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

Chapter 85 City Classmates Witness Li Qingqiu's Ordinary Day, Earning a Hundred Yuan

After digging up some winter bamboo shoots, Li Qingqiu led the three down the mountain. Passing by a small ditch, Li Qingqiu glanced at it and saw a patch of wild pears, weighing about a pound each, which was quite a lot.

"What's wrong, Li Qingqiu?"

"I remember there are some pear vines here, let's clear the snow and take a look."

"Jili, really?"

Upon hearing that there were snowplows, Wu Xiaoyue immediately perked up and pulled Han Caiju to help clear the snow. Han Guodong had been grumbling a bit, but seeing Han Caiju busy, he reluctantly joined in. In about ten minutes, they cleared the snow from the ditch.

Some scattered wild pear vines were visible, and to everyone's surprise, Wu Xiaoyue actually recognized them, clapping her hands with joy. "They really are wild pear vines, Li Qingqiu, hurry up and dig them up!"

The ground wasn't deep; one shovelful brought up several. Wu Xiaoyue scooped out two and handed them to Han Caiju. "Caiju, look, these are huge ground pebbles."

"Li Qingqiu is really impressive."

"Just a slightly better memory, nothing more."

Li Qingqiu dug, and Wu Xiaoyue and Han Caiju picked them up and put them in their baskets. Han Guodong wanted to lend a hand but there was no room for him, so he stood helplessly on the side, thinking to himself, "This Li Qingqiu is really a master at digging holes, digging up winter bamboo shoots and ground pears."

"Why don't you dig up a rabbit and serve it?" Han Guodong muttered to himself. Li Qingqiu completely ignored Han Guodong, focusing solely on digging up the pears. He glanced at the pheasant and rabbit distribution map, noting that there was only one pheasant left.

There's only one pheasant within three kilometers. It has to be said that there are very few wild animals around Lijia'ao. Wait, what's going on with this pheasant? It's getting closer and closer to me.

"Uncle."

*Pfft*, Li Qingqiu shuddered. That voice... that brat Li Xianbao! Looking closer, he saw what Li Xianbao was holding—a pheasant, of course. The little rascal was grinning foolishly, holding the pheasant up to his face. "Uncle, here you go."

"pheasant?"

Han Guodong was dumbfounded. He said he would send a wild rabbit, but good heavens, a pheasant was sent instead.

"You little rascal, you've got some skills. Where did you catch that?"

"The ditch in front."

Li Xianbao pointed to the ditch at the bottom of the hillside.

Li Qingqiu took the pheasant and pulled out a dollar, but the boy refused. "Uncle, I'd like to buy two more mushroom branches."

"Alright, I'll get you a backpack another day."

"Thank you, Uncle."

Li Xianbao skipped and hopped away.

"This pheasant is really beautiful."

Wu Xiaoyue stared at the pheasant with watery eyes, and Li Qingqiu said with a smile, "The rooster's feathers are prettier; I'll pluck some and give them to you later."

"Let's go, let's process this pheasant first, then stew it, otherwise we won't have lunch."

After digging up most of the wild pheasants, Li Qingqiu casually tied up the pheasants and put them in his basket. It wasn't that he wasn't afraid of them pooping; he hadn't eaten for days.

Before leaving, Li Qingqiu remembered something: he had enough time to practice the Lazy Eater Technique and was still in the trial area.

[Sign-in successful. Sign-in location: Beginner Trial Area. Unless you are on the Four Pests Demon Bird quest, eliminate 10 demon birds to complete the quest and receive reward points +10]

Li Qingqiu glanced at the "Four Pests" and realized they were sparrows and other harmful birds. These little birds had run out of food in the mountains, so they came down to the village to steal food, which was quite annoying.

"Li Qingqiu?"

"Let's go."

Li Qingqiu lifted the basket onto his back and picked up the shovel. "Let's have lunch at the educated youth settlement in a bit. I'll talk to the brigade about it."

"I'll have dinner at the brigade headquarters tonight, old classmate, is that alright?" This was said to Wu Xiaoyue and Han Caiju, but the question was directed at Han Guodong.

