Chapter 24: Chuanxiong
Zhou Huaian looked at Yang Chunyan walking towards the top of the mountain swiftly and felt a little frustrated. A five-foot tall man couldn't walk as fast as this young wife.
When he climbed to the top of the mountain, Yang Chunyan had already been sitting under the chinaberry tree resting for a while.
"What a damn hot day! It's so hot!" Zhou Huaian put down his backpack, wiped the sweat off his face, sat down on the ground, panting heavily, pulled down his straw hat, rolled up the brim and fanned himself.
"It's not good to curse the heavens and the earth." Yang Chunyan handed him a bamboo tube and said, "Drink some water."
Zhou Huaian took the bamboo tube, took a sip, and took a breath. "I can't do it anymore. Let me rest for a while before leaving."
"You take a rest for a while, I'll take a look around." Yang Chunyan turned and walked down the slope.
Zhou Huaian looked around and saw a large rock behind the tree. He suddenly remembered that there was a cave there. "Yan'er, there is a cave over there. We can put the herbs in a sack and put it in the cave. It's too heavy to carry on your back."
Yang Chunyan often wandered around in the mountains before, and she didn't know there was a cave nearby. She stood up and looked at him, "Where is the cave?"
Zhou Huaian squinted his eyes and leaned against the backpack, not wanting to move at all. He said weakly, "I haven't recovered yet. I'll take you there later."
"You take a rest here, I'll go down and take a look." Yang Chunyan didn't wait for his answer, picked up the bamboo and sickle and left.
I don't know why I'm so panicked! Occasionally I can see a villager on the beam below, but there are very few people on the mountain, especially on the back side. Who can I turn to if something happens?
Thinking of this, Zhou Huaian hurriedly called her, "Yan'er, wait a minute, let's put the things away, I'll go down with you."
"You lead the way." Yang Chunyan turned around and carried the backpack.
"Oh!" Zhou Huaian also picked up his backpack and took her towards the big rock on the right.
The two men walked to the rock, and Zhou Huaian used a bamboo stick to knock on the vines clinging to the rock, pulling the vines apart to reveal a small cave.
He turned his head and looked at Yang Chunyan proudly, "I discovered it when I was a child, when I went up the mountain with my grandmother to herd sheep."
“It’s quite hidden.”
Yang Chunyan looked at a few Selaginella plants in the cracks of the rocks, took out the sack, and opened the sack. Zhou Huaian put the motherwort and patchouli into the sack respectively, and stuffed the Houttuynia cordata in the backpack into the sack, and then stuffed the sack into the hole.
Zhou Huaian pulled the vines back to cover the hole and looked at it with satisfaction, "Okay, this is much easier."
Yang Chunyan picked up the basket and put it on her shoulders. "Let's go. Time is money. The more herbs you dig, the more money you will get."
Zhou Huaian asked her to walk to the front, "Time is money, then sleeping at night would be a big loss."
“Wrong logic!”
The two men were arguing with each other, carrying hoes and holding bamboos, and walking down the mountain one after the other.
There is no mountain road on the west side of the mountain. The mountain is full of trees and small shrubs. The two men were knocking on the knee-deep weeds and saw a few herbs here and there. Yang Chunyan didn't care about it and thought about rushing to the place where the Magnolia officinalis tree was to take a look.
When they reached a valley halfway up the mountain, Yang Chunyan saw a patch of wild Chuanxiong. She turned around excitedly and grabbed Zhou Huaian, "Huaian, these are all Chuanxiong. There are quite a lot in this patch."
Zhou Huaian stepped forward and pulled up a plant. "Is this a herb? It looks similar to green celery!"
The leaves of wild Chuanxiong are somewhat similar to celery leaves, the stems are a bit like celery stalks after being grown, and even the flowers are similar to celery flowers.
In her previous life, Yang Chunyan often collected herbs in this area and had collected Chuanxiong, but she had never found such a large area of Chuanxiong.
It seems that my luck has really changed in this life.
