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

"One yuan per branch."

Li Qingqiu asked for a high price, but he simply didn't have the time to do it. Zhangjiazhai and Wangjiazhuang asked for 500 branches each. What a joke! They couldn't possibly finish it even if they worked themselves to death.

"piece?"

"Why should I? Aren't you guys supposed to be 50-cent party members?"

Zhang Qingya was somewhat unconvinced, but Li Qingqiu glanced at her. "Buy it or don't, I'm too lazy to bother."

"you……."

"What do you mean, 'you'? If you keep babbling, I'll raise your prices again, believe it or not."

Li Qingqiu had been annoyed with this little brat for a long time. He really wanted to give her a good beating just now. He would find a chance to kick her a few times sooner or later. Who did she think she was? He, Li Qingqiu, was not a simp. He had been disciplined by both boys and girls since they were little.

Finally, it was settled: one yuan per branch, and each family needed two hundred branches to be completed before the end of the year. This caused quite a stir, after all, it was four hundred yuan. Li Qingqiu didn't think much of it, but the members of Lijia'ao commune were.

Four hundred yuan was a huge sum of money. Before everyone could discuss it for long, Li Qingqiu said that half of it would be donated to the five-guarantee households, families of martyrs, widows or bachelors in the team to repair their houses and to buy grain for resale.

Fifty yuan of it was directly donated to Xiaohua to support her schooling and other expenses, which was something Li Qingqiu had planned from the beginning.

After that, no one in the team murmured about Li Qingqiu's greed anymore. Only a few aunts and others made a few sarcastic remarks, saying things like he made too much money through dishonest means and that it was all for peace of mind. However, they quickly shut everyone down.

"Two hundred yuan, I donated it without hesitation."

Shi Lanhua still felt a little sorry for him, but when Li Qingqiu first brought it up, she was the first to stand up and agree.

Shi Lanhua hasn't slept well these past few days. The third brother is making money too fast, too much, it's too scary, it's unsettling.

I've donated some money now, and although it hurts a little to think about it, it puts my mind at ease.

"Mom, we've already donated, why are we still talking about it?"

Li Qinghua was actually more heartbroken. Two hundred yuan could buy several pigs, or even two mud-brick houses. Just thinking about it made his heart ache. But his third son had spoken up, and his mother agreed. What could he do? Sigh.

Fortunately, our mushrooms have already matured, more than ten in total, which should fetch at least twenty or thirty yuan.

"Third brother, come here."

"What's wrong, Second Brother?"

Li Qingqiu was drinking porridge. He had to admit that his mother's multigrain porridge tasted much better than before. Now that the family had more money, they were eating and drinking much better.

The money from selling the fungal branches all belonged to the legitimate business and was kept by Shilan Hua.

Li Qingqiu finally managed to scrape together about ten yuan. He had no choice; Lao Si's salary was also handed over to the government. At least Lao Si had a girlfriend, while he didn't even have one. "Luckily, I managed to get some snow mushrooms and put them on the storage shelf, and some winter bamboo shoots. I'll sell them in the county town later. The little rascal isn't worried about not having money."

"Your sister-in-law has something to tell you."

"Sister-in-law, what's wrong? We're family, there's nothing we can't talk about."

Li Qingqiu muttered to himself, "As long as I'm not made my brother, anything else is fine."

"It's nothing serious. My uncle Xianle heard about the mushroom branches and wanted me to ask if I could sell him a few." Lin Xiu was a little embarrassed.

"I thought it was something serious. I'll have Xianle get ten branches later."

Li Qingqiu waved his hand, saying it was nothing. "Sister-in-law, also have Xian'an bring back ten branches."

"This won't interfere with your work, will it?"

Wang Yun was delighted to hear this, never expecting that the third brother would still remember her.

"What's the delay? It'll just take the time of an extra meal." Li Qingqiu picked up a piece of pickled vegetable; it was alright, quite spicy.

"Don't be so generous."

Shi Lan Hua patted Li Qingqiu on the shoulder; this third brother has been getting a bit cocky lately.

"Mom, these are family, I don't care about outsiders."

Over the next few days, Li Qingqiu, along with Li Qingmei, Li Xianjing, and Li Xianan, worked overtime and finally completed the team's order.

"What did you say?"

"Are you not going to use the mushroom branches behind Zhangjiazhai and Wangjiazhuang?"

