Chapter 211 – Suspicions
After practicing in the Portable Space for a long time yesterday afternoon, Yan Xiaosi was very hungry, and the radish strip noodles made by Ms. Zhong, which aids in digestion, made her wake up starving in the middle of the night.
Seeing her eager, meat-craving expression, Ms. Zhong smiled and quickly dressed. “Since Xiaosi is craving meat; it seems that her stomach ache must be all better now.”
“Mom, I’ll go wash the vegetables in the mountain stream.”
Usually, washing vegetables was a task for Yan Shuqin and her sisters, but this morning, someone eager for breakfast and meat was very proactive. She took a wooden basin, filled it with fresh wild mushrooms and other vegetables, and went to the mountain stream to wash them.
Yan Shuyun’s day off had ended, and considering she would have to go work at the Xu Family Fur Store after breakfast, Ms. Zhong quickly got ready, then promptly lifted the pot lid to add water for cooking rice.
After the water in the pot started boiling, she took a wooden scoop to open the sack of rice, intending to cook, but noticed something odd about the rice in the sack.
Worried she might be seeing things due to her aging eyes, she set the wooden scoop aside and lifted the sack of rice. It was heavy, containing about ten pounds of rice.
They bought this sack of rice at the Daxing Town market the day before yesterday, along with ingredients for the start-of-work meal, totaling ten pounds. They had already cooked it twice, so why did it still weigh so much?
Yan Shuqin, who was tidying the beds, saw her staring blankly at the sack of rice. “Mom, what’s wrong?”
Ms. Zhong weighed the sack again, confirming it was about ten pounds, and then said to Yan Shuqin, “Qin’er, I feel like the rice in this sack has increased.”
“Mom, how could that be?”
Yan Shuqin, disbelieving, walked over to Ms. Zhong. Ms. Zhong continued, “We bought this rice at the Daxing Town market the day before yesterday. We only bought ten pounds, and we’ve already eaten two meals from it. But it seems like the amount of rice hasn’t decreased at all. Qin’er, feel it.”
Yan Shuqin lifted the sack, weighing it, and indeed found it as heavy as Ms. Zhong said. It felt like not a single grain of rice was missing. “Mom, what’s going on?”
Yan Xiaosi, returning from washing the vegetables, saw her mother and sister examining the sack of rice and felt a moment of panic. The previous night, hungry, she had entered the Portable Space to drink some water from the spiritual spring and had taken a bit of rice from the storeroom in the basement to add to the sack. Hungry and thinking of the fragrant rice, she accidentally added a bit too much, not expecting her mother and sister to notice so soon.
“Mom, big sister, what are you looking at?” She set down the basin of vegetables and pretended to be clueless as she approached Ms. Zhong and Yan Shuqin.
Yan Shuqin, showing her the sack of rice, said, “Xiaosi, do you feel like our rice has increased?”
Yan Xiaosi laughed off the suggestion, “How is that possible? Mom, big sister, do you think this old sack is a magic bag that refills itself?”
Of course there aren’t magic rice sacks that can refill themselves. Ms. Zhong and Yan Shuqin also thought it unlikely.
Yan Shuqin said, “We’ve already eaten two meals from it, but our rice really hasn’t decreased at all.”
Yan Xiaosi picked up the sack, feeling the bottom with her hand. “Mom, big sister, the bottom of this sack is a bit damp from sitting directly on the ground. Dry rice absorbing moisture would definitely increase in weight. It’s not that our rice has increased.”
Hearing this, Ms. Zhong and Yan Shuqin felt the damp bottom of the sack, which alleviated their suspicions.
Ms. Zhong said, “It seems we can’t just leave the sacks of grain directly on the ground. Luckily, Xiaosi discovered this early, otherwise, the rice would have gotten damp and moldy.”
Yan Shuqin agreed, “Since it’s sunny today, let’s take this damp rice out to dry.”
Hearing their conversation, Yan Xiaosi breathed a sigh of relief. It seems that in the future, she cannot take food from the Portable Space and secretly add it to the sack anymore. If her mother and sister become suspicious again, she wouldn’t know how to explain.
After breakfast, Yan Shuyun went down the mountain alone to work at the Xu Family Fur Store in Daxing Town.
Ms. Zhong and Yan Shuqin stayed home to sort out the wild mushrooms they had gathered the day before. First, they had to wash the mushrooms in the stream to remove the dirt and sand, then blanch the cleaned mushrooms in boiling water, drain them, and lay them out to dry.
Though the process sounds simple, it was quite time-consuming. The two baskets of mushrooms they had gathered would require at least a day’s work to process.
“Mom, sister, we’re leaving,” said Yan Xiaosi and Yan Shuxue, each carrying a basket, as they headed out.
Ms. Zhong and Yan Shuqin, who were washing mushrooms by the stream, looked up to see their daughters ready to enter the forest and cautioned, “Xue’er, keep an eye on Xiaosi, don’t let her wander off. Come back by noon.”
Yan Shuxue nodded.
In the forest, while Yan Shuxue was gathering mushrooms, Yan Xiaosi, with a sparkle in her eyes, said, “Sister, where did you find those coral mushrooms yesterday? You said you’d show me.”
Seeing her curious look, Yan Shuxue led her to the spot. After wandering through the pine forest for a while, Yan Shuxue stopped and pointed to a patch of sandy soil, “Look, the coral mushrooms we ate yesterday were picked from there.”
Coral mushrooms prefer sandy soil. Yan Xiaosi’s corners of her mouth lifted. The Portable Space beside the spiritual spring had sandy soil, perfect for coral mushrooms. Only some roots of the coral mushrooms remained in that sandy area Yan Shuxue showed her.
Yan Shuxue saw Yan Xiaosi digging in the sandy soil with a keen interest. “Xiaosi, what are you digging for?”
Without looking up, Yan Xiaosi replied, “I’m checking if there are any coral mushroom roots left in this sandy soil. If there are, we can grow coral mushrooms next year. Sister, you go gather mushrooms elsewhere, I’ll come find you later.”
“Be careful then,” advised Yan Shuxue before she left with her basket.
Yan Xiaosi collected the sandy soil containing coral mushroom spores and roots. Once Yan Shuxue was far enough away, she used her spiritual power to transfer all the sandy soil into her Portable Space, scattering it near the spiritual spring, then watered it with spring water.
After doing this, she went to find Yan Shuxue to help her gather more mushrooms and herbs.
Before they knew it, the sun was high in the sky.
The mountain was rich with wild mushrooms, and in just half a day, Yan Shuxue’s basket was nearly full.
