Chapter 38 The Mysterious Ginseng

The red cloth is wrapped in a ginseng, which is about the size of an adult man's thumb. The reed head and roots are complete, and it is brushed very clean, revealing the light ginger skin.

"This, this is too precious, I can't accept it." Xu Xinger carefully pushed the red cloth forward. Although she didn't know much about these things, she was also from Northeast China. She had never eaten pork and had seen pigs run. At that time, wild ginseng was rare. Most of them were farmed ginseng. The mountain ginseng was already the best, and the price was naturally expensive.

But the ginseng in this era should be pure wild ginseng. Although she doesn't know how much it costs, she also understands that it is definitely not affordable for people like herself.

"I thought it was a good thing, but I still hid it on the ground and didn't show it to me."

When Shanzi saw the objects in the cloth bag, he looked a little disappointed. After listening to Xu Xinger's words, he said, "You can take it for you, it's not a rare thing."

He picked up the ginseng and told Xu Xinger, "This ginseng is not old, just a four-grade leaf, but it is still born well. It should grow in a place where the soil is soft and full of nutrients, so it was found that the year is relatively short."

Xu Xinger listened to him carefully and carefully observed the mountain ginseng, but still shook her head and said, "I really can't accept it."

"The things taken out by the third uncle will not be taken back. Do you want to make him angry as soon as you become a teacher?" Shanzi wrapped the ginseng carelessly and stuffed it into Xu Xing'er and said, "It's not a big deal. You are now the third uncle's apprentice. If you dig something good for the first time in the future, you will use it as a thank you gift according to the rules. At that time, it will be even soon. Maybe he will make money!"

Xu Xinger looked at Shanzi with stunned eyes and said for a long time, "How rich are you and your family?"

"Ah?" Shanzi was stunned first, and then suddenly looked at Xu Xinger with a strange look and asked, "Don't you know what my family does?"

"What do you do?" Xu Xinger's mind is full of messy ideas at this time. She looked at the mountain suspiciously and said, is his family a hermit or a retired doctor who has been demoted from the palace...

Seeing her like this, Shanzi raised his hand and bounced on her forehead, "What are you thinking about!"

"What does your family do?" Xu Xinger stuck out her tongue and put away the random thoughts in her mind.

"Your fourth uncle didn't tell you? I thought you knew it a long time ago!" Shanzi was also a little strange, but his eyes were full of happiness. He didn't know why he felt happy. "My grandfather is the oldest qualified gang leader in our mountain, and he also took a single stick in the most difficult time in his early years. I used to go to the mountain every year, but now that I am old, I occasionally take a break, and then my father led me to release the mountain, but my father doesn't have the ability as old man, so the harvest is not as much as when the old man went up the mountain.

Xu Xinger half opened her mouth in surprise. She had heard of the practice of picking ginseng before, but most of them talked about it when they heard the old people in the village talk about ancient times. These lines have long disappeared into the long river of history. Unexpectedly, she didn't expect to meet living ginseng pickers here now.

She was a little excited and felt that she had a lot of questions to ask, but for a moment, she didn't know what to ask first. She opened her mouth and didn't say anything for a long time.

"What's the matter, are you scared?" Shanzi asked with a smile.

Xu Xinger came to her senses. No wonder Wu Laosan said that she was just his personal apprentice, not the Wu family. Seeing that Shanzi was still looking at her, she said, "No, I, I'm just a little surprised. I never thought that your family had such a background. It's really surprising."

"What kind of background is this? It's just the experience passed down from the elders. Now they are eating old books, and there are fewer and fewer ginsengs in the mountains. My father's generation does not have the ability and talent of the old man, so my father said that when he can't let go of the mountain when he is old, the younger generation is not allowed to enter the industry. In the future, it's enough to just do some ordinary herbal business. Shanzi said without any shying.

"You still need talent to dig ginseng..." Xu Xinger asked curiously. She thought this was entirely dependent on diligence and luck!

"Naturally, it's necessary to be talented, this thing..." Shanzi scratched his hair. "Actually, I'm not very clear about it. The old man said that I've just touched the edge now, and I can't even follow the mountain!"

Xu Xinger couldn't help yearning for this. If she could follow the mountain to dig ginseng...

"Don't think about it. There are many rules for releasing mountains, one of which is that women don't release mountains." Shanzi immediately interrupted Xu Xinger's reverie.

"Why?" Xu Xinger asked unconvincedly, "Women are no worse than men. Why can't you release the mountain?"

