Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 96: Hammer, Sixth-grade Leaf
Although I was unable to see the entire cave this time, I did get a lot of gold, silver and jewelry, which is considered a considerable gain.

The master and disciple were not greedy and continued exploring, but came out of the cave with the things.

“Shao Yang, where did you bury those two skeletons?

Since you have obtained so many of their relics, you should go and pay homage to them as a sign of respect for the deceased."

Coming out of the cave, Liu Dongshan reminded Qu Shaoyang.

"It's over there on the hillside. I don't know much about feng shui, so I picked a place that I thought was good and dug a hole to bury them."

Qu Shaoyang pointed to the hillside not far away. "Master, come with me."

The valley runs roughly east-west.

At that time, Qu Shaoyang found a relatively flat location on the northern hillside with good wind and sunshine, and buried the two skeletons.

"It's right here. I didn't have the right tools at the time, so I finally dug a hole and buried it. I didn't even erect a tombstone or anything."

Qu Shaoyang led Liu Dongshan to a small mound.

After more than half a year, the newly dug soil was already covered with weeds.

Fortunately, I came here again this year. If it were a few years later, the weeds would grow thicker and thicker, and it would become increasingly difficult to find this mound.

"Come on, let's tidy up the grass around and clean it up.

When I have time, come back with a shovel, a pickaxe or something and add more soil to the grave.

Since you have inherited the legacy, come and take a look every year." Liu Dongshan instructed his apprentice.

Qu Shaoyang thought about it and agreed that the dead are the greatest.

Besides, he was allowed to take all the things that people left behind, so he should be more respectful.

So Qu Shaoyang drew out his knife and went forward to clear the weeds.

Liu Dongshan was clearing weeds in front of the grave, and Qu Shaoyang went around to work behind the grave.

He was holding a knife in his hand and was about to cut down a pile of weeds behind the grave when his eyes suddenly fell on a plant not far away.

The plant has a purple-black stem with six palm-shaped compound leaves below and a cluster of small green fruits on top of the stem.

The small fruit has not yet grown and is just a flat piece the size of a soybean.

"This, is this a hammer?"

Qu Shaoyang couldn't quite believe his eyes, so he took a step forward and squatted down to take a closer look.

He stared at the plant for a long time and finally confirmed that it was a ginseng.

"Bangchui, Master, there is a Bangchui here." Qu Shaoyang shouted.

Liu Dongshan was cleaning up the grave. He was stunned when he heard this. Almost subconsciously, Liu Dongshan asked, "What grade of leaves?"

When releasing the mountain, people usually pay attention to calling out to the mountain and then receiving the mountain.

When people who go into the mountains to graze ginseng encounter ginseng, they should shout "bangchui" loudly.

When the people traveling with him heard it, they immediately took the opportunity to ask about the grade of the leaves, which meant the size of the club.

Generally speaking, it is easy to get good stuff from leaves of grade five or above, especially from leaves of grade six, the chance of getting good stuff from leaves of grade six is ​​very high.

"Six-grade leaves."

Qu Shaoyang had counted them carefully several times. There were a total of six palmate compound leaves on the ginseng seedling, which were indeed grade six leaves.

Generally speaking, after ginseng grows six leaves, the number of leaves will no longer increase.

Unless it is eaten by insects, bitten by rats or frozen, it may remain unearthed for many years.

When it grows again, it may have two or five leaves, which is called the rebirth ginseng.

When Liu Dongshan heard about the sixth-grade leaf, he immediately became excited and rushed to Qu Shaoyang in a few steps. He looked down along Qu Shaoyang's hand and saw that it was not a seedling of club.

Judging from the thickness of the stem of the mallet, perhaps there is a big ginseng seedling underneath.

Liu Dongshan shouted happily, "It went smoothly, it went smoothly."

After shouting this, Liu Dongshan became troubled.

The father and son went into the mountain today for the things in the cave and didn't think about releasing them from the mountain at all.

The main reason is that the ginseng seeds have not grown and matured yet in this season. They are still green and mixed with the grass and trees, making them difficult to find.

For most people, the best time to release ginseng into the wild is in July and August, when the ginseng seeds are ripe and red.

The red ginseng seeds are very conspicuous among the green grass and are easy to distinguish.

According to different solar terms, the mountain releasing can be divided into several stages: bud grass market, green grass market, leek flower market, small clamped grass market, big clamped grass market, green hammer market, flower rooster market, red hammer market and yellow umbrella market.

Except for the Red Hammer City, at other times, unless you are an experienced old mountain dog, ordinary people will never see the hammer when they enter the mountains.

When Liu Dongshan's uprising failed, he hid in the mountains and forests. He lived with an old mountain herder for two years and learned a lot of hunting and herding skills from him.

But he didn't dare to say that he had the ability to find the hammer in Dajiabian City.

Therefore, this time when they went into the mountains, the master and the disciple did not think about this, they just wanted to look into the cave to see if there was anything they could take away.

Therefore, the two of them did not bring any belongings with them when they went hiking.

They didn't bring any deer antler keys, deer bone picks, or mallet locks. How could they carry the mallet out?

"Shaoyang, how about you stay here and I go home to prepare things?
Without the right tools, we can't lift the hammer out.

This is a sixth-grade leaf. What if there is a big piece of stuff underneath and we break it?" Liu Dongshan suggested after hesitating for a long time.

Qu Shaoyang thought about it and felt that his master's suggestion was feasible. They didn't have anything at the moment, so they couldn't just use a knife to dig, right?

If you dig out the ginseng roots, all your efforts will be wasted.

Another thing is, we don’t know how big this mallet is. What if it takes a long time to lift it?
They only brought one day's worth of dry food. What would they do if they had nothing to eat?
"Master, how about I go back and get something? I'm young and my legs are fast."

"No, no, just stay here and don't go anywhere.

This is your wealth, you have to keep it by yourself, it’s useless for me to keep it.” Liu Dongshan shook his head and laughed.

Generally speaking, the great fortunes in the mountains are all unconventional, and those who are not destined to be rich will not encounter them.

Qu Shaoyang went into the mountains for the first time last year and accidentally fell into this valley. He accidentally entered a cave, found two skeletons, and got a precious sword.

At the same time, he killed a blind bear and got a golden gall.

He was just being kind-hearted at the moment, so he moved the skeleton out of the cave and buried it. When he came to worship again this year, he unexpectedly found the hammer again.

All these signs indicate one thing: Qu Shaoyang is born with fortune, so good things happen to him wherever he goes.

Liu Dongshan thought about it and realized that he had been traveling alone in the Northeast for so many years and had not encountered many good things.

But since he accepted this apprentice, he got a wife and built a house.

Now I have both a son and a daughter, and everything is going well. I can’t help but accept this.

That's why Liu Dongshan asked Qu Shaoyang to stay and guard the money while he went back to get the things.

"Master, look at what you said, what do you mean by my fortune? Isn't this something we encountered together?"

Qu Shaoyang laughed when he heard this. What does this have to do with anything?
"Well, don't argue with me. I'm telling you, there are some things you just have to believe.

Well, you stay here and take care of this ginseng. I will try to come back before the sun sets."

(End of this chapter)