The whole mountain is my hunting ground.

Chapter 1910 The Secret of Wild Ginseng's Rebirth: Two Jiazi Transformation into a Fifth-Grade Leaf

“Brother-in-law, I can’t do the work of building the watchtower over there. I saw that Li Ruhai was just standing there clumsily in the way, so I told him, ‘Let’s go over to the woods over there and see if we can find a stick.’”

On the way back to the hut, Ma Yang recounted with great enthusiasm how he discovered the wild ginseng.

Li Ruhai, who was walking behind, kept rolling his eyes at the back of Ma Yang's head, but even if he rolled his eyes out, it was Ma Yang who discovered the clumsy thing this time.

If this were in the ginseng-making circles of Lingnan, the shrewd Ma Yang would sit there with an air of superiority, and immediately someone would be there to massage his shoulders and legs and fan him.

Therefore, Li Ruhai was extremely grateful that his home was in Lingxi. It would have been too humiliating for him to have to massage Ma Yang's shoulders and legs.

"I went over there and took a look, and damn it, it's a clubleaf!" Ma Yang, unaware of what Li Ruhai was thinking, gestured to Zhao Jun and Wang Qiang and said, "Then I turned around and saw there was still one seedling!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Jun and Wang Qiang, uncle and nephew, both gave Ma Yang a thumbs up.

Putting everything else aside, Ma Yang's luck is truly unparalleled.

There's a saying that's been circulating among those who go hiking in the mountains.

Wild ginseng is a gift from the mountain god and the old foreman; only the blessed can see it. If you're not lucky, even if your trouser leg brushes against a red hammer, you won't catch a glimpse of this ginseng seedling.

Therefore, there is a saying in the mountain travel: "A stick recognizes fortune, not people."

Faced with Zhao Jun and Wang Qiang's praise, Ma Yang grinned and said, "I knew it. You need real skills to climb the mountain. Just talking big won't do."

Upon hearing Ma Yang's words, Xie Chen, who was walking behind, nudged Li Ruhai with his shoulder.

Li Ruhai understood these sarcastic remarks perfectly. He glanced sideways at the back of Ma Yang's head, seemingly lost in thought.

"Don't say anything more, little brother." At this moment, Zhao Jun patted Ma Yang on the shoulder and said, "After these two ginseng seedlings are brought out, we'll sell them and give you an extra share."

"Hey!" Ma Yang waved his hand dismissively and said, "Alright, brother-in-law, that little Jiazi can't be that old. If you don't like it, you can save it for my sister to eat."

Upon hearing Ma Yang's words, Zhao Jun's expression changed, and he slapped Ma Yang on the back, saying, "You can't say that!"

Once he realized what was happening, Ma Yang covered his mouth. There are many taboos in the rafting business. How can you complain about a raft being too small before it has even been unearthed?

Seeing Ma Yang being slapped, Li Ruhai's face lit up with joy. He took a step forward, intending to kick him while he was down, but was stopped by Li Baoyu.

Li Ruhai turned around and saw Li Baoyu winking at him. Although Ma Yang had made a minor mistake, he had just performed a great service, and given his special status, even Zhao Jun wouldn't blame him too much.

Sure enough, after patting Ma Yang on the back, Zhao Jun gave him a sweet treat, saying, "Little Yang, since you've made up your mind to go hiking with me, then you should put in more effort and learn what you need to learn. When we're done, we can practice our skills again sometime. I'll do the first strike, and you'll do the second."

Upon hearing Zhao Jun's words, Zhang Yuanmin, who was following behind, changed his expression and hurriedly stepped forward, calling out, "Brother..."

When Zhao Jun went to Lingnan to meet the Shao family gang, he personally announced in front of the leaders of the two gangs that Zhang Yuanmin was the deputy leader of the Zhao family gang.

The deputy leader of a ginseng gang is usually the second-in-command when ginseng is released into the mountains.

When Zhang Yuanmin returned from Lingnan and walked through the old hamlet in front of the shed, he was indeed the second-best.

Zhang Yuanmin was very proud of this identity. Although it wasn't an official position, it reflected his status among his brothers.

Unexpectedly, he lost his position after only one successful attempt as a second-in-command.

