Chapter 570 Chapter 571: There is still a lot to learn
Zhou Huaian looked at the worn clothes on the men and said in a slow tone, "The ones harvested in summer are valuable. If you harvest them now and send them here, not only will the medicinal effects be poor, but you won't be able to sell them for a good price either."
The four of them saw that his tone had softened and his expression became more natural, "Don't worry, we'll go back and talk to everyone about it."
Zhou Huaian nodded and weighed the cinnamon for the four people. A total of 100 kilograms of cinnamon were collected. Wang Zhen said that the best fresh cinnamon would only cost a few dollars per kilogram at most.
Villagers like to cut cinnamon bars and dry them for cooking. The cinnamon bars looked thin and not of good quality, so I paid fifty cents per pound for them.
He thought about going back to show it to Chunyan. If it was not good, he would dry it and keep some for his mother to use when making soy sauce. He could also give some to sell to the tofu pudding shop, so he would not lose money.
There are more than 200 kilograms of Eucommia ulmoides, which look quite thick. I just wonder what the quality of those harvested these two days is like?
Eucommia ulmoides, also known as bakelite, is a plant of the Eucommia family. It can reach a height of 20 meters and has a breast diameter of about 50 centimeters.
The bark is grey-brown, rough, and contains rubber. When broken and pulled apart, there are silk-like filaments. The young branches have yellow-brown hairs, which soon become bald. The old branches have obvious lenticels. The leaves of Eucommia ulmoides are also torn apart to reveal silk-like filaments.
Medicinal Eucommia ulmoides is the dried bark of Eucommia ulmoides, a plant of the Eucommia family.
It tastes sweet and is warm in nature. It has the effects of nourishing the liver and kidneys, strengthening tendons and bones, regulating Chong and Ren meridians, and consolidating menstruation and stabilizing pregnancy.
It can treat low back and leg pain or soreness and weakness caused by kidney yang deficiency, unstable fetus caused by liver qi deficiency, scrotal wetness and itching, etc. It is listed as a top grade in Shennong's Herbal Classic.
When Zhou Huaian drove his tractor to Fangtian, he met Yang Weidong who was driving a mule cart with a middle-aged man and a gray-haired old man sitting on it.
He slowed down and asked loudly, "Brother, where are you going?"
"Let's go to your house!" Yang Weidong pointed at the father and son on the mule cart and said with a smile, "Didn't you say you wanted to dig a wine cellar? I brought the master here for you. They will first take a look at the soil quality of the mountain behind your house. If it's okay, they will help you dig the wine cellar before the rainy season comes. They still have to work at the flower market."
Then he pointed at the gray-haired old man and said, "Master Xue, that's Master Xue. They are a father and a daughter, and they specialize in helping the winemaking workshop dig wine cellars to store wine."
"Master Xue, Master Xue, thank you for your help!" Zhou Huaian took out a cigarette and offered it to each of them.
Master Xue smiled and said, "We are really bothering you. This time we came to see the soil quality where you want to dig the cellar."
"Okay, let's go take a look first." Zhou Huaian took them home. Yang Chunyan and Yang Weidong were talking in the yard.
Xue's father and son followed him to check out the soil on the back hill, because yellow mud was good for digging cellars.
After going up the mountain to see that the soil was yellow mud and confirming that it could be dug, Zhou Huaian took the father and son to the backyard alley and pointed at the stone embankment. "Master Xue, if we dig a wine cellar, do we have to remove some of the embankment as well?"
"We only need to remove a door." Master Xue took out a blueprint and pointed at the drawing on it. "We dig horizontally, and after we go two or three meters deep, we will expand it to make a cellar.
The cellar is warm in winter and cool in summer, so vegetables can be stored there for a long time. In hot weather, you can also put fresh meat there, and it won’t go bad in half a day.”
"Really?" Zhou Huaian asked curiously, "How long can fresh pork be kept in the cellar?"
After taking a look around, Master Xue said, "The mountain behind your house is so high. If you dig deeper, it should be fine to leave it there for a day or two. Also, the bacon and sausage smoked for the New Year can be kept much longer in there than if they are hung outside. They won't dry out as easily as if they were hung outside."
Zhou Huaian thought it would be nice to have a cellar, which could be used to store wine, vegetables, and meat. "Okay! When do you think we can start construction?"
Master Xue said, "Let's go back and get our tools. We can start the work tomorrow. You need to find a good place to pile the mud."
He paused, "And the wages. Let me tell you, we dig for Boss Yang's family, and the wages are five dollars a day, and the host family provides meals. You were introduced by Boss Yang, so I will charge you according to their wages."
Zhou Huaian said cheerfully: "No problem, you need to prepare more time. My house has been dug, and my three brothers' houses also need to be dug!"
Master Xue didn't expect it to be a big business. He said happily, "I originally thought that it was just your family digging. It won't take long for the eldest brother and I to finish digging. In this case, I will bring the second brother with me, and you can send two more people to help carry the soil."
"Don't worry about the manpower!" Zhou Huaian led the father and son out of the alley, closed the door of the chicken coop, and walked towards the front yard together.
"Xiao Yang, Xiao Zhou's family is backed by a mountain, which makes it much easier to dig than yours." Master Xue said to Yang Weidong.
Yang Weidong smiled and said, "Are you ready?"
Old Xue nodded, "Okay, go back and finish the last bit of work at your house, and come over to start work tomorrow."
After hearing this, Yang Weidong stood up and said, "Yan'er, we'll leave first. When your eldest brother's house is put up on the eighth day of May, you can come to my house and play!"
Yang Chunyan smiled and nodded, "Okay, you guys are busy, I won't keep you here."
