frightfiction Chapter 279 Gathering Lingzhi in the Birch Forest
Chapter 279 Gathering Lingzhi in the Birch Forest
Li Xiao and Lu Wenqian chatted as they ate the delicious chicken soup. The two girls talked about their mountain hunting trip last autumn.
Lu Wenqian said with great interest, "Last year, my brother took me to pick sorghum berries. They smelled so good, and they were as beautiful as rubies."
Sorghum berries, locally known as "Oriental Strawberries," fill the village with their fragrance every autumn when they ripen. Children follow the scent to the edges of the fields, where they find beautiful red berries—the ripe sorghum berries. The appearance of sorghum berries signifies the arrival of autumn, a harbinger of its coming season.
There were also purplish-red blackcurrants, water grapes, red wild berries, blue jujubes, and red tangerines—beautiful wild fruits with lovely, colorful hues. The aunts and sisters-in-law picked them from house to house, took them home, pounded them to make wine, and made jam from the leftovers.
In winter, besides pickled vegetables and sauerkraut, there are also Chinese cabbage and potatoes, and you can also eat these autumn-made jams as condiments, which are very fragrant.
Li Xiao was unconvinced. Seeing Lu Wenqian's smugness, she also took Li Ju'an's arm and said loudly, "Brother will pick pine cones for me. Last autumn, he carried the pine cones he picked for me down the mountain, and the whole basket was full. Mom even stir-fried pine nuts and corn with them, which was delicious."
The people around laughed, and the adults chuckled, "This little kid is always craving food. He's already started talking about it."
Aunt Lu teased the child and said to Li Xiao, "Don't wait until autumn, I'll have your brother pick some delicious food for you today."
Li Xiao obediently raised her face and said sensibly, "There won't be any pine cones in the spring. Brother is a very capable person; he has to go into the mountains to hunt. I can pick these wild vegetables myself."
The adults laughed heartily, praising Li Ju'an for having such a good, sensible younger sister.
Li Ju'an said, "We need to hunt, and we also need to gather resources from the mountains. Come on, let me do you a job and bring back some white lingzhi for you."
When Li Xiao heard that Li Ju'an wanted to climb the cliff to pick white lingzhi, he became anxious and quickly stopped him, shouting, "Brother, I don't want lingzhi, that stuff is too dangerous. Last year I was even thinking of saying we shouldn't pick pine cones either."
Li Ju'an suddenly remembered that he had indeed collected pine cones for Li Xiao last autumn. The pine cones grew on a dwarf pine. This kind of tree usually grows on mountaintops at high altitudes, and the cones are covered in pine resin, which is very sticky. He didn't even wear a safety rope around his waist, and climbed up the tall dwarf pine using both hands and feet, stretching out his arms to reach for the cones, filling an entire basket with them.
After he slid down the tree, he saw Li Xiao's terrified expression, which made him want to cry. His younger sister followed him back to the village without saying a word. He thought she was unhappy, but when he asked her the next day, he found out that she had been worried sick all night, afraid that he would fall while climbing the tree. This made him laugh so hard.
Now that Li Xiao brought up the matter again, Li Ju'an teased his sister, saying, "You can only find good stuff if you climb high. And isn't your brother amazing? The key is that he filled such a big basket and had to carry it down the mountain. It was definitely hard work."
He gestured with the basket on his back, which made his sister anxious. She tried to pull him away, shouting, "That tree is too tall, brother, you can't climb it!"
The adults around them burst into laughter, praising Li Xiao for being a filial child and for worrying about her brother. Lu Zhiqiang laughed the loudest, grinning from ear to ear.
Lu Zhiqiang teased Li Xiao, saying, "Back in August, your brother will have to climb that big red pine tree again. It's over forty meters high, all the way to the other side of the cliff. It's so tall, what are you going to do?"
Li Xiao stared in surprise, her bright eyes shining, still somewhat incredulous, and asked, "Why would our brother go climb a cliff? That's impossible."
Lu Zhiqiang and Lu Jinyang exchanged glances and laughed, "Ask your brother if he's still thinking about that eagle. In August, your brother will definitely climb the tree and catch that eagle, then he'll let you play with it on his arm."
Li Xiao had indeed heard Li Ju'an mention eagle training. Li Ju'an had wanted to train an eagle for a long time, and owning one of his own was something he'd been wanting for a while. He was just waiting for Zhao Pao's eagle to lay eggs in May or June, and after hatching and raising the eaglets to sub-adulthood, he would take the nest and train the eagle.
Li Xiao was really getting anxious. She quickly grabbed Li Ju'an's arm and hugged him, shouting, "Brother, don't go climbing the big red pine! That's over 40 meters high! It's no joke!"
A group of adults burst into laughter. Seeing their ill intentions, Li Ju'an scolded them, "You all love to talk nonsense. Children can't stand being teased and believe everything."
He squatted down and patiently coaxed his sister, saying, "Don't listen to Lu Zhiqiang, he's full of bad ideas. The eagle's nest isn't on the red pine; how could such a big nest be built on such a high tree?"
Li Xiao blinked her bright eyes and tilted her head to ask, "Where is the eagle?"
"In an open nest, on a cliff."
Eagles typically build their nests on cliffs or high rocky ground, creating an open burrow surrounded by pretty stones and branches. Li Ju'an has already marked the eagle's nest; he'll go there to guard it in July or August, waiting for the chicks to grow to sub-adult level before taking one away.
Li Xiao was delighted to hear this, and clapped his hands in relief, saying, "Alright then. Brother, let me set some traps. Let's set a few more and then head towards the ridge."
"okay."
Among these children, Li Xiao had the greatest talent for setting traps, which amazed even the mountain hermit Lao Zhao.
Old Zhao hadn't originally intended to go with the group; he was used to working alone, always traversing several mountains by himself when hunting. Watching Li Ju'an teach Li Xiao how to set a trap, he curiously squatted down to observe, asking, "If you bend two loops like this and stack them, will you really be able to trap a pheasant?"
This was the first time he had ever seen someone set a trap. He had a wire rope in his hand, but he never thought that setting a trap required burning it first, and that the mud on the ground could be used as a cover. Finally, based on the location of the prey's footprints, he adjusted the height of the trap by going uphill or downhill.
Li Ju'an's method of setting traps was steady and quick, and Li Xiao learned it quickly as well. Lu Jinyang praised him, saying, "Being young doesn't mean you're so clever."
Lu Zhiqiang jokingly added, "That's why Li Xiao's grades in school are so good. She learns quickly and is very clever." Their praise displeased Lu Wenqian, who then eagerly joined Li Ju'an in learning how to set traps.
With the two girls chattering away, the journey to collect herbs in the mountains was anything but boring.
Old Zhao originally didn't want to lead Li Ju'an up the fifth mountain ridge. Along the way, he asked Li Ju'an for advice on how to set traps, and he actually made a cat trap out of wire. Li Ju'an praised him for placing the trap accurately and said that he would prepare some wire and put it in the shed, and that he would improve the meals with a braised rabbit every day.
Old Zhao, the mountain traveler, grinned broadly. In a good mood, he became much more cheerful and led Li Ju'an towards the birch forest, saying, "This is the forest where you can find white lingzhi mushrooms. You have to look for rotten birch trees. It's just ahead."
Li Ju'an led his hunting dogs into the birch forest. This area was a mountain valley below the fifth ridge on the edge of Wangxing Village. If someone could search through ten thousand birch trees, they might actually have a chance to find a rare white lingzhi mushroom.