Chapter 76 Tea Picking in the Mountains

Chapter 76: Foraging for Tea in the Deep Mountains

A new day, a new food crisis.

The two chickens from yesterday had been thoroughly digested overnight. While not exactly starving, the gnawing anxiety of food scarcity lingered, making them eager to stockpile provisions.

"I really miss the rainforest and the island. What kind of barren, worthless place did we pick this time?" Shen Tong grumbled. "I feel like I've lost almost three *jin* from hunger. Qing Qing, do I look thinner?"

Ruan Qing: "...Tong Tong, we've only been here for three days."

Besides, they had nutritional supplements on the first day and two plump roasted chickens on the second—hardly a caloric deficit to warrant weight loss.

"Alright, let's continue foraging today. We'll set out early this time and descend to an even lower altitude than before. We're bound to find something to eat."

It was early spring, but the mountain's altitude, over 2,500 meters, still meant a landscape blanketed in white. If they could reach below 1,000 meters, the biodiversity would significantly increase.

They decided to take a chance. Rather than enduring constant hunger on the mountain, it was better to venture downhill for food. If they were lucky enough to gather some supplies, they wouldn't have to laboriously climb up and down every day.

With hopeful anticipation for the lower slopes, the group packed up their camp, shouldered their gear, and set off downhill.

The further they descended, the more greenery emerged, as if they had traversed from winter to spring in a short span.

"We need to head to the sunny side of the mountain. With ample sunlight, the biomass there will be much richer than on the shady side, offering more for us to eat," Yu Xin explained.

"But how can we tell which side is sunny and which is shady?" Ruan Qing looked up, but the tall, dense tree canopy completely obscured their view. They could barely see the sun, let alone distinguish between the sunny and shady sides.

"There are many ways to tell. The simplest is to observe the shadows," Yu Xin said. "It's morning now, so the shadows will definitely point toward the shady side. Beyond that, we can also infer from the characteristics of the plants."

He found a tree stump broken at waist height, used a machete to smooth the fractured surface, and carved out a flat plane.

Yu Xin gestured for the others to gather around and look.

"What can we discern from this?"

"Look at the distribution of the growth rings," Yu Xin said, tracing circles along the tree stump's cross-section. "You can clearly see that the center of the growth rings is offset to one side, with wider spacing on one side and denser spacing on the other. This is also influenced by sunlight. The side exposed to sunlight grows faster, so the gaps between the growth rings are larger."

Everyone had an "aha!" moment: "So that's how it works!"

After confirming their direction, the group trekked downhill along the sunny side. Nearly three hours had passed since they set out. Compared to their campsite, the vegetation here was noticeably lush. Though not as dense as the forest from the first episode, it was still much more vibrant than the area they had come from.

"Let's stop here. If we go any further, we might not make it back to camp before sunset," Yu Xin said, pausing to observe their surroundings.

Conveniently, a jutting rock in front of him could serve as a landmark.

"Starting from this rock, let's split into pairs and explore the surrounding area. Try not to wander too far. If you lose your way back, stay put and call out loudly. Don't just blindly search for direction; you might end up going further and getting lost in the forest. We'll regroup here in an hour," Yu Xin instructed.

"Okay!"

Shen Tong and Qin Shizhen formed one group, Sheng Xingyao and Ruan Qing another, and Yu Xin went alone, each venturing into the forest to search for food.

This mountain path was like flat ground for Yu Xin. Without needing to match others' pace, he moved much faster on his own.

As he walked, he scanned the lush greenery for edibles. What's this? Wild onions—grab a few. Over there, some cilantro—take a few sprigs too. Perfect for making soup later.

He pushed aside the grass, revealing several knee-high plants with oval leaves and fine fuzz.

Yu Xin's eyes lit up. This was a treasure!

If there were enough of them, they wouldn't have to worry about going hungry for the next few days.

He took out his tool and began digging. After removing a layer of earth, a pale yellow surface was exposed. He pulled it out and saw a round shape about the size of an adult man’s fist.

