Chapter 274 Dispute
Zhou Silang couldn't help but glare at him, "How dare you say that? You're running fast ahead with nothing in your hands, leaving me behind alone."
"How could I be empty-handed? I was clearly carrying a hoe." Zhou Wulang said, "I told you to run away first. Who told you to come back and argue with them? Didn't you see there were so many of them?"
Manbao sat aside, turning his head to look at this and that, watching with great interest.
Old Zhou didn't find it amusing. He slapped his thigh to quiet his two sons, then asked, "Why are they chasing you? Did they know you went into the mountains to dig for Poria cocos?"
"I don't know," Zhou Silang said affirmatively, "I asked them, and they are jealous of us looking for wild mushrooms in the mountains."
Otherwise he wouldn't be stupid enough to turn around and argue with others.
He looked at Lao Wu with contempt, thinking that he was the kind of person who was so stupid that he didn't even know why he was being beaten.
"My second brother was selling vegetables in the county town when someone from Dali Village saw him. He was selling wild mushrooms for twenty cents a pound, more expensive than meat. He went back and told them that we were looking for wild mushrooms in their mountains. That's why they chased us away."
In fact, they can't find wild mushrooms every day these days, mainly because they grow fast and fall fast.
It rained yesterday, so most of the flowers will grow today. If no one finds them in two days, they will drop off their umbrellas by themselves.
Even if it is found, it will be old and not tasty.
Zhou Erlang sells mushrooms at a high price, but he also has high requirements for quality. He will not take low-quality wild mushrooms to the county town to sell.
Those rich people are very particular.
They don't mind that wild mushrooms are more expensive than meat, but they definitely mind that wild mushrooms don't taste good.
But the Zhou family is large, and they have a lot of experience in this area, especially Zhou Silang. When it comes to finding things in the mountains, none of the Zhou brothers can compare to him.
Manbao, who always has adventures, might be able to catch up with him.
But the nature is also different, because Manbao is looking for things they don’t know, and he relies on his rich knowledge.
Few people from Qili Village go to the city. Although they know that the Zhou family grows and sells vegetables, they don’t know how much money they can make.
Not to mention other businesses.
So there is no question of jealousy, and even if there is jealousy, I would not do such a thing.
But it’s different in Dali Village. They are separated by a village and they even had a fight. Who would care about your face?
So let’s hurry up.
Old Zhou was so angry that he knocked his pipe several times, but after thinking for a long time, he gritted his teeth and said, "Don't go to Zhongshan anymore. Didn't you find Fuling?"
"I didn't find any Poria cocos, but I did find some wild mushrooms," Zhou Silang said anxiously. "Dad, I can't say I can find 10 or 8 kilograms every day, but as long as we go deep enough, finding 4 or 5 kilograms won't be a problem. 5 kilograms of wild mushrooms is worth 100 coins."
Zhou Silang was now very good at arithmetic, and he calculated for him, "That's a hundred coins a day, which means three hundred coins a month. How much land do I need to plant to make enough food?"
Old Zhou glanced at him and said, "Come on, are you bullying your father for being illiterate? In weather like this, can you make God rain and grow mushrooms every day?"
Zhou Silang lowered his head.
Although Old Zhou was heartbroken about this loss, he still had some sense. He snorted and said, "It's almost time to harvest mushrooms. Even if there are more mushrooms in the mountains, we won't be able to find them. It's too late to fight with others now. Don't you think you have enough things to do at home?"
Zhou Silang was unconvinced, "So let's just let this matter go?"
Old Zhou lowered his head and said nothing, but his attitude was very clear.
Zhou Silang was very angry, and Zhou Wulang was also very angry. Both of them were almost children when they played with their friends in the village, and they were both young and energetic. Of course, they could not swallow this humiliation.
Then they were afraid of their father, and although they couldn't swallow it, they didn't dare to say anything, let alone fight with the people in Dali Village in private.
Because fighting will definitely involve brothers, but as long as brothers above the third brother are involved, it is basically impossible to hide this from dad.
The two of them sighed and went to the next yard.
Old Zhou said to Fang, "Go get some medicinal wine from your mother and rub it on the fourth child. It didn't rain today, and there won't be any mushrooms tomorrow. Let him go into the mountains with his eldest brother and the others to get some good mountain mud."
Manbao had already slipped into the house behind Zhou Silang and asked curiously, "Fourth Brother, did you really not find Fuling?"
"No," Zhou Silang said unhappily, "We turned over all the pine stumps that had been cut down on the mountains, but we didn't find a single Poria cocos."
Manbao pondered, "Couldn't the growth conditions be pine stumps?"
Zhou Silang squinted his eyes at her and said, "Didn't you say it was the spirit, the essence, or something like that of the pine tree?"
"Yes," Manbao blinked and said, "but it's not a pine tree stump."
Zhou Silang: “…”
The brother and sister looked at each other for a long time. Zhou Silang wanted to reach out and strangle her, but Manbao ran to the door to avoid him.
Zhou Silang wanted to pound his bed and sigh, saying bitterly, "Do you know how much money we've lost these past few days? The other day, my second brother gave all the remaining poria cocos to Shopkeeper Zheng. It weighed 11.7 jin (approximately 100 kg) and was exchanged for 920 coins. If we could find poria cocos these few days..."
Zhou Silang's saliva was almost flowing.
Manbao pried open the door and said, "That's impossible. You think the herb is Chinese cabbage? We've been looking for Ligustrum lucidum for two years, and haven't my brother and the others only found five?"
Manbao said, "It's not grown at home, so you can use as much as you want."
Zhou Silang was originally full of regret, but after hearing this, he paused and tilted his head and said, "Yes, why can't we grow it ourselves, just like growing ginger."
Manbao asked, "Do you have land?"
Zhou Silang suddenly fell silent.
There are strict regulations on what to plant on the permanent fields allocated by the imperial court. Planting rice and wheat is the best. You can plant edible beans, sesame, etc. in the fields that cannot be used for planting. If you want to grow melons and vegetables on the allocated land, we will turn a blind eye. However, if you dare to plant other messy things and occupy good farmland, it will be a very serious matter.
Ginger and other things can be grown, and yam can be eaten, even if it is just barely qualified.
But Poria cocos obviously cannot be stewed directly in the pot like yam.
The brother and sister both fell into deep thought. When Koko saw this, he really wanted to tell them that Poria cocos is not something you can grow just because you want to. Do you have the planting techniques?
Now, even the researchers at the encyclopedia on the other side have not been able to cultivate Poria cocos, so where do you two brothers and sisters get the confidence that you can grow Poria cocos?
Do you know how to grow Poria cocos?
Anyway, Koko doesn't know.
(End of this chapter)
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