Chapter 258 The Great Brown Bear
Sheng Xiping came home late, thinking everyone in his family was asleep. But when he entered the door, his parents and wife were waiting for him.
This feeling truly warms the heart.
"How can your mother sleep if you don't come back?" Sheng Liancheng finally smiled when his son came in.
"You must be exhausted. I'll get you some hot water to soak your feet. It'll make you feel better."
Zhou Qinglan quickly got up, scooped hot water from the pot, carried it to the middle of the floor, and handed Sheng Xiping a stool so that he could wash his feet while chatting with them.
"Don't rush to wash your feet, Mom. Quickly get me a needle, a long one."
Sheng Xiping had no interest in washing his feet right now. He was thinking about the pig litter in his pocket, so he quickly asked Zhang Shuzhen to find him a needle.
"Oh dear, do you have blisters on your feet? You should wash your feet first, and then try to remove the blisters."
Zhang Shuzhen misunderstood, thinking that her son had blistered his feet from running around in the mountains all day.
"No, Mom, I killed a big basket today and brought back a stomach and gallbladder. The gallbladder seems a bit different; I feel like there might be gallstones inside."
"Find me a needle, I'll prick it and see," Sheng Xiping explained to his mother with a smile.
Although Sheng Liancheng doesn't hunt, he is quite old and has lived in the forest area for many years. He has heard many legendary stories about Changbai Mountain in the past and has also heard people talk about pigs.
So when Sheng Liancheng heard that there were gallstones in pig gallbladders, he immediately thought of that.
"Oh dear, mom, hurry and get the needle, it might be pig gallstones."
Zhang Shuzhen didn't understand what pig gallstones were, but the father and son both looked solemn, so she seemed to understand something as well.
So he quickly got up, went back to the room, rummaged through the cabinet to find a sewing basket, and then took a large needle used for quilting and handed it to Sheng Xiping.
Sheng Xiping had already taken out the pig gallbladder wrapped in white cloth from his pocket, taken the needle, pricked the hard lump inside the gallbladder, and then pulled it out.
In the dim light of the kitchen, you could see that the needle was covered with a faint red coating.
Sheng Xiping was overjoyed, "It really is pig gallstones."
It is said that bezoar grows inside the gallbladder of a cow. If you poke a yellow gallbladder with a needle and then pull it out, the needle will not be green, but golden yellow.
The same applies to pig litter. If you poke it with a needle, the needle will be red if there is pig litter inside.
"Mom, quickly steam some millet rice."
Whether it's cow's gallbladder or pig's gallbladder, once gallstones are formed, the bile will change.
Not only does it have a miraculous effect on gallstones, but even the bile is different.
However, bile is difficult to preserve, so the older generation would steam some millet, soak it in bile, and then dry it.
This dried and preserved millet rice has certain medicinal properties. Although it is not as effective as bezoar or pig gallstones, it is sufficient for most ailments.
Although Zhang Shuzhen and Zhou Qinglan didn't understand, they immediately got to work. One went to wash the rice and the other went to start a fire. Soon, they had cooked the millet in the pot.
Once the rice has absorbed the water, transfer it to a bowl and continue steaming over high heat.
While the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were busy steaming rice, Sheng Xiping took off her shoes and socks and started soaking her feet.
Before he could even finish washing his feet, the power to the forest farm was cut off. So he quickly took out a candle, lit it, and continued working.
After Sheng Xiping washed and dried his feet, went out to pour out the water, the glutinous rice was almost cooked.
Sheng Xiping took a shovel, carried the rice bowl outside, and turned the rice to cool it down.
After the rice has cooled down, carry it inside and cut open the pig's gallbladder with a knife.
Dark red bile flowed into the rice, and Sheng Xiping hurriedly stirred it evenly with a spatula.
After all the bile had been absorbed by the millet rice, the gallbladder casing was completely torn open, and several lumps inside were removed.
Inside the gallbladder were more than a dozen dark red, stone-like substances of varying sizes, some as big as an egg and others about the size of a thumb.
The Sheng family had a special scale for weighing medicinal herbs. Zhang Shuzhen took it out and weighed it. Just these lumpy things alone weighed more than four ounces.
"Mom, please keep this safe for me. Once it's completely dry, seal it in a glass jar."
Sheng Xiping carefully wrapped the red, stone-like objects in a white cloth and handed them over to Zhang Shuzhen for safekeeping.
The reason we didn't give it to Zhou Qinglan was mainly because Zhou Qinglan was usually at work and not at home, so it was more reassuring to have Zhang Shuzhen manage it.
Pig gallstones are extremely rare, and Sheng Xiping has no intention of selling them now. If stored properly, they can last for decades.
In later generations, this stuff will cost tens of thousands of dollars per gram, but even at that high price, you still can't buy it. Just keep it and don't waste it for a few dollars.
"Xiping, didn't you tell Jianshe and Weiguo about this pig sand thing?" Sheng Liancheng asked.
"Dad, I didn't tell them, mainly because we were on the mountain at the time, and I wasn't sure if that thing was pig gallstones."
Here's what I was thinking: once the pig grit has dried completely, I'll secretly share some with them, and then I won't give any to the others.
Sheng Xiping had already thought about this matter. If he hadn't been so careful, the pig gall bladder would probably have been given to whoever it was.
Who knows what's inside? They might think Sheng Xiping deliberately put stones in there.
The big running basket was chased by Sheng Xiping, Wang Jianshe, and Chen Weiguo together; they must have been involved as well.
Sheng Xiping can't keep everything to himself; what's due will definitely be distributed, and everything will be done according to the rules.
"Okay, then. You should also tell them not to tell anyone about this."
Pig gallstones are a great thing! I've heard people say that pig gallstones are the best thing to use for people with heart problems.
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