“Ah… Brother.” Zhao Jun turned around and glanced at Zhang Yuanmin, then said, “Little Yang is a good idea, let him take the second spot.”

Zhao Jun is a man of his word within the Zhao family clique. And what he said wasn't wrong; Ma Yang was incredibly lucky, something Zhang Yuanmin couldn't match.

Just as Zhang Yuanmin was feeling somewhat disappointed, Zhao Jun said to him, "Brother, you're still the deputy leader."

After saying this, Zhao Jun paused for a moment, then added with a smile, "You lift the club better than I do; your hand is so steady."

"Hahaha..." Zhang Yuanmin couldn't stop laughing when Zhao Jun praised his steady hands. His family, starting with his grandfather, had been known for their skilled craftsmen in the Eighteen Hills area. And with Zhang Yuanmin, there was no job he couldn't do.

But it was only after working with Zhao Jun to carry ginseng in the mountains that Zhang Yuanmin found the value of his hands.

Zhang Yuanmin, who had just secured his position as deputy foreman, was only happy for two seconds when he heard Ma Yang say to Zhao Jun, "Brother-in-law, how many deputy foreman's can a ginseng gang have?"

"Just one!" Before Zhao Jun could speak, Li Ruhai interjected, "The Shao family gang has dozens of people, but they only have one deputy leader."

Upon hearing this, Ma Yang turned around and glared at Li Ruhai, then turned to Zhao Jun and asked, "Brother-in-law, where is the Third Master?"

“Where are there any ‘three leaders’?” Li Ruhai said. “I know so many ginseng gangs in Fusong, and I’ve never heard of any family having a ‘three leaders’.”

“I’m talking to my brother-in-law, what’s it to you?” Ma Yang turned around and retorted to Li Ruhai, then looked at Zhao Jun with anticipation, hoping that Zhao Jun could arrange a position for him.

Zhao Jun glanced at Ma Yang but didn't respond. This kid's gotten a bit cocky lately; if they arrange another official position for him, his in-laws might even have to split up their family property.

Seeing that Zhao Jun didn't say anything, Li Ruhai chuckled, thinking about how to use his position as the manager of the ginseng gang to make things difficult for Ma Yang. But after thinking it over, he realized that his position as the manager of the ginseng gang was just a name without substance.

The group returned to their shack amidst their chatter and laughter, where Xing San had already prepared the kang (heated brick bed).

And so, Zhao Jiabang went to bed on the kang (heated brick bed). The next morning, Zhao Jun led his men, carrying toiletries and water buckets, straight to the river.

The group walked past the watchtower, out of the woods and onto the stone embankment. The first thing they saw was three piles of potatoes that Zhao Jun had piled up there.

"Brother-in-law, it moved!" Ma Yang excitedly shouted to Zhao Jun when he saw two potatoes rolling on the ground.

Zhao Jun and Wang Qiang quickly went over and picked up the rolled-down potato, noticing shallow grooves on its surface.

Zhao Jun handed the half-eaten potato to Ma Yang. Ma Yang glanced at it and blurted out, "This looks like something a mouse would have eaten."

“It was a rat that knocked it over.” Wang Qiang agreed with Ma Yang’s words. He threw the potato in his hand on the ground and said to Zhao Jun, “Nephew, you don’t need to squat here tonight.”

"Okay," Zhao Jun replied, and walked towards the river.

After washing up by the river, Xing San, along with Zhao Jinhui and Ma Yang, carried buckets back to the shack to cook, while Zhao Jun led Wang Qiang, Zhang Yuanmin, and a few others to carry ginseng.

Li Ruhai was one of the main men carrying the ginseng, so when they parted ways, Li Ruhai gave Ma Yang a provocative look.

Ma Yang glared and retorted, but then Xing San's voice rang in his ears: "Hey kid, watch where you're going when you're carrying water!"

"Hey, Third Uncle." Ma Yang, no matter how cocky he was, didn't dare to show off to Xing San. He obediently responded and then followed Xing San back to the shack.

Zhao Jun and his group arrived at the place where Ma Yang had found the wild ginseng yesterday. They had found it late yesterday, and even if they had carried it out by nightfall, they wouldn't have been able to get it out.

Therefore, the Zhao family left a mark and will come back at dawn today.

