Chapter 410 Saffron and Dark Wood
"Show me one more performance!"
The old hunter rubbed his eyes, still a little bit unbelieving.
Lin Heng glanced at him and said, "Then you better watch out."
After saying that, Lin Heng took out another arrow, waited for the wind to pass, took aim, and shot the arrow.
With a bang, the arrow hit the fallen wooden stool again.
The old hunter's eyes suddenly widened, and this time he believed it completely.
"Your bow is really so amazing, can I play with it?"
The old hunter looked at the bow in Lin Heng's hand with the same desire as a young man full of vigor looking at a girl with a big butt and big breasts.
"That won't do. You should fulfill what you just said first." Lin Heng shook his head and calmly put the bow into the bow bag.
"Most black bears are hibernating now, so we can't hunt them. I can take you to hunt wolves."
The old hunter became anxious when he saw the situation and spoke quickly.
He did know that there were black bears and wolves there, but he seldom went hunting because it was very dangerous to shoot such animals with a shotgun or a bow and arrow. If he failed to kill them, he would be the one who got hurt.
"How about this, you take us to find the black bear tomorrow, and then I'll let you know about my compound bow and give you two arrows." Lin Heng thought for a while and said with a smile.
"Okay, that's no problem. You can stay at my house tonight and I'll take you hunting tomorrow morning." said the old hunter.
"Then I'll trouble you, cousin." Lin Heng said with a smile, went over to pick up the arrow, and then walked towards the village with the old man.
While chatting on the way and asking for relevant information, I learned that the old hunter's surname was Zhao, he was 63 years old, and he started learning hunting techniques since he was a teenager.
The name of this village is Sanshan Village. Its characteristic is that there are high mountains with pointed auras all around the village. The mountain where Lin Heng discovered this village was one of them.
There are three main surnames in the village: Zhao, Li and Liu. According to Old Man Zhao, his ancestors moved into the mountains to avoid the government, but it is not clear how many years they have lived there.
We entered and then entered the village. At the entrance of the village, there were many little kids playing games, jumping around happily.
The houses in this village are concentrated together, with each house no more than fifty meters apart. Most of the houses are made of loess and are mostly two-story.
Most people were at home at this time. When they saw three strangers coming to the village, they all became interested and the little kids also looked over curiously.
"Old Man Zhao, is this your relative?" someone asked curiously.
"He's not a relative. He went into the mountains to hunt in Xiaozhuo Township and accidentally came to our village." Old man Zhao shook his head.
Lin Heng looked at the people who came over with curiosity, and said with a smile: "Uncles and aunts, brothers and sisters, hello, we are from Xiaozhuo Township, and we have some cracked seed oil and cooling oil with us. Anyone who needs it can buy it, of course, you can also exchange it for something."
As Lin Heng spoke, he took out a bottle of crack oil and applied it to people one by one.
"How much is your crack oil?" someone asked.
"It's also two dollars, the same price as in Xiaozhuo Township. I just wanted to help them and took a little while hunting."
This time, Lin Heng sold it at the same price as in Xiaozhuo Township. Because of the long distance, a lower price would seem abnormal.
"What can be exchanged?" someone asked curiously.
Although the people in these villages live in the mountains, many of them have been to Xiaozhuo Township and know the specific prices.
After hearing Lin Heng's price, he became much more friendly, because it was really not expensive.
"Things that are easy to carry, such as furs, silver dollars, copper coins, or Cordyceps sinensis, etc. If you have any, you can take them out and let us see them." Lin Heng said with a smile.
"That's fine."
Many people who wanted to buy went home to look for things, while some who didn't want to buy continued to watch, simply to get some of Lin Heng's crack oil.
Lin Heng gave it to them to use without being stingy, because there were not many people in the village, and if everyone used it, they would not be able to use up more than two pieces of crack oil.
After the publicity, Lin Heng followed Old Man Zhao back to his home. His home was at the east end of the village. He now lived with his youngest son. He also had a grandson, a great-grandson, and a great-granddaughter at home. There were a total of eight people in the house.
When Lin Heng and others arrived, Old Man Zhao's family was still very welcoming. His son smiled and invited them into the house and served them tea and water.
Lin Heng took out two squirrels he had shot today, as well as a bottle of cracker oil and cooling oil as gifts, and gave the child some candy. Immediately, the family became even more enthusiastic.
Lin Heng and others had a brief chat with them, and then some villagers who wanted to buy crack oil came over.
