The man was in his forties, not very tall. Yan Xue had seen him before and had even been to his home once.
But the visit hadn’t been pleasant, and by all rights, this man shouldn’t have shown up at the training center at all.
Yan Xue couldn’t help but glance at Zhou Wenhui beside her. Zhou Wenhui had already withdrawn her gaze, her face expressionless, lips pressed tightly together.
The entrance to the training center wasn’t that big. Before the guard could even ask who he was looking for, the man had already spotted them. “Wenhui.”
He then told the guard, “This is my daughter. She works as an accountant here at your training center.”
The guard suddenly recognized her. “Oh, you’re Accountant Zhou.” Unaware of the backstory, he noticed Zhou Wenhui’s face grow even colder.
But Father Zhou seemed oblivious and stepped forward. “Wenhui, your dad’s here to see you.”
Compared to the coldness Yan Xue had witnessed at Zhou’s house before, his tone was much gentler now.
When he saw Yan Xue, he even greeted her, “You must be that technician, Yan Xue, from Wenhui’s department?”
It seemed he no longer remembered that Yan Xue had been to his home, or maybe he hadn’t really paid attention to Yan Xue and Liu Weiguo’s group that day.
Zhou Wenhui’s face tightened. She had no desire to talk to him. “Is there something you need?”
She guessed there was some family matter, but Father Zhou’s expression darkened. “You’re my daughter. If I don’t have a reason, can’t I just come to see you?”
She felt she couldn’t bear it. Who knew what price she’d have to pay for his visit?
A faint self-mockery tugged at the corner of Zhou Wenhui’s lips. “Then you’ve come at a bad time. I have things to do and need to leave now.”
She tried to walk past Father Zhou, but his face hardened. “You’ve really got some nerve. You come home for the New Year, and you don’t even eat a single meal there. Now that I’m here to see you, that’s not allowed either?”
His words were full of reproach, tinged with anger. “No matter what, I’m your father. Is this how you treat your own dad?”
Zhou Wenhui was a girl with a strong sense of morality. He spoke like this, even in front of others, clearly hoping to force her to give him some face.
After all, he was her father. Whether right or wrong, in the eyes of outsiders, if Zhou Wenhui didn’t show him respect, she would be the one at fault.
But Zhou Wenhui didn’t respond as he expected. “Wasn’t it you who said I might as well beg on the streets than go back to the Zhou family? How could I dare eat your food then?”
Her face was still stern, but her voice was calm and steady—not like before, when she would turn red with embarrassment.
Father Zhou was momentarily at a loss for words. “That was said in anger. I’m your dad. How could I really forbid you from coming home?”
“When I came back three days ago, you didn’t let me in,” Zhou Wenhui said evenly. “You even poured a basin of water outside the door.”
Though she had only gone back to see her mother, being turned away like that had chilled her heart even more.
Zhou Wenhui looked at Father Zhou. “I care about my dignity. After what you said, how could I dare to step foot in your house again?”
Her words made Father Zhou’s face flush with a mix of anger and embarrassment. “What are you saying? Even if... even if what I said back then was wrong, I’m still your father!”
Would he really admit his mistake? Zhou Wenhui felt no relief, only growing more wary. “You don’t happen to have some other reason for coming, do you?”
Before Father Zhou could even open his mouth to argue, she cut him off, “The Liu family didn’t help you get promoted any further, and I don’t have the money to bribe your superiors.”
Father Zhou’s face turned a shade of green with frustration. He hadn’t expected that in just a few years, his daughter would change so much—standing her ground and even talking back.
What surprised him even more was that the boy she had insisted on marrying, a guy from the valley, hadn’t ruined her life after all. Instead, she had managed to transfer to the county.
Now, she worked as an accountant at the cultivation center, specializing in cultivating wood ear mushrooms. Everyone in Chengshui knew about wood ear mushroom farming and how profitable it was.
Even that guy he had never really looked at twice was doing well. Word was, his sales were so good that he was about to become the official wood ear mushroom salesman for all of Chengshui.
Everyone knew that working in sales meant extra perks, and you could get your hands on good stuff from outside. People who heard about him always said he was really lucky.
But he never got to enjoy that luck. He never saw any of those perks or basked in any glory.
The couple didn’t even want to come home. He had to swallow his pride to come looking for them, only to be scolded.
Sure enough, daughters are raised for other families. No matter how good you are to them, once they marry out, they only look out for themselves.
