Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Chapter 434 Letting Go and Picking

Blue Moon followed behind her, her eyes even sharper than hers, and quickly locked onto a thick birch tree.

A large, dark mass grew on the upper middle part of the tree, with irregular, wavy edges that stood out starkly against the white bark.

She leaned closer to examine it closely. The surface of the object was covered with fine lines, somewhat like a human ear, and also somewhat like stacks of charred seashells.

"As for whether it's black fungus or birch fungus, I don't think it matters anymore," Lan Yue straightened up, clapped her hands, and grinned at Xu Xiaoyan.

"Just pick whatever you see, as long as it's edible, it doesn't matter what it is."

Even if the army doesn't accept birch mushrooms, it's still good to eat them ourselves. They're a tonic, after all. We're already here, right?

Xu Xiaoyan nodded. She had already walked to another birch tree and was looking down at a small patch of black residue at the base of the trunk.

She crouched down and gently scraped the edge with a knife. The material was soft, and with a light flick of the knife, a corner of it lifted up, revealing the light-colored, moist surface underneath.

"This should be wood ear fungus, although it looks a bit strange," she said, her tone carrying a hint of certainty after confirmation.

"Birch fungus is as hard as wood, you can't even cut it with a knife, but this one is elastic, it's definitely wood ear fungus."

Upon hearing this, Lan Yue's eyes immediately lit up, and she said with a smile, "It seems that not many people have been to this birch forest, otherwise it would have been picked clean long ago."

She flexed her wrists, then hugged the tree trunk with both hands, using the gaps in the bark as leverage, and quickly climbed up, completely unlike her usual composed and quiet self.

Xu Xiaoyan watched from below, and the corners of her mouth couldn't help but curve into a smile.

Lan Yue sat on a thick side branch, holding onto the trunk with one hand to steady herself, and carefully broke off the whole piece of black fungus with the other hand and threw it to Xu Xiaoyan below.

Xu Xiaoyan reached out and took it, examined it to make sure there were no insects, and then put it into the plastic bag she had prepared beforehand.

"There are quite a few on this tree." Lan Yue sat on a branch, looked around from above, and spotted another target. She moved between the branches using both her hands and feet.

Xu Xiaoyan didn't climb the trees; instead, she focused on the birch trees growing at lower elevations and the fallen deadwood.

She walked slowly along the edge of the woods, her gaze sweeping from one tree to another.

Holding the knife in my hand, I gently scraped off any wood ear mushrooms I saw, shook off the attached bits of bark and dead leaves, and put them into a plastic bag.

Lan Yue jumped down from the tree, patted the bits of bark and dust off her trousers, bent down to pick up her bulging backpack, weighed it in her hand, and turned to look at Xu Xiaoyan.

"Xiaoyan, want to pick more?" She unzipped her backpack and glanced inside; it was already packed full, with black fungus crammed together. "This should be enough to eat for several days, right?"

Xu Xiaoyan was squatting in front of a fallen, dead tree, carefully prying off a few pieces of wood ear fungus stuck to the surface of the wood with a knife.

She carefully pried off the last piece and put it into her cloth bag before straightening up and stretching her knees, which had been squatting for a long time.

She glanced at her own backpack, then at Lan Yue's, her gaze sweeping back and forth between the two bulging backpacks before she shook her head.

"Pick as much as you can," Xu Xiaoyan said softly, but her tone carried an undeniable certainty.

"I think that once we take it out to sell or exchange, someone will definitely take notice of it. At that time, it will probably be like pine resin, impossible to get even if you want to."

Upon hearing this, Lan Yue was taken aback for a moment, then sighed.

She bent down to zip up her backpack, sat down on a moss-covered rock, rested her hands on her knees, and stared blankly at the silvery-white tree trunks in the woods for a while.

"I was thinking," Lan Yue began, her speech a little slower than usual:

"We'll pick them today and have some fresh ones tonight. We can save the rest for tomorrow or the day after, so we can have fresh wood ear mushrooms every day."

Whether it's used in soup, made into a cold dish, or even just blanched in plain water with a pinch of salt, it sounds delicious.

She smacked her lips, as if savoring the unfinished, imagined wood ear mushroom soup, then gave a wry smile, "I guess I was just being too optimistic."

Xu Xiaoyan tied the plastic bag tightly, stuffed it into her backpack, walked to Lan Yue's side, and stood against another tree trunk.

She didn't rush to speak, but instead reached out and plucked a leaf from a birch branch above her head, unconsciously twirling it between her fingers.

The leaf twirled a few times between her fingers, emitting a faint, refreshing scent.

"I guess most of the people here are focused on logging," Xu Xiaoyan said. "They don't really care about what's in the forest."

Even if someone occasionally sees wood ear mushrooms on the tree, they only pick and cook them in a small area, and their activities are mostly limited to the logging area.

Lan Yue nodded, looked up at her, and waited for her to continue.

"But once these things appear at the trading point, it's a different story."

Xu Xiaoyan flicked the crumpled birch leaf in her hand, and the leaf drifted gently onto the humus in the forest.

"Once everyone sees and knows that this thing can be eaten or used to exchange for other things, they will follow suit."

She turned to look at Lan Yue, her gaze calm and resolute:

"Believe it or not, within two days of the news spreading, this birch forest will be just like the pine forest last night, teeming with people."

By then, if everyone is willing to search—

She paused, the corners of her mouth curving slightly, a smile that held an indescribable, ambiguous meaning, somewhere between mockery and helplessness:

"What can't be completely looted? Don't even mention wood ear mushrooms, I'm afraid even a layer of tree bark will be scraped off."

After listening, Lan Yue remained silent for a moment, then stood up and tightened the straps of her backpack over her shoulder.

Then she looked up at the sky above, which was fragmented into countless pieces by the birch canopy, took a deep breath, and nodded vigorously.

"That's right, then let's stop talking nonsense and pick as many as we can while no one knows yet."

Her voice became crisp again, carrying a sense of "once you've figured it out, you won't dwell on it anymore."

"Come on, I saw a few more trees over there. I didn't climb them earlier because they were too high. Let's go pick them all now."

After saying that, she walked towards the few silvery-white birch trees deep in the forest, her steps quick and steady, making a soft rustling sound as she stepped on the forest floor covered with fallen leaves.

Xu Xiaoyan watched her hurried back, and the corners of her mouth curved into a wider smile.

She didn't rush to follow, but instead took out a bottle of mineral water from the side pocket of her backpack, unscrewed the cap, took a small sip, tightened it again, and put it back before taking her steps to follow.