Chapter 410: Chapter 216: Early Morning 2
She rubbed her still-sleepy eyes and said to Qingmu, "They’ve only grown this much after all these days. It looks like these wood ear mushrooms are hard to grow. We’ll probably have to work at this for a long time to get a good harvest. But now that we know this method, at least we have a path forward. Anyway, the acorn trees on the mountain will only become more numerous, so we’ll eventually find a better way to grow them. I think growing these just comes down to controlling the moisture and temperature. The spring weather, not too cold and not too hot, is perfect for their growth. Autumn should work too."
To grow these mushrooms, she hadn’t even dared to eat the ones she foraged last time. She and Qingmu had mulled it over and used a crude method: crushing the dried mushrooms to use as "seeds" to see if it would work. She figured that whether it was mushrooms or wood ears, they certainly didn’t just fall from the sky; their method of reproduction had to be tied to the original parent organism.
Unexpectedly, all their effort had actually paid off. That meant her idea of leaving a few mushrooms behind to act as "seeds" was also correct. Next time she went back, she would definitely be able to find more.
Qingmu, however, was very satisfied. He smiled and said, "Nothing worth doing is ever easy, is it? This is already great. We’ll figure it out slowly over time. Eventually, we’ll develop a set of techniques, just like with growing rice."
Juhua nodded and smiled. "I think so too. Also, if wood ears can grow on acorn trees, they might grow on other trees too. When we have time, we should try out different kinds of wood. That way we won’t have to cut down acorn trees just to grow mushrooms, which would be a waste."
Although she didn’t know the proper way to cultivate wood ears and mushrooms, she knew that growing either of them required wood shavings. As for which type of tree was most suitable, they would find out by trying, wouldn’t they? The acorn trees were definitely a good fit.
Qingmu nodded and said cheerfully, "No rush. I’ll tell the others about it tomorrow and have them all give it a try. The two of us can’t do it all on our own."
As he spoke, he was about to head out to pasture the ox. Seeing Juhua had come out with a bare face, he leaned in to look at her closely. A bit uncertainly, he said, "The scar seems a little lighter. But I think that face mask is having some effect. Even though the scar hasn’t disappeared, your skin looks so soft. It’s just a different color from the rest."
Juhua laughed. "It’s no use, no matter how soft it is. With two different colors on my face, I’ll never be pretty. It’s not like clothes, where mixing and matching colors can look good. I’ll just keep trying things. By the time my face is full of wrinkles, it won’t matter if there’s a scar or not."
Qingmu shook his head and smiled. "Don’t say such pessimistic things. Aren’t we making more and more money? When the time comes, we can go to the city and buy some good medicine. We might be able to cure it."
Juhua quickly waved her hands. "Don’t even think about it. The bit of silver we’ve earned isn’t even enough to buy one piece of expensive jewelry. How could we possibly afford those beauty medicines? Besides, I wouldn’t be willing to spend it anyway. It’s better to just let it be than to waste the effort."
’I should just try to figure out a way myself,’ she thought, ’using natural things to treat this scar. I could never bring myself to spend a large sum of silver on my face. Even if we have money in the future, I still wouldn’t do it. For one, this silver is earned through too much hard work. For another, I don’t think it’s worth it—I’m not one to spend a fortune on my appearance. Living here amid these green mountains and clear waters, leading a simple country life, whether I’m beautiful or not really doesn’t matter.’
Seeing his younger sister wasn’t bothered, Qingmu was simply happy, because it meant she wouldn’t be heartbroken over her face.
After washing up, Juhua brought out a large basin of chicken feed mixed from crushed acorns and Shanyu mash. Before she could even call out, the hens and half-grown chicks had already surrounded her, calling "CLUCK! CLUCK!" as they ran to a corner of the yard—the spot where Juhua always fed them.
She scattered the feed, mentally counting the chickens as she watched them peck at their food. Once she finished and saw that none of the hens or chicks were missing, she felt relieved.
Setting down the wooden basin, Juhua went to the backyard coop and pen to collect the chicken and duck eggs—her favorite activity.
The chicken coop and duck pen were both under the same thatched shed. Just as she walked in, Zheng Changhe hurried over to her. "Sweetheart, Dad needs to sweep the duck pen, so I’ll collect the eggs at the same time. How about I just give you the count after I’ve gathered them? Look how dirty it is in here. If you want to collect eggs, it’s the same to get them from the chicken nests."
He thought Juhua enjoyed collecting and counting the eggs for fun, but he didn’t realize that for her, it was a daily pleasure. Seeing the basket full of brown chicken eggs and blue-green duck eggs simply filled her heart with joy.
Seeing her dad was talking to her like she was a little kid, Juhua smiled. "Alright! Dad, put the eggs you collect in this little basket." She handed him the small basket she was holding.
Zheng Changhe took it, and as he lifted the woven bamboo lid of the duck pen, he stepped inside. A quick scan with his eyes, and he shouted, "Hey! Why are there only five duck eggs? Those blasted ducks must have laid their eggs in the river again."
Juhua quickly craned her neck to look. Sure enough, there were only five duck eggs inside—usually, there were six.
There was nothing to be done about it. Chickens would go to their nests to lay eggs, but the ducks spent all day in the river, so they inevitably laid some outside. She had even found a few by the riverbank once. That was lucky; if they laid them in the river itself, they’d be lost for good.
She said helplessly, "I’ll go look by the river later. Sigh, it’s not like we can tie a bag to the ducks’ behinds, can we?"
Zheng Changhe grumbled a few words and then quickly cleaned the duck pen and chicken coop—his daily morning chore.
He would lay down fresh straw in the coop and pen in the evening, then clean it out in the morning to compost in the manure pit. In his eyes, this was all precious material, a treasure that could increase crop yields, so he never found the task tedious.
Carrying the basket, Juhua went to the chicken nests to collect the eggs.
Since there were more chickens than ducks, the chicken coop was also much larger. To make it easier for them to lay eggs, Zheng Changhe had set up a row of five shallow, woven bamboo baskets inside the coop, lining them with straw to serve as nests.
She collected the eggs from each basket one by one and counted them: twenty-nine. ’Hmm, a few are missing. I wonder which hen didn’t lay today. All eating and no laying, how outrageous.’
When Mrs. Wang saw Juhua come inside with a basket of eggs, her face lit up. She hurried over and asked, "How many did you get?"
This was a daily conversation between the grandmother and granddaughter. Mrs. Wang was also someone whose eyes would light up at the sight of eggs.
Juhua told her they were one duck egg short and several chicken eggs short. The old woman immediately started muttering that they needed to keep a closer eye on the chickens; they might be laying their eggs outside. Otherwise, how could they eat so much every day and not lay any eggs!
To be continued. If you enjoy this story, please consider supporting it with recommendation and monthly votes on qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.
