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

"Mom, don't listen to those old women's nagging. You think making twigs is easy? Just drilling holes takes half an hour, it's exhausting. And that doesn't even include the time it takes to decompose the mycelium, which is at least ten or twenty minutes." Drilling holes by hand takes at least twenty minutes if you're fast, and half an hour if you're a little slow.

Although Li Qingqiu has now handed over the task of drilling holes to Li Qingmei and the others, the decomposition of mycelium and the transplanting and filling still need to be done. Fifteen branches a day takes about four or five hours, plus another two hours for practicing the Lazy Eater Method.

The remaining time was spent cultivating with Yin Yi, so Li Qingqiu was already working at least eight hours a day, which was his limit.

"Besides, I don't live off this little bit of money."

"Putting everything else aside, Mom knows there are still fifty mushroom branches left in the 'Unknown Green Point' area, which is about two or three hundred catties of snow mushrooms. It's easy to sell them for over a hundred yuan. I'm not going to work myself to death for five cents. I'm only doing this for the sake of our fellow villagers. If it were really up to me, I'd never do it."

"As for why there are forty branches, my second brother asked for ten."

"What? The second brother wants ten?"

Shi Lanhua asked, puzzled. "What does your second brother need the fungal branches for?"

"Mom, let's make money."

"Look, a mushroom branch costs 50 cents. The deposit from the supply and marketing cooperative is also 50 cents, which means you bought the mushroom branch for free. As long as it grows more than a pound of snow mushrooms, you won't lose money. If it grows two pounds, you can earn 40 cents. If it grows five pounds, you can earn more than a dollar. Ten branches would be more than ten dollars."

"Then how about we don't sell it?" Shi Lanhua thought to herself, "Oh dear, the more I calculate, the more heartbroken I feel. I won't sell it, no matter how much money you offer."

"It's a deal. Xian'an and the others need to practice too. If the family needs some, just take some from the fifty branches," Li Qingqiu said with a smile. "Besides, as my younger sister and the others become more skilled, they can make more each day, and the family can keep more. It's not good for all the money to go to our family; we should help the other members of the team."

"That's true."

Shi Lanhua thought it over and realized that they couldn't keep all the money for themselves. Otherwise, those old women in the team would gossip about them and might even hold some kind of criticism meeting. Last time, her own third son was criticized.

"But we can't spoil them. A maximum of fifty branches a day. Take it or leave it. And there are Aunt Liu and the others. We won't sell them any of these. Not a single branch from this batch will be sold to them." Li Qingqiu wasn't going to spoil Aunt Liu and the others.

"Yes, several families in Han Caihua's family won't sell to them."

Shi Lanhua slapped her thigh. "They've been saying a lot of bad things about you these past few days."

"What? You won't sell to us? Why should we?" Big Foot Sister-in-law protested.

"They said, just like you said, that they don't even know if the mushroom spawn will grow into mushrooms, and even if it does, they don't know if they'll sell them. It's good that they're not selling to you, so you don't have to worry about whether mushrooms will grow or sell." The women who had bought the spawn earlier exchanged glances and comforted the group with smiles.

"Yes, that's good. We don't have to worry about this or that anymore."

Wang Yulan shrank back. Although she had said a lot of bad things about Li Qingqiu, she had bought the bacteria long ago, after all, Li Fuyuan was her father-in-law.

"Let's go find Li Laosan."

Big-Foot Sister-in-law angrily threw down the bamboo basket in her hand, and Wang Yulan shrank back. "Maybe we should just forget about it."

"Forget it, why should we? We make money as soon as we buy it, why should we calculate it? Wait, Magnolia, didn't your family buy one?"

"I didn't buy it. You know, my father-in-law makes the decisions at home."

"Well, Yulan, I was wondering why you've been so quiet all this time. You've made some money, aren't you? Are you just here to laugh at me and Aunt Liu?" Big Foot Sister-in-law thought to herself, "Goodness, after all that talk, you've secretly bought it."

Aunt Liu stared at Wang Yulan with wide eyes. This was a core member. Who would have thought she was a traitor?

"That's none of my business."

Wang Yulan muttered to herself, "I always said I wouldn't buy Li Qingqiu's mushroom branches. It was my father-in-law who bought them. He bought ten branches, which would sell for more than ten yuan. I should have bought more."

"If they want to buy, they have to pay more. Others pay 50 cents, but they pay a dollar. Take it or leave it."

Li Qingqiu, sipping his tea, said casually, "I don't want the extra five cents. I'll donate it to the brigade for the elderly living alone, bachelors, widows, for house repairs, or to buy grain."

"Fine, fine, you're getting grumpy. If you don't want to sell, then don't sell."

"Could you get more of these fungal branches?"

"It can't be done."

Li Qingqiu shrugged. "We can only drill holes by hand, and we have to go into the mountains to cut the branches ourselves. Fifty branches a day is already our limit."

