As soon as Shen Lingzhi saw Lin Yue looking so dejected, he immediately comforted him: “Big brother, it’s impressive that you managed to find any at all. Take my brother, for example—he can’t even find any chicken-of-the-woods mushrooms; he only ends up with some red mushrooms that nobody wants.”

Lin Yue was indeed comforted by this. After all, he had managed to gather quite a few delicious mushrooms—such as green-capped mushrooms, milk mushrooms, blue-ringed mushrooms, and red boletes. As long as he went up the mountain, he could almost always find them.

Red mushrooms, however, were among the most common fungi in the mountains; they grew right by the roadside. Lin Yue didn’t know if people in other villages ate them, but in Linshui Village and Yushui Village, they didn’t—at most, they’d pick them and dry them.

Since they finished selling snacks early today, Lin Yue and Shen Lingzhi took a stroll down the alley where the vegetable vendors set up shop. There were probably seven or eight stalls selling mushrooms along the roadside, all displayed in bamboo baskets of various sizes.

At a glance, the most common were capped mushrooms. The unopened ones were plump and adorable, with caps ranging from yellow to black. There were even a couple of mushrooms joined together, which the vendor had deliberately set aside and placed on top.

Next in abundance were the green-capped mushrooms and the milk mushrooms. These two varieties were almost always sold together—one with a bright green cap and the other with an orange-yellow one. Their colors were vivid, yet their textures were completely different: one tender and smooth, the other crisp and fragrant.

Moreover, these two varieties are relatively abundant and have an excellent flavor, second only to chicken-of-the-woods and matsutake mushrooms. At a glance, Lin Yue noticed that the stall diagonally in front of him was currently being asked about the price of these very mushrooms.

Other mushrooms that rival the flavor of the two mentioned above are the chicken-oil mushroom and the chicken-of-the-woods mushroom. Both are very small in size and often grow in clusters; you can easily pick seven or eight at a time. However, they are inconvenient to clean. Because they are small and light, a handful of twenty or thirty mushrooms looks like a large bunch but weighs only an ounce or two on the scale, so few vendors sell them. However, these are Lin Yue’s absolute favorites, followed by the green-capped mushroom.

There is also a mushroom called “green-hand,” which turns green when cut open. It tastes quite good, but since people get food poisoning from it every year, few vendors sell it.

There are also the pale pink, crisp-textured broom mushrooms and the slightly tart yellow parasol mushrooms. The former are edible but have a rather bland taste, while the latter, though edible, can cause diarrhea if eaten in large quantities, so neither of these varieties is found at the stalls.

As for chicken-of-the-woods and matsutake mushrooms, they were in very short supply. Lin Yue recalled that his father had once found some; the two of them had come to town together to sell them. They hadn’t even set up a stall—they’d simply walked around with a bamboo basket, calling out to passersby, and sold everything in no time.

After a quick scan of the market, Lin Yue approached a stall and asked, “Uncle, how much are your capped mushrooms? And what are the prices for the green-capped mushrooms and milk mushrooms?”

The middle-aged man running the stall was somewhat gaunt and seemed taciturn. Without even looking up when asked about prices, he muttered, “The small, bud-like capped mushrooms are six wen per pound; the green-capped and milk mushrooms are eight wen each. The little buds ones are half the price. How much do you want?”

“Little buds” referred to mushrooms with round, inward-curving caps that hadn’t fully opened yet and were still small, while “fully opened” mushrooms were those that had fully unfurled, with caps as large as a palm.

“No, thanks, Uncle. I’ll just look around some more.”

The prices were about the same as last year. Lin Yue checked a few more stalls, and the prices were all pretty much the same. Finally, the two of them went to the last stall, which sold mushroom paste.

Small earthenware jars were filled to the brim with mushroom paste, glistening with oil. The aroma of oil mingled with the scent of mushrooms, drawing in quite a few passersby.

This vendor was much more enthusiastic. Lin Yue didn’t even have to ask; the moment their eyes met, the vendor began calling out, “Freshly made mushroom paste! One part mushroom, half part oil—just eighteen wen per jar! Only eighteen wen, and you take the jar home with you!”