Yang Chunyan suddenly became looking forward to the place where Magnolia officinalis grew.
"Celery grows tall, while Chuanxiong is short, and its stems are slightly purple. Green celery has no fragrance." Yang Chunyan said as she passed Chuanxiong to his nose. "Smell it. The smell is so strong. There is such a big difference. Don't you notice it?"
"The smell is a bit strong." Zhou Huaian looked at her without blinking, "Yan'er, is Chuanxiong valuable?"
Yang Chunyan said unhappily: "It's valuable, more valuable than you." Then she picked up the hoe and started digging.
"Oh! Women are troublesome. They get angry again when nothing is wrong."
Yang Chunyan ignored him and concentrated on digging Chuanxiong.
When Zhou Huaian saw this, he also picked up the hoe and started working seriously.
"Huaian, dig up the big ones and keep the small ones. Dig them up again when they grow up." Yang Chunyan thought for a moment, "It would be great if we could plant them."
"Why can't we plant them? Aren't these wild ones alive and well?"
Yang Chunyan shook her head, "It's different!"
"Why is it different? If you don't believe me, let's go to the county town and ask Doctor Wang!"
Zhou Huaian suddenly thought that growing herbs was a good idea, and thought that after the family was divided and he could be the master of the household, he would plant fruit trees and herbs on the several acres of mountain land under his and Chunyan's account.
I planted herbs in the orchard. When I ran out of money, I would dig dozens of kilograms and take them to the county town to exchange for money, so that I could cut two kilograms of meat and buy a kilogram of wine... Just thinking about those days makes me feel comfortable.
Thinking of this, Zhou Huaian suddenly felt that farming was not that hard.
After digging for a while, Yang Chunyan felt that it was really inconvenient to use a hoe to dig herbs, and she must buy two herbs hoes next time she goes to the county town.
An hour or so later, the two men piled the Chuanxiong they had dug up together, sat on the handles of the hoes, picked off the stems and leaves, shook off the dirt and put them in a backpack.
The rhizome of Chuanxiong is an irregular fist-shaped mass, often with obvious round nodules. The outer skin is yellowish-brown, rough and wrinkled. It is often used to promote blood circulation and qi, dispel wind and relieve pain.
Zhou Huaian lifted the backpack and said, "Yan'er, these probably weigh about 50 to 60 kilograms."
"I think so." Yang Chunyan nodded. "Are you hungry? Do you want to eat sweet potatoes?"
Zhou Huaian looked at her with disdain, "Silly, the corn in the field is ripe. You should pick a few bags and bring them up to roast before going up the mountain."
Yang Chunyan looked at him calmly, "Aren't you here with us too? Why don't you go?"
"You are the boss, it is your duty to let me eat well." Zhou Huaian argued righteously.
"Since you know I'm the boss, just take it if I give it to you."
Zhou Huaian was choked with anger, "Forget it, I won't say anything more. You are my wife, so I will let you."
Yang Chunyan was speechless. She took out a potato, broke it open, wrapped it with some salted vegetables, and started eating it in big mouthfuls.
Seeing that she was eating with gusto, Zhou Huaian couldn't help swallowing his saliva, walked to her side, took the potato, and started eating it with salted vegetables.
After they finished eating the potatoes and sweet potatoes they brought, they were full.
Yang Chunyan wanted to go to the toilet, "You stay here and watch, I'll go over there to relieve myself."
Zhou Huaian pointed at the bushes next to them and said, "Why are an old couple running so far? Don't let the bugs bite your butt over there." As he said that, he looked at her butt.
"You idiot!" Yang Chunyan raised the bamboo pole and hit him, then walked towards a secluded place at the foot of the mountain.
After relieving himself, he pulled up his trousers and buttoned them while looking left and right. When he turned his head, he noticed dense Polygonum multiflorum vines climbing on the bushes under the cliff on the left.
He hurried forward and knocked on the vines a few times with a bamboo stick before he pulled them apart and found two Polygonum multiflorum vines with thick stems.
(End of this chapter)
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