"Young man, do you think this thing can be used to exchange for crack oil?" A middle-aged man came over with a piece of white rabbit skin and asked.
"Okay." Lin Heng nodded. Although this thing was not very valuable, he could sell it for a few bottles of crack oil.
"I have some Cordyceps here. Can I exchange it for cooling oil?" After a while, another young girl came over with a small bag and looked at Lin Heng curiously.
"Of course, if there are any extras I can buy them with money." Lin Heng smiled after looking at the amount of Cordyceps.
"There's nothing extra, so I just picked up this little bit," said the girl.
After the girl left, Zhao Shouxi next to her said with a smile: "Lin Heng, Lin Yue, are you two married? There are several beautiful girls in our village. Do you want me to introduce them to you? This is the girl from Old Liu's family. She is not married yet."
Lin Heng and Lin Yue are both good-looking, especially Lin Heng who looks even stronger and more solid due to regular exercise. After entering the village, many people stole glances at him.
"We are all married, Uncle Zhao, don't worry about it." Lin Yue said with a smile.
Zhao Shouxi is the son of Old Man Zhao.
"Yes." Lin Heng also nodded.
Among the three of them, the one who doesn’t have a wife is the oldest uncle.
Soon, many villagers gathered here, bringing various things to exchange, including furs, herbs, silver dollars and various small items.
It is not easy for them to go out of the mountains. The cooling oil can repel insects and the cracked seed oil can be used to wipe hands. Everyone needs them and is willing to exchange them.
"Can this little bit of saffron be exchanged for some cooling oil?"
After a while, a middle-aged woman came over with a small bag of saffron.
"Hey, let me see."
Lin Heng took the small cloth bag, found a piece of cloth, poured out the saffron and looked at it.
This thing looked like a lot, but it felt light in his hand. He smelled it and identified it, and confirmed that it was real saffron.
This may be less than one gram, but there may be five or six hundred strands.
Saffron is the pistil, and there are only a few saffron saffrons in one flower. It is a very precious Chinese medicinal material.
"Aunt, do you grow this saffron yourself or does it come from the wild?" Lin Heng asked curiously.
"There are quite a few on the hillside south of the village. They were planted by our ancestors. We can harvest some every year and everyone in the village can pick them." The middle-aged woman replied.
"Okay, I understand. If you have any extra, I can take them in at the price of Xiaozhuo Township." Lin Heng nodded.
After he finished speaking, he gave the cooling oil to the middle-aged woman. Saffron was a good thing, and he wanted to take it back for Xiulan's mother and others to drink.
Especially for Xiulan, who had just given birth to a child, drinking this would help her body recover.
"I have some at home too." Soon other people brought saffron. There was quite a lot of saffron in the village.
"Young man, is that a watch you're wearing? What time is it?"
Someone noticed the silver watch on Lin Heng's hand and asked curiously.
"This thing is electronic, it looks really beautiful."
Someone immediately agreed. Most people in the village had never seen a clock, let alone a watch. This thing was very rare to them, and some people had wanted to ask about it a long time ago.
"It's 3:40 in the afternoon now. This watch is indeed electronic." Lin Heng said after looking at the watch.
"How much is it? Did you buy it in Taibai City?" someone asked again.
Many people came closer to take a look and thought it was so exquisite and were very envious.
They still use sundials in their village and don't have modern clocks.
"I bought it for 150 yuan and used it for a year. If anyone wants it, I can sell it for 130 yuan. My eldest brother also has one. I'll just give him a hand. With a watch, you can tell time more accurately and more conveniently."
Lin Heng took off the watch and showed it to everyone. He wanted to sell the watch. He would definitely not suffer a loss if he sold it here. He could just buy another one when he returned.
"It's so expensive, no wonder so few people wear it." Someone exclaimed.
"It's too expensive. I can't afford it."
Everyone took turns looking at it, and although they were all envious after seeing it, none of them had the intention to buy it.
Lin Heng didn't care and continued to sell other things.
In a short while, all his crack oil and cooling oil were exchanged, so this trip was considered a good profit.
In addition to some small animal furs, the main items were medicinal herbs such as Cordyceps sinensis, saffron, and Cistanche deserticola. Lin Heng also spent money to buy some saffron, and got more than 50 grams, which is about one or two taels.
In addition, no old items were received. The people in this village value these more. They are basically self-sufficient and still live an ancient life.
But even if he didn't receive the old items, Lin Heng had already made a lot of money from these medicinal herbs, furs, and a pair of old deer antlers.
If you sell it, you can earn four or five hundred yuan, which is equivalent to killing a sika deer.
