After Zhou Huaian finished digging out the remaining Polygonatum sibiricum, he went over to help her wash it. After they finished cleaning up, they sat by the ditch and ate the dry food they brought with them.
They brought some delicious and filling rice balls, one for each of them and one for the dog. The two of them sat on a big rock, and Wangcai lay beside them and enjoyed the meal.
"Yan'er," Zhou Huaian suddenly pulled her aside and pointed to the opposite side, "Look at how beautiful those orchids are in bloom!"
Yang Chunyan looked in the direction he pointed, and was instantly stunned by the orchids that had bloomed in full bunches. "So beautiful, such beautiful fire orchids."
"I think they look good, too. Let's go over and take a look. If there are any small ones, we can dig up a few and plant them back home."
"It's easier to grow plants in the big pit. Dig them up and put them in a few big pots. Plant them in the big pit. When they grow and bloom, bring them back to the yard."
"Smart!" Zhou Huaian threw away the rice leaves that wrapped the rice balls, picked up the medicine hoe, stepped on the stones in the middle of the ravine, and went to the place where flowers were blooming on the other side.
After looking around, he shouted to the other side, "Yan'er, there are a lot of small ones. How many are you going to dig?"
"Just dig a few." After hearing this, Yang Chunyan also went to the other side. The two pointed to the sturdy ones and dug up seven or eight of them. They also picked some leaves to wrap the roots and placed them next to the basket to prevent them from being crushed to death.
Fire orchid is a terrestrial herb of the genus Fire orchid in the Orchidaceae family. It is 30-70 cm tall, with a short and thick rhizome with many slender roots. It has oval, emerald green leaves with wrinkles similar to those of rice dumplings. The edges of the leaves are a little scorched, and the shape resembles that of a burnt fire, hence the name.
The flowers of the fire orchid are yellow-green with a hint of purple. They bloom droopingly and there are so many of them that one tree can produce dozens of them, which is extremely beautiful.
Fire orchid also has certain medicinal value. Its Chinese name is Lanzhushen. It is harvested in spring and autumn, and its rhizomes and roots are used as medicine.
Lanzhushen: Nature and flavor, bitter, flat. It has the effects of regulating qi and promoting blood circulation, removing blood stasis and detoxifying.
Zhou Huaian helped her put the backpack on her back and looked at the sky. "Let's not go up anymore. Let's just go back along the ditch, shall we?"
"Good! It's too hot and stuffy. If we delay too long, I'm afraid we'll get wet in the rain again."
The two walked back along the ditch. When Yang Chunyan saw a patch of herb with spotted leaves on the side of the ditch and the shape of the leaves were similar to those of the Houttuynia cordata, she happily called out to Zhou Huaian in front of her.
"There are a lot of asarum here. Its roots give off a very strong spicy smell, which insects don't like very much. We dig it up and dry it, then put some in wine cellars, granaries, and wardrobes. Then we don't have to worry about insects destroying herbs and grains."
She remembered a saying about the herb Asarum: "Asarum contains ginseng, so ginseng will not be eaten by insects."
Dig these up and put them together with the Ganoderma lucidum, Coriolus versicolor, Gastrodia elata, etc. in the wine cellar, and you will never have to worry about them being infested by insects.
Because Asarum is slightly poisonous, there is a saying that "Asarum is not as poisonous as money, but if it is as poisonous as money, your life will be at stake."
"What I'm most worried about is that Coriolus versicolor and Ganoderma lucidum will be destroyed by insects. Since they can prevent insects, they are good things. Let's get some back as soon as possible."
Zhou Huaian put down his backpack, dug up the dead leaves, and saw purple-black flowers blooming underneath the leaves. "Wow~ Other grasses bloom on the top, but this grass blooms the other way around, right next to the ground."
Yang Chunyan glanced at him and said, "He is very low-key. He is not like some people who like to show off. When they do something good, they become very proud and wish everyone would know about it and praise them."
Zhou Huaian was dissatisfied after hearing this, "Yan'er, you are wrong to say that. I only show off in front of you, but I am very low-key outside. Look at how many good things our family has bought, but have I ever shown off in the village?"
Yang Chunyan thought about it and realized it was true. She said awkwardly, "I was wrong. I thought you were showing off outside."
"A good comrade is one who has the courage to admit his mistakes!" Zhou Huaian dug up a tree and shook off the dirt. "Oh, I didn't expect there were only two leaves on top, but there are so many roots underneath."
"What we want is the roots below. This one is the flower-faced asarum, which has a very strong smell. There is also a kind with hairy leaves, which does not have as many roots and has a lighter smell."
Yang Chunyan turned her head and looked at him. "We pick the big ones to dig up and keep the small ones for seeds."
"This is such a good thing. I'll take some soil and dig it up and plant it in a big pit. It's similar to this place, so it should be able to grow."
"Such a large area, I wonder how many years it has been growing." Yang Chunyan thought that the ones she had seen before only had one or two seeds, so she didn't even have the interest to dig them.
"It's easier to spread more, but it's hard to dig a little bit at a time."
Asarum, a Chinese medicine, is pungent, warm, and slightly toxic. It has the effects of dispelling wind, dispersing cold, promoting water flow, and opening the orifices.
Asarum is a perennial herb of the Aristolochiaceae family and the Aristolochiales order. It usually has only two thick, ovate-elliptical leaves, and the dug-out roots are light yellow and have numerous fleshy roots.
It is dug up in spring and summer, washed, dried and stored. The best ones are those with yellow-green color, thick roots and pink-white texture.
