Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 251: The Key to Opening the Mountain

The Northeast has dense forests, where various wild animals and pythons often appear, as well as a variety of flying insects.

Therefore, many people in Northeast China smoke dry tobacco to ward off snakes and insects.

Tobacco oil, in particular, has always been considered the best way to repel snakes.

Therefore, even Qu Shaoyang, who doesn't smoke much at home, will bring a pipe and cigarette packs when he goes into the mountains.

After wandering around for quite some time and not seeing anything, they inevitably became anxious and restless.

So Qu Shaoyang spoke up in time and asked everyone to have a cigarette and take a rest.

As soon as these words were spoken, the gang members quietly found stones nearby to sit down. Even though there were tree stumps nearby, no one dared to sit there.

According to the rules of the mountain people, the tree stump is the dining table of the mountain god. Anyone who sits on the tree stump is extremely disrespectful to the mountain god.

If someone is really blind and sits there, the people next to him will definitely kick him to the ground.

Everyone took out their pipes from their waists, scooped out some yellow tobacco with the brass pipes, and then pressed it twice with their hands, making sure it was not too loose or too tight.

When he felt it was about right, he took out a match, lit it, then took a big puff and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

Eight or nine people gathered in a circle, spewing smoke. The poisonous mosquitoes and small mosquitoes that were buzzing above their heads immediately fled in all directions.

After finishing a pack of cigarettes and sitting for a while longer, Qu Shaoyang stood up and walked among the crowd. He slammed his stick on the ground, and the copper coins tied to the top of the stick clattered.

The other guys with sticks immediately stood up silently, took their positions, and poked their sticks into the ground, causing a rustling sound of copper coins.

Qu Shaoyang stretched out his stick and knocked three times on the tree trunk beside him. Everyone rearranged the sticks and continued the work of clearing the mountain.

About half an hour later, suddenly a shout came from the other end of the stick, "Bangchui."

This voice was loud and inspiring, and any stupid guy would feel it was like a thunderbolt when hearing it.

Everyone hurried to the side of the stick, saying, "Hurry up, hurry up."

At this time, Qu Shaoyang asked loudly, "What goods?" This voice immediately suppressed the movements of others.

"The key to opening the mountain." Xingye replied from the other end.

The key to opening the mountain refers to the Erjiazi period.

That is, two leaves grow on a main stem, forming a branch.

It is a bit like the key people use to open a lock, so it was named the mountain-opening key by the mountain herders.

Erjiazi usually does not last too long, but if it occurs, it means there may be big goods around.

Therefore, the hermits were very happy to see the second Jiazi year and regarded it as a good omen.

So, when Qu Shaoyang heard that it was the key to opening the mountain, he was very happy and shouted confidently, "Take it."

All the guys with sticks immediately poked the ground excitedly with their sticks, making a series of rustling sounds, like a piece of music of celebration.

Qu Shaoyang walked quickly to Xingye and saw a ginseng tree. The stem at the bottom was about the same thickness as the grass, and there were two or three red ginseng seeds on the top.

Qu Shaoyang poked the rope stick hard on the spot and shouted, "Watch the place, wear the dragon head, and lift the mallet."

A group of thugs immediately surrounded the ginseng tree about two meters away, holding ropes and sticks in their hands, facing outwards, and vigilantly guarding against anyone or any wild animal coming in.

In fact, there is no need to make such a big display for a 260-year-old tree.

But except Qu Shaoyang, the rest of the group are novices, and Qu Shaoyang intends to train them.

Therefore, all the necessary rules must be followed, lest these people miss something when they encounter a large quantity of goods in the future. Bian Gun Xingye, who discovered the ginseng, hurried forward, took out a red string with auspicious year coins tied to both ends from the bag behind him, and tied it around the ginseng stems.

Then break off two branches with forks and insert them into the ground on both sides of the ginseng. Hang the copper coins at both ends of the red rope on the forks of the branches. This is called putting a bridle on the mallet.

It is said that ginseng will not run away if it is put in a bridle.

After putting on the bridle, the next step is to lift the ginseng, which requires lifting the head manually.

So Qu Shaoyang took out deer bone skewers, quick scissors, quick axes and other tools from his pocket.

Then squat down and slowly push away the grass and soil, and slowly lift out the ginseng body and ginseng roots underneath.

This seedling is not too big, weighing only two or three cents, but it has a good shape.

It didn't take Qu Shaoyang much time to carry out the ginseng.

At this time, Xingye handed over the moss and birch bark, and Qu Shaoyang started to make ginseng buns.

It was already late, so the group decided not to stay on the mountain. They took the ginseng buns and went down the mountain and returned to their shack.

The man carrying the pot quickly cleared the ashes in the stove pit. Under the ashes was half-burned firewood. It was the yellow pineapple wood that he had specially left before leaving in the morning.

This type of wood does not produce much flames and burns slowly, so the fire can be preserved.

The stove pit has a fire bottom. Just throw some birch bark or other things on it, blow on it twice, and the flames will rise.

Then they added some dry firewood on top, set up the hanging pot, and cooked a pot of hot soup. Everyone had some pancakes or something with the soup, and it was another meal.

Normally, after opening his eyes on the first day of the release and meeting Erjiazi, everything should be smooth sailing afterwards.

But Qu Shaoyang and his companions wandered around in the mountains for another five days but found nothing.

Now, everyone was anxious. Did they mean to take Miao Erjiazi down the mountain this time?
On the morning of the seventh day, Qu Shaoyang looked at the surrounding terrain and always felt that something was wrong.

This mountain should be able to produce a lot of goods, so why didn't they find anything after all these days? This shouldn't be the case.

"Who of you dreamed of taking the scenery last night?" Qu Shaoyang turned around and asked the guys behind him.

Everyone looked at each other and shook their heads. They were exhausted from wandering around in the mountains during the day, and slept like dead pigs at night. What kind of dream were they?

"Ahem, well, I had a dream last night. I dreamed of a few young girls washing clothes by a small river."

On the other end, Qu Jiang coughed twice and said embarrassedly.

Qu Jiang has been in contact more with the girl from the Yang family recently. The two of them are attracted to each other and are inseparable.

I suddenly followed Qu Shaoyang into the mountains. I haven't seen my lover for several days, so it's inevitable that I miss him.

Maybe I was thinking about it before going to bed, so I had a dream at night. I dreamed of several young girls washing clothes by a river.

"Hey, Third Brother, why didn't you tell me about your dream?
Think about it carefully. What does the river look like? Are there any special features of the surrounding mountains? "

When Qu Shaoyang heard this, his eyes widened immediately and he asked hurriedly.

Qu Jiang scratched his head and thought carefully about the dream. Qu Shaoyang listened to Qu Jiang's description and felt more and more that they had been to this place before.

It seemed like it was the day before yesterday, they were wandering by a river.

"Come on, I know where it is. Let's go there today."

This is what it's like when you lead a group of novices into the mountains. Without experience, there's no guarantee that they've really encountered it but just didn't notice it.

(End of this chapter)