Chapter 552 553: Escape, Cover Up
Zhou Huaian turned around and walked towards him, "Don't come over here. The stones under the grass here are all covered with moss. Wait there and I will come over to help you."
"You're still helping me. I've almost trampled the ground into oblivion on this slope." Seeing that he was fine, the old man climbed up with confidence, leaning on the wooden stick.
When the grandfather and the grandfather reached the top of the slope, Zhou Huaian pointed to the middle of the slope and said, "Grandpa, it's great. The shady slope over there is full of Dendrobium officinale."
The old man leaned over and took a look. "It's the orchid with yellow-green flowers, right?"
"Yeah! That's the kind."
"It has existed for a few years, but not in this quantity." The old man looked at him with shining eyes, "Is this thing very valuable?"
“It’s more valuable than ordinary dendrobiums, but much more valuable than digging wormwood.”
"You are lucky. You bought this area early." The old man thought for a moment and said, "Don't tell anyone. If people find out, you will be wiped out sooner or later."
"Yes! I remember it. The value of this hill is like picking up money!"
"Yes! Fortunately, Chunyan taught you to recognize this thing, otherwise I would have thought it was just an ordinary orchid."
"Yes, fortunately I didn't buy any cattle to graze, otherwise I would have lost a lot."
"That's right. If Chunyan hadn't given birth to Xiaojiuer, I would have bought a cow in the spring." The old man became happier and happier as he spoke. He felt that all this wealth was destined by God to be left to his wonderful grandson.
"Grandpa, let's not dig up the Artemisia annua anymore. Let's go back and tell Chunyan to cut the Polygonum multiflorum vines first." Zhou Huaian said as he picked up the Artemisia annua on the ground and put it into his backpack.
The old man was also happy for him, "Great! The weather is getting warmer, and there are more insects. Do you have any snake medicine at home?"
Zhou Huaian gathered all the Artemisia selengensis on the ground, and then took the Artemisia selengensis from the old man's backpack and put it into his own basket.
Seeing this, the old man hurriedly pulled him and said, "Leave some more for me! I'm not useless. This little bit of Artemisia is nothing. I can carry more."
"I know you can carry it!" Zhou Huaian looked at him with a smile, "You have to take good care of yourself and try to live to be a hundred years old. You will have to help Xiao Jiuer look after the medicinal fields and take care of the children in the future."
The old man felt as comfortable as if he had eaten honey, and helped him lift the backpack. "It's rare for a person to live to seventy. I'm already over seventy this year. I'll be satisfied if I can live a few more years to eighty. An old man who refuses to die is a thief. If I really live to be a hundred, I'll be hated!"
"Nonsense! Chunyan and I both hope that you, my mom and I can both live to be a hundred years old. By then, we will have five generations living under one roof. That would be great!"
The old man smiled and said, "Grandpa now has four generations living under one roof, and has lived a good life without worries about food and clothing for more than half a year. I am already content with my life."
"Are you satisfied with having enough food and clothing? Good days are still to come!" Zhou Huaian looked back at him, "When you can go anywhere you want, we will take you everywhere. We can take you to see the Giant Buddha in Leshan, the Golden Summit in Mount Emei, the Tiananmen Square in BJ, and climb the Great Wall..."
"Haha!" The old man was so happy that he couldn't close his mouth. "Okay, grandpa will wait for you to take me around."
When he went down the mountain and opened the backyard door, the dog jumped up happily. Zhou Huaian kicked Lai Fu lightly and said, "Get out of the way! Don't jump!"
When Zhou's mother heard the voices, she walked to the back door of the kitchen and looked out to see the grandfather and grandson. "I said I would call you back to eat when the rice is ready!"
"Let's eat when the meal is ready." Zhou Huaian helped the old man take the backpack, "Mom, pick some mugwort leaves and steam them to make cakes."
"Of course!" Zhou's mother agreed readily. "Chunhua heard that you were going to harvest mugwort, so she went up the mountain with her hoe. I asked them to send them over to the new house."
Zhou Huaian was thinking that he still had to go to the big pit to dig for Polygonum multiflorum and Dendrobium officinale, "Mom, Chunyan is in confinement after giving birth, and I still have to go to the back mountain to cut Dendrobium officinale..."
Zhou's mother remembered that Yang Chunyan said that the dendrobium was a magical herb, and she interrupted him in surprise, "Where is the dendrobium in the big pit?"
"Yeah! I found it this morning when my grandfather and I went to dig up wormwood. It's a huge patch."
"You guys are lucky. You thought you could use it to graze cattle and sheep, but now you find something good there!"
Zhou Huaian nodded proudly, "I will go with Grandpa to cut Dendrobium this afternoon. If someone brings Artemisia argyi later, you can ask them to send it to my sister-in-law. Just wash it and dry it."
Mother Zhou smiled and nodded, "Yes, your side is more important." Xiang Xiang said, "This is the first time we start weighing and harvesting herbs in the spring!"
Zhou Huaian thought for a moment and said, "Tell your elder and second sisters-in-law to pay them the same wages as when we harvested truffles."
Zhou's mother scolded, "In ten days at most, the mugwort will be old. It's only a few days. They won't be able to accept your wages!"
"It's their business if they don't want to, and it would be my fault if I don't say anything."
"That's right!" Mother Zhou handed a handful of firewood to the stove, unwrapped the clay pot and took a look. "The pig's trotter soup is ready. Send it to Chunyan."
"Hmm!" Zhou Huaian took the bowl and handed it to her, "Are you going to finish eating the white hyacinth?"
"Also, your eldest and second sisters-in-law sent some over." Zhou's mother skimmed off the oil floating on the surface, scooped a bowl and handed it to him, "I sprinkled a little salt to suppress the fishy smell."
