The timeline system has gone awry; they insist that steamed buns are a magic pill.

"Third Brother, are these mushrooms?"

Li Qingmei rubbed her eyes, and after checking several times, she still couldn't quite believe it. How could there be mushrooms in the middle of winter, with snowflakes falling outside? This was too unbelievable.

"To be precise, it's called snow mushroom."

Li Qingqiu said with some pride, "I found it when I went into the mountains to dig for winter bamboo shoots. At the time, there were only a few specks of fungus, and I thought it wouldn't grow. I didn't expect that this snow mushroom would be so resistant to low temperatures."

"Snow mushroom, a mushroom that can grow in the snow, that name does fit."

Li Qingmei picked some snow mushrooms; they were fleshy and quite thick.

"Third Brother, do you think snow mushrooms are edible?"

"Yes, you can eat it. I've tried it. By the way, you can even eat it raw, but the taste isn't that great."

"Can it be eaten raw?"

Li Qingmei subconsciously put a piece in her mouth. "Sweet and crunchy, Third Brother, it's delicious!"

"Alright, eat as much as you like."

Li Qingqiu looked at the mature Snow Spirit Mushrooms and thought to himself, "The first generation is all here. Should I put some away? After all, he only has a rough idea of ​​how much of the mushroom spawn to put in at once."

"Third Brother, you just said you had something to tell me, what is it?"

"That's right, I'm planning to try to cultivate snow mushrooms artificially."

Li Qingqiu pointed to several snow mushrooms. "Snow mushrooms can withstand low temperatures and can still grow even in heavy snow. In addition, they taste good. In winter when fresh vegetables are scarce, snow mushrooms should sell well."

"Third Brother, we don't know how to grow mushrooms, is that really possible?" Li Qingmei thought Li Qingqiu was overthinking things.

"Giving it a try won't waste much time. Besides, I often go to my brother-in-law's house and have read some books about fungal cultivation, so I guess I have some skills in growing mushrooms," Li Qingqiu thought to himself. Luckily, he had borrowed a few booklets.

"Look, I borrowed a few booklets from my brother-in-law's house a few days ago, including one about fungal cultivation." Li Qingqiu took out a few yellowed booklets from the bedside table.

"Third Brother, what do you want me to do?"

"Simple, help me cut down the tree and dig the hole."

Li Qingqiu briefly explained his idea. He used the same method as the fairy branch: cut some tree branches, drill holes, fill them with fungal inoculum, and then stuff them back in with the tree shavings he dug out. Generally, a tree branch needs to have twenty or thirty holes drilled.

This was a technical and physically demanding job, requiring a lot of effort. Li Qingqiu didn't intend to do it alone, so he pulled in Li Qingmei, Li Xianjing, Guo Zhaonan, and Yin Yi, along with himself as the commander.

I think it shouldn't be a problem to get thirty to fifty of them now. If each one yields half the yield of the fairy branches, that would be great. The snow mushrooms taste good, and it shouldn't be difficult to sell them at the same price as winter bamboo shoots.

"Not growing mushrooms?"

"We'll talk about that in detail later. For now, let's go cut down some branches."

Li Qingqiu planned to train them all at once; explaining things one by one would be a waste of time. "Let's go, is Xianshu home?"

"Xianshu was splitting bamboo strips in the warehouse."

"Let's call her later. Let's go to the educated youth settlement first."

"To the educated youth settlement?"

"That's right, the room where the male educated youth are staying is empty, it's perfect for storing the spawn." Li Qingqiu said matter-of-factly. "Let's go, take the machete and the basket." While Li Qingmei was getting the machete and basket, Li Qingqiu stuffed some of the first generation of snow mushroom spawn into the storage shelf.

"Xiaomei, where are you all going?"

Second brother Li Qinghua had just woken up and came out. He saw Li Qingmei carrying a bamboo basket on her back and a wood-chopping knife in one hand, and asked in confusion.

"Let's go to the former educated youth settlement."

"Second brother, why don't you sleep a little longer? You still have to patrol tonight."

"You slept well."

Li Qinghua glanced over and saw that Li Qingqiu was also home. "Third brother, what's that in your hand?"

