Return to the small mountain village in 1983

Chapter 304 Looking for Ginseng
"The hero is back."

Lin Heng stopped Xiong Ba who wanted to chase him, and shot another arrow from thirty meters away, killing him completely.

He looked up. The blood pheasant on the ground was easy to pick up, but the one on the cliff was a bit troublesome.

After finding a way up, he spent a lot of effort to climb over and throw it off.

He was very happy to get two blood pheasants. The feathers of these things are very beautiful. They can be skinned and sold. Each skin can be sold for a few yuan.

But of course he is too lazy to sell it now. He just plucks the feathers off the chickens. The skin is a very delicious part.

"Come on, you two are blessed." Lin Heng let out the blood and dripped it on the stone, and two dogs ran over to lick it.

Walking further up, Lin Heng saw the figure of his elder brother. He was holding two pheasants with brown hair in his hands.

"Brother, I got two pheasants and shot them all with one shot." Lin Yue walked across the river carrying the pheasants and said with a smile.

Lin Heng raised the blood pheasant in his hand and said, "I found four of them. It's a pity that you weren't here, otherwise I would have shot them all at once."

"Blood chicken, this can be sold for money. You are lucky today." Lin Yue said enviously.

"You're really lucky." Lin Heng smiled. He had hunted hazel pheasants before, but this was his first time hunting blood pheasants.

After saying that, he pointed to the deep canyon ahead and said, "Keep going, we're almost there."

The two continued to move forward. Although it had just rained heavily, the canyon was one to two hundred meters wide, and the water flow was only in the middle, and the edge areas were relatively dry.

Forty minutes later, they arrived at the shelter that Lin Heng, Uncle Gao, and Uncle had built in the canyon.

"If we can't go back today, we will go to the shelter to rest." Lin Heng pointed to the small cave under the rock wall on the other side and said.

This small triangular cave is a natural shelter. It only needs a simple cover to avoid wind and rain.

Lin Yue looked at his younger brother: "Then we still have to go forward?"

Lin Heng smiled and nodded: "Yes, we'll be there after climbing two more mountains, but before that we can go to the shelter to put down some unnecessary things so as not to carry them around all the time and become a burden."

"What kind of good thing is it that you have to come so far?" Lin Yue became more and more curious.

But Lin Heng just smiled and walked towards the canyon.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, when the dogs were tired from walking, they finally arrived at their destination. Lin Heng went to the arrow bamboo forest where the pandas were before and took a look. There were many bamboo shoots and some panda feces, but they were all from a long time ago.

The panda probably hasn't visited here recently.

"Brother, it's time to say it now. You can't come here to see panda excrement." Lin Yue looked at Lin Heng and asked.

Lin Heng touched the dog's head and looked at his eldest brother, no longer trying to be pretentious: "There may be ginseng in this mountain. Let's look for it separately. If you find it, eldest brother, you will be lucky."

Lin Yue was stunned: "Ginseng??"

"How do you know it?"

"Could it be..."

Lin Yue thought of a possibility and was shocked.

"Yes, we found one here last time, otherwise we wouldn't have the money to do so much construction." Lin Heng smiled, but he would not reveal the details.

"No wonder." Lin Yue suddenly realized, patted Lin Heng's shoulder and said, "You are so awesome."

Lin Heng smiled slightly: "That ginseng is quite old. I suspect there are still others nearby. Let's separate. Whoever finds it belongs to whoever finds it."

He didn't care that the ginseng was found by his elder brother. He hoped that he would find it when he decided to tell him.

Life is too difficult, and he is willing to help those who are good to him. The eldest brother is undoubtedly the person who has been good to him since he was a child.

He can often be lazy in the farm work at home, and behind this is his eldest brother who helps a lot. Not to mention how much he has taken care of himself since childhood.

"I found a half-partner." Lin Yue said with a smile.

Lin Heng patted his eldest brother on the shoulder and smiled: "No, we brothers don't talk about this. I believe that if you knew about this kind of place, you would tell me."

Lin Yue patted Lin Heng hard, nodded and said, "That's good."

Lin Heng first took his eldest brother to the place where he found ginseng after wrestling last time. He did not see other ginseng here.

Then the two separated and searched separately.

If there is no place here, it does not mean that there are no nearby mountains. Birds like to eat ginseng seeds, so it is generally difficult to keep them in place, but there is a high probability that they can be found in nearby mountains and forests.

Even though it is difficult for seeds to germinate, this is a century-old ginseng. In more than a hundred years, ginseng seeds will always germinate and mature.

"Xiong Ba, work hard. If you find one, I'll reward you with a pig." Lin Heng touched Xiong Ba's head and said. He also loosened the chain of Laifu, but he had no hope for it.

"Awww~~" Xiongba called out in a low voice, looking for this and that in front of him.

Lin Heng looked at the various green plants under the forest, looking for traces of ginseng in them bit by bit.

