Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside-Chapter 158 Seeking a Livelihood

Today, the Luo Family is not setting up their stand, and Luo Huiniang is at home. She saw Gu Jinli packing things from a distance, looking like she was about to head for the mountains. Immediately, she scurried over to Gu Jinli’s house and asked, "Xiao Yu, are you going into the mountains?"

Before Gu Jinli could nod, she eagerly said, "I’m coming too. It’s been a long time since I last went into the mountains."

She had been to the mountains at the beginning of the month, which was more than half a month ago.

Gu Jinli said, "Sure. Go and tell your parents, and in fifteen minutes, we’ll set off."

"Okay." Luo Huiniang smiled with squinted eyes, ran back to tell her own parents, carried an axe, a burlap bag, dry food and water, and ran back to Gu Jinli’s house again.

Gu Jinli was already prepared and waiting in the yard for her.

"Just the two of you going into the mountains?" Mrs. Cui was not very reassured about the two girls entering the mountains and advised, "How about we forget about it today? Wait for a day when your elder brother or your father has time, and they can take you and Hui Niang into the mountains."

Gu Jinli said, "Mother, I’ve learned a few moves with Hui Niang. Hui Niang’s martial arts are not weak; we can protect ourselves, so you don’t have to worry."

Since her reincarnation, she had been practicing martial arts daily, practicing the combat skills from her previous life, with every move lethal. Although her current body is a child’s and doesn’t have the strength from her previous life, defeating a few thugs was not an issue.

Mrs. Cui was still not very relieved. After all, the two of them were girls, and if anything happened, it would be a disaster for a lifetime.

"Aunt Dashan." Qin San Lang, dressed in a short fighting outfit, with a burlap bag and rope on his back and holding a machete, brought Gu Dewang with him, standing spiritedly by the yard gate of Gu Jinli’s house. He said to Mrs. Cui, "Brother Wang and I are going to the mountains to cut firewood. Let Xiao Yu come with us into the mountains."

Gu Dewang had a carrying pole on his shoulder with two bundles of ropes hanging from it, used for tying firewood, and he was still eating caramel candy snatched from He Sanlai, speaking unclearly, "Uncle Dashan said, oh, we’ll protect Sister Xiao Yu."

Looking at the drool dribbling from Gu Dewang’s mouth, Luo Huiniang said with disgust, "Brother Wang, wipe your saliva; it’s too dirty."

"Oh." Gu Dewang raised his hand to wipe his mouth with his sleeve, making Luo Huiniang nauseous.

Seeing this, Third Grandma scolded Mrs. Chen while she took out a piece of burlap handkerchief and stuffed it into Brother Wang’s hand, "Take this, use it to wipe your mouth and nose, and don’t use your hands anymore."

Gu Dewang accepted the handkerchief with a grin: "Got it, Third Grandma."

Third Grandma looked at Gu Dewang’s foolish appearance and shook her head helplessly. She told Gu Jinli and Luo Huiniang a few words, then turned back to the house to get busy.

"Mother, we’re leaving. You can go back," Gu Jinli waved to Mrs. Cui, leading Luo Huiniang and following Qin San Lang out of the yard, winding to the back trail behind the Qin family’s house, walking towards the mountains.

From afar, they saw a young man dressed in a black short fighting outfit, which was Qin Er Lang.

Qin Er Lang was the same as before, not really interacting with them, even though such a big incident occurred yesterday, it was Elder Qin and Qin San Lang who came forward to deal with it. He knew about it but did not come to help.

"Er Lang is going to cut firewood in the mountains," explained Qin San Lang.

Er Lang did not like the people from their few families, never helped them with grinding beans, only went to the mountains to cut firewood. He could do this job alone, which was very quiet, and he did not need to interact with others.

Although Grandfather was not satisfied with his unsociable attitude, he did not say much; nowadays, Grandfather was just pleased if Er Lang stayed quietly in the south.

Gu Jinli nodded without asking about Qin Er Lang’s matter. Qin Er Lang was too gloomy, carrying some lethal secrets with him, and she did not want to take the risk of probing into Qin Er Lang’s secrets.

