Crossing the Unknown Country

Su He bought alum stone yesterday. When he has time tonight, he will come back and try to get a piece of cloth to see if he can dye it black. It would be best if it has lotus seed shells, but they are probably not available until June or July.

She feels that her days are now packed with one thing after another, and sometimes she feels like she is just as busy as before.

They hadn't been into the mountains together for several days, so today they decided to walk a little further in to see if they could find some rare medicinal herbs and try their best to buy a cow as soon as possible, so that it would be easier to work in the fields and it would only take half a day to get to the city.

The five of them tied up their trouser legs and sleeves, and walked deeper into the cave while knocking with long sticks in their hands. They searched everywhere as they walked. There were indeed some rare herbs in these sparsely populated areas, but they were rare and not precious. Su He followed his brother to pick them all, and they could also be exchanged for money.

As they were walking, they suddenly heard a rustling sound in front of them. The five of them stopped and started beating with sticks. They heard the rustling sound going away. After listening for a while, they could no longer hear the sound. Then Su Pei took them to the front to take a look. They saw some grass lying in a mess, which seemed to have been crushed by something. Suddenly, Su He saw a special plant. After taking a closer look, she shouted happily, "Brother, brother, look at the ginseng..."

She ran to the front and squatted down. The ginseng leaves were palmately compound leaves with long petioles and five forks. There were five green leaves and a cluster of small red fruits on the branches. She confirmed again and again that this was a ginseng plant that was about a hundred years old. She needed to dig it out carefully.

The four brothers also squatted around happily and observed together. The more they looked, the more similar it was. They had also seen it in medical books. They just didn't know how to dig it. They had to listen to Su He. Su He told his brothers to pay attention to the possibility of snakes around, and to be careful. They could also light a small fire to prevent the snakes from coming back. The one that ran away just now must be a snake. There are usually snakes around ginseng.

Su He took the newly bought knife, cut a few branches, and asked her brother to help cut a few small sticks of different sizes with different front points and flatness. She didn't care about the dirt, she just lay on the ground and began to dig ginseng carefully. First, take off the red cloth strip from her head and tie it to the root. I don't know why, but I heard that it is best to use a red rope to remember it. If there is no red rope, use red cloth! This is the satin cloth given by the owner of the cloth shop. First, use a smallest stick to dig it slowly bit by bit, blowing it with your mouth, and digging along the roots of the ginseng bit by bit. It took more than two hours, or about five hours. In the middle, Su He got up to move her numb legs a few times, and then lay down again to continue digging. Because there are too many roots and they cannot be dug through, Su He would rather go slowly than rush.

As time went by, a human-shaped root system appeared. The brothers did not dare to speak loudly, but could only communicate with their eyes to express their inexpressible throbbing in their hearts. Finally, Su He carefully took out the ginseng with his hands, which was about six taels.

Su He was too embarrassed to take off her clothes, so she said to her second brother Su Run, "Second brother, take off your shirt and wrap the ginseng. Let's go home quickly! We will go to town to see Doctor Jin tomorrow."

Su Run took off his shirt without hesitation, came over quietly, wrapped the ginseng, handed it to Su He and put it in her small basket. Su Pei hugged Su He and called his brothers to go home together. The five of them rushed home as fast as they could. They smiled and watched their feet all the way, fearing that something would delay their time. Several people did not look around, but watched their feet closely. On the way, Su Che asked Su Pei to walk behind him, because it was difficult to see the road while holding Su He, so he took the initiative to lead the way in front, and told the people behind him how to go loudly all the way.

Everyone was very excited. They might make a lot of money this time. Although they didn't know the exact amount, it must be a large sum. They all knew that wealth should not be exposed. When they reached the foot of the mountain, they stuffed their baskets with grass and went home.

When they met the children from the village on the way, they complained to Su Pei: "You are not a good friend for not inviting us to go into the mountains with you."

Su Pei said in a good-tempered manner: "I will definitely take you with me next time. I didn't intend to go this time, and I just walked in."

Some children looked at Su Run wearing only his underwear and asked him, "What's wrong with Su Run? He's only wearing his underwear."

Su Run said: "The clothes are too dirty, I asked my sister to keep them!"

After everyone greeted each other, they went about their business. They hurried home. When they got home, Su He took the ginseng out of his clothes and asked them to take a good look. He went to the house and found a piece of light-colored silk cloth to wrap the ginseng.

The four brothers were all lying on the table, looking at the ginseng, feeling that this was the first time they had seen real ginseng. After Su He let them see enough, he carefully wrapped it with silk cloth and put it in a small basket he had woven.