The little one's purse connects the two worlds, turning a desolate village into a paradise.

When everyone heard that the morel mushrooms cost over a hundred coins per pound, their eyes widened in disbelief. No one dared to breathe loudly; they simply squatted on the ground, gently parting the weeds with their fingertips and digging into the soil bit by bit, afraid of damaging the precious mushrooms.

The soil on the mountain was soft and slippery after the rain. Everyone's trouser legs were splattered with mud, and their feet were covered with a thick layer of mud. But at this moment, no one cared about the cold and just looked down to search.

They stared intently at the dark spots under the trees, wishing they could turn the entire hillside upside down.

The basket was overflowing with wild vegetables, wild onions, wood mushrooms, and chicken gizzard mushrooms. With these few morel mushrooms added, this trip up the mountain was truly a treasure trove.

"These morel mushrooms are delicious and nourishing. All the wealthy people in town love to eat them. Clean them up when you get back and have Nannan take some to her aunt. Keep some for her uncle and Fairy Sister tomorrow."

Everyone happily discussed it. The village didn't have much to offer, so they wanted to find some good mountain produce for Nannan to take with her. The people there had been so good to Nannan; they felt bad if they didn't bring her some.

Seeing the basket getting heavier and heavier, and fearing they might encounter wild animals if they went any further, the village chief quickly called out, "Let's go back now. Don't be greedy. Mushrooms don't keep well, and Nannan can't carry too many. We can pick more next time."

After plucking the last few mushrooms, the group reluctantly straightened up and prepared to head back when they suddenly heard soft footsteps coming from the woods not far away, accompanied by the soft sound of dry branches being broken.

The village chief instinctively gripped the sickle in his hand tighter.

A figure in indigo emerged from behind the tree, wearing a familiar blue floral-patterned jacket that was stained with water, some areas deep and some shallow.

It was indeed Hunter Zhao.

His face looked tired, his trouser legs were covered in mud, and he had a faint smell of blood about him, which was barely noticeable unless you smelled it carefully.

The village chief's eyes narrowed slightly, but before he could speak, the enthusiastic Grandma Wang had already greeted him.

"Hey Tiger, you went into the mountains early this morning? No wonder we didn't see you for lunch."

"The roads are slippery in the rain, be careful! Did you fall?"

Looking at the warm and honest uncles and aunts, Hunter Zhao felt a warmth in his heart and grinned with a somewhat simple smile: "I got up this morning thinking that since the rain had stopped, the wild animals would come out to get some fresh air and forage, so I came to check. Here I am, I've caught a rabbit."

As he spoke, he took a gray rabbit out of the basket behind him.

"Wow, the rabbits are so fat in early spring. I'll process them and take them to Nannan later."

The village chief silently shook his head, guessing that they couldn't bring them over there. He heard that last time they got fined for bringing pheasants, so there was no reason why pheasants wouldn't work but rabbits would.

At worst, I can ask my daughter again. If she can bring it, I can send it over. Anyway, it's cold outside, so it will keep well.

"Uncle, I'm going back now, I smell bad."

"Let's share one, we've picked almost all of them."

Zhao Hu's gaze swept over the small baskets behind his uncles and aunts, all of which were full. When his eyes fell on the dark morel mushrooms, his eyes narrowed slightly. "You're still picking these mushrooms? These things are very expensive in town."

"Hey, it's all thanks to Old Chen's sharp eyes that he spotted the whole nest right away."

Everyone walked down the mountain, chatting and laughing, having made a great harvest.

Back in the village, the village chief saw Old Man Fang watching over things in the yard, and everyone was methodically washing vegetables and mushrooms. He pulled Zhao Hu outside, away from the crowd, and whispered, "How's it going? What's the situation over there?"

Zhao Hu's expression was somewhat strange. He remained silent for a moment before speaking:

"When I arrived, before I had even come down the mountain, I saw the woman lingering outside the house in the distance. She seemed to want to go into the mountain, but she didn't dare to."

The two men haven't returned for a day and a night; they're probably panicking.

"later?"

"Later, I estimated the distance, caught up from behind, and shot her with an arrow. She fell to the ground immediately. I went over to check on her, and she was still breathing."

The village chief clenched his fists, his expression grave.

"As soon as I got there, she opened her eyes, grabbed me, and said she was cold and scared... She also said that I should spare her life and not eat her, and that she would be my wife and give me a big, fat son."

The village chief's expression was extremely strange, and his eyes involuntarily glanced up the mountain. "You wouldn't—"

Zhao Hu shuddered, as if his tail had been stepped on. His face paled, and he was both angry and disgusted: "That woman had a blue face and fangs, and she smelled of blood. She actually tried to take advantage of me. I immediately raised my hand and stabbed her in the back."

As he spoke, he pulled out a small mirror and looked at himself: "Don't you even look at yourself? I, Zhao Hu, am sturdy and strong. How could she possibly think of that? How dare she even bring it up?"

The village chief's lips twitched repeatedly: ...

"Alright, stop taking pictures, is he dead?"

"I picked up everything from inside the house, dug a deep pit, and buried them all."

The village chief nodded slowly and let out a long sigh: "It's good that it's buried, it's good that it's buried. This matter should be kept to ourselves, and never be mentioned again."

Zhao Hu nodded emphatically, "I understand. Uncle, I'll go take a shower now."

"Go."

……

The courtyard was already bustling with activity. About twenty small cattail baskets had been woven, each one exquisite and neat, and they were all stacked in the large basket woven by Wang Dazhu.

The aunties gathered around the baskets they had carried, carefully cleaning each freshly picked mushroom and rinsing them thoroughly with spring water. The tender mushrooms were laid out on bamboo sieves, a delightful sight to behold.

The washed wild vegetables were sorted and bundled together, then placed one by one into the box of the small cart.

I weighed the morel mushrooms and they were about two pounds.

The chicken thigh mushrooms are white and look like small hammers. I picked about four pounds of them and carefully scraped off the bumps with a knife to clean them.

There were even more wood mushrooms. These things grow at the base of the trees, in clusters, and you can pick a whole patch at once. Each person could pick dozens of pounds. Everyone picked the best-looking ones and gathered five pounds, because they were afraid that Nannan wouldn't be able to push it if they picked any more.

Two catties of lamb's quarters, two catties of shepherd's purse, and one and a half catties of bracken.

Most of them are kept to store mushrooms. Wild vegetables won't run away if left out, and some mushrooms are poisonous if they open too late!

The stroller was packed full, with a large basket tied to the top of the cart, which was taller than Ya Ya.

Fang Tiesheng looked left and right, still feeling uneasy. He then tidied things up again, putting the basket in the cart box, the mushrooms in the small basket, and the wild vegetables in the rattling little bags that Ya Ya had brought back, tying them to the handles, leaving space for Ya Ya to see the way.

Only then did he pat the stroller reassured and let Ya Ya take it over.