The two families initially wanted two hundred branches, so why did they stop now that they've only ordered a little over one hundred?

"The commune's agricultural technology station said the mushroom cultivation is going smoothly, and the second batch of mushrooms will be available for large-scale distribution in a few days," Li Qingmei said softly. "It's free."

"free?"

Li Qingqiu sighed. "Fine, fine, it's free then. We'll just make a little profit at most. It's good that we've been working so hard lately, we can take a break."

"Third Brother, I'm afraid people in the team will gossip."

"Gossip, what gossip? I told them right then and there, buy it or don't, we didn't force anyone."

Li Qingqiu thought to himself that the second batch of bacteria belonged to the fourth generation, and it would take more than a month for the bacteria to mature. Not only would it not be ready before the New Year, but it wouldn't even be ready for the Lantern Festival. "Ignore them, I'll just say a few words at most."

"The first batch of snow mushrooms will be ready to be harvested in a few days. We're free now, so you can go and check on each other. We guarantee that if you buy our mushroom branches, we'll ensure a good yield of mushrooms." Li Qingqiu didn't seem to mind; he had already prepared for this.

The Snow Spirit Fungus went extinct after five generations, and he had originally planned to sell this batch of fungal branches. Now, the agricultural technology station has given him a reason to sell them.

"Oh well."

The word has probably spread throughout the brigade that we don't need to make mushroom branches today. Aunt Liu and the others at the bamboo weaving workshop who didn't buy any are beaming with pride. "The agricultural technology station is offering these for free. Let's see how Li Laosan sells his mushroom branches now."

"I must mention the agricultural technology station; unlike some people who want money for everything."

"That's right, I heard that Zhangjiazhai and Wangjiazhuang are even arguing about removing the mycelium branches."

"Can't we refuse to return them? It's one dollar a branch, do you think we're stupid?"

"You can't say that. Didn't Li Qingqiu donate half of it to the team?"

"That's because I felt it was too heartless, and my conscience wouldn't allow it."

"Alright, let's get to work."

Wang Xiuju frowned slightly. The snow mushrooms in her family had already taken shape and could be harvested in the next few days. Judging from the results, each spawn weighed about three to five pounds, and it wouldn't be difficult to earn a dollar per spawn. In fact, buying spawn was definitely a worthwhile investment.

"Comfortable."

Leaning back in his chair, Li Qingqiu glanced at his Lazy Eater Technique training time and realized he had completed two hours, so he could sign in.

[Sign-in successful. Sign-in location: Temporary encampment of Immortal Sect disciples. Obtained the Spirit Harp Technique. Points increased by +2.]

What harmonica? This is just a harmonica, a beginner-level skill. It's alright, I'll buy one later and play it when I have time.

"Third brother, third brother, something's happened."

Li Qinghua rushed into the educated youth settlement in a panic, only to find Li Qingqiu leisurely drinking tea and humming a tune. "Third brother, you're still thinking about drinking tea? Don't you know, the commune's agricultural technology station said they're going to provide everyone with mushroom spawn for free. Sigh, now our mushroom branches are going to be unsellable."

"Oh, I knew that already."

"You found out?"

Seeing that Li Qingqiu remained completely calm, Li Qinghua asked, "Third brother, what's wrong? You have a plan?"

"Yes, we can just stop selling mushroom scions."

"What?"

Li Qinghua sized up Li Qingqiu; this third brother was really something.

"Second brother, look, it's not a big deal. At most, we won't be able to sell any more mushroom branches. What's there to panic about?"

Good heavens, this isn't even the biggest problem. Li Qinghua was speechless. "You, ten-odd yuan a day, gone just like that, aren't you upset at all?"

"well enough."

Li Qingqiu had a premonition, but he didn't expect it to happen so soon. Besides, he was getting a bit annoyed by dealing with mycelium branches every day.

I have a system, even if it's a split-leg cultivation system, just signing in is enough to make a living these days.

Look, Yin Yi doesn't care about the mushroom branches at all. In the past few days, she has been urging Li Qingqiu to go into the mountains to dig for winter bamboo shoots. Now that the snow has melted a bit and the mountain roads are passable, digging for winter bamboo shoots is much more interesting to Yin Yi than mushroom branches.

"Ring ring ring".

"Someone's here."

Li Qingqiu got up. The bicycle bell rang. He wondered who it was.

You should know that in Lijia'ao, only the brigade leader Li Fuyuan's family has a slightly worn bicycle, and they usually don't even ride it.

