I raise furry animals and fly them to my motherland.

Chapter 205 Fading away
Locals are overjoyed: Finally, we have something unique to our region!

Two hundred thousand yuan in cash?! Is this mushroom inlaid with gold?

[Chef: What does dignity matter when it comes to food?]

When the staff of the Culture and Tourism Bureau saw the comments in the live broadcast room, they immediately sensed a business opportunity.

Although it's impossible to transport these delicious Chinese mushrooms to other provinces, we can add them as a unique feature to our travel itineraries!
Hearing Xu Ying describe mushrooms as so precious, everyone's mouth watered.

"So, our lunch?" Ye Jie asked cautiously.

"It depends on what you all achieve." Xu Ying revealed a mischievous smile and pulled out five woven baskets from below the stage. "The tools are all ready."

When everyone saw the tools used for picking mushrooms, they almost fainted for a moment.

Ming Xueying couldn't help but say, "We've been craving mushrooms for so long, we're starving! How are we supposed to find them now?"

"That's when your points come into play."

Xu Ying dragged a bag of snacks, which were from a snack brand sponsored by the program: "One point can be redeemed for a small cookie! Five points can be redeemed for a small chicken leg!"

As soon as Xu Ying finished speaking, Jia Yao shouted angrily, "You unscrupulous merchant!"

Xu Ying resisted the urge to roll her eyes: "Your points are all negative, what are you getting so excited about?"

Ming Xueying's mind worked quickly: "Wait! If we save up the points, won't they be useful later on?"

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately hesitated.

Seeing the hesitant crowd, Xu Ying began to use her seductive trump card.

"Teacher Yao, you have 10 points." She waved the small cookie in her hand.

"I can exchange it for ten cookies, or," he deliberately and slowly tore open a vacuum-packed braised chicken leg, "...two small chicken legs~"

Yao Yingzhe's Adam's apple bobbed violently, and a look of hesitation flashed across his face.

The first person to make a purchase was Ye Jie, who had fifteen points. She generously exchanged them for three chicken legs. She didn't think too much about it; filling her stomach was the most important thing. Otherwise, if she fainted in the desert again, she would be criticized by the whole internet as a weak and innocent white lotus, which would not be good.

Seeing the cameraman filming her eating chicken drumsticks, Ye Jie's mouth watered. After hesitating for a moment, she put on gloves, broke off a large piece of chicken, and shared it with the cameraman. The cameraman was quite surprised and thanked her repeatedly.

The viewers in the live chat were all very surprised by Ye Jie's actions.

[She clearly didn't have enough to eat herself, yet she shared with the cameraman! After watching the show for so long, Ye Jie doesn't seem like a scheming woman; instead, she seems like a naive and innocent girl who's often the target of criticism.]

[Actually, I've wanted to say this for a long time: some of the negative rumors about Ye Jie are really far-fetched and seem like over-interpretations.]

[Or maybe it's just a good marketing ploy? A single piece of chicken earns a good reputation—what a worthwhile deal!]

Just then, a fluffy fennec fox cub slowly swayed over, carrying a chicken leg specially made by the production team in its mouth.

Jiayao: "."

Fox Si Bao tilted his head, his black grape-like eyes looking at him innocently, and then—

"Smack, smack, smack."

It deliberately gnawed loudly in front of Jia Yao, with juices dripping from the corners of its mouth. Its little paws even hugged the chicken leg to its chest as if to protect its food, as if to say, "Mine is mine, not for you."

Jia Yao: Is it really this infuriating that Xu Ying keeps a fox?

After using their points to redeem snacks to replenish their energy, the group traveled by car to the reed area near the desert oasis.

The midday sun baked the sandy ground until it was scorching hot. Xu Ying squatted near a withered reed, gently digging away the surface sand with a small shovel.

She is demonstrating how to find delicious Chinese mushrooms.

"Look, these slightly raised mounds of earth may very well contain the specialties of our Xizhou Province."

Xu Ying's movements were as gentle as an archaeologist excavating cultural relics.

The sand and soil fell gently, revealing the milky-white stems of the mushrooms. "Be sure to be gentle!"

In a close-up shot, a large, white Chinese mushroom, as big as a plate, looks plump and soft, whetting the appetite.

“Here comes the important part.” Xu Ying suddenly turned the mushroom upside down and tapped the base of the stem twice. “The mycelium will fall back into the soil, and it will grow here again next year.” A sudden gust of wind interrupted her explanation.

Ming Xueying's Gucci scarf, which she used for decoration, soared into the air, drawing a gorgeous arc before landing precisely in the newly dug mushroom pit.

Comments floated by:

[Mycelium: Received sponsorship from luxury brands]

[Mushroom: This scarf suits my class.]

Xu Ying silently picked up the silk handkerchief. Instead of immediately putting the mushrooms into the basket, she turned them upside down and gently patted them.

"After you find mushrooms, you must pay attention to the principle of sustainable development."

"Don't put the mushrooms away right away. First, pat them like this to help the mycelium get into the soil. Then you can harvest new delicious Chinese mushrooms next year."

After Xu Ying explained how to find the delicious Chinese mushrooms, everyone started to get to work.

Ye Jie knelt on the sand and carefully dug up a small mound of earth.

However, the deeper they dug, the less delicious mushrooms they found.

She kept digging and digging until finally her shovel hit something hard.

Ye Jie hesitated for a moment, then asked, "What's this? It's hard, could it be a landmine?"

Her words immediately set off alarm bells for everyone present.

Xu Ying shook her head: "Don't worry, it can't be a landmine."

The Western Desert is a military zone, and the mine clearance work has been done very well.

Xu Ying took the small shovel and dug out a piece of pottery.

She squinted. "This thing looks a bit like a fragment of an artifact?"

Staff members rushed over immediately, and the fragment of the artifact was unearthed and displayed on camera.

Could it be a shard of pottery from the Han Dynasty?

Wow, Ye Jie's luck is incredible! She should go into archaeology!

The live stream chat exploded.

Jiang Mo was busy alone on the edge of the oasis.

His woven basket already contained seven or eight perfect mushrooms, each with fresh soil at the base of its stem.

When Xu Ying quietly approached, he discovered that the "Atlas of Chinese Fungi" spread out beside him was covered with dense notes.

Jiang Mo's fans in the live chat were once again amazed by their idol's hard work:
[Is Professor Jiang here to attend an academic seminar?]

[You deserve to be famous! You take everything you do so seriously!]

"Look what I found! Such a huge arch!"

Yao Yingzhe's booming voice echoed throughout the oasis. The old man gripped his shovel with both hands, like a pirate who had discovered treasure, "This time it's definitely..."

Beneath the mound of earth that the shovel had lifted, several dried horse manure balls gleamed in the sunlight.

The whole audience was silent for three seconds.

"Is this show deliberately targeting 'Yuan Fen' (a derogatory term for fans of a certain type of slang)?!"

Yao Yingzhe's roar startled the desert crows in the tree.

Not far away, Jia Yao was waving a withered tree branch, poking at the sand like he was holding a sword, looking extremely childish.

Jia Yao looked around at the other guests and said, "I'm not going to squeeze in with them. I'm going to explore a new area. Maybe all the mushrooms in this area have been dug up."

Jia Yao and the photographer walked further and further away.