Chapter 218: Chapter 214: Sitting on a Treasure That Cannot Be Sold

Lin Lan entered the kitchen, but first went into the bedroom to check on Little Douzi. Seeing he was asleep in bed, she turned and returned to the kitchen.

After seeing Brother Yong off, Li Xiangyang came in from outside carrying a back-basket. He gave her a gentle look. “Brother Yong’s clothes were wet, and we don’t have anything for him to change into here. I let him take the bicycle.”

As he spoke, he walked over to the cupboard, took out a plate, and placed a piece of pork liver on it. “I saved some of the liver to make a stir-fry.”

“Mhm,” Lin Lan nodded without looking at him.

Li Xiangyang gave her a little tug. “I’ll cook. You go make the bed for Qiaohui.”

Blushing, Lin Lan shot him a look before heading to the bedroom. Li Xiangyang watched her go, his eyes crinkling with a smile. He then took a gourd ladle, scooped water into the pot, washed the rice, and set it to cook.

Lin Lan took a mattress pad, a quilt, and a sheet from a trunk. She carried them to the wing-room, where she gathered the children’s picture books from the bed and put them in a box. After making the bed, she opened an umbrella and went out into the alleyway beside the west wing.

The chickens and geese were huddled in a row under the eaves. Lin Lan opened the chicken coop, went back inside to scoop a ladleful of feed into their bowl, and called out, “CLUCK CLUCK…”

Three roosters and two large white geese came running, with the plump young chickens and hens following close behind. They scurried up onto the stone steps, crowding around the two feed bowls and jostling for a spot to eat.

Qiaohui came out from the pigpen area, her hair sopping wet and draped over her shoulders. Lin Lan hurried inside to grab a dry towel and handed it to her. “Quick, dry your hair.”

Qiaohui froze for a moment as she held the soft towel, then quickly tried to hand it back to Lin Lan. “Cousin, an old one would have been fine for me.”

“Keep it!” Lin Lan said with a smile. “Me, Little Douzi, and Lin Yuezhen—we all have our own towels. This one will be for your face from now on. I’ll give you another one for bathing later.”

Since Lin Lan insisted, Qiaohui could only nod. “I understand.” She dried her hair and looked at the towel in her hands. ’The world outside the mountains really is different.’

’I’ve never even seen a face towel this soft in my entire life. The ones at home are still the ones Mom wove from hemp twine. There are only two for the dozen or so people in our family—one for Dad and my brothers, and one for Mom, my sister-in-law, and me.’

Qiaohui secretly resolved to learn the trade properly from her cousin. ’Her male cousin had said Lin Lan’s pastries were delicious, and that Lin Lan was even going to pay her a wage.’

’Once I learn the skill and start earning money, I’ll ask my cousin to help me buy salt and rice to take back to Mom and Dad. If there’s any money left over, I’ll buy two lengths of that Dacron fabric, the kind the brigade leader wears, and make them some new clothes.’

After feeding the chickens, Lin Lan went to the vegetable patch under her umbrella and pulled up some scallions, a radish, and some celery. Carrying them back to the steps, she saw Qiaohui staring blankly into space, still holding the towel. Lin Lan smiled. “Qiaohui, are Aunt and Uncle doing well?”

“They are!” Qiaohui draped the towel over a bamboo pole and squatted down to help Lin Lan clean the vegetables. “Cousin, Li Xiangyang told my dad to plant more pumpkins and broad beans next spring… He said you’d buy them. Is that true?”

“It’s true,” Lin Lan said slowly. “Tell them to plant more pumpkins, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. The mature pumpkins can be brought out by mule, and the potatoes and sweet potatoes can be made into glass noodles. Send them out here, and I’ll help you sell them.”

Qiaohui nodded happily. “Cousin, we also have jiangyu noodles where I’m from. My mom had me bring you some. If you try them and like them, I can bring more next time.”

Lin Lan thought for a moment. She recalled that `jiangyu` looked a bit like a canna lily, with red flowers. “I’ve seen the `jiangyu` plant before, but I’ve never heard of `jiangyu` noodles!”

