Seeing Cheng Yue's strange expression, the two sisters cautiously asked, "Mother, what's wrong with these red berries? Is it because pigs and cows can't eat them?"
Is this stuff poisonous? But it shouldn't be. Pigs and cows have been eating it for several days and haven't had any problems. In fact, they seem to be more energetic.
They would eat it occasionally, but they were afraid it would be bad for their health, so they didn't dare to eat too much. After all, the fruit was red, and although it was a little sweet, it was too bright.
My father once said that most brightly colored things are poisonous, like red mushrooms and flower worms.
Fearing that the two children might overthink things, Cheng Yue immediately said, "Of course you can eat them. These red berries are a medicinal herb called wolfberry, and eating them can nourish the body."
The tips of these leaves are also edible; they're delicious whether used in cold dishes, stir-fries, or soups.
She really didn't expect that there would be wild goji berries on this hillside. According to the two sisters, there were many goji berries everywhere.
In modern times, with people specializing in its cultivation, goji berries are not cheap, and high-quality ones are even more expensive.
It is conceivable that its value would have been even higher in ancient times.
After all, few people specialized in growing medicinal herbs at that time. Apart from some commonly used herbs, the rest were harvested by the mountain people.
People live off the land and water; if God provides food right to our mouths, we'd be considered ungrateful not to eat it!
Chen Tong and Chen Ning's mouths were agape, wide enough to fit an egg. "Huh? This is actually a medicinal herb?"
They're feeding them to pigs and cows, no wonder my mother had that expression...
Cheng Yue wasn't in the mood to bake pastries anymore; she was going to check on the goji berries!
Anyway, she makes it whenever she has free time, and she has a lot of stock in her inventory, enough to sell for at least two or three days.
"Xiaotong, Xiaoning, stop feeding the cows and take me up the mountain to have a look."
The harvesting season for goji berries is very long. They are only just beginning to ripen now, and we can harvest them for several more months!
She's been busy with the shop lately and hasn't been to the mountain for a long time. Thinking back to when she first came, she dug up earth rings and picked walnut flowers and toon leaves.
She knew there were many treasures on this mountain, and besides goji berries, there must be other medicinal herbs.
If the two sisters hadn't accidentally cut down some goji berry trees, she would have almost forgotten about this mountain. She should take advantage of her free time to go and take a look around; who knows, there might be some business opportunities there!
The two sisters happily replied, "Okay!"
They found medicinal herbs with just a few easy cuts; they were really lucky. It's just a pity they didn't recognize them before, otherwise they could have saved them up and sold them for money, since medicinal herbs are so expensive.
At that time, my father injured his leg, and even a few doses of medicine would cost one or two taels of silver. If we were to buy medicinal herbs, we could definitely make a lot of money.
Cheng Yue picked up a basket and followed Chen Tong and Chen Ning out the door.
Chen An was teaching the children woodworking when he saw the mother and her two daughters looking hurried. He thought something had happened. "A-Yue, what are you in such a rush to do?"
"Xiao Tong and Xiao Ning accidentally picked some medicinal herbs and brought them back. I'll go up the mountain to see if there are any left."
Chen An was somewhat surprised upon hearing this, "What medicinal herb?"
When he was with his father in the county town, he heard herbalists describe what common medicinal herbs looked like, so he recognized a few and even collected and sold them for money.
Later, because Zhao was always watching him, he didn't dare to collect herbs often anymore, mainly because he didn't recognize many medicinal herbs and couldn't sell them for much money.
But Xiaotong and Xiaoning just came back, and there weren't any medicinal herbs.
Cheng Yue waved the small red fruit in her hand, "This is it, it's called goji berries. We'll go now and come back later."
Cheng Yue left after speaking, leaving Chen An alone, wondering, "This little red thing is called Gouqi? What kind of name is that? Or is it a medicinal herb?"
As expected, Ah Yue is amazing now that she has supernatural powers; she even recognizes medicinal herbs…
Cheng Yue followed Chen Tong and Chen Ning up the mountain. When they reached the halfway point, they saw a large patch of goji berry trees. The goji berries were just beginning to ripen, with small red fruits scattered among the green leaves, not many at all.
