The Little Life of a Big Landlord

Chapter 64: Mining Mountain

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"Ooh ooh ooh..."

A thin mist drifted among the treetops in the mountains, and the crowing of a rooster heralded the start of a new day.

Old Yang parked his transport truck under the big willow tree at the gate of the courtyard. The truck bed was loaded with more than a dozen baskets of fruits and vegetables, as well as a large wooden basin containing dozens of large carp, each a foot long.

Yang Ming, Wei Qingqing, Zhang Yang, Sun Fangfang, Aunt Liu, Xiao Bao'er, Liu Nannan, Lao Huang, and Lao Liu all came together to see Yang Zhengfang and Zhang Shufang off.

The elderly couple left in a hurry, and their house was still a mess. They would have to clean up the house properly before they could move in. So they were leaving early today. Breakfast was prepared separately for them to take on the road, and the portions were generous. They even prepared lunch for them.

Zhang Shufang held Wei Qingqing's small hand without saying a word, just looking at her with such affection. The more she looked at this daughter-in-law, the more she liked her. Wei Qingqing was very shy, which made Yang Ming, who was watching from the side, feel a little jealous. You two slept together last night, haven't you had enough of looking at each other yet?

"Brother Huang, Brother Liu, we'll come to pick you up when my son gets married. Please do us the honor of joining us..." Yang Zhengfang said with a smile to Old Huang and Old Liu.

"Alright! We'll definitely be there..." Old Huang laughed heartily.

"Brother Yang, you can't be stingy with your fruit wine then..." Old Liu said with a smile.

"That's natural," Yang Zhengfang said with a smile.

Amidst everyone's waving goodbye, the transport truck carrying Yang Zhengfang and Zhang Shufang drove out of Zhengjia Village along the gravel road, turned a corner, and disappeared from sight.

"Woof woof woof..." Suddenly, Big Yellow popped out from a sorghum stalk and chased after the departing transport vehicle.

"Ah? I forgot about Big Yellow..." Yang Ming was taken aback and quickly chased after him.

Da Huang ultimately failed to catch up with the transport truck and was led back by Yang Ming. The usually energetic Da Huang appeared somewhat listless, with drooping ears, looking pitiful like a puppy abandoned by its owner. In reality, apart from being large, Da Huang was just a dog.

Old Huang and Old Liu carried their rolling cages into the mountains. They were quite professional. Every day, after breakfast, they would take their dry rations and go into the mountains, returning only in the late afternoon when the sun had set. The mountains they went to were places where villagers often gathered wild produce, and there were no large wild animals there, so it was quite safe.

Aunt Liu went home to continue sewing Hanfu. With the National Day holiday approaching, she had to work day and night to finish the job.

Liu Nannan was quite dedicated. She took a big peach from the west room, ate it, and then went to the greenhouse to see how the vegetables and fruit trees were growing. The seedlings that had been optimized by the farm space were changing every day. You could see with the naked eye that they were growing slowly but rapidly.

Yang Ming, Wei Qingqing, Zhang Yang, Sun Fangfang, and Xiao Bao'er went back to the house together. Wei Qingqing felt lazy, so she climbed back onto the kang (a heated brick bed), crawled into the quilt fully clothed, and prepared to take a nap.

Xiao Bao turned on the TV, sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), sucking on a lollipop while watching TV. There were a few cartoon channels in the morning.

"Too lazy..." Sun Fangfang slapped Wei Qingqing's bottom, and amidst her good friend's dissatisfied grumbling, sat cross-legged on the edge of the kang (heated brick bed), ordering Yang Ming and Zhang Yang, "What are you two grown men standing there for? Hurry up and cook!"

"Hmm! Cooking is a woman's job, isn't it?" Yang Ming looked at Zhang Yang.

"Ah! Yes!" Zhang Yang glanced at his wife and nodded hesitantly.