The old man looked at Zhou Huaian and said with a smile: "I think when Chunyan is done with her confinement, she won't gain weight, but you will."
Zhou Huaian said dissatisfiedly: "It's all my fault. She gave me all the leftovers to eat and fed me like Wangcai and Laifu!"
Zhou's mother slapped him and said, "Go to hell, do you know how to talk?"
"Hey hey!" Zhou Huaian brought the pig's trotter soup to the room, "Yan'er, drink the soup."
"Put it on the coffee table in the main room. I'll come out to eat." Yang Chunyan said as she put on her slippers and walked out.
Zhou Huaian handed her the spoon and said, "Yan'er, have you ever seen the big pit in the back mountain?"
"I haven't been there!" Yang Chunyan glanced at him and said, "From the looks of you, have you found something good?"
Zhou Huaian looked at her with sparkling eyes, "There is a large area of blooming Dendrobium officinale and Polygonum multiflorum vines climbing all over the bushes."
"Really?" Yang Chunyan remembered that in her previous life, she had dug up several kilograms of Dendrobium officinale in a big pit, and they might have been leftovers dug by others.
Zhou Huaian said with a look of regret: "From the middle of the slope to the bottom is a sea of yellow-green flowers. Sitting there, you can smell the fragrance. If the wind on the mountain wasn't strong, I would quietly take you up the mountain to have a look."
She had seen various orchids blooming in the mountains in her previous life, but she had never seen a large patch of Dendrobium officinale flowers.
Yang Chunyan was very excited, "I'll put on your snow cap and take a look later."
Zhou Huaian shook his head, "No, you've only been in confinement for a few days. It will take a while for you to walk over there. Your feet will hurt in the future."
Yang Chunyan pulled his sleeve flatteringly, "No! Mom only spent half a month in confinement after giving birth to my eldest brother before she went back to work. Look, she didn't even complain about the pain in her feet."
"How do you know?" Zhou Huaian glanced at her, "She used to often complain about headaches, back and leg pains, but she hasn't complained about it in the past six months."
"Smooth talk!" Yang Chunyan pinched him in dissatisfaction, puffing her cheeks, "You said you would take me to see it secretly, but now you won't let me go. If you don't let me go, I'll go secretly after you guys eat."
It was rare for Zhou Huaian to see her being so willful, so he softened his heart immediately, "Okay! I'll go eat, you put on your snow cap and wear something thicker, while mom is cleaning up, I'll take you to see it." He pointed at her and said, "Let's make a deal first, I'll be back after just one look!"
"Just take a look, keep your word!" Yang Chunyan nodded happily, then thought about it and asked again: "What about Xiao Jiuer?"
Zhou Huaian rolled his eyes and said, "Let grandpa hold you for a while, and then tell him you went to the toilet."
"Okay, then go and eat quickly." Yang Chunyan picked up the spoon and started eating.
Zhou Huaian went back and ate two bowls of rice. Seeing that the old man had put down his chopsticks, he finished the soup in the bowl and went to the main room, where he saw Yang Chunyan already waiting there with her hat in hand.
I hurried to the backyard and said to the old man, "Grandpa, Xiao Jiuer is in the cradle, Chunyan is going to squat in the big pit, can you help watch it for a while."
"Go!" The old man nodded, stood up and walked towards the kitchen.
Zhou Huaian put Xiao Jiuer in the cradle, pulled Yang Chunyan out of the backyard and walked towards the mountain. When they reached the mountain, he hurriedly pulled down the ears of the wind and snow hat and tied them up for her.
"You're already a mother, but you're still so naughty!"
"It's all your fault. If you hadn't mentioned a large sea of flowers in front of me, I wouldn't have run away secretly!"
Zhou Huaian pinched her nose and said, "What a twisted theory!"
"I learned it from you!" Yang Chunyan wrinkled her nose. The two looked at each other and laughed.
"Hurry up, little ancestor. If I find out later, I will be in trouble." Zhou Huaian pulled her towards the big pit in the south.
The two of them rushed to the big pit. Zhou Huaian helped her down and walked to the top of the dendrobium. He pointed at the sea of flowers below and said, "Isn't it beautiful?"
Yang Chunyan nodded repeatedly, "It's beautiful, so beautiful, so beautiful!" She looked around, "Huaian, look, there are a few mountain peach trees below, the peach blossoms are so beautiful!"
She stared at the picturesque scenery, wishing she had a mobile phone. This short video would definitely have caused a sensation on the entire Internet!
Zhou Huaian pulled her hand and said, "Alright! It's time to go back after just one look. It will take more than half an hour to go back and forth. Mom is probably going to the toilet to look for you now."
"Oh oh!" Yang Chunyan hurriedly followed him back. After going up the hill, she felt that her physical condition was much worse than before. It was not very high here, but she was out of breath after going up.
After Zhou's mother cleaned up the stove and came out, she saw the old man holding Xiao Jiuer leaning on the rattan chair, "Old man, Chunyan hasn't come back from the toilet yet?"
"No!" The old man suddenly remembered that she was wearing a snow hat when she went out, and thought that Zhou Huaian must have taken her to the big pit in the back mountain to see the flowers.
After hearing this, Zhou's mother said anxiously, "Why is it taking so long? Let me go and take a look."
The old man hurriedly said, "The youngest will go with us, nothing will happen to him!"
"Oh!" Mother Zhou thought about it and said, "Let me hold Jiu'er. Go and get some sleep!"
"I'll hold you there. Go to Huifang and tell her about collecting the herbs."
"That's right!"
A few minutes after Zhou's mother left, Yang Chunyan and her husband came back. Seeing the old man holding the child, they breathed a sigh of relief, "Grandpa, we're back."
(End of this chapter)
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