My village can't be like this

Chapter 683: Black Ginseng

"I forgot to tell you, the mountain donkey is also called Pegasus. Not only can it jump, it can also run very fast."

Looking at the mountain donkey flying away, this was the first time Zhang An saw such a rare species, and he had no intention of taking it into his space to domesticate.

"Ah, that's it? Pegasus? I always thought Pegasus was a very handsome horse with wings that could fly, but you told me that this ugly thing is called Pegasus?"

In the fat man's opinion, Pegasus sounds like a good-looking animal, but now that it is associated with mountain donkeys, he feels that these two words are really wasted.

Zhang An ignored him and wondered whether he should tell Zhu Yuliang about the mountain donkey he saw today.

In the past two years, he has come to understand that what seems to be a normal thing in the mountains is actually very important news to the Forestry Bureau.

This is especially true when it comes to rare wild animals. After all, the country's overall conditions have improved a lot in recent years, and this aspect that has been neglected in the past has already begun to be addressed.

After a while, the sun was no longer so hot.

The fat guy no longer lay lazily on the ground, but was running around and playing with little Siqi.

After a while, the two people, one big and one small, returned to the crowd and squatted on the ground, gasping for air.

Not only was little Siqi's face red from running, but even the fat guy looked very tired.

After they both took a few gulps of the space spring water, their breathing became a little more stable.

Zhang An and Su Ying didn't feel sorry for their son. In their opinion, if the little guy played more during the day, he would sleep more soundly at night.

This is much better than those kids who sleep soundly during the day but are very energetic at night and always have to be managed helplessly.

Anyway, Zhang An himself felt that being a father was quite easy. Little Siqi had never made any noise since he was born.

If you really want to be like Ding Zijie from the Ding family, you would be looking for a living ancestor for yourself. God knows how Ding Yi managed to survive that year.

"Okay, it's almost time, why don't we go back?"

Before the sky darkened in the west, Su Ying looked at the time and it was almost four o'clock.

Although it was still early, it would take at least an hour to walk down the mountain and home with the fat couple.

And according to the old people in the village, if you bring children to the mountains, you should go down the mountain and go home early.

Especially on the way back, I had to take some time to dig some hemorrhoid grass for the fat man.

"Let's go, we've had enough fun anyway." Zhang An nodded in agreement.

If you are here for camping or hiking, now is definitely the best time, because the sun will set in half a day.

In the mountains, the sunrise in the early morning and the sunset in the evening are equally spectacular. Whether it is the sunrise or the sunset, it is worth taking some time to watch them.

On the way down the mountain, there was no sunlight at all on the road.

When I arrived at noon, the noisy sounds of insects and birds had disappeared, and the whole mountain became much quieter.

Only from time to time the cry of an unknown large bird could be heard in the distance, causing the monkeys in the mountains to roar.

"Zhang An, let's dig up the hemorrhoid grass in this mountain and carry it back."

While walking on the road, the fat man saw a lot of hemorrhoid grass that Zhang An pointed out to him.

"This thing is quite heavy. We still have a long way to go home. Let's dig it up after we get to the bottom of the mountain."

Because the fat man needed a lot, Zhang An had actually made plans long ago. He would dig some more when he got down the mountain and was close to the village, so he wouldn't have to carry the things for too long.

"It's okay. I think the ones grown in this mountain seem to be better than those grown at the foot of the mountain. I'd better dig them up. I can just carry them to lose weight."

The fat man looked nonchalant, as if he didn't take the long mountain road seriously at all.

In fact, he wanted to dig up the hemorrhoid grass quickly while there was no one around.

This saves you from having to go down the mountain, where there will be people passing by from time to time. When you are digging, you will definitely be asked by others what they are digging for.

If it’s a stranger, it doesn’t matter. After all, we may not see each other again in the future.

But there are many villagers in Changqing, both those he knows and those who know him.

Just like he didn't want to tell Zhang An on the phone, he didn't want so many people to know that he had hemorrhoids on his buttocks, which was a very embarrassing thing.

