When Zhou Jiaming brought Old Yin and the four men home, Zhou Huaian was eating a roasted potato with his mouth full of black ash. When he saw them come in, he stood up with a smile and said, "Brother Yin, have a potato!"

Old Yin smiled and said, "We ate at Old Yang's. We have come all the way here, but we haven't had lunch yet, right?"

Zhou Huaian wiped his mouth and said, "Yeah, I heard you guys were waiting here, so I rushed over here!"

Old Yin took out a sack from his backpack and placed it in front of him. "Youngest brother, there are wild rabbits, bamboo rats, and half a badger in it. My brother-in-law and a few brothers asked me to bring it to you."

Zhou Huaian knew that it was the two families who helped sell bear gall and musk last time, and that Old Yin had sent them. He said hurriedly, "You are too polite. It is not easy for you to hunt wild animals..."

"Youngest brother!" Old Yin said gratefully, "Thanks to your help this year, we didn't get ripped off by those drug dealers. This bit of game isn't worth much, so don't be polite."

"Okay, then I won't be polite." Zhou Huaian thought about cutting a few pieces of fat meat tomorrow morning and asking him to help bring it back.

Zhou Huairong poured a bowl of hot tea for them, "Brother Yin, sit by the fire and drink tea!"

"They also asked the youngest to help sell some things." Old Yin gestured to the three men standing aside stiffly, "He brought a few pounds of Coriolus versicolor, the fifth family brought about 20 pounds of bamboo ginseng, and Shitou's family brought two bear gallbladders."

"Bamboo ginseng?" Zhou Huaian looked at the root that Lao Wu took out with some curiosity. It looked a bit like Polygonatum sibiricum and a bit like bamboo whip. "This is the bamboo ginseng. It looks a bit like the root of mottled bamboo."

Old Yin smiled and nodded, "Yes, this is called bamboo ginseng. The barefoot doctor in our team said that bamboo ginseng has the functions of both ginseng, a northern Chinese medicine, and Panax notoginseng, a southern Chinese medicine, and is known as the "king of herbs" by the people.

Bamboo ginseng is the dried rhizome of the Araliaceae plant Panax notoginseng, also known as E Panax notoginseng, Button Seven, Ginseng Panax notoginseng, etc. It is mainly used to treat cough with sputum, vomiting blood due to fatigue, bruises, carbuncles, and bleeding due to trauma.

The leaves of bamboo ginseng look very similar to ginseng. Its rhizome is fleshy and grows slowly. Like Polygonatum, it only grows one node a year.

Since only one node grows a year, a bamboo-like rhizome is formed, which looks like a bamboo node.

Zhou Huaian looked through it for a while, "To be honest, this is the first time I've seen this thing. Let's follow the old rules. Tell me the price you want and I'll send it over to help you sell it. After the sale, I'll take a commission according to the old rules."

The last time he sold goods, he made a rule with them. If they showed the goods they couldn't identify to Wang Zhen, he would take eight yuan out of the money if the goods were sold for 100 yuan, and so on.

This way he would take less risk, but he would also make less money after selling. To say there is no risk is still true, after all, it is such a long journey, if the goods are lost on the way or if he encounters robbery, he will lose a lot of money.

Old Yin pointed at the dark-faced man and said, "Old Five, talk to the youngest brother yourself!"

The fifth brother smiled at Zhou Huaian, "Just do as the youngest brother said. The youngest of these bamboo ginsengs are more than 20 years old. We charge four or five yuan per catty. As long as it's not less than five yuan, it's fine."

"Okay!" After Zhou Huaian picked out the bamboo ginseng and weighed it, he asked them to write down the weight and put it into the bamboo basket before he began to look at the mulberry fungus brought by Lao Yin.

The quality of the Coriolus versicolor this time could only be rated as first-class. There were two that could not even be rated as first-class. He picked them out and weighed them and said to Lao Yin, "First-class goods are 2.7 jins, and second-class goods are 3.2 jins. First-class goods are 210 yuan per jin, and second-class goods are 150 yuan per jin, a total of 1,047 yuan."

The fifth brother and the other man were stunned for a moment, then they grinned and nodded, "Yes, yes!" The price was twice as high as that sold in the boat city. The youngest brother was indeed a very honest man.

"Wait for me to see the gallbladder, then I'll give you the money!" Zhou Huaian said as he picked up the two pieces of gallbladder. After checking, he found that they were not as good as the last one. "These two pieces of gallbladder are not as good as the last one. How much can I sell them for if I can't tell the difference?"

He put the gallbladder back into the bag and said, "It would be better if we do it the same way as before. You guys set a minimum price and I'll sell it and then give you the money."

Old Yin said to the short man, "Shitou, what do you say?"

Shitou blinked his eyes and rubbed his hands nervously, "Youngest brother, my cousin said that these two bear gallbladders must be sold for at least 1,100 yuan."

"Okay!" Zhou Huaian wrote a note and asked him to press his fingerprint. He put the bear gall in a bamboo basket, went into the house to get the money, and gave him the money from Lao Wu's family. "Please count it carefully."

"Hey!" Lao Wu stretched out his calloused hands, took the brand new Great Unity with both hands, put his index finger to his lips, dipped it in saliva, and began to count them one by one.

Old Yin took a sip of hot tea and said, "Youngest brother, you will close the stall on the 29th and open on the 8th, right?"

"Yes!" Zhou Huaian smiled and clasped his fists, "We can still dig for two months after the Chinese New Year. I wish you all good luck in the next year. I hope you can dig more good stuff and sell it for money."