It’s a potato!

The perfect creation of the Great Carb God!

Whether steamed, stir-fried, tossed, roasted, fried, or baked—it’s delicious! It's incredibly filling and perfectly compatible with all kinds of ingredients—

Potato!

[Potato! The ultimate food! The carb of carbs! The ruler of all foods! The king! The master! The pinnacle!]

[I voluntarily join the Potato Sect, preaching the gospel of potato, potato, dirt potato!]

[No carbon-based life form could dislike potatoes, right? If there is, forget I said anything.]

There were three such plants in total. Yu Xin used his machete to dig into the soil, unearthing one potato after another. In the end, he dug out over a dozen potatoes of various sizes.

Now he had at least two days' worth of meals secured. He could take them back, roast them in the fireplace, and enjoy them dipped in ground chili—absolutely delicious.

Yu Xin cleaned the dozen or so small potatoes, carefully placed them in the pouch on his chest, stood up, brushed the dirt off his clothes, and continued exploring.

Overhead, birds chirped. Sunlight pierced through the forest, casting dappled shadows on the ground. After walking several dozen more steps, the view opened up abruptly before him.

Without realizing it, he had reached the edge of the forest. Before him was a steep cliff that cut through the trees.

Yu Xin stood at the edge of the cliff and looked down. The cliff was dozens of meters high, and below stretched an endless green sea, with layers of verdant waves rippling as the wind blew.

An eagle soared up from the lush green jungle below, circling higher into the sky and flying toward the horizon until it gradually disappeared from sight.

A gust of wind swept past, making Yu Xin’s clothes flap loudly. With a bow on his back and a machete in his hand, he stood tall and squinted toward where the eagle had vanished.

He seemed to blend seamlessly with the wild environment, as if he were born to be part of it.

[Wow… somehow I’m feeling inexplicably pumped up—what’s going on?]

[I get it, I get it—it’s like those open-world games where the protagonist just steps out of the beginner village and sees the vast world for the first time. So awe-inspiring.]

[You’re not talking about *Zelda*, are you? Hahahaha!]

[This scene is so beautiful. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such dense greenery. Taking a screenshot for my wallpaper.]

After enjoying the wind by the cliff for a while, Yu Xin decided to head back. But as he turned around, his gaze fixed on a plant growing at the edge of the cliff.

The recording sphere buzzed as it flew, capturing the plant fully within the frame according to his line of sight.

It was a tea tree.

Unlike the short, shrub-like tea bushes shaped by human intervention that we commonly know, this tea tree could be described as tall, clearly having grown wild for many years.

The tips of the tea tree’s branches had already sprouted tender, emerald-green buds. As he moved closer, he caught the unique, fresh fragrance of tea leaves.

[This just looks like an ordinary tree. It doesn’t even have edible fruit. Why stop here?]

[You just don’t get it—this is a tea tree. Tea leaves are picked from this.]

[Whoa, it’s actually a wild tea tree! And in the mountains, with the first spring harvest—I can’t even imagine how fragrant this tea would be.]

[My family sells tea. I’m begging on my knees for the specific coordinates of this place—I’m willing to pay, any price negotiable!]

[Forget it, a planet with such a great environment must have been bought and monopolized by the wealthy long ago. Without the backing of the program team, don’t even think about it, everyone.]

Yu Xin plucked a small tender bud, crushed it between his fingers, and smelled the scent on his fingers—indeed, it was incredibly fresh and fragrant.

"The quality of this tea is excellent. First, it’s spring tea, likely among the first pickings. Tea leaves are harvested in spring, summer, and autumn. After a winter’s growth, the tea bushes accumulate plenty of nutrients, making spring tea the highest quality and most expensive of the year."

