"They won't agree. This time, Xuejiao said she was still suffering from morning sickness even though she was already pregnant, and her mother came because she was worried." Zhou Yiding put the golden thread vine in his pocket. "Youngest, these golden thread vines must be about one or two kilograms when dried, right?"

Zhou Huaian pried up a thick golden thread vine. "For this kind of old ones, eight or nine kilograms should be able to produce one kilogram of dried goods. The price has increased a bit compared to before. Last time I sold half a kilogram of dried goods and got two hundred yuan. I haven't sold them for a long time. I don't know if the price has increased."

"Even the previous prices were good." Zhou Yiding thought about the herbs by the ditch and the large forest. "Youngest brother, these golden thread vines are so valuable. Your idea of ​​renting this area is really good. Remember to ask Uncle Datian when you go back!"

Zhou Huaian nodded, "Let's go back and ask whether it belongs to the village or the government."

"I remember that we can also contract public land, but it's a bit more troublesome, just like we contracted the mountain land in the village. Don't be afraid of the trouble, you must get the forest rights certificate, otherwise they can take it back from you later if they want to."

"Since the government can also take care of it, that's easy. I'll go find Uncle Datian when I get back."

"Hmm!" After prying out a part of it, it became a little easier. The two of them quickened their movements and picked all the thick golden thread vines, leaving some for seeds.

At this time, Zhou Huaian's several net bags were already stuffed full. "This thing is too light. I put four net bags here, and it doesn't weigh much."

"I have three here!" Zhou Yiding handed his to Zhou Huaian, "Try to feel it and see how many pounds it weighs in total?"

Zhou Huaian picked it up and weighed it. "Maybe 13 or 14 kilograms."

Zhou Yiding's eyes lit up, "If eight or nine kilograms of fresh goods can be dried into one kilogram, then we have made a big deal this time!"

"Yes, you should be content. If you are not content, the mountain god will not give you good things." Zhou Huaian returned a few baskets to him, took out a cigarette and handed it to him, "Take a break, smoke a cigarette before leaving."

"Take a break!" Zhou Yiding found a rock to sit on, "I shouldn't have lost the stick just now. It would be much better to tie up the net bag and carry it with me."

"That's easy. There are sticks everywhere in the forest. Just chop one." Zhou Huaian squinted his eyes and leaned against the rock, listening to the cicadas and birds singing in the forest. "It's so cool and comfortable in the ditch!"

Zhou Yiding smiled and said, "Once we get the contract, we'll come here to build a house and stay here for a few days when the weather is hot."

"I'll wait till the end of time!" Zhou Huaian threw the cigarette butt into the water. "Let's go down and see what's caught in the trap first."

"Yeah!" Zhou Yiding took two quick steps with the net bag in hand and caught up with him. "Youngest brother, if we take over this area, the Mountain God Temple will also be within our contract scope, right?"

"That should be it?" Zhou Huaian looked in the direction of the mountain temple. "Do you think the statue of the mountain god is still in the culvert?"

"My old man said that the culvert is bottomless and there may be an underground river below. Since it has been thrown in, it may have fallen into the underground river."

"You don't believe it, but they didn't force you to believe it. They demolished the temple and ripped it up, and even threw away the statues of the gods. They are just a bunch of people who have nothing to do but eat too much!"

The two men returned to the place where the traps were set. Zhou Yiding put the net bag on the stone, and Zhou Huaian went to chop wood and pick up the net bag.

As soon as he pulled the trap out of the water, he turned his head happily and looked at Zhou Huaian, "Youngest, it looks like we are destined to eat grouper today. There is another one in it."

Zhou Huaian took a quick look and it looked like it weighed more than two kilograms. "Take it back and stew it for your Xuejiao to eat. It will nourish her."

"Tsk tsk, it must have been a while since anyone has set traps in this valley. Look at all these groupers, yellow croakers, and a silver carp weighing three or four pounds. You have a large family, so I'll take the silver carp and groupers back with you, and I'll take these yellow croakers back for you to eat."

"Great!" Zhou Huaian came over with a wooden stick and saw that there were indeed more than a dozen groupers in the fish cage. The small ones weighed about three or four taels, and the big ones weighed about five or six taels.

"This thing is delicious, but you have to remove all the internal organs and throw them into the toilet before eating it. If there are fish eggs in it, chickens, ducks and dogs will be poisoned and die if they eat the fish eggs."

The scientific name of grouper is Epinephelus glabrescens, and some people call it stream grouper. It feeds on stoneworms, small aquatic animals and microorganisms in streams.

This fish has a whisker on each corner of its mouth, and its body has black and yellow patterns. Its meat is thick and tastes very delicious. It is known as the "best freshwater fish."

However, its eggs are poisonous. If you eat them during the spawning season in June and July, you must carefully clean the eggs and avoid eating them by mistake.

Zhou Yiding glanced at him sideways after hearing this and said, "You only remembered it after you got beaten up, right?"

Zhou Huaian nodded, "Yes! That year, when we were cooking fish at home, I dug out the internal organs and fed them to the chickens. All three chickens died. My mother was so angry that she beat me up, and she cried too."

"My grandma found out and scolded her, saying she should be thankful that I didn't eat the fish eggs, otherwise it wouldn't be a chicken that died, but a person."

Zhou Yiding patted him on the shoulder and said, "You can't blame Second Mother. Back then, we didn't have enough eggs to deliver, and we didn't even have money to buy salt."

