Chapter 18

Jiang Tiantian apologized,

“Am I really dragging us down?”

Cha Jiuzhang reassured her by patting her head.

“To be honest, you’ve already exceeded my expectations by far.”

“I originally thought we’d be heading back halfway through the climb.”

“I didn’t expect you to hold out this long. You’ve only just started feeling a little breathless, and we’re already near our destination.”

“You’ve done great.”

Being praised by the handsome young man instantly filled Jiang Tiantian with joy.

She straightened up, puffed out her chest, and proudly declared,

“Of course! Don’t underestimate me—I’m in great shape!”

Cha Jiuzhang’s gaze briefly flickered over Jiang Tiantian’s unusually perky chest today.

His mind couldn’t help but recall the soft, white buns he had seen last night.

Cough.

He quickly turned his head and closed his eyes for a moment to compose himself.

“Are you still planning to keep climbing?”

Jiang Tiantian had caught her breath and was ready to go again.

Hearing this, she immediately jumped to her feet.

“We’ve come this far—of course, we have to keep going!”

“My goal today is to fill my basket with matsutake mushrooms!”

With her resolve reignited, Jiang Tiantian was instantly back to full energy.

Cha Jiuzhang thought to himself, Matsutake mushrooms aren’t that easy to find. Besides, this little rookie might not even find one on her first try.

And she wants to fill her whole basket?

But he maintained a look of encouragement, nodding,

“Mm, I believe in you. You can do it.”

“San Ya, I’m coming!”

“Hurry and teach me how to find matsutake mushrooms!”

Cha Jiuzhang watched as Jiang Tiantian, full of energy again, leaped through the forest toward the front.

He raised an eyebrow in surprise, but soon, his deep eyes softened, and a smile curled at the corner of his lips.

This girl’s stamina is something else.

Jiang Tiantian followed behind San Ya and watched her closely as she dug out two matsutake mushrooms from the forest floor, where they blended almost perfectly with the surrounding soil, leaves, and moss.

Seeing this was even more exciting than finding one herself.

So, this is how matsutake mushrooms grow—how fascinating!

“I get it now! I know how to find them!”

“San Ya, just watch me!”

With that, Jiang Tiantian began searching around as well.

San Ya plucked two large leaves from a nearby bush, carefully wrapped each mushroom, tied them with a thin grass stem, and placed them in her basket.

“Alright, let’s have a competition to see who can find more!”

Jiang Tiantian imitated Sanya by picking up a handy wooden stick, her eyes shining as she eagerly scanned the forest floor.

Half an hour later…

Jiang Tiantian plopped down onto the ground, rubbing her eyes.

This is way harder than I thought. No wonder matsutake mushrooms are so expensive!

She heard San Ya’s excited shout in the distance, though she could barely see her figure anymore.

She stared blankly at the ground in front of her.

This is way too difficult.

Her eyes were practically strained from looking so hard.

Then suddenly, an idea struck her.

“Xiao Qi, can you send out a drone to help me find matsutake mushrooms?”

Xiao Qi quickly responded,

“We can give it a try.”

About ten minutes later…

Xiao Qi finally sent back coordinates of a location ahead.

Jiang Tiantian quickly rushed over and found a fully-grown matsutake mushroom on the ground.

She happily plucked it right away.

But… this kind of mushroom wasn’t the most valuable.

Oh well.

She could just keep it for herself to eat.

“Xiao Qi, great job! Keep going!”

Another ten minutes passed before the next location was found.

Jiang Tiantian ran over—only to find yet another fully-grown mushroom.

“Xiao Qi, can you find the ones that are just starting to sprout? San Ya said those are the highest quality.”

Xiao Qi responded,

“Tiantian, this is the drone’s first time searching for matsutake mushrooms. It needs to gather more sample data and environmental comparisons before it can accurately locate them.”

“Right now, the drone can only detect fully-grown matsutake mushrooms that are more visually prominent.”

“It will take some time to determine if it can find the young ones.”

Jiang Tiantian sighed in understanding.

“Alright then.”

Even AI wasn’t omnipotent—it had to learn and improve, too.

And she couldn’t slack off either. Time to keep looking!

Over half an hour later…

Jiang Tiantian looked at her nearly empty basket, containing only a few mature matsutake mushrooms, and her shoulders drooped.

“Xiao Qi, our efficiency is way too low.”

Xiao Qi reported back,

“There are too many trees and shrubs in this area. If the drone flies too high, the foliage blocks the view of the forest floor. But if it flies too low, the obstacles limit its scanning range.”

Jiang Tiantian rolled her eyes.

“Xiao Qi, why don’t you just deploy more drones to scan together?”

For a moment, Xiao Qi’s human-like digital face showed a rare hesitation.

“I currently have permission to deploy a maximum of ten mini-stealth drones. Would you like to release them all?”

Jiang Tiantian was speechless.

“Xiao Qi, as the saying goes, ‘use your best steel on the sharpest blade.’ If you don’t use them now, then when?”

As expected, deploying ten drones significantly boosted efficiency.

Soon, Xiao Qi started providing more frequent updates.

Although most finds were still mature matsutake mushrooms, eventually, they started detecting young ones just beginning to sprout.

Jiang Tiantian fully entered happy mushroom-picking girl mode.

She hummed a cheerful tune, hopping from one spot to another.

Every time she stopped, she harvested a new matsutake mushroom.

Cha Jiuzhang, while searching for mushrooms himself, kept a watchful eye on Jiang Tiantian.

He neither got too close to disturb her joy nor strayed too far ensuring she was always within his sight.

But gradually, he grew more and more curious.

At first, she was frustrated, struggling for over an hour without results.

Then, she slowly started to have some success, and her mood lifted.

But now, her confidence was through the roof.

And… wasn’t her luck a bit too good?

Her harvesting speed had already surpassed that of experienced mushroom pickers.

Had she figured out some secret technique?

Cha Jiuzhang could no longer stand still—he walked over toward Jiang Tiantian.

From afar, he saw her stop, squat down, and then quickly stand back up, holding yet another matsutake mushroom.

His pupils involuntarily widened.

What kind of God-tier luck is this?

As he got closer, he noticed that Jiang Tiantian’s basket was nearly full.

“…?”

Cha Jiuzhang blinked a few times, making sure he wasn’t seeing things.

This was truly… an unbelievable sight.

Jiang Tiantian heard footsteps, turned around, and immediately flashed an exaggerated grin at him, holding up her latest find.

“Look, look! Isn’t this one huge?”

Huge?

Cha Jiuzhang looked at the matsutake mushroom in her hand.

It was big.

Bigger than her palm, thick and plump.

But at that moment, seeing it in Jiang Tiantian’s delicate, fair hand…

Cha Jiuzhang suddenly had a very inappropriate association flash through his mind.

Quickly, he shook his head to rid himself of those thoughts.

Then, putting on a serious face, he praised,

“Not bad. This is a high-quality matsutake. You could sell it for a high price.”

Jiang Tiantian nodded.

She had eaten top-grade matsutake sashimi before, and this was definitely that level.