Returning to the small mountain village of '86, intelligence updated daily.

The countryside is bustling from afternoon to evening, with women sitting in groups of three or five, chatting and gossiping.

Some men, young and old, gathered together to play cards, while others went for a stroll.

At the Zhou family home, Zhou Shiwei and his second son, Zhou Ming, had already returned. Construction teams like theirs, which are paid to do a job, generally don't provide proper meals.

They would bring a lunch from home to the construction site, heat it up, eat, rest for a while, and then continue working. For dinner, they would go home to eat.

Zhou Shiwei had just arrived home, and his family was cooking. They were all wondering where Zhou Shijie and his nephew had gone.

Then I heard a commotion outside.

"Zhou family's eldest son, just sell me this King of Gastrodia elata, this price is fair."

"Uncle, I'm really not selling."

"How about I pay 40 yuan? That's almost half a month's salary for me."

"Not for sale."

"45! 45 yuan, a fixed price. Nephew, you definitely won't lose out at this price. You won't find a higher price in town."

Outside the Zhou family's gate, Zhou Rui looked helpless.

He hadn't expected that the news would spread so quickly from the village entrance to his home.

Three groups of people came, each offering a different price. One of them was even a relative from a neighboring village visiting their village; he was a pure middleman, a speculator and dealer.

It is also the highest bid so far.

However, Zhou Rui clearly didn't want to sell.

After processing and drying this Gastrodia elata, you can take it to the county town and sell it for at least 50 yuan.

If a pharmacy wants to collect it as a prized possession, or if a wealthy person is looking to give it as a gift, the price could potentially increase by another ten or twenty yuan.

The Zhou family is extremely reluctant to earn even a penny more these days, so they certainly wouldn't sell to someone else so hastily.

Zhou Rui originally thought that if the middleman could offer 50 to 60 yuan, he could grit his teeth and sell it.

But judging from the current situation, he estimated that the middleman would give him at most 50 yuan, so he decided to keep it and wait and see.

Hearing the commotion, Zhou Shiwei and Zhou Ming, who were inside, came out and saw the two returning with their loot.

"Dad, brother, you're off work early today!"

The middleman had already left with a sigh, unwilling to give up. Zhou Rui looked at his father and spoke calmly.

At this moment, Zhou Ming, the younger brother, ran up to Zhou Rui's side and exclaimed in surprise when he saw the mountain goods in the basket on his back.

"Brother! How are you so amazing? I was just talking to Dad about it. Did you go hunting again?"

Zhou Shiwei also came over and was surprised to see so many mountain products, but he was more puzzled than anything else.

"Didn't I tell you to rest at home? Why did you go to the back mountain again? The old man is going to give me a few more punches later."

"And the back mountain is very dangerous, remember to call me next time you go."

Zhou Shiwei was still concerned about his son's safety. After checking him over and confirming that he was not injured, he said to Zhou Shijie:

"Second brother, well done."

Zhou Shiwei instinctively thought that Zhou Shijie had protected Zhou Rui from harm, and he was relieved when he saw that neither of them was seriously injured.

Zhou Shijie just smiled and said, "It's mostly thanks to my nephew; I didn't do anything."

He dared not mention his impulsive actions, for if Zhou Shiwei found out, he would surely teach him a lesson. Zhou Rui also did not mention it.

"Dad, let's go inside and talk."

At this moment, Zhou Rui gave Zhou Shiwei a mysterious smile and pointed to Zhou Shijie's basket.

Zhou Shiwei frowned slightly, then his pupils dilated as if he had thought of something, but he did not make a sound.

And so, the four young men of the Zhou family entered the mud-brick house. In the inner room, Grandpa was sitting anxiously, and Grandma was also there.

They had just heard the noise outside, but Zhou Shiwei told them to sit down and go out to see for themselves.

The old man breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that it was his second son and eldest grandson returning home.

"Shijie, why didn't you stop your nephew? Going into the mountains is so dangerous..."

The old man naturally saw the mountain goods in the basket, but he was not happy at all. Instead, he blamed Zhou Shijie.

Zhou Shijie: "..."

If he said that when he set off, even he himself didn't know where he was going, would the old man believe him?

No, the old man will slap him.

Zhou Rui put down his basket and helped the old man.

"Grandpa, it's nothing. I just went out for a walk this morning and ended up in the back mountain."

"Thinking that we could try our luck again, my second uncle and I ended up walking down a small path."

"After passing through the small path, you'll reach the mountain behind you. There's a pine forest there, and it looks like none of the villagers have discovered it yet."

"So I just looked around inside, and to my surprise, I found astragalus root and wild gastrodia elata."

Zhou Rui's statement was half true and half false.

The old man was getting on in years and his mind wasn't very sharp to begin with. He believed about 70-80% of what his eldest grandson was saying.

Zhou Yong'an simply told Zhou Rui to be extremely careful in his future actions and not to be reckless.

Zhou Rui repeatedly agreed.

However, while Zhou Rui's words could fool the old man, they couldn't fool Zhou Shiwei at all.

Who goes out for a stroll carrying a basket on their back?

Did you just happen to wander into the back mountain?

And coincidentally, I invited my second uncle to go for a stroll together?

Zhou Shiwei remained silent. He wouldn't expose the truth, partly because the old man would be even more worried if he knew the truth.

This approach is actually not very effective and will only increase the elderly person's worries.

Secondly, it's normal for the eldest son to have his own ideas now that he's grown up, and it would be bad if he interfered too much.

This is precisely what sets the Zhou family apart from others; they all possess enlightened thinking from top to bottom.

After helping the old man sit down, Zhou Rui gave his second uncle a wink.

The second uncle understood, and he carried the basket on his back to the warehouse without taking it off.

Zhou Rui told his grandfather he was going to help and then left.

Zhou Shiwei followed suit, while Zhou Ming rummaged through the fresh mushrooms and mountain produce in the middle of the main room.

"Mom, I picked some wild mushrooms and they're in the main room. Could you please cook them for us tonight?"

My mother, Zeng Jiamei, and my second aunt have both returned and are busy at the stove.

Upon seeing Zhou Rui return, they asked him a couple of questions with concern. After Zhou Rui replied that he was fine, they changed the subject.

Zeng Jiamei replied with a smile:

"Of course you can."

Zeng Jiamei clearly saw the three people walking into the warehouse one after the other, but she didn't ask any questions.

Inside the warehouse, Uncle Zhou Shijie put down his basket, but did not make any rash moves.

It wasn't until Zhou Rui walked in and took out the wild yams covering the area one by one that his father, standing behind him, began to watch.

Soon, a rather ugly-looking but enormous plant tuber was revealed to the three of them.

Even knowing that he had such a treasure in his basket, Zhou Shijie still couldn't help but gasp.

Zhou Shiwei, standing behind him, stared wide-eyed before quickly closing the warehouse door.

He knew exactly what this was; it was a Gastrodia elata essence that was almost twice the size of the wild Gastrodia elata king he had just seen!

According to his calculations, this thing wouldn't grow that big in less than several decades, and it would only be possible under extremely favorable conditions.

He was certain that this was absolutely the largest wild Gastrodia elata he had ever found in their entire county, no, perhaps even the entire city!

"Son! Second son! This matter must not be told to anyone. If it's not handled properly, it will be a disaster."