"Give the tree-cutting sticks to the brigade, and drill the holes. I'll also assign a few people to help you."

"Alright then, we should be able to add twenty or thirty branches a day."

"More, please."

"The team will give each of you an extra ten work points a day," Li Fuyuan added, gritting his teeth.

"A maximum of one hundred branches, no more than that is really not possible."

"One hundred it is."

"That's doubled!" Li Fuyuan breathed a sigh of relief. "The team will order 500 mushroom spawn first."

"What about the commune members?" Li Qingqiu stared wide-eyed at his boss. "Uncle Fuyuan, it seems you're the real big boss."

"You're supposed to produce a hundred branches a day, right? The team will take fifty branches first and sell the rest to the commune members." Li Fuluo said matter-of-factly. Well, so half of the production capacity went to the brigade. No wonder they gave work points. Fine.

"OK."

"Sigh, there's nothing the team can do; we need to buy oxen as soon as possible."

"No, Uncle Fu Luo, stop pretending to be poor."

[The Clan Mission: Become a Pillar of the Immortal Clan – Recover the losses caused by the Snow Demon's attack, acquire a new guardian bull spirit beast for the clan, and receive a Territory Expansion Talisman as a reward upon completion]

This wasn't the first time Li Qingqiu had triggered a family mission, but this time the mission was more difficult.

"Uncle Fuyuan, don't say that, I'll do it, fifty branches a day for the team."

"It's settled then, I have to go now."

"I feel like I've been tricked. Never mind." Li Qingqiu muttered to himself as he watched Li Fuyuan leave, humming a little tune.

"The winter bamboo shoots sold for about 1,200 or 1,300 yuan."

"The beef costs over 600, and if the mushrooms sell for over 1,000 this time, the task doesn't seem too difficult."

Let's get some more fungal branches first, and then we'll see. We can make up for it if we don't have enough. A hundred fungal branches a day is not the limit, but it's already a lot of work. Fortunately, he doesn't have to worry about the tree sticks and drilling holes, which is the most physically demanding part.

"Oh right, let's see what the 'Expanding Territory' talisman does." Li Qingqiu checked it and was completely dumbfounded. "Wow, the system is too generous this time. It opens up a new sign-in area, and it's not just the beginner level, it's the basic level—the commune level."

This is worth 500 points, so this task must be completed. At the very least, we should add another twenty branches a day.

Xiao Mei, Xian Jing, Xian An, Xian Le, and Zhao Nan are all young people, so they're just working overtime. As for myself, all I can do is offer them some encouragement and ask Yin Yi to cook some good food and drinks so I can enjoy them while cheering them on.

Thinking that his younger sisters would be making money again, Li Qingqiu was really happy for them. He thought he should give them more responsibilities. Making money is all about hard work, so what if it's a little hard? As long as it's not me who has to work hard, Li Qingqiu felt that adding another twenty strains of bacteria a day was no big deal.

That evening, Li Qingqiu summoned Li Qingmei, Li Xianjing, Li Xianle, Li Xianan, his niece Guo Zhaonan, the unofficial staff member and imperial chef Yin Yi, and the maid Xiaohua to a gathering. "Alright, let's have a meeting. Starting tomorrow, the work of cutting down tree branches and drilling holes will be outsourced."

"The production team will take care of it; all we need to do is break down the mycelium, transplant it, and fill in the holes."

Seeing the joy on everyone's faces, Li Qingqiu said, "The work has become much easier. We don't have to spend physical effort drilling holes anymore. However, I have already promised the team that the number of mycelium branches will be increased to one hundred per day."

"One hundred branches is not a lot."

"Yes, Third Uncle, just by not drilling holes, we can save more than half the time," Li Xianle said with a smile. "A hundred branches is a piece of cake for me."

"Okay, shall I give you some more work?"

"No, Uncle, I was just saying."

"Alright, one hundred branches is the base number, aim for one hundred and fifty." After saying that, Li Qingqiu remembered the work points. "There's another thing, the production team gives each of us a subsidy of ten work points per day."

"Really? You even get work points!"

Each mushroom branch is worth two cents, and with at least ten branches a day, that's two or three dollars. Not to mention the work points, Li Xian'an, Li Xianle, and the others, being young, were incredibly excited.

"Alright, go to sleep early. If anyone makes a mistake in decomposing the mycelium tomorrow, don't blame me for yelling at them."

"Understood, Third Uncle."

Li Qingqiu waved his hand. "Yin Yi, you'll be eating at the educated youth settlement all day tomorrow. You'll be in charge of breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I'll provide the food. As for the vegetables, you can make pheasant, snow mushrooms, winter bamboo shoots, and beef."

"Um."

"You'll get a share of the work points, plus mushroom vines; you'll get five vines a day."

Li Qingqiu glanced at Xiaohua, who was holding Xiaobai. "Xiaohua, you'll be in charge of assisting. You'll get five work points a day, plus a mushroom branch every day."

"Um."

