Wang Shijing could not remember the exact location of the tea trees as he intuitively took Shao Yunan up the mountain. Not long after they started walking, Shao Yunan forcefully broke away from Wang Shijing’s hand. When Wang Shijing turned back, he was walking to the side.

“There are osmanthus flowers here! I can smell the fragrance of osmanthus.” The solemnity in Wang Shijing’s one eye immediately dissipated as he also tried to smell it, after which he called, “Pay attention to your feet. The grass is full of bugs and you should also be careful of snakes.” Shao Yunan immediately stopped and turned his head. “Lead the way then, I can smell them from this side.”

Wang Shijing walked in front of Shao Yunan and again grabbed his wrist and took him to find the sweet-scented osmanthus. After walking four or five meters, a track of sweet-scented osmanthus forest appeared in front of Wang Shijing, making Shao Yunan very happy. “Brother Shijing, take note of this location, so when we build a new house we can transplant a few osmanthus.”

“Alright.” Wang Shijing looked at the surrounding environment and carefully noted down the location of the sweet-scented osmanthus.

“Let’s pick some flowers and make sweet-scented osmanthus dumplings to eat.”

“Okay.”

Wang Shijing went to pick the flowers and Shao Yunan told him to wait as he also went to pick them. Thinking that he might encounter tea trees, Shao Yunan had taken several cloth bags with him. He now took out one to pack the sweet-scented osmanthus. After filling it with sweet-scented osmanthus, he put it into his basket with satisfaction.

The two men returned to their previous path and continued to walk deeper into the mountains. The dampness in the forest this season was relatively heavy, so Shao Yunan found several kinds of mushrooms. Wang Shijing was also used to picking mushrooms in the woods so with his guidance, the two men picked all the edible mushrooms.

“The forest is really the richest treasure house ah.” In the process of picking mushrooms, Shao Yunan also found Artemisia annua. This was something that Wang Shijing had never eaten before and regarded as a weed. Shao Yunan picked a large pile and threw some into the space when Wang Shijing wasn’t paying attention. Artemisia annua was one of the best ingredients of hot pot.

Aah! Hot Pot! Shao Yunan was hit in the head by a brilliant light. Wang Shijing, who was holding several large mushrooms that were as thick as a child’s wrist, came back to his senses when he saw Shao Yunan staring dumbly at the edible wild vegetable that he called ‘Artemisia’ previously in his hand.

“Yunan?” Shao Yunan looked up, his eyes glowing. “I’ve thought of a small business we can do first.” Wang Shijing’s one eye met with his smile. “What small business?”

“Let’s go back and I will tell you.”

Shao Yunan’s joy infected Wang Shijing as he put all the mushrooms in his own back basket while also putting the artemisia that was in Shao Yunan’s hand into his own back basket. Then he pulled Shao Yunan’s wrist as they continued walking.

“Brother Shijing, are there any tigers or wolves here? Didn’t you say there were wild animals here?” Wang Shijing continued to open the road as he said, “We would need to go deeper to encounter any wild beast, so we won’t go deeper. There are no wild animals in the mountains and forests by the village, but sometimes wild boars will come down from the mountains. When the crops are about to be harvested, the village will arrange some patrols and dig some straps to prevent wild boars. They would also organize people to go into the mountains to kill the wild boars.”

“Wild boar, it must taste good.” This was one of the sadnesses of being a modern man. Wang Shijing immediately said, “If you want to eat it, I’ll hunt it for you later.” Shao Yunan looked at Wang Shijing’s broad back and suddenly was under the illusion that this ‘man was very reliable.’ Taking a deep breath and suppressing the restlessness in his heart, Shao Yunan continued to keep an eye on the path.

“Brother Shijing, look… is that a chestnut?” Various mountain treasures made Shao Yunan very happy. The tea trees had not been found yet, but the rich variety of mountain products along the way was exciting enough. Wang Shijing also found a large red, sour fruit. After Shao Yunan’s careful observation, he decided that it was very similar to goat’s milk fruit. Goat milk fruit tasted sweet and sour. It could be eaten raw or could provide food coloring, but even more importantly, it could be made into wine!

Shao Yunan remembered that in his ‘previous life’ he had seen the goat’s milk in June and July, but here there were still some fruits  even in September. They were quite ripe and those that weren’t were golden yellow. This goat milk shrub was two to three meters high. The ground around it was thickly covered with rotten fallen fruits. Shao Yunan seriously suspected that goat’s milk fruit here could bear fruits just like that in modern times. But it was also a good thing for Shao Yunan, it was money!

“Brother Shijing, remember this place. We will come back here tomorrow and pick all of these! With this we can not only make wine, but also jam!”

Shao Yunan picked two fruits and ate one of them by himself. It was sour and sweet; so delicious! Then he stuffed one into Wang Shijing’s mouth. Wang Shijing’s one eye became a little bent. Shao Yunan reached out and took off his eye patch. “It’s just you and me here. Don’t wear it. Isn’t it delicious?”

Instead of grabbing his eye patch, Wang Shijing said, “When village people go into the mountains and see red sour fruit they will pick it up as a snack, but no one comes here. I will take you back here tomorrow.”

Shao Yunan rolled his eyes and said, “Then let’s come a little earlier and don’t let other people see it. I want all of these.” Exclusivity is the best!

“Alright.”

Shao Yunan really had no goat milk fruit in his space, so he quickly picked a handful of the goat milk fruit and threw it into the space when Wang Shijing had his back to him. Sure enough, there is no other way! There was Wang Shijing, a reliable person and there was also this mountain. He couldn’t say that he would get rich here, but his life would be guaranteed! Half of the big stone weighting in his heart has been removed, so Shao Yunan became much more relaxed.

Wang Shijing, who was walking in front, also felt Shao Yunan’s relief and joy, so he held Shao Yunan’s wrist a little tighter. Can he look forward to a real home, too?

Wang Shijing’s back basket was almost full before they could even find the shadow of the tea trees. Shao Yunan found a wild peach tree, with very small peaches. Shao Yunan picked a few and decided that he would come for the rest the day after tomorrow. What pleased Shao Yunan most about this peach tree was not the peaches, but the prospect of peach gelatin, which was very nourishing. 

Of course, he had to pick it all. If it wasn’t for the fear of exposing his space, Shao Yunan wouldn’t dare to leave this thing here until tomorrow. In addition, there were also fungus, stone fungus, wild chrysanthemum, and so on… As long as he saw something that could be eaten and could be taken away today, he absolutely scavenged it clean. It was not until Shao Yunan started sweating that Wang Shijing stopped again and pointed ahead saying, “Yunan, look at that. Isn’t that a tea tree?”

Shao Yunan immediately walked excitedly to Wang Shijing’s side. Looking forward, he exclaimed, “Ancient tea tree! There is an ancient tea tree here!” Shao Yunan put down the basket with bright eyes and ran over. Wang Shijing also put down his basket and hurriedly followed him. In front of them was an ancient tea with more than a dozen trees. In modern society, the ancient tea tree only grew sporadically in the southwest. Shao Yunan never thought that there would be an ancient tea forest in this ordinary village!

Edited by: Jaisland

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