You are unlucky and I am tough

It was still dark and the fog in the mountains had not yet dissipated, making everything misty. Wei Qinglang walked in front, leading the way, holding a bow in one hand and Cheng Shuang's wrist with the other to prevent her from slipping. The people behind him consciously lined up in an orderly manner and followed.

As we continued along the winding path, the sound of footsteps and voices broke the silence of the forest, occasionally startling the birds perched in the trees.

When they reached the dense forest, it was already daybreak outside. There was still a light mist floating in the forest. The mountains were filled with moisture, and water droplets were hanging on the grass. It didn't take long for the group to be soaked below the knees.

Zifeng Mountain is the mountain with the richest resources in Chengjia Village, but it is also the most dangerous because there are large tracts of forests behind it, each one higher than the other.

Because of the mystery and fear, for hundreds of years, the villagers have been reminding their descendants not to go too deep.

Except for the hunters in the village, almost no one in the village would go into the dense forest. Among the people who entered the mountain this time, except Wei Qinglang, only Zhao Xiuwen's father was a hunter. The others were all entering the dense forest for the first time. They were inevitably a little nervous and carefully observed their surroundings and did not dare to speak.

The only sounds in the woods were the rustling of leaves in the wind and the occasional chirping of birds and insects.

Suddenly, there was a noise in the grass ahead. The team, who were new to the jungle, became a little panicked. They tightened their weapons, and Wei Qinglang quickly pulled out an arrow from behind and put it on the string.

"huhu"

A pheasant flapped its wings and flew out from the grass. Everyone was so frightened that they didn't see clearly what it was. Wei Qinglang's arrow had already been shot, and the arrow flew past the pheasant's wings.

The shot missed, and the pheasant fled in panic, and Wei Qinglang chased after it.

Hunter Zhao also reacted and chased after him with a bow and arrow. Wei Qinglang chased for a short distance and then shot the second arrow, hitting the pheasant and killing it.

“It turned out to be a pheasant.”

"Qing Lang, you react really quickly."

"Yeah, I haven't even seen what it is yet."

Seeing Wei Qinglang coming back with a pheasant, the group of people breathed a sigh of relief and started praising Wei Qinglang.

Wei Qinglang pulled the arrow out of the pheasant and said, "It's quite big, about three pounds. We'll roast it over a fire at noon and everyone can have a piece.

There's no need to be so nervous, there are only pheasants and rabbits here, and if you're lucky you might see a musk deer, but there's nothing else dangerous."

After hearing Wei Qinglang's words, the team finally relaxed.

Xu Daqing helped carry the pheasant, and Wei Qinglang continued to lead the team forward. After the tension was relieved, the atmosphere in the team became better, and some people even found wild fruits to share.

Cheng Shuang got one and took a bite. She immediately spat it out because it was sour and drank water. The group of people watching laughed.

After walking for about another half an hour, Hunter Zhao caught a rabbit and generously offered to roast it and share it for lunch.

It was almost noon when they reached the edge of the old forest. Wei Qinglang gave an order, "Everyone, let's rest here for a while and have something to eat. After we're full, we'll go into the old forest."

After walking for two hours, everyone was tired. They put their things in their backpacks and found rocks to sit down and rest. Some looked around curiously with uneasy feelings, while others simply rolled up their trouser legs and went into the water to drink.

Cheng Shuang sat down to rest a little distance away from the group of older men. Wei Qinglang washed his face in the stream and walked towards her, whispering, "The things you asked me to plant are nearby. Do you want me to take you there to see them later?"

Cheng Shuang nodded quickly, "Go ahead."

After resting for a while, a few people went to collect firewood and prepare to make a fire to roast pheasants and rabbits.

Cheng Ergou and Cheng Fu, the only two people in the team, actually brought in a small pot, which came in handy as they could be used to boil water.

Wei Qinglang took out two daggers and gave them to the people who were responsible for dealing with the rabbits and pheasants. Then he said to the people who were collecting firewood, "Uncle Zhao, be careful not to go too far."

“You know, we won’t go far.

Wei Qinglang turned to the others and said, "Cheng Shuang and I will go to the front to take a look. Everyone stay here and don't run around."

Cheng Shuang was the only woman in the team and also Wei Qinglang's wife. When the two of them wanted to leave alone, everyone else thought she was going to the bathroom or something, so they naturally didn't suspect anything else.

