The wild mushrooms are not abundant, but they're just starting to sprout, each one round and cute, still in their youthful state.
Huaiyu carefully pinches the umbrella handle and plucks them from the tree trunk, watching as the mushrooms fill her basket. She can't help but feel a deep sense of satisfaction.
Once she's finished picking all the mushrooms, she follows the trail of vines she marked earlier, heading up a gentle slope. After the spring rain, the ferns have quietly grown, more numerous than before! With a simple stretch of her hand, she picks them one by one—
"Snap."
The crisp, subtle sound is so pleasant, and with the sense of harvest, Huaiyu can't help but smile brightly.
Next, she's ready to get down to business!
"Snap! Snap! Snap!"
The crisp sounds echo across the slope as Huaiyu's hands fill with more and more ferns. Although she believes that water ferns are tastier than these, she doesn't have much choice right now.
Moreover, given that chives sell for 12 points per pound, she figures that if she brings these ferns to Boss Tang, he'll probably offer 8 points per pound!
Her figure moves across the entire hillside, and aside from those ferns that have just sprouted, she picks everything in sight. These plants will regrow quickly with the next breeze, so there's no need to hold back!
By now, her basket is heavy and full, and Huaiyu spots a few small thorned dragonburr trees. However, they wouldn't even yield two pounds, so she decides to leave them for now.
Nearby, a vigorous Chinese toon tree towers high, its fresh shoots already poking out. Though it's still early, this could be a great tree to harvest from later. But Huaiyu only glances at it before sighing,
"It's so tall, I can't climb up there…"
But that's okay—there's a large patch of shepherd's purse at the base of the mountain!
Thinking of shepherd's purse, she can't help but crave shepherd's purse dumplings, and her mouth waters. But it's already past 9:00 AM, and the sky is still overcast. She decides to put the dumplings out of her mind for now and quickly heads to pick the shepherd's purse.
Since she doesn't have any tools, she carefully pulls them out by hand, being gentle with the roots. Fortunately, the soil is damp after the rain, so it's not too difficult.
However, compared to the ferns, the shepherd's purse is light and doesn't weigh much.
Huaiyu puts her basket down and pulls out a large plastic bag, shaking it open before dumping the shepherd's purse into it. The area is so large that she brought three plastic bags with her, and at least one or two bags should be filled before she heads back.
At 11:00 AM, her three bags are all full, packed tight.
After bending over for hours, her back and waist ache. But she doesn't dare take a break, afraid that once she loses momentum, she'll run out of strength.
She stretches a few times, then picks up the heavy basket and bags, quickly heading home.
Sanqing Mountain is vast, and while foraging doesn't feel like a long distance, in reality, it took her an hour to circle the mountain path. By the time she reaches home at noon, if it doesn't rain, she'll have to rush to take the produce to Boss Tang.
Otherwise...
Huaiyu frowns, thinking: If it rains, I'll have to find another excuse to give the goods to the Defense Army.
She sighs and looks up at the gloomy sky, then silently prays with her hands together:
"Please, show me some mercy! Don't rain during the day!"
...
After going through her usual mental reassurance process, she quickly sets off again.
She arrives back at her treehouse at 12:30 PM, just in time to gulp down the cold salt-sugar water she made yesterday. Without delay, she heads out again.
After a few steps, she returns to cover her basket with a grass tarp, stacks the plastic bags under her jacket, and adjusts her hair before heading out again.
However, when she reaches the bus stop, she waits for nearly half an hour before the bus finally arrives. There are only a few people on the bus, likely because of the impending rain.
Nobody talks at first, but soon, a conversation starts up since not everyone can be glued to their phones watching videos or chatting.
"The forecast says it'll rain tomorrow, but I feel like it's going to rain today."
"Well, the forecast hasn't been accurate for a while. Ever since the mutations started, it's hard to get a clear satellite image. Everything just looks blurry."
"You're right! If they can't even capture images of flowers and trees properly, how can the weather predictions be any good?"
"Exactly! When it rains, we have to prepare rain gear, or else kids will have a hard time going to work. More money to spend."
Sigh. "My son still hasn't found a job."
"Who hasn't? People living around here don't have high contribution points, and now the employers prioritize those with higher scores in interviews..."
"Ah, if I'd known life would be this hard, I wouldn't have let him slack off back in the base…"
"…Don't waste the money on that. Just use those spare plastic bags for now. I'm more worried about what to eat. Everything's getting so expensive, even the rice, flour, and oil... I'm sick of drinking those nutrient liquids every day."
"Did you buy some aged rice from the market? There's also wild vegetables being sold."
"Oh, aged rice is 30 points per pound! That's enough for one meal for my whole family. But I can't bear to spend the money now since it's not the New Year or anything."
"Wild vegetables? Those come from the parks or the bushes along the roads. They're high in mutation, so no one under 18 can eat them. They're bitter and unpleasant..."
"My son had a good education and did a lot at the base. Now he's assigned to the statistics department. The points there are higher, and he earns about 180 a month..."
"Oh, my daughter also works in the administrative building, but she hasn't been assigned a house. She has to catch the bus at 6 AM to avoid being late."
"Well, I heard the market sells flour, though it's a bit old. It's 22 points per pound. If you buy some and mix it with the nutrient liquid, you can make steamed buns..."
Though the conversation is a bit all over the place, Huaiyu listens carefully and picks up a few details.
What stands out to her is the talk of satellite and weather monitoring. She's taken aback but quickly relaxes.
Since they can't even photograph plants properly, the Rose Corridor is likely impossible to capture too. I was too careless before.
But there's nothing she can do about it now.
She gently pats the grass tarp covering her basket.
Right now, my only source of food and livelihood is that big mountain.