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

Shi Lanhua grabbed the basket that Li Qinghua was using to cover it, and with a tug, the contents of the basket fell to the ground: shoes, hats, cloth, groceries, and other items were scattered everywhere, a truly spectacular sight.

"My goodness, so much stuff?"

"How much will this cost?"

The women watching the spectacle were all stunned. How many pairs of shoes were there? And so many hats! Even the brigade leader's family wouldn't dare to be so extravagant as to buy so many hats.

"Did the third son buy it?"

Shi Lanhua's hands trembled with anger.

"The money from selling mushrooms?"

Li Qinghua nodded somewhat guiltily under Shi Lanhua's gaze. "Yes, the third brother bought it; I couldn't stop him."

"Where did you get the tickets?"

"It was a reward from the commune."

"What, a reward from the commune?"

Now it wasn't just Shi Lanhua who was surprised; the women watching the spectacle were also somewhat astonished. Although Li Laosan had changed somewhat recently, everyone still held the preconceived notion that Li Qingqiu was uneducated, lazy, and good-for-nothing. Hearing that the commune was rewarding Li Qingqiu, who wouldn't be curious, who wouldn't be puzzled, and who wouldn't be surprised?

"What happened?"

At the brigade headquarters, Li Fuyuan was somewhat puzzled. Li Qingqiu solemnly said that he had something important to discuss. What kind of trouble was this kid up to now?

"Uncle, look at this, what is it?"

"What?"

Li Fuyuan took the plump, white thing and felt it; it was quite fleshy. "What is this?"

"Snow mushroom".

What is a snow mushroom?

"mushroom."

"mushroom?"

Li Fuyuan looked at it and realized it really was. Wait, where did these fresh mushrooms come from? "Where did these come from?"

"I grew them."

"What?"

Li Fuyuan exclaimed in surprise. "Fu Luo, come here quickly, quick, this kid says..."

"What's wrong? This kid's gotten into trouble again. Who did he fight with this time?"

Li Fuluo was startled by the sudden outburst; he was busy calculating accounts.

"Look, what's this?"

Li Fuyuan held up the snow mushroom in his hand, while Li Fulu muttered, "What's this white stuff?"

"What?"

"Mushrooms, fresh mushrooms, this kid says he grew them himself."

Li Fuyuan finally calmed down, but he got a little agitated again when he got to this point. "Growing mushrooms in the dead of winter? Can you believe it? It's just nonsense."

"Uncle Fuyuan..."

"Don't speak yet." Li Fuyuan interrupted Li Qingqiu. Li Qingqiu was speechless. How old is he? Why is he acting like a child? I just said I grew mushrooms. Why is he acting so strangely?

"Did you really grow these, kid?"

Li Fuluo's voice trembled slightly. Growing mushrooms in winter was a real skill. If the team could grow mushrooms like this, they probably wouldn't need to ask the commune for oxen this year, and they could even buy more grain for resale next year when there's a food shortage.

Maybe we can get more piglets for the commune members to raise. After all, it costs a lot for the brigade to buy piglets, and the brigade usually doesn't have the money to help the commune members buy piglets.

"I grew them."

Li Qingqiu nodded as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Uncle Fu Luo, you should try it. You can eat this snow mushroom raw too."

"What? You mean, eat them raw? Who eats mushrooms raw?"

Before Li Fulu could speak, Li Fuyuan jumped high, snatched the large piece of snow mushroom from Li Qingqiu's hand, and stuffed it into his mouth. Li Fulu objected. "Fuyuan, even though you're the captain, you can't do that! Qingqiu gave it to me."

"Let me try it first."

"No, that won't do. I haven't tried it yet."

Li Qingqiu was speechless. "You're all grown up, yet you act like children." "Uncle Fuluo, stop taking it. I have more here." As he spoke, he reached into his pocket and pulled out another cluster of snow mushrooms. Li Fuluo snorted when he saw it.

"You're such a grown man, I won't stoop to your level."

Li Fuluo took the snow mushroom, tore off a piece, put it in his mouth, chewed for a while, and nodded repeatedly. "Delicious, sweet, perfect as a snack with drinks."