"Thank you, youngest brother." Old Yin returned the greeting with a fist and said, "Next year, when mushrooms are on the market, we want to send red mushrooms from there to sell as well."

Zhou Huaian: "Just send it over. We can also send bigfoot mushrooms, morels, hericium erinaceus, shiitake mushrooms, and black fungus."

Old Yin and the others looked at him in surprise, "You want to collect these too?"

Zhou Huaian: "We didn't collect them last year. This year we tried to collect some at Funiu and sent them to the provincial capital to show the boss. We decided to start collecting these mushrooms in the second half of the year. But just like the red mushrooms, we only want the good ones and don't want the inferior ones."

Old Yin nodded repeatedly, "Don't worry, we will definitely pick the best ones and send them to you."

The fifth brother listened to them and counted the money wrong several times. Finally, he stood aside and counted it clearly. "Youngest brother, the money is correct."

"Okay!" Zhou Huaian said to the others, "If you are not in a hurry to go back, just wait here for one night. I will give you the money tomorrow. If you are busy, come and get it the day after tomorrow!"

Lao Yin said cheerfully: "You guys will close the stall the day after tomorrow, and we will rush back home, so we will stay here for one night and go back tomorrow."

"Okay!" Zhou Huaian sent a few people out of the yard. After Lao Yin and a few men thanked him gratefully, they left together.

He went back and brought the bamboo basket to the main room, put it away, put the mulberry fungus in the bag and buttoned it up. Then Zhao Huifang came out with a bowl of noodle soup. "Youngest, I cooked some noodle soup for you and cut some sika deer meat into it."

Zhou Huaian was delighted when he heard this: "Sister-in-law, is there red deer meat for sale in the village?"

"Yes, I bought a leg and planned to stew it for the New Year reunion." Zhao Huifang went to the kitchen and took out the elk meat. "Look, they just brought it back at noon. I heard they caught it with a trap."

Zhou Huaian slurped a piece of noodles, "It's fresh, how much do they sell it for per pound?"

Zhao Huifang smiled and said, "It's a good deal, only one dollar and a half per pound, the same as the current price of pork."

People in the mountains are not interested in wild game, but they are interested in fat meat. Even fat meat with two fingers of fat on it will be sold at this price.

After hearing this, Zhou Huaian hurriedly said, "Sister-in-law, go buy the remaining legs and I will take them away when I return."

"Okay, I'll buy it for you right away." Zhao Huifang took the money and strode towards the gate of the courtyard.

Zhou Huaian ate half a bowl of noodle soup and started sweating. He quickly took the noodles and sat down farther away from the brazier, only then did he feel a little cooler.

At this time, Zhou Huairong came in carrying venison. "Youngest, we bought the remaining three legs of venison. Aunt Yang also gave us two pheasants and a few turtledoves. I gave her money, but she refused to take it. She said you didn't ask her for money when you helped her buy the plaster last time."

"I'll cut a piece of meat tomorrow to repay her." Zhou Huaian smiled and said, "Secretary Yang said that she couldn't sleep at night because of her rheumatism, so I bought her a few boxes of ointment from Wang Zhen.

Wang Zhen also gave us a recipe for making wine, thinking that we often bothered them when we lived here, and that we didn’t charge them for things worth a few dollars, so they still remembered it! ”

After hearing this, Zhou Huairong said, "We have eaten a lot of their dried vegetables, cabbage and radish here. Go back and help me cut five pieces of fat meat weighing five pounds each. Cut five pieces and bring some wine with them. Wish them a happy new year before you leave."

"Okay!" Zhou Huaian stood up and said, "How many baskets are left to be filled?"

"There are more than forty baskets left, and your sister-in-law is helping to load them." Just as Zhou Huairong and he walked to the gate of the yard, they saw Lao Yin and the short man who had just come but had not spoken coming over.

Zhou Huaian thought that the account just now was wrong, "Brother Yin, is there something wrong?"

"Youngest, let's go inside and talk!" Old Yin pulled him into the yard, and the little man followed him in and closed the door.

"Let's go inside and talk!" Zhou Huaian glanced at Zhou Huairong and took them into the house.

"Youngest, this is my brother-in-law Han Qing'an. He brought something with him!" Old Yin said excitedly, pulling the younger man. "This thing came from the stomach of my brother-in-law's old cow. Take a look and see if it's bezoar."

"Bezoar?" Zhou Huaian and Zhou Huairong were both stunned for a moment, "Bring it here for me to see."

Han Qingan gently took out something wrapped in old cotton cloth from the linen bag he was carrying, which was so old that its original color could not be seen.

He said a little nervously: "Youngest brother, my grandfather said it was bezoar, and we didn't recognize it. My eldest brother said that you are kind and honest, so I brought it with me when I sell truffles this time."

Zhou Huaian recalled the cow that Yang Chunyan had mentioned had bezoars in its stomach. "Is the cow yours? How many years have you raised it? How did you know that the cow had bezoars in its stomach?"

Han Qingan carefully placed the cotton bag on the low square table and slowly untied the cotton thread tied to it, "This cow was raised by my grandfather before it was distributed to different households.

The year before last, after our brigade implemented the household contract responsibility system, my family partnered with my eldest uncle and my second uncle's families to buy the cow, and the three families raised and used it together.

The old cow has not eaten well since the middle of last year. It always likes to drink water and cries until midnight every day. It is very creepy. When my grandfather was a cowherd in a landlord's house before liberation, he saw the landlord cut out bezoar from the stomach of such a cow.

After the cow died two days ago, he asked me and my friends to slaughter the cow and found something as big as a duck egg and a dozen other things as big as soybeans. " (End of this chapter)