The group headed towards Dafeng Mountain. Qin Er Lang might have seen them, and when he saw they were going forward, he himself went towards the shallow mountain on the left, avoiding them.

Gu Jinli and the others didn’t mind, and as they headed further into the mountain, they picked the various delicacies that grew there.

It was the end of February; many wild vegetables were already pushing through the soil, sparsely dotting the landscape. As they walked, they dug them up, and by the time they reached deeper into the mountain, each person was carrying a bundle of wild greens, including purslane, fern, and chrysanthemum, among others.

Gu Jinli also dug up many medicinal herbs, planning to take them back home to plant.

After walking for about two hours, Qin San Lang said, "There are plenty of dead trees around here, let’s chop the wood here."

When they went into the mountain to chop wood, they generally selected trees that were partially rotten, infested with insects. These trees were nearly dead, easier to chop down, and less regrettable to take.

"Sure." Gu Jinli pointed to a forest on the right, "I will go look for delicacies over there, maybe I’ll catch a pheasant or a rabbit."

"Okay." Qin San Lang nodded, grasping the axe and heading towards a half-dead tree to chop.

Gu Dewang, on the other hand, was picking up fallen branches from the ground. He snapped the branches that were two fingers wide and stacked them together, then tied them up with rope.

Luo Huiniang had already run off to the surrounding area, joyfully looking for something to eat in the mountain and searching for rabbit holes.

Gu Jinli walked toward the forest on the right. She had come into the mountain to find spices not long ago and had seen the newly budding mountain god mushrooms. Now those mushrooms should have fully grown, and she headed straight to dig them up.

After wandering for a little over fifteen minutes, Gu Jinli scraped the ground with a stick and before long found the mountain god mushrooms under a layer of rotting leaves.

The mountain god mushroom was white, shaped like a joined umbrella with a ring of startling red at the base. It was this ring of red that carried a toxin specifically harmful to men.

The mountain god mushroom was edible, tasting delicious, and harmless for women. However, if a man consumed it and had intercourse within the next twelve hours, it would be lethal.

In her previous life, she had been on a mission in a mountain village where a man suddenly died during intimacy with his wife. Initially, everyone thought the man had died from excessive excitement. Later it was discovered that it was not an accident, but the result of consuming a mountain god mushroom from the forest, triggering his sudden death.

And the one who had given him the mushroom was his wife.

Upon hearing about this incident, her professional instinct led her to collect some fresh mountain god mushrooms for experiments, and indeed she discovered the fungi contained toxins that could induce sudden death.

Without modern equipment, it’s impossible to detect such toxins, making the mountain god mushroom an essential tool for ancient poisoners.

Gu Jinli took out a small cloth bag, picked ten mountain god mushrooms, and after collecting some more medicinal herbs from the forest, she came out to help Qin San Lang and the others chop wood.

The group of four worked in the mountain for about four hours, chopping ten bundles of wood, catching a few pheasants, and finding a nest of eggs before heading home.

Qin San Lang, with his great strength, shouldered four bundles of wood alone. The remaining six bundles were divided into three loads for Gu Jinli, Luo Huiniang, and Gu Dewang to carry, one each.

Gu Dewang was young, and his load consisted of dry sticks, around thirty pounds, which he could carry back himself.

The four of them walked and rested, taking them over two hours to finally leave the mountain and arrive on the small path behind their homes.

Just as they entered the narrow path, a figure darted out; it was He Sanlai.

He Sanlai was seeking work and had informed Gu Jinli about the news the previous day to curry favor with her.

"Madam, Brother Qin, Brother Wang, Miss from the Luo Family, are you coming back from the mountain? Oh, you’ve dug up quite a lot of wild vegetables, and there are pheasants too; you’ve made quite a haul this trip." He Sanlai rubbed his hands together, endlessly flattering them, but since they weren’t familiar, the more he went on, the more awkward the atmosphere became.

Knowing that He Sanlai was a troublemaker, Luo Huiniang, seeing him blocking the way, immediately shouted, "Move aside quickly, or madam will beat you flat."