"Well, since you insist, let's dig it up and carry it back."

Since the fat guy had asked for it, there was no need for Zhang An to say anything more. After all, no matter what, it was the fat guy's own back.

Then Zhang An walked and searched, and soon found a clump of hemorrhoid grass that was growing well.

After Zhang An put little Siqi down from his shoulders and handed him to Su Ying, he went with the fat man.

He took out a small folding medicine hoe from the bamboo basket on the fat man's back, stretched it, fixed it, and held it in his hand.

This is a treasure that he had customized by a blacksmith in town. He can take it out and assemble it when he needs it, and fold it up when he doesn't need it. It is very convenient to carry and doesn't take up any space at all.

Zhang An acted quickly, using his hoe to dig up the branches of each stinking peony.

This thing stinks so much that it's impossible to dig it up with the roots and the trunk. You'll definitely end up smelling bad.

After seeing Zhang An digging them out, the fat man reached out to pull them apart and threw them aside.

"Hey, don't do it. You just touched it at noon. You haven't smelled enough of it yet."

After Zhang An spoke up to stop the fat man, he used a medicine hoe to take them aside.

All that was left was to start digging. However, the mud had become hardened after being exposed to the sun all day, and the hoe in Zhang An's hand was a bit small, so he couldn't dig quickly.

Fortunately, this place is all mud, unlike some places which are entirely mud mixed with rocks, which are the most difficult places to dig.

Moreover, the roots of these stinking peonies do not grow vertically underground, so there is no need to dig too deep. Soon, Zhang An dug out an entire root.

Compared to the branches with unacceptable odor, these yellow-brown roots are much better.

First, there is no peculiar smell, and second, it does not secrete some lacquer-like colloid.

Otherwise, no one would be willing to dig them out and boil them into medicine for sitz bath treatment.

Some people even dig them out, add water, and cook them with brown sugar and eggs.

So it turns out that it wasn't that hard to take.

When digging up the last plant, Zhang An's mind was obviously not on the roots of the stinking peony, and he kept staring at the things around them.

"Zhang An, what are you looking at? You're looking so hard. Did you find a treasure?"

The fat man didn't notice anything unusual about Zhang An at first. It was not until he didn't see Zhang An taking any action for a long time that he looked up and realized that Zhang An was looking somewhere else.

"You know what, it seems like I really found a treasure."

Originally the fat man was just joking, but unexpectedly Zhang An said it with some surprise.

"What treasure? Let me see it too?"

When the fat man heard that there was a treasure, he immediately came over. After all, the man in front of him was a man who had found ginseng in the mountains, and not just one.

"Here, this is it."

When the fat man came over, Zhang An pointed at a few small white stems that had just emerged from the ground and spoke to him.

These things look like small white dandruff. The largest one is about the length of a finger, and the smaller ones are even shorter.

The entire part that emerged from the ground, the part that was close to the mud, was a little small and looked black.

Most of the top looks grayish, as if it is wearing a hat.

"That's it? It looks no different from a grass root."

The fat man didn't know what mountain products were. When he saw this thing, he felt that it seemed no different from the wolfberry root in the mountains.

"Hey, you wild boar who doesn't know what fine bran is, this is the famous and invaluable black ginseng, and in your mouth, it has become a rotten grass root. I guess it didn't expect that this day would come."

Zhang An sighed and shook his head helplessly.

No wonder they say there are no weeds in the mountains and everyone they know is a treasure.

Don’t even bother to mention whether it’s weeds or not. Even if it’s a real treasure, people who don’t know it will still treat it as weeds.

Someone like Fatty would not be able to recognize an old ginseng even if he came across it.

"Ah, that black thing, is this it?"

If the fat man just looked at it himself, he would definitely not recognize it, but as soon as Zhang An mentioned black ginseng, he knew it.

Although he had never dug it himself, the fat man's family was rich and they had no shortage of good things that could be bought with money.

"Yes, that's it. But if you want to see what you're talking about, you have to dig deeper."

As Zhang An spoke, he covered up the black poles with white caps that had just emerged from the ground.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's dig it out quickly."

