Chapter 310: Picking Chestnuts, Digging for Wild Vegetables, Gathering Mushrooms!
Central Honshu, on a certain mountain near Nagoya, the capital of Aichi Prefecture.
The morning light had already spilled over the eastern col, dyeing the chestnut forest a gold-leaf hue. The prickly chestnut burrs trembled gently on the branches, occasionally dropping ripe fruits into the grass with a crisp cracking sound, startling a few pecking titmice.
"Besides chestnuts, everyone can also pick some wild vegetables and mushrooms. But be careful, don't pick poisonous mushrooms."
Ryohei Tanaka stood at the foot of the mountain, holding long tongs in his left hand and a rattan basket in his right, explaining in detail to everyone how to distinguish whether mushrooms were poisonous:
"Generally speaking, we can start with color, shape, smell, secretions, and growth environment."
"Poisonous mushrooms are usually brightly colored, while non-poisonous ones are mostly plain in color and dull in texture."
"In terms of shape, those with weird forms, uneven caps, or structures like rings and volvas are likely poisonous. Non-poisonous mushrooms generally have regular shapes and smooth, natural caps."
"Smell is also an important clue."
"Poisonous mushrooms usually have a pungent or strange odor, while non-poisonous mushrooms mostly emit a faint mushroom scent or a fresh grassy smell."
"If you tear open a mushroom and find the secretion is thick, reddish-brown, and the cross-section quickly changes color in the air—then you need to be vigilant, it's very likely a poisonous mushroom."
"Conversely, the secretion of non-poisonous mushrooms is usually clear like water, and it doesn't change color easily after being torn."
"Finally, look at the growth environment—"
"Poisonous mushrooms usually grow in dark, damp, and filthy places. Non-poisonous mushrooms are commonly found on clean grass, pine forests, or tree trunks, looking much fresher."
"Understood!" Everyone said in unison.
"...Are you elementary school students?"
Ryohei Tanaka looked at them and couldn't help but complain.
"I am!"
(´O_O`)
Kanna, who had flown over excitedly upon hearing about picking chestnuts and making chestnut rice, raised her hand and answered with a blank, cute expression.
"Uh... you really are!"
Ryohei Tanaka lowered his head and looked at Kanna with surprise.
"..." Kanna raised her purple pom-pom tail, a hint of happiness showing in her big azure eyes.
At this moment—
"Ryohei-kun, you should get a pair of glasses."
Lucoa deliberately stuck out her proud chest, rested her hand on her world-class assets, and teased: "Someone like me, no matter how you look at it, is a big sister, right?"
"I'm also a big sister!"
Quetzalcoatl rested her hand on her amazingly curved chest and suddenly chimed in.
"..." The corner of Yurine's mouth twitched.
Every time the giant-breasted aliens showed off their assets, it was a blow to the flat-chested aliens.
Of course, she couldn't be considered flat-chested, but it wasn't huge either—maybe she could reach C+ after having a child?
"Cough."
Ryohei Tanaka subconsciously glanced at Lucoa and Quetzalcoatl's chests, coughed lightly, and waved his hand: "Alright, enough talk, let's go up the mountain to pick chestnuts."
After speaking, he turned and walked towards the mountain.
"Call me big sister."
Lucoa followed with her long, plump legs wrapped in black thigh-high stockings, a teasing tone in her voice.
"Call my hammer!"
Ryohei Tanaka rolled his eyes at Lucoa.
So fond of being a big sister...
He pondered finding a time to enact a brother-sister scenario with Lucoa—letting her fully enjoy the addiction of being a big sister!
"..."
"Click—!"
Yusa, following the four little ones, suddenly spotted a few grey-green plants with fuzz, clinging to the soil like umbrellas.
She felt it looked very much like a wild vegetable she knew, but wasn't quite sure, so she took out her phone, snapped a photo, sent it to the LINE group, and @Ryohei Tanaka—
[Yusa]: "Ryohei-kun, are these shepherd's purse?"
Not far away, Ryohei Tanaka was picking fallen chestnut burrs.
The mountain he was on was privately contracted, full of chestnut trees, and fallen chestnut burrs were everywhere on the ground.
"Buzz buzz—!"
Suddenly feeling the vibration of the phone in his pocket, Ryohei Tanaka took it out and saw Yusa @ing him in the LINE group.
He glanced at it and replied casually—
[Ryohei Tanaka]: "Yes! This is delicious when made into shepherd's purse dumplings and shepherd's purse wontons. You found something good!"
[Yusa]: "★⌒c(￣▽￣) ok!"
"..."
[Minos]: "I found shepherd's purse here too! Photo.jpg"
Before long, Minos sent a photo to the LINE group.
Others also successively sent photos of suspected wild vegetables and edible mushrooms. For a while, the LINE group became lively.
Ryohei Tanaka didn't even have time to pick chestnut burrs, busy answering questions online.
Twenty or thirty minutes later—
The group reunited somewhere in the chestnut forest!
"Oh my—! Everyone picked quite a lot!"
"I picked a whole basket full of chestnut burrs~."
"Me too~."
"Kyon-Kyon and I picked a lot of shepherd's purse, and also dug up some wild garlic!"
"Oh oh—! You guys are really capable!"
"Hehe~~~."
(,,・ω・,,)
Ran-Ran smiled shyly.
"Lucoa, help remove the husks from the chestnut burrs everyone picked."
Ryohei Tanaka put down the bamboo basket and requested Lucoa.
Although they picked a lot of chestnut burrs, the number of chestnuts that could be peeled out wasn't many. There were quite a few big eaters on their side, so Ryohei Tanaka planned to arrange for everyone to pick some more.
"Okay."
Lucoa responded and extended her slender white hand. In the next moment, the chestnut burrs in the basket floated into the air one after another.
Immediately after, a series of crisp "crack crack—" sounds rang out. The outer shells of the chestnut burrs cracked open one by one and fell off automatically, revealing the plump brown fruits inside.
Ryohei Tanaka stored this batch of chestnuts, along with the wild vegetables and mushrooms everyone gathered, into his storage space, then said: "Let's pick some more, then we'll go back and make delicious food for you."
"Oh oh—!"
Everyone was full of motivation, clenching their fists in response, and soon scattered again to continue picking chestnut burrs.
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