“Let me show you.” Qiaohui put the cleaned celery into a bamboo sieve, then walked over to the back-basket she had brought. She took out a bundle of pale yellow, translucent noodles and handed them to Lin Lan. “Cousin, these are the noodles made from `jiangyu`. They’re soft and smooth, even tastier than sweet potato noodles.”

Lin Lan looked at them. ’They look a bit like `han’ou fen`,’ she thought, ’a delicacy I had when I traveled to Guangxi.’ She hadn’t realized that the `han’ou` from Guangxi was the same thing as the `jiangyu` they had here. She smiled. “They’re so shimmery. We’ll cook some tomorrow and try them.”

“Okay!” Qiaohui carried the `jiangyu` noodles and her back-basket into the kitchen, then went to the stove to help Li Xiangyang stoke the fire.

Lin Yuezhen returned to the kitchen after her bath, carrying her washbasin. When she saw Li Xiangyang cooking, she hurried over and gestured for him to move aside so she could take over.

Li Xiangyang smiled. “Sister Yuezhen, go on and do what you need to. I’ve got this.”

Lin Lan came in through the back door with the bamboo sieve. “Looks like we get to taste Chef Li’s cooking tonight,” she said with a laugh.

Li Xiangyang nodded with a grin. “Alright! You ladies just wait for the meal to be served.”

Lin Lan smiled and glanced at Qiaohui, who was sitting obediently by the stove. “Getting hungry?”

“I’m not hungry!” Qiaohui turned and pointed to her back-basket. “Cousin, you should take the things out of there.”

“Thank you.” Lin Lan walked over, took the items out of the back-basket one by one, and laid them on the workboard. There were dried mushrooms, black wood ear fungus, Sichuan peppercorns, and also `caokou` and black cardamom pods.

She discovered that the small sack of dried mushrooms actually contained porcini, morels, and even a few lion’s mane mushrooms. “Qiaohui, these dried mushrooms are all valuable! Why doesn’t Aunt sell them for money?”

’Who said the mountains were poor? The people here are sitting on a treasure trove they just can’t turn into cash!’

Qiaohui laughed. “Cousin, things like `dajiao` mushrooms, porcini, and morels are everywhere in the mountains. You can’t get much for them at the supply and marketing co-op. My dad said lion’s mane mushrooms are hard to find, so he told me to bring these for you and Uncle to try. Uncle said that if you like them, I should bring them all for you.”

Only then did Lin Lan remember. ’In this era, porcini, `dajiao` mushrooms, and morels are still relatively easy to find. Lion’s mane mushrooms, however, have always been rare.’

“The ginger tea is ready. Come have a bowl,” Li Xiangyang said, bringing the tea to the table. He picked up a couple of the lion’s mane mushrooms to examine them. “I haven’t eaten these since I was a little kid. Lion’s mane mushrooms are really something special! We should send word back for them to bring more out to sell for cash.”

Qiaohui shook her head vigorously. “When I was a kid, our neighbor Uncle Dashi got lucky and found half a basketful. He brought them out to sell, but he got arrested and was locked up for a long time. His family thought a bear had gotten him!”

’Maybe I should make a trip into the mountains,’ Lin Lan thought. ’It would be perfect to collect some dried mushrooms to sell before the New Year.’ She ladled small half-bowls of ginger tea and handed them to Qiaohui and Lin Yuezhen. “Just drink a little. We’re about to eat.”

She drank half her bowl, then went to the bedroom to get a pair of clean, cotton-padded shoes. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she gave Little Douzi a kiss. “Son, it’s getting dark. Time for dinner.”

Little Douzi rubbed his eyes and looked at her. “Mommy, my tummy’s not hungry!”

“Auntie Zhou and Uncle Li Wu gave you so many snacks, of course you’re not hungry!” Lin Lan pulled him to his feet and helped him into a padded jacket. “Just eat a little and drink some ginger tea. Otherwise, if you catch a cold, you won’t be able to go to school.”

“Oh.” Little Douzi nodded, got out of bed, and put on his shoes.

Lin Lan led him out, pointed to Qiaohui, and said, “Call her Auntie.”

“Auntie!” Little Douzi looked at her curiously. “Mommy, where did Auntie come from? Why didn’t I see her last time we went to Grandma’s house?”

Qiaohui nodded happily. “I know you’re Little Douzi. Your dad told me you’re very smart!”

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