Chapter 251: Mushrooms foraging and orchard tour with Ah Qi

They finished doing the kitchen work near 2.00 pm. Bai Yi Chen clean up on his own and told the rest to leave the kitchen first. This is like a permanent job for Bai Yi Chen, since Bai Yi Yang do the cooking, he do the clean up. Zhou Zhu Yao and the children went to the living room and watch TV together except for Bai Yi Ling, she enter her room to do her own things.

As for Bai Yi Yang, she is currently waiting for Ah Qi to finish changing into Bai Yi Chen's work clothes. They are going into the wood and head to the orchard with the remaining time. Bai Yi Chen originally wanted to join but he have some coding to study later, so he opted out.

When Bai Yi Chen saw Bai Yi Yang waiting at the East house's main door, he asked her if Ah Qi is inside the room.

"En, changing." Bai Yi Yang nod. She is playing with TongTong's small paw now, it look quite peaceful outside but TongTong is actually swearing since it hates it when Bai Yi Yang play around with it like real cat. Bai Yi Yang will laugh aloud when TongTong get angry like these. So adorable!

"If you can't lift up the stuff, just put it somewhere, I will pick it up later." Bai Yi Chen remind his twin. Bai Yi Yang and Ah Qi plan to pick some mushrooms and fruits too. There are a big basket and a smaller one ready for them to bring. Actually he feel a bit guilty that he can't go help.

"No problem ge. If Ah Qi can't then I will do it." Bai Yi Yang grinned.

"You are a girl after all." Bai Yi Chen said. He said a few more words before entering his room. Ah Qi also come out not long after, he still look like a young master despite in old working clothes.

"So handsome." Bai Yi Yang praise in almost a whisper. Dongfang Qi Ze laugh and pat her on her head.

"Zhu Yao jie, we will leave first." Bai Yi Yang just said this towards the Main house before they left, she didn't wait for reply.

"I will hold this." Dongfang Qi Ze took the basket from Bai Yi Yang and look confusedly at it. How do he hold this?

"People wear it on the back." Bai Yi Yang explain and help him put it on his back. Since Ah Ai is tall, he need to tiptoe while helping him put it on. Bai Yi Yang giggle when she saw this sight, he have transformed into village boy.

"Why?" Dongfang Qi Ze cannot help but blush, did he look weird?

"Nothing. I just can't believe it that I can see you like this," Bai Yi Yang said. Well, it's not only her who can't believe it, Dongfang Qi Ze's subordinates won't believe it too if they see their young master like this.

Bai Yi Yang bring Ah Qi to a different trail as they climb up the mountain, they are going to look for mushrooms first and then go to the orchard.

TongTong don't want to tag along, it follow Bai Yi Chen into his bedroom just now. It must've wanted to laze around on Bai Yi Chen's bed. Sometimes TongTong have this habit of sleeping in particular bed, last week it sleep inside Bai Yi Mo's bedroom and occupied the upper bunk. That cat's habit is quite weird.

"Do you have any mushrooms you like too eat?" Bai Yi Yang ask as she walk in front. Once in a while, she will clear the road with the machete she brought.

"You choose it, I don't really know." Dongfang Qi Ze said honestly.

"Then, let's pick some common one that you surely will recognise." Bai Yi Yang said. They walk around as they look for colony of mushrooms.

"This is wild shiitake mushrooms." Bai Yi Yang crouch down when they arrived at a big dead tree on the ground with a lot of shiitake growing on it.

"I can recognise it." Dongfang Qi Ze also crouch down in amazement. This is the first time he see mushrooms growing in its original nature like this. He have only see the one already cooked.

"It can be simply sautéed, added into other dishes or cook with rice. It's very easy to make." Bai Yi Yang explain as she start picking up the mushrooms and put it inside the smaller basket she is holding. Dongfang Qi Ze also start copying her and only pick up the big one like Bai Yi Yang. They end up with a lot of wild shiitake mushrooms when they finish picking in that area.

Moving on, they encounter a huge lion's mane mushroom. This is also visually shocking towards Dongfang Qi Ze. What is this furry white looking mushrooms growing on tree trunk? It looks alive.

"I have heard of it before." Dongfang Qi Ze said, his expression is a bit like a dumb kid. Bai Yi Yang was contemplating if she should pick it for him or not because of how his expression now.