Upon arriving at this location, Li Baoyu took out his dagger and cut out the master's mansion from a nearby pine tree. Zhang Yuanmin then took out a red cloth from his pocket, wrapped it around the tree, and covered the master's mansion.

At this moment, Wang Qiang handed the three lit straw sticks to Zhao Jun.

Zhao Jun accepted the incense and stood solemnly in front of the master's mansion. He didn't believe in this at first, but since Wang Qiang and the others did, he had no choice but to obey the majority.

After Wang Qiang, Li Baoyu and the others stood behind Zhao Jun, Zhao Jun shouted "Kneel," and everyone knelt down in front of the tree with him.

Zhao Jun raised the three straw sticks above his head and loudly prayed to the mountain god and the old foreman to bless them with peace and that the straw sticks would not rust for a thousand years or develop spots for ten thousand years.

After the prayers were finished, Zhao Jun stuck three straw sticks into the ground, and then led everyone in bowing three times.

After Zhao Jun finished bowing, he had just straightened up when Li Ruhai quickly came over and helped him up.

In this respect, Li Ruhai was not like someone in charge, but rather like a general manager.

After getting up, Zhao Jun went to Miao Erjiazi's place, and Zhang Yuanmin handed him a red cloth bag.

Zhao Jun opened it, and inside was a deer antler key and a red string with copper coins strung on it.

At this moment, Li Baoyu and Xie Chen came over with wooden sticks. Li Baoyu inserted two "Y"-shaped Kabbalah sticks on both sides of the two Kabbalah sticks, and Xie Chen placed the two ends of the straight stick in his hand on the two Kabbalah sticks respectively.

The two men stepped back, and Zhao Jun stepped forward, wrapped the two ends of the red rope around the two ends of the horizontal straight stick, and then let the middle part of the red rope hang down, making it wrap around the ground stem of the second Jiazi.

During the mountain trek, there is a legend about running wild ginseng in the mountains, and more than one person has experienced it.

Therefore, before carrying the wild ginseng, the herders would tie the above-ground stems of the wild ginseng with red ropes containing copper coins to prevent the ginseng from running away.

The red rope with copper coins attached is called a "club lock" by the mountain herders.

The ginseng that the Zhao family helped carry in the past didn't have any above-ground stems, so we never used this.

Logically, Zhao Jun brought everyone here intending to take a two-pronged approach and proceed simultaneously to bring out both ginseng seedlings.

In that case, the fourth leaf over there should also be tied up with a club lock.

These days, copper coins are very common in the countryside, and everyone in the Zhao family gang has one of these mallet locks.

The Zhao family gang has no shortage of clubs and locks, but the reason why no one is binding that fourth-rank Ye is because they have another ceremony to perform.

The Zhao family gang, led by Zhao Jun, knelt down before the second Jiazi statue as if worshipping a talisman.

Zhao Jun raised both hands high and shouted, "Thank you, Mountain God and Old Foreman, for bestowing the key to open the mountain!"

As soon as Zhao Jun finished speaking, he touched the ground with his hands and forehead, and the members of the Zhao family all kowtowed in unison.

Zhao Jun bowed three times and thanked him three times, then straightened up and said, "Keep a close watch on the area; there must be a lot of cargo around here!"

Zhao Jun's words were also part of the ceremony, representing a beautiful hope.

As soon as Zhao Jun finished speaking, Wang Qiang and the others responded in unison.

Then, Wang Qiang, Zhang Yuanmin, Li Baoyu, Xie Chen, and Li Ruhai stood up. Li Ruhai rushed to Zhao Jun's side, but this time he did not help Zhao Jun. Instead, he took out a deer antler key from his pocket and wanted to carry the two Jiazi together with Zhao Jun.

As for Wang Qiang and Zhang Yuanmin, the two of them took out their clubs and headed towards the fourth-grade leaf.

Holding a deer antler spoon, Zhao Jun probed down the stem of the Erjiazi plant, gently pushed it aside, and the soil opened to reveal the rhizome.

The horse tooth-shaped rhizome is clearly visible. After digging down a second time, you can see the date pit rhizome.

Seeing this, Li Ruhai sensed something was wrong, while Zhao Jun felt a surge of excitement.