The fat man was very excited after hearing this. Although this thing can be bought with money, the difference between buying it without any effort and digging it out by oneself is completely different.

Especially for people like fat people, when they are too quiet, they want to move and experience this feeling.

"No, this thing just grew out not long ago. Now is not the time to dig it up. We have to wait at least another month or two."

Zhang An shook his head. He actually wanted to dig too, but now was not the right time.

Black ginseng only starts to grow after April, and it hasn't been that long yet, so it's estimated that it hasn't grown yet.

Zhang An had dug this thing before. Most of the real black ginseng is dug out empty nine out of ten times. Even if you really come across it, you may not be able to dig it out after spending half a day. This is why it is really rare.

Moreover, even the fully grown black ginseng is usually found half a meter to three meters underground.

Anyway, most of the places Zhang An had dug before were only one or two meters deep, and some were dug three meters deep but still could not see the bottom.

So even if the time has come to dig now, can they dig it out with just the small medicine hoe in their hands that is less than half a palm wide?
"That's a pity. This is the first time I've seen black ginseng growing on the ground."

The fat man heard this and said with great regret.

"It's nothing to regret. I've marked them and will come back to dig them up later."

If you come across a treasure like this, you must hide it well and dig it up yourself later.

Zhang An didn't think of selling it for money, but wanted to dig it out and keep it for his own use.

In recent years, he hasn't been to the mountain to look for it properly, so this place today is the only one he has found in recent years.

Everything is about fate. He found it today without even trying to find it, which means that this piece of black ginseng is definitely destined for him, so he believes that he will definitely dig it out when he comes to dig it.

"Well, when you come to dig, remember to call me. I want to see how it's done."

Although he failed to dig the hole today, Fatty didn't intend to give up just like that.

Anyway, when the time comes, I can use this as an excuse to come over and play for a few days.

Afterwards, they dug out the last stinking peony and prepared to go back.

These stinking peonies were not small. Only seven or eight were dug in total, but they almost filled up the bamboo basket on the fat man's back.

I'm afraid these alone will be enough for Fatty to use for half a month.

"Why did you two take so long to come back?"

On the mountain road, Su Ying asked with a frown, and it was obvious that little Siqi in front of her was already impatient.

"Our hoe is too small to dig easily, and we also encountered a nest of black ginseng, so we watched it for a long time."

Zhang An also knew that he had wasted a lot of time there, so he smiled and explained.

"Have you encountered Wuling Ginseng? Where is it?"

Zhang Zilin obviously didn't know what black ginseng was, but Su Ying recognized it.

"They are still hidden underground. It's not time to dig them up yet. We can dig them up later."

Zhang An lifted the bamboo basket and put it on the fat man's back, then he reached out to little Siqi and wanted to carry him on his back.

"Dad, stinky~"

As soon as Zhang An stretched out his hand, Xiao Siqi frowned and said with disdain.

He smelled the stinky peony scent left on Zhang An's hand. Even though he had been very careful just now, he still smelled it.

So, in order to make his son not dislike him so much, Zhang An had to walk to the side of the road, grab a pile of mud, and rub his hands hard.

For these things, using mud and sand is more practical than using laundry detergent and dishwashing liquid.

Fortunately, Zhang An's hands were not that delicate, so nothing happened after rubbing them with mud for a long time.

If it were a fat guy, with his delicate skin and flesh, even if no layer of skin was rubbed off, it would still turn red.

After rubbing it with mud, Zhang An asked Su Ying to open the gourd, pour some water out and clean it.

Then he put it to his nose and smelled it. When he found it was not so smelly anymore, he reached out to Xiao Siqi again.

After going down the West Mountain Path and merging into the main road leading into the mountain, there were more people on the road.

Not far away, groups of people were walking towards the village.

These people were going to climb Guanyin Mountain. Seeing that it was getting late, they returned to the village to prepare dinner and rest.

When Zhang An and his companions returned home, the sun had already completely set behind the mountains. If it had been a little later, it would probably have been dark.

(End of this chapter)