Father Zhou was here, and though he offered his apologies, seeing that Zhou Wenhui was stubborn as ever, he could only turn to Yan Xue. “Technician Yan, look at her, she’s always been headstrong. I just said something in anger back then, but she’s held on to it ever since.”
What parent doesn’t have their faults? Besides, he had already humbled himself. He trusted that Technician Yan was reasonable and would help persuade that unfilial girl.
But Yan Xue just smiled brightly and said, “Please don’t call me ‘Technician Yan,’ that sounds so formal. I’ve been to your home before, with Weiguo. Don’t you remember?”
Father Zhou had really forgotten, but as he thought about it, he could recall. His face stiffened immediately, realizing he might have come to the wrong person.
Sure enough, Yan Xue’s smile didn’t waver. “Back when Jiang Debao was involved, my husband and I were both there. When Weiguo wanted to hit Jiang Debao, my husband even stepped in to stop him.”
Though he was trying to stop Weiguo, that didn’t matter. Qi Fang had stepped in, right? And quite effectively too, it seemed.
Yan Xue was basically telling Father Zhou, “I know all about you trying to sell off your daughter. Don’t expect me to morally pressure her for you.”
Father Zhou could tell from her tone, and his face grew even darker. Yet, for the moment, he couldn’t think of anything to say in reply.
Yan Xue glanced at her watch. “Uncle, we still have a business trip. If we don’t leave now, we’ll miss the train. We won’t keep you any longer.”
She took Zhou Wenhui’s hand. Zhou Wenhui didn’t even glance at her father once more. The two of them hurried off toward the nearby bus stop.
Only after getting off the bus and boarding the train bound for Baisong County did Yan Xue ask Zhou Wenhui, “Still angry?”
“A little,” Zhou Wenhui smiled bitterly. “He didn’t even come to my wedding back then. He made my mom deliver a message saying he didn’t acknowledge me.”
Now that she and Liu Weiguo were doing well, successful even, he suddenly wanted to mend fences. Why should she?
Even though he was getting older, she truly felt that she had made a mistake back then—she had never been this angry before. But when she and Weiguo hadn’t yet left the valley, why hadn’t he come to see her?
The only thing that made Zhou Wenhui feel a bit more at ease was that Yan Xue never acted like those meddlesome aunts who, upon seeing her, would immediately try to persuade her and her father to reconcile.
Not only that, they’d want her to go apologize to her father, admit her mistake, and say that her father was just speaking casually—after all, can a father and daughter really hold a grudge overnight?
Yan Xue even smiled at her, “Looks like you really have moved on, Accountant Zhou.” Her smile was teasing yet sly.
Zhou Wenhui couldn’t help but smile a little, “I really have moved on.” She was living better than she ever had before—something she had never imagined possible.
“That’s what matters most,” Yan Xue said with a smile, looking at her so warmly that Zhou Wenhui nodded again, “It really is the most important thing.”
The one she was going to spend her life with was Weiguo. As long as he was willing to understand and support her, there was no need to take everything to heart.
Thinking this, Yan Xue asked again, “Weiguo has now switched to working as a salesperson in town. Have you two decided where to settle down yet?”
“We have,” Zhou Wenhui’s face warmed at the mention. “He said he has a more flexible schedule than I do, so he’ll commute back and forth and we’ll settle in the county.”
Liu Weiguo knew how to spoil his wife, so Yan Xue wasn’t surprised at all. “That means you can bring Airong over too.”
“Yeah.” Zhou Wenhui’s smile grew warmer. “We’re planning to find a place near the center, so during the day we can send her to daycare.”
Nowadays, most larger workplaces had daycare centers where parents could drop off their kids in the morning and pick them up after work.
If the workplace was small, there were county or town daycares. Near their center, there was even a forestry bureau daycare.
Thinking about all this, life really was getting better and better, and Zhou Wenhui felt her spirits lift again.
The two of them changed buses once more in Ba Song County before finally arriving at Wugang Town. The forestry bureau there had already sent someone to wait for them. “Will you be resting in town tonight, or...?”
“We’ll go straight to the forest farm,” Yan Xue and Zhou Wenhui, both from forestry backgrounds, didn’t fuss over formalities—they valued efficiency more.
The Wugang Town Forestry Bureau sent a motorcycle cart to take them directly to the nearest cultivation base outside town.
Wugang Town had only ordered 3,000 bottles of fungal strains and set up two bases, but in terms of attitude, they were far better than the forestry bureau in Liuhu Town.