"You're pretty good, kid. You've got some skills."

Li Fulu slapped Li Qingqiu a few times, saying, "You've got guts."

"When will it be ready?"

"On the day of self-criticism, everyone said I was incompetent and lacked skills. I thought about it and realized they were right. I happened to have learned a little about fungal cultivation from my brother-in-law, and recently I borrowed a few books on the subject. Coincidentally, I also discovered snow mushroom spawn. I fiddled with it and actually got it working. It seems I'm not entirely useless after all." Li Qingqiu's words had a somewhat sarcastic tone.

"You little brat, you're trying to trick us, aren't you?"

"No, Uncle Fu Luo, I'm a very honest person, I'll say whatever comes to mind."

Li Qingqiu thought to himself, "That's for sure. We just dug up some winter bamboo shoots and hunted some wild boars, and then this happens in the team. Anyone would be upset."

"Okay, okay, tell me more specifically, how many mushrooms did you grow?"

"this……."

"Third brother."

Li Qingqiu was stunned. "Mom, what are you doing at the brigade headquarters? Don't hit me." "No, Mom, let go first, it hurts, it hurts! I'm talking to Uncle Fuyuan... seriously..."

"Let go of Shilan Flower, what kind of behavior is this?"

Li Fuyuan slammed his fist on the table and said, "Go home and beat the child!" He then ran to the brigade headquarters.

Shi Lanhua patted Li Qingqiu a few times. She was so angry that she ran into the brigade headquarters. The commotion was so loud that the bamboo weaving courtyard could hear it.

"What happened?"

"I heard that Shi Lanhua chased after Li Laosan and stormed into the brigade headquarters."

"What has Li Laosan done this time?"

"Who knows? He's unreliable and incapable of doing anything right."

Aunt Liu's mouth was practically splitting with a grin. "I'll go take a look, are you guys coming?"

"Go, go, go and see what's going on!"

"Yes, yes, it's almost time to wrap up work. Let's go, after a long day of work, let's go see some entertainment and have some fun."

Good heavens, a group of old women soon arrived at the entrance of the brigade headquarters, eagerly waiting. They were all the type who loved a good show and didn't mind making things worse. This was understandable, as there was no entertainment available in those days.

The scene of Shi Lanhua chasing and beating Li Qingqiu was a rare entertainment activity, and everyone was looking forward to it.

I wonder what kind of nonsense Li Qingqiu has done this time. Did he go and rummage through the widows' doors? No, there are only two widows in the team now. The younger one, Jiang Mei, is still making wheat fritters with him.

"So, what did Li Laosan do this time that made Shi Lanhua chase him all the way to the brigade headquarters?"

"This must be no small matter, otherwise Shilan Hua wouldn't be so angry."

"Listen, it's stopped, they've stopped fighting?"

"What are you hitting? Didn't you hear the captain slamming his fist on the table?"

Everyone fell silent. Captain Li Fuyuan was the leader of Lijia'ao. Normally, everyone was afraid of him. Now that Li Fuyuan was slamming the table, those of them who had come to watch the commotion quieted down considerably.

"Are you all here?"

"Aunt Guihua, you don't know, Shilan Hua chased Li Laosan all the way to the brigade headquarters. What do you think Li Laosan did this time?"

"You wouldn't believe it, I was just by the well, and wow, this kid went to the commune and bought several pairs of shoes, a few hats, groceries, and cloth. It's a whole basketful, he must have spent at least twenty or thirty yuan."

"My God, this is terrible! How could you buy so much stuff? You're treating money like it's nothing!"

"Could it be that you bought it with money stolen from the stone orchid?"

"No wonder they chased him all the way to the brigade headquarters to beat him. If it were me, I would definitely have hit him with a stick. This guy spent so much money."

Han Guihua smiled. "I don't know about that, but it's true that Shi Lanhua is furious."

The group of old women got even more excited, all waiting to see how Shi Lanhua would deal with Li Qingqiu when he came out. He had spent so much money, and it was probably stolen from the stingy Shi Lanhua. They were going to be in deep trouble.

