The whole mountain is my hunting ground.

Chapter 1766 Large wild ginseng slices in golden grapes

Chapter 1766 Large wild ginseng slices in golden grapes

Zhao Jun and Zhao Youcai hurriedly entered the east wing. Li Tongyun had taken the children to the fields to catch the big-eyed thief that afternoon, so no one was in the house at this time.

After entering the room, Zhao Youcai quickly stood in front of the kang (a heated brick bed), stepped on the heel of his left shoe with his right foot, and then put his left shoe on.

After taking off his shoes, Zhao Youcai climbed onto the kang (a heated brick bed), stood at the end of the kang, and reached up to take down a small pine wood box with hot wax from the top of the kang cabinet.

Zhao Jun and Xing San were on the kang (a heated brick bed) when they watched Zhao Youcai carry the box to the kang table and sit down. Xing San sat down opposite Zhao Youcai and asked curiously, "Second brother, what's in here?"

Zhao Youcai didn't answer, but instead turned to look at Zhao Jun.

At this moment, Zhao Jun answered Xing San's question, saying, "Uncle, the time we went up the mountain to look for something, we found golden grapes, and there was something hidden inside them."

"What?" Xing San's eyes widened instantly upon hearing this, and he exclaimed in shock, "You really found that thing?"

As Xing San spoke, he saw Zhao Youcai open the box. Unable to suppress his curiosity, Xing San saw that the box was filled with wax pellets.

Previously, Zhao Jun led a group to unearth the last treasure left by his maternal grandfather, Wang Dabazhang. That night, Zhao Jun, Wang Meilan, and Zhao Youcai opened the golden grape and obtained the legendary honey pill wrapped in tiger blood pills.

However, the three of them did not open the honey pill that day. Instead, they waited a few days later, when Wang Qiang was present, and then they opened a tiger blood pill.

Later, for reasons unknown, Zhao Jun and his men opened up all the golden grapes and collected the honey pills inside.

The honey pills solidified in the cool weather, and as the days grew warmer, Zhao Jun and Zhao Youcai dipped the wax pills in the wax and then sealed all the honey pills away.

Xing San picked up a wax pill, looked at Zhao Jun and Zhao Youcai, and asked, "Are these Tiger Blood Pills all here?"

"Brother, let me show you what's inside." Zhao Youcai said, and then peeled back the honey pills to reveal a small yellow oil paper package.

Zhao Youcai opened the yellow butter paper package and saw two white, flat objects inside.

"What is this thing?" Xing Sanhua frowned. Although he had never seen Tiger Blood Pills before, he knew that what he was looking at was definitely not one.

This thing looks like candied ginger slices. At this moment, Zhao Jun reached out and picked up a slice, rubbed off the honey frosting with his fingers, and revealed its true appearance.

This is a dried wild ginseng!

"This old man is really resourceful!" Zhao Jun couldn't help but praise his grandfather. He had been in the wild ginseng business for several years in his previous life, and he had never seen wild ginseng stored like this.

Especially when the ginseng slices first appeared before his eyes, they were covered with a thick layer of honey frost, so Zhao Jun didn't think of it that way.

At the time, no one knew what it was, so Wang Meilan didn't let anyone touch it, saying she would ask Wang Changhai when she had the chance.

Unexpectedly, Xing San's words reminded Zhao Jun, allowing him to unveil the "mysterious" veil of this thing.

Now that they know this stuff is wild ginseng slices, Zhao Jun understands the purpose behind his counterattack against Wang Dashang. He recalls those years of war and constant turmoil, when keeping valuable items at home was never truly safe.

If it's hidden in the mountains, such a large area would be impossible to find without clues.

Unlike gold, silver, and porcelain, wild ginseng is buried underground, so moisture prevention is the primary concern.

Therefore, Wang Dabazhang used the method of storing tiger blood pills and added golden grapes to store these dried ginseng slices.

Finally, Wang Dabazhang told this secret to his trusted son-in-law.

To be honest, his son-in-law is a master at keeping secrets; he doesn't even tell his own wife and children...

The key is that if he had selfish motives, he could have kept it for himself. But he didn't. If Zhao Jun hadn't painstakingly unraveled the clues, Zhao Youcai would have taken these secrets to his grave.