Not only was everything arranged perfectly along the way, but at the first base, the forest farm secretary personally came out to greet them. “Thank you both for your hard work, technicians.”
He shook hands with Yan Xue and Zhou Wenhui one by one, speaking sincerely, “We’re counting on you two technicians at our base.”
He personally arranged accommodations for them at the guesthouse and, after confirming they didn’t need to rest, took them to inspect the base.
Their base was carefully chosen according to Yan Xue’s specifications: close to a water source, well-ventilated, and facing north to south. It was clear that a lot of thought had gone into it.
When Yan Xue and Zhou Wenhui arrived, the people at the base became even more enthusiastic. After the forestry secretary finished the introduction, the applause that had been building up didn’t stop.
Zhou Wenhui, not used to such a grand reception, felt a little embarrassed. That evening, back at the guesthouse, she couldn’t help but say to Yan Xue, “They’ve made me feel a bit awkward.”
“See? They’re smart people,” Yan Xue smiled. “Just wait, these two bases in Wugang will definitely take off.”
With such a warm welcome—being personally received by the secretary, greeted with applause throughout the base, and addressed as technicians—how could they not appreciate and teach well?
Besides, Wugang Town isn’t even part of Changshan County; they still crossed county lines to purchase this batch of strains. That kind of boldness isn’t something just anyone can muster.
Early the next morning, the two rushed to the base, where everything needed was already prepared. Another group had also arrived.
They were from another base in Wugang Town, led by the same forestry secretary. “I’ve brought everyone along, so there’s no need for you two technicians to teach them all over again,” the leader said with a cheerful smile. “But once the training is done, please come over and take a look. Guide us and see if there’s anything we’re not doing right.”
Who could refuse such an offer? Their attitude was more than considerate. So, in the end, Yan Xue and Zhou Wenhui went.
When they arrived, they naturally pointed out areas that needed improvement. If the base workers hadn’t fully grasped something, they asked questions and received detailed explanations.
Before they left, the base even sent a young girl to present each of them with a flower wreath woven from winter jasmine branches.
“There’s not much good stuff in the mountains at this time of year. What we have, your county doesn’t lack. This is just a small token of appreciation for the effort you two technicians have put in,” she said.
Zhou Wenhui couldn’t wipe the smile off her face. After getting into the car, she even reached out to touch the winter jasmine buds. “If we stayed any longer, I’d feel too embarrassed to linger here.”
Yan Xue laughed too. “Yeah, if we stayed any longer, I’m afraid all the knowledge in our heads would be picked clean—completely emptied.”
Hearing this, Zhou Wenhui couldn’t help but chuckle. They hadn’t expected such a warm reception on their side, and because they stayed two days later, Guo Chang’an and Lang Yue’e also returned late.
When Zhuang Qixiang asked about it, Guo Chang’an remained calm. “Since it was us going over, there were some objections from Donggou, but they’ve been resolved.”
Only Yan Xue had been featured in the newspaper at the center, so everyone naturally recognized her. Seeing that it was actually Guo Chang’an and Lang Yue’e who had gone, some were a bit skeptical.
But Guo Chang’an hadn’t been with Yan Xue for years without reason. Once he arrived, he immediately identified several problems, each one right on target.
His skills were truly top-notch. Despite his limited mobility, his eyes were as precise as a ruler—he could spot a millimeter more or less at a glance.
The crowd went from initial doubt to genuine admiration. By the time the two were about to leave, they were fully convinced and respectful.
Later, the forestry secretary from Donggou Town called Zhuang Qixiang and mentioned Guo Chang’an, saying, “He’s from Jinchuan too, right? You’d never guess it just by looking.”
Zhuang Qixiang had already gotten used to it. "Without solid skills, I wouldn't dare send anyone to guide you all in planting."
After returning from the two towns, the few of them sorted out the remaining mushroom spores and checked the inoculation progress at the cultivation center.
This year's spores had already reached the fifth generation in comparison tests. The fifth-generation spores had severely degenerated, with poor resistance to contaminant fungi, making them unsuitable for further cultivation.
Gao Daidi, now a skilled worker, had finished inoculating all the comparative spores during their absence, dividing them according to regions.
As for the spores left to sell to the forestry farms in various towns, there were fewer than 1,000 bottles remaining. Yan Xue hadn't touched them yet, keeping them in reserve in case any forestry base needed to replenish their stock.
Early in the inoculation process, contamination by foreign fungi was detected, sometimes severe enough to require cleaning out the drilled holes. In fact, these could be re-inoculated.