Lin Yue felt bad about just turning and walking away, so he stepped forward to exchange a few pleasantries with the vendor before finally saying, “I’m really short on wen right now, otherwise I’d buy a jar to try. I’ll come back to buy some from you once I’ve made some money.”

Though it was just a polite remark, the vendor was still pleased. He chatted with Lin Yue for a moment longer before turning to attend to another customer.

As soon as they stepped out of the alley, Shen Lingzhi spoke up: “Brother, I think selling mushroom paste seems like a more profitable business.”

Lin Yue nodded in agreement. “I think so too. A single jar of mushroom sauce uses less than half a pound of mushrooms. If we use mushrooms that have already bloomed, the cost is even lower. Plus, frying mushrooms doesn’t use much oil—a single pound of oil can fry a lot.”

But mushroom oil is, after all, a bit pricier. There are certainly fewer people willing to buy it than those who buy fresh mushrooms. They still need to carefully consider how to sell it, how much sauce to make each day, and what ingredients to use.

Shen Lingzhi suddenly remembered that they didn’t have jars that small at home. He turned and asked, “Brother, shouldn’t we go buy a few jars first? Otherwise, we won’t have anywhere to store it once it’s ready.”

“Hmm, yeah, we’ll have to buy some.”

Lin Yue’s mind was currently filled with ideas for mushroom sauce recipes. Besides the basic version, he could add minced meat to make minced meat mushroom sauce, add chili peppers for spicy mushroom sauce, or even mix in doubanjiang—there were plenty of variations.

After pondering for a while, Lin Yue snapped back to reality. “It’s getting late today, and if we’re going to buy them, we’ll need at least twenty. Let’s wait until tomorrow when we’re selling pastries along the street. We’ll see which stall has the cheapest and nicest jars, and buy them then.”

As dusk fell, wisps of smoke began to rise from the roof of the Shen family’s kitchen. Now that it was mid-June, farm work was gradually increasing, and the Shen family’s mealtimes had shifted considerably later.

No sooner had they finished eating than Lin Yue and Shen Lingzhi, taking turns, explained their plans to Shen’s parents and Shen Huaizhi.

In addition to collecting mushrooms to sell, Lin Yue also planned to continue the beverage business. The apricot juice they’d made earlier had sold very well, and recently the bayberries had ripened—bright red and plump. Yesterday, Shen Lingzhi’s friend had even given them a handful; they tasted sweet, completely overshadowing the tartness, so much so that they didn’t even need to add sugar when making bayberry soup now.

Their business was going fairly smoothly. They made a profit on the very first day of selling pastries, and although they’d only sold the fruit drinks twice, they’d sold out both times. Now that they wanted to sell mushrooms, Shen’s parents had all expressed their support.

Song Xunchun asked, “Are you starting to gather them tomorrow? If so, I’ll go for a walk around the village first thing in the morning to let them know, so you don’t miss out on any.”

Lin Yue replied with a smile, “Thank you, Mother. Tomorrow morning, Lingzhi and I plan to head up the mountain first to see which types of mushrooms are plentiful around here this year. We’ll also pick some bayberries to make bayberry soup, and then we’ll start collecting mushrooms the day after tomorrow.”

Song Xunchun hesitated a bit. “Our village hasn’t had anyone buying mushrooms before. Everyone just picked them themselves and sold them in town, so there aren’t many people picking them. If you want to buy them, you’ll have to go around the village tomorrow and spread the word. That way, people will start picking them the day after tomorrow.”

“Don’t worry, Mom. I’ve thought of all that. Tomorrow, after we make some pastries, we’ll go around the village to sell them and spread the word at the same time.”

Shen Huaizhi then suggested, “One of my classmates’ families makes pottery. Their prices aren’t high. If you don’t find anything suitable in town, you can go check out his place. It’s in Taohua Village just outside town. He told me it’s right at the village entrance, and there’s a sign hanging on the door.”