"Is it a club?" Zhao Youcai asked, and Zhao Jun nodded, "It should be."

After saying this, Zhao Jun said, "Dad, I'll take it out and wash it with water, let me see."

At this point, Zhao Jun could tell that this was sliced ​​and dried wild ginseng, but when he was rubbing it earlier, he felt that something was wrong with it; it wasn't that dry.

This worried Zhao Jun, who feared that the outer skin of the creature was intact, but the inside was rotten.

"Okay, go ahead." Zhao Youcai nodded, then gave Zhao Jun the yellow oil paper package and another piece of wild ginseng.

Zhao Jun and Xing San walked into the outer room. Zhao Youcai closed the small box, got up, and carried it back to the kang cabinet.

Zhao Jun went out to the outer room, lifted the sorghum stalk cover of the water vat, picked up the gourd ladle on the water's surface, and scooped out half a ladle of water.

Zhao Jun threw the ginseng slices into the water and washed them. To his surprise, after washing them, Zhao Jun found that the ginseng slices were just like fresh ones.

Zhao Jun sensed something was wrong, so he tore the ginseng slices apart with his hands.

After it was torn open, before Zhao Jun could examine it closely, Zhao Youcai came out.

"Really?" Zhao Youcai asked. Zhao Jun replied, "Yes, but is the thing my great-grandmother made rotten?"

"Let me see?" Zhao Youcai took the torn ginseng slice from Zhao Jun's hand, glanced at the tear, and said, "This is soaked in honey, isn't it?"

After saying this, Zhao Youcai paused slightly, looked up at Zhao Jun and said, "It's like pickling vegetables."

As he spoke, Zhao Youcai turned the ginseng slices upside down and said, "Look at this, there are huge honeycomb holes here. How could it not soak into the honey?"

Before Zhao Jun could even speak, Zhao Youcai had barely finished speaking when Xing San said, "How can this thing have honeycomb-like holes?"

“This is a large ginseng root. Once it’s sliced ​​and dried, it will have honeycomb-like holes,” Zhao Jun said. “This kind of ginseng root can’t be small before it’s carried out.”

Hearing Zhao Jun say this, Xing San was worried and said, "After being kept in honey for so many years, it can't have gone bad, can it?"

"No way," Zhao Youcai said. "Our mountain honey is so good it won't spoil even after a hundred years. Besides, who is my father-in-law? What kind of person does he manage that he would be traveling for work?"

“That’s not necessarily true, second brother.” Xing Sanshao retorted to Zhao Youcai, saying, “Your father-in-law didn’t expect you to keep quiet about everything at home. This thing has been buried for almost thirty years.”

Upon hearing Xing San's words, Zhao Youcai's expression instantly darkened. For a moment, whether it was a stroke of genius or a surge of arrogance, Zhao Youcai stuffed the torn wild ginseng slice directly into his mouth, saying, "Whether it's bad or not, I'll know once I taste it."

"Hey? Dad!" Zhao Jun tried to stop him, but it was too late. He watched as Zhao Youcai smacked his lips and chewed on wild ginseng slices.

"Second brother, why did you eat it?" Xing San was also anxious. He had just told Zhao Jun that when Wang Yong could go seven or eight days without sleeping after gnawing on a corn cob shell, Zhao Youcai was not in the house.

After Zhao Jun called Zhao Youcai into the house, he didn't mention the matter. He only asked Zhao Youcai a couple of questions before heading to the inner room with him.

As soon as Xing San finished speaking, Zhao Youcai had already swallowed the ginseng. He didn't answer Xing San's question, "Why did you eat it?" Zhao Youcai only said, "It's not bad, it's super sweet, not bitter or rotten at all."

"Dad...this..." Zhao Jun was about to say something when he heard a clanging sound coming from the north window.

Zhao Jun turned around and saw Zhao Weipeng waving from outside the window.

"What's wrong now?" Zhao Youcai muttered as he walked out. When he reached the door, he stopped, turned back, pointed to the grease packet on the stove, and said, "It's not spoiled. You should put it away carefully."

"Dad..." Zhao Jun wanted to say something, but Zhao Youcai simply pushed the door open and left.

“This… Uncle Xing San…” Zhao Jun turned to look at Xing San, who then asked Zhao Jun, “Kid, after all these years of ginseng cultivation, has it lost its potency?”

