Yang Chunyan came out of the kitchen after heating up the food and saw Zhang Xiuxiang there. "Second sister-in-law, have you cooked? If not, come and eat with us. There are a lot of cold dishes!"
Zhou's mother also said, "Yes, Xiuxiang, we'll eat at your house tomorrow. Come over and eat together so there won't be too much left."
Zhang Xiuxiang nodded readily, "Okay, I'll go call Huaijun and the others over right away."
After everyone had dinner together, the brothers and sisters-in-law got together to play poker for a while before going home to rest.
The next day, just after daybreak, Zhou Yiding came with Dahei and Dahuang. Zhou Huaian carried a backpack and brought Wangcai with him. The two men and three dogs walked towards the back mountain together.
It was still dark and the fog was very thick. Gouzi was running happily in front. Zhou Huaian, holding a cigarette, and Zhou Yiding were following behind. They walked through the woods on the back mountain and headed southwest. After crossing two ridges, the sun slowly rose and the fog dissipated a little.
At this moment, the dog walking in front suddenly started barking "Woof woof woof" at the woods next to it.
The two stopped and looked into the woods. Two sturdy men carrying hunting rifles walked out of the woods. Zhou Huaian thought they looked familiar. "Brother, are you from the construction team?"
The square-faced man smiled and nodded, took out two cigarettes and handed them to the two men, "Yes, we sold truffles at your house."
"No wonder he looks familiar." Zhou Huaian took the cigarette he handed over with a smile, "Did you get anything good?"
The square-faced man smiled and said, "I haven't caught anything good yet, but I've caught two hares and a few doves."
Zhou Huaian looked at him with envy, "You guys are really lucky. We have been walking for so long and haven't caught anything."
"No, you don't think highly of these little things." The square-faced man looked at the two men carrying rifles, smiled and said a few words respectfully. The four men said a few more polite words and then went their separate ways.
Zhou Huaian and his companion took the dog for a walk around the area, then climbed over a ridge, walked downhill to a ditch, and followed the sound of gurgling water towards the old forest.
The water in the ditch is so clear that you can clearly see the small fish and mountain crabs swimming back and forth at the bottom of the ditch.
The two wanted to visit the wild beehive they found in the southwest a few years ago. After the beginning of spring, the snow on the mountains began to melt, and there was water in the ravines. Wild animals often came to the ravines to drink water, so it was easy to catch wild animals by walking this way.
The woods were filled with the sounds of birds in the morning, and there was heavy dew on the ditch, soaking the dog's fur. The two men walking behind also got their yellow rubber shoes and trouser legs with leggings soaked.
Zhou Huaian looked at the Acorus calamus growing on the rocks by the ditch. This thing is a must-have for every family during the Dragon Boat Festival. There are also a lot of Selaginella and Lithospermum officinale growing on the big rocks by the ditch. The two men's purpose of entering the mountain was not to do this, so they were too lazy to pick them.
"Youngest, it's been more than two years. Do you think that nest of wild bees is still there?"
"That side is a long way off, there should be few people going there, it should still be there."
Before Zhou Huaian finished speaking, Dahei, Dahuang and Wangcai suddenly barked and ran quickly towards the woods on the left.
The two of them only saw the brown figure of the wild animal quickly disappear into the bushes. Zhou Yiding shouted excitedly, "Youngest, it looks like a musk deer."
"Chase!" Zhou Huaian took the lead and chased towards the hillside where the dog's voice came from.
There should be few people coming to the woods here, and the trees and shrubs are particularly lush. It is impossible for the two of them to catch up with the wild animals that are running in the woods as if they were walking on flat ground.
The three dogs chased the fleeing wild animals closely and kept barking for their owners to catch up.
Climbing a hill is a very strenuous task. Two legs cannot catch up with four legs. After running for a while, the two felt their legs were sore and weak, and they kept panting like a bellows.
But if it really was a musk deer, they would be reluctant to give up like that, so they had to grit their teeth and climb up.
Just as Zhou Huaian and the other man were climbing breathlessly and feeling their throats were dry and uncomfortable, they heard the barking of dogs from the valley ahead.
Zhou Huaian propped himself up on his knees and took two breaths, then pointed ahead, "Ding Ding Cat, work harder, the dog has caught up."
"Yeah! It should be surrounded."
The two men supported themselves on their knees and rested for two seconds, then they made another effort to chase to the valley, where they saw Dahuang, Dahei and Wangcai separately biting a fanged wild animal, and the white stripes on both sides of its neck were stained red with blood.
"Oh shit!" Zhou Huaian exclaimed in surprise. The person lying on the ground was an adult male musk deer.
Its neck had been bitten off by Dahei, and blood was oozing out continuously. The fishy smell of musk deer and the smell of blood spread in the forest.
Zhou Huaian stepped forward and kicked the dead musk deer, laughing heartily. He happily reached out his hand to Zhou Yiding, and the two clapped their hands. "May the mountain god bless us, and we will find a big batch of goods when we open the shop."
"It's just that the smell is a bit pungent!" Zhou Yiding put down the basket and rubbed his nose, then turned to look at Zhou Huaian, "Wang Zhen taught you how to cut musk, so I'll leave it to you this time."
"Watch me!" Zhou Huaian put down his backpack and walked forward. Following what Wang Zhen had taught him, he grabbed the musk bag at the navel of the musk deer, tied it up from the root with a thin hemp rope, and cut off the oval glandular sac at the navel at the root.
