Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Chapter 448 Mushroom Soup

Blue Moon could no longer squat; she was practically lying on the ground.

Carefully moving her hands among the mushrooms, she pulled them up one by one by the roots, shook off the soil, and put them into the plastic bag that Xu Xiaoyan handed her.

Her movements were light and quick, as if she were afraid of damaging these little things that had sprouted from the ground overnight.

Xu Xiaoyan squatted down and watched, and noticed that Lan Yue was completely different when she picked mushrooms than usual.

The Lan Yue who was usually easily agitated was gone, replaced by a meticulous and focused demeanor.

Blue Moon's fingers moved among the mushrooms, picking only the tender mushrooms whose caps had not yet fully opened, ignoring those that had already opened and turned yellow.

"They taste better when they're young, but they get tough when they're old," Lan Yue explained without looking up, her hands never stopping.

In less than fifteen minutes, the plastic bag was half full, probably weighing two or three pounds.

Blue Moon circled around to the other side of the hillside and found another cluster of fungi under the roots of several large pine trees.

This time it wasn't a white pine mushroom. The cap was light brown with a faint bluish-green edge, and the shape was much larger than a pine mushroom. The largest one was as big as her palm.

"Green-headed mushroom!" Blue Moon's voice was even lower, but her excitement was palpable.

"This one tastes even better, it's smooth and tender, and it's even more fragrant than meat when stir-fried. It's also from under a pine tree. Look at the color, green edges and white flesh, it's not poisonous, don't worry."

She picked a few large flowers, carefully cleaned the soil off the roots, and put them into a cloth bag.

After searching the vicinity again and confirming that there were no more, he straightened up and let out a long breath.

"That's enough for today, let's try it when we get back." Lan Yue closed the plastic bag, hugged it to her chest, and walked back to the wooden house through the mud.

Xu Xiaoyan didn't go back with them; she stood on the hillside for a while longer.

My gaze swept from the nearby bushes to the distant pine forest, and then from that pine forest to the ridgeline even further away.

She counted them, and there were seven or eight clusters of fungi that were clearly visible to the naked eye.

There are countless others hidden deeper, yet to emerge, or already emerging but covered by fallen leaves.

If these mushrooms are truly edible, especially the wild mushrooms whose names she doesn't know but Lan Yue can immediately identify, they are genuine mountain delicacies.

In this place where resources are scarce and the food is monotonous, the addition of mushrooms can greatly improve everyone's life.

She turned and walked back to the cabin.

Blue Moon had already poured the mushrooms onto the waterproof cloth and was squatting there cleaning them one by one, removing the soil and pine needles stuck to the roots.

She worked with extreme seriousness, even devotion. Stray hairs fell down her forehead, covering half of her face, but she didn't brush them away. She just tilted her head and passed the hairs one by one through her hands.

"Matsutake mushrooms are crisp and perfect for stir-frying or cold dishes; green-headed mushrooms are smooth and tender, and they're best for making soup; and there's this one too—"

She picked up an inconspicuous, grayish-brown mushroom from the corner; its cap was only the size of a dime.

"This is called copper green fungus. It's common and edible, but the taste is so-so. You can choose to have it or not."

Xu Xiaoyan sat down opposite her, watching her clean the mushrooms, and suddenly asked, "Are all the mushrooms safe?"

Lan Yue paused for a moment, then looked up. "I can guarantee that I've been eating pine mushrooms and green-headed mushrooms since I was a child and have never had any problems."

She held up the pine mushroom in her hand and twirled it in the morning light.

"But if it's other mushrooms, I can't guarantee that. Some mushrooms look like they're edible, but they're actually poisonous. When I was a child, an old man in my village accidentally ate a poisonous mushroom and almost didn't survive."

She paused for a few seconds, then put down the mushrooms in her hand, her tone becoming serious:

"So we'll only eat these two today. We won't touch any other variations, no matter how similar they look. I'll eat first, and if I'm okay after I finish, then you can eat."

Xu Xiaoyan looked at her, neither saying "good" nor "bad," but simply reached out and picked the smallest one from the pile of pine mushrooms, examining it in her palm.

"Make a bowl of soup first. Eat less today, don't eat too much at once. Even the safest mushrooms can upset your stomach if you eat too much."

Lan Yue grinned, stood up, washed the selected mushrooms twice with clean water, and drained them.

The iron pot was already set up, and there was still some firewood left over from yesterday. She squatted down by the pot and started a fire. The flames licked the bottom of the pot and quickly became a blazing fire.

She put a ladle of water in the pot, and after the water boiled, she grabbed a handful each of pine mushrooms and green-headed mushrooms and threw them in, along with a pinch of salt.

The moment the mushrooms hit the water, an aroma so rich it almost brought tears to one's eyes rose from the pot.

Lan Yue picked up the first bowl of soup she had ladled out and took a sip herself first.

She drank very slowly, first pursing her lips to taste a little, pausing it on the tip of her tongue for a few seconds, and then slowly swallowing.

"It tastes good." Lan Yue's eyes were slightly red. "It's been a long time since I've tasted this flavor."

Xu Xiaoyan looked at her without saying anything, took the bowl, filled it, and took a sip.

The first sensation upon tasting the soup is its heat, followed by a slight saltiness, and then a complex yet pure umami flavor.

The crispness of the matsutake mushrooms and the smoothness of the green-headed mushrooms intertwine on the tip of the tongue, and the fragrance lingers in the mouth for a long time, warming the throat all the way to the stomach.

She put down the bowl, looked at the gradually brightening sky outside the window, and suddenly said, "Let's go up the mountain later and look again, and try to collect more."

Lan Yue, holding the bowl with soup still on her lips, nodded vigorously.

After drinking the bowl of mushroom soup, Xu Xiaoyan leaned against the wooden wall of the cabin, closed her eyes, and carefully felt the changes in her body.

The umami flavor on my tongue was still lingering, and my stomach felt warm and comfortable. There was no discomfort. Lan Yue was right; these mushrooms are indeed edible.

But what kept replaying in her mind was the sound from this morning; she had never heard such a sound in the mountains before.

But when she heard it today, the first thought that popped into her mind wasn't "What is this sound?", but "Something is growing."

The thought came out of nowhere, without any basis, but it just appeared naturally, as if someone had whispered something in her ear.

She turned to look at Lan Yue, who was squatting by the pot, ladling the remaining mushroom soup into bowls.

He was still savoring the delicious flavor, completely oblivious to the inexplicable confusion on Xu Xiaoyan's face.

Xu Xiaoyan reached her hand under the hem of her clothes, her fingertips touching the leaf mark on her right waist.

Why is it shaped like a leaf? She had asked herself this question many times, but she never found an answer.

Lan Yue had finished her soup and was squatting at the door of the wooden house, scrubbing the pot. She had polished the iron pot until it shone with sand, and the black ash from the bottom of the pot had gotten all over her hand.

"Xiao Yan, what's wrong with your back? I keep seeing you touching it," Lan Yue asked without turning her head.

Xu Xiaoyan paused for a moment, then gently shook her head. "It's nothing, just an old problem, a little sore."