Upon hearing Xing San's question, Zhao Jun sighed and said, "If it's not broken, then it is."

"My God!" Xing San exclaimed, feeling uneasy. "Kid, what about your dad? I hope nothing bad has happened to him."

“That can’t be…” Zhao Jun frowned and said, “The herbal medicine is mild, not a potent drug…”

At this point, Zhao Jun paused slightly and said, "Eating it will keep you awake at night, but it won't harm your health, it's just a bit of a hassle."

Xing San: "..."

Xing San came from a poor background. When he was a child, his family of seven or eight people across three generations were crammed into two small rooms. He knew all too well what it was like to be the only one who couldn't sleep in the middle of the night when the whole family was asleep.

"Kid, can this stick have lasted as long as your uncle has been munching on it?" Xing San picked up the greaseproof paper from the stove, and on the unfolded greaseproof paper was a piece of wild ginseng.

“I didn’t know this wasn’t washed,” Zhao Jun said. “But my dad eats that… well, it must be at least a fifth-grade leaf.”

Xing San: "..."

"Oh my god!" Suddenly, Zhao Jun remembered something and said with a worried look, "We're having hot pot tonight."

After saying this, Zhao Jun hurriedly walked outside, with Xing San following closely behind.

At this moment, in the backyard of the Zhao family, Zhao Youcai was discussing the soup base for dinner with Zhao Weipeng.

They would crack open the lamb leg bones and throw them together with the lamb spine to make soup. Once the soup was ready, they would put it, along with the tender lamb spine, into a small copper pot. The copper pot with the milky white lamb soup for hot pot was absolutely amazing!

Just as Zhao Youcai was about to chop up the lamb spine, Zhao Jun grabbed the handle of his small hand axe.

"What are you doing?" Zhao Youcai asked irritably. Zhao Jun held Zhao Youcai's arm and said, "Dad, come here, I have something to tell you."

"What's wrong now?" Zhao Youcai reluctantly followed Zhao Jun aside and listened to Xing San recount the story of Wang Yong gnawing on a corn cob skin and then staying up for seven days and seven nights.

But Zhao Youcai laughed after hearing this and said, "Brother, can I be like him? He was only seven or eight years old the other day. At that young age, if he ate two wild goji berries, his nose would bleed."

That's true. Young children have so much yang energy that even their urine can ward off evil spirits.

But Zhao Jun felt that Zhao Youcai was too optimistic. Although Zhao Youcai didn't have the same fiery energy as the little boy, he was still in good health. It was impossible for him to go seven or eight days without sleep after eating that piece of wild ginseng, but three days... should be a sure thing.

“Dad, this thing is no joke.” Zhao Jun hurriedly said to Zhao Youcai, “Why don’t you go to the yard and see if Koukou can vomit it up?”

"Spit it out?" Zhao Youcai was taken aback, then waved his hand and said, "Nonsense, get up here quickly, I still need to chop bones."

As Zhao Youcai was speaking, he felt a heat in his nose, and a stream of heat flowed out of his nose.

Zhao Youcai subconsciously thought he had a runny nose, but when he raised his hand to wipe it, he saw that Zhao Jun and Xing San opposite him had changed their expressions.

"dad!"

"Second brother!"

When Zhao Jun and Xing San shouted, Zhao Youcai felt a heat in his philtrum and the corners of his lips. At that moment, he touched his hand and felt that his hand was sticky.

Zhao Youcai took his hand away from his mouth and looked down. His small eyes widened in shock: "Blood..."

"Tilt your head back, tilt your head back!" Xing San told Zhao Youcai to tilt his head back. This was how they dealt with nosebleeds these days, otherwise it would be hard to wash the whole body.

Zhao Youcai, with his head held high, was helped by Zhao Jun and Xing San to walk towards the front yard.

Watching the three leave, Zhao Weipeng laughed and said, "My brother, you've got so many things to do."

As he spoke, Zhao Weipeng walked to the chopping board, picked up the small hand axe next to him, and took over from Zhao Youcai to chop the lamb spine.

Zhao Jun and Xing Sanyi helped Zhao Youcai into the house, one on each side. When they reached the pool, Zhao Youcai looked down and saw blood dripping from his nose like raindrops from the eaves on a rainy day.