Wang Zhen said that the musk collected from the freshly dead musk deer is of greater quantity and better quality. The musk sac of the musk deer killed today is full and heavier in the hand than before.
Zhou Yiding took out a dagger and ripped open the musk deer, taking out the lungs and intestines as a reward to the three dogs. If it weren't for them today, he and Zhou Huaian would never be able to catch up with the musk deer even if they ran their legs off.
The dog happily took the musk deer's internal organs in its mouth and started eating, making a whimpering sound from time to time.
Zhou Huaian said with a smile: "Ding Ding Cat, my second sister-in-law bought a copper hot pot. Let's try to bring back the deer meat as soon as possible and cook it in hot pot."
"Great, Wang Zhen just happened to be here, let's have some fun together."
"I've been using the prescription Uncle Daqing prescribed last time when he went to Ning'an for a while. I'd like to ask him to take a look and prescribe a new prescription to help me get better."
"I told him to go to Ning'an a long time ago, but the old man was so stubborn that he refused to go."
"All the old people are like this. My family members are the same. They are reluctant to spend a penny."
Zhou Huaian put the sachet away, picked up the musk deer and put it in the backpack. After opening its stomach, it felt a little lighter, probably only about sixteen or seventeen pounds at most.
After they had packed up, they called the dog, who was wagging his tail at them happily after having eaten, and walked back together.
Zhou Yiding suddenly pulled him aside and pointed at a patch of light green leaves in front of him. "Youngest brother, do those look like the white hyacinth we planted?"
"Let me see!" Zhou Huaian took a few steps forward and saw the tender green leaves extending all the way to the top of the valley. He nodded happily, "It's Bletilla striata. It's so big. I'm afraid it has been growing here for many years."
Zhou Yiding's eyes lit up, "When are we going to dig?"
Zhou Huaian shook his head, "I don't know either. Your sister-in-law said before that the seeds can be dug three years after planting. But Wang Zhen said that day that the temperature here is high and the frost period is short, so they can be dug in two years."
He walked a few steps and saw some Bletilla striata seedlings sprouting where he had just stood. He said excitedly, "He and your sister-in-law both said that Bletilla striata has a very strong reproductive capacity. If we dig it out late, it will affect its growth. If we dig out all the seeds from such a large valley, we can sell a lot of them."
Zhou Yiding also thought that with such a large area, we could at least plant several acres of land after digging it up. "Didn't you say that Wang Zhen would come to your house this afternoon? Let's go back and ask them. If it doesn't work, we can just dig the seeds and plant them back."
"Okay!" Zhou Huaian shook his hands, "Let's go to the ditch and wash our hands first. This smell is really terrible."
"I've wanted to say this for a long time." Zhou Yiding strode down the mountain.
The two men and three dogs had not walked far when Wangcai and Dahuang rushed into the bushes and caught a pheasant. Zhou Yiding also found a dozen pheasant eggs in the chicken coop.
"Youngest, let's get some yellow mud to wrap the eggs for lunch. It's the best to bake them."
"It's really nice!"
The two men and the dog went to the ditch, picked up a handful of calamus and rubbed it several times on their hands which were emitting a strong fishy smell. No wonder calamus is also called easy-to-use incense, there is a lingering fragrance after washing hands with it.
"Youngest, this stuff is pretty good for washing hands. Go back and find a few to plant by your pond."
"It's in the ditch behind the mountain. I'll dig it up when I remember it."
Zhou Huaian took out his water bottle and took a sip. He stared at the other side of the ditch for a few seconds, patted Zhou Ding, and pointed at the fallen tree trunk on the other side of the ditch. "Ding Ding cat, what do you think that is?"
"Fuck!" Zhou Yiding stood up happily, looking at the Ganoderma lucidum on the dead tree opposite, which was shining like lacquer in the sun, and laughed, "It really is a good start to the business!"
The two happily crossed the ditch. Zhou Huaian picked three purple Ganoderma lucidums from the tree stump one after another, took out a net bag to put them in, walked to the back of the tree stump, and saw another Ganoderma lucidum that had withered. "Tsk tsk, such a big one, it's a pity to feed it to the insects."
"Youngest," Zhou Yiding held up a stalk of Ganoderma lucidum that had grown in layers, looking like a purple cloud. "Look at mine. Isn't it pretty?"
Zhou Huaian nodded repeatedly after seeing it, "Ba Shi, find something to plug it up, it will look like a lucky cloud."
"If you put such an expensive thing in a pot, you will be scolded." Zhou Yiding smiled and put the Ganoderma lucidum into the net bag. "You have a good memory. You brought the net bag with you. I forgot to bring it."
Zhou Huaian proudly pulled out a handful of things from his trouser pocket, "One of the essential equipment for going into the mountains is a net bag!"
"Since you're with me, I won't worry about these things."
The two searched around the dead tree and picked a total of seven mature Ganoderma lucidum. The big one was as big as a bowl, and the small one was about the size of a dipping saucer. Together they weighed more than a pound.
Zhou Huaian looked around with the net bag and found that there were many epimedium and clover growing in the forest. "There are still many good things. I will come here again in autumn and pick them all."
"My memory is not as good as yours. Remember to write down the location." Zhou Yiding followed him back to the other side, and the two of them continued walking forward with the dog.
After the sun rose, the forest became more humid. Zhou Yiding took out his kettle and drank a sip of water. "Youngest, how far are we from the cliff?"
Zhou Huaian looked around and said, "Go up and cross the beam in front and you will arrive." (End of this chapter)
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