Chapter 5: Going Up the Mountain with My Wife

"Hoo... hoo..."

After just about ten minutes of climbing, Lin Heng was already out of breath.

Although he was young, he rarely did any physical labor, and carrying his 20-pound daughter up the mountain was wearing him out. In contrast, his wife didn't seem to be struggling much at all.

"Give her to me. Your clothes are soaked in sweat!" Chen Xiulan said with a bit of helplessness and amusement.

"Heh... Ma..." Lin Xiaoxia, their daughter in the basket, grabbed Lin Heng's hair, giggling away.

"No, I'll be fine after a quick rest. We're almost there," Lin Heng replied, finding a rock to sit on and rest. The mountain wasn't too steep, it was just that he wasn't used to the physical effort.

Chen Xiulan handed him a handkerchief. "Wipe your sweat. It's cold in the mountains, and sweating too much might give you a cold."

"I can't use my hands, you do it," Lin Heng smiled and said.

Chen Xiulan rolled her eyes at him, as his hands were clearly free, but she still walked over and carefully wiped the sweat off his face.

Lin Heng smiled foolishly as he looked at her. His wife wiping his sweat made him feel warm inside. Chen Xiulan blushed, but luckily, there was no one else around, so she wiped the sweat off his neck as well.

"Let's go," she said after a short break, standing up.

They continued walking up the mountain until they reached the area they were aiming for. The area near the house had been cleared many times and didn't have much foraging, so they moved deeper into the forest, where there were taller, older trees—perfect for mushrooms.

The forest ahead was a mix of pine and oak trees. They had barely entered when they saw a lot of red mushrooms, commonly known as "red umbrella, white stem," which grew from spring to fall. However, most of these red mushrooms were non-toxic and had a good taste.

"It looks like no one has come to pick here yet. Let's see if we can find some pine mushrooms," Chen Xiulan said, happy to see no footprints on the ground as she began searching.

The red mushrooms were common and not worth much. They would only collect them when no other mushrooms were available.

At this time of year, valuable mushrooms included matsutake, morel, chicken fat mushrooms, and pine milk mushrooms. While the Qinling Mountains weren't as rich in mushrooms as Yunnan, they still had a long history of mushroom foraging.

After walking for a while, Lin Heng found a pine mushroom, known locally as pine milk mushroom. It had a vibrant orange-yellow color with a thick cap, and it was easy to spot because when injured, it turned a blue-green color, which earned it the name copper green mushroom.

One pine mushroom usually meant there were many more in the area. Lin Heng quickly found dozens more, picking up about two pounds in total.

At the market, they bought them for about 20 cents per pound when fresh.

After collecting these, Lin Heng kept searching but didn't find any more of the pine mushrooms. However, he did find two nice-looking green-headed mushrooms, which were actually a type of red mushroom.

Mushrooms often grew in clusters, and just as Lin Heng was about to move on to another area, he noticed something in the pine tree.

A red-haired squirrel was standing on a branch, staring at him. It was only five meters away, and there was no cover.

Lin Heng carefully took out his slingshot and a smooth stone he had picked up on the way, aimed, and was about to fire when suddenly a sharp voice interrupted him: "Wah wah... Pee... Pee..."

His daughter's sharp cry startled the squirrel, which immediately darted up to the treetop.

Lin Heng was helpless. He lowered the basket and realized his daughter had wet her diaper, and her pants were soaked. She was crying non-stop.

"You really are my little sweetheart!" Lin Heng sighed as he took her out of the basket, placed the wet diaper on a nearby branch, and tried to soothe her.

"Wah wah... wah..."

But the more he tried to calm her down, the more she cried. That's how young children were—no reason, just crying when they felt like it.

Before long, Chen Xiulan arrived, hearing the noise. "Give her to me. She's probably hungry."

Lin Heng, not angry about their daughter's crying, was still trying to comfort her, and this surprised his wife.

Taking their daughter, Chen Xiulan lifted her shirt to nurse. In those days, there was no formula, and many children were still breastfeeding at two or three years old.

Lin Heng couldn't help but stare at his wife's pale, fair skin, feeling a bit heated from the sight. He couldn't help but think that his wife had such a good figure, and their daughter's head was about the same size as her chest.

"You've seen it before!" Chen Xiulan said, her face turning slightly red from his intense gaze.

"Ha ha, what can I do? My wife is just too irresistible," Lin Heng grinned, then glanced at the basket where his wife had gathered a pound of pine mushrooms.

"They're all ruined. Otherwise, we could have gathered two pounds," Chen Xiulan said regretfully.

"You rest here for a bit, I'll go look around some more," Lin Heng suggested.

"Go ahead, but be careful, watch out for snakes and bees," she reminded him with a nod.

Lin Heng emptied the pine mushrooms onto the ground, then headed into the left side of the mountain while his wife had gone right.

After walking over a thousand meters without finding anything worthwhile, Lin Heng was about to turn back when a rustling sound caught his attention.

Turning around, he saw a gray squirrel on a rock just three meters away.

"It's so close! If I don't shoot you, I'm not human!"

Lin Heng thought to himself as he quietly pulled out his slingshot and, after aiming, shot it out with a whoosh.

With a snap, the stone hit the squirrel in the head, and the poor animal twitched a few times before dying.

"Looks like my aim is still good!" Lin Heng was pleased with his shot, especially since it had been a while since he had used his slingshot.

He was glad he had practiced archery in his past life, or his aim wouldn't have been this accurate.

"This is about a pound of meat, and the fur can be sold for three or four dollars. The meat's enough for a meal," Lin Heng grinned, pleased with his first successful hunt since his rebirth.

He placed the squirrel in the basket and continued walking forward, feeling lucky today. Usually, squirrels didn't get this close to humans, and they liked to stay in the trees where it was hard to shoot them.

"Chicken fat mushrooms!!"

After walking a few dozen meters, Lin Heng cheered as he saw dozens of golden chicken fat mushrooms lining the path.

These mushrooms were even better than the pine mushrooms in his opinion, golden and trumpet-shaped with wavy edges. They were also worth more—fresh ones sold for 30 cents a pound, and dried ones could go for 50 or 60 cents per pound.

However, when he picked one up and tore it open, Lin Heng sighed. It was already rotten.

Sometimes, he couldn't understand how the bugs got to these mushrooms so quickly—sometimes, just hours after they sprouted, they were already infested with bugs.

"Forget it, I'll take them back to feed the pigs!" Lin Heng shook his head, lamenting the waste.

He only managed to find about 30 good ones, weighing about six or seven ounces, while the rest were over a pound of spoiled mushrooms.

Not knowing how much time had passed, Lin Heng decided to head back and look for his wife.

"Xiulan!"

He called out while scanning the ground for more mushrooms.

"I'm over here! Come quickly, I found something good!"

Before long, he heard his wife's excited voice, as though she had made a great discovery.

(End of Chapter)