However, there was a clear gap in this large patch of goji berry trees, which the sisters must have cut down.
Sigh! It's a bit heartbreaking.
Chen Tong glanced at Cheng Yue, picked at his fingers carefully, and said, "Mom, um, luckily you found out early, we didn't cut too much..."
Oh, and the roots are still there! We only cut it from the middle, so it'll definitely grow back next year!
Chen Ning also rubbed the corner of her clothes. If they had known earlier that this was a medicinal herb, they would not have picked this grass. This is all money!
And judging from the mother's expression, it's clear that this isn't the cheap kind.
Cheng Yue shook her head and laughed, "Silly girls, you didn't know these were medicinal herbs. You just cut them down, why would I blame you? Besides, there are still plenty left."
The way those two kids looked at her so expectantly made her feel like she was about to yell at them.
Chen Tong immediately perked up, "Mom, there are more not only here, but also up there. We haven't been to the back of the mountain, but I think there are quite a few there too!"
Cheng Yue nodded, "There's definitely more than that. Let's go around and take a look."
Since a large area of goji berry trees can be found here, there are probably many on the entire mountain. After all, goji berries can take root as soon as they fall to the ground if no one picks them.
Or birds or something, they will also carry the fruit everywhere.
Cheng Yue became more and more excited as she thought about it. If she were given a whole mountain of goji berries, she wondered how much they would be worth.
She'll have to go to the pharmacy tomorrow and ask; it's just money lying on the ground if she doesn't pick it up.
No one had ever been to the back mountain. The weeds were so tall that there wasn't even a path. Cheng Yue thought for a moment and decided to wait until she had time to come back with a sickle and clear a path before going there.
Summer is here, and snakes and insects are out and about. She definitely doesn't want to run into a giant spicy snack.
The mother and her two daughters walked around the hillside and found quite a few goji berry trees. However, in some places, the sun didn't shine for long enough, so the goji berries were still yellowish-green and would probably ripen later.
After looking around, Cheng Yue had a rough idea of how many goji berries there were, so she stopped walking. She needed to pick some and ask at the pharmacy tomorrow.
Cheng Yue picked the darkest goji berry from the tree in front of her and said to Chen Tong and Chen Ning:
"Look, this color indicates they're ripe, and this bright red one isn't ripe yet. Help each other pick them, and remember, only pick the darker ones!"
Chen Tong and Chen Ning nodded and said, "We understand, Mother!"
After saying that, he started searching carefully, and Cheng Yue smiled and joined him in picking.
There were quite a few bright red fruits, but not many were ripe. It took the mother and her two daughters almost half an hour to pick just enough to fill the bottom of the basket.
Cheng Yue twisted her aching back and said, "This is enough. Let's go home first, and I'll come back to pick more after I ask the pharmacy."
The two sisters nodded obediently, and Chen Tong couldn't help but ask curiously, "Mother, are there any other medicinal herbs on this mountain? Can you teach us to recognize them? Otherwise, we might dig them up and feed them to the pigs because we don't know them."
My mother is literate and knows a lot, so she certainly knows more than just this one kind of thing. They don't know anything, and when they usually gather so much pig feed, they probably waste a lot of good stuff.
Cheng Yue smiled and said, "Of course, I will teach you as long as you want to learn. However, apart from a few common ones, I don't know many others."
She had just finished speaking when she remembered that she had bought several books on traditional Chinese medicine when she returned to the village. One of them was about identifying Chinese herbs. She originally intended to use it for health preservation, but she wore it before she even opened it.
Then he changed the subject: "But there are books in there that we can read. We can study them together when we get home."
Back then, they used traditional Chinese characters. Now, they use simplified characters. She knows traditional characters, but the two sisters definitely don't know simplified characters. It's impossible for them not to learn together. Besides, she also urgently needs to study hard.
Having more skills is never a burden; learning more about traditional Chinese medicine has many benefits, allowing you to maintain your health and make money at the same time!
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