Chapter 722 Chapter 727: You are also a thief
Zhou Huaian led him downstairs, and the two talked about the construction of the hydroelectric power station. They walked past a few mountain peach trees and went straight to the place where Panax notoginseng grew. "This is the Panax notoginseng I told you about last time."
Wang Zhen also saw it and said, "This big pit is very suitable for growing herbs. You can sow the seeds of Paris polyphylla, Tripterygium wilfordii and other shade-loving herbs here."
"We have scattered some Paris polyphylla, and we are waiting for them to grow slowly." Zhou Huaian pointed to the sparse seedlings in front, "Last year, Chunyan kept half of the Panax notoginseng seeds and scattered the other half here. My mother and Chunyan said the germination rate is not bad."
Wang Zhen: "I heard from farmers in Yunnan Province that only seeds from Panax notoginseng that are four years old or older have a high germination rate after sowing."
Zhou Huaian smiled and said, "I don't know how long these have been here, maybe more than ten years?"
"Generally speaking, the medicinal effects of Panax notoginseng that are three to four years old are already quite good. We mainly collect those that are large, have thick roots, have large and round lion heads, have a gray-brown and shiny surface, dark brown flesh with green without cracks, and have a bitter and sweet taste.
"I've never seen it before. If someone sends it to me, I'll do the old way and set a price first and then give it to you to see. It's better to make less money than to lose money."
"This is the safest way." Wang Zhen went over to take a look and saw dozens of Panax notoginseng seedlings growing there. He turned around and pointed at the big Panax notoginsengs and said, "Yes, there are dozens of old Panax notoginsengs for seeds. You can plant them here and there in the forest. You can harvest them after they have been planted for more than three years."
Zhou Huaian thought of Yang Chunyan saying that she would dig up Panax notoginseng after picking the flowers this year, "Then I have to tell Chunyan not to dig them up in the next few years, and plant all the Panax notoginseng in this area.
If we plant Panax notoginseng in this forest, there will be at least 20 mu of it, and we can earn a lot of money every year by harvesting it in turns."
Wang Zhen shook his head and said, "I heard from people over there that Panax notoginseng is different from other herbs and cannot be rotated. Any land that has been planted with Panax notoginseng must be rested for ten years before it can be planted again."
"Fuck~" Zhou Huaian's eyes widened as big as light bulbs, "This thing is too wasteful of land!"
Wang Zhen smiled and said, "You just can't grow Panax notoginseng, but you can still grow other things."
"Oh!" Zhou Huaian patted his chest, "You scared me."
The two of them walked back while talking. Just as they reached the peach tree, they met Yang Chunyan and her sister. The four of them turned around and looked around before slowly walking back.
Yang Dongmei stood on the big pit, looking at the medicinal fields above, and then at the big pit and the forest over there that they had contracted. "Sister, your land is really nice. Wang Zhen and I will come here to live out our retirement in the future."
"Okay, I'll come here to live out my retirement when the time comes." Wang Zhen also liked the atmosphere of Zhou Huaian's family. His parents were kind and sensible, and he didn't have any messy brothers and sisters. Even his sisters-in-law were very nice, and there was no one who was jealous and scheming behind his back.
Zhou Huaian said with a smile: "You can come anytime you want, I can't wait for you!"
"Yes! My family doesn't have much else here." Yang Chunyan pointed to the southwest, "We plan to build three houses in the woods this year. If you want to have some free time, you can stay here for a few days.
When the rainy days come, you can go to the forest to pick mushrooms and bamboo fungus in the bamboo forest. I went too late last year, but I still picked up a lot of bamboo fungus and honey fungus. "
Yang Dongmei nodded repeatedly, "Okay, when the rainy season comes, we will come and play for a few days, and then start collecting red mushrooms."
Zhou Huaian locked the fence, and the four of them went down the mountain together to go home. Zhou Yiding and Zhou Daqing also came. Zhou Xiaomei was at home accompanying Wan Xuejiao who was in confinement after her childbirth, so she did not come with them.
After everyone had a lively reunion dinner and rested for a while, Wang Zhen took the pulse of several elderly people.
Zhou's father and mother are still in good health, and the old man's rheumatic bone pain has improved. However, Zhou Daqing's rheumatic back pain has worsened because he spent several months digging truffles in the mountains last year.
Zhou Yiding opposed him going up the mountain to dig truffles after the New Year, saying that even if he went up the mountain, he could only help them with cooking. Zhou Daqing was very happy to see that his son was worried about him, so he agreed without hesitation.
After Yang Chunyan and her family returned from Zhou Huaijun's house, Zhou Huaian found the bee-luring barrel and planned to go there again tomorrow to take the nest of wild bees home to raise.
"Huaian, Yiding said you found a large area of Bletilla striata and a few Eucommia ulmoides trees?"
Zhou Huaian: "Yes, right where we hunted musk deer, there is a large area. If we dig all the trees up, we can plant at least several acres of land. Eucommia ulmoides is right next to the old forest. The trunk of the big one is more than 40 centimeters in diameter, and the small one is 30 centimeters."
Yang Chunyan said happily, "Bletilla striata can be dug up and planted in February, but Eucommia ulmoides can only be harvested in March or April."
Wang Zhen said: "You can pick the male flowers of Eucommia ulmoides in March, because the male plants have earlier flower buds than the female plants, and they bloom before the leaves grow out, and the flowering period is longer. The female flowers bloom with the leaves, and the flowering period is also shorter."
After hearing this, Zhou Huaian thought of something, "How can we plant Eucommia ulmoides and how many years does it take for it to bloom?"