Speaking of signs, Shen Huaizhi had been thinking about making one for Lin Yue just two days ago—so people would know what was being sold without him having to shout it out. He’d just finalized the design today, but he hadn’t expected Lin Yue to come up with a new business idea. He thought for a moment before asking, “I was originally planning to make a sign for a pastry shop. Now that we’ve added a new business, should we include the mushroom sauce on it too?”

Lin Yue was pleasantly surprised, her voice brimming with excitement. “No need to change it. The mushroom sauce will only sell for a month at most, but pastries can be sold year-round. Let’s just go with the pastry shop.”

Only shops in town have signboards. For example, a tailor’s shop displays a picture of clothes, a teahouse has the character for “tea,” and a pastry shop uses a piece of cloth cut into the shape of a pastry.

With the whole family present, Lin Yue felt it would be inappropriate to say anything else. He simply turned his head and gave a wink, then asked, “Can you write on it?”

Although not many people could read, it looked nice. Besides, Shen Huaizhi’s handwriting was beautiful—especially compared to his own scrawls; it was as elegant as a painting.

Shen Huaizhi had originally planned to draw it, but since Lin Yue had made the request, he naturally couldn’t refuse. He nodded immediately. “The teacher has red ink. I’ll use that when I write it; it’ll stand out better.”

After the family had discussed the matter, everyone went about their business.

The next day, Lin Yue and Shen Lingzhi set off early for the mountains, carrying a basket and two bamboo baskets on their backs, planning to gather some firewood on their way back while foraging for mushrooms.

Although this wasn’t Lin Yue’s first time here, he was still unfamiliar with this part of the mountain. From the foot of the mountain to halfway up the slope, he used the stick he was carrying to dig through several piles of pine needles, but couldn’t find a single mushroom. Instead, while walking along the mountain path, he found a thumb-sized capped mushroom by the side of the trail.

Shen Lingzhi, on the other hand, had been successful from the moment they started climbing. He found a green-capped mushroom at the base of a tree and three milk mushrooms under a cluster of bayberry bushes—a spot Lin Yue had actually discovered first. Shen Lingzhi had only been called over by Lin Yue to pick bayberries, so Lin Yue never even noticed the mushrooms lying beneath the trees.

Later, the two went their separate ways, abandoning the mountain path to venture deep into the thickets. Lin Yue could hear Shen Lingzhi calling out to him the whole time,

“Brother, there’s a cluster of chicken-of-the-woods mushrooms over here!”

“Brother, I found three huge capped mushrooms.”

“Wow, there’s another matsutake right by the side of the path!”

Lin Yue responded while keeping his head down and searching intently, but he just couldn’t find any. By the end, he was about to give up and just gather more firewood instead.

Unexpectedly, just past the halfway point up the mountain, Lin Yue spotted two capped mushrooms growing together beneath a large pine tree. He dashed over in a single bound.

“Lingzhi, I found some too—two big capped mushrooms, and they haven’t even fully opened yet!”

Shen Lingzhi was a bit far away now, his voice echoing slightly. “Big brother, you’re so amazing!”

This time, Lin Yue was genuinely too embarrassed to agree. It had taken him half an hour to find just three mushrooms, while Shen Lingzhi’s haul already covered the bottom of the basket.

“Let’s hurry up and pick some mushrooms so we can head back early.”

“Okay, then let’s climb faster so we can reach the summit sooner.”

Lin Yue placed two capped mushrooms into the basket, then scanned the area once more. To his surprise, he found three more—though small, they were plump and round.

Looking at the six mushrooms in his basket, Lin Yue felt completely satisfied. For his first time foraging on this mountain, not coming back empty-handed was already quite an achievement, and he was very content.

Shen Lingzhi’s voice continued to drift over intermittently. This time, he wasn’t mentioning quantities, only types. Lin Yue sensed he must have found quite a few and couldn’t help but call out, “Lingzhi, you’re amazing!”

Shen Lingzhi chuckled twice and called back, “Brother, come over here quickly. I think there are more mushrooms this way.”

“Coming.”