When Shanzi saw her angry appearance, she couldn't help laughing. The rule of women not letting go of the mountain was passed down from the elderly. The specific reason? It is estimated that it has been different from the original reason now. According to her old man, it is unlucky for women to release mountains. They will hit the mountain gods, and they will also rush to the prisoners with empty-handed. After all, there may be another accident.

But if you say so, according to Xu Xinger's nature, it must be blown up, so he thought for a moment and said, "The mountain enters the mountain from the grain rain every year, and it is not until it comes back around the white dew. Living in a wet and damp place, mosquitoes, ants, grass crawlers, blind eyes are everywhere, and the bags on the body are stung by pieces. Before the old one goes down, the new one will be piled up again.

"If you can't open your eyes in the sky, you can't see the sun for ten days and a half months, you can only eat food every day, and you can't even eat some fresh food. If it's a sunny day, you have to hurry up, climb the mountains, drill through the forest, and cross the river.

At first, Shanzi just wanted to explain to Xu Xinger that it was very hard to release the mountain, and it was not suitable for women to go up the mountain, but as he spoke, he thought of his old man and father. Every time he came back, he did not look like a person, and he couldn't help but feel sad.

"Sometimes when you encounter big animals, someone may have to be injured or even killed in the mountains. Not to mention having an acute illness, rolling out of the mountain or Mada Mountain... A group of men may not be able to come out alive, let alone a big girl.

Xu Xinger then sighed and nodded and admitted, "It's really too hard. No wonder your grandfather doesn't want future generations to do this industry again. Nowadays, your family is also in good terms. Why isn't it better to do some ordinary herbal business or other business than to work hard in the mountains?

"You can think about it." Shanzi sat on the bench, "But that's what my old man said. He didn't want to take this job in those years, but under the pressure of my grandfather, he also carried it down. He wanted to live the life he wanted to live after his hometown was gone, but he didn't expect to take over and do it for a lifetime."

"I've been doing it for so many years and suddenly became idle. I'm afraid it's still boring!" Xu Xinger said with a smile.

Shanzi nodded and said, "That's right. The old man's body is not as good as usual now. We always stop him from letting him go to the mountain again, but it's okay to rest occasionally. The second year has just passed, and before the beginning of spring, he began to sit still. He picked up his things out early and counted the days every day. Mountain."

"Brother Shanzi, tell me about the release of the mountain!" Xu Xinger moved a bench with great interest, sat opposite the mountain, and looked at him eagerly and asked.

"Actually, I don't know much about it. Occasionally, I listen to the adults. The old man doesn't allow me to learn about picking ginseng in the mountains." Shanzi recalled for a while and said, "I remember that every time I enter the mountain, I have to prepare to pull my back. Most of them are made of jujube trees. The jujube tree you just turned over is the first time that my father planted it with his head in front of the mountain. It is also a rule handed down from my family before, which is reserved for the descendants to pull back."

"Generally, people wear short coats, belts, long fat trousers, leggings on their calves, and mans on their feet." Shanzi continued, "You have to carry grain, pickles, soybeans, salt and so on your back when you go up the mountain. When you can't find anything to eat on the mountain, you can boil some soybeans with salt water and then serve them as vegetables."

The more Shanzi said, the more excited he became. "The most important thing is to bring a balsam skin to prevent moisture and cold, and you can sleep wrapped around your body. What's left are the mallet pocket, such as apron, oilcloth, mallet knife, mallet scissors, mallet hammer, mallet lock and so on. These treasures used to lift the mallet are put in the mallet pocket... The mallet of my old leaf is sewn in deer skin, and even the mallet is ground by the hind leg bones of the deer. When I was a child, I wanted to touch | If you play, you will be beaten every time you are found.

"You were quite naughty when you were a child." Xu Xinger smiled when she heard it.

Shanzi glanced at her and said, "It's as if you are honest now."

As soon as Xu Xinger was about to open her mouth to fight back, she suddenly felt that her chest was tight and she couldn't breathe. She suddenly shrank into a shrimp and fell to the ground.

Shanzi reacted quickly and picked up Xu Xinger and said, "What's wrong?"

"I..." Xu Xinger opened her mouth and couldn't say a whole word. The pain in her chest spread towards her limbs and gradually turned into numbness. She couldn't move, and she became more and more afraid. The corners of her eyes had steamed and looked at the mountain helplessly.

"Xing'er, bear with it. I'll call a doctor." Shanzi picked up Xu Xinger's legs, hugged her and put her on the kang in the room, turned around and went out to find the doctor.

"Brother Shanzi, don't go!" Xu Xinger suddenly recovered, and her tight body also relaxed. In addition to some lingering palpitations, she couldn't feel the discomfort just now. She was really brainless and inexplicably.