Though the new spores would sprout a bit later, it wouldn't affect the following second and third years. It was better than leaving the spots empty and suffering continuous yield losses for three years.
Sure enough, later on, Chengshui and Donggou replenished some spores here, totaling over 500 bottles. However, Wugang did not add any.
That left only about 200 bottles remaining. Yan Xue thought for a moment and asked Zhou Wenhui, "Have all the canning jars from the towns been returned?"
Since the jars were reused, each town's forestry bureau paid a deposit when taking the spores. The deposit would be refunded once the jars were returned.
Zhou Wenhui, who was most familiar with the accounts, replied, "They've all been returned. About a hundred were damaged, and the cost has already been deducted from the deposits."
"Then wash up some of these jars—I have a use for them," Yan Xue said after thinking it over. "Let's start by cleaning two thousand."
Guo Changan, who was also counting spores at the time, asked, "Are you planning an experiment?"
"Something like that," Yan Xue replied. "I'm wondering, since wood can be used for growing, can sawdust be used too?"
"Sawdust?" Guo Changan was genuinely surprised.
"Yes, sawdust is wood too, just in small pieces. Besides, the original and cultivated spores we use are grown on sawdust."
Actually, Yan Xue wanted to test whether she could simulate hanging-bag cultivation using canning jars. Previously, she had used jars as a substitute for plastic bags when cultivating the original and cultivated spores.
But she wasn't very confident herself, let alone others. When Zhuang Qixiang heard this, he found it downright baffling. "Growing wood ear mushrooms on sawdust? Aren't wood ears supposed to grow on wood?"
Wild wood ear mushrooms do grow on wood, so people could understand using wood to cultivate them. But switching to sawdust—no one would have guessed their components were essentially the same.
Yan Xue knew that growing wood ears on sawdust was indeed feasible—the hanging-bag cultivation method came later. It had a shorter growth cycle and higher yield, although the texture and nutritional value were inferior.
Of course, she couldn't say all this outright. "I just want to give it a try. After all, sawdust is wood that's been cut up, and we've already used it to cultivate spores before."
She discussed with Zhuang Qixiang, “We still have some unsold mushroom spores, so we might as well use them. Otherwise, it would be a waste. Compared to logs, sawdust is easier to handle and takes up less space to cultivate.”
The biggest advantages of bag cultivation over log cultivation are that the raw materials are cheaper and more readily available, and the space utilization is higher—you can even grow indoors.
Their cultivation center had plenty of rooms suitable for trying out this method. Yan Xue didn’t want to be left with nothing to do once the mushroom spores were all sold out in April.
Moreover, log cultivation had a major limitation: it required natural wood. The forest’s leftover logs were limited, and sooner or later they would run out. It wasn’t practical to cut down trees just for growing wood ear mushrooms.
After all, the forests were state-owned at this time, unlike later when they were contracted out to individuals who could specifically plant tree species suitable for growing wood ear mushrooms and harvest them regularly.
After much consideration, Zhuang Qixiang decided to let Yan Xue give it a try. After all, it was Yan Xue who had come up with the idea of cultivating wood ear mushrooms.
Besides, if they didn’t use these spores, it would truly be a waste. To grow mushrooms, they still needed wood, but unlike logs, the center already had plenty of sawdust on hand.
Soon, 2,000 canning jars were cleaned, sterilized under high pressure, and filled with a mixture of 78% sawdust, 21% rice bran, and 1% sugar.
Compared to the original and cultivated strains’ substrates, they had switched to a different material, but Yan Xue only knew the proportions and wasn’t clear on the differences in growth conditions between the mycelium and the fruiting bodies.
This would require some trial and error. Before that, however, everyone at the center had already heard some news: the forestry bureau in Liuhu Town was likely to face difficulties this year.
The news came from Liu Weiguo, who had recently rented a house nearby with Zhou Wenhui and moved in. It was only May, and there wasn’t much wood ear mushroom to sell yet, so he had been free and went up the mountain a few times to forage for wild vegetables.
He brought back the harvest to the center to share with everyone, even giving some to Zhuang Qixiang and the security guards. This made Zhuang Qixiang feel a bit embarrassed. “I don’t need any,” he said.
“That won’t do,” Liu Weiguo replied with a smile. “My Wenhui works for you, and you’ve taken good care of her. How could we forget you?”
This made Zhuang Qixiang feel even more awkward. After all, when Zhou Wenhui first arrived, he had doubted her abilities and almost embarrassed her.