After all, Han Guodong is now a projectionist, a VIP guest, so we should still greet him.

"I'm fine here, how about you guys, Ayaka?"

"sure."

Wu Xiaoyue and Han Caiju exchanged a glance and nodded. After all, they had come along for fun, so eating at the brigade's restaurant was a bit of a bargain. Of course, eating at Li Qingqiu's restaurant was also a bit of a bargain, but it was because they were old classmates.

The two decided to leave some money and food coupons when they left.

The four returned to the educated youth settlement. Han Guodong maintained the dignity and composure of a projectionist, walking into the settlement with a stern face.

"Yin Yi, come out, the ingredients are here."

"They're here."

Yin Yi ran out, glanced at Wu Xiaoyue, then looked at Han Caiju, "What a pretty sister," and almost ignored Han Guodong. Han Guodong was a little surprised, not expecting that there would be such a pretty and cute little girl at the educated youth settlement.

They were just a little young. As they entered the house, Li Qingqiu brought over a brazier. "Warm yourselves up by the fire. It's so cold today. Yin Yi, let's make a hot pot for lunch. I'll go to the team's place later to get some beef." The team had mostly sold out, but they still had some left.

To entertain Han Guodong, the projectionist, the team will definitely have to contribute some money. They should contribute some beef. As for tripe and honeycomb tripe, there's still some left on our own storage shelf. As for wild boar meat, there's still some left at the educated youth settlement.

"Go to the brigade and get some cured pork to stir-fry with winter bamboo shoots, make a hot pot, that would be great. Also, cook a pot of rice. I think this hospitality is more than enough to satisfy any brigade." Li Qingqiu thought this through and roughly understood the situation. He then poured tea for the three of them.

"How about we play some cards?"

Feeling a bit bored by the fire, Li Qingqiu casually pulled out a deck of cards and asked the three of them. When Han Guodong saw the cards, a hint of joy flashed in his eyes. He played quite often, and he thought that if he showed off his card skills later, Han Caiju might think more highly of him.

"Knock knock knock".

"Is Master Li here?"

Who is it?

Li Qingqiu was preparing to shuffle the cards when someone called out to him from the courtyard.

"Li Qingqiu, someone is looking for you."

"Hmm, let me see."

"Captain Wang?"

"Captain Zhang, what brings you here?"

Wang Dapao and Old Zhang came together, carrying some wild rabbits and pheasants.

"team leader?"

Wu Xiaoyue nudged Han Caiju. "Caiju, what do you think these two want with Li Qingqiu?"

"How would I know?"

Han Caiju was both amused and exasperated; she wasn't a mind reader like Li Qingqiu.

"oh."

"Buying mushroom scions?"

The two men's purpose was very simple: to buy mushroom branches. Li Qingqiu said somewhat helplessly, "Captain Wang, Captain Zhang, I'm really sorry, we're out of mycelium. I really can't help with the mushroom branches. Why don't you go to the agricultural technology station and ask?"

"Fungal branches, agricultural technology station?"

Wu Xiaoyue perked up immediately. She was still quite curious about how Li Qingqiu had received the award from the county agricultural technology station. "Caiju, listen to this! Li Qingqiu mentioned the agricultural technology station. What do you think his relationship is with the agricultural technology station? The county awarded him an annual contribution award."

What awards ceremony?

Han Guodong was unaware of this matter and was still somewhat incredulous after hearing Wu Xiaoyue recount Li Qingqiu's visit to the county agricultural technology station to receive the award. "Comrade Xiaoyue, are you sure it was Li Qingqiu who went to receive the award?"

"Yes, it was him. We even talked."

"Is it possible for someone else to collect it?"

No, that's not it.

Han Guodong was somewhat unwilling to believe it. Wasn't Li Qingqiu a peasant? How could he possibly receive an award from the county agricultural technology station? What was going on? Not to mention him, Wu Xiaoyue and Han Caiju were also very curious.

"Look at these two, carrying things and coming to Li Qingqiu's door asking him to buy some mushroom branches."

"Oh my, look, look, they're taking out their money."

"The Big Black Ten?"

"Several of them?"