"Snow mushroom".

Li Qingqiu waved to Li Qingmei. "Let's go, little sister, second brother, we need to get busy."

"Go."

Li Qinghua muttered to himself, "What snow mushrooms? They're all white. Oh well, I'll get something to eat; I'm starving."

Li Qingqiu and Li Qingmei braved the blizzard to reach the educated youth settlement, only to find Yin Yi still leading Guo Zhaonan, Xiaohua, and Xiaobai in playing on the snowman and slide. "What's this?"

"The giant snowman slide."

"I just piled them up randomly."

Li Qingqiu put down the Immortal Branch Spirit Fungus Seed and looked around. There weren't many trees, but he didn't need too many branches in the early stages. He just needed to cut some branches. It was snowing heavily at the moment, so it was normal for some branches to break.

"Li Qingqiu, you've arrived."

Yin Yi spotted Li Qingqiu immediately. She slid down from the snowman, wiped the sweat from her brow, and ran to him. "The beef rolls are all cut up. I added some extra seasoning to the butter. Try them later and see how they taste!"

"Really? It must be great."

Li Qingqiu put down the basket he was carrying on his back, which contained two large cabbages and a few potatoes. "Have the glass noodles been soaked?"

"It's ready."

"Then let's eat after we're done with this."

Li Qingqiu turned to Li Qingmei and said, "Let's cut down some tree branches first, then we'll have hot pot for lunch."

"hot pot?"

This was the first time Li Qingmei had ever heard the word "hot pot." In those days, information was scarce, and hot pot was a completely new thing for a girl from the mountains.

"You'll find out when we eat it."

The branches weren't hard to get. One person kept watch while several others chopped them down, and thirty branches were quickly gathered. "Cut them into pieces about two feet long. Little sister, these two are too thin; we can't drill holes in them."

"The ideal thickness is similar to that of a rolling pin."

Li Qingqiu collected all the unsuitable tree branches and burned them as firewood. "It's a pity we don't have a drill, little sister. Who in our brigade knows carpentry?"

"Uncle Fulin."

"What? Uncle Fulin is a hunter, how come he can do carpentry?"

"I don't know."

Li Qingmei said, "During the off-season, when families need furniture made, they would go to Uncle Fulin's house. Fulin and his eldest and second eldest sons are all carpenters with good skills. People from other brigades would even come to him to make furniture."

"Okay, I'll go ask around and borrow a rotary drill and get a rocker drill."

"Third Brother, if you only need a small hole, an awl will do."

"You mean the awl for putting on shoes?"

Don't even mention poking it with a needle; this thing is basically the same as drilling, just with a smaller hole.

"Okay, I can give it a try, but I still need to go to the brigade to borrow a few drills. The awl is okay at first, I have the strength, but after poking for a long time, my hand gets tired. It's better to use a rotary drill, although it takes more effort but saves energy."

"That's true."

"I'll go borrow it right away, Yin Yi. It's getting late, so hurry up and prepare the hot pot. I'll borrow the tools, and then we'll open for business. Oh, and remember to cook some mixed grain rice." After saying that, Li Qingqiu left the main room and headed straight for Uncle Old Headhunter's house.

"Auntie, Uncle."

Shi Cuiping glanced over and wondered who it was, coming to her house in such heavy snow to make furniture.

Who is it?

Li Fulin was attaching ropes to several wooden boards, preparing to heat them over a fire to shape them.

"Uncle, it's me, Li Qingqiu."

"It's Qingqiu, come inside quickly."

Li Fulin rubbed his hands together and beckoned Li Qingqiu into the house. Upon learning that Li Qingqiu had come to borrow a drill bit, Shi Cuiping muttered something and went to the kitchen. Li Qingqiu didn't hear clearly, but it probably wasn't anything nice.

"Okay, I'll get you two."

Li Fulin was quite generous and gave him a drill bit, which he used to forcefully stab the wood with his hands. This was physically demanding. There was another type where you pulled a rope to rotate the drill bit, which was relatively less strenuous.

