A sudden piece of devastating news drove him into the deep mountains

This is the mountain forest in Lijiang City, Yunnan Province. On this day, He Jiying brought several distributors into the mountains to look for a kind of wild mushroom. Whenever a distributor comes to Yunnan to discuss cooperation with her, He Jiying invites them to go up the mountain in person to experience the harvesting process. He Jiying says that whether or not they can find this wild mushroom, she will make sure the distributors go home with a surprise, so the reporter also followed along the whole way.

As soon as they stepped into this mountain forest, He Jiying repeatedly warned everyone to be careful, because the mountain paths are very hard to walk.

He Jiying: Snakes, you'll run into small snakes, and you'll run into big snakes too, so watch your step. Be careful over there, the path over there is especially slippery. If you fall, you'll fall really hard.

Before He Jiying had even finished speaking, an accident happened.

He Jiying: Go up this way, everyone slow down a bit

Reporter: What happened?

Reporter: I slipped.

Reporter: Are you okay?

Reporter: I'm fine.

He Jiying: Slow down, let me pull you up.

Because the slope was steep and slippery, the cameraman accidentally fell. There is no path in a mountain forest like this; when walking, you have to pass through the gaps between the trees, which is very difficult.

Besides the difficult paths, the reporter also noticed that from the moment they entered the mountains, a kind of small insect kept flying into He Jiying's eyes.

He Jiying: I can't take it anymore. A bug flew into my eye, a flying insect. Okay, okay, what a big bug. Some of these bugs are harmful; when they get into your eye, you immediately can't see.

Reporter: There are so many mosquitoes on my lens.

As they walked, the distributors suddenly stopped.

E-commerce distributor: It's so unusual, I've never seen one this big. My hand span is 21 cm, and this one is about 40 cm, it's really big.

E-commerce distributor: It really opens your eyes, I've never seen one this big, it's very rare.

He Jiying: Look at me, look at me, you're afraid of being on my camera, haha.

A wild mushroom this big is normally very hard to find, and even locals rarely see one, so everyone rushed to take photos of it.

He Jiying: Put that one on the ground, yes, yes, yes, it's on camera now.

He Jiying says this kind of wild mushroom is very hard to find and also very valuable, but it is not the one she is looking for. What she is looking for is even rarer than this.

The reporter followed He Jiying for nearly three hours. Along the way, they harvested quite a lot of various wild mushrooms, but they just had not found the kind He Jiying was looking for. Just then, He Jiying told the reporter that they might not find it today.

He Jiying: On this whole mountain, it only grows in a few places, it's not everywhere. It's very hard to find, come this way, don't worry.

Reporter: We've been in here for two or three hours.

He Jiying: Two or three hours in here, and sometimes even two or three days won't necessarily get you a single one.

In the thorn-filled mountain forest, He Jiying is quite nimble when searching for wild mushrooms. Yet when she first came here, she was even afraid of small insects. Because before that, she had lived a very comfortable life.

He Jiying's friend: When we were together, she was often a woman in a qipao, holding a cup of coffee, chatting about current affairs, chatting about fashion. But when she comes here, sometimes she's just like a farmer.

Friend: (Before) her quality of life was very good, now every day it's going up slopes and down ditches, climbing hills and slopes. Everything she gives off is very positive, but actually you can see that behind her, there are some very bitter things hidden.

In the eyes of her friends, He Jiying had always lived a life that made people envious. However, in 2009, all of that was changed by a piece of devastating news. She came to Lijiang City in Yunnan Province to start a business, and in just four years, she rose abruptly in the local wild mushroom industry. Now, her friends all say He Jiying is a kind of energy, bringing a positive side to people wherever she goes. Yet He Jiying says all of this was forced on her.

In March 2009, while out shopping, He Jiying suddenly received a call from her husband. On the other end, her husband told He Jiying that his medical examination report had come out, and told her not to be afraid.

He Jiying: At that moment I just felt a boom, I felt like I collapsed. I said how could this be? How could this be?

He Jiying had a happy and fulfilling family, and she had always lived a life of comfort and privilege. On that call, He Jiying learned that her husband had kidney disease and needed to have his right kidney removed, which instantly became unbearable for He Jiying.

Although the surgery was successful, it could recur at any time. Originally it was her husband who earned money to support the family, and with her husband ill, the family had no source of income. He Jiying decided to take on the burden of the family.

He Jiying: I became the core spiritual force of this family, its economic pillar, and the center of everything. Not only can I not fall, I also have to be even more determined and strong than before.

While her husband was ill, He Jiying had given him one thing to eat. Through investigation, she found that this thing not only sold for a high price, but also had a lot of market potential, and its main producing area is in Yunnan.

He Jiying: The average price for export to Japan is about 200 yuan per kilogram, and the price at which Japanese supermarkets sell it to consumers is 3,000 yuan to 4,000 yuan per kilogram. If it can be promoted domestically, it might also have very high market value, because it is a very scarce product.

In April 2011, her husband's condition improved. He Jiying came to Yunnan, and led by local villagers, she began buying in the mountains. Coming to a mountain forest like this for the first time really made her suffer a lot.

He Jiying: Falling is frequent. You fall, get scratched, sprain a tendon, and sometimes the injury is so bad you can't walk for more than ten days. This happens often.

Faced with all this, He Jiying was long used to it and did not take it seriously at all. She also said she had encountered mudslides and avalanches, and had nearly lost her life many times.

Taking such big risks to go into the mountains, what exactly is she looking for?

Today, the reporter followed her into the mountains, and they had already been searching for more than four hours. At this moment, He Jiying suddenly noticed that the pine needles in one spot looked a little different, and she excitedly went over to check.

He Jiying: Here, here, wonderful.

Reporter: Where? Where is there any here?

He Jiying: See that? Hurry and push this aside, there are several. Oh my, oh my, this is very, very precious. I'm so lucky today, I'm so happy. See that? 4 of them together.