sbdcsierra Chapter 1784 Naturally Born Artworks
Chapter 1784 Naturally Born Artworks
Chapter 1784 Naturally Born Artworks
Zhao Jun put the branch that Zhang Yuanmin handed him aside, and then gently touched it with his hand.
Zhao Jun could tell at a touch that, starting from the second reed bowl, the ginseng seedlings were all stuck to the pine resin.
Pine resin is formed naturally and has no standard shape. Judging from the part of the pine resin that is exposed above the ground, Zhao Jun can determine that it is a large lump of wood.
It's the growth point of a tree branch, the kind with knots and bumps.
Therefore, Zhao Jun had no idea what the part buried in the ground looked like.
As for how the amber dragon fused with the pine resin, Zhao Jun had no idea.
All he knew was that this was an absolute treasure.
Since it's a treasure, it deserves to be treated with care. Zhao Jun asked the others to make room for him, and he took two steps back, kneeling slightly. Then he gently peeled off the bottom layer of skin with a twig.
It is said that seven ounces is ginseng and eight ounces is treasure, but how many people have ever seen such a big club?
According to current measurements, even a fraction over two ounces is not much.
Although the wild ginseng was small, its tendrils were long. Zhao Jun knelt on the ground, using a twig and his left index finger to gently stir the soft soil.
When he discovered the ginseng rootlets, he tentatively touched them, following the rootlets towards the ginseng's ivory-like trunk.
But after a couple of tries, it wouldn't budge; it had run into a pine torch.
The amber dragon and pine resin are fused together, and the pine resin is a large lump. Presumably, the ginseng roots grow by spiraling around the resin.
At this moment, Zhao Jun's forehead was covered in sweat, and he felt that this job was really not easy.
"Uncle, brother, you two come and help me carry it." Zhao Jun chose Zhang Yuanmin and Wang Qiang, who were careful and steady, and then pointed to the two positions to his left and right, asking them to help him carry the ginseng.
"Nephew, can we do this?" Wang Qiang asked hurriedly, "Your uncle has never done this kind of work before."
"Alright." Zhao Jun said to the two of them, "Don't rush, take it slow, and try not to break the whiskers."
After saying this, Zhao Jun added, "This is hard to carry. If I had to carry it myself, we wouldn't be able to get home until dark."
Zhang Yuanmin was a bold, meticulous, and confident man. When he heard Zhao Jun say that, he immediately went over to help.
But Wang Qiang still hesitated. He said to Zhao Jun, "Nephew, what if I break this beard?"
“If it’s broken, it’s broken.” Zhao Jun said decisively, “Who can guarantee that the whiskers won’t break when lifting the club? Even when Old Master Shao was young, he wouldn’t dare to guarantee it.”
That's absolutely true. Even the most skilled ginseng master can't guarantee that every ginseng he pulls out is of top quality.
At this time, Zhao Jun asked Wang Qiang and Zhang Yuanmin for help, which was also a deliberate attempt to train the people around him.
Just like he told Zhao Youcai yesterday, the leaves are all coming out and the grass is growing this season.
The vegetation restricts the passage of hunting dogs and obstructs the hunter's view. No matter how good the equipment is, if you can't even see the prey a dozen meters away, how can you hunt?
So for the next four months, let alone keeping dogs under control, even keeping them under control will be difficult.
People can't just sit around doing nothing, and farming isn't part of the Zhao family's business.
Therefore, in the next four months, Zhao Jun plans to lead the Zhao Family Gang to transform, temporarily transforming it into the Zhao Family Ginseng Gang.
In particular, Zhao Jun also controls many old villages, and it's said that those who work around these villages can make a living for life. Right now, the situation in Yacao City isn't showing any signs of change, but in another month, when Qingcao City begins in the fifth month of the lunar calendar, it will be the perfect time for grazing.
Back then, it was normal to find three or five seedlings of *Hemiberlesia lataniae* in an old hamlet, and if you were lucky, you could find seven or eight.
If that were the case, Zhao Jun alone couldn't carry the ginseng. This isn't like in the Rakshasa Forest, where Zhao Jun could slowly pry it out by himself.
He still has a family, and a newlywed wife at home. How can he stay here every day, bent over carrying ginseng?
Therefore, Zhao Jun intentionally cultivated the people around him. Things like observing mountains and judging scenery didn't require Wang Qiang and the others to learn, but when it came to carrying out ginseng, as long as they had patience and focus, there wouldn't be any problem.
