Sheng Xiping isn't after the money from selling the clubs; he just wants to see if there's any real catch and to dig it up and preserve it properly.
"My eldest son and I are at the alkali field, taking care of our ginseng fields and crops." Liu Changde made the decision directly, sealing the deal.
Then, Sheng Xiping took out deer bone skewers, quick-draw scissors, quick-draw axe and other household items from his backpack.
First, use an axe to cut off the surrounding tree roots, then use scissors to cut the grass roots. Only then do they take a deer bone pick to clear away the soil around the ginseng stem and begin lifting the ginseng.
While Sheng Xiping was carrying ginseng, Sheng Liancheng couldn't be idle either. He found some dry branches and built a fire upwind. Once the fire was burning, he piled some wormwood on top of it.
The wormwood is fresh and not easily burned. It will produce thick white smoke that drifts with the wind toward Sheng Xiping, driving away mosquitoes and other flying insects.
As the saying goes, carrying a ginseng offering is like inviting a Buddha; one must proceed with utmost care.
Sheng Xiping was quite steady in his hands, using a deer bone pick to carefully remove the soil, gradually revealing the roots underneath.
This ginseng doesn't seem to be particularly large; the exposed shoulder looks about the thickness of a thumb.
Ginseng grows slowly; it's only been about ten years. Even if the fifth-grade leaves have grown into sixth-grade leaves, they won't be particularly large.
Sheng Xiping worked for two or three hours before finally lifting the ginseng root out as a whole.
This ginseng doesn't look very big, probably only weighing two or three ounces, but it has a particularly beautiful shape, with pearl-like bumps all over its roots. It's a good ginseng.
Sheng Liancheng handed over the moss he had just found, and asked Sheng Xiping to wrap the ginseng. Then he peeled off a piece of birch bark and wrapped the ginseng and moss together tightly, tying it securely with a rope.
"Let's grab a bite to eat, it's almost two o'clock. After we eat, let's take a walk around here, and if we find any, we'll pick up another one, if not, that's fine."
Sheng Liancheng took out some dry food and pickled vegetables from his pocket. The father and son were tired and hungry, and they wolfed down a lot of food.
After dinner, the father and son wandered around the foot of the cliff for a while, but only saw two trees with five-petaled leaves and no more trees with six-petaled leaves.
"Has someone been here before? When we left, there were still quite a few club trees here. How come we only found a few here?"
Sheng Liancheng was puzzled. Logically speaking, there shouldn't be at least a dozen trees.
"Dad, ginseng has a dormant period. This spring was dry, so it's very likely that some of the ginseng didn't sprout."
Furthermore, the ginseng seeds aren't red yet, and they're inconspicuous among the vegetation, so it's normal that we didn't notice them.
The amount of ginseng they can find is finite; it's not like they can dig up more just because they come back again.
"Having this seedling with six leaves is quite good; it's not like I'm leaving empty-handed." Sheng Xiping was quite content. He wasn't short of money now; he was happy to have his fill.
"What about these two seedlings with five leaves? Should we take them?" Sheng Liancheng asked hesitantly.
"Dad, it's getting late, we have to go home, we won't take it anymore." Sheng Xiping shook his head with a smile.
"I'll call Uncle Wu later and ask about the Siberian tiger park."
If possible, when the tiger park boundaries are demarcated, I'll include this area in them, so that we can protect the tiger cubs below.
Sheng Xiping had been thinking about this for a while, and he came here today to confirm whether there were still ginseng roots at the bottom of the cliff.
Upon hearing this, Sheng Liancheng agreed, "Okay, let's go home then." A single tree with six leaves is already a considerable harvest. One should be content with what one has, and not be too greedy.
So the father and son cleaned up the area below the cliff. The fire had long since been extinguished and thoroughly doused with water, so there was no risk of it starting to burn again.
The pit where the ginseng was lifted should be restored to its original state as much as possible, and then covered with wormwood or similar materials.
After everything was settled, the father and son carried their belongings, climbed back up the rope, untied it, and returned the way they came.
By the time the father and son got home, it was almost eight o'clock in the evening.
Zhang Shuzhen and Zhou Qinglan, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, waited anxiously at home, reheating the rice in the pot again and again.
Suddenly, several old dogs outside started barking. Upon hearing this, Zhang Shuzhen and Zhou Qinglan quickly came out of the inner room. Zhou Qinglan then plugged in the power cord, and the light bulb in the yard lit up.
The dog's barking was different; you could tell it was a family member returning.
Upon going outside, they saw Sheng Liancheng and Sheng Xiping, father and son, entering the courtyard with flashlights.
"Why are you only coming back now? I thought you were going to spend the night in the mountains."
"It's a long road, and no one has walked on it for years. The tractor track is overgrown with weeds," Sheng Liancheng casually explained.
"Oh, no wonder. Come on in, haven't you had dinner yet? I'll go and get you some food right away."
Zhang Shuzhen quickly invited her husband and son into the house, telling them to change their clothes and wash their hands.
Just then, Zhou Qinglan brought out the food, and the father and son didn't put it on the table. They just ate a bite by the stove.
After the father and son finished their meal, the four of them returned to the east room, where Zhang Shuzhen inquired about their harvest that day.
Sheng Xiping took out the birch bark roll from his pocket and opened it. "We went the wrong way. Before we even reached Honglangtou City, we saw one seedling with six leaves and two seedlings with five leaves. We brought back the seedling with six leaves and released the seedlings with five leaves."
In the terminology of ginseng hunting, digging ginseng is called "lifting ginseng" or "taking," while not digging is called "releasing."
When the seedling with six leaves was taken out, Zhang Shuzhen and Zhou Qinglan saw it and liked it very much.
Sheng Xiping handed the ginseng to Zhang Shuzhen and told her to keep it safe.
We're not short of money now, so we definitely can't sell this ginseng. We need to dry it and store it for future use.
Zhang Shuzhen put the ginseng away in the cupboard, intending to process it during the day. Sheng Liancheng and his father, exhausted from a day's climb up the mountain, quickly washed up, tidied up, and went to bed.
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