Chapter 70: Jiaojiao is spoiled by the rough man

As if knowing what Su Wanwan wanted to ask, Xu Yan answered her question first.

"Why do you always sneak up the mountain like this? Have they never asked you?" In fact, Su Wanwan asked this question mainly because she wanted to know the answer herself.

Xu Yan seemed to be very different from other young men in the village, which made people curious.

"I earn a little money working in the fields all day, but at most I can only feed my family half full. My elder sister and second sister are getting old and will be married in the next two years. If I can't pack up some dowry, my father will feel ashamed."

"So you always go up the mountain to hunt in the middle of the night to prepare dowries for your two sisters?" Su Wanwan asked in surprise.

Xu Yan's answer made sense. It was indeed difficult for them to feed their family if they worked every day like this. However, the wild game in the mountains grew freely, and it would be a waste not to use it.

"I guess so." Xu Yan answered briefly, as if there was something he hadn't said yet.

But Su Wanwan's thoughts were already attracted by another possibility, and she didn't notice his concealment: "Then... there won't be many people hunting in the middle of the night like us, right?"

If all the able-bodied men in the village did this, wouldn't it be very embarrassing to meet them by chance in the mountains? Or if someone leaked these things, everyone would suffer.

"..." Xu Yan didn't expect Su Wanwan to ask this, and suddenly laughed: "No, I'm already very tired after working in the fields during the day, and the villagers just want to sleep after dinner."

“Aren’t you tired?”

After Su Wanwan finished the last bite of the pancake, her stomach was already very full.

"Not bad." The two stood up from the ground almost at the same time. Xu Yan found a sturdy wooden stick from somewhere and handed it to Su Wanwan as a crutch. He also handed the flashlight in the basket to her and carried the basket himself. "I have more energy."

Su Wanwan was speechless for a moment. Xu Yan was such a strange person!

The two walked along a path overgrown with weeds into the mountains. Su Wanwan carefully used the light of a flashlight to observe the various fungi and weeds that could be seen everywhere on the ground.

“Can all of these mushrooms be sold?”

Seeing Xu Yan carefully picking a kind of small white mushroom along the way, Su Wanwan observed for a while and picked a few as well.

"Well, this little white mushroom tastes good when cooked, and it also has some medicinal value, so it can be sold at a high price."

When Su Wanwan heard Xu Yan say that she could sell them for a high price, she picked mushrooms even faster.

Soon, the small bamboo basket that Xu Yan brought was filled with more than half.

“And this herb.”

Following the movements of Xu Yan's hands and with the help of the flashlight, Su Wanwan saw that Xu Yan was holding a piece of grass that looked like a **.

"This grass is called plantain, it has the effect of improving eyesight and is also a very popular herbal medicine."

The two walked up the mountain intermittently. Along the way, Su Wanwan learned the names of many herbs from Xu Yan's constant introductions.

Before we even reached the top of the mountain, the bamboo basket was full.

"It's getting late. Your parents will get suspicious if you go back any later." Xu Yan put the last small white mushroom into the bamboo basket and looked down the mountain.

They were now standing halfway up the mountain. From this angle, the already dim kerosene lamplight in the village was now even more blurry.

"Then how much can we sell these herbs we picked tonight for?" Su Wanwan nodded in agreement, leaning on her crutches and walking down the mountain carefully.

The flashlight's battery was exhausted. As the last faint light disappeared, all that was left was a pitch-black forest in front of the two men. Apart from the faint moonlight, there was no other light source.

"These herbs weigh less than 30 kilograms and can be sold for more than 100 yuan through my channels."

Hearing the price, Su Wanwan almost lost her balance on the wooden crutch in her hand.

How could this herb that can be found everywhere in the mountains be so valuable?

"Then you have to take me up the mountain to collect herbs more often in the future." Su Wanwan muttered, barely standing in front of a steep slope.

It was a close call. If she had walked a little further, she might have fallen off the mountain.

"Let me help you."

Before Su Wanwan could react, Xu Yan had already supported her arm.

With the faint moonlight, Su Wanwan suddenly felt her heartbeat quicken, and she secretly turned her head to look at Xu Yan who was supporting her——

It must be said that Xu Yan's face was already extraordinarily handsome even during the day, and his five-pipe look was just perfect.

At night, under the moonlight, his angular profile made him look like a movie star.

How can there be such a good-looking profile?

"What are you looking at?" Xu Yan noticed Su Wanwan's gaze and slowed down his pace down the mountain.

"Ah, nothing, I was just wondering... why didn't we see any animals tonight, not even a rabbit?" Su Wanwan awkwardly changed the subject and her speech became stuttering.

"You don't think there are wild animals everywhere in the mountains, do you? In fact, there are not many wild animals in the nearby mountains. They are mainly concentrated in Taohua Mountain. The mountains behind the radio station are mainly insects and herbs."

"Bugs?" Su Wanwan almost lost her balance again when she heard Xu Yan's words.

It’s the middle of the night, don’t scare her with these things!

"It's okay. We can catch centipedes and scorpions and sell them. They are all excellent Chinese medicine materials." Xu Yan looked at Su Wanwan's frightened expression and added lightly, "Maybe there is one under your feet."

"Stop talking... stop!"

Ever since she heard the word "bug", Su Wanwan felt her heels become weak. If Xu Yan hadn't been supporting her, she might have rolled down the mountain.

Su Wanwan was not afraid of anything. She could easily subdue wild animals like wild boars with her hiding space. However, she was only afraid of the crustaceans that could be seen everywhere.

Even if she had a hiding place, she felt very uncomfortable at the thought of these things crawling around under her feet.

"Don't worry, I'm here."

What's your use?

Su Wanwan complained silently in her heart, and her eyes involuntarily looked down at her feet.

However, the light was so dim that she could see nothing except a bunch of weeds wrapped around her ankles.

"Huh? What is this?"

When they were about to walk out of the mountain, Su Wanwan's attention was suddenly attracted by something glowing dark red at her feet.

Isn't this a coiled snake?

The blood in Su Wanwan's body suddenly flowed backwards, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't move her legs.

"Don't move, let me take a look."

Xu Yan put down the bamboo basket in his hand, comforted Su Wanwan, then slowly squatted down, pushed aside a few weeds, and got closer to take a look -

"We found a treasure."

"Ok?"

Su Wanwan was still in fear and didn't dare to move. She just turned her head slightly and watched Xu Yan's movements.

"This is a Ganoderma lucidum. It should be several decades old. If it is sold to a pharmacy, the price will be very high."

As Xu Yan spoke, he pulled out a small knife from his body and gently dug out the roots of the Ganoderma lucidum.

Su Wanwan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"How much can it be sold for?" Seeing Xu Yan carefully put the Ganoderma lucidum into the basket, Su Wanwan secretly thought to herself that next time she went into the mountains to collect herbs, she must wear boots.

"At least a hundred."

Su Wanwan took a deep breath, fearing that she hadn't heard clearly.

This makes much more money than hunting wild boars.

"Ganoderma lucidum like this is very rare. I have been collecting herbs on this mountain for several years, and this is the second time I have seen it."

You must have saved a lot of money then?

Su Wanwan's words came to her lips, but she swallowed them back.