At Zhao Jun's insistence, Wang Qiang also knelt on the ground. The three of them formed a large semicircle, surrounding the Amber Dragon. Then, together, they broke through the ground to search for the ginseng's whiskers. After that, they used the whiskers to find the ginseng body.
You don't know until you try, but once you start, Zhao Jun was surprised to find that Zhang Yuanmin's handling of the ginseng seemed even more skillful than his own.
This is talent!
Don't let Zhang Yuanmin's short stature fool you; he has big hands. And those hands are incredibly skillful.
In comparison, Wang Qiang was a bit clumsy. But Wang Qiang didn't seek merit, only to avoid mistakes. He moved slowly, but made sure not to make any errors or break the ginseng roots.
“Nephew, look, isn’t this a club’s beard?” When he didn’t understand something, Wang Qiang would ask Zhao Jun for help.
Zhao Jun glanced at it and said, "Uncle, that's a tree root. Cut it off with a knife."
There are trees not far away. This is a primeval forest. Those trees are probably very old, and their roots have spread out in all directions.
"Be careful, Uncle," Zhao Jun warned Wang Qiang. Wang Qiang took out a small knife, about a hand's length long, used for peeling ginseng, and cut the tree roots, avoiding the ginseng roots.
Lifting ginseng requires a steady hand and a careful mind. Some tendrils are nestled in the soil and can grow naturally without problems, but they might break if touched by a person. There's nothing that can be done about it, and you can't blame anyone if they break.
However, if someone breaks the ginseng rootlets due to carelessness or not handling them properly, then it means that person is not suitable for carrying ginseng.
It seems that Wang Qiang and Zhang Yuanmin have done a good job, and they've cooperated well with Zhao Jun. With their addition, the speed of carrying ginseng has increased significantly.
During this process, Li Baoyu and Xie Chen Zhao Jinhui, who were standing nearby, were both eager to try.
They were together every day, and neither of them wanted to do the work while they watched.
Especially when the club is brought out, everyone gets a share of the money. If you don't lift a finger, you're too ashamed to take the money.
However, Zhao Jun quickly assigned tasks to the three of them.
As Zhao Jun, Wang Qiang, and Zhang Yuanmin dug away a significant amount of soil beneath the pine resin, the pine resin began to sink.
Zhao Jun's task for Li Baoyu was to keep the pine resin firmly in place, whether by stepping on it or by prying it with his hands.
This tree stump must weigh over 20 kilograms; if it were to fall on it, it could easily damage the trunk underneath.
The task that Zhao Jun assigned to Zhao Jinhui and Xie Chen was to hold onto the ginseng roots that had already been carried out.
The way this Amber Dragon ginseng was carried was different from the way ginseng was carried in the past. Half of the ginseng body and most of the ginseng roots were under the pine resin, and they were close to the pine resin.
At this point, someone had to pick up and hold the ginseng roots that had already been lifted out to prevent them from falling back into the soil. Otherwise, when Zhao Jun and his two companions were clearing the soil, they might accidentally break the ginseng roots that had already been lifted out.
Thus, Zhao Jun and his six men knelt around the pine torch and the amber dragon. They had a clear division of labor and cooperated well, but even so, it took them nearly two hours to carry the amber dragon out along with the pine torch.
That's right, the body of this wild ginseng has fused with the pine resin. This is also why Zhao Jun once told Manager Miao that there were no dried products among the stone dragon and wooden dragon ginseng.
It's called a stone dragon and a wooden dragon because they are connected by both stone and wood. Otherwise, if you just take out a single club and say it's a wooden dragon, even if it were true, probably no one would believe it.
All that could be seen on the pine cone lump struck by lightning was a dark, black mass, but most of it was the exposed part, and the other part was the part that had just been unearthed.
The unearthed portion reveals this rare and precious ginseng seedling.
This amber dragon seedling has two rhizomes, a result of a severe injury it suffered. It's likely that a wild animal once passed over it, breaking off one rhizome, causing it to grow a new one.
Moreover, both of the stems still had a twist, which was a sign of serious injury.
Once the rhizome of wild ginseng is injured in this way, it will take at least three years for it to regrow and sprout again.
Judging from the rhizome alone, this wild ginseng seedling has suffered at least three major external injuries. Three times three equals nine, and examining the two rhizome heads further, Zhao Jun deduced that this ginseng seedling is at least fifty years old.
Looking at the ginseng body again, one can see that both the ginseng body and one of its legs have passed through pine resin, thus becoming integrated with the pine resin.
Wild ginseng grown in this way is truly remarkable.
The six people who saw it at that moment had only one thought in their minds: This is a work of art that was born naturally.
(End of this chapter)