Xiao Hua nodded vigorously. The fungal branch working group was established and would begin work tomorrow.

The following morning, Li Qingqiu, who was sitting in a chair supervising Li Qingmei and others making fungus branches, heard Li Xianshu and Li Xianqing calling for their third uncle outside the courtyard.

"What brings you two little devils here?"

"Qingqiu was the one who asked them to bring us here."

"Sister, brother-in-law, you're here! Why didn't you go home?"

Li Qingqiu looked up and saw his sister Li Qinghong and brother-in-law Guo Chuan.

"I just got home, but no one was home. I asked Xianshu and she said we were in the brigade, so I had Xianshu bring us here. We also brought some things for Zhaonan," Li Qinghong said with a smile.

What are you doing?

Upon entering the courtyard, I noticed that Li Qingmei, Li Xianjing, Xian'an, Xianle, and Zhao Nan all had their heads down, fiddling with small tweezers on the tree branches.

"Mom, Dad, what brings you here?"

"Sister, brother-in-law."

"Uncle, Aunt."

Only then did everyone notice Li Qinghong, and Guo Chuan and Li Qinghong quickly put down the tweezers they were holding and greeted him.

"This is?"

Guo Chuan, being an agricultural technician at the agricultural technology station, immediately had some guesses.

"Snow Mushroom, brother-in-law, we're transplanting mycelium."

Li Qingqiu went inside and brought out two stools, while Yin Yi poured tea for him.

"Mycelium?"

Li Qinghong's eyes widened. "Who did you learn this from?"

"Sister, Third Brother taught me."

"Qingqiu?"

Li Qinghong was even more surprised after hearing what Li Qingmei said. "The head of the county agricultural technology station asked Qingqiu to be a consultant, and he refused?"

"Cough cough cough."

Guo Chuan stared at his brother-in-law in shock. This couldn't be true. The county agricultural technology station—he couldn't even go there if he wanted to.

"Little sister, you're not wrong, are you?"

"No, brother-in-law, it's true. If you don't believe me, ask Zhao Nan." Li Qingmei pointed at Guo Zhao Nan.

"Dad, what Auntie said is true. Third Uncle is unwilling because he thinks it's tiring, there's too much work, and it's far from home," Guo Zhaonan said softly. Cough cough, this time it's Li Qingqiu's turn. Did I say that back then? No way.

Li Qinghong was so angry she didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Qingqiu, how could you not want such a good thing?"

"Sister, there's a reason for this."

Sure enough, the body's subconscious reaction was to dodge. Li Qingqiu muttered to himself, "This is a psychological trauma." "Brother-in-law, you know, who knows if this new strain will go wrong? I can't be an advisor. I'm just a peasant; if something goes wrong, I'll be the one to take the blame."

"I don't know much about fungi, but what you said makes sense. Being a consultant is not easy; usually, you have to be an expert in a certain field."

Guo Chuan smiled wryly, not expecting his brother-in-law to have such abilities. "However, I am quite curious about your discovery of snow mushrooms. In this freezing weather, it's difficult for most plants to grow, let alone fungi, which mostly prefer humid and warm environments."

"That's what makes snow mushrooms special."

Li Qingqiu led Guo Chuan and Li Qinghong into the house to see the snow mushrooms, and Guo Chuan exclaimed in amazement. "This is truly an eye-opener."

"Is this the kind of fungal branch that Zhao Nan just prepared?"

"yes."

Li Qingqiu said with a smile, "Zhao Nan is a meticulous child who can sit still and learn to decompose mycelium quickly. She can now make more than twenty mycelial branches a day at most."

"It's all thanks to your good teaching, Uncle."

"Zhao Nan, learn from your third uncle from now on."

"Yes, Mom, I know."

Guo Zhaonan nodded vigorously. Her third uncle said that if she learned well, he would teach her how to grow other fungi, and maybe she could get into the agricultural technology station based on her skills.

"But can we fit so many fungal branches in the room?"

"Mom, this is for sale."

Guo Zhaonan said, "It costs fifty cents a branch. My third uncle originally said he would give us all fifty cents."

"What? How can that be? You're learning a trade from your third uncle, you're apprentices, how can you ask for money?"

"Yes, Grandma said so too, but in the end, Third Uncle said he didn't want them all, so we decided to split it into two cents per branch. Mom, you know what? I made six branches today, that's one dollar and two cents."

"What? You made 1.2 yuan in just one minute?"

Good heavens, Li Qinghong was terrified. It was only a few o'clock, not even ten o'clock yet. He could only earn two or three yuan a day.

"Sister, what's a dollar and twenty cents? Zhao Nan will earn at least four dollars today."

"Earning four yuan a day? My goodness, my monthly salary is only about twenty yuan."

Li Qinghong's eyes widened in disbelief. She had hoped her daughter wouldn't suffer in the countryside, so she brought her husband over to visit her today, taking advantage of their day off. But she was shocked to find that her daughter was earning several yuan a day in the countryside.