Yang Ming yanked the blanket off Wei Qingqing, and amidst her screams, yelled, "Still sleeping in?! Go make some food..."

"Yang Ming, do you believe I'll tell Mom and she'll teach you a lesson..." Wei Qingqing, whose sweet dream had been disturbed, yelled at Yang Ming in dissatisfaction.

"You...you too, go cook right now..." Zhang Yang pointed at Sun Fangfang and stammered. He now really admired his brother-in-law Yang Ming; he was such a man.

"Who are you referring to? Have you got some nerve?" Sun Fangfang gave Zhang Yang a disdainful look, and Zhang Yang, who had long lived under his wife's tyranny, immediately wilted.

The final decision was that the men would tend the fire and the women would cook, dividing the work so that no one could be idle. Only Xiao Bao'er happily sucked on his lollipop while watching TV. Being a child is so nice.

After breakfast, everyone disagreed on where to go. Yang Ming suggested catching fish in the stream and cooking them for lunch. Zhang Yang suggested taking the dog hunting in the mountains and eating wild game for lunch. Wei Qingqing wanted to stay home and sleep, as she had been crying and laughing all night and was feeling very stressed. Sun Fangfang wanted to go to the hot springs and soak in them.

The four were arguing, when Liu Nannan returned. The little girl wasn't interested in where to play; she was only interested in things that could make money. So she grabbed a small basket and took Xiao Bao'er to the mountains to pick hazelnuts. It was September to October, the time when hazelnuts were ripe.

"Hazelnuts are supposed to be the king of nuts, right?" Sun Fangfang said, her eyes darting around.

"Really? I don't know, we'll find out if we try..." Wei Qingqing was unfamiliar with hazelnuts.

"I haven't eaten it yet, so I'll just pick some and stir-fry it..." Sun Fangfang said, glancing at Zhang Yang with a smile.

"I'm not going..." Zhang Yang quickly declared. Going into the mountains is only fun for hunting, isn't it? If we were to pick fruit, how embarrassing would that be? Picking fruit is a woman's job.

"Um... I'll go check the backyard..." Yang Ming tried to slip away.

Two women, pulling two reluctant men, followed behind the little girl Liu Nannan, carrying a small basket, and entered the old forest. Zhang Yang still took a rifle and plenty of ammunition, and Yang Ming also brought Dahei along. With a dog following them into the old forest, they were assured that they wouldn't get lost.

Hazelnut trees mostly grow on shady slopes and are 8 to 10 meters tall. To pick them, you can use a pole to knock them down or pick them up from the tree that have fallen naturally.

The group followed the mountain path to the hazelnut grove at the north end of the village. The hazelnut grove was not far from Yang Ming's house, separated by two mountains. If you went north from the hazelnut grove and crossed another mountain, you would reach the depths of the old forest, where a ditch separated the wild animals in the old forest. They stopped at the edge of the ditch.

The hazelnut tree was tall with dense foliage, and the sunlight could only cast dappled patterns. Underneath the tree was a thick layer of decaying branches and leaves, which smelled damp and had many hazelnuts scattered on it.

"It's right here. We can't even pick up all the hazelnuts we've picked up today..." Liu Nannan said, squatting down with Xiao Bao'er to pick up the scattered hazelnuts.

"Aren't you from Liujia Village? How did you know there were hazelnuts here?" Sun Fangfang squatted down, picking up hazelnuts as she asked.

"I often visit my aunt's house, so naturally I know about it. Usually, no one comes here. People gather hazelnuts and mountain products on the west side of the mountain, so not many people know about this place," Liu Nannan said.

"So that's how it is?" Wei Qingqing also squatted down and picked them up together.

"Searching one by one is too troublesome. Watch me..." Yang Ming raised his foot and kicked a hazelnut tree about the size of a bowl. Yang Ming used a lot of force, and the hazelnut tree wasn't that thick. The tree shook violently, and with a "whoosh," ripe hazelnuts fell down like raindrops, hitting people who clutched their heads. Even Xiao Bao'er cried out in pain. To be honest, these things really hurt when they hit your head.