"Do you want to have a try?" Bai Yi Yang still ask in the end.

"En. How to cook it?" Dongfang Qi Ze ask back. He can just ask the housekeeping aunt to cook it later. Something that Bai Yi Yang recommended should be delicious.

Bai Yi Yang grinned and start explaining the way to cook it, basically all mushrooms is easy to cook, the simple method is the best so they can savour it's original flavour. She didn't ask Ah Qi to pick it and pick it herself carefully. The lion's mane mushrooms alone take up a huge part of the basket.

They found an oyster mushrooms colony not long after that and start picking it. Bai Yi Yang also pick up some morels that they found, there weren't many morels in this area, Bai Yi Yang already know which area and which has more of certain type of mushrooms.

"Do you like Matsutake mushrooms?" Bai Yi Yang ask when she saw 3 Matsutake under the pine tree.

"Not bad. I have tasted it before, they tasted quite good." Dongfang Qi Ze nod.

"Then put your basket here, we need to go off trail to pick them." Bai Yi Yang said. Dongfang Qi Ze just nod and follow Bai Yi Yang like a good student.

The first Matsutake mushroom they found is just nearby, there are 3 of them growing together. Bai Yi Yang demonstrate it to Ah Qi and told him to do it himself the next time they found one.

"Yang Yang, how do you know how to do this?" Dongfang Qi Ze finally can't help but ask. One or two time is fine but Bai Yi Yang have quickly found a group of Matsutake 6 times in a row now. What more, this quality, he can tell that they are superior. It's the same quality as the one he have eaten during a business dinner before. It was the aroma that is difficult to forget.

"Oh, I learned it and this mountain is ours, I know where they usually grow." Bai Yi Yang said with a small smile.

"Well, that is true." Dongfang Qi Ze nod. He have this feeling that his little girlfriend is not simple, he also know that she frequently go into the wood alone but seeing it himself is different than hearing it from her story.

"Then, I must depend on my girlfriend after this." Dongfang Qi Ze grinned and put his arm on Bai Yi Yang's shoulder.

"Annoying." Bai Yi Yang pretend to dislike him but didn't push him away. Every time she saw a Matsutake, she will told him to forage it. When they got about 2 kg worth of Matsutake did they finally stop.

"Let's head to the orchard. We have picked enough." Bai Yi Yang said. There is no more space in the smaller basket, the bigger basket if for the fruits.

Last time, Ah Qi told her that his colleagues like the fruit she gave him, well, Bai Yi Yang plan to let Ah Qi bring back some again. This is so that he can earn cookie points from his colleagues and get an easier time at work. There is no harm in letting people have a good impression on him. He is quite pitiful, he lives alone and don't have anyone to take care of him, it will be much more bearable if his colleagues is nice to him.

If Dongfang Qi Ze know about her intention, he wouldn't have agree to bring it back. What for does he need to please his subordinates? Even if these fruits actually pleased the old man, he never wanted to use Bai Yi Yang kindness to him to earn good impression from Dongfang Li Ming.

The two head to the top of the mountain and only arrived there about 3.20 pm. Bai Yi Yang and Ah Qi sit at the worker's resting area and rest to drink some water.

"How big is this?" Dongfang Qi Ze ask. This is the first time he came here too. It is very clean, he can see all the rows of fruits tree from distance. The orchard is well taken care off.

"About 6 acres now. It was a bit smaller before but we have expand it and planted some new fruits." Bai Yi Yang said. This is mostly done by Bai Yi Chen and Second Zhou, she will only come occasionally to look at the trees condition then spread her aura. She got the easy job.

"En, it's quite big." Dongfang Qi Ze said.

"Some people actually suggest that we should expand it further but I think this is good enough, I wanted to preserve the mountain as much as I can. We already planted enough." Bai Yi Yang said.

Dongfang Qi Ze nod. Well, in a business point of view, since Bai Mountain's fruits is so popular, the supply is too small to meet the demand, of course it will be better to plant more of it. But there is also a good thing with this, it means that the fruit become something that is limited and exclusive. Even if Natural Grocery wanted to manipulate the price in the future, the can do it.

"The rarer it is the better." Dongfang Qi Ze comment.