Wang Zhen: “Ten years!”
"It's similar to Magnolia officinalis. I also told Ding Dingmao that Eucommia ulmoides can also be sold for money." Zhou Huaian recalled the time when Yang Chunyan fooled him into growing Magnolia officinalis. "That guy was just like me before, thinking that he could sell it for money in two or three years."
Yang Chunyan laughed and said, "The trees haven't even been planted yet, and you're already thinking about selling them."
Zhou Huaian: "When we go to dig up white hyacinth, I will take my elder brother and the others to prune the branches and graft them."
After talking for a while, everyone went back to their rooms and went to sleep.
The next morning, Yang Chunyan got up and prepared rice balls for them. Zhou Huaian and Wang Zhen got up and packed up. Then Zhou Yiding came with the dog.
Only then was Lai Fu's turn to go into the mountain. The dog barked happily and turned around in circles. After being locked up for several months, it had long wanted to go up the mountain and run around.
Zhou Yiding was originally worried that Wang Zhen couldn't keep up, but when he saw Wang Zhen following closely behind the two, he smiled and said, "I thought Doctor Wang couldn't walk on mountain roads, but now he seems to be doing well!"
Wang Zhen: "The last time I went up the mountain with my brother-in-law, I was the slowest walker. Grandpa said I lacked exercise. I started exercising after I got back, and I was able to keep up today."
Zhou Huaian smiled and said, "In fact, you already walk much faster than many city dwellers."
Wang Zhen: "It's OK for a short time, but for a long time, I can't tolerate it as well as you do."
Zhou Huaian: "It's okay. Our main goal today is to chisel open that place, cut off the bear's nose, and see if it has eaten the honeycomb inside."
"They are stealing!" Zhou Yiding laughed, "Shame on you, you are also a little thief who stole the honey from the little bees, and you accused the old bear of stealing it, as if the little bees were your own."
Zhou Huaian smiled and patted him, "Brother, don't say second brother, you are also a honey thief."
Wang Zhen watched them playing and breathed the fresh air in the mountains and forests, and felt that it was really comfortable to live in the mountains occasionally.
I thought I couldn’t fall asleep last night, but after reading a few pages of a picture book, I found that I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I slept until dawn without even putting out the candle.
Dahei spotted a rabbit and ran after it. Lai Fu, who was somewhat excited, also followed immediately. After a while, they ran out of the woods with a fat rabbit in their mouths and put it in front of Zhou Huaian.
"Great job!" Zhou Huaian stroked it, picked up the rabbit and put it in his backpack. "We have two more rabbits at home. We'll go back and roast the rabbit meat this afternoon."
When they reached the ditch, Wang Zhen saw a small patch of wild lilies growing in the woods and said to Zhou Huaian, "Brother-in-law, those are lilies. You can come and dig them in September or October."
"I know about lilies. Last time, my mother-in-law sent some to Chunyan to cook Tremella soup." Zhou Huaian walked over to take a look. "Can I dig some and plant it back?"
Wang Zhen smiled and said, "Yes, this is Lilium lily, which has a slightly bitter taste and can calm the mind, nourish the yin and moisten the lungs, and treat athlete's foot. It can be used to make Tremella soup or porridge in autumn."
Zhou Yiding took over the conversation, "I know, there is a family in the forest farm that grows a lot of it. The flowers of this grass look a bit like canna flowers, with orange-red petals and black spots on them. It looks pretty good when planted in the yard."
Zhou Huaian: "Then when we come to dig up white hyacinth, we can also dig some and plant them in the medicinal field."
The difference between edible lilies and lily flowers is that edible lilies have edible fleshy scales, while lily bulbs that are for people to enjoy are not edible.
The fleshy scales of the edible lily look a bit like garlic, one by one, with dozens of petals wrapped into a white bulbous stem.
There were very few herbs that could be collected in the first month of the year. Wang Zhen looked along the way and taught the two men to recognize several kinds of herbs. The three did not go to see the white hyacinths, but climbed straight up the ridge and went down to the cliff at the foot of the mountain.
The dog ran to the edge of the cliff and started sniffing around. When Zhou Huaian, Zhou Yiding and Wang Zhen arrived there, they discovered that the skeleton that was originally there had disappeared.
Zhou Huaian slapped his head and said, "Oh no, I forgot to move the skeleton further away yesterday. I need to find something to block the hole."
"Could it be that the bear head was also eaten by wild animals?" Zhou Yiding said as he strode to the cliff. He found that the bear head blocking the cave entrance had been gnawed by some wild animal, leaving only the bones. Small bees were busy in and out of the cave entrance.
"Youngest, the bear head is gone, only a skull is left."
Zhou Huaian looked at the hammer and chisel in the basket and spread his hands. "That's good. It saves me the trouble of chiseling stones." He walked over and said, "Let's smoke the bees away first and see if the honeycombs are still there."
"Okay!" Zhou Yiding took the moxa stick out of the bag, picked up the thumb-thick moxa stick and said to Wang Zhen, "This is what my sister-in-law made for us. In the past, my youngest and I used dead grass and branches to smoke out the bees, but we were always afraid that a strong wind would set the forest on fire."
Wang Zhen picked up a moxa stick and smelled it. "This is made of new moxa, and some stinky wormwood is added to it."
"You are worthy of being a doctor!" Zhou Huaian gave him a thumbs up, "Chunyan specially added stinking mugwort to fumigate our bees. There is still a lot of old mugwort that has been stored for more than a year in the old house. When May comes, we can cut the old mugwort and store it."
(End of this chapter)
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