As soon as he finished speaking, he had already started to search for clues in his mind to make up for his shortcoming in thinking of the answer in a hurry.
But after he finished speaking, Uncle Ma did not rush to continue the conversation.
The face looked calm and unhurried. He casually tossed the rabbit into the sack, turned around, picked up the gun and continued on his way.
Uncle Ma San's pace suddenly slowed down, so slowly that it seemed as if he was counting the location of every stone on the ground.
The soles of the shoes scraped lightly across the ground, making a faint sound.
He rolled up his sleeves and seemed to be intentionally sending out a signal out of the corner of his eye.
Chen Changyuan followed behind the group and his nerves suddenly tensed up. He thought to himself: Is something weird going to happen again?
Sure enough, Uncle Ma San in the front suddenly stopped, pointed his finger at the ground, and murmured, "Pay attention, there are some tricks down there."
Chen Changyuan suddenly realized and accepted the cautious temptations of others, and immediately became more focused.
At this time, he noticed that the dead branches under his feet gradually became fewer, the muddy dirt road began to be mixed with small stones, and the broken branches in the grass on both sides revealed subtle "human traces".
"Someone's passing by!"
He immediately whispered.
Uncle Ma paused slightly, his eyes showing some approval, but he didn't say anything more.
He obviously gave Chen Changyuan a few more points in his mind.
The two of them arrived at a secluded slope, and in front of them was a sunken valley. Mist was rising from the valley, and the shapes of several clusters of medicinal herbs were vaguely visible.
Uncle Ma San lowered his head and hunched his back as he entered the depression. He turned around and said calmly, "The herbs growing in this area are the cleanest. Do you know where to start?"
Chen Changyuan's eyes lit up, but he was also a little confused.
"Uncle San, please teach me a method."
He grinned and looked incredibly sincere.
"Religion is religion."
Uncle Ma snorted coldly, "But whether you understand it or not is up to you!"
After saying that, he bent down and pulled up a medicinal herb, pointed at the rhizome in the soil and gave a detailed explanation: "Watch the direction, don't bring too much mud, and don't damage the thin roots..." At Uncle Ma's command, Chen Changyuan bent down and got busy, starting to pick an inconspicuous medicinal herb according to the method Uncle Ma had just taught him.
The roots of the plant in front of him were as thin as toothpicks. He frowned and wondered whether he should use more force.
It would be really embarrassing if you lose control of your hand and pull it out by the roots.
His fingers touched the roots lightly and he tried to pull them apart.
As a result, the roots did not move at all, but seemed like a stubborn person, stuck in the mud.
Hey, this thing is really funny!
A sarcastic remark came from behind: "Boy, are you tickling the medicinal herbs?"
Uncle Ma's teasing was so sharp that Chen Changyuan felt his teeth itching.
I gritted my teeth and put in a little more strength, and finally heard a crisp sound, "Crack!"
The roots were finally pulled out along with the soil.
Chen Changyuan quickly reached out and carefully peeled off the soil tightly attached to the roots, for fear of breaking the fine fibers.
He held the herbs in his hand and handed them to Uncle Ma, saying cautiously, "Uncle, do you think this is up to standard?"
Uncle Ma glanced at it, weighed it casually, and frowned. "It's barely passable. But remember, when it comes to collecting herbs, you need a sharp eye and a steady hand, otherwise it's a waste of time. Your... thin beard is messy, and the mud hasn't been wiped off. Don't let me see this kind of rough work again!"
Chen Changyuan scratched his head, gave a dry smile, and agreed, "Got it! Third Uncle, I'm not familiar with it. I'll practice more later."
But I felt a little annoyed in my heart - who is born to pick herbs? I am just a half-baked one, how dare I talk back?
Before he could think about it, Uncle Ma pulled out an old sack from his backpack and threw it to him. He then let out a lazy sigh, "Now that the business is open, stop pretending. Bring back a few Bupleurum chinense plants so I don't think you can't tell the difference between herbs and medicine."
After being stunned for half a second, Chen Changyuan immediately frowned and secretly gathered his strength.
His eyes roamed back and forth across the foggy depression. The water stains on the mud reflected the light, and the cold wind in the bushes chilled his cheeks.
He pondered over the simple memories of medicinal herbs from his previous life, as well as the key points for collecting herbs that Uncle Ma had just mentioned, and kept gesturing in his mind about where to find the target.
A vague shape came into view - it was hidden in the shadow of a tree trunk, with slender leaves and pale yellow roots, and it looked very much like the Bupleurum that Uncle Ma San had mentioned.
Chen Changyuan immediately squatted down, took a closer look, and gently scratched the root with his fingernail. A faint fragrance penetrated his nose, and he shouted in his heart, "It's you!"
He quickly picked three or four plants and returned to Uncle Ma with his harvest, saying with a hint of pride, "Uncle, take a look at the quality of this batch."
Uncle Ma glanced at the area and commented slowly, "Lucky for me, you didn't bring me back some crooked weeds. But do you really dare to show off your skills in front of a few kids in the village? I think you need to practice more, so as not to waste the good herbs in this mountain."
Chen Changyuan's heart sank. The hint of criticism in the words made him uncomfortable, but the hint of encouragement made him unwilling to accept it.
"Okay, Third Uncle, wait and see. I'm going to make some good medicinal herbs tonight. If I don't, I, Chen Changyuan, will have to crawl back to the village!"
He rolled up his sleeves to continue working, holding back a lot of energy.
The fog in the mountains grew thicker and thicker, like a layer of damp and cold gauze covering the woods.
Uncle Ma San changed his pace back and forth, sometimes walking very fast, sometimes suddenly slowing down, making it difficult for people to catch the trick.
Chen Changyuan didn't look carefully at first, and ended up losing track several times.
When he looked up again, he found some shallow marks on the ground, like wheel ruts.
The grass on the side also bent at strange angles, vaguely looking like it had been trampled on.
Now he had a plan in mind. He let out a sigh, silently glanced at the figure in the distance, and muttered to himself: "Good fellow, this old shrew is not going to abandon me and sneak back by himself, is he?"
Although there was a slight smile on the corner of his mouth, the light in his eyes was firmly glued to the ground.
He began to slow down his pace, looking down at the old lines on the tree trunks by the roadside and the inconspicuous creases in the grass.
He almost got lost several times, but relying on these clues, he caught up again.
Uncle Ma San deliberately cleared his throat, as if he was just coughing casually, but people could hear some of his hidden thoughts.
"Yeah, there's some clues."
He squeezed out this half-sentence of comment from his nose, maintaining a calm demeanor, but a hint of satisfaction flashed across his eyes.
The two walked forward and finally came to a hidden slope.
This place seemed even more sparsely populated than the previous territory, but several herbs were clearly growing exceptionally well.
As he walked, Uncle Ma stopped.
He leisurely walked to a big tree and gently picked up a small piece of exposed roots from the ground.
As he was working, he suddenly said, "The medicinal materials here are of excellent quality. But look at the old pit, those poachers often miss out!"
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