Chapter 569-570: Stock up
The next day we went to the mountains and were busy for a day, and then it was the day we had agreed to meet at Baicaoping.
Early that morning, Yang Chunyan fed Xiao Jiuer and handed him to Zhou's mother. Then she followed Zhou Huaian to pick up Xu Hongbing and Li Wu at the Shaiba and set off for Baicaoping.
When the tractor arrived at the intersection leading to Baicaoping, we saw a dozen villagers, some of whom were sleeping against pine trees, and some were sitting together chatting, with backpacks and bamboo baskets beside them.
The noise from the tractor attracted their attention. They turned around and saw that the person sitting in the cab was a familiar face, and everyone stood up.
It takes at least three hours to walk from Baicaoping to the asphalt road, so they set out early in the morning. Those who went to Baicaoping and Bailingshan even left in the middle of the night.
Zhou Huaian parked the tractor by the side of the road and said to Yang Chunyan who was sitting next to him: "See, I didn't lie to you!"
She smiled and nodded, "I didn't say you lied to me. I would be worried if I didn't come to see you."
Secretary Zhang walked to the tractor with a smile, "When everyone heard that we were going to come out to pick you up, they just came along carrying herbs and wild honey."
Zhou Huaian stepped forward with a smile, "Uncle Zhang, thank you for your hard work!"
"What's so hard about this!" After exchanging greetings, Xu Hongbing and Li Wu took the scales and bamboo baskets down from the tractor's bed and prepared to harvest the herbs.
Secretary Zhang looked at him apologetically, "I checked, it was those skinny guys who did it. They had their eyes on you when we were collecting truffles. There were always more than a dozen of you every time, and a few bastards didn't dare to do anything.
Later, you started collecting herbs again. They secretly watched you a few times and saw that you collected at least a few hundred yuan worth of goods each time, so they decided to rob you. It had nothing to do with the few people in town who collected mountain products."
He paused, took out a few pieces of paper and handed them to him, "Don't worry, I've already taught them a lesson, made them write a confession, and confiscated that broken gun. This kind of thing will never happen again!"
Zhou Huaian took it and took a look. There were four confession letters with big words written on them. It turned out that several people noticed him when he came alone to collect the goods.
Because they had no weapons, they found a broken hunting rifle and asked a man named Xiaoniu among them to repair it. Then they lay in ambush in the pine forest and prepared to make a fortune.
"Uncle Zhang, I'm sorry to bother you." Zhou Huaian handed him the confession letter, "Then we should go to Baicaoping to pick up the goods as agreed."
"Okay, thank you!" Secretary Zhang looked at the villagers behind him and said, "Everyone says you are a good person and the price you offer is fair. If you don't go, I don't know what to do in the future."
Zhang Laoer took over the conversation, "Yes! In the past, when I sold it to those drug dealers in town, sometimes the money I got was not even a fraction of what you gave me."
Zhou Huaian: "I also saw that there are many people collecting herbs here, so I came here once and gathered everyone's goods together and sent them over. You can save the money for travel, food and accommodation, and I can earn some money for running away."
"We all know that." Zhang Laoer said, holding up his beehive. "Look, I found a few old beehives in the pine forest the day before yesterday. I got more than 20 kilograms of nectar. It's so good!"
The wooden barrel for storing honey in his home was also made in the style of Zhou Huaian. When Zhou Huaian opened the lid, he could smell the fragrance. He dipped some honey into his mouth and tasted it. It was sweet and refreshing. "Not bad, Chunyan, take out the honey barrel and fill it with honey."
"Hey!" Yang Chunyan took down a honey bucket from the bamboo basket in the truck bed, put it on the scale to remove the skin, and Zhang Laoer poured the honey into the bucket and weighed it, which was 28.6 jin.
Zhou Huaian settled the bill, and Yang Chunyan helped select the Gastrodia elata, Ganoderma lucidum, Millettia reticulata, Drynaria fortunei, etc. sent by the villagers.
When it was the turn of a middle-aged man, he sold the few Ganoderma lucidum in his basket and took out another bag, "Would you like to buy the old paper I picked last year?"
"Let me see!" Yang Chunyan grabbed a handful of black, flat, oval fruits with small pointed heads from the bag. "Take them. 50 cents a pound."
She remembered that in her previous life, she could sell this herb for 8 or 9 yuan per pound. Now she didn't know the price, so she might not make a loss if she sold it at 50 cents per pound.
"Okay!" The man happily put the bag on the scale. After weighing, it weighed 31 kilograms and was sold for 15.5 yuan.
He happily said to the man who came with him, "Last year, the drug dealer gave me 10 cents per pound, but I thought it would take several days for the kids to pick and peel the herbs, so I didn't sell them. The price offered by the Zhou family is still good."
Zhang Laoer took a look and said, "I know this thing can cure psoriasis. I will pick some and sell it when it comes out."
Zhou Huaian came forward curiously and took a look, "Yan'er, what is this?"
Yang Chunyan grabbed a handful and handed it to him. "The Chinese medicine is called Psoralea corylifolia. We call it psoralea corylifolia. It has the effects of nourishing the kidney and strengthening yang, nourishing the spleen and strengthening the stomach. It can also treat psoriasis and some skin diseases."
Psoralea corylifolia is also known as Poguzhi, Poguzhi, and Hujiuzi. It belongs to the order Rosales and the family Leguminosae. It is an annual erect herb with a height of 60-150 cm.
The leaves are simple, with a rounded or heart-shaped base and coarse and irregular serrations on the edges. The inflorescences are axillary, racemose or capitulate, and the corolla is yellow or blue.
The pod is oval, 5 mm long, with a small pointed head, black in color, with irregular reticular patterns on the surface, does not crack, and the peel and seeds are not easy to separate; the seeds are flat.