The two walked upstream along the stream for a while. Wei Qinglang followed his memory to find the two trees he marked last time, and soon found the potatoes and sweet potatoes he had planted. The potatoes had already sprouted, but the sweet potatoes would probably take a few days to sprout.

The two of them went to see the planted fruit trees. In order to make it easier to find them when planting, Wei Qinglang hung red ropes on each branch. Only one of the trees withered, probably because its roots were damaged when it was bought. The others were growing well.

Cheng Shuang bought fertilizer directly from the mall and carefully fertilized each fruit tree. While she was busy, she suddenly found a few familiar leaves in the grass in front.

She walked over and pulled away the weeds beside it, and sure enough, it was a ginseng.

"Wei Qinglang."

Cheng Shuang turned around and called out, "Look, there's a ginseng here."

Wei Qinglang quickly walked over and squatted down to take a look. "This is ginseng."

He thought that ginseng was the same as Gastrodia elata, and that the tubers would leave some traces on the soil surface, such as slight ridges or be exposed due to loose soil and rain washing.

So this is what leaves look like. He wouldn't recognize it even if it was right in front of him.

Neither of them brought any tools, so Wei Qinglang took a stick to help her dig, and Cheng Shuang simply bought a small shovel from the mall. The two of them were very careful not to damage the roots, and they worked for a long time before they finally dug out the ginseng.

"Twenty-five years, plus five years of dormancy, that's thirty years." Cheng Shuang was shocked after carefully identifying the year of the ginseng.

"It's actually thirty-year-old wild ginseng. It must be very valuable!"

Wei Qinglang's reaction was rather calm, but he also knew that this year must be worth a lot of money, so he asked, "Then should we store it directly in the space without telling anyone else?"

Cheng Shuang thought for a moment and said, "Put the ginseng away. I'll take this leaf back and teach everyone how to identify ginseng."

I guess the villagers wouldn't let her show them the ginseng.

The two returned to the resting place. The pheasant and rabbit were roasted, and a faint aroma of meat wafted out.

Wei Qinglang stood on a rock and shouted, "Everyone gather here."

A dozen men immediately surrounded him and looked at him curiously. Wei Qinglang reached out and pulled Cheng Shuang up, indicating that she could say whatever she wanted to say.

Cheng Shuang had already put the ginseng away. Holding the ginseng leaves in her hand, she said to the crowd, "We just accidentally found a ginseng upstream and dug it out. What I have in my hand is the ginseng leaf. Everyone can take a look and identify it later.

After entering the old forest, everyone must search carefully and thoroughly when looking for medicine. Although Gastrodia elata may not be so easy to find, if you look carefully, you can find not only Gastrodia elata but also ginseng, so you must persevere no matter how tired you are.

Everyone was surprised. They had found ginseng before even entering the old forest. They had to keep their eyes open after entering, as they might be able to find ginseng as well.

Wei Qinglang saw the eager expressions of his men and understood Cheng Shuang's intentions. Although these people were selected by the village head and were trustworthy, finding Gastrodia elata was not easy after all. Without any harvest, they would tend to become passive and lazy. Using ginseng as a profit could make them more motivated.

Cheng Shuang passed the ginseng leaves to more than a dozen people one by one. Everyone looked at it carefully, and their fear of entering the old forest was greatly reduced.

Soon, the pheasant and hare were roasted. Xu Daqing turned the pheasant over and said, "What a pity! I should have added some salt."

Wei Qinglang went over and rummaged through the backpack, actually taking out a small jar of salt from the space.

"Daqing, I have some salt here, give it to me and sprinkle some on me."

Xu Daqing was surprised, "Brother Qinglang, you are so awesome. You even brought salt."

Wei Qinglang smiled and handed him the salt. He had specially prepared it in advance, thinking that it would be useful for hunting wild game in the mountains in the next few days.

No one brought a bowl, so a few villagers went upstream to pick some banana leaves, cut the meat into small pieces with a knife, and ate them with banana leaves.

Wei Qinglang pulled a pheasant leg for Cheng Shuang, and also brought some rabbit meat with a banana leaf, and divided the rest among the other fifteen people.

A group of people sat by the stream, had a hearty meal of flatbread and game, took some extra banana leaves with them, filled their water bags with water, and continued on their journey.