"Aren't you going to revise the contract? The brand is very famous now, some people won't even look at other fruits anymore." Dongfang Qi Ze is taking the old man in their Dongfang family as example.

"You can actually rise the price by a lot." He add again.

"I won't. What more we won't increase the price yet, Zhang Yong had think about it but I disagree. In the end, they are just fruits." Bai Yi Yang said.

"You are too kind. Do you know what people say about these fruits?" Dongfang Qi Ze said.

"I know." Bai Yi Yang laugh, they said it taste is too good and it also have good effect to the body. Of course this is all thanks to the power of the system. If she didn't consider this matter, she would have sell the fruits cheaper. But, she don't think she can raise the price too much anymore.

"But I still won't agree to raise it, everyone should have the chance to taste it, if the price is too high, many people may not have the chance to have a taste." Bai Yi Yang said. The price now is already too high in her opinion, this is not some kind of longevity fruits or something.

"Alright, listen to you." Dongfang Qi Ze pat her head and smile. Well, he is the most manipulative type of businessman, he always follows where the money goes, if it were not Bai Yi Yang, he may even be able to find opportunity with this Bai Mountain brand, but even if people point a gun at his head now, he won't do it. Bai Yi Yang opinion is the most important to him now.

"Stop talking about this, let's look around. See what you want to eat, we will pick it." Bai Yi Yang grin. She bring Ah Qi to look around and ask him if he wanted to eat certain fruits.

Dongfang Qi Ze actually just getting use to eating fruits recently since there will always be fruits in his office's fridge nowadays for him to snack on. So he become much more interested in eating fruits. When he see ripe fruits, he will ask Bai Yi Yang about the taste, if Bai Yi Yang recommend it and he also think he will like it, he will agree and they will pick some.

The two people only finished picking after 4.00 pm and they head home after that with two baskets full. When they returned, everyone is still doing their own things.

Ah Qi will return home at 5.00 pm so Bai Yi Yang told him to clean up and pack his stuff while she enter the kitchen. As usual, she make a special box meal for Ah Qi and steam some dim sums and rolled kimbab for his travelling buddies. In addition, she also prepared some sliced fruits.

"Yang Yang, every time I go back, I seems to take back a lot." Dongfang Qi Ze return to the kitchen with his hair not fully dry. He feel a bit distressed seeing Bai Yi Yang all busy.

"Not much. You live alone, I will be happy if you can eat properly even for a day." Bai Yi Yang smile. Dongfang Qi Ze approach her and land a kiss on her forehead and small nose.

"I haven't wash up yet." Bai Yi Yang said with slightly complaining voice.

"I don't mind." Dongfang Qi Ze smile and hug her head into his chest, messing up her hair a bit.

"Go away, you are disturbing me." Bai Yi Yang didn't stay still for long, what if people walk in and saw them. Dongfang Qi Ze laugh lightly and let her go, he also help with arranging the stuff into boxes. There are fruits and fresh mushrooms too this time, so it is much more than last week. He also lifted them up into his trunk on his own without waiting for Bai Yi Yang words. If people see this, they will think that he is robbing his girlfriend's house with all the boxes.

"No need to put much effort for the other." Dongfang Qi Ze said when Bai Yi Yang is currently making rolled kimbab. He knows that this is for his so called colleagues.

"They also help with the driving. We should treat them kindly." Bai Yi Yang didn't listen to him.

"En." Dongfang Qi Ze just hum. Well, lucky bastards.

At 5.15 pm, Bai Yi Yang and her siblings send Ah Qi to the gate. Each time Ah Qi comes to visit, Bai Yi Yang becomes more reluctant to separate with him. Even though she already told him many times to be careful, she is still worried inside. It's not a short journey to City Shan.

"Text me when you arrive." Bai Yi Yang said and wave. Dongfang Qi Ze smile at his girlfriend and wave back.

In the end, Ah Qi still need to leave so there is no need to be sad. Bai Yi Ling who know about the two people relationship hug her older sister's arm and bring her inside. Well, Bai Yi Yang is indeed a bit affected this time. Since when did she have this kind of attachment to Ah Qi? This feeling is the same when she is separated from her siblings even for a few days, her heart don't feel comfortable.