Chapter 54.2

“Sister-in-law, do you have any tips for finding mushrooms? Please teach me quickly.”

Seeing that her plastic friend’s basket was also filled with mushrooms, Gu Yilin grew anxious.

“There’s no special trick to finding mushrooms,” Hu Wanning waved her hand, “Look under the fallen leaves for any raised areas. Then check the surrounding denser grass. Other than that, you can only use your eyes.”

“Huh?”

What kind of method is that?

Gu Yilin felt frustrated searching for mushrooms, while Ruan Mingfu had piles and piles of them, her luck overflowing.

She picked so many that she was tired of it.

In the end, she refused to take even the big ones.

Ruan Mingfu was very pleased with her good fortune.

She must be the heavenly daughter of fortune!

After stumbling upon another mushroom patch, Ruan Mingfu was convinced she was indeed the favored daughter of heaven.

With such good luck, who else could compare!

Eventually, she had so many mushrooms that her basket couldn’t hold them all, so Ruan Mingfu decided to stop picking. She took off her hat and sat under the tree’s shade to cool off.

It is early autumn now. Although the temperature was not as high as before, the autumn heat was still quite unbearable.

“Sister-in-law.”

Hu Wanning came over with the little chubby boy.

Her haul was also impressive, with at least half a basket full. But seeing Ruan Mingfu’s completely full basket, she was astonished.

“Sister-in-law, how did you get so lucky?”

She had worked hard, her eyes straining, and with the help of the little chubby boy, had only managed to gather a small amount.

Hu Wanning couldn’t help but admire her.

“Truly amazing.”

“It’s just luck, nothing more,” Ruan Mingfu said, looking at the assorted mushrooms in her basket, “Sister-in-law, can you take a look for me?”

It was the first time in her life she had experienced the joy of picking mushrooms.

It was indeed thrilling, no wonder people kept watching mushroom-picking videos online.

“Sure.”

Hu Wanning agreed immediately without a second thought.

She picked up three giant mushrooms, her eyes wide with amazement.

“Oh my gosh, sister-in-law, these three are huge,” Hu Wanning compared them to her hand, “They’re almost as thick as my wrist.”

Indeed, the larger the mushrooms, the bigger the cap.

Hu Wanning placed her hand next to these giant mushrooms, making her hand appear tiny in comparison.

“These three I found all together, growing side by side.”

She collected all of them in one go.

It was a pity she didn’t have a phone. Otherwise, she would have taken a dozen or so pictures to record this lucky and joyful moment.

“These three are enough for one meal,” Hu Wanning said, setting the three large mushrooms aside and starting to sort them. “These are red mushrooms—they’re very fresh and delicious. If you don’t finish them, you can dry them. In winter, they make a great addition to chicken stew.”

“This type is milk cap mushrooms, which are also quite tasty.”

“This one is a porcini mushroom…”

Hu Wanning finished sorting all the mushrooms in Ruan Mingfu’s basket.

“Sister-in-law, you’ve gathered quite a variety of mushrooms,” she said, picking up a white mushroom that was smaller than the large ones but still bigger than the ordinary ones, with a grayish cap. “This is an amanita mushroom.”

“Stay away from this type. It’s highly toxic and can cause poisoning if eaten.”

Ruan Mingfu examined it closely. “Could it be fatal?”

She had found a patch of them and, noticing their odd color, had picked one to have someone check it, but had forgotten about it until now.

“Of course, it could be fatal. The toxicity is very strong.”

Ruan Mingfu was taken aback.

She had thought it was a new type of mushroom. After all, there are edible mushrooms that are grayish-white. It turned out to be a poisonous one.

Fortunately, she had Hu Wanning to help her identify it.

“Then it should be discarded.”

“It’s fine, as long as you identify them in time,” Hu Wanning said as she sat down. “The taste of these mushrooms is excellent. In previous years, during this season, you could see people picking mushrooms all over the mountains.”

Sometimes, if you came late, you wouldn’t find anything.

They had arrived at dawn this time.

When they got there, many people were already on the mountain. Sister Lin had taken them along a small path to get to this spot.

This summer hadn’t been as dry as last year, and after the rain, the mushrooms in the mountains were thriving.

In the early morning, the forest was shrouded in mist. A gentle breeze eased the morning’s heat.

After picking for over an hour, they decided to head back.

On the way, Gu Yilin looked at her basket, which only had a few small mushrooms, while Ruan Mingfu’s basket was overflowing. Anyone would think she had been on a heist.

Gu Yilin couldn’t help but show her jealousy.

She stared enviously at the contents of Ruan Mingfu’s basket, wishing she could make them her own.

As the sun brightened, they arrived at the family compound and heard commotion ahead. The noise seemed close.

Ruan Mingfu’s eyes showed a hint of confusion.

“What’s going on?”

Hu Wanning tiptoed and peered ahead but saw only a crowd of people, making it unclear what was happening.

Sister Lin and the others headed in that direction as well.

With some excitement, no one wanted to miss out.

