Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 536: Qianchuanzi Laoyanzi really made a fortune this time!

Everyone stood still in the bush of red hammers and turned their heads to look at the money snake that was about one and a half meters long. After it landed on the ground, its body curled up, its triangular head sticking out its tongue, its body covered with circular gray-brown snake scales, its pores looked alarmingly enlarged, and a chill ran down its back.

Why? Because this snake is the most poisonous in the forest! Its scientific name is Agkistrodon acutus, and mountain hikers call it bell snake. This snake is very common in Changbai Mountain. The average adult body length is one meter, and under certain circumstances it can exceed one and a half meters!

If bitten by a fast-moving white-browed pit viper, the toxin will quickly damage the nervous system, leading to respiratory failure. In today's inconvenient transportation, it is almost certain to die! Even in the future when transportation is convenient, the mortality rate is still as high as over 80%!
Snakes hibernate for 4-5 months in winter. They are mainly active around April and throughout the summer. They will not appear again in late autumn.

The white-browed pit viper is often regarded as a "ginseng guarding snake" by ginseng collectors. Before the last century, it was even regarded as a spiritual animal. Ginseng collectors would choose to avoid it when they saw it, for fear of being entangled by it and dying.

The white-browed pit viper often coils up next to ginseng or under its leaves. This is its habit. Why? Because it also needs to eat to survive, and snakes are the least convenient to move in the forest. Other small animals can run and jump, but it has no legs and can only crawl, either crawling on the ground or circling up a tree, just to fill its stomach.

The red hammer of ginseng is the favorite of birds. Its bright color can attract many birds, insects and mice to come and fill their stomachs, so they lie under the ginseng with red hammers. Once a small animal passes by, they will suddenly attack, catching the opponent off guard. If the opponent cannot avoid it, it will be swallowed by the white-browed pit viper.

Xu Ning was of course aware of what the 'guarding ginseng snake' meant. The reason why he said something like that was because he was afraid that Liu Daming would rush forward and get hurt by the white-browed viper again. In that case, even the gods would not be able to save him...

To put it bluntly, the ginseng-guarding snake is just a habit of animals. It is only because technology was not well developed in the past and the understanding of animal habits was not comprehensive enough that various legends came into being. Then, the legend was passed from one to two, and from two to three, and gradually became a rumor.

This is also the reason why we use a rope stick to pull the grass, just to alert the snake!

Just now, Xu Laonian's joy turned into surprise, and he blurted out "son", which means that he regarded Xu Ning as a life-saving straw from the bottom of his heart. It can be seen that he used to disagree with Xu Ning only in words, but when it really came to the critical moment of life and death, he still had to rely on his old son!
After being frightened by the money string, everyone's faces turned pale. Only when the money string slowly crawled away did they regain their color.

Their joyful mood was interrupted by an unexpected event, and Xu Laonian, Liu Daming, Li Fuqiang and others all regained their composure.

Although he was no longer jumping for joy, he was still very excited when he turned around and saw the six leaves of the seedling.

Xu Laonian patted his chest and said, "Oh my god, I was really scared."

Liu Daming said with a smile: "Not bad, brother-in-law, at the critical moment, it has to be my second nephew, right?"

"Of course! If this is directed at you... forget it." Xu Laonian rolled his eyes.

Li Fuqiang smiled, used a rope stick to pull the grass, and said, "What else is there to say. Brother, you just said that this seedling mallet is worth 7000 yuan?"

"It's about the same. The price I mentioned is the price when it's sent to the provincial pharmaceutical factory. If it's sold at the street supply and marketing cooperative or the city pharmacy, I estimate it can be sold for more than 6200 yuan, but definitely not 6500!"

Xu Laonian clapped his hands and said, "What else can we say? Send it directly to the pharmaceutical factory in the provincial capital. Anyway, we have to sell the bear gallbladders and other things at home. If they are piled up at home, they will just be a waste. Only when we sell them can we make money."

This is true. Xu Ning also agrees with this view and said, "Let's look among this pile of red hammers to see if there are other money-gathering scammers. We should be more careful than safe."

"OK……"

Everyone nodded, and two people were divided into groups to carry out Xu Ning's words. They knew about the white-browed pit viper. The mountain people living near the mountain were often bitten to death by poisonous snakes, and there was no time to save them. However, there were also ruthless people.

Xu Ning seemed to have heard from someone that there was a fierce man in Yongsheng Village who went into the mountains to pick mushrooms and was bitten by a white-browed pit viper. At that time, the fierce man drew his sword and chopped off his own body below the glans.

Then he endured the severe pain and sprinkled gunpowder from firecrackers on the wound, but the gunpowder was soaked by blood as soon as it was poured, and it was completely useless. Later, he used fire to burn the wound with red charcoal, and only then did the bleeding stop...

Without further ado, Xu Ning and Guan Lei used a rope stick to pull out the leaves of the mallet near this place, carefully looking for the ginseng snake. After searching around, no one found any other snakes.