The two of them were busy for more than half an hour before they dug up the asarum, leaving some small ones with soil and those with fire orchids aside, and moved the rest to the edge of the ditch, washed them clean, and filtered out the water before continuing down.
Along the way, he dug up any good herbs he found and took them with him. Before he reached the foot of the mountain, his backpack was already full.
The two men walked down the ditch. The ditch became narrower and narrower, and the water became less because a stream of water turned a corner halfway and flowed towards the river.
Zhou Huaian looked at the bamboo forest not far away, and then at the water that turned around. "Yan'er, what do you think? If we come here and block this ditch during a drought, will there be more water flowing down?"
"That's for sure. We are not short of water now. We should wait until we are done with this period of hard work, then come up to block this ditch and divert all the water down the mountain."
"Okay!" Zhou Huaian called Gou Zi back. When they went down the mountain and reached the back mountain, they saw many villagers walking down the mountain with baskets on their backs.
Yang Chunyan took off her straw hat, fanned herself with air, and looked up at the sky. She found that there was not even a trace of wind, but the clouds in the sky were connected into one, becoming thicker and thicker, and surging towards the top of the southeast mountain.
"It looks like it's going to rain heavily again tonight."
Zhou Huaian looked at the time. "Third brother and his friends have been on the road for more than an hour. As long as they get home, we won't be afraid of any heavy rain."
"If Sister Xiaoxue and Lao Xu don't leave early, they might get caught in the rain."
When the two men went down the mountain, they saw the villagers who had gone into the mountain to pick mushrooms were all carrying their baskets and walking down the mountain. Some of them greeted them with a smile when they saw them coming back.
"Zhou Laoyao, you two are so lucky in the mountains, did you pick up anything good?"
"I picked up a few pounds of chicken mushrooms and some yellow cattle liver... I didn't see any shiitake mushrooms or morels."
"Look at the basket he has on his back. He didn't pick mushrooms at all. He must have dug up a lot of good medicinal herbs, right?"
"There's nothing good, just some Money Plant and Stretching Grass." Anyway, these two are the only things in the backpack, and it's impossible for everyone to look through them, so Zhou Huaian just picked up the cheap and common ones.
The two arrived at the backyard. Zhou Huaian took out the key and opened the door. He saw Xiao Jiuer playing with Lai Fu while holding a small ball.
When the little guy saw the two people coming back, he threw the ball to them, shouted at them and ran towards them, grabbing Yang Chunyan's hand and not letting go.
"Be good, Mommy, wash your face and go to the oven to collect mushrooms."
"No, hug me, hug me!" Xiao Jiuer hugged her legs and refused to let go.
"You little rascal, your mother is carrying such heavy things, let go quickly. Wait until she puts down the backpack and then she will pick you up." Zhou Huaian raised his leg and kicked him lightly on the butt, then took the backpack from Yang Chunyan's shoulder.
Mother Zhou came down from upstairs holding clothes. "You're back. I saw it was getting dark, so I quickly put the clothes away."
"Have it collected early, it's going to rain soon." Yang Chunyan picked up Xiao Jiuer and walked towards the sink. "Mommy will hold him for a while, wash your face and go collect mushrooms."
Seeing that he was still hugging his neck, he thought about how his son didn't see them when he woke up in the morning. He has been thinking about him all day. If he doesn't hug him for a while, he might let go.
She lowered her head and kissed him, "Mom is very hot. Wait until I wash my face and help Auntie and the others to collect the mushrooms, then I'll hug you, okay?"
"Not good!" Xiao Jiuer responded directly.
"Good boy, mom is busy!" Zhou Huaian hurried over to take him and walked towards the front yard, "I'll take you to see the flowers, okay?"
"Huahua!" Xiao Jiuer pointed at the dahlias that were blooming vigorously in the flowerbed under the wall, "I want that one."
"I don't dare, your mother will beat me." Zhou Huaian picked a gardenia, shook it a few times and gave it to him, "This one is beautiful and fragrant."
Xiao Jiuer took it and smelled it, "It smells good."
Zhou Huaian rubbed his head and said, "Be good, I'll dry the herbs first, and then we'll go plant some fragrant herbs!"
"Oh!" Xiao Jiuer took the gardenia and walked to the dog lying at the door. She put the flower to Wangcai's nose and said, "Wangwang, the flower smells good."
Wangcai's nose was tickled by him, so he quickly hid his head to the side. The little guy came over to let him smell it again...
Zhou Huaian looked at his son with amusement as he insisted on letting the dog smell the flowers. He turned around and saw Yang Chunyan leaving the backyard, then he took him back to the backyard to pack the herbs in the basket.
The Chinese money grass and smilax glabra had been cleaned by the ditch and could be directly taken out and spread out in a winnowing basket. The mother and son took the herbs out of the basket one by one, spread them out in the winnowing basket, and took them upstairs to dry.
Mother Zhou picked up a piece of Polygonatum odoratum and saw that it was almost up to her thigh. "Wow~ It's so long, it must be quite old, right?"
"It's been more than 20 years." Mother Zhou put the orchids and asarum in the basket into the basket, "Are you going to bring some more orchids back to plant?"
"These are fire orchids, and these are asarum. I'll put these by the pond and plant them later."
"Great!" Zhou's mother carried a winnowing basket full of herbs and walked upstairs to the backyard. She smelled the fragrance of mugwort as she passed the mugwort shed. She felt that since she had these things, there were fewer mosquitoes in the house.
Before I even went upstairs, I heard someone cursing in the back hills, "Souye bitch... I followed you all the way and saw it with my own eyes, and you still dare to quibble? No wonder some people in the village have been saying behind our backs that you are a piece of shit..." (End of this chapter)
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