Chapter 26

The smile on Ding Gui’s face hadn’t faded since he found the first black truffle. Cheerfully, he said, “You two kids have no idea—this is something real special. Overseas—”

He almost let something slip and quickly corrected himself, “—I mean, toss it in a pot and stir-fry it lightly, and its aroma will linger in the room for days.”

Dabao and Erbao didn’t catch the slip about “overseas.” They thought he was talking about the pot lid.

And just listening to his description made their stomachs start to growl!

Ding Xiaodie encouraged everyone, “Be careful, alright? Since there are truffles here, there might be other kinds of mushrooms too. Gather as much as you can. We can make a big pot of mushroom soup when we get back. Mmm… just thinking about it makes my mouth water!”

This successfully made Dabao and Erbao laugh.

Before, they only knew there was a little girl in the village named Xiaodie—timid and shy, never daring to play with other kids. But now they realized: Xiaodie was a hidden gem!

She knew so much and spoke vividly. Sometimes, when she was thinking, she looked like a little grown-up.

Dabao couldn’t help but remark, “Uncle, you really taught Xiaodie well.”

And so, the four of them chatted while foraging. Not only did they find more black truffles, but also milk caps, matsutake, and other edible mushrooms.

Turns out, when they’d come up the mountain before, they only looked for fruit in the trees or rabbits on the ground—completely unaware that treasures lay hidden beneath the fallen leaves.

As they found more and more, Dabao asked Erbao to fetch some tree vines. He sat on the ground and started weaving baskets with his nimble hands. It didn’t take long before he made one.

Though simple, it did the job.

Erbao lined the basket with soft leaves and gently placed the mushrooms inside, one by one.

While resting, Ding Xiaodie picked up a chubby pink milk cap mushroom and popped it into her mouth. “See this? You can eat it raw. Try it.”

Dabao and Erbao quickly mimicked her and each tried one.

“Mmm, tasty.”

“Tastes sweet.”

“Xiaodie, you’re amazing!”

Seeing the two teenage boys so satisfied from just a single mushroom made Ding Xiaodie feel a pang in her heart. She deeply regretted who she used to be.

Back then, she’d refuse to eat the elaborate meals her parents made, insisting on dieting. When out with friends, she only cared about shopping, throwing away leftovers without a second thought.

It didn’t seem like a big deal then, but now she realized how sinful that wastefulness was.

They searched a while longer, but the mushrooms became harder to find. The basket was now full.

It was getting late—they had to head back.

The four of them followed the path they’d trampled through the leaves, heading downhill. But as the saying goes: going up is easy, coming down is hard.

Dabao and Erbao were fine, but Ding Gui and his daughter, with their build, found the descent rough—legs shaking the whole way.

“Dad, I think you should let Brother Dabao carry the basket,” said Xiaodie.

Ding Gui had been worried the boys might drop it—mushrooms bruise easily and could get ruined. But now, it seemed like he was more likely to fall than they were.

So, he handed the basket to Dabao. “Hold it steady—if you drop it, Uncle won’t forgive you.”

Dabao chuckled, “Don’t worry, Uncle.”

Erbao turned sideways and offered his hand to Xiaodie. “Xiaodie, want me to carry you?”

“No, no, I’ll walk myself,” she insisted stubbornly, relying on her skinny legs. She might be small, but she was twelve already. She couldn’t always be carried by the boys.

As she leaned on Erbao and carefully stepped on the loose leaves, suddenly there was a rustling sound behind them—shhht—followed by the crunch of rocks and sand tumbling their way.

“Ah! What’s that?” Xiaodie cried out in fright and instinctively leapt forward, clinging to Er Bao. He caught her in his arms just in time.

At that moment, something gray and blurry shot past them and crashed—thud!—right into a nearby tree.

“A rabbit?”

Xiaodie quickly climbed down from Erbao’s arms and looked closely.

No way! Today was really their lucky day—a rabbit just ran straight into a tree like it was trying to end its life. Was it that hopeless?

Hearing “rabbit,” Erbao finally caught on and broke into a wide grin.

Dabao, who had already gone a bit further down, turned around and ran back.

Ding Gui was stunned. He had seen the rabbit slam into the tree with his own eyes.

Before they could even react, another gray blur shot out—thud!—another rabbit crashed into a tree!

And then a third one—thud!

Ding Xiaodie jumped in shock: “…”

Ding Gui stood there with his mouth wide open: “…”

The father and daughter exchanged silent glances. What was going on? This kind of luck was just too suspicious. Wasn’t it a little too obvious?

In their hearts, they both silently suspected that the mischievous, all-powerful supplies space was acting up again.

But clueless Dabao and Erbao were just excited beyond belief: “Rabbit! Rabbit!”

“We’re having meat tonight! This is amazing!”

All three rabbits were big and fat. Judging by their size, even a whole family couldn’t finish one in a single meal.

“Heh, well, if the heavens are rewarding us, then let’s take the gift,” Xiaodie said boldly and stepped up to gather the rabbits. Dabao and Erbao each carried one, and she handed the last to her father.

It was weird, sure—but meat was meat.

After a brief moment of confusion, Ding Gui and Xiaodie were swept up in Dabao and Erbao’s joy. The four of them regained their cheerful spirits.

“Rabbit meat and black truffle,” Xiaodie smiled. “Totally worth the trip today.”

“Tell me about it. I never dreamed I’d ever get to eat this much black truffle in one go,” Ding Gui said meaningfully.

Once they reached the base of the mountain, they sat down to rest. Dabao and Erbao drank water from their gourd flasks and marveled at how cool and sweet it tasted. At this point, anything from Xiaodie was the best thing in the world.

As they approached the street, just like last time, Xiaodie divided their spoils into three portions.

One for her, one each for Dabao and Er Bao.

But this time, Dabao and Er Bao refused to accept.

“Uncle helped too, and if it weren’t for him teaching you, we wouldn’t have known truffles were edible. Honestly, Uncle deserves the most credit. We’re only taking one share—you and Uncle keep the other two,” Dabao insisted.

Then Erbao added, “We took two shares of the lotus root yesterday. Our grandma said we weren’t being fair or grateful. She said people like that won’t be blessed.”

Hearing this, Xiaodie felt a tightness in her chest. Their grandmother really was the well-raised daughter of a wealthy family—wise and gracious.