Zhao Youcai quickly scooped water from the basin to wash his mouth. At this moment, Zhao Jun tore off some toilet paper and used it to plug Zhao Youcai's nostrils.

In the blink of an eye, the pink tissue in Zhao Youcai's nostrils turned red.

"Oh my god!" Xing San, who usually wouldn't even blink when stabbing someone, was startled and shouted to Zhao Youcai, "Second brother, quickly lick your throat and spit it out."

At this point, Zhao Youcai stopped trying to be brave and rushed to the pool. He bent over, lowered his head, pushed against the wall with one hand, and scratched his throat with the other.

"Ugh... ugh..."

"Kid," Xing San said, looking at Zhao Youcai's disheveled state, "is this thing really that bad?"

"What a day!" Zhao Jun said, using Zhao Youcai's favorite phrase, and then instructed Xing San, "Uncle, please keep an eye on my dad. I'm going out for a bit."

After Zhao Jun finished speaking, he ran outside. Once outside, Zhao Jun jumped over the low wall and into the east vegetable garden.

The land is used to grow grain, while this small garden is used to grow vegetables.

The cucumbers, green beans, eggplants, peppers, and tomatoes I planted haven't sprouted yet, but there are scallions growing around the perimeter of the garden and a patch of leeks in the southeast corner.

Zhao Jun headed to the southwest corner, where there was a small shed. This shed was made by bending willow branches cut down from the mountain, sticking both ends into the ground, making the whole willow branch into an arch shape.

If you insert a row of these and cover them with plastic sheeting, you'll have a small greenhouse.

This greenhouse grows cilantro, bok choy, and radish greens, which are what people in Northeast China call "dip vegetables."

At this time, the bok choy had not yet grown, and was only slightly larger than a cat's ear, with leaves scattered one next to another.

These vegetables need to grow quickly and be reduced in density, for example, if you remove the middle one from three vegetables and leave two, then the vegetables can grow bigger.

At this moment, Zhao Jun didn't care about anything else. He went over and grabbed two handfuls of bok choy and ran into the house.

Running back into the house, Zhao Jun didn't even pick the cabbages; he simply threw two bunches of bok choy into a basin. Then, he hurriedly scooped water from the vat to wash the vegetables.

After washing away the dirt from the roots, Zhao Jun scooped the bok choy into a ladle, brought it to Zhao Youcai, and urged, "Dad, eat quickly."

"You're not even going to remove the root?" Zhao Youcai questioned loudly. Zhao Jun replied, "No, I'm not removing it. I'm counting on that root. Hurry up and eat it!"

"I..." Zhao Youcai wanted to say something, but Xing San said, "Second brother, hurry up and eat. The paper you used to stuff your nose is all soaked through."

"What's going on?" Just then, Zhao Weipeng and Old Master Zhao came in.

When the two of them came in, Zhao Youcai was changing the tissue plug in his nostrils. As soon as the tissue was removed, blood started flowing out again like beads, which startled Zhao Weipeng and Old Master Zhao.

After finding out the reason, Zhao Weipeng learned that Zhao Youcai had "accidentally eaten" wild ginseng, causing excessive blood and qi. He hurriedly said to Zhao Youcai, "Brother, should we take you to the hospital? You can't just keep bleeding like this, or you'll die."

As he spoke, Zhao Weipeng turned to leave and instructed Zhao Jun, "Jun, hurry up and pack your things. I'll drive you down the mountain to the hospital."

"Uncle, Uncle!" Zhao Jun grabbed Zhao Weipeng and said, "Stop making a fuss, it's no use going down the mountain."

“We can’t just let him hold on like this!” Zhao Weipeng said. Zhao Jun replied, “There’s nothing we can do. It’s no use for him to go down the mountain or even to the capital.”

After saying this, Zhao Jun urged Zhao Youcai, "Dad, give those two bunches of bok choy to eat. They'll be fine in a little while after they finish eating."

Bok choy certainly couldn't match the medicinal power of wild ginseng, but it was better than nothing. Zhao Jun was certain that Zhao Youcai would be fine soon because he knew that bleeding couldn't go on forever; he estimated that in a few more minutes, Zhao Youcai's nosebleed would stop on its own.

However... Zhao Youcai definitely won't be able to eat hot pot tonight.

(End of this chapter)