In addition, when the six people were looking for the snake, they did not forget to count how many clubs there were in the pile.

After the six people gathered, Xu Laonian grinned and said, "Your uncle and I counted them. There are one seedling with six leaves, five seedlings with five leaves, thirteen seedlings with four leaves, twenty-eight seedlings with lantern stands, and more than thirty seedlings with two Jiazi..."

"Yeah! I was so dizzy from counting just now. I also saw five seedlings and five batches of leaves." Li Fuqiang nodded.

Wang Hu was shocked and said, "Oh my god! So many? Second brother, then we really got rich!"

"We have to make money! Why did we go into the mountains? Isn't it to make money?"

In fact, Xu Ning had not expected that there would be so many clubs with more than four leaves, because in his previous life, he only took a quick glance at six leaves and two glances at five leaves. The entire Can Gang did not count the number of clubs, and the two brothers of the Li family started a quarrel...

Come to think of it, it makes sense. If there weren't so many pestles, why would the Li brothers take such a risk with only one seedling and six batches of leaves?
At that time, Xu Ning did not have time to look at the head. Thinking of this, he looked around hurriedly and said, "This should be an old man. He must have a head! Let's see when it was made. Let's look for it quickly."

"Hey! Walk slower, don't hurt our baby by mistake." Xu Laonian reminded with a flattering grin.

"Okay! Let's go in groups of two."

The six people dispersed again to look for the leader, and were not in a hurry to carry the ginseng. After all, the old man was nearby, so there was no need to rush.

Finally, he saw the old photo head on a thick red pine tree. The height of the photo head was only below Xu Ning's chest, and the old photo head already had mottled traces of time.

"Put it here! The number of people on the left is one, two, three... a total of nine people, carrying out one seedling and six batches of leaves from this old pickle!"

Xu Laonian pointed to another tree and said, "Son, there are words on this tree!"

Xu Ning walked over and took a look. Due to the passage of time, the handwriting had become blurred and could not be seen clearly.

However, Xu Laonian guessed and said, "This character is Guang, and this one should be Xu. The sixth year... August of the sixth year of Guangxu... It seems so. Take a look, old son."

"It should be. It's hard to find a six-leaf mallet. It must be more than a hundred years old. We'll know its age when we take it out and look at the reed bowl."

Liu Daming laughed and said, "Oh my god, if it's more than a hundred years, then we are really lucky!"

Xu Laonian, Wang Hu and Guan Lei were grinning, but Li Fuqiang glanced at Xu Ning, whose face was flushed.

Wang Hu said, "Second brother, do you know what year the sixth year of the Guangxu period was?"

Xu Ning said: "It must be the late Qing Dynasty. You didn't learn history in school. There were two emperors in the late Qing Dynasty, one was the puppet Xuantong, and the other was his uncle Guangxu..."

"What the hell? He is the emperor, so why isn't his father the emperor? Why is he his uncle?" Liu Daming was puzzled.

Xu Laonian smiled and said, "Is there any need to think about this? It must be because his uncle has no son! My dear son, tell your uncle what his father does."

"How old was Xuantong when he came to power? He couldn't speak or walk. His biological father was the regent." Xu Laonian clapped his hands and said, "Look how educated my son is!"

"Hahaha, of course! My brother..." Li Fuqiang grinned.

The sixth year of the Guangxu reign was 1880, which was more than a hundred years ago. Xu Ning waved his hand and said, "Okay, let's go back and get some fire and food, and come back in the afternoon."

"Oh, if I had known I would have brought all the bacon with me. It would have been much easier if I had built a shed nearby."

"That's definitely not going to work. We've already moved twice, so we can't move a third time. And it's not that far away. Look at the grass around here. It's much thicker than where we live."

Xu Laonian nodded: "Then let's go back first?"

"Go back!" Xu Ning waved and walked forward, instructing as he walked: "When you come over in the afternoon, you will all bring your tools. I have taught you the process of lifting the mallet. When the time comes, Shitou and Huzi can practice with the Erjiazi first, and then lift the lamp stand when they are proficient."

Xu Laonian held Xu Ning's arm and said, "Son, you have to do the work of picking the six leaves of the seedlings! Otherwise, Dad won't be sure."

"Of course! Erning, you have to carry the sixth and fifth batches of leaves. I don't dare to compete..." Liu Daming said.

After leaving Lao Yanzi, the six of them took big strides and ran towards the camp. They were very excited along the way and wanted to grab a handful of soil and stuff it into their mouths to chew, anxious to fill their stomachs so that they could lift the mallet.

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

But this matter cannot be rushed, because it cannot be completed in one or two days, at least it will take three or four days. If one is not skilled, it will take some time to practice. So Xu Ning figured that it would take them at least six days to carry this pile of mallets!
After returning to the camp, everyone worked together to light a fire and cook. Guan Lei cut the bacon into pieces and put it into a large pot to stew, then kneaded the dough in an aluminum pan, preparing to make some pancakes later.

