Chapter 32: Climbing the Mountain in the Rain

When it rained, no one was happier than the people of Maple Leaf Brigade. Whenever there was no fieldwork, they would plan trips up the mountain to chop firewood and gather wild vegetables, especially toward the end of the year, when even more people went to cut firewood.

Over the past few days, Maple Leaf Mountain had been crowded with villagers. Even the northern forests were covered in footprints. Only today, because the brigade was distributing grain, were there slightly fewer people around.

Still, despite the grain distribution, some people couldn’t resist sneaking off to the mountain during their free moments to search for anything they could find.

Lately, rumors had spread that whenever the He family went up the mountain to cut firewood, they never returned empty-handed. Every day, if the children weren’t catching wild pheasants or rabbits, they were finding mushrooms that appeared only in rainy weather and were incredibly rare. Apparently, two days ago, He Xi had even picked morels and dried ganba mushrooms.

The villagers of Maple Leaf Brigade relied on Maple Leaf Mountain for food, so everyone had eaten their share of mushrooms. But when they heard about the ganba mushrooms, their eyes turned red with envy.

Ganba mushrooms were extremely valuable, who knew how much they could fetch on the market? At the very least, wild mushrooms never sold for less than ten yuan.

Everyone envied the He family. After confirming the rumors were true, that not only did the children find these mushrooms, but they had even come across bamboo fungus, the villagers became even more unwilling to fall behind. Nearly every day, before dawn, they rushed up the mountain to forage. Some even carried torches at night to scour the forest edges, determined to ease their frustration.

Their efforts did yield results, they found plenty of wild mushrooms.

But they were all common types. Compared to the He family’s findings, they were nothing special.

No matter how thoroughly others searched, covering the same ground again and again once the He children climbed the mountain, they would always discover fresh mushrooms in places that had already been checked.

What angered everyone even more was that the mushrooms the He children found were always larger and better than the ones others labored over, even when discovered in previously searched areas.

Everyone knew He Xi and her siblings had extraordinary luck, which only made others more desperate to follow them up the mountain and try to claim a share of their good fortune. But even when others managed to find a few mushrooms, the He family always ended up with better ones.

The villagers of Maple Leaf Brigade were becoming numb with frustration. A few even developed questionable intentions and began quietly tailing the He family in hopes of stealing part of their haul.

That was why, even in the rain and on a day when grain was being distributed, some people stubbornly followed He Xi up the mountain.

But shortly after climbing, they lost sight of the He family. They searched everywhere but couldn’t find them. Just as they were despairing that today’s efforts might be wasted, they suddenly heard the sound of something heavy falling nearby.

…

Tang Yao hadn’t gone to the southern side of the mountain for a long time. Ever since discovering so many mountain goods on the northern side, she had mainly searched for mushrooms there.

But recently she’d heard gossip in the brigade, apparently many people had found mushrooms on the southern mountain as well.

The mushrooms there were huge, and there were plenty of regular mushrooms too, no fewer than on the northern side.

Tang Yao was tempted. After all, the first mushrooms she’d ever found were on the southern mountain. She hadn’t been back in a long time, and with the rain, there would surely be even more mushrooms now.

It was still raining when they left. Tang Yao held Fang Mingxi’s hand as they climbed, pulling her hat down so the wind wouldn’t blow it away.

The ground was soaked, and the two trudged through sticky mud, sinking deep with every other step.

Since winter began, temperatures had plummeted. Here, they barely had any spare clothes, and winter coats were a luxury few owned.

Before they left, Tong Lingxian and Wu Meixia had strictly forbidden them from going out. But with several hungry mouths at home, they reluctantly agreed, on one condition: the girls had to wear every piece of clothing they owned before stepping outside.

Bundled in ill-fitting layers, the two climbed the mountain stiffly. Fang Mingxi huffed and puffed as she struggled upward, clearly unused to the icy wind seeping through her clothes.

Her ankles felt especially cold. Her socks were thin, and even with two or three layers of pants, the chill seeped through. Her cheeks stung sharply whenever the wind brushed against them.

Even though Fang Mingxi had taken the Growth Pill, the medicine only stimulated bone growth and internal changes. It couldn’t protect her from the cold. The moment she started climbing, she shivered several times.

For months, she had been selling goods on the black market, yet she hadn’t managed to get a single scrap of fabric or ration tickets. If she got the chance to visit the county again, she was definitely going to buy cloth to make more clothes.

When they finally reached the mountaintop, Fang Mingxi opened her panel. Only a few scattered red dots appeared, likely people who skipped grain distribution today or children trying to scavenge after others.

After confirming no one was nearby, she deployed the Mountain-Harvest Trading Game.

The rain hadn’t stopped yet. Fang Mingxi adjusted the system settings until the rainfall inside the game matched the rain outside.

After months of daily use, she was incredibly skilled with the system. With just a few adjustments, the rain inside the overlapping terrains of the two mountains began falling simultaneously.

She had been freezing at the mountain foot earlier, so once the game launched successfully, she deliberately set the temperature slightly higher. It wasn’t warm, but at least it wasn’t as painfully cold as the real mountain.

Even so, both of them could feel their hands and feet warming up.

Tang Yao curiously touched her gradually warming hands and feet, then laughed.

“Strange… maybe climbing warmed me up? My hands and feet feel much warmer now.”

“Warm,” Fang Mingxi echoed.

How could they not be warm? If they weren’t, then this wouldn’t be called a cheat ability.

Remembering their main goal today was to find rare mushrooms, Fang Mingxi opened her search panel and dragged the nearby high-value mushrooms to locations around them, scattering them beneath different trees.

The three clusters consisted of matsutake, morels, and chanterelles—all rare and precious varieties.

Fang Mingxi tugged on Tang Yao’s sleeve and pointed toward the base of a tree.

“Older sister, there are mushrooms over there.”

Tang Yao turned her head. At the base of a tree on the right were clusters of yellow mushrooms, and beneath the next tree were several black ones.

She took out two wooden trowels from her basket and handed one to Fang Mingxi.

“Xixi, go dig those black mushrooms. Older sister will dig the yellow ones. When you’re done, meet me right here, don’t you dare run off, understand?”

Ever since the last time she nearly lost Fang Mingxi, Tang Yao had been traumatized. She always had to settle Fang Mingxi safely before going off on her own.

And if she absolutely couldn’t keep an eye on her, she would repeat her warnings again and again. Because if she didn’t, Fang Mingxi would inevitably disappear without a trace.

Even the adults found Fang Mingxi’s mischief exhausting. A child who could walk was far harder to manage than one who couldn’t, they wouldn’t wander off and give people heart attacks.

Fang Mingxi nodded. “I know, older sister. I’ll stay under the tree and won’t run.”

She walked to the nearest tree. Beneath its roots grew several black morels.

Holding her custom wooden trowel, she slid its sharp end beneath one of the mushrooms and gently lifted. With a soft flick, an intact morel popped cleanly out of the soil.