Zhang Guoqing laughed happily and patted his butt. "Little thing is still hinting to Dad. I'm telling a white lie. If your mom insists on coming with us, I won't be able to take care of you and your mother. Tell her when we get out of the mountains. If your mom punishes me then, you have to help me bear the consequences."
Ping An patted his shoulder and said, "Dad, my mom has already predicted that you will take me to the mountains. Don't worry!"
He paused for a moment, looked around, and whispered in my ear, "You can't hide it from my mother. She's too smart. You'd better confess. We still need my mother to perform magic."
Zhang Guoqing watched his son wink at him speechlessly. What a mean little bastard!
"My mom gave me some medicine powder. You can take me to try it first. Didn't you say there was a wolf? I really want to see how my dad kills the wolf. Dad, you are so awesome."
Zhang Guoqing glanced at him amusedly. "Not today, but there will be plenty of opportunities in the future. By the way, your brother and the others will make a lot of money this time."
Ping An's eyes lit up, "Dad, let's not waste time. Let's go, hurry up, I have to go see if my mom is in danger."
The father and son exchanged witty words, but Ping An was finally caught by Zhang Guoqing's weakness and forgot his careful plan of testing the medicine and hunting first.
In the woods, Zhou Jiao lowered her head to dig herbs with a small shovel. Listening to the children's occasional shouts and cries, she smiled. Before leaving, they had said they wanted to learn how to identify herbs from her. Now they were all ready, rushing off to pick mountain products and fruits.
However, she didn't force it, not even saying a word of warning. Seven pounds of dried hazel mushrooms only weighed a little over a pound. How could it be as valuable as the Gastrodia elata she was digging now?
Zhou Jiao originally thought that the brothers Xizi and Ziwen would have different views from the other children. She had specifically mentioned that this was Gastrodia elata just now to test these children, big and small.
He's already sixteen or seventeen, yet he's focused on immediate gains and doesn't have the breadth of mind. He can't hear his own words and doesn't have the brains. More seriously, his knowledge is too narrow. He's been fooled by reading too much!
Zhang Guoqing carried his son to a nearby place, then put him down and let him walk by himself.
Ping An skipped over to Zhou Jiao and squatted down, looking at the Gastrodia elata still covered in dirt, and laughed happily, "Mom, you are so amazing!"
Zhang Guoqing looked down, then looked around, and smiled helplessly. He squatted down and took the tools from Zhou Jiao's hand, "Now that we've dug here, where else do we need to go?"
"I'm still planning on introducing the children to herbs. I see there are quite a few here, so let's not go anywhere else today. Son, come with me now."
Zhang Guoqing quickly finished digging up that small handful, turned around, and saw several more sparsely scattered clusters not far away. He glared at Zhang Ziwen, who was not far away, with a look of disapproval.
Zhang Ziwen was busy picking hazelnuts and putting them into sacks, and from time to time he would keep an eye on his three sisters picking mushrooms, worried that they would be bitten by snakes or insects.
At this moment, he turned his head and saw his uncle not far away, waving to him happily. He was wondering where his uncle had gone.
Zhang Guoqing couldn't bear to see such a big boy smiling so foolishly. Fortunately, he was handsome, otherwise he would be no different from the idiot in the next village.
He waved to Zhang Ziwen.
Zhang Ziwen immediately put down the sack, ran towards him quickly, and squatted in front of him, "What's wrong, uncle?"
"You know this is Gastrodia elata? The Gastrodia elata in your grandma's medicine! You idiot!"
Zhang Ziwen was stunned for a moment, then asked in a low voice, "The same Gastrodia elata?"
"What else?"
"No wonder my aunt-in-law said this Gastrodia elata is good just now." Zhang Ziwen thought for a while and slapped his forehead hard.
Zhang Guoqing rolled his eyes at him and handed him the small shovel in his hand. "Keep your voice down, you silly boy. Do you think your aunt-in-law is as stupid as those young wives?"
Zhang Ziwen chuckled and said, "I was so excited just now that I didn't pay attention."
Zhang Guoqing pointed to a few places ahead of him with amusement, "Hurry up, we have to go back at one or two o'clock."
Over there, Zhou Jiao held Ping An's hand, walked to a spot, pointed at the weeds, and asked him to guess what they were. When he guessed correctly, he nodded, and she personally led him to dig herbs, while explaining the precautions.
If he made a mistake, she would point out the characteristics in detail and let him do it himself. Mother and son were busy and chattering, and soon the bamboo basket was filled with many more herbs.
"Mom, do we really have to donate these to the health center?"
Zhou Jiao smiled and said, "What do you think your mother will do?"
"Keep the valuable and rare ones."
Zhou Jiao patted him and said, "Don't say some things lightly. Just understand them in your heart. Pay attention to what's that under your feet?"
Ping An glanced at her and said, "You taught me that just now." As he spoke, he shoveled up the weeds next to him with a strong effort. "Mom, my grandpa likes hazelnuts."
Zhou Jiao understood what he meant and turned around to look around. "Okay. These are pretty much the herbs we have here. We can learn the rest later. Be careful of snakes and insects when picking wild products."
Zhang Guoqing looked up at the sky and said, "I'll take you two there first. Eat some dry food if you're hungry, and don't try too hard."
"It's a shame to have such a large area of wild grapes."
"You want me to go now."
Zhou Jiao hurriedly grabbed him and said, "Let's talk about it later!"
Zhang Guoqing had no objection. It would be strange to find wild grapes in the mountains. He followed the mother and daughter, carrying a sack, wondering whether he should kill the wolves.
The absence of wolves had both advantages and disadvantages, but he was deeply concerned that the surrounding brigades would misbehave and completely destroy the mountain. The North Mountain behind his house was now barren of trees. Building houses, weddings, and other ceremonies all required wood, so there was no guarantee it would remain untouched.
Nearing noon, Zhang Qingshan looked around and saw that he had almost finished taking advantage of the thirty or so men he had with him. He touched his stomach and walked to Zhang Qingfeng who was not far away.
"How about going back? There are too many to move."
Zhang Qingfeng said without turning his head, "Wait a little longer. It's almost time to get off work when we go back to the team, and every household has people working. In an hour or so, when we get down the mountain, they will just be back at work."
"Then let the children eat some dry food to fill their stomachs first."
"Okay, you decide."
Seeing that he didn't even look up, Zhang Qingshan shook his head helplessly. He ran to get the children to eat something because they were hungry. Unexpectedly, they all shook their heads.
Looking at the wild fruit cores not far from the children, he couldn't help but laugh. He was really not as smart as the children. He was so busy taking care of them that he forgot there was something to eat while working.
By 1:00 PM, everyone was satisfied with the 20 or so sacks piled under the oak tree. Knowing they couldn't delay any longer, they began carrying the sacks down the mountain using makeshift wooden sticks.
Zhang Guoqing, the last one standing, held his son in his arms, listening to their animated conversation from behind. He glanced back. He guessed those old hunters might even be ready to kill. Nothing can be done to the extreme. He really didn't plan to come back tomorrow. He hoped everyone would understand.
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