When they reached the commotion, Ruan Mingfu saw that a large crowd had gathered around her home. She thought something might have happened to her house, but then she heard a loud scream from the neighboring Gu family.

“…Unfilial son, how could I have given birth to such a beast, wanting to drive me away…”

Ruan Mingfu sighed in relief.

It wasn’t her family.

From what she heard, it seemed that Captain Gu wanted to send his mother away. Ruan Mingfu was curious—how could such a devoted son actually decide to send his troublesome mother back to her hometown? He must have been severely provoked.

Sister Lin and the others stood in Ruan Mingfu’s yard.

The view here was good, allowing them to see the commotion next door without having to squeeze with the crowd outside.

Ruan Mingfu decided to bring out some chairs for everyone to sit down.

Mother Gu was now in a sorry state compared to their first meeting.

Her hair was disheveled, making her look like a ragged old woman. Her clothes were covered in mud from rolling around.

It was truly pitiful.

Ruan Mingfu found it quite amusing.

After all, this old woman had mistreated her. She had already endured the insults when they first met, which she took as being bitten by a mad dog. Later, she had insulted her behind her back with particularly harsh words, as if Ruan Mingfu had desecrated her ancestors’ graves.

She believed she hadn’t done anything to offend the old woman.

If it weren’t for living next door, who would have known her?

“From the looks of it, Captain Gu is determined to send her away,” Sister Wang said, shaking her head. “Knowing what kind of person his mother is, he shouldn’t have brought her over in the first place. With Xiaoyue having no one to look after her and needing some food and money, it would have been better to leave her with the family members in the family compound.”

“Anyway, she’s more reliable than this old woman.”

“That’s right,” Sister Lin agreed. “What a calamity.”

Apart from nearly killing Li Xiaoyue and destroying her own son’s family, what good did Mother Gu gain from this incident?

“Who knows what she was thinking,” Hu Wanning commented, “if she could get along with Aunt Liu, what kind of decent person could she be?”

A cadre of the Women’s Federation?

Such a person doesn’t deserve it.

At this point, Sister Lin began to give advice to the only unmarried girl present.

“Yilin, dealing with a mother-in-law is a skill. When you start dating, keep your eyes open.”

Gu Yilin was enjoying the gossip when suddenly addressed, and turned in confusion.

“Then I’ll just find someone who has no parents.”

“Ah, that’s even worse,” Sister Wang said. “Without a mother-in-law, it’s harder. You’d have to handle everything at home and outside by yourself, with no one to share the burden. During the confinement period, it was still my mother who took care of me.”

Her own family had issues with it.

“When the child grows up, you’ll need to manage everything,” Sister Wang recalled, “one child is manageable, but what about two or three? The man is busy with military duties during the day and can’t help much.”

At least she has a mother-in-law who can help her, but if not, she can only endure it on her own.

Gu Yilin: “…”

Well, if having a mother-in-law is problematic, and not having one is even worse. How the hell is she supposed to choose?

“Such matters depend on the person,” Sister Lin, the seasoned veteran, concluded firmly, “As long as the future partner is clear-headed, there’s no need to fear poor relations between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.”

Ruan Mingfu didn’t need to worry about such issues.

Even if she had a difficult mother-in-law, she wouldn’t be afraid. With so many bodyguards at her brother’s disposal, she could easily line them up in front of her, ensuring absolute silence from anyone who dared to cause trouble.

The commotion continued on the other side.

“…Unfilial son, you actually drove me away for that woman?”

Mother Gu’s eyes were bloodshot as she reached out to grab him. Captain Gu, caught off guard, was scratched on his face, leaving several bloody streaks.

The people around gasped when they saw it.

They were so cruel, are they really mother and son?

Captain Gu did not resist, he just stood there like a log and let her beat and scold him. But the aunt who was eating melons could not stand it anymore and pulled Mother Gu away.

She struggled fiercely.

“Let go of me, let go of me…”

Ruan Mingfu watched this scene with a hint of speechlessness.

“Truly despicable.”

“What? What are you saying?”

Gu Yilin thought she was speaking about herself and rolled up her sleeves, ready to fight.

“I’m talking about Captain Gu,” Ruan Mingfu sighed as she watched, “He’s so indecisive and lacking in resolve. If he’s decided to send her away, why not be more assertive about it?”

Decisive action was needed.

At his age, how could he not understand such basic principles?

Putting on this display of ineffectiveness only provided entertainment and idle talk for others.

Fortunately, Xie Yanzhao wasn’t like that.

Otherwise, she would have kicked him out herself to avoid the stress causing her health issues.

Gu Yilin nodded in agreement.

“Exactly, he’s already been labeled an unfilial son, yet he’s so indecisive in his actions.”

This was something to remember.

In the future, she would definitely avoid such people when looking for a partner.

The commotion continued.

Even though several women were holding her back, Mother Gu still struggled constantly. She was incredibly strong, almost managing to break free several times.

Captain Gu lowered his head. “Mom, just go back.”

He even wished he could kneel and beg her to leave.

He knew he was unfilial, but… but he couldn’t lose Xiaoyue.