Chapter 146: The Queen of Mushrooms

The construction of the Fertilizer Plant took less than half a month to complete all the necessary buildings. The equipment was installed as well; it was second-hand equipment that had been sourced, but it was well-maintained, only with slightly lower production efficiency. However, with John the repairman around, there was no need to worry about its lifespan.

They also bought two vehicles, also second-hand, which were used for collecting and transporting manure. If they had bought new vehicles, Liu Heming’s money would not have been enough, and he would have had to spend Alex’s money, so at the moment, he was carefully managing his finances.

The construction period for the Ranch, on the other hand, took a bit longer, mainly because there were fewer workers. It was only because it was the off-season for farming in Xiangshui Town this month that everyone was not too busy; otherwise, the construction period would have been even longer.

Once all the construction was finished and the paint was applied, the place needed some time to air out, just like a newly renovated house. The only drawback was that the Cattle Shed currently had no cattle.

There was really nothing that could be done about this, as it required money to solve, and money was exactly what Liu Heming lacked right now. If it weren’t for the Ranch being large enough for the chickens, ducks, and geese to find food outside, his monthly expenses would have increased even more.

But that was only for now; when winter came, he would have to arrange for their food himself. Fortunately, he had planted a lot of Corn; otherwise, these pigs, chickens, ducks, and geese could have eaten him into poverty.

After the construction was completed, Liu Heming set up three large banquet tables on his Ranch and invited everyone from the town over. Everyone had a great time celebrating.

His cooking skills were once again praised by everyone. There was something special about cooking in large pots—whether it was stewing or stir-frying, each dish had its own unique flavor.

This was his way of thanking the townspeople of Xiangshui Town. Since he couldn’t build a big house for his daughter right away, he decided to take her to play in the Forest.

Although the Forest here wasn’t particularly spectacular, it was still a rare good Forest in the area. Moreover, this was where he had found the Bear Cubs. It seemed like so much time had passed already, and the Bear Cubs had grown into big kids.

What surprised Liu Heming was that Sasha was also very interested in this little outing. Normally, Sasha would spend her days curled up on the sofa in the Living Room reading.

This was something Liu Heming admired about her. If it were him, not only would he not read, but even seeing those books would give him a headache.

When they arrived at the small Forest, the Bear Cubs were also very excited, circling around Liu Heming, running back and forth. They had pretty much explored the entire Ranch, but this place was a first in their memory, even though they originally came from this very Forest.

“Last time when I found them, I came here to look for small branches and then saw them. They were thin and small back then, but now they’ve grown so big,” Liu Heming said with emotion.

“They developed very quickly, much stronger than normal bears,” Sasha said, stroking Xiong Er, who had wandered over to her.

Even though the two Bear Cubs looked a bit fierce now that they had grown up, in the eyes of Liu Heming and the others who had watched them grow up since they were little, they were still just as cute as before. Not to mention, they were now self-sufficient bears, helping Liu Heming with many tasks every day.

Alex was also very happy. She rarely got to go out and play with Mom and Dad. After arriving here, along with the two mischievous Bear Cubs, she ran off quite far.

“Huh? Why do these trees look like they were burned? Oh no, it seems a large area inside was burned,” Liu Heming said gloomily after walking deeper into the Forest for a while.

“Maybe there was a forest fire here. It looks like the burned area was quite large. It’s a pity for these trees. Sorry, I didn’t really pay much attention to this area before,” Sasha said apologetically after looking around.

“Ah, it’s fine. Just providing me with a place to stay was already the biggest help you could give me. Actually, this Ranch is quite good; otherwise, I wouldn’t have met the Bear Cubs, and Alex wouldn’t have picked up those Little Kittens,” Liu Heming said with a smile.

This was a kind of mutual understanding that came from spending a long time together. Although he didn’t communicate much with Sasha on a daily basis, he had learned a lot about her personality.

In his opinion, Sasha had the temperament of a young lady. She usually cared most about Alex, and then about books. As for things like household chores and daily necessities, she wouldn’t bother with them at all.

He used to think that Sasha had tricked him, but it was precisely because of being “tricked” that he encountered the System. Even if the System was a bit unconventional, it had already brought him over a hundred thousand US Dollars in income, which was nearly a million Chinese Yuan.

As they continued further inside, the trees here were burned even more severely. It seemed the wildfire here had been very intense at the time. Some trees had even died, though it was unclear how the fire was eventually extinguished.

“Wow, there really are some!” Sasha exclaimed as she ran to the side and crouched down excitedly.

“Did you find something?” Liu Heming approached and crouched down beside her. He breathed in the fragrance drifting from Sasha and felt quite content.

“Look, this kind of mushroom is very delicious,” Sasha said, digging a mushroom out of the ground and showing it off to Liu Heming, just like Alex often did.

“This looks familiar to me. Let me think… let me think… that’s right, it’s a Morel Mushroom,” Liu Heming said after carefully examining it, slapping his forehead in recognition.

“You know it too?” Sasha asked curiously.

Liu Heming nodded with a bitter smile. “When I was younger, my family was poor. Later, a merchant came specifically to buy this kind of Morel Mushroom. In our local area, we also called it ‘Honeycomb Mushroom’ because its cap has many little pits.”

What Liu Heming didn’t say was that back then, they went crazy collecting these mushrooms. Both fresh and dried ones were being purchased, but at the time, they didn’t know the value of these mushrooms. The price offered was low, but they still eagerly delivered them.

It wasn’t until University, when the internet became widespread, that he learned more about this mushroom. It was called the Morel Mushroom, a delicacy among mushrooms, renowned as the “Queen of Mushrooms.”

But even after learning about it, such mushrooms were no longer found in his hometown. Not just Morel Mushrooms, but even ordinary mushrooms had become rare. Nowadays, fast-growing forests were planted, and pesticides were used, so there were no mushrooms left.

He never expected to find them here in the United States. It seemed he had some luck in tasting good food. He just didn’t know how many there were. He never got to taste them as a child, so now he had to savor them properly.