Everyone glared angrily at the instigator...

Squeak squeak squeak...

A squirming sound, like that of a mouse, rang out from the treetop. Looking up, one could see a gray squirrel standing on a branch, jumping and squirming.

"So cute?" Wei Qingqing and Sun Fangfang, who were about to confront Yang Ming, were immediately drawn to the adorable squirrel.

bang...

With a gunshot, a spray of iron pellets flew directly towards the squirrel. Although the squirrel was agile, it couldn't dodge it. Firstly, the iron pellets flew fast, and secondly, the area affected by the pellets was large. The once cute little squirrel was riddled with holes and fell from the tree.

Wei Qingqing and Sun Fangfang's faces immediately darkened.

The culprit, Zhang Yang, paid no attention to the two women's expressions. He succeeded with a single shot, triumphantly picked up his prey, examined it by the tail for a long time, and then took it to show off to his wife.

"Honey, look how accurate my aim is! My favorite part is this big tail. It'll be so cool if we make it into a keychain." Zhang Yang proudly showed off the dead squirrel to Sun Fangfang, his joy blinding him to the fury spitting from his wife's eyes.

"This guy's got some nerve..." Yang Ming quietly moved away, turning his back so he couldn't bear to watch.

at last……

"Ouch, honey, your ear fell off..."

"Wife, I'll never do it again..."

"Help... Qingqing, Ugly Girl, quickly pull your good friend away..."

"Brother Qian, my dear brother... Yang Ming... save me..."

Zhang Yang's pitiful screams echoed through the forest for a long time.

After this little incident, the work of picking hazelnuts continued. Zhang Yang's sharpshooting gun was almost thrown away by Sun Fangfang, so he could only follow behind his wife dejectedly, picking hazelnuts one by one.

Every time Yang Ming kicked the tree, it would trigger a shower of hazelnuts, and the small baskets brought by Liu Nannan and Wei Qingqing were soon filled.

"I'm here this morning, and my back is so sore I can barely straighten up," Sun Fangfang said.

Indeed, squatting on the ground to pick up hazelnuts is quite tiring.

When Sun Fangfang complained of being tired, everyone felt the same way. It was almost noon, and it was time to go home. So, carrying two large baskets of hazelnuts, they walked home together along the way they had come.

"These mountain radishes are really awful. Why are they bitter? And they have a strange taste." Zhang Yang somehow got hold of a big white radish as thick as a baby's arm and started crunching it. However, the big white radish didn't look good, with bumpy textures and a bad taste, making him frown as he ate it.

"You...you...where did you get this?" The little girl, Liu Nannan, stared at Zhang Yang eating radishes, her mouth agape in astonishment. She pointed at Zhang Yang's nose and stammered.

"What's wrong? Is it poisonous? I just think its fruit looks pretty bright..." Zhang Yang felt a chill and suddenly remembered that he had read in "Animal World" that brightly colored things in nature are usually poisonous. He immediately stopped chewing and was ready to vomit it up and go to the hospital for a stomach pump if the girl said it was poisonous.

Suddenly, Zhang Yang felt liquid flowing from his nose, and wiped it with the back of his hand...

"Blood..." Zhang Yang was dizzy.

"What happened?" Sun Fangfang asked anxiously, her face pale.

Yang Ming and Wei Qingqing also gathered around with worried expressions. Could this be the bleeding from all seven orifices after being poisoned?

"Ginseng... how could you chew on ginseng? This is such a big wild ginseng from North China, worth several million..." Liu Nannan looked heartbroken, wishing she could take a big stick and smash this wasteful guy to death.

"Ginseng?" The group was taken aback, then looked surprised and exclaimed in unison.

Suddenly, Zhang Yang was no longer dizzy and stared at Liu Nannan with wide eyes.

