The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 301 - 290: Excuse

Chapter 301: Chapter 290: Excuse

When outsiders asked, they would swear that the Zhou brothers maliciously cut down their pine trees and trampled all the saplings they had planted.

There was no way to claim that the opposition was foraging for wild mushrooms on their mountain, as common sense dictates that such wild things, no matter on whose mountain they grow, can be picked by anyone who sees them.

Unless they were planted by you.

To claim that everything on the mountain was solely theirs was difficult not just in Qili Village but also in Dali Village.

Jia Sheng still wanted to mix in the village and didn’t wish to be too overbearing for the time being.

With a suitable excuse in hand, even if Zhou Silang and his brothers were beaten, it would be for nothing; but now if they caught up, and the others hadn’t been on their mountain nor had any encounter, another fight would be unjustifiable.

Potentially, it could end with the Zhou brothers knocking on their door to beat them up.

Therefore, Jia Sheng could only grind his teeth and glare at Zhou Silang and his brothers, trying to kill them with his gaze.

But he knew that after today, finding fault with Zhou Silang and his brothers would be difficult.

Jia Sheng turned and led Jia Li back up the mountain, returning to the three pine trees.

The area was very different from when Zhou Silang had left, as pits and holes had been dug among the trees, along with a massive excavation that had cut through numerous roots.

This was the work of Jia Sheng and Jia Li.

The day before, they had overheard talk about the Zhou brothers bringing back a full basket of wild mushrooms from the mountain.

The speaker was mostly envious, lamenting that they occasionally went mountain-foraging, stating that after all, these mushrooms are delicious and finding some would add a dish to the family’s meals, right?

But to the Jia brothers, it was a different story.

They knew that the Zhou brothers often searched for wild mushrooms at Zhong Mountain, which was a bit further from both villages, a place where people, whether gathering firewood, foraging vegetables, or hunting mushrooms, hadn’t yet managed to discover.

Only hunters from the village ventured into that stretch of mountains.

The villagers of Qili didn’t know how much those mushrooms were worth, but those who frequented the town knew.

Once, Jia Li had seen a woman from the town of White Horse Pass take seven or eight jin of wild mushrooms to the county every day, sorting them into various categories ranging from twenty to thirty wen per jin, netting at least one to two hundred wen a day.

The revenue was comparable to their charcoal burning in the winter.

Thus, Jia Li seriously sought mushrooms on the mountain, but these peculiar fungi were not something you found just because you wanted to.

His best haul was a mere eight taels.

Just eight taels; he couldn’t even be bothered to take them to the county, and in the big market, folks wouldn’t spend money on wild mushrooms.

So he just ate them himself.

It was sheer envy and jealousy that made them so angry about the Zhou brothers’ mushroom gathering on Zhong Mountain; they believed they couldn’t find any because the Zhou brothers had picked them clean.

Yet, both Jia Li and Jia Sheng had picked mushrooms before and knew that most could be plucked by hand directly, and the few that couldn’t be yanked out could be freed with a poke of a stick in the soil.

But such aggressive digging, especially so deep, among these three trees clearly wasn’t for harvesting mushrooms.

They stumbled upon this site after hearing rumors and venturing back up the mountain.

At the time, thorns had been chopped and discarded nearby; the soil, freshly turned, was clearly recently disturbed, which out of curiosity led the brothers to dig further.

Of course, they found nothing.

Initially, they thought little of it, assuming Zhou Silang and his brothers had found a bounty of mushrooms there, but now upon closer inspection...

Crouching on the ground, Jia Sheng pinched a clump of the freshly dug soil, squinting, "This isn’t right, you don’t need to dig this deep for mushrooms, do you?"

Jia Li’s eyes shone as he asked, "Could it be that they’ve dug up some treasure on our mountain?"

Jia Sheng gave him a sidelong glance and said, "What treasures could there be in these mountains?"

Considering that Zhou Erlang had been going to town daily, Jia Sheng suggested, "It must be something edible; I just don’t know what it is. You’ll find out if you sneak into town tomorrow and see what Zhou Erlang is selling."

Reluctantly, Jia Li replied, "Big brother, we need to start the wheat harvest tomorrow; where will I find the time?"

Most importantly, even if he saw it, without catching the Zhou brothers red-handed, they were powerless against them.

No, even with proof, there wasn’t much they could do, as these were wild things grown in the dirt, essentially finders keepers.

All they could do was imperiously forbid the Zhou brothers from mountain foraging.

As luck would have it, Jia Sheng’s family also needed to harvest wheat the next day.

When effort and reward didn’t align, it was clear no one was eager to spend extra energy, resulting in the brothers discussing back and forth before returning dispiritedly without mentioning stalking Zhou Erlang in town again.

Zhou Silang, who had nearly reached the village, simply led Manbao into a mountain at the village entrance.

This mountain was a jumble of all sorts of familiar and unfamiliar trees; while pines were present, they couldn’t compare to the extensive groves at Zhong Mountain.

Here, pines were scattered, interspersed with many other species of trees and plants.

Moreover, low-lying shrubs were predominant, and tangled vines made traversing them even more difficult.

Zhou Silang and Zhou Wulang blazed a trail out front, with Zhou Liulang bringing up the rear, leading Manbao.

It took the group of siblings considerable effort to scout almost half the mountain before they, with Keke’s help, found a pine tree hosting China root.

Zhou Silang carefully memorized the location of the tree, resolving to return next year at the same time.

If Manbao was correct that China root belonged to the fungi family, then it should reappear next year. This was an insight he’d garnered from years of mushroom foraging.

By the time the three dug out that one China root, dusk was approaching.

Zhou Silang felt that today’s gains were much less than usual and cursed the Jia brothers for their meddling, believing that, if not for their interference, they would’ve found more than just one.

Manbao suggested, "Silang, you can’t beat them, and since we’re almost finished with Zhong Mountain, let’s not go there again."

"What about next year?"

"Next year, we’ll sneak over again."

Hearing this, Zhou Silang chuckled mischievously; he too found the idea satisfying, especially the thought of letting the opposition learn what was taken only after the deed was done.

Zhou Wulang felt Silang was stirring up too much animosity and thus warned him, "Silang, be careful when you go out from now on, watch out for getting bagged."

"Let them dare!" scoffed Zhou Silang. "If they dare to bag me they’d better prepare to die because our brothers are not to be trifled with. For anyone who tries, expect retaliation, they’ll be beaten to death."

With that, Zhou Wulang wasn’t too worried.

To Manbao, this was all ordinary; she chattered away merrily as they walked back to the village. As they passed by their own mountain, they saw a fair number of people chopping bamboos.