Chapter Thirty-One: Lingzhi

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Fubao, who bore the mission of feeding piglets, shouldered the small bamboo basket prepared for her by Meng Yun and, together with Cen Hai, climbed up the Little Mountain. In recent years, hunters came and went in the mountains; sometimes, one could spot them catching rabbits. But they usually roamed the Great Mountain, and rarely the Little Mountain.

Madam Wu tagged along with the group of village women who went up the mountain during their free time to dig for wild greens. She brought along the restless Cen Hai and Fubao, who clung to her leg after breakfast, up the mountain. Of course, the ginseng spirit, who loved to wander, inevitably followed as well—how it had managed not to be caught and chopped up after all these years was beyond anyone.

Thanks to the ginseng spirit, Old Lin's health had gradually recovered—Fubao had often plucked bits off the little ginseng and tossed them into Old Lin's medicine pot, steadily restoring his strength. Of course, there had been no shortage of nosebleeds along the way.

At this moment, Fubao was nestled in the grass, picking flowers. Grandma had said the piglets needed to eat and drink well to grow fat and healthy—so they must have the best! With vigor, Fubao took up her little shovel and charged ahead, only to hit a stone with a loud clang.

"Huh! A stone! Out of the way!" Fubao turned and tossed it aside, landing it squarely on Tian Erniu’s head as she was gathering firewood nearby.

"Ouch! Who’s so careless, throwing stones around? That hurts!" Tian Erniu, already fuming, found her anger with nowhere to go. She was always made to work; hadn’t she done enough? Her family only favored boys—boys were treasures, girls were weeds.

Turning her head, a stone flew right at her, striking her nose and making her want to cry with pain. She looked all around but saw no one—Fubao’s small body was hidden in the grass. Left with no outlet for her anger, Erniu cursed her luck.

She bent down to see what had hit her and her eyes widened in surprise—wow! She was about to strike it rich! How had she found money? It had to be hers. After checking that no one was around, she swiftly wrapped it in her clothes. She wouldn’t pick any more firewood—after hoisting a few sticks, she hurried away.

Little Fubao heard nothing, completely absorbed in digging up flowers. She thought she heard someone calling, but then it was gone.

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How strange! She casually tossed a big, ugly, dark mushroom into her basket—big mushrooms were for the pigs!

While Fubao dug happily, Cen Hai was climbing from one tree to another, collecting quite a few bird eggs, causing the mother birds to chirp incessantly.

Madam Wu glanced up now and then to check on the two children—seeing them was enough to ease her mind.

"Hey, Auntie," said one of the women, digging for wild greens with envy, "I heard your little wolf has gone to the private academy. Everyone in the village praises him—clever and smart. Now his younger brother is going too, another good one. You’ll be reaping rewards soon!"

"What rewards?" Wu replied modestly, though her heart swelled with pride. "It’s a long road, and schooling costs plenty."

"That’s true," the woman nodded in agreement. "Education is expensive these days."

"Ah, a bit of hardship now is nothing. When your boys succeed, you and your husband will enjoy prosperity," the woman said with a smile.

"That’s right!" Wu felt a surge of pride—both her sons were in the academy. Times were tough, but seeing Lin Erlang’s achievements proved that education was worthwhile. When her sons succeeded, she too would enjoy prestige.

In high spirits, Madam Wu ran all over the mountain, gathering wild greens with renewed energy—she collected quite a haul.

Fubao returned from the mountain with abundant gains: plenty of food for the piglets and a little rabbit, a gift from Niu Niu, who had caught it while hunting and saw Fubao’s delight.

Niu Niu said: Who could refuse those soft, adorable eyes? If only Fubao would call him 'big brother,' it would be perfect.

Fubao hugged the little rabbit home. Old Lady Lin was listening to jokes from the neighbor while chopping vegetables for the pigs. She was in high spirits when Madam Wu and the children returned. Seeing her precious granddaughter with a rabbit, she asked in surprise,

"Where did the rabbit come from? Did you catch it, Bao? Amazing! I’ll cook rabbit stew for you!" Old Lady Lin praised Fubao heartily, feeling proud—her granddaughter was just like her.

Wu: "..." Wasn’t it a bit much to claim Fubao caught the rabbit?

Cen Hai: "..." Could he say something? It wasn’t Bao who caught it—it was a gift. Grandma, that’s too much!

Fubao: "..." Grandma wanted to eat the rabbit! But rabbits were so cute—how could she eat it?

So, under Fubao’s pleading, Grandma conceded, and the rabbit was kept as a pet.

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Madam Wu sorted the wild greens and mushrooms they had brought home, listening to the crashing sounds and the sharp scolding from Old Lady Tian next door. She couldn’t help but wonder—what was happening with the Tian family now?

She turned to ask her mother-in-law, "Mother, what’s going on next door? Why is Old Lady Tian screeching again?"

"No idea. Probably Old Lady Tian feels she’s been wronged and is looking for justice!" Old Lady Lin said with a sneer, chopping pig feed. "Everyone knows Tian Fourth is greedy to the point of insanity, taking advantage even of his own family, and his sons follow suit. When Tian Fourth was thrown in jail, he immediately disowned his son—disgusting!"

She shook her head and took Fubao’s little basket to see what her precious granddaughter had picked for the piglets.

Hmm? So colorful—clearly, she loved beautiful things, just like her mother.

There were five small mushrooms, three of them poisonous, and a bundle of lingzhi!

Lingzhi—

Lingzhi!!

Lingzhi!!!

"My goodness! Lingzhi!" Old Lady Lin shrieked.

Wu was stunned—this... this was lingzhi! Such a large lingzhi was rare indeed!

"Lingzhi? What’s that?" Cen Hai, while sorting pig feed, asked in confusion.

"Mother, stay calm, don’t get too excited!" Wu quickly soothed her mother-in-law, seeing her about to faint from excitement.

"Where’s Bao? Call her over and ask where she found it! How could she just toss it into the basket?" Old Lady Lin regained her composure and instructed.

"Alright, Cen Hai, go call Bao and tell her Grandma wants her!" Wu said, still smoothing Lin’s chest and addressing the mischievous Cen Hai.

"Okay! I’m going!" Cen Hai darted off to the west room.