broken, they don’t fetch a good price.
After securing the basket, Jiang Lai continued into the mountains, Little Buding’s voice guided her.
"Under the dry leaf pile beneath the pine tree up ahead, there’s matsutake."
Jiang Lai approached, pretending to search around, picked some common green mushrooms, then casually swept back the near leaves and whispered.
"Yangyang, the basket."
Yangyang happily handed over the basket, Jiang Lai carefully placed the two matsutake inside.
[Is this luck or good feng shui in this place?]
[Pure luck, though matsutake starts growing this season, they aren’t everywhere]
[Wow, such big ones! So much money!]
Over the following hour, Jiang Lai focused on mushroom picking while Grandma Tian sniffed nearby, her experience allowing her to discern type and edibility by scent.
Little Buding couldn’t cheat excessively, after finding over two pounds of matsutake, Jiang Lai began picking other mushrooms, like green and woodier mushrooms, moved toward crowded areas when Little Buding reminded again.
"Ten meters left beneath the branches, something good."
Jiang Lai, basket in hand, went over just as Mo Wanwan and Grandma Yang approached, Mo Wanwan’s basket already full, Grandma Yang’s nearly half-full, clearly fruitful.
Spotting Jiang Lai, Mo Wanwan proactively greeted.
"Need help?"
"Sure, how do you plan to help me?"
Mo Wanwan’s smile froze, surprised Jiang Lai would actually say such a thing, she clearly didn’t intend to help, mushroom hunting relied on one’s skill, why share her earnings?
Just then, Grandma Yang interjected.
"I marked this area earlier, move aside, don’t step on my mushrooms."
Jiang Lai glanced down, indeed there’s a small bundle covered by wet grass, Mo Wanwan approached at this moment.
"Apologies, Grandma Yang marked this spot days ago, now mature, we’re here to harvest."
Grandma Tian snorted.
"You’ve not picked fewer mushrooms that others marked."
Grandma Yang directly squatted down to start harvesting.
"These are hill customs, doesn’t matter who marks, whoever sees it, claims it."
"So you’re admitting they’re unmarked by you."
Grandma Yang already lifted the turf, underneath lay two or three closely clustered truffles.
Seeing them, Grandma Yang’s eyes lit up, eagerly squatting to harvest.
"Since whoever sees it, claims it, this lot’s mine now."
Finished, Jiang Lai squatted, swept her hand beneath nearby roots, heavy moist dead leaves concealing varied-sized truffles, small as walnuts, large as fists, nestled under the pine roots, counted five or six.