Add some green vegetables, and all the dishes for dinner would be accounted for.
Just as Juhua and Liu Xiaomei were praising the spread, Little Shitou came pattering in and handed a small bamboo basket to his grandmother. Inside were black things that looked like fresh wood ear fungus.
The old woman's face lit up with a happy smile. "Oh, my! How did you manage to find earth-skin already?"
She said to Juhua, "This stuff likes to grow in damp, grassy areas. I figured it wasn't time for it yet, but I guess I was wrong. Shitou, where did you find it?"
Little Shitou grinned. "I found it in a hollow near the Little Qing River. I saw Grandma cook it last year and it was delicious, so I gathered some to bring home."
Juhua recognized it as well; it was likely some kind of fungus. In the spring, if one was observant, these wild-growing things were everywhere.
