Zhou Huaian looked at the few people who left listlessly and winked at Zhou Yiding, "If this doesn't inspire me, I'll have to be the second brother of the farm for the rest of my life."
After dinner, Yang Chunyan cleaned up the dishes and prepared to feed the pigs. Zhou Huaian picked up the pig feed bucket and said, "I'll take it over."
"Then you feed the pigs and I'll clean the pigsty."
"I'll do it!"
"Can you?"
"Don't underestimate me!" Zhou Huaian walked forward with a smile, and Yang Chunyan followed him to the pigpen with an oil lamp.
Before the two men reached the pig trough, the little pigs who heard the footsteps were already crowded in front of the trough, grunting and waiting.
Zhou Huaian put down the pig feed bucket, Yang Chunyan placed the oil lamp on the pigpen pillar, and began to add straw and grain bran to the pig feed.
"Where is the shit-shovel?" Zhou Huaian asked after looking around.
"Here!" Yang Chunyan picked up a piece of wood that was shaped a bit like a paddle and handed it to him.
Zhou Huaian opened the door of the pen with a dung rake and walked in. "Not bad, very clean, the shit and urine are all out of the feces."
"When I changed the pig sty this morning, the straw was dry. I only need to change it every two days from now on."
"Oh!" Zhou Huaian thought about it and said, "Are you really going to Fangtian with your sister-in-law and the others to look for herbs tomorrow?"
"I've called them twice. If I don't go, they might think I'm avoiding them on purpose!" Yang Chunyan mixed the pig feed and poured it into the trough. "There are no wild animals in the bamboo forest. You don't have to come with us."
"Yes, Yiding and I will go up the mountain to see if those people are really going to hunt wild boars!"
The next day, Yang Chunyan and her sisters-in-law went out to the forest above the bamboo forest to look for herbs. Zhou Huaian and Zhou Yiding went out early in the morning. After reaching the mountain, they found that there were groups of people going up the mountain to hunt.
Some were carrying machetes, some were carrying hoes and shovels, but the two men ignored them and walked up the mountain with their dog.
Who knew that Zhou Huaijin and several villagers followed the two of them, going wherever they went!
Zhou Huaian turned his head and looked at Zhou Yiding, "Today's trip is in vain. Let's go dig up the remaining nests of yam and go home."
"Yes." Zhou Yiding thought for a moment, "I guess we can't go out to look for beehives these days. Why don't we go down the mountain, eat, and then go to the forest farm to look for them."
Zhou Huaian nodded, "Okay, go back and ask my mother to come and accompany Chunyan for two days."
Zhou Yiding looked back at the people following him and said, "Let's walk faster and shake off those people."
Zhou Huaian looked around and said, "Let's go through the woods." He untied Wangcai's noose and patted him, "Let's go!"
Wangcai ran into the woods and the two immediately followed.
When Zhou Huaijin and his companions saw the two men entering the woods, they hurriedly followed them in. However, they didn't even see any of them and wandered around in the woods in disappointment.
Zhou Huaian and the other man walked forward, and slowed down when they saw that the tail behind them had not caught up, "Finally got rid of it."
Zhou Yiding curled his lips, "Why are these people so shameless?"
Zhou Huaian: "They thought we were going into the mountains to hunt."
The two walked for a while, picked up some boneset from a big tree and carried it on their backs. They continued walking for a while. Just as they were about to leave the forest, they saw the youngest bear carrying a rifle, followed by four young men and another carrying a shotgun.
Zhou Yiding turned his head and glanced at him. "See? Even that fake guy has come out."
Zhou Huaian grabbed Wangcai and said, "Looking at their attitude, they are planning to exterminate the wild boars!"
"With them!" Zhou Yiding curled his lips, "Let's just wait and see what happens."
"Don't go out yet. Wait until they leave."
The two men hid behind a big tree. When they came closer, they saw that some of them were carrying pheasants and some were carrying hares. They complimented him loudly and did not forget to step on them.
The young man holding the rabbit complimented, "Captain Xiong is indeed a man of high consciousness. Those two scoundrels, Zhou Laoyao and Zhou Yiding, think that no one else dares to go into the mountains to hunt."
Another person took over, "That's right, look how long we've been up the mountain, and we've already killed so many wild animals."
The young man holding the pheasant said flatteringly, "Captain Xiong, I heard that the village will hold an election next year. My family will vote for you then."
The smile in the eyes of the youngest bear could hardly be hidden. "Don't be like this, I was thinking of taking everyone to the mountains to hunt wild animals and sell them during the slack season to supplement the family income."
"You see, Captain Xiong is still the best. Those little bastards are still bastards even if they earn a little money."
A group of people talked loudly and walked triumphantly towards the farther mountains and forests.
Zhou Yiding was so angry that his teeth itched, "A bunch of bastards licking dogs, let's see how long you can be so proud?"
"Why would a bunch of villains care about them!" Zhou Huaian patted Wangcai and said, "Let's go, dig up the yams and go to the forest farm."
"Yeah!" The two of them walked towards the forest ahead.