"The high altitude here, with snow still on the mountain peaks, means it's colder and has high humidity. The tea grows slower, and the melting snow provides ample water, organic matter, and minerals. The mountain is often covered in clouds and mist, with plenty of indirect sunlight, which helps develop the tea’s aromatic flavors. Additionally, the significant temperature swings between day and night in the mountains mean more accumulation and less consumption of nutrients, resulting in a fuller, richer taste."

As he explained, Yu Xin couldn’t resist picking more tender buds.

[This familiar feeling... it’s like a standard geography exam question. Please don’t let my geography teacher see this episode (folds hands in prayer).]

[Even if it’s great tea, what good is it to them? Drinking tea won’t fill their stomachs. Their priority should be getting food, right?]

[True, but how can we just leave behind such top-quality tea?]

Yu Xin couldn’t bear to leave it either. He took off his jacket, tied it into a makeshift pouch to hold the picked tea buds, and climbed up and down the tree, stripping it clean.

The tea he'd picked piled into a small hill, which he carefully packed and carried with him.

After checking the sun’s position, he saw it was about time and headed back to the meeting point, gathering some edibles along the way.

Meanwhile, Sheng Xingyao, Ruan Qing, and the others had also returned to the spot. They excitedly called Yu Xin over to see what they’d brought back.

Though covered in mud and leaves, their spirits were high, which reassured Yu Xin—no accidents had occurred.

He walked over to see their finds.

Sheng Xingyao and Ruan Qing had gathered many mushrooms in their clothes. They’d been clever, avoiding brightly colored ones and picking plain, inconspicuous varieties. There were plenty of types: oyster mushrooms, field mushrooms, hazel mushrooms, lion’s mane mushrooms, and even matsutake and morel mushrooms!

"These are great finds! Usually, we might not even get to eat them," Qin Shizhen picked up a matsutake mushroom and marvelled. "And these hazel mushrooms—if only we’d found them yesterday, they’d have been perfect for stewing with chicken!"

They also found some wild peppers and scallions—a truly bountiful harvest.

Shen Tong and Qin Shizhen had spotted a wild chicken but didn't have Yu Xin's knack to catch it. They could only watch as it flew away. However, they stumbled upon its nest and found several warm eggs inside.

The hen must have been incubating the eggs when they disturbed her, forcing her to take off and leave them behind.

Everyone commented on their luck, and Shen Tong grinned proudly. "Not just eggs—we found something else too!"

She pulled out a handful of different kinds of berries from her pocket: purple-red raspberries, red wild strawberries, and translucent red currants that looked like strings of ruby beads. The fruits emitted a sweet-tart smell. Everyone tasted some and found them really tasty.

Then they examined Yu Xin’s harvest. When they saw the bag of potatoes, everyone cheered.

No more worries about going hungry!

"Is this tea?" Sheng Xingyao noticed the wrapped tea buds. "You found tea on this mountain too? This place has everything."

Qin Shizhen, who knew tea well and loved drinking it, came over, picked up a bud, and sniffed it. "Just from the scent, I can tell it’s excellent tea. We’re in for a treat."

"But these are fresh leaves. Can we brew them directly?"

"Of course not. They need to be dried and processed into tea first," Yu Xin said. The method wasn’t difficult and could be done even in the wild, which was why he’d gathered so much.

Then he had a new idea. He walked around, found a wild rose bush in early bloom, and mercilessly picked all the flowers and unopened buds.

[Shocking! Handsome young man heartlessly picks all the flowers ()]

[Yu Xin really knows how to live—he even thought of picking flowers to decorate the house. Young guys rarely have such taste.]

[Well, knowing Yu Xin, he probably gathered these flowers to eat.]

[Hahahaha, called it! Get him!]

The trip was incredibly fruitful. The food crisis was temporarily resolved, and everyone carried bundles of supplies, setting off back to camp satisfied.

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Author’s Note: Sorry, everyone. This week I moved and had a toothache—every day felt unbearable. I’ll do my best to make up for the missed updates today. *Sumimasen*! (Slides in kneeling)

Thank you all for your support. I’ll keep working hard!