"Fourth brother."

"Why are you back? Is something wrong?"

Upon seeing that it was Li Qingshi, Li Qinghua and Li Qingqiu went to greet him.

"There's something I need to take care of."

Li Qingshi first mentioned the mushroom branch matter, and upon learning that Li Qingqiu knew about it, he didn't say anything more. "Third Brother, there's something else. The commune asked me to inform you about the quotation competition. You need to gather at the commune early tomorrow morning, attend a day of training, and then go to the county for a report meeting early the day after tomorrow."

"During training and conferences, we receive a subsidy of one yuan per day, plus one lunch."

"I went to the county town to attend a report meeting, won an award, and received an additional subsidy from the commune."

"Perfect timing. Now that I've finished dealing with the fungal branches, I was thinking of taking a trip to the county. This is a good opportunity to go there," Li Qingqiu said with a smile.

"Oh, right, there's one more thing."

Li Qingqiu pulled out a document and handed it to Li Qingqiu. "Why were you inviting me to the county agricultural technology station's 73rd anniversary work summary meeting?"

"Regarding the snow mushroom incident, what we call a summary meeting is actually an awards ceremony, but it's not appropriate to say it that way right now."

"Give me an award too?" Li Qingqiu was somewhat surprised.

"After all, it was you, Third Brother, who discovered the snow mushroom. I heard that local leaders and foreign guests have recently recommended the snow mushroom, so it's likely that it will be available for export next year."

*Pfft*, the words came out. Li Qingqiu shuddered. Good heavens, thank goodness, this has nothing to do with me. The mushroom branches aren't being sold anymore, so if something goes wrong, it's not my fault.

"With the two meetings scheduled for only one day, won't that be too much of a time constraint?"

"Third Brother, I've already asked around for you. The agricultural technology station is in the afternoon, and the quotation section is at the county revolutionary committee, which isn't far from the agricultural technology station. Both rounds of the competition should be completed by noon at the latest." Li Qingshi made a phone call to inquire about the situation.

"Alright, it's a free prize, might as well take it."

Li Qingqiu thought to himself that it was alright. He didn't ask for any title of consultant. If the export of snow mushrooms was really finalized, a bunch of people would suffer if problems arose. He was lucky; at most, someone would be found out. Besides, he had repeatedly emphasized the problem of the instability of the new strain.

"Was the quotation contest held at the Revolutionary Committee?"

Li Qingqiu thought of someone. Han Guodong seemed to have mentioned that Han Caiju worked in the county revolutionary committee. He wondered if he could try to take advantage of her again. She was his unrequited love. "Forget it, it's not good to just bully one girl."

"If we really run into them, we'll deal with it then. At worst, we can send some snow mushrooms and winter bamboo shoots to repay the favor we owed them with the industrial vouchers."

Li Qingqiu, Li Qinghua, and Li Qingshi returned home and told Shi Lanhua about the fungal branches. Shi Lanhua sighed and didn't say anything.

As for the quote contest and the award ceremony, Shi Lanhua didn't understand and didn't get involved.

"When the time comes, whoever wants to go to the county for fun, let's go together. We can bring some snow mushrooms to sell."

Li Qingqiu said with a smile, "The county's purchase price for snow mushrooms is higher than that of the supply and marketing cooperative; they'll definitely sell for five or six mao (0.5 or 0.6 yuan)."

"Little sister, Xianjing, Xianan, are you going?"

"Where are they going? You have important business to attend to. What are they doing there?"

Shi Lan Hua waved her hand. "It's good to have some free time these days, so I can take some mud bricks, tidy up the shed, and also fix the foundation so that I can build an extra house for Lao Si next year."

"Mom, it's rare that we have some time before the New Year. Zhao Nan and the others should come over too." Li Qingqiu winked at the group.

After much persuasion, Shi Lanhua finally relented. Li Qingmei and the others were overjoyed. Although most of the money they had earned in recent days had been given to Shi Lanhua, they had managed to keep some for themselves. Even if they didn't have an extra three or five yuan in their pockets, they still managed to keep some.

The richest and most wealthy among them was Zhao Nan. Shi Lanhua was too embarrassed to take the child's money, so she pocketed all the tens of yuan she earned. Now that she heard they were going to the county town, Zhao Nan patted her pocket and said she would treat them.

"Then we'll set off early the day after tomorrow."