She and Zhou Huaian sent the three people out of the yard before returning to unload the herbs from the tractor.
When seeing the Eucommia ulmoides and cinnamon bark, Yang Chunyan thought of those people who cut down decades-old trees in order to harvest Magnolia officinalis and cinnamon bark, and suddenly she regretted teaching them.
"Huaian, when I was teaching them, I told them that the cinnamon and Eucommia fields would only be of good quality if they were harvested in June or July. Why did they harvest them in the past few days?"
"I've talked to the villagers who sent cinnamon and Eucommia bark, and they promised not to cut them again." Zhou Huaian picked up a roll of cinnamon bark, "Yan'er, don't you think it's not that good? Why don't we keep it..."
Yang Chunyan looked at the list of goods. "A total of 117 kilograms. Raw cinnamon is heavy in water, so it will weigh about 70 kilograms after drying. I'll keep 20 kilograms for my own use, and 30 kilograms for Brother Huang!"
Zhou Huaian thought that the loss of the bark was not great, but he didn't expect that it was also half lost. Dried cinnamon like this is only one yuan and one or two yuan per pound. This time he will really lose money.
Collecting herbs has been going smoothly recently and I have never lost money. This is a lesson for myself. Next time I go to Wang Zhen and ask him about the loss of these tree barks to avoid doing business at a loss in the future.
Seeing him carrying a bamboo basket to the backyard, Yang Chunyan also picked up a basket of herbs and followed him upstairs. "You've lost money, so you're unhappy?"
Zhou Huaian put down the bamboo basket and took two deep breaths. "Alas! I just realized that I still have a lot to learn. I can't be cocky!"
Yang Chunyan smiled and said, "You are right. There is a lot of knowledge in herbal medicine. My old man told me that drug dealers used to insert small needles into Cordyceps. The most hateful thing is to use silkworms to impersonate Cordyceps."
She thought for a moment, "Oh! There is also Gastrodia elata. Some drug dealers use dahlia roots, Trichosanthes roots, and potatoes to impersonate it."
Zhou Huaian looked at her in surprise. "Are you talking about the silkworms we dug up and stewed bones and pickled during the Dragon Boat Festival? And the dahlia roots planted in the yard?"
"Yes! Silkworms and dahlia roots are also herbs. Some unscrupulous drug dealers use these two things to cheat people."
Wang Zhen showed Zhou Huaian cordyceps and also collected Gastrodia elata himself. "The silkworm is white and plump like a silkworm pupa, and the Gastrodia elata is oval when dug out, with yellow skin that looks a bit like ginger skin.
The dahlia root is a bit like a spindle, and it is made of several pieces connected together, and the skin is white in color, which doesn't look like dried ginger at all. Anyone with a discerning eye can tell the difference between these two things, okay?"
Yang Chunyan smiled and glanced at him, "Before you have handled these two tubers, can you tell them apart?"
Zhou Huaian thought for a moment and said frankly, "I really couldn't tell the difference before I handled it."
Yang Chunyan smiled and nodded, "Yes! Many people have never seen real Cordyceps sinensis and wild Gastrodia elata, so it is inevitable that they will be deceived!"
"My wife is right. I took it for granted." Zhou Huaian approached her with a grin, kissed her, and ran downstairs.
Yang Chunyan watched him go downstairs with a smile and hang up the cinnamon, eucommia and magnolia officinalis in the bamboo basket to dry.
Cinnamon bark, also known as cinnamon, official cinnamon or fragrant cinnamon, is a general name for the bark of plants of the Lauraceae family, such as Cinnamon bark, Cinnamon bark, Cinnamon bark or Cinnamon bark.
It is also a commonly used Chinese medicine, food spice or cooking seasoning. It is used to season stewed meat in Chinese cuisine and is one of the ingredients of five-spice powder.
After a while, Zhou Huaian came upstairs holding Xiao Jiuer in his arms. "Little thing, I just carried a basket over here and heard him crying loudly in the room!"
Yang Chunyan saw that there were still tears on his face and his black eyes were wet. She pursed her lips in grievance and burst into tears again with a "wow".
She hurriedly took the child and gently stroked his vest, "Don't cry, mom is drying herbs upstairs, oh! Our little Jiuer doesn't cry normally, he cried today because he woke up and didn't see mom, oh!"
Zhou Huaian came forward and scratched his nose, "Little crybaby, a boy cries at every turn, shame on you!"
Seeing that he was still crying, Yang Chunyan squatted down and looked at his diaper, "Don't laugh at our little Jiu'er. His diaper is wet and his little butt is uncomfortable, so he is crying."
Zhou Huaian kissed his son and said, "Go ahead! Leave it there until I'm done and then wash it!"
Yang Chunyan went downstairs to change his diaper, fed him and coaxed him to sleep, then put him in the cradle, washed the diaper and hung it up to dry. It was already half past eleven, and she hurried to the front yard, preparing to go to the vegetable garden to find vegetables for lunch.
The old man came into the yard carrying two chicken cages. "Your mother bought three goslings and ten ducklings in the village. The chicks were hatched by our own chickens. There are fifteen of them."
Yang Chunyan took a look and said, "So many!"
"The more the better. It will be convenient for us to raise them and eat them at home." The old man happily carried the chicken coop to the backyard.
Zhou Huaian dried the Magnolia officinalis bark and went downstairs to see the old man carrying out the fence and taking the chicks out of the chicken coop and putting them inside.
He would remind Wangcai and Laifu from time to time, "These are all your master's. Take good care of them. Don't let the mountain cat and the sharp-beaked one steal them. Then you will have bones to eat in the future."
"Woof woof!" The two dogs sat there looking at him affectionately, wagging their tails non-stop, not sure if they understood!
(End of this chapter)
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