Liu Daming and Wang Hu went to pick wild vegetables and fetch water. Li Fuqiang watched the open fire and poured some bear oil into the ladle. He waited for Guan Lei to finish kneading the dough, then rolled it into round shapes and put it in the pan to fry.

"Son, how much do you think five batches of leaves can sell for? Can Dad get 500 yuan? Will you give me the money directly, or... Hey, you have to give Dad some pocket money, right? Dad has had a hard time these days..."

Xu Ning sat aside to rest, and Xu Laonian followed him and kept chattering, which was very annoying.

"Stop hesitating, okay? If you continue to hesitate, I'll tell my mom!"

Immediately, Xu Laonian shut up, his eyes rolled around, and a humming sound came from his throat.

When Liu Daming came back from picking wild vegetables, he saw Xu Laonian was nagging him and said jokingly, "Brother-in-law, you are so old, why are you always nagging my nephew? You said before that Feng'er learned her nagging skills from the sparrow. I think she got it from you."

"Get lost! I'm just chatting with my old son. What does it have to do with you?"

Xu Ning immediately stood up and held up the basket Liu Daming was carrying, saying, "Uncle, I'll go pick some vegetables with you."

"I am coming too……"

Xu Laonian was about to stand up, but was scared back by Xu Ning's eyes. He heard: "If you hesitate again, I will tell my mother when I get back!"

"Oh! Why are you like this?" Xu Laonian's face turned red with anxiety and he kept clapping his hands.

"Hahaha……"

At noon, everyone ate bear oil pancakes rolled with wild onions and garlic. Although there was no soybean paste, there was bear meat and soup in a big pot, so it tasted very delicious.

After the meal, they hurriedly cleaned up the pots and pans, and even stuffed the lunch boxes into sacks and hung them on the tree without even having time to wash them. Then they walked towards Lao Xianzi fully equipped.

On the way, Xu Ning reminded again: "Shitou and Huzi have to come back to cook after five o'clock. We should wait until dark before going back. Also, you can't just pick the red hammers. You have to pick the red hammers that you picked up. Do you understand?"

"Know!"

Li Fuqiang asked, "Brother, is the red hammer still in the can?"

"Yes, we must collect them. Just call me when the time comes. I will carry out the six batches of leaves for the seedlings first."

"That's right! Six batches of leaves are valuable." The money-loving Xu Laonian clapped his hands happily.

When they reached the old salted place, they used their pickaxes to pull the grass leaves and check again whether there were any money strings guarding the ginseng. Then they took out copper coins, red ropes, deer bone chisels, scissors, red cloth, etc.

Xu Laonian and Li Fuqiang set their eyes on the lampstand, while Liu Daming, Wang Hu and Guan Lei practiced with Erjiazi.

Sometimes, a good product can be produced from an Erjiazi, because there is a saying that the stick can be reborn, that is, when it grows to a certain age, it will be reborn into an Erjiazi.

Xu Ning didn't know if other people had seen it, but he hadn't, because he had been in the gang for too short a time, and he had only heard people in the gang bragging about it...

Xu Ning was not in a hurry to lift the six batches of leaves. He just locked the six batches of leaves and covered them with red cloth. Then he walked around Wang Hu, Guan Lei and others, telling them how to use a deer bone chisel to clear the soil.

After seeing that they were gradually becoming proficient, he knelt in front of the six leaves and first cleared the dead grass and pine needles on the ground...

Ever since they met Qian Chuanzi, the guard, they have become more vigilant and would knock on the tree trunks with their sticks from time to time, trying to scare away the nearby livestock.

Xu Ning did not move. He lay in front of the six leaves and carefully cleaned the black soil, fearing that the roots would be torn off. These six leaves were worth five rooms! If they were more frugal, they could build seven rooms.

After Xu Laonian lifted a seedling lamp stand, he did not cheer, but cut the top of the lamp himself and rolled it up with bark, moss and the original pit soil. Liu Daming, Li Fuqiang and others did the same. Nothing interesting happened during the process.

Because life is boring in itself. If it weren't for the money, who would be willing to go to such a shabby place? The only thing that allows you to persevere is money.

Seeing that it was getting dark, Li Fuqiang and Xu Laonian had already carried out two lamp stands, Wang Hu and Liu Daming had carried out two Erjiazi seedlings, and Guan Lei had carried one Bazhang seedling and one Erjiazi seedling. Then he and Wang Hu went back to the camp to light a fire and cook.

At this moment, Li Fuqiang, Xu Laonian and Liu Daming looked down at Xu Ning who was digging the black soil around the taproots of the six leaves. Xu Ning said, "Go cut the top! This sapling is really over a hundred years old and has a good shape. The price I offered before must have been too low."

"What? Oh my god, son... Well, then dad will go chop off the head, you wait a moment."

Xu Laonian didn't dare to say much, for he was afraid that Xu Ning would really complain when he got home, and then what he would get was not pocket money, but two big eye cannons!

(End of this chapter)