Psoralea corylifolia medicinal properties: bitter, pungent, warm. The fruit is used as medicine. It has the effects of nourishing the kidney and strengthening yang, warming the spleen and stopping diarrhea, and relieving asthma.
Zhou Huaian looked at it and smiled: "If you hadn't come, I wouldn't have dared to accept it."
Yang Chunyan: "When you go to Ning'an, take a look at the herbs in Wang Zhen's warehouse and ask him to teach you some methods to identify herbs. Gradually, you will know more herbs."
After a while, they put all the herbs into baskets. Xu Hongbing and Li Wu moved the bamboo baskets into the tractor's bed.
Zhou Huaian told Zhang Laoer and the villagers of Baicaopao and Bailingshan about purchasing Magnolia officinalis bark. "If you are interested, my family will teach you how to harvest it. This way you don't have to cut down the trees. You can harvest them again after a few years."
Zhang Laoer and the villagers nodded repeatedly, "Okay, we are willing to learn."
Yang Chunyan took a knife and took them to find a tree, and began to teach them how to harvest Magnolia officinalis bark.
At this time, Secretary Zhang took out a bamboo basket from his backpack and handed it to Zhou Huaian, "These mushrooms and fungus were found in the forest yesterday. Take them back and try them."
"That's great!" Zhou Huaian said with a smile, "Thank you, Uncle Zhang!"
Secretary Zhang smiled and said, "We have a lot of mushrooms here every year, such as chicken mushrooms, morels, matsutake mushrooms... There are more than you have over there. If you want to eat some, just let me know and come and get them when the time comes."
Zhou Huaian thought for a moment, then pulled him aside and said, "When the mushrooms come out, we will start harvesting them. I will bring samples to show you then."
He thought that he could collect some morels, big-foot mushrooms, chanterelles and shiitake mushrooms, dry them and send them to the provincial capital for them to try. After they tasted them, maybe he could sell a few more varieties.
"Really?" Secretary Zhang looked at him in surprise. "What kind of mushrooms do you need samples for? The most valuable ones here are the chicken mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, big-foot mushrooms, morels, matsutake mushrooms... No matter what kind of mushrooms there are in the mountains, I can recognize them even if they are dried and torn into pieces."
Now, there is a mushroom season in the first half of the year and a truffle season at the end of the year. As long as you work hard, money will flow into your pocket. From now on, people in the mountains will no longer worry about not having money to repair their houses and get married!
Zhou Huaian smiled and said, "Uncle Zhang, don't worry. I will notify you as soon as the mushrooms come out."
After hearing this, Secretary Zhang had no choice but to nod and said, "Okay, I'll wait!" After knowing each other for so long, he knew that although Zhou Huaian looked careless, he was actually very principled in doing things. If he didn't want to say something, he wouldn't say it no matter how you asked.
He decided to go back and give the skinny monkeys a few more warnings, asking them to behave themselves and not drive away the village God of Wealth.
What he didn't know was that Zhou Huaian was not a man who kept his words before, and he only learned it after suffering losses. He should say what should be said and shouldn't be said, and he would never reveal a single word!
Over there, Yang Chunyan taught the villagers how to harvest Magnolia officinalis, and then said to them: "We also have Eucommia ulmoides and Cassia bark here, which can be harvested in the same way.
If you know anyone, you can go harvest them in June or July and sell them. Everyone must remember that you can’t do things that kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.”
Zhang Laoer patted his chest and assured, "Don't worry, we won't do anything like chopping down trees and peeling their bark!"
Secretary Zhang and the villagers saw Yang Chunyan and others off before they walked back carrying their baskets and loads.
Zhang Laoer was so happy when he heard him say that when the mushrooms are ready, the Zhou family will start to harvest them. "Old man, the youngest family said that we can cut cinnamon bark and Eucommia ulmoides to sell in June and July.
When we get back, we will go up to the mountains to harvest Magnolia officinalis. If we sell the harvest this season, we will have money to send our child to the provincial capital for surgery and treatment.”
Secretary Zhang felt a weight on his heart when he thought of his grandson. "Well! I'll go up the mountain with you and help you cut the grass!"
"That's right!" Zhang Laoer became happier the more he thought about it. "The youngest brother said that Doctor Wang from Desheng Hall said that if we go, he will help us find a doctor with better skills in the provincial capital."
Secretary Zhang also said happily: "We are lucky to have met a good person!"
Two days later, when Zhou Huaian went to Baicaoping again, the Magnolia officinalis and herbs he received filled his tractor. He secretly thanked himself for asking Wang Zhen about the purchase price yesterday.
Wang Zhen told him that the price of Magnolia officinalis bark in the provincial capital had dropped sharply in recent days. If he still bought it and sent it over at the price of the previous days, he would not only fail to make any money, but would also suffer a huge loss.
Look, these Magnolia officinalis are the first-class goods that Wang Zhen mentioned, and the purchase price is just over one yuan per pound now.
Secretary Zhang's family donated more than 800 kilograms of Magnolia officinalis bark, and together with the donations from several other villagers, the total amount was more than 1,000 kilograms.
He planned to do as Chunyan said, take them home and store them, and then sell them when the price goes up.
When he saw the cinnamon and eucommia sent by several other villagers, he remembered what Wang Zhen said, that eucommia and cinnamon are best harvested in summer.
Zhou Huaian said to several villagers unhappily: "I will accept what you sent me this time. Don't send me any more harvests when you go back. I won't accept them even if you send me any. Also, don't cut and peel them. If I find out, I won't accept any herbs you send me in the future."
The short villager said awkwardly, "Don't worry, Boss Zhou, we won't cut it next time."
The other three also blushed and promised not to cut it and send it again.
(End of this chapter)
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