Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 99 Old Omen

Qu Shaoyang wanted to go look for him, and Liu Dongshan didn't stop him.

But he knew in his heart that even if he found that place, he might not find anything.

According to what Qu Shaoyang said in his dream, that piece of land should yield a harvest next year.

Making money from the mountains is a side job. Just like what Liu Dongshan said, it all depends on luck and how much fortune you have in your life.

Since it is next year’s wealth, you will definitely not be able to find it this year.

It took the master and disciple half a day to find the Bashanzui in Qu Shaoyang's dream and the big pine tree.

The big pine tree was very thick, enough for two people to hug.

Moreover, a piece of bark was peeled off at a height of about one person from the trunk, and some marks were made on the trunk with an axe.

That was the omen left here by the hermits.

There are rules for releasing ginseng into the mountains. Wherever you find ginseng, you must find a tree nearby, preferably a red pine.

Peel off a two-foot square piece of bark, and then carve on the trunk the number and size of the ginseng obtained, as well as the total number of people who released it into the mountains and other information.

If someone who comes later sees the omen, they will know that a stick had appeared nearby.

It's obvious that this sign has been around for many years. Logically, there must be an old man nearby.

But Qu Shaoyang searched around the old sign for several times, but still couldn't find any trace of the hammer.

"Shaoyang, let's go back. We'll come here again next year. Maybe you'll find it then." Liu Dongshan persuaded in the end.

Qu Shaoyang looked for it for a while but couldn't find it, so he gave up.

He looked around carefully and memorized the surrounding terrain and scenery in his mind so that he could find this place next year.

Afterwards, the master and disciple set off and returned the same way.

The two went back and packed up everything. They wrapped all the ginseng with moss and birch bark, made them into ginseng buns, and then put them into their bags.

Logically, since Qu Shaoyang and his friends got the ginseng, they should have cut it down as a sign of good fortune.

But this patch of ginseng was not far from the grave, so after discussing with his master, Qu Shaoyang decided not to cut it down.

Set up a wooden tombstone in front of the grave so that they can find it in the future.

Before leaving, Qu Shaoyang and Liu Dongshan came to the grave, knelt down and kowtowed respectfully.

“Although I don’t know which dynasty or generation the senior is from, it is fate that we met after so many years.

Thanks to you two, we have made a fortune here. We will never forget you in the future and will come to pay our respects to you during festivals."

Qu Shaoyang muttered something in front of the grave, then stood up and left the valley with Liu Dongshan.

Xiaodonggou is not very close to Maoer Mountain. The master and his disciple walked out of the mountain in the afternoon. When they arrived home, it was already the end of the Xu hour.

Liu Dongshan and Qu Shaoyang had been in the mountains for more than ten days and had not returned. Only Lin Ruolan and the three children were at home, so after dinner, Xiao Zhi locked the door.

As soon as Liu Dongshan and Qu Shaoyang arrived at the door of their house, the two dogs made a noise.

Of course, this is different from when a stranger approaches. The dog can tell that it is one of its own family, so the sound it makes is a bit like acting coquettish.

Liu Dongshan and Qu Shaoyang thought that it would be better not to make any big noise when coming back so late.

So the two of them first threw in the things they had brought from over the garden stick.

Then, the two of them jumped lightly over the garden stick and entered the yard.

The garden fences and gates of ordinary farmyards are meant to protect against gentlemen but not against villains.

What is really useful is the enclosure, the kind where rich landlords live.

There are several feet high walls built around the place, with watchtowers at the four corners and gunners patrolling at night.

If you build a fence, not to mention petty thieves, even bandits can’t easily break in.

To build a fence, not only a lot of money is needed, but also enough manpower is needed, and only a large family with a large population can do it.

At present, the Liu and Qu families do not have the conditions to build a fence. The two men jumped into the yard with their garden sticks, which really confused the two dogs in the house.

Why didn't he go through the main door but jumped in? Is he the owner of this house?

It should be. The smell is similar and the footsteps sound right. So, should I bite it or not?

While the two dogs tilted their heads in thought, Liu Dongshan had already walked quickly to the door and knocked gently.

"Ruolan, Xiaozhi, open the door quickly, we are back."

In the east room, Lin Ruolan had just finished feeding and coaxing the two babies to sleep.

When she heard the noise outside, she knew it was her husband who had returned, so she hurriedly put on her shoes, went out and opened the door.

"Finally you're back, why did it take so many days?" Lin Ruolan couldn't help but mutter.

"When we encounter a large batch of seedlings, it is quite troublesome to carry them out." Liu Dongshan explained softly.

"How's your family? Is everything alright? Has anyone come to your house to inquire about us recently?"

While working in the mountains, Liu Dongshan suddenly remembered something.

At the beginning, he asked Li Yongfu to come to his house to deliver a letter to Lin Ruolan, and then Lin Ruolan also asked Li Yongfu to bring a lot of food and daily necessities to the mountain farm.

Li Yongfu left because he was afraid that those thugs would know about the Liu family. If they brought the Guan family to Maoer Mountain, things would be difficult to handle.

"No, there haven't been any outsiders to our house recently.

The girl from Old Wang's family got engaged a while ago, and they said they would get married in the winter. Maybe her family is very strict, so she doesn't come to our house often."

The girl from the Wang family that Lin Ruolan was talking about was the daughter of the hunter Old Wang.

Didn't Wang Jiaxiang have high hopes for Qu Shaoyang? He wanted to marry his daughter to Qu Shaoyang, but later he regretted it when he found out that Qu Shaoyang was a fool.

The girl from the Wang family fell in love with Qu Shaoyang and always found excuses to come here.

When Qu Shaoyang went into the mountains to cut wood, the girl would come over every few days.

Later, the Wang family realized that this was not a good idea, so they found a marriage partner for him and arranged the marriage for him in the spring.

The girl from the Wang family didn't come anymore.

Liu Dongshan heaved a sigh of relief when he heard this. They had been back for more than half a month, and since no one came from Anton's side, it meant that it was no big deal.

"Shaoyang, don't go back to your place tonight, stay here."

It's late at night, why bother going back and forth? We can stay here anyway.

Qu Shaoyang didn't say anything else. He just nodded and followed his master and his wife into the house.

The things brought into the mountain were placed directly in the west room. Lin Ruolan quickly lit a fire and heated up some food for Liu Dongshan and Qu Shaoyang to eat.

"Hey, you two, eat slowly. There's still rice in the pot. It's enough."

Lin Ruolan looked at the two people wolfing down their food, feeling both distressed and amused.

"Dongshan, was the food you took away enough to eat?"

When Liu Dongshan came back to get his things, he brought some dry food, including millet seeds, corn briquets, etc.

But no matter how Lin Ruolan calculated, those things couldn't possibly last for so many days.

Lin Ruolan has been worried these days, wondering what the father and son are eating in the mountains and whether they will starve.

"It's OK. Shaoyang knows how to set traps. Otherwise, he can go hunt for prey or something. With the food, it's enough to deal with it."

There is a pool of water below the cave, where animals go to drink water every morning.

Qu Shaoyang followed the tracks of the animals, set traps and snares along the way, and he would get some harvest every day.

Occasionally we would hunt a roe deer or a wild boar, so we had enough food, but it was not as good as the comfort food at home.

(End of this chapter)