Old Zhou’s hand almost trembled as he picked up the items before Manbao could, he asked, "What is China root?"
Manbao replied with utmost seriousness, "It’s a kind of medicine, a very, very tasty medicine."
Old Zhou: ...Can medicine be tasty?
He looked at the chunks of root in his hand with skepticism.
Manbao had snatched them from his hands and carefully picked and arranged the ones in the bamboo basket, saying, "Once I’m off duty, I’ll take these to the medicine shop to sell, and I’ll also ask the doctor what this China root can cure."
Zhou SiLang came up to her and asked, "What is this China root thing, didn’t you say this is China root?"
"Oh, yes, the teacher said there’s more underneath the soil, so the China root must also be buried down there. Silang, let’s take our hoes and go up to the mountain to dig."
"There’s more?" Zhou SiLang asked excitedly, whispering, "Is this stuff valuable?"
She didn’t know whether it was valuable or not, but it must be worth a lot of points; she decided to collect some of each variety for Keke, and also provide it with a living sample. If the technological staff at the encyclopedia could cultivate it, the points she would earn later would only increase.
Thinking about the points filled Manbao with excitement, and she rolled up her sleeves, saying, "It must be very valuable, Silang, let’s go now."
Old Zhou didn’t stop them, only calling out loudly, "Remember to call your Second Brother and the others back for dinner."
Zhou SiLang and Manbao both responded.
When everyone had left, Old Zhou squatted in the courtyard, looking at the two rows of China root with chin in hand, wondering, "This thing looks really familiar, is it actually valuable?"
Zhou Dalang also found it familiar, "Dad, I remember there are a lot of pine trees on the Zhongshan side, and those two charcoal-burning families in Dali Village cut trees there. I think I’ve seen this kind of thing before when I used to go mushroom hunting on the mountain with Third."
When it rained a lot, the wild mushrooms they picked were rarely eaten at home, more often taken to sell in the town.
This stuff sold well in town, especially among the rich households, and it was only during the rainy seasons of spring, summer, and autumn that one could occasionally find it.
But during the busy spring and autumn seasons, no one would bother going up the mountains to look for them, so what was sold in the town mostly started at the end of April.
After the spring farming busy period, there might be occasional showers, and some villagers would have time to go up the mountains to hunt for mushrooms.
However, it rained almost all of May this year. By the time everyone finished with the fieldwork, it was already the end of June, and the wild mushrooms in the mountains had grown old, most of them for home consumption and none being sent to the town.
But having many years of experience hunting wild mushrooms, when Manbao especially mentioned that they grew near pine trees, Zhou Dalang actually thought of a place.
Old Zhou stroked his chin in thought, asking, "How many days off does your sister have left?"
"Three days, I guess."
"Then we’ll wait for her day off to go to the drugstore and come back before we discuss it further. If it’s truly medicinal material and can be sold for a good price, we can send Third to the Zhongshan area to take a look."
At this, Old Zhou paused and said quietly, "I remember the Zhongshan was assigned to Dali Village, wasn’t it?"
"Yes, it was divided up five years ago, and our two villages nearly came to blows over it, but it was the Chief’s decision."
Old Zhou: "You all kept me in the dark about it. Later, have Third casually go up there with a bamboo basket. If someone asks, just say he’s hunting for wild mushrooms."
No one really treated those pieces of mountain that were allocated as private farmland, except for particularly straight and fine trees. So villagers collecting firewood, picking wild vegetables, gathering wild fruits, or plucking wild mushrooms in the mountains was generally not a concern.
The occasional felling of one or two pine trees for firewood wouldn’t bother the owners either.
But if someone were as foolish as those two families from Dali Village who went out of their way to fell pine trees in other people’s mountains to make charcoal, that would indeed be asking for trouble.
The dispute between the two villages arose from this, and they nearly came to blows. Though the land belonged to the unlikable Zhou Dalv, Zhou Dalang and his brothers had still stood ready with their hoes to go into battle.
In the end, no fight ensued because the Chief intervened. The two families’ land allotment in Dali Village was retracted and the eighty acres of Zhongshan were divided evenly between them. Another eighty acres were carved out from Dali Village and allocated to Qili Village, with Zhou Dalv’s family getting twice the portion, and thus peace was restored.
However, that area had many pine trees. Pine trees shed needles, making the soil fertile, which is why mushrooms liked to grow in pine forests. So aside from this year, Zhou Dalang and his brothers always liked to go there to look for mushrooms.
If Zhou Dalang thought of it, so did Zhou SiLang. Before his marriage, he was known in Qili Village and beyond as a rascal, often treading through forests and rivers, and he was aware of the many felled pine trees on Zhongshan.
Since both clumps of China root were found beneath pine trees, he was certain there would be no problem finding more on Zhongshan.
Zhou SiLang quietly discussed with Manbao, "Give me a piece for reference, and tomorrow I’ll take Five and Sixth up to Zhongshan to see if we can find more. Once you’re off duty, we’ll go to the town together."
Zhou SiLang’s eyes glinted, "Manbao, if this stuff sells, you have to give me some money."
"What do you need money for?"
Zhou SiLang coughed lightly, looked around, and whispered, "I’ve told you, now don’t go telling anyone else."
Manbao loved to hear secrets and nodded vigorously, eyes sparkling, "You tell me, tell me."
"I think your sister-in-law is pregnant, I have to buy her some things, how can I do that without money?"
"Third Sister-in-law is pregnant, she’s been pregnant for a while."
Zhou SiLang ran his hand over his head in exasperation, "What does Third Sister-in-law’s pregnancy have to do with me? That’s Third Brother’s matter. I’m talking about your Fourth Sister-in-law, Fourth Sister-in-law, my wife, understand?"
Manbao then felt a bit awkward before doubting, "But Fourth Sister-in-law has been in the house for less than two months, hasn’t she?"
"Yeah, so it’s just between you and me for now, don’t tell anyone else. Let’s wait until it’s certain, okay?"
The thought of having another nephew or niece soon weighed heavily on Manbao, "Then next year I’ll have to prepare two gifts for the baby showers."
"Oh, so you know about giving gifts for a baby’s full-month celebration, huh?"
Manbao puffed out her chest proudly, "Of course. Last month, didn’t Second Cousin from my uncle’s side have a son? Big Sister is already preparing the full-month gift. As an aunt, I must prepare gifts for my nephews and nieces."
Zhou SiLang smacked his lips, "Really? Second Cousin had another son? That makes four sons for him, he’s following in our dad’s footsteps then."
Manbao giggled gleefully.
Zhou SiLang hoisted the hoe; since it was uncertain where the China root was underground, and having conducted business before, he knew that selling products was very dependent on their appearance. So he decided to dig farther and deeper, determined to unearth the China root as intact as possible.
Manbao didn’t understand, so naturally, she followed Zhou SiLang’s lead.