****
Yang Chunyan finished her housework at home, then went out with her backpack on her back. After closing the gate, she turned around and saw Li Qiuyue coming out of the yard with a small backpack on her back. "Are you feeling unwell, sister-in-law? Why don't you not go today?"
Li Qiuyue hesitated for a moment and said with a smile: "I'm not uncomfortable at all, just a little inconvenient."
Yang Chunyan understood, "Then let's come back early."
"That's great!" Li Qiuyue waited until she arrived, called Zhang Xiuxiang and Zhao Huifang, and walked towards Fangtian together.
As I walked along, I saw the rapeseed seedlings in the fields were green, and the reeds, broad beans, sweet rape, and flowers and plants had also grown in them.
Yang Chunyan thought that in half a month she would be able to pick flowers and grasses and reed tips to eat, as these things from her previous life could no longer be seen in the fields.
Young people are busy growing vegetables for the morning market and working to earn money, leaving only the elderly at home farming and feeding pigs.
An hour or so later, Yang Chunyan and her companions went up the mountain and found that most of the mountain land had been opened up and planted with various vegetables in just half a month.
Li Qiuyue pointed to a papaya tree and said, "The papayas here are quite good."
Zhao Huifang took a look and said, "My mother's family also has some. If you like it, I'll go back and dig one for you next spring."
Li Qiuyue glanced at Yang Chunyan and the others and said, "We want them all. Let's dig one each."
"No problem!" Zhao Huifang said, pointing to the bamboo forest. "We've been there several times. How about we go over here and take a look?"
Yang Chunyan looked at it and nodded, saying, "The mountain here is not that steep, let's go this way."
A few people walked through the bamboo forest and entered a chestnut forest. There were a few chestnuts scattered under the trees, and the chestnuts on the trees had long been picked.
A squirrel was holding a chestnut on a tree branch and gnawing on it seriously. It was not afraid of people coming.
Walking through the chestnut forest, the slope in front was covered with ferns and various vines entangled on the bushes, some of which were already dry, while others were still green.
Several people climbed up along the rugged mountain path. There was a lot of dew in the grass, and their boots became wet.
Zhang Xiuxiang pointed at the purple and dark purple fruits that were entwined around the small bush in front of her. They were hanging on the vines like bells. "Abacus fruit."
Yang Chunyan said happily after seeing it: "This is a good thing!"
Zhao Huifang smiled and said, "This thing is very sweet and delicious. When I was a kid, I would secretly pick some abacus fruits and put them in my pockets, for fear that other kids would find them and snatch them away."
Li Qiyue smiled and nodded, "Same for us."
Yang Chunyan picked an abacus fruit, rubbed it a few times and took a bite. "It's so sweet! The root underneath is also good."
After hearing this, Li Qiuyue looked at her with shining eyes, "Are the roots below also herbs?"
Yang Chunyan: "The root below is called Codonopsis pilosula. My husband said that stewing it in soup can help stimulate lactation, relieve asthma, and replenish qi and blood."
Zhang Xiuxiang quickly took out the abacus fruit that she had stuffed into her mouth and said, "So, the abacus fruit is its seed!"
"Hmm!" Yang Chunyan said after picking a black and purple one and breaking it open, "You can see the sesame-like seeds inside are its seeds."
After a few people looked at it, Li Qiuyue said, "I know that the black and purple ones are ripe and taste the sweetest."
Zhao Huifang picked up the bamboo basket and said, "Then let's pick the fruits first and then dig the roots."
Yang Chunyan pulled down a vine and saw that it was full of abacus fruits. She thought for a moment and said, "When you dig later, if you see a small Codonopsis pilosula, don't cut off all the stems and leaves. Leave some leaves on the top and dig it up. Go back and plant it to see if it can survive."
Zhao Huifang put a handful of fruits in the basket. "Abacus fruit can produce so many on a single vine. Even if we don't grow them as herbs, it's good to grow them as snacks for kids."
The traditional Chinese medicine name is Codonopsis pilosula, and its aliases include milk ginseng, earth sheep milk, moon ginseng, etc.
It is the root of the Panthera sphaerocephala plant of the Campanulaceae family, a perennial herbaceous twining vine. The light green thin vine stem is smooth and hairless, and there is white juice after the stem and leaves are broken. The white or yellow-green flowers are like small bells, which are very beautiful.
The fruit is green when it is not ripe, then purple, and then purple-black. Because the shape of the fruit resembles an abacus plate, people call it abacus fruit.
The tuber of Codonopsis pilosula is large, fleshy, beige in color, with few fibrous roots. It looks a bit like ginseng, so some people call it wild ginseng. Because white milky liquid will ooze out when the tuber is broken, some people also call it milk ginseng.
Codonopsis pilosula: sweet and slightly bitter, warm in nature, non-toxic. It has the effects of nourishing the middle and replenishing qi, moistening the lungs and promoting body fluid.
Li Qiuyue picked a few purple ones, rubbed them clean and put them in her mouth. "Unripe ones are also delicious, sour and sweet."
Zhang Xiuxiang tasted one and said, "It's okay to eat a few of these, but if you eat too much, your teeth will get tangled."
