The further north they went, the fewer passengers boarded and disembarked at the train stops. Zhang Guoqing and his family, along with the Wangs, set out from the county seat early in the morning, arrived at the provincial station, and boarded the train with their tickets in hand. It was already past four in the afternoon.
Taking advantage of the lack of passengers and the fact that a few people had finished their dinner, Mr. Wang had already dozed off on an empty seat. Uncle Wang leaned against him considerately, but Zhou Jiao glared at him, causing him to laugh.
Fortunately, there were few people, otherwise Uncle Wang would be even more nervous if he went out with such a large sum of money. She did not forget that on the bus from the county to the provincial capital, Comrade Lao Wang always stood guard on the right side of Uncle Wang.
"Okay, I don't know if we can make it in the second half of the night, you should go and rest for a while."
"Dad, what are we going to do after we get off this car? How are we going to get to my senior brother's place in the middle of the night?"
Old Master Wang waved his hand. "Don't worry, he'll be waiting for us at Meihekou as soon as he gets the telegram. Just pay attention to the station name and don't miss it."
"Hey, go back to sleep."
Seeing that it was still early, Zhang Guoqing looked at his son sleeping in his arms. Without shouting to him, he gestured with his hand to indicate that he was watching over him and let Uncle Wang go to sleep first.
After getting off the train, you have to take a bus and then transfer to an oxcart, which is quite a hassle. Judging by the speed of the oxcart and the small stations along the way, it is estimated that it will be almost dawn when we arrive at the station.
In the second half of the night, Ping'an woke up. After going to the toilet, the father and son specifically consulted the flight attendant. Sure enough, they would arrive at their destination around three or four in the morning.
When they returned to the carriage, they saw Zhou Jiao drowsily opening her eyes to look at the father and son before falling asleep again. Zhang Guoqing was both angry and amused.
Before coming here, he had learned from Mr. Wang that he would need to change trains, so he planned to have Zhou Jiao and their son wait for him in his hometown. However, this time, the mother and daughter unanimously refused. Now, they knew they were going to suffer, right?
Mr. Wang, who had just woken up, saw him come in and motioned to him to sleep for a while.
Zhang Guoqing nodded, patted the child in his arms, and closed his eyes. It was already late at night, and the train's regular "what's more" melody and the snoring in the carriage gradually made him fall asleep.
He didn't know how long he slept. He was dreaming of a ginseng bigger than a radish when Zhou Jiao suddenly woke him up. He shook his head regretfully, "Are we there yet?"
Zhou Jiao looked at him worriedly, "Tired?"
"No, I was just having a sweet dream..." Zhang Guoqing hadn't finished speaking when he heard Mr. Wang calling him from the front. He quickly responded, carrying his luggage, holding his son, and pulling his wife out.
"Don't worry, the car door hasn't been opened yet."
Zhang Guoqing smiled and nodded.
"Put an extra coat on the child. It's cold outside."
Zhang Guoqing took the clothes Zhou Jiao handed over and wrapped the child in his arms. "Grandpa Wang, do you want me to write a sign and hold it up when we get to the exit?"
Old Master Wang smiled and shook his head. "No need! If we go down with a group like this, he'll definitely see it as long as he's not blind. Seven or eight years ago, when I came here, the kid was transported by carriage. I don't know how he's going to arrange it now."
"Okay, you decide." Zhang Guoqing didn't ask where the other party worked now, or how far the other party's home was from the famous Cangcheng in later generations. He just waited and saw.
After leaving the station, it was already dawn. A middle-aged man not far away saw them and immediately raised his hands and waved them, then walked towards them quickly.
"Here he comes!" Mr. Wang laughed happily when he saw the other person.
"Master, you're finally here. I came here before one o'clock. Why are you so slow? Are you starving? There are dry food in the car, and I just ran inside to get some hot water. Come on, let's get in the car first."
The other person was tall and strong. If you didn't notice the way he walked and the pair of eyes that were shining with brilliance as they looked at others inconspicuously, you would definitely think he was an ordinary farmer.
Mr. Wang smiled and patted his shoulder, then followed him out. "How are your family members?"
"Very good. Master uncle will stay for a few more days this time, and I have prepared a lot of good wine."
"Your master ran away again?"
"I knew I couldn't hide it from you. Even if he's not at home, how much more alcohol can there be..."
The two men in front huddled together, talking and laughing heartily. Zhang Guoqing and Uncle Wang in the back shook their heads. The conversation about wine had the old man in stitches.
A horse-drawn carriage was parked not far from the road, with a piece of blue coarse cloth tied to the outside. When the group arrived, Old Man Wang asked Zhang Guoqing and his family of three to get in with Boss Wang, while he and his nephew sat in the front of the carriage and drove.
The "nephew" pointed to a package in the carriage and said with a smile: "You can help yourselves. The water is in the pot."
After Zhang Guoqing thanked Zhou Jiao repeatedly, he let her go in first, put the child in her arms on the blanket in the car, and then pulled Uncle Wang, who had been giving way all the time, into the car.
Perhaps because this bus was often used to transport passengers, or perhaps for some other reason, the interior of the bus was unusually spacious, allowing several people to fit inside without feeling cramped.
As they settled into their seats, the nephew outside the carriage shouted "Gee!" and whipped the horse whip, and the carriage began to race along the dirt road. Once outside the city, the road became bumpy and uneven, and the people inside the carriage were tossed around, up and down. Ping An, who had fallen asleep, was unaware of it and fell into a sound sleep.
Uncle Wang also fell asleep with the child. He must have not slept well on the train, but now he relaxed and soon began to snore softly as the carriage swayed.
Zhou Jiao slowly climbed up and leaned against the carriage, touching her waist inconspicuously. Her waist was almost broken from the torture just now.
Hearing the loud chatter of Master Wang and his nephew, the couple exchanged a wry smile and shook their heads. For the next three hours or so, the carriage was so swaying that even their bodies felt like they were falling apart, let alone sleeping.
After more than half an hour, the two people who were chatting animatedly in front gradually lowered their voices. Through the car window, many forests appeared wherever they went, and farther away were continuous mountains.
"...Lin Quan, how much did you collect?"
"Uncle Master, I won't ask why you need so much, but you should be more careful. Why spend money on these things? When can we go up the mountain without them?"
Perhaps because Old Man Wang glared at him, the other man smiled and said, "Okay, okay, I'll talk it over. I've already told all the old hunters and ginseng collection teams I know around here to keep any valuables for me. However, I also promised a few people that if they have wild ginseng that's over 300 years old, they'll get a higher price than at the purchasing station. Is that okay?"
I don't know where Mr. Wang was shooting, but he was banging on the phone. "I don't care about the price, as long as the product is good. It's okay as long as you don't advertise it everywhere."
"You're really underestimating me. Am I that fool? Besides, those old guys also privately requested that these things not be leaked to the public. If they were to know about it, they would definitely be criticized.
"Master, since the establishment of the commune, it's been difficult for those people to take long vacations and go to the mountains, so the prices of many things have increased significantly. You should think about it later."
Mr. Wang: "Don't worry! The price of my Gada land has also increased a lot. What's the current price of the ginseng in the forest farm?"
"Why do you keep asking those questions? Younger, weaker ginseng might just fool laymen. A while ago, I heard an older guy say 30-year-old forest ginseng costs over 20 yuan. What's the point of eating that? The price of our wild ginseng is driven way up by those farms."
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