Wu Xiaoyue's mouth was agape when Wang Dapao and Old Man Zhang stuffed money into her hand, saying they wanted to order 100 mushroom branches. Each family gave a deposit of 50 yuan, totaling 100 yuan.

"What exactly does Li Qingqiu do?"

Wu Xiaoyue looked at Han Caiju. That money must have been around a hundred yuan. Earning a hundred yuan a day? Is that even human? His monthly salary is only a few yuan.

Li Qingqiu was extremely helpless and refused the deposit handed over by the two people.

"I'm so sorry, you two, there really aren't any mycelia. If you had come earlier, you might have gotten a dozen or twenty branches, but now there really aren't any left. Please take this hundred yuan back with you." Li Qingqiu refused very firmly.

"Master Li, we know that what happened last time was a bit unfair. How about this, we'll pay the full amount in advance."

"Yes, Mr. Li, if you're worried, we'll pay the full amount."

When asked to pay more, Li Qingqiu quickly waved his hand. "Although I was angry last time, it's all in the past. I really don't have any mycelium here now."

"Really gone?"

"It's really gone."

The two exchanged a glance, smiled wryly, and sighed. "Never mind then, we'll head back first."

"Take your things back."

"Consider this our apology, Mr. Li, please accept it."

The two turned and left after speaking. Li Qingqiu saw them off a few steps before going back to pick up the wild rabbit and pheasant from the ground. "Sigh, this means we have more food to eat."

"Li Qingqiu".

"What's wrong?"

As soon as Li Qingqiu entered the room, he saw Wu Xiaoyue staring at him, looking him up and down. "Li Qingqiu, tell me quickly, what just happened?"

"I just saw it, it was worth at least a hundred yuan. What, you don't want it?"

Wu Xiaoyue, Han Caiju, and even the seemingly reserved and proud Han Guodong were all curious. That was over a hundred yuan, which was two months' salary for them. Li Qingqiu had refused it without hesitation.

"Ah, about that, it was like this—."

Li Qingqiu briefly explained how he discovered the snow mushroom, how he cultivated the mycelium, and then recounted some of his grievances with the two brigades.

"Oh, is that so? No wonder you don't want it. If it were me, I wouldn't want it either. Really, you're so fickle and have no integrity at all."

"It's not because of that, the main reason is that I really don't have any mycelium here."

"Is this why the county agricultural technology station gave you the award?" Wu Xiaoyue asked casually.

"I guess so. Director Wang of the county agricultural technology station initially invited me to be a consultant for the snow mushroom spawn cultivation group. The offer was quite good, with subsidies and other benefits almost the same as for regular employees, but I turned it down," Li Qingqiu explained. "Perhaps because of this, Director Wang felt I was being taken advantage of, so he gave me a bonus as compensation."

"Ah, why? Being a consultant is so great, the subsidies are so good."

"Yes, Li Qingqiu, I think you should accept it."

Han Caiju echoed Wu Xiaoyue, and even Han Guodong thought to himself, "Good thing this blockhead, this idiot, it's a good thing he didn't accept it." He even said it was a pity.

"There's nothing to regret. I don't understand mycelium cultivation. Besides, I think that since the strain has just been discovered, it must be cultivated for more than ten generations to ensure that the characteristics are stable before it can be promoted. But the agricultural technology station wants to promote it directly, saying that snow mushrooms have a tender taste and are liked by leaders and foreign guests. I'm a little afraid that there will be problems. My persuasion is useless. What am I supposed to do as a consultant? I don't want to suffer the consequences if something goes wrong."

"Li Qingqiu, you're too timid. Besides, the experts at the agricultural technology station think there's no problem. What are you worrying about?"

Han Guodong said with a hint of disdain, "You're just unlucky; you're too timid."

"You've thought things through quite thoroughly."

Han Caiju's attitude was somewhat different; she felt that Li Qingqiu's concerns were not unfounded.

"Hey, why are you saying all this? Oh right, there are some snow mushrooms in this room. Let's go pick some and have hot pot for lunch. They're really fresh."

"Really? Picking mushrooms? I've never picked them before."

Wu Xiaoyue cheered, and Han Caiju also looked on with anticipation.