Liu Weiguo simply handed him a bundle of large-leaf celery. “Please take it. It’s nothing valuable. If they weren’t not collecting wild vegetables this year, I could have gathered more.”
Yan Xue, on the other hand, didn’t hold back with Liu Weiguo. When he and Zhou Wenhui moved recently, she and Qi Fang had gone to help and had a meal there.
What caught her attention was a key point in Liu Weiguo’s words. “You just said they’re not collecting wild vegetables this year. Are there fewer wild vegetables this year?”
“Not really many,” Liu Weiguo said. “Last year there was little snow, and some of the roots of the wild vegetables were frozen and damaged. They didn’t grow much this year.”
Plants like Siberian ginseng and Eleutherococcus were okay, but herbaceous wild vegetables like large-leaf celery had shallow roots and needed a thick layer of snow to protect them in winter.
If the snow was scarce that year and the roots were damaged, it would be hard to gather much the following year. That’s why Yan Xue said this business was unstable.
The moment she asked, the others all caught on. Zhou Wenhui even double-checked, “What about niu mao guang? Is there a lot of niu mao guang?”
“Even less than daye qin,” Liu Weiguo said. “Daye qin is way more common than niu mao guang.”
That secretary from Liuhu Town must be having a rough time this year. He just quit the mushroom business and was planning to pick wild vegetables to earn some foreign exchange, but now there’s no harvest of wild vegetables this year.
Everyone exchanged glances, thinking that it was still early in the season to jump to conclusions—after all, nothing had been officially said yet.
Liu Weiguo, who had been up in the mountains last year and didn’t know about Liuhu Town’s situation, asked Zhou Wenhui, “What’s up? You want to eat niu mao guang? I can pick some for you when I go up the mountain tomorrow.”
Suddenly, all eyes turned to Zhou Wenhui, smiling and teasing her, making her blush. “Who said I want to eat niu mao guang?”
“Then what do you want to eat?” Liu Weiguo rubbed his hands together eagerly. “Just tell me what you want. I’m free anyway.”
The others couldn’t help but laugh even more. Yan Xue gave Zhou Wenhui a little push. “Alright, people are here to pick you up. You’d better get off work soon. There’s nothing much to do anyway.”
“I’m not here to pick her up from work,” Liu Weiguo said, trying to cover up, “I’m here to deliver wild vegetables.” Zhou Wenhui lightly stepped on his foot.
Right after the two of them walked out, Liu Weiguo came back, grinning at Yan Xue. “Qi Fang came to pick you up from work this time. This is the real deal.”
Yan Xue, who was being looked at, didn’t have Zhou Wenhui’s thin skin and calmly started packing her things. “Alright, I’m leaving too.”
This was a bit dull, so Liu Weiguo stopped teasing her and went outside to bother the little chubby kid fiddling with Qi Fang’s bike’s front bumper. “Yan Yu, have you missed Uncle Weiguo?”
Qi Fang had bought a bike and installed a child seat on the front bumper to carry the little chubby kid, while the back seat was for Yan Xue.
Right now, the little chubby kid was wearing a red hat, wobbling his little legs and smiling happily, but he squinted his peach-blossom eyes and said loudly, “Nope, didn’t miss him!”
Liu Weiguo let out a sharp laugh and looked at Qi Fang. “Your son usually has such a sweet mouth. Why does he act just like you when he’s with me?”
“Who knows?” Qi Fang fixed the crooked hat on his son’s head and saw Yan Xue come out. She swung her long legs over the bike.
She really was tall with long legs. Sitting on the bike, her feet could easily touch the ground. Liu Weiguo glanced at her a couple of times before quietly walking away.
He didn’t notice that after Yan Xue got on the bike, she wrapped her arms around Qi Fang’s waist. Qi Fang freed one hand to hold hers before riding off.
But the little chubby kid noticed this. He twisted his small body to look back, but before he could see anything, the bike started moving again, pulling his attention away.
This little guy had recently become obsessed with riding the bike. To be able to ride it, he had even softened his relationship with his dad. Sometimes after a ride outside, he’d still cling to the bike and refuse to get off.
The family of three had just left the cultivation center when they ran into Qu Mingli, who was also finishing work. They exchanged greetings.
Unexpectedly, Qu Mingli had already ridden past them but then turned back and called out, “Xiao Qi, do you know how to fix that old hydraulic system before the 50th batch of collected materials?”
Qi Fang immediately sensed something was off. “Isn’t the city already applying to the province to replace it?”