"Then why did he have a nosebleed?" Sun Fangfang was most worried about Zhang Yang having a nosebleed.

"Just nosebleeds? You're going to burn yourself. You chewed up such a big ginseng root. What kind of nourishment will that give you?" Liu Nannan said irritably.

In the eyes of the young girl Liu Nannan, it was such a pity that such a large ginseng was chewed up by Zhang Yang like a cow chewing on a peony. If she had dug up the ginseng, she would have gone back to school to resume her studies and wait to take the college entrance exam next year.

"Does he have a fever or...?" Sun Fangfang asked anxiously.

"What fever? He won't have a fever for the next two or three years, but he'll definitely be uncomfortable during this time..." Liu Nannan said.

"I...I feel really hot, like there's a fire burning inside my heart..." Zhang Yang heard Liu Nannan's words and suddenly felt a burning sensation in his heart.

"It's good that you're alright..." Sun Fangfang breathed a sigh of relief. As long as it wasn't poisoning, a nosebleed... well, consider it a blood donation, and it's good for your health.

"Where did you find this ginseng?" Yang Ming asked.

"Isn't that right there?" Zhang Yang said, pointing to a newly dug pit beside the mountain path.

"Oh...there's more..." Liu Nannan exclaimed in surprise, then dropped the basket and ran over, frantically rummaging through the grass. There, just a few steps away from the small pit, were five wild ginseng plants growing scattered among the grass. One of them had a broken stem, and judging from the broken end, it had been there for quite some time. They were very well hidden, and you would never have found them if you weren't looking for them specifically.

"Including Zhang Yang's tree, there are six trees in total. There are six of us, so one tree for each of us..." Liu Nannan laughed so hard she almost swooned.

Wild ginseng is a rare treasure of nature, and whoever finds it owns it. At this point, it's really hard to say who found it. Anyway, Zhang Yang dug one up and ate it like a radish. He didn't see the remaining five. The key point is that Liu Nannan found these five wild ginseng thanks to Zhang Yang. If she hadn't found them, he would definitely have searched for them too. He just got there first. So, they decided to treat the six of them as a group and share them together.

Wild ginseng is very valuable when it is intact. Even a single broken root can cost a lot of money. Since no one had experience digging for ginseng, they knew that digging rashly would definitely break the roots. So, Yang Ming suggested a simple method: dig up the soil around the wild ginseng, dig deep enough to ensure the roots remain intact.

Five wild ginseng roots, still covered in soil, were dug up and taken home. They were placed in a large basin filled with water, and the soil was washed away. The five plump, baby-like wild ginseng roots were thus unearthed intact, without a single root broken.

Wei Qingqing brought an electronic scale from the house and weighed the ginseng one by one. Most of them weighed more than half a jin, but Zhang Yang's was the biggest. He had eaten half of it and estimated it to be 2.8 jin. This half was heavier than the other five combined. If it were whole, it would weigh at least 4 jin.

However, these six ginseng roots are all fresh; drying them would yield a lot of extract...

Looking at the data displayed on the electronic scale for the half-eaten wild ginseng, Zhang Yang felt rather embarrassed. Yang Ming, Wei Qingqing, Sun Fangfang, Liu Nannan, and even Xiao Bao'er all stared at him with the eyes of someone looking at livestock. This time, they finally understood what it meant to be a cow chewing on a peony. However, Xiao Bao'er didn't understand why the adults were looking at Uncle Zhang Yang like that; she was just following the crowd.

"Four catties of ginseng must be worth a lot of money, right?" Sun Fangfang asked Liu Nannan.

"North China ginseng can't compare to Northeast ginseng, but it's not much different. If it sells well, it can be worth... more than ten million... It's a ginseng king." Liu Nannan thought for a moment and said.