It's a tiring and eye-sucking job, and it's difficult to find ginseng among so many green plants, many of which have leaves that look very similar to ginseng.

Ginseng was not found, but Ganoderma lucidum was occasionally found. The number of these things in the virgin forest was relatively large.

As he walked, he saw another tree fungus, which was also a tree fungus. Unlike the soft black fungus on other trees, the skin of the paper fungus was particularly firm and felt like rubber.

But in fact, it is very good to use it to make hot pot. It has great taste and rich nutrition.

Mei Mei took it off and put it in her backpack, then continued looking for ginseng.

We didn’t encounter much prey, but there were some squirrels and birds from time to time. This was normal. Most animals were active in the evening and early morning.

Before he knew it, it was already five o'clock. Lin Heng had searched all over the mountain, but there was still no trace of ginseng. He only found a few Ganoderma lucidum, two wild lilies, and some deer-eared leeks.

Huang Jiang saw a lot of them, but they were worthless and heavy, so he was too lazy to dig them out.

"Hey, these Lycoris are blooming pretty well." When he stopped to rest, Lin Heng found a large piece of Lycoris.

Lycoris is also called the other side flower. Its flowers and leaves never see each other, but it is not uncommon. It can often be found in the mountains. It has beautiful orange and red flowers.

He sat down to rest, drank some water and rested against a tree for ten minutes. Then he got up and continued looking for ginseng.

Finding this thing is not a day's work, so don't be discouraged if you can't find it for the time being. And if it were so easy to find, it wouldn't be so precious.

"Woof woof!!"

Suddenly Laifu let out a roar, and Lin Heng looked up and saw a black-tipped snake about the same thickness as his wrist slithering down the mountain.

This snake weighs three or four pounds according to visual inspection. It must be good for making wine or stewing soup.

Although his parents wouldn't let him eat it, he still wanted to catch up and have a look.

After walking a few dozen meters, the snake got into the hole. Lin Heng had nothing to do with it.

But he didn't want to catch it in the first place, because his parents wouldn't let him eat it after he caught it. He looked around, ready to continue looking for ginseng.

But when his eyes swept across the left front, he suddenly froze, and then quickly ran over to check. After taking a closer look, Lin Heng was a little disappointed: "Sanqi, I thought it was ginseng."

Panax notoginseng and ginseng are both plants of the genus Panax of the Araliaceae family. They look very similar, so it is normal to mistake them.

When he saw a piece growing here, he was sure that it was not ginseng but panax notoginseng. If he looked closer, he could clearly distinguish it.

"But this can be considered a surprise." Lin Heng said with a smile.

It is recorded in the Compendium of Materia Medica that "Ginseng is No. 1 in replenishing Qi, and Panax notoginseng is No. 1 in replenishing blood." These are also extremely valuable medicinal materials. Even now, the price of wild special-grade Panax notoginseng dried goods is about the same as Ganoderma lucidum.

The reason why it is not expensive is that its yield is relatively high and it is not as rare as ginseng.

For example, what Lin Heng found in front of him covered an area of ​​20 to 30 square meters. After careful inspection, he could identify the specific varieties.

This is Panax notoginseng, and there are several other types of Panax notoginseng that correspond to it, but the medicinal effects are the same.

He took out a small hoe with a short handle from his backpack. This small hoe weighed two kilograms, but it was a necessary tool in the mountains. Many herbs needed to be dug with the hoe.

Digging with a wooden stick or a knife is too inefficient, so you have to carry it even if it is heavy.

The humus soil under the forest was very soft. Lin Heng took a hoe and pulled it twice and saw the heel of Panax notoginseng. It had many small heads and looked more like ginger. One small bump was next to another.

That’s why some people call it Liaoqi.

Lin Heng soon dug out three or four Panax notoginseng trees, which weighed four to five kilograms in his hand. When dried, they would weigh almost one kilogram.

Panax notoginseng is divided into winter Panax notoginseng and spring Panax notoginseng. As the name suggests, Winter Panax notoginseng is picked after it has set seeds. Its appearance is average and its medicinal effect is not good.

The best Panax notoginseng is spring Panax notoginseng, which means it is picked in July and the flowers are beaten. The dug-out Panax notoginseng contains the highest medicinal effect.

“1、2、3……26、27，特等品啊，不愧是野生三七！！”

After counting the number of heads, Lin Heng was shocked. The wild Panax notoginseng was extraordinary. The few plants he dug up at random turned out to be thirty heads of special-grade Panax notoginseng.

The difference between good and bad Panax notoginseng is based on the bumps on the body. A bump is a head. The fewer the heads in the same pound, the higher the grade. The State Food and Drug Administration divides it into 13 grades.

A pound of dried Panax notoginseng contains 20, 30 and 40 heads, all of which are special grade. They are first, second and third grade respectively. They are all within the special grade range and are the most effective Panax notoginseng.

