Her Cultivation Diary
Chapter 270 - Chapter 270 270. Silver Fungus Powder_1

Chapter 270: 270. Silver Fungus Powder_1 Chapter 270: 270. Silver Fungus Powder_1 Muddled noodles, as the name implies, are noodles boiled until they are soft and mushy, topped with uniquely flavored sesame leaves, crushed peanuts, chili oil, and the scallion-infused oil beneath…

At this moment, a big, sticky, and gooey bowl full of them, everyone was eating with sweat on their foreheads, feeling utterly comfortable all over.

The feeling of satisfaction brought by the high starch and calorie content was unimaginable to those who had never tried it! Even someone as picky as Song Tan had a full bowl today.

Speaking of which, she had been back for over two months, and by now her picky eating habits had gradually improved.

Of course, compared to the minimum Lao Song’s family rice intake that starts with two big bowls, her appetite was still not worth mentioning, but it was already a lot of progress.

But, dinner was over, and by 7:30, the new bright light bulbs in the courtyard were switched on again, and the village aunties gradually started coming over again.

There was no helping it, the tremella mushrooms gathered in the afternoon were really too numerous, and hadn’t all been processed yet.

This kind of thing naturally needed to be sun-dried as soon as possible. Anyway, no one could sleep so early, so might as well work a couple of extra hours at night to earn some money and get things packed up sooner.

So, at this moment, Grandpa’s courtyard was fully packed.

A layer of clean plastic film was spread on the ground, with big baskets of tremella mushrooms poured onto it. The aunties lined up along the film, each taking a small stool to sit in a row, all selecting from the pile of tremella in front of them, using sharp little knives to swiftly remove the tough dry fungus clumps and sawdust on top, as well as the yellowing aged edges.

Everyone was accustomed to doing farm work, and though they were not very skilled at the start, after just about 10 minutes of work, they were already much faster.

Before long, the tremella mushrooms on the film became fewer and fewer, while the baskets in front of them piled up higher and higher.

The tremella needed to be cleaned and picked over after the prep work, then could finally be spread evenly on bamboo mats to dry.

Now, in the dead of night, there might have been dew, so it was specially moved inside the house. Even so, the entire courtyard already felt tense and crowded.

As for the scraps and trimmings picked out by everyone, Seventh Uncle and Seventh Grandma had many tasks every day, and now they didn’t have the energy to carefully pick over them again.

Aunt Lianhua, who had been busy all day, refused to stop.

Even though Song Tan repeatedly tried to convince her to go back, she wouldn’t listen at all. Now, she even wheeled over her bedridden mother-in-law, and then in front of the two of them, a large basin was placed, filled with the scraps and trimmings everybody had chipped off.

The old lady was advanced in age, her eyesight somewhat dim, but now with so many people in the courtyard, chatting and laughing, she didn’t feel lonely at all, and her spirits improved more than a bit.

Together with Aunt Lianhua, she methodically picked through the basin of scraps again, setting aside the pieces that were still somewhat decent to one side for a quick wash and then spread out to dry.

The pieces that were truly unusable, Aunt Lianhua couldn’t bear to throw out, so she took the opportunity to quietly ask Song Tan if she could take a bowl of them home when Song Tan was alone in the courtyard.

In theory, this stuff was neither sellable for money nor edible, so giving it to Aunt Lianhua wasn’t particularly valuable.

But Song Tan was worried about setting a precedent that might encourage others to have similar thoughts, so she decided on a quantity, “Okay, Aunt Lianhua, you can take two pounds home then!”

The trimmings were quite heavy and not very palatable, but they still had some nutritional value. Aunt Lianhua had tasted them before and was delighted.

She and her mother-in-law whispered excitedly, reminiscing about the taste of tremella soup, and their confidence soared. They sat there, picking through the scraps even more carefully.

By 10 p.m., everyone had finished their work and left with their wages when Aunt Lianhua finally wheeled her mother-in-law away, bidding Song Tan farewell.

She opened her own plastic bag to show Song Tan: “I just weighed it for Qiaoqiao, exactly two pounds.”

Song Tan was a bit stunned

It was simply because Aunt Lianhua was overly honest. There wasn’t a single piece of white and translucent wood ear in the bag–only those yellowed, old, and tough scraps and edges.

Logically, there should have been plenty of trimmings with roots attached, as well as shattered edges. But how could…

She reached out her hand, pulled the bag down, and then went back to the small warehouse to take a look–

Sure enough!

Within the room, piled layer upon layer on the bamboo curtains, aside from some unevenly sized whole wood ears, the topmost layer was clearly covered with an extra layer of gauze. The wood ear pieces, too small to be broken down any further, were spread out like a layer of crushed snowflakes, each laid out separately to dry.

This made Song Tan feel somewhat uncomfortable.

True, she had given Aunt Lianhua a raise, but it was only 2500 yuan a month, not that much at all.

Although she had brought her mother-in-law to eat meals here, which wouldn’t be allowed in most workplaces, her mother-in-law didn’t just sit idly by; she worked on whatever she could handle.

Without another word, she took a plastic bag from the side and packed the gauze-dried wood ear powder back into the bag by the handfuls.

Estimating it to be about two to three jin in weight, she then handed it to Aunt Lianhua:

“Auntie, you work so hard helping out our family, and we all keep that in heart. Such small bits of wood ear, and you’re treating it so formally–at this rate, I’ll feel uncomfortable.”

“Take it. You and grandma have had a tough life. This wood ear is very nourishing. Stew a bowl at home every day to keep healthy, so that you can help us out for a long and durable time.”

She began to smile, “If my farm keeps open for some decades, it wouldn’t be easy to find an employee like you.”

Her words were pressing and warm, making Aunt Lianhua’s heart flutter with indescribable warmth.

Even her paralyzed mother-in-law felt her heart tremble.

For decades, she had been paralyzed for decades, always feeling that she was a burden to her daughter-in-law. But she was too timid; even now, she didn’t dare to end her life…

Now, just by lending a hand, she could actually be of help!

She ate at Song Tan’s house every day, and now her complexion was nourished, and her hands were gaining strength; she knew for certain that what they had at home was truly nutritious.

At that moment, she felt even more uneasy: “Why take the good stuff? Keep it to sell… Aren’t we eating well enough at home every day? Just take the scraps and soak them as if they were water to drink.”

The scraps she mentioned were really so small they couldn’t be smaller, with the largest piece not any bigger than a fingernail.

They were all selected with scissors, knives, and tweezers bit by bit.

Seventh Uncle would be too impatient even to bother with these when making soup, but this mother and daughter-in-law pair could sit for two to three hours, tirelessly sorting them all clean.

Not even those in ancient times who picked through bird’s nests were this meticulous!

They deserved these things.

The solar street lights in the village were still brightly lit at this time, and the main road was flat and secure. The sound of the wheelchair was lonely and desolate, exceptionally clear in the quiet of the deep night.

Inhaling deeply, Aunt Lianhua said, “Mom, what we eat and drink every day… I think, we have to work properly. When the house is built tomorrow, I won’t ask for a raise; we’ll just move into the new house, too.”

They treasured the work at their doorstep, knowing what was good for them.