However, Lin Heng will not eat all this alone, and he does not plan to sell the things he got this time. If they want cordyceps and saffron when they return, he will give them some, and if they don’t want them, he will give them more meat.
"Lin Heng, take out your compound bow and let your forehead be brushed."
After Lin Heng finished selling the things, Old Man Zhao rubbed his hands and said with a smile.
He's got an itch.
"I can give you two carbon arrows to play with, but not the compound bow. You have to take me into the mountains to hunt first. This is my livelihood." Lin Heng shook his head and refused sternly.
Old man Zhao's eyes widened: "You are too stingy, kid. You are just afraid that I won't take you into the mountains, right?"
"No, you misunderstood. I'm going out for a stroll and visit your Sanshan Village. I don't have time to teach you. This bow is very complicated to use." Lin Heng said with a smile.
"Then let me ask you, how much did you buy this bow?" the old man asked again. He was not jealous of the double-barreled shotgun, but he was jealous of this bow.
"That's a lot." Lin Heng stretched out his hand and then said, "I don't recommend you to buy it. You don't understand this kind of bow. If it breaks, you live in the mountains and there's no way to repair it."
"Then let me take a good look at it tomorrow." Old man Zhao was discouraged by the price, but he still wanted to give it a try.
"That's no problem." Lin Heng said with a smile.
After chatting for a while, he took Xiongba and his eldest brother out for a walk. His third uncle was chatting with Zhao Shouxi and did not go out.
There are quite a few dogs in this village, and you can often hear dogs barking when you walk out.
Most of the houses in this village are made of mud, because it is cold in the mountains and mud houses have good thermal insulation properties. There are also some wooden houses, which are used to store things. They are not antique, but they are all usable.
There are fruit trees planted in front of and behind the houses. It looks not much different from Hongfeng Village, but the isolation makes the living habits here different from those outside, and some very traditional habits are still retained.
But this place is still very beautiful. If you don't consider other things, it's really nice to live here. You can be content and embrace the mountains, rivers and countryside.
"Brother, do you think this is a big piece of sunken wood?" Lin Yue suddenly asked.
Lin Heng looked in the direction he was heading, and saw two three-meter-long, seventy-eight-meter-long, hollow, and cracked black pieces of wood thrown outside the pigpen.
"It's really a bit similar." Lin Heng said with a smile.
He walked over and lifted it up. Seeing that the light dry wood was not even able to be lifted by him, he was immediately surprised and said, "It really is a sunken wood. I just don't know what kind of wood it is."
Lin Yue lifted another one and said, "This one can be cut out to be something other than wood, right? If we take it back and make furniture, it should be very valuable."
Lin Heng took out the short knife he carried with him and cut a hole in it. He looked at the color and smell inside and shook his head, saying, "This is not nanmu, nor is it camphor or red toon. It could be an acorn or willow."
Then he looked at another tree, which was also not a nanmu.
"Then it's not of much value. If the nanmu is still worth moving out." Lin Yue shook his head and said.
"Yes, there is no need to spend a lot of money to move ordinary sunken wood back." Lin Heng nodded.
He would tow it back wherever there was a road that could accommodate a motorcycle.
But considering the geographical location of this village, it will take about 10 years before roads and electricity are available.
After looking around a bit more, they headed to the southern hillside to look at the saffron flowers, which had now bloomed on their own, with only a few flowers still remaining.
"I'll get some to plant back." Lin Yue said as he dug out two bulbs and put them in his pocket.
Lin Heng was too lazy to dig, so he took a look and returned to the village. He felt a little unwilling that he didn't see any particularly old objects in the village.
However, after looking at the mountains around him, and the big sun and sunset in the west, he felt relieved. He shook his head slightly, thinking that he was too greedy.
There are not so many opportunities. Success still needs to be achieved step by step.
Besides, I have made a lot of money this time, and now my mentality is a bit greedy.
After leaning against the entrance of the village and watching the sunset, the two men and the dog went back because the villagers were already having dinner and preparing to rest.
Although it was only six o'clock, the people in Sanshan Village lived strictly according to the rule of working from sunrise to sunset and resting from sunset.
The host prepared six dishes for dinner, including bacon and squirrel meat. Lin Heng and other men sat at the table to eat, while the women and children ate in the kitchen.
Lin Heng tried to persuade them, but Old Man Zhao and Zhao Shouxi felt it was unnecessary. The women and children also shook their heads and refused to sit at the table.
(End of this chapter)
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