Although Lin Heng's is four to five kilograms, it is only about one kilogram when dried. It is truly a special product.

The smaller the number of heads of the same weight, the longer the year and the higher the nutritional value contained.

"I can only say that this place is indeed the Chinese Dragon Vein." Lin Heng said with a grin. This Panax notoginseng may have been growing for more than ten years.

"You two, be careful, I'm going to dig up Sanqi."

Lin Heng glanced at Xiongba and Laifu, then continued digging for Sanqi.

Except for some small Sanqi that had obviously grown in the past year or two, the older Lin Heng took out all of them.

It took him thirty or forty minutes to finally finish this large piece of food.

Looking at the Sanqi piled up into a hill in front of him, Lin Heng grinned, took a snakeskin bag from his backpack, packed it up and weighed it.

"It weighs sixty or seventy kilograms. It can dry twelve to thirteen kilograms. They are all special grade wild Panax notoginseng. They can be sold for at least sixty yuan per kilogram, and at least seven hundred yuan."

Lin Heng said to himself that he was very happy. Although he did not find wild ginseng, it was comparable to a young ginseng.

"It's useful to reward you with a big meal when I go back today." Lin Heng rubbed Laifu's head and said, thanks to it discovering the snake, otherwise he might have missed the Panax notoginseng.

No matter how close you are, sometimes you may not even be able to spot it right under your feet.

Laifu is not as humane as Xiongba. Lin Heng said that when he rewarded it, it just licked his hand and didn't understand. It liked him to tickle it very much.

Carrying Panax notoginseng on his back, Lin Heng turned back. This thing was too heavy to carry on his back. This search for ginseng could only be ended temporarily and he would start again tomorrow morning.

It was already past six o'clock when he returned to the canyon where the shelter was located. Lin Heng went back to the shelter without waiting for his elder brother.

Because they had already discussed it when they separated, and when it was time for them to go home, there was basically no danger for him to bring a dog and a compass.

If a dog warns a large animal approaching, it will definitely be discovered, and then the shotgun will win. No animal can do it better than human technological creations.

Returning to the shelter, Lin Heng put down his things and started to tidy up the place again.

It seemed that rats had visited after they left, and there was a lot of rat droppings on the ground. The wind shelter wall outside has long since decayed and can only be used to burn fires.

In July, the nights deep in the mountains are very cold, so you still need to take precautions against the wind.

Lin Heng went to cut down a tree nearby and made a new frame, then took out the film paper from his backpack and spread it on top, and put some small branches of mugwort outside and it was done.

With the shelter in place, he started killing chickens and hares.

The blood pheasant's feathers were very beautiful. He plucked them out and put them in a plastic bag. Xiulan could use them for handicrafts when he returned home. The feathers would look great glued into a painting and hung on the wall.

He didn't take the pot, but the elder brother took a small teapot for boiling water, which he had put here before.

He can boil the skin little by little and remove most of the hair.

While boiling the water, he also skinned the rabbit, slit it from the neck, and then stretched it from the belly to the anus. He scalded the chicken three times before peeling off the rabbit skin.

After scraping off the grease, stretch it up and hang it in a ventilated place to dry.

The rabbit's internal organs were taken out and looked at, but there was no deterioration. The rabbit's liver and heart were left, and the other internal organs were cleaned and roasted together with the rabbit's head to feed the two dogs.

While killing the chicken, the pheasants on the opposite mountain were croaking, which made Lin Heng a little dissatisfied. These guys were too arrogant. Simply ignoring his existence.

After scalding the skin of the blood pheasant and hazel pheasant, Lin Heng also left the chicken liver and heart, and fed the rest to the dogs. He actually really wanted to eat chicken offal, but he couldn't fry it without a pot, and it would definitely spoil if he took it back tomorrow.

Chicken hearts, chicken livers and chopped rabbit hearts and rabbit livers were put on wooden sticks and roasted by the fire.

I won’t eat chicken or rabbit today. I’ll rub salt on the surface and inside and hang it in a high place with good ventilation. This way, it won’t go bad even if I go back tomorrow and it can be stored for one more day.

It was already eight o'clock when these were done, and it was completely dark. Lin Heng was a little worried because his elder brother Lin Yue hadn't come back yet.

"Come on, let's go up and look for it."

Lin Heng picked up the flashlight, put on his bow bag, and set off with his two dogs.

“Phew, there are eels here!!”

Lin Heng looked at the waterside and was a little surprised. There were a lot of aquatic life in the river in the canyon this summer. After walking seven or eight meters, he saw two eels and a big crab.

He planned to catch some fish and bake it after he found his eldest brother.

After walking a few hundred meters up, Lin Heng finally saw the light of the flashlight and shouted quickly: "Brother, why are you back so late?"

"Come and help me!"

Lin Yue's voice came down with excitement.

(End of this chapter)