Zhao Huifang looked at Li Qiuyue with a smile, "I noticed that something is wrong with you recently. You like to eat sour things!"
Li Qiuyue glared at her in reproach, "Just the other day I said your pickled cabbage was delicious, and you said I like to eat sour things."
Zhao Huifang smiled and said, "If you like it, just go back and get it from me."
Yang Chunyan thought about the dragon and phoenix soup she had yesterday and felt that something was wrong with her during this period. Could she be pregnant?
Thinking back to the fact that she never mentioned having more children than allowed in her previous life, it seemed impossible.
Yang Chunyan and her sisters-in-law pulled apart the vines and picked the fruits first before they started digging for the wild codonopsis. As they searched along the way, they discovered that there were a lot of wild codonopsis growing in the bushes.
The four of them were busy on the hillside until almost eleven o'clock. They picked two full baskets of ripe abacus fruits, one basket of purple-red ones, and a dozen young Codonopsis pilosula seedlings. They also dug up all the Codonopsis pilosula on the hillside.
Zhao Huifang looked at the bushes above and said, "Let's go back first and come back in the afternoon after dinner."
The older sisters-in-law all felt that it was very inconvenient after the separation. In the past, they didn't have to worry about anything when they went out. Mother Zhou took good care of the children and livestock at home, and they just had to go out to find herbs to make money.
Now I have to rush back home when it’s time to go out. It seems I have to teach my kids how to cook and feed pigs.
Yang Chunyan nodded, picked up a fat Codonopsis pilosula, and said happily: "Not bad, these goods should be rated as top-quality goods when they are delivered."
These wild Codonopsis pilosula are quite old. The tubers that are dug up are large and full, and the latex that flows out of the dug-up tubers is very sticky.
Li Qiuyue was also very happy. The herbs she dug this time could be divided equally. "Chunyan, should we sell fresh or dried herbs?"
Yang Chunyan said without hesitation: "Of course it is more cost-effective to sell dried goods. Go back and wash them, remove the roots, and dry them before sending them."
Zhang Xiuxiang mentioned the backpack, "It's just too hard to dig. I worked all morning and only dug half of the backpack."
Zhao Huifang smiled and said, "It's already pretty good. We are thankful that Chunyan came with us today, otherwise we would just pick some fruits to eat."
Li Qiuyue said with a smile: "That's right, I have to follow Chunyan to make money."
"Actually, you already know quite a few herbs, except for some that you haven't seen before." Yang Chunyan picked up the backpack and followed Zhang Xiuxiang back.
The four of them crossed the bridge and walked up the hill to the grove, where they saw villagers coming down the mountain in groups of three or four, carrying hoes and machetes. Those who were lucky had a pheasant in their hands, while those who were unlucky had nothing in their hands.
The four of them arrived outside Zhao Huifang's yard, and she said, "Put the wild codonopsis and the ripe fruits at Chunyan's house, and give some of the unripe ones to the kids."
"That's right!"
The sisters-in-law went to Yang Chunyan's house again. When they arrived, they saw the gate of the courtyard was open and Zhou Huaian was sorting yams on the steps.
Yang Chunyan asked curiously: "Why did you come back so early?"
"The back mountain is full of people hunting for herbs. We went to dig up the yams that we didn't finish digging that day and then came back."
Zhou Huaian saw the abacus fruit in the basket and said, "Hey! This is a good stuff!" Then he reached out to grab the abacus fruit.
Yang Chunyan smiled and said, "This is for seeding. If you want to eat it, eat the unripe ones."
Zhou Huaian grabbed a handful of unripe ones and shared some with Zhou Yiding, "I haven't eaten them for a long time. How come we didn't see any when we went up the mountain?"
"There should be more in the woods over at Fangtian. Let's go home and eat first." Zhang Xiuxiang put down the basket and said, "Chunyan, you keep it and wash it together after we eat."
"I understand." Yang Chunyan handed her the basket and said, "Take it back and feed the kids."
"Leave some for you too." Zhang Xiuxiang grabbed two handfuls and put them on the tree stump. "Hey! Is this thing made from a tree stump? It looks pretty good!"
"Yes! I wouldn't have noticed it if you hadn't told me." Zhao Huifang stepped forward and touched it. "I didn't expect that the rotten tree stump would look like it was in good condition after being cleaned up!"
Yang Chunyan: "Huaian said Yiding found a tree stump in the forest farm and polished it."
"It looks great! We'll get one if we find a suitable one in the future." The three sisters-in-law said goodbye and left with the baskets.
Yang Chunyan said to Zhou Huaian, "It's past twelve o'clock. How about I get some pickled cabbage out and stir-fry some pickled cabbage and pork and cook some noodles?"
"Okay! I'll help you wash the pea tips." Zhou Huaian put the yam away, "Yiding, come over later. We plan to go to the forest farm to look for wild bees after dinner."
After hearing this, Yang Chunyan looked at him and said, "You can go, but don't go hunting!"
Zhou Huaian smiled and said, "Don't worry, Uncle Daqing is here!" (End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com