After hearing this, Zhou Huaian and Zhou Yiding thought of their two children. If they were bitten by a snake, they would be scared. "Thank you, Brother Dongming, thank you!"
"We are from the same village, not strangers. You are being too polite." Fang Dongming paused. "Go back and tell your sister. I will keep an eye on this matter and will definitely teach the He family a lesson. Also, the He family may ask your sister for mercy. It is better not to meet with such unreasonable people."
Seeing him say this, Zhou Huaian stopped being polite and said, "Let's drink together when we have time. We'll go back first!"
"Yes!" Fang Dongming agreed, and then said, "Go back quickly, otherwise your sister will be worried. Tell her that I will notify you if anything happens."
"Okay!" The two said goodbye and trotted back.
"Youngest, a man is standing guard at his ex-girlfriend's door in the middle of the night. I think there's something going on!"
"I can see that too. If it's him, my sister and him should be able to get along well, but let's just let nature take its course!"
The two ran all the way back, and just as they reached the door, it was opened from the inside, "Sister, are you still awake?"
"You haven't come back yet!" Zhou Yumei closed the gate, and Luo Haili hurriedly poured two glasses of water for the two of them, "Drink some water and go to sleep."
"Yeah!" Zhou Huaian told Zhou Yumei what Fang Dongming said, and they went to bed.
Zhou Yumei sat there for a while before she got up and went back to her room to lie down.
The next day, Zhou Huaian got up as soon as the alarm rang. Zhou Yumei came out of the kitchen with a bowl of poached eggs and said, "Eat before you leave."
"Hmm!" Zhou Huaian came back from rinsing his mouth, picked up the spoon and started eating, "Brother Dongming said that the He family might come back to plead for mercy. As soon as you get up, take Xiaoxi back to Funiu to rest for two days and don't meet them."
"Okay, we'll go back tomorrow." Zhou Yumei felt that with He Pozi's shameless and difficult character, she would definitely come to the store and make a scene, which would not only make no sales but also waste things. It would be better for her to go back and play for a few days.
Zhou Huaian thought about it and warned again: "When you leave, go tell Aunt Li that the He family dared to throw snakes into the yard to bite people, and now He Jianjun has been arrested and locked up. You are afraid that the He family will cause trouble for you, so you go back."
"I see!" Zhou Yumei thought about it and asked again, "Was it really Fang Dongming who was on patrol last night?"
"I don't know about that!" Zhou Huaian looked up at her with a smile and asked, "You have lived in the town for such a long time. Are there still night patrols in the town this late these days?"
"You naughty youngest! I'm asking you a question, and you ask me!" Zhou Yumei slapped him in disapproval, "I've filled a bottle of water for you to drink on the way."
"Thank you, sister!" Zhou Huaian drank the egg soup, wiped his mouth, went out and pushed his bicycle towards the street.
Zhou Yumei sent him outside and said, "Ride slowly on the road. If you see a tractor, take a ride."
"Remember to bring Lai Fu back!" Zhou Huaian waved his hand, got on his bike and left.
Not far from the town, we stopped a tractor going to Ning'an at a three-way intersection. The driver helped lift the bamboo basket and bicycle onto the truck bed. He sat down and leaned against the bed board and fell asleep in a few breaths.
When Zhou Huaian arrived at Deshengtang, the clinic was already open. When Wang Zhen saw him, he said, "I thought you weren't coming today!"
Zhou Huaian took out an envelope from his pocket. "Brother Zhang gave my brother the letter of introduction. He asked me to buy some train tickets for them."
"Okay!" Wang Zhen agreed readily, "I'll buy them a ticket for the train to the provincial capital at noon, and they'll arrive there the next afternoon."
Zhou Huaian nodded and said, "I'll send them over the day after tomorrow."
"Okay!" Wang Zhen put the letter of introduction in his pocket. "They were very satisfied with the winter honey we sent them at the beginning of the year. Let me tell you first that we should collect more this year." Wang Zhen paused. "Also, can you see if you can find a purer quality rice flower honey?"
"Rice ball flower?" Zhou Huaian thought for a moment, "You mean the honey flower, right? If you pick this kind of flower and pat it in your palm a few times, sweet honey that looks like Chinese medicine will flow out. When I was a kid, I liked to pick some candies and lick them in my palms."
"Yes, its Chinese medicine name is rice flower, because its roots, leaves and bark have the effects of clearing away heat and detoxifying, promoting dampness and reducing swelling, and stopping bleeding. The dried goods are 60 cents per pound."
Zhou Huaian said distressedly, "There used to be quite a few honey flowers behind my house. They started to bloom at the end of December every year and continued to bloom until February of the following year. Now they are gone. They have all been dug up and planted with corn."
He thought of the tree trunks and roots that he had carried back and filled up the steps behind the house. After drying, they weighed at least several hundred pounds. At six cents a pound, ten pounds would be six yuan. It was a huge loss!
Wang Zhen also looked regretful. "There are still many honey flowers in the mountains now. Can we find purer honey from honey flowers?"
"Let me think about it?" Zhou Huaian slapped his head, "I remember now, there are a lot of honey flowers beside the old forest. Several years ago, Ding Dingmao and I found a nest of wild bees there. The honey we cut out smelled faintly of Chinese medicine. It was a new hive, so we cut a piece of honey and ate it all up among us."
"Rice ball honey is also called black medicinal honey. It has some effects such as sleep, constipation treatment, and anti-inflammatory. It can also be used to make a pill to treat lung disease. I remember you put two boxes of bees on the mountain. You can dig some honey flowers and plant them in your forest. Plant them in large areas and collect pure rice ball honey."