The jujube pit has tendrils; this will be handled by Li Ruhai. Zhao Jun's hands didn't stop; he used the antler spoon to dig deeper, and the soft humus soil was pried and picked apart, revealing piles of flower-shaped and round reeds.

“Well…” Li Ruhai wanted to say something was wrong, but remembering that he shouldn’t talk carelessly while hunting, he quickly shut his mouth and looked at Zhao Jun.

Horse tooth reed, piled flower reed, and round reed are three forms of wild ginseng reed heads. When they appear at the same time, it is called a three-section reed in the trade.

When a wild ginseng seedling has three nodes, it is at least forty years old, a characteristic usually found only when it has nearly four leaves.

How could a ginseng with three sections have a growth period of 10 to 20 years?
The antler-shaped spoon continued to probe downwards, and the ginseng body appeared before Zhao Jun's eyes.

The ginseng skin is whitish and has obvious wrinkles.

Zhao Jun knew it was due to the soil quality and didn't pay much attention. Meanwhile, Li Baoyu and Xie Chen were whispering to each other behind Zhao Jun.

Jie Chen stared intently at the ginseng rootstock, silently counting the number of reeds in his mind. Once he had determined the ginseng's age, he couldn't help but whisper in Li Baoyu's ear, "This isn't just two Jiazi! This is at least eighty years old!"

Eighty years or more, that's a fifth-grade leaf!

A mere seedling, after two decades, has suddenly grown into a five-leaf variety! What's going on?
As Jie Chen spoke, Li Baoyu had already calculated the age of the "two-year cycle" seedling before him. He turned his face toward Jie Chen and whispered, "This is a reincarnation!"

"Ah!" Upon hearing Li Baoyu's words, Jie Chen suddenly realized. Ever since he entered the trade, he had heard people say that a second-grade jadeite is not necessarily a second-grade jadeite; some fifth-grade or sixth-grade jadeite pieces can be reborn as second-grade jadeite.

This is because the large buds of the wild ginseng are damaged, causing it to enter a dormant state.

During its dormancy period, wild ginseng does not produce leaves. When it ends its dormancy and sprouts new stems above ground, the first form it exhibits is two palm-sized leaves, commonly known as "two leaves".

This is one of the reasons why Erjiazi is called the key to opening the mountain. Another reason is that the appearance of Erjiazi indicates that there will be other wild ginseng nearby. Erjiazi is the key to entering Lao'anzi.

What you learn from books is never enough, let alone what you hear from others.

Previously, Li Baoyu and Xie Chen had no concept of wild ginseng's ability to transform into a newborn, but after witnessing it with their own eyes today, they realized that this was not just a legend.

After watching the excitement with Zhao Jun for a while, Li Baoyu and Xie Chen went to Zhang Yuanmin and Wang Qiang's side.

Due to the soil conditions, these two ginseng seedlings not only had whitish skin but also had many watery tendrils, which added a lot of work for Zhao Jun and his team.

And so, the two groups of people from the Zhao family carried the food from 5 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Xing San had already prepared the meal, but they couldn't wait for Zhao Jun and the others to return.

Xing San wanted to go and see, but Zhao Jinhui and Ma Yang had already run away, leaving him all alone.

Two ginseng seedlings emerged from the ground one after the other. Zhao Jun held the rhizome and examined the ginseng carefully.

This ginseng isn't anything special, nor is it a rare find, but it has all five elements, so it should sell for a normal price.

The ginseng that Zhang Yuanmin and Wang Qiang brought out was too small. Although it was a fourth-grade leaf, it was only a little over one qian (a unit of weight), which might not even be enough to weigh.

But Zhao Jun didn't care; the ginseng wasn't enough to weigh, so he decided to save it for Ma Ling to nourish her body.

While Zhao Jun and his three companions were carrying ginseng, Li Baoyu and his group had already prepared moss and pine bark.

They started packing the two ginseng seedlings, and Zhao Jun urged, "Let's hurry back and eat after we're done packing, I'm starving."

How could I not be hungry? I would have eaten long ago at this time every day when I'm at home.

But just as Zhao Jun finished speaking, Ma Yang's voice came from not far away: "Fool! Fool!"

Happy New Year to all my brothers! Wishing you good health!