However, the drilling rope was difficult to operate, especially for a novice. Li Fulin even specially taught Li Qingqiu how to use it. Shi Cuiping, who was busy in the kitchen, looked unhappy when she saw this. This was a skill, how could it be handed over to an outsider so easily?

"How are you going to teach him? He's such a hopeless case."

"What do you know? This kid's got some luck."

"What luck? He's had a few strokes of luck, but he's not capable or skilled. He doesn't know anything. All he can do is remember a few places where bamboo grows."

"Who told you that?"

"Who else could it be but the loudspeaker?"

"You should spend less time with her."

Li Fulin always felt that Li Qingqiu had some skills. Take digging winter bamboo shoots for example. Everyone knows about the bamboo forests near Lijia'ao, but how many people can dig up so many winter bamboo shoots? Li Qingqiu pointed to a spot and a lot of winter bamboo shoots appeared there.

This isn't something that can be explained simply by remembering where the bamboo forest is; it requires at least some real skill. As for technique, Li Qingqiu might not be very good at it, but he was lucky. When hunting wild boars, others chased them for ages and couldn't catch them, but he ran into them head-on and killed them. This goes without saying that luck is a factor.

Hunters actually place more faith in luck, since whether or not they catch prey often really depends on luck.

"Wow, it smells so good."

Hot pot is indeed the most irresistible; the rich aroma filled the air as soon as I entered the courtyard of the educated youth settlement.

"Li Qingqiu, you're back."

Yin Yi was holding a bowl of sliced ​​beef rolls. Li Qingqiu looked at the beef rolls and felt like he had returned to the 21st century. It turned out that the beef rolls were no different from those in later generations. There was also cabbage, vermicelli, sliced ​​potatoes, and torn snow mushrooms.

"It feels so good!" Li Qingqiu's hands trembled slightly as he put down the basket and quickly wiped his hands. "The hot pot is boiling, why aren't you adding the food yet?"

"Wait for you."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's quickly add the vegetables, starting with the meat. Eat the meat first, then the vegetables."

Li Qingqiu took a pair of chopsticks and casually picked up a bowl. "Yin Yi, can you make me some dipping sauce?"

"I've prepared it for you; it's to your liking."

"Okay, everything is ready."

Li Qingqiu thought to himself, "This little girl is becoming more and more sensible." "Little sister, don't just watch, the meat's almost ready, hurry up and eat it."

"Is that all?"

Li Qingmei was eating hot pot for the first time and didn't know where to start. Actually, it was also Guo Zhaonan's first time eating it. The lower reaches of the Yangtze River are quite far from Sichuan and Chongqing. These days, there are no hot pot restaurants, so there's nowhere to eat hot pot.

"Third Uncle, shall we eat around the pot?"

"What's wrong? Wouldn't it be better if it were warmer?"

As Li Qingqiu spoke, he scooped up some meat, first giving it to his younger sister, then to Zhao Nan, and then to Xiao Hua. Of course, he didn't forget to feed a bite directly to the chef, Yin Yi.

"Hehe, Li Qingqiu, you're so nice."

"Even if it's good, it's just this one bite."

Li Qingqiu started eating. Li Qingmei and Guo Zhaonan were a little reserved at first, but after a few bites, they followed Li Qingqiu's example and cooked the vegetables in the broth. It turned out quite well. "Third Uncle, who taught you to eat like this? It's so interesting!"

"I learned it from books."

Li Qingqiu said casually, "You know, your third uncle is a book lover."

"Cough cough cough."

Li Qingmei coughed, "It's so spicy! No, Third Brother, what did you say? You love reading, have you forgotten what you did for three years in first grade?" Guo Zhaonan, who also knew about this, coughed as well, "It's too spicy."

[Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river, never underestimate the poor youth. Quest triggered. Facing the mockery of your family's female cultivators for your lack of knowledge of immortal arts, you resolutely stand up and demonstrate your immortal arts. Impress the female cultivators and you will be rewarded with +20 points. Each time your demonstration of immortal arts surprises a member of your family, you will be rewarded with +1 point.]

"What the hell? These old women are gossiping about me again. Damn, I've triggered a quest. Who the hell is this?"