Zhou Huaian nodded immediately after hearing this, "It's right to listen to you. I will ask people to dig up saplings and plant them in the forest in the spring."
Wang Zhen couldn't help but laugh, "Brother Zhou, what I said is not entirely correct."
"It's okay if I'm wrong. I've leased such a large forest, and I'm worried about not being able to find anything to plant!" Zhou Huaian smiled and moved closer, "It can be used to collect honey or medicinal herbs. Is there anything better than planting this?"
Wang Zhen smiled and nodded, "Okay, then I'll wait for your pure rice ball nectar."
"I'll give it to you first after I harvest the honey!" Zhou Huaian saw someone coming into the clinic, "You're busy, I'll go to the market first and buy some bones."
Although the dog was not the first to discover it last night, it was the dog that woke them up, so we still have to reward them well.
"Slow down!" Wang Zhen patted him on the shoulder and turned around to treat patients.
Zhou Huaian looked at his watch. It was only a quarter past eight. He thought about hurrying to the butcher stall to cut the meat, then going back to stop a tractor and taking the dog up the mountain to the old forest to see if the honey trees were still there.
As I walked along, I saw villagers setting up stalls selling mushrooms on both sides of the vegetable market. Most of them were selling chicken mushrooms, morels, and miscellaneous mushrooms. I didn't see anyone selling red mushrooms. It seems that very few people dare to eat them.
He went to the meat stall where he used to buy from, and bought a few pounds of pork belly and ribs, and all the large ribs on the stall. The stall owner happily gave him the pig lungs, and he found some vegetable leaves to pad the basket and then rode back.
Soon after crossing the bridge, I met a tractor returning. I slept at the Fangtian intersection. I felt that the few hours of going back and forth had made up for all the sleep I had missed the previous night.
When passing by Zhou Yiding's house when entering the village, Wan Xuejiao saw Wan Xuejiao drying grain alone and said to her, "Is Dingding the cat back?"
"Not yet!" Wan Xuejiao walked to the door, "How was it last night? Did you catch anyone?"
"He's been caught and is being held in the police station!" Zhou Huaian added, "When Ding Ding Cat comes back, tell him I went into the mountains. If you want to go, bring the dog to find me by the old forest where the honey flowers grow."
Wan Xuejiao didn't answer after hearing this. "Brother Zhou, do you want to go to the old forest, or just look around?"
"Of course I'll just watch from the side!" Zhou Huaian glanced at her, "Why would I go to the old forest?"
Wan Xuejiao smiled and said, "Don't be angry. I'm just worried that you two will go to the old forest."
"Don't worry, we'll just watch from the side." Zhou Huaian said and rode away on his bike.
When they arrived at the grove, he saw Ye Laoyao sitting stupidly on the stone bench at the door. He rode his bike over, then thought about it and stopped in front of him. "Ye Laoyao, you were married to Li Chuntao when you were born, right?"
"How is that possible!" Ye Laoyao looked up at him in confusion, "What do you mean?"
"It's nothing interesting. I just find it strange. How did you get through those years when you didn't know Li Chuntao?"
“…”
Zhou Huaian looked at him with disdain, "As a man of seven feet, please live like a man. If you really feel like you can't live any longer, there are many ways to do it, such as hanging yourself, slitting your throat, or taking rat poison.
If you don't dare to die, then hurry up and carry your basket up the mountain to pick mushrooms to earn money. Don't act like a coward and pretend to be dying, which will make people feel pity and disgust. "
Ye Laoyao was stunned by his words and stared at him blankly...
Zhou Huaian ignored him and rode back. As soon as he arrived at the door, Lai Fu and Wang Cai came to meet him, "You're back! I bought you some bones and a pair of pig lungs. Are you feeling better now?"
Zhou Yumei, who was sitting at the entrance of the main hall, watching the two children and helping to cut the mushroom stems, said with a smile: "Youngest, if you don't know, you would think you are talking to someone else!"
"They know everything, but they can't tell me!" Zhou Huaian parked his bike. "Sister, when did you arrive?"
"Half an hour earlier than you!" Zhou Yumei gently put the red mushrooms into the bamboo basket. "Aunt Li said that there was a quarrel at He's house last night. She changed into her going-out clothes early in the morning and went out with her backpack on. She might have gone to find someone to help her."
Zhou Huaian took down the bamboo basket and said, "Don't worry about her. Brother Dongming said he would notify us if anything happens."
Zhou Yumei hesitated for a moment and said, "Youngest, I think it's better not to trouble others if possible, so that we don't have to explain it unclearly later."
Zhou Huaian understood what she was worried about after hearing this. "It's okay. When things are settled, buy some things and go with mom to thank him."
"Okay!" Zhou Yumei looked up, "My uncle and my third sister sent a lot of mushrooms today, and they are busy in the backyard!"
"I'll go help in the backyard!"
Zhou Huaian carried the bamboo basket to the backyard and saw Yang Chunyan and Jiang Yu frying mushroom stems. The old man and his father were sweating as they carried bamboo plates towards the oven. Zhou Huaian put down the bamboo basket and took the bamboo plates from the old man. "Grandpa, I'll do it. You take the meat and vegetables in the bamboo basket to the wine cellar."
Old man: "The row inside is full, let's start putting in the second row."
"Oh!" Zhou Huaian felt a wave of heat sweeping over him as he walked into the grill. When he put the bamboo flat on the grill and came out, beads of sweat were running down his ears. (End of this chapter)
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