The Greatest Village Doctor In The World-Chapter 41: The Mushrooms Have Sprouted
An hour later, sautéed button mushrooms with meat and wild pheasant stewed with hare were laid on the table.
Another hare was being roasted on the fire by Ling Feng, occasionally turned so it would soon be ready to toss over to Wang Cai.
The dining table was steaming hot, but Ling Feng felt a bit embarrassed and said with an awkward smile, "We don’t have much at home, so it’s just these two dishes, a bit shabby, huh."
"No worries, which family in the village doesn’t just have one dish for a meal? This is already quite lavish!" Li Yumei reassured warmly.
Li Shiyun had watched the two dishes being prepared and knew there was no strange meat involved this time, so she picked up her chopsticks without concern and said, "Aren’t you two hungry? I’m so hungry my stomach is stuck to my back!"
"Right, right, let’s eat, try the mushrooms first!" Ling Feng immediately responded.
Each of the women picked up a slice, and as soon as they put it in their mouths, they were immediately hit by its tender, smooth, and sweet taste!
After chewing a couple of times, they tasted the mushroom’s distinct rich aroma, causing both of them to widen their eyes in surprise, "What kind of mushrooms are these, how can they be so delicious!"
"Tastes good, right? I had never heard of it before and only tried this flavor yesterday!" Ling Feng said proudly.
The three of them chatted while eating, and the plate of sautéed mushroom with meat was quickly emptied. Not many pieces of meat had been eaten, but the mushrooms had been picked clean.
"They taste so good, these mushrooms must be very expensive, right?" Li Shiyun inquired.
"Hmm, the fresh ones go for a hundred yuan per half kilogram, and the dried ones are already over a thousand!" Ling Feng nodded.
Hearing this, the two women were astonished. Although they expected the mushrooms to be pricey, they hadn’t thought it would be to such an exorbitant extent!
"That’s why I plan to research and see if I can grow them myself. If I succeed, I’ll make a fortune!" Ling Feng declared with a laugh.
Upon hearing this, Li Yumei beamed, "Brother Ling Feng will certainly make it, I believe in you!"
But Li Shiyun scoffed, "Don’t dream too big. There are thousands of fungi species in the world, but only about a dozen have been domesticated for cultivation. You’re not the first to have tried cultivating these mushrooms to make money!"
Taken aback by her response, Ling Feng looked up at her, "You seem to know a lot, how do you know so much?"
"I studied it in school. Mushrooms aren’t animals or plants; they belong to microorganisms, and there’s a lot to learn about them! How about I find some information for you to read first?" Li Shiyun offered.
Despite her suggestion, Ling Feng remained unconvinced, "Alright, but there’s nothing in the world I can’t do. Just wait and you’ll be eating fresh mushrooms every day!"
Li Shiyun rolled her eyes, wondering where he got his confidence from, unafraid that his boastfulness would bite him in the tongue.
The mushrooms were gone, but the hare stew with wild pheasant remained untouched, and everyone was still hungry, so they finished it off.
After all, it was top-notch game, so that meal for Li Shiyun and Li Yumei was thoroughly savored, and although there were only two dishes, both were premium wild delicacies.
After the meal, Ling Feng wanted to send them home, but Li Shiyun stopped him, "I can take Yu Mei home myself, don’t you still have a lot to do?"
"That’s true, be careful on the road since it’s getting dark."
After seeing off the two women and watching their figures disappear into the distance, Ling Feng picked up the roasted hare and headed to the back of the house, calling out to Wang Cai.
A pair of glowing green eyes immediately appeared on the top of the wall, filled with a longing for food. Seeing this, Ling Feng quickly tossed the roasted meat over.
Wang Cai caught it in one bite and disappeared without a trace.
Then Ling Feng crouched down and put out some food for the hare and young pheasant as well - these creatures were also quite hungry.
Having dealt with that, he returned to his room and, after closing the door, began to study the remaining piece of mushroom.
The only thing he knew about this thing was its name; there was no other information available—no details about its living habits or cultivation methods. In other words, predecessors truly had no successful cultivation experience.
This thing was not a medicinal herb, so it couldn’t be refined with the "Classic of the Divine Farmer," but despite this, Ling Feng still gave it a try, and sure enough, it was ineffective!
He studied it until late at night without any results. Finally, his eyes could hardly stay open, so Ling Feng simply went to bed, deciding to deal with it tomorrow!
Just as dawn broke the next day, the sound of construction in the backyard entered his room, waking the soundly sleeping Ling Feng.
He got up, rubbed his eyes, and prepared to wash up before checking on the progress of the work, but when he reached the outer room, he was stunned!
In the hearth, a mass of finger-sized, round, white mushrooms had sprouted!
The mushrooms were so densely packed together that they formed a blanket and emitted a rich aroma!
"What’s going on? They just popped up on their own?"
Ling Feng crouched down and observed that these mushrooms had sprouted from the leftover burnt grass in the hearth from the previous night.
As he pondered, someone knocked on the door. He quickly got up and pushed the door open. He saw Li Shiyun standing at the entrance: "Good morning, Village Chief."
"Good morning indeed, the sun is already out. Here’s a book about fungi I found for you last night; take a look," Li Shiyun said, her hair tied in a ponytail, dressed simply and full of vigor.
"You’ve come at the perfect time, Village Chief. Quickly, help me check this out!" Ling Feng pulled her hand and walked into the house.
Li Shiyun was taken aback and hadn’t had time to react before being led into the room by him.
She had never held hands with a man before, with only the experience of shaking hands, and this manner felt very much like the hand-in-hand touch between a couple.
However, before she could think further, Li Shiyun saw the patch of small white mushrooms in the hearth!
"This is..."
She quickly crouched down, her eyes filled with astonishment. She looked and sniffed, then was utterly dumbfounded!
"Don’t be so surprised yet. Tell me, why did the mushrooms grow here and not anywhere else?" Ling Feng asked.
Li Shiyun looked up at him, "Fungi can’t perform photosynthesis like plants, so they need to absorb readily available nutrients. You have deadwood and moldy grass here, which is perfect for them. It’s all in the information I gave you!"
"I see!" Ling Feng nodded, a notion already dawning in his mind!
He had paced around the room with the mushroom for several laps last night. The fact that mushrooms only grew here was proof that what Li Shiyun said was reasonable.
Last night, he attempted to refine the mushroom using the energy within his body, and although it seemed ineffective at the time, this morning’s sight proved that the effort had been useful!
He had overcome the most challenging environmental problem in cultivating button mushrooms; he didn’t need barren mountains or meadows—he could grow them at home!
"You’re truly amazing, really doing as you said!" Li Shiyun stood up with stars in her eyes, admiringly said.
Hearing this, Ling Feng immediately puffed up with pride, scratching his head, "Oh, it’s nothing, just a small matter!"
He said that, but the smile on his face brimming with pride betrayed him!