"I don't blame her, but sometimes I feel that they don't even ask questions, and they either scold or beat me, which makes me feel uncomfortable. Uncle Daqing is still the best. He always talks to you reasonably."

"I am an old man, just like Tang Seng. Whenever I don't listen, he will nag me. I am useless and I have not taught my children well..."

Zhou Huaian picked up the net bag and basket, Zhou Yiding carried the fish cage and they climbed to the shore. "Youngest brother, golden thread lotus is so valuable, do you think we can grow it?"

"I don't know!" Zhou Huaian thought about the method of growing herbs written in the book, "This thing likes to grow in moist, shady places. If it is planted near here, it should be able to grow."

Zhou Yiding thought about it and said, "The big hole at your house is also good. I can go back and pick some with good root systems and plant a few to try."

"It's worth a try!" Zhou Huaian stopped and looked at the forest. "Last time I heard Wang Zhen say that some rare herbs will become more and more valuable in the future. Those grown in the wild are more valuable than those grown at home."

"I think it's good too. Look at the herbs I scattered. I didn't take care of them and they sold for one or two hundred yuan. When the Magnolia officinalis, Gardenia jasminoides, Bletilla striata, Paris polyphylla... those valuable herbs come out in a few years, it will be a big deal again!"

"Tsk~" Zhou Huaian rolled his eyes, "Of course you didn't care! When Uncle Daqing was at home, he would weed and fertilize the medicinal fields every now and then. Otherwise, you would be lucky to get a hundred yuan."

"One hundred is not bad. It didn't take much effort to get it."

"Lazy dog, you say I'm lazy, but you're actually the laziest one!"

"The crow laughs at the pig's blackness, but it doesn't realize it!" Zhou Yiding hit him with a trap and ran away.

"Damn it!" Zhou Huaian wiped his face, "You stinky thing, don't run away, if I catch you I will smear your face with a stone."

"Come here!" Zhou Yiding turned around, smiled triumphantly at him, and ran away.

The two of them chased each other and laughed as they got home. It was already past six o'clock. The dog was lying at the door, and there was no one in the front yard.

Zhou Huaian ran to the backyard and shouted to Yang Chunyan, "Yan'er, quickly get a basin out. We caught a silver carp and a lot of grouper."

Yang Chunyan smelled the fragrance of flowers and saw the golden thread lotus in their net bag. She said in surprise: "Didn't you say you were going to catch stone clam? Where did you get this?"

"I'll tell you later!" Zhou Huaian took the basin brought by Zhou Yumei, and he and Zhou Yiding poured the fish out of the ground trap, and then caught all the yellow croakers and put them in the bamboo basket.

Zhou Yiding picked up the trap and the basket, "Sister, I'm going back first!"

The two nodded and said, "Okay, go slow!"

Zhou Huaian hurriedly reminded him, "Ding Ding Cat, remember, leave at 6:30 tomorrow morning. Don't be too late, otherwise it won't take long to find the forest."

"Stop talking nonsense!" Zhou Yiding left without looking back.

Zhou Huaian suddenly remembered that he hadn't given him the Da Chong Jiu yet, "Don't you want the Da Chong Jiu?"

Zhou Yiding waved his hand, "Remember this first, I'll come get it when I want to smoke!"

While washing red mushrooms by the pool, Yang Chunyan hurriedly put the golden thread vine into a backpack and walked towards the pond, and Zhou Huaian followed her.

"Yan'er, pick out a few trees with intact roots first, and I'll plant them in a big pit to see if they can survive."

"You haven't told me where you found it yet!" Yang Chunyan looked at him with a smile and poured the golden thread vine in the net bag into the backpack. After emptying all seven net bags, the backpack was full.

Zhou Huaian also stepped forward to help pick, "I went past the mountain temple and looked for it in the ditch beside the old forest. On the way there, I also found a lot of herbs, including saxifrage by the ditch, and I think there was also the bowl of water by the river you mentioned..."

"That's great!" Yang Chunyan said in surprise, "My sister-in-law and her friends won't be going to Baicaoping tomorrow, so let's go and take a look together."

"If I hadn't told you to go there to catch stone clam, you wouldn't have thought of looking for herbs there!" Zhou Huaian reached out and grabbed her hand, grinning and saying, "Wife, it's time to reward me, right?"

"Go away!" Yang Chunyan patted him shyly and handed him the golden thread vine she had picked out. "Plant it in a moister place."

Zhou Huaian leaned forward and kissed her on the lips, "I'll take this as your consent!"

Yang Chunyan's face turned red as if blood was sprayed out, "Outside..."

"The Jerusalem artichokes are blocking the view, so others can't see it." Zhou Huaian hurriedly changed the subject, "How many red mushrooms did you harvest this afternoon?"

Yang Chunyan thought for a moment, "There are more than a thousand kilograms of scattered goods, and Secretary Xu's family and Huai Qing sent back three thousand kilograms, which is much better than yesterday."

"Can we ship out another batch of goods tomorrow?"

"Yes! There are more than 1,300 kilograms of dry goods."

"Let Third Brother take it over tomorrow. Ding Dingmao and I will go to the mountain to have a look." Zhou Huaian took two steps up and suddenly remembered the mountain land lease. "Yan'er, I think... after dinner, I will go to Uncle Datian's place."

Yang Chunyan thought renting the mountain land was a good way to get a job, so she nodded and said, "When you eat, you'd better ask your elder brother and the others, don't act on your own."

"Got it!" Zhou Huaian agreed and walked two steps back to ask, "Did Accountant Ye come to sell red mushrooms today?" (End of this chapter)