Sun Fangfang's face turned ashen, veins popping out on her forehead. She glared at Zhang Yang with eyes that seemed to spit fire. This bastard, this stinking old ox, ate ten million in one go! Sun Fangfang's heart was bleeding. If she had ten million, only a fool would work every day, busy to death, being treated like a beast of burden by his boss. She would have already run off to a secluded, beautiful mountain village with Yang Mingwei and lived a quiet life.

Zhang Yang felt even more regretful. Why had he been so impulsive? This ginseng tasted bad, made him feel unwell after eating it, and more importantly, he had just spent ten million yuan on it. But, wasn't there still half a root left? He hurriedly asked, "Sister Liu, tell me, how much can this half root sell for?"

"Hmm... about one-tenth..." Liu Nannan thought for a moment and said.

"Thank goodness, I didn't lose a fortune..." Zhang Yang finally felt a little comforted.

"But you need to sell it quickly, otherwise the medicinal effects will dissipate and it won't be worth anything," Liu Nannan added.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go to the county pharmacy and sell them right now..." Sun Fangfang said hurriedly.

The couple grabbed a ginseng root and ran outside, practically racing against time.

"Wait for me, I'll go with you..." Liu Nannan also grabbed a wild ginseng and ran out after them.

"Mom and Dad, shall we go?" Little Bao asked, looking up at his mother.

"We're not going." Yang Ming carefully put away the two wild ginseng roots, and then asked Wei Qingqing to take Xiao Bao'er's root to Liu Sao for safekeeping. Such a valuable thing should be kept by the mother. Xiao Bao'er happily followed along, feeling that he was already a great contributor.

After Xiao Bao'er left, Yang Ming directly put the two wild ginseng plants into the farm space and planted them in the orchard. These plants are perennial herbaceous plants, belonging to mountain products, and are perfect for planting in the orchard.

After doing all that, Yang Ming started cooking. These past two days, Aunt Liu had been busy with tailoring and hadn't even had time to cook. Yang Ming and the others cooked the meal and delivered it directly to her.

Wei Qingqing returned with Xiao Bao'er in no time. Xiao Bao'er's eyes were a little swollen and she was sobbing. Wei Qingqing told Yang Ming that when Liu Sao got the wild ginseng, she was stunned. After a while, she covered her face and started crying. When Xiao Bao'er saw her mother crying, she also started crying. It took Wei Qingqing a while to comfort the mother and daughter. With the wild ginseng as a foundation, Liu Sao was even more energetic.

After lunch, Yang Ming and Wei Qingqing took a nap on the kang (a heated brick bed), while Xiao Bao'er sat on the edge of the kang watching TV. Knowing she couldn't disturb her godparents, the little girl turned the TV volume down to the lowest setting, barely audible, so only she could hear it.

At 3 p.m., Zhang Yang and the others returned. Sun Fangfang was carrying a large bag of money and crying as she came back. She kept twisting Zhang Yang's arm. If it weren't for his words, she would have been carrying the money in a sack by now.

Little Liu Nannan was happily carrying a black plastic bag. Judging from its outline, and with Sun Fangfang crying sadly in front of her, anyone who didn't know better would think someone had died and they were buying paper money for the dead.

"What's wrong? What's wrong?" Wei Qingqing saw her good friend crying with tears streaming down her face and quickly went over to comfort her.

Sun Fangfang cried and buried her face in Wei Qingqing's arms, bursting into tears.

"What's going on?" Yang Ming asked, looking at Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang was also in a bad mood. He had lost ten million, and his wife had dragged him all the way home. He squatted in a corner with a grim face and didn't say a word.

"The old master at the pharmacy said that Zhang Yang's wild ginseng is a thousand-year-old ginseng. If it were intact, it could sell for 15 million. Even if the main body is intact but the roots are gone, it could still sell for several million. However, after being damaged to this extent, it can only sell for 500,000 at most. Fangfang started crying as soon as she came out of the pharmacy," Liu Nannan said.

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(End of this chapter)