"Mom, I'm talking about something serious."

Li Qingqiu was exasperated. "I bought shoes and hats to show my respect to you, Dad, and Grandpa and Grandma. I didn't spend much money on myself."

"I don't need your filial piety. You're such a big spender, when will you ever save any money? What are you going to do? You still don't have a wife."

Shi Lanhua slapped her thigh in anger. This kid had done it twice already. He had spent all the money from selling mushrooms before he even had a chance to enjoy it. He also hadn't brought any of the commune reward coupons with him. Although it was all the money that Li Qingqiu had earned from selling the mushrooms, Shi Lanhua still felt the pinch.

This kid, you know, you could have just hidden it away, how did you manage to spend it all? Shi Lanhua has been frugal her whole life, and now she's stuck with such a big spender with a son who can't control his money. It's giving her a headache.

"Alright, I understand now. The child is filial and willing to spend money on you, which I think is a good thing."

Li Fuluo said with a smile, "It's better than saving money and not spending it on my parents."

"I'd like him to save some money," Shi Lanhua glared at Li Qingqiu.

"Mom, next time, I'll definitely be more careful with my money. It just so happens that the commune gave us some compensation coupons. Oh, right, I still have some coupons left. Look, I forgot about them. Here are five jin of meat coupons. Look, there are also some non-staple food coupons and tobacco and alcohol coupons left. I haven't touched them. You can have them all. And here's five yuan left too." Li Qingqiu stuffed all the colorful coupons into Shi Lanhua's hands.

Not to mention those watching the commotion outside, Li Fuyuan and Li Fuluo were also stunned. Five catties of pork coupons, as well as tobacco and alcohol coupons, non-staple food coupons, and industrial coupons—all good stuff. How did they get them? What did they just say? Compensation from the commune?

What does this mean? Li Fuyuan's head was buzzing. What had this kid done now? Why was the commune offering compensation? Li Fuluo was also completely bewildered.

The two exchanged a glance, completely baffled as to what was going on.

"Qingqiu, why is the commune compensating you?"

"It's nothing. I was just looking for Lao Si to ask about the government's policies on mushrooms. I didn't expect to run into Director Guo. Director Guo was very happy to hear that I had grown mushrooms. He invited me to lunch and invited the comrades from the agricultural technology station to evaluate the snow mushrooms. This whole thing made me, Uncle, you know, hate trouble the most. So I just told them to take the spawn and work on it, but to be careful. Who knows what kind of things these things are if you get them in the wild? Don't let them abandon us one day. That's all I said. After that, I signed a declaration and handed over the spawn cultivation and optimization to the agricultural technology station."

After Li Qingqiu's brief explanation, Li Fuyuan and Li Fuluo understood the implication. "You mean, from now on, the cultivation and optimization of the strains will no longer be your responsibility?"

"yes."

"You silly child."

Li Fuyuan slapped his thigh. "This is great news! You kid, why didn't you think more about it? Growing mushrooms in winter is a huge skill. Even the agricultural technology station doesn't have that ability. You just give up like that? If you had talked to him properly, he might have been able to get a job at the agricultural technology station."

"real?"

Shi Lanhua was thrilled. A job at the agricultural technology station! Great! Her son-in-law was an agricultural technician—what a respectable job! He'd instantly become a figure in the commune. "Team leader, are you serious? My third son can get a job at the agricultural technology station?"

"It was possible, but now, this kid has given up."

"What, you're giving up your job at the agricultural technology station?"

Shi Lanhua managed to hold back this time, patting Li Qingqiu repeatedly. "You, you, for a few votes, you just gave up a secure job like that? Don't you know which is bigger, a watermelon or a sesame seed?"

Shi Lanhua's sorrowful and helpless voice excited the onlookers outside the courtyard.

"Oh dear, she must have really stolen money from home. Listen to Shi Lanhua's pitiful cries. Sigh, what a tragedy it is to have such a son." Aunt Liu slapped her thigh, she had finally caught him red-handed.