The people on the mountain were now preparing to head back home for dinner. When they noticed Zhou SiLang carrying a hoe up the mountain, many chuckled and said, "Hey, SiLang is working so hard, planning to pull an all-nighter?"
"Youth is a good thing. Look at that enthusiasm."
"Zhou Si, how much winter wheat does your family plan to plant? I see that over the last few days, your brothers have dug up quite a lot of earth. And today you’re even coming up with a hoe..."
Zhou SiLang responded to everyone with a beaming smile, but once inside the mountain, he didn’t go to find Zhou ErLang. Instead, he led Manbao deeper, where those two pine trees were very close to the deep forest, and at this point, there was almost no one around.
Some people saw Zhou SiLang and his sister heading there and paid no heed, for it was common at this time for people entering the mountain to either dig roots or collect leaves.
Looking around and noticing that no one was paying attention to them, Zhou SiLang swung his hoe and started digging about two feet away from one of the pine trees.
After digging down about ten centimeters and finding nothing, he carefully continued to dig deeper.
He didn’t dare to use too much force, just removing bits of soil gently from around the pine roots, then digging outwards. Finding nothing, he continued.
Although cautious, this approach was slow, and it took him quite some time before he finally came close to the tree stump and saw a layer of dark brown skin.
Zhou SiLang became excited and started to carefully dig around the skin.
Before long, on one side of the pine tree, he uncovered a fairly large area. Of course, the underlying China root wasn’t very big, but it was deeply rooted and partially tightly entwined with the pine’s roots.
Zhou SiLang had heard that this part was also medicinal, called China root wood, and just by the name, he felt it to be much more important than the China root itself.
Because while the other was three characters, this was only two, and the other’s name even contained the character for "divine."
So, Zhou SiLang handled it even more tenderly, considering it might be for his wife and future child’s clothing and nourishment—he naturally had to be careful.
"SiLang, what are you doing?"
Suddenly, a booming voice came from behind, scaring Zhou SiLang so much he nearly fell to the ground. Manbao, who was sitting close by, absorbed in watching, got such a fright she sat down abruptly and then puckered her mouth, about to cry.
Hearing that Zhou SiLang had ascended the mountain with a hoe, but hadn’t come to help, Zhou ErLang had come to scold him and paused for a moment, then immediately rushed over to comfort Manbao. "Manbao, did Second Brother scare you?"
Zhou SiLang couldn’t care less about the China root in the hole and immediately turned to comfort Manbao instead. "Don’t be afraid, SiLang’s here, did Second Brother scare you? I’ll beat him up for you."
Without further ado, Zhou SiLang swung his hand and gave Zhou ErLang’s shoulder a slap, anxiously asking Manbao, "How’s that, still scared?"
Manbao: "...Not scared."
Both brothers exhaled in relief, remembering how last year Old Zhou had frightened Manbao so severely that she had spiked a high fever; it left a deep impression.
Zhou ErLang rubbed his shoulder and shot Zhou SiLang a dark look, glanced at the hole he had dug, and asked, "What are you digging up tree roots for?"
Zhou SiLang flashing an ingratiating smile, whispered, "Second Brother, these aren’t tree roots. Manbao said they’re called China root, a kind of medicine."
"China root?" Zhou ErLang perked up and looked at the contents of the hole with sparkling eyes. "Manbao, is this really China root? I remember it being white."
"It is white," Zhou SiLang also grew excited, saying cheerfully, "The flesh itself is white. Second Brother, have you seen China root before? Is this stuff expensive?"
After thinking for a bit, Zhou ErLang said, "It must be expensive. I’ve heard someone say that wealthy families’ ladies like to use it to make desserts, and it’s also a fine medicinal ingredient normally."
Since it was something that could make money, Zhou ErLang certainly wouldn’t blame Zhou SiLang for idling away anymore. He rolled up his sleeves and knelt down to help.
Together, they carefully dug around the China root, slowly and meticulously separating it from the pine roots. When they saw the white flesh revealed, Zhou ErLang was overjoyed to no end.
Manbao planned to refill all the dug-up soil to restore it to its original state, for "It seems fungi always prefer to grow in their original spot. If we refill the soil, maybe next year it could sprout again."
Although Zhou ErLang and Zhou SiLang didn’t understand much about this, they trusted Manbao, and refilling the earth in the same spot wasn’t difficult. Zhou SiLang even patted the pine stump, smiling and suggesting, "Should we fertilize it a bit to make it grow faster?"
Zhou ErLang glanced at him and said, "You have extra fertilizer at home? Just gather more fallen leaves and stuff the roots, that should be enough."
After securing their findings, Zhou ErLang gazed at the roots of other trees, wondering, "Is this stuff easy to find? Is there more around here?"
"There’s one more over there. Both were found around pine stumps. I suspect you have to look around pine stumps specifically," Zhou SiLang replied.
The brothers, accompanied by Manbao, went to check the other location and Zhou ErLang pondered, "Pine stumps... that means we have to cut down the pine trees, right? And it’s not even certain they’ll grow. We definitely can’t cut down so many pine trees."
Zhou ErLang then quickly thought of the community forest and, turning his eyes, he lowered his voice, "Old Four, how about you take a look at the community forest tomorrow?"
"I was thinking the same thing."
The brothers exchanged knowing glances.
Zhou ErLang cautioned, "Be careful, don’t let people from Dali Village see you. If someone from our village asks, just say you’re looking for wild mushrooms. If you run into someone from Dali Village, say the same thing."
Manbao then said, "Saying looking for wild mushrooms isn’t wrong, China root is from the fungus kingdom."
Zhou ErLang’s eyes nearly bulged out, "That clumpy stuff that looks like roots is a fungus?"
Manbao nodded, and although Keke hadn’t analyzed its exact name, she was certain it was from the fungus kingdom, and there was no mistake about it.
Zhou ErLang and Zhou SiLang fell silent; after a while, they couldn’t help but sigh, "Reading books really is useful."
"Second Brother," Zhou SiLang whispered, "once we have the money, should we send Datou and the others to school?"
Zhou ErLang sighed, "Datou and Second Son probably won’t make it. Let’s try to raise Third Son and Four properly, and when they get a little older, we can try to send them to school."
Even if Manbao didn’t teach them textbooks every day, she still assigned homework, and the progress of the children’s studies was visible to them.
There were so many children in the family, including Dalang and Zhou ErLang. They all followed Manbao recognizing a few characters, but the one who was learning to read the fastest was actually Erya. Daya was a bit slower but still far ahead of Datou and Second Son.
Datou and Second Son were like two blocks of wood that couldn’t grasp anything; many characters that Old Zhou could remember were yet beyond the comprehension of Datou and Second Son.
After all, Manbao had said that children have better memory than adults and learn faster.
Even the old father remembered faster than the two children.
Zhou ErLang sighed sorrowfully.
He placed his hand on Zhou SiLang’s shoulder and said, "Hurry up and have a child, raise them well, and they might turn out to be smarter."
He pondered a bit further, "I should also speak with your Second Sister-in-law, it would be better to have another son..."
Manbao, who had listened to everything: ...