Traveling through the famine, I stockpiled supplies like crazy

They were busy until about ten o'clock, and then they went to rest...

The next morning, the two of them set out to look for herbs, carrying baskets on their backs. They didn't go too far today, but stayed close to home so that they could get home in the evening.

The two first went to the river and collected the fish baskets that they had put down last night.

Today's harvest is even better than yesterday's! I emptied five large wooden barrels of fish and shrimps in a row before I harvested all the fish and shrimps in the fish baskets. This time I put in more fish baskets, so the harvest was also greater.

I moved the fish basket to another location and brought it up again when I came back in the evening.

After collecting the fish baskets, they continued walking forward to look for medicinal herbs together.

Xu Han didn’t know many medicinal herbs, or rather, she didn’t know many valuable medicinal herbs.

I only know some common herbs, and they can't be sold at much price, so I have never picked herbs to sell.

Today we mainly dug up rhizomes of medicinal herbs, which are relatively more expensive.

Finding this kind of medicinal materials still depends mainly on Lu Chuan. After all, he would go to the mountains to look for medicinal materials in exchange for money from late autumn to early spring every year.

In this regard, Xu Han is indeed not as good as Lu Chuan, and she will need to learn more from Lu Chuan later.

Not long after they walked, Lu Chuan stopped and pointed to a piece of medicinal material and said to Xu Han, "This is Polygonatum sibiricum, a perennial plant. The main medicinal part is its rhizome. It can replenish qi, nourish yin, strengthen the spleen and moisten the lungs, etc."

He added, "You can see that its leaves and plants are easy to recognize. But the preparation is a little troublesome, as it needs to be steamed and dried nine times."

Xu Han took a look and found that they were indeed easy to recognize, and they grew in groups.

But Xu Han was very curious about how he knew these herbs, so she asked, "How do you know these herbs? Who taught you?"

"When I was young, I often lived with my mother at my grandmother's house. There was a doctor in the village, and I often went to his house to help him dry the herbs. After a long time, he also taught me to recognize some common herbs. Later, I bought a book about herbs and recognized some more by myself."

Xu Han has always known that Lu Chuan can read, but she didn't know that he also took the initiative to learn about herbal medicine. She only knew that he knew about herbal medicine and thought he learned it from Lu's father!

After listening to what Lu Chuan said, Xu Han stopped hesitating and took out tools from the space and started digging Polygonatum with Lu Chuan.

After digging everything out, we had dug up nearly half a basket of Polygonatum, which was quite a lot.

The two continued walking forward, looking for the next Chinese medicinal herb. As they walked, Lu Chuan suddenly changed direction and walked towards a tree.

"This is Polygonum multiflorum. It nourishes the liver and kidneys, improves the essence and blood. It is a climbing plant. Its leaves are shaped like hearts, so it is relatively easy to recognize."

Xu Han knew that many modern people buy shampoo containing Polygonum multiflorum in order to promote hair growth!

After Lu Chuan found the rhizome, he simply cut off the vine and started digging out the Polygonum multiflorum underneath.

Xu Han saw another one not far away. After saying hello to Lu Chuan, she turned around and went to dig the one over there.

After Lu Chuan finished digging, he came over to help Xu Han dig Polygonum multiflorum.

They continued walking forward and came to the pine forest. Lu Chuan took Xu Han over there.

As they walked, Lu Chuan said, "There are usually Poria cocos in pine forests. Let's go look for it."

“Poria cocos grows in pine forests and is relatively easy to find. If there is soil at the roots of the pine trees, there may be Poria cocos underneath.

Poria cocos is actually a fungus that parasitizes the roots of pine trees. Its main effects are to strengthen the spleen and calm the mind.

Xu Han listened patiently to Lu Chuan's introduction and followed him in the search.

"There might be something here. Let's dig it out and take a look." Lu Chuan said, pointing to a bulge.

Then he started digging, and after a while he dug out a big round ball of earth.

"This is Poria cocos. After removing its skin, the inside is like cassava." Lu Chuan explained further.

"This pine forest is very large. Let's let the dogs search for it like we did before!" Xu Han suggested.

"Okay! This saves time!" Then he called the dogs over.

After the dogs smelled the scent, they immediately dispersed and began to search.

After a while, Maodou's cry was heard, and they hurried over to see. Tangyuan also started crying over there, so Lu Chuan had no choice but to go over there again.

Xu Han started to dig Poria cocos according to Lu Chuan's instructions, and she actually found one. This one was much bigger than the previous one.

The two dug a total of 17 Poria cocos in this pine forest, which weighed at least to kilograms!

It was still early, and the two walked forward. They saw some Polygonum multiflorum and Polygonatum sibiricum, as well as some other medicinal herbs one after another.

"Look what this is? It's called Gastrodia elata." Lu Chuan pointed to a plant and said.

"Gastrodia elata is easier to recognize. It has no leaves, just an upright stem. Gastrodia elata has the effect of dispelling wind and unblocking meridians. Today we dug up a lot of medicinal herbs that can be used as both medicine and food. They can be used as medicine and in cooking."

"But I don't know how to cook medicinal food! What if something happens to me after eating it?" Xu Han said in confusion.

"No, if it is processed properly and consumed in small amounts, it will only benefit our bodies and will not cause any harm. I will teach you how to do it when we get back." Lu Chuan comforted.

Xu Han was half-believing and half-doubting Lu Chuan's words. She believed in his knowledge of medicinal materials, but doubted his cooking skills. Hmm! It was really unpalatable.

Or he said he would do it himself when the time comes! Don't waste the ingredients.

Lu Chuan just smiled and said nothing to Xu Han's tangled expression. He could more or less guess the reason.

After the two men finished digging the Gastrodia elata nearby, they had lunch on the spot.

Lu Chuan said, "Come on, I'll take you to dig up some truly valuable medicinal herbs."

"What? Is it more valuable than what we just dug up?" Xu Han asked as she followed Lu Chuan, jumping up and down excitedly.

But Lu Chuan wanted to tease Xu Han and decided not to tell her.

After arriving, Xu Han finally understood what it was. No wonder Lu Chuan said it was valuable! It turned out to be Dendrobium!

"Do you know it?" Lu Chuan asked in surprise.

"Yes! I know it, it's Dendrobium! I've seen it before, it's really valuable."

"This dendrobium was discovered a long time ago. Every year I come here to pick half of it and leave the other half for it to continue growing."

This Dendrobium grows on the edge of a cliff, and it is not easy to pick it if needed.

But it was obviously not a difficult task for Lu Chuan. He was already ready and was about to go down!

"Are we going to pick all of them this time? Or leave some for next year when the drought comes," said Xu Han.