Travel to the mountains and make a fortune in silence

She didn't want to tell him directly not to pick them, and just as she was feeling a bit annoyed, Wang Cuiying's voice came, "Qing'er, Muqin has a huge goat milk fruit tree here, I've picked a lot, come and have some."

“Mother, we’re coming right now.” Wang Qing’er replied cheerfully, and then said to Mu Qin, “Qin’er, let’s go rest for a bit and have some goat milk fruit.”

Mu Qin smiled and agreed, "Okay, sister-in-law."

When the two arrived at Wang Cuiying's side, they saw her still tiptoeing, struggling to pick the goat milk fruit, like a little squirrel trying to reach its food. "Mom, don't pick anymore, I'll ask Brother Mu Nan to pick some."

He turned and called out towards the peach grove, "Brother Mu Nan, come over and help pick the goat milk fruit."

Mu Nan's voice came through, "Okay, coming right away."

A moment later, Mu Nan came running over like a gust of wind. Wang Qing'er quickly pointed to the goat milk fruit tree in front of her and said, "Brother Mu Nan, pick all the fruit on this goat milk fruit tree, but leave the stems. I want to dry some goat milk fruit."

"Okay." Mu Nan replied and began picking the goat milk fruit, her movements as smooth as flowing water.

Wang Qing'er thought to herself, "They seem to be doing a good job picking goat milk fruit, but how come they keep dropping half of the peach blossoms on the ground?"

"They're about the same size, aren't they?" After a short rest, Wang Qing'er continued picking peach blossoms, reminding Mu Nan to go find more goat milk fruit after she finished picking this one.

Wang Qing'er and Mu Qin filled both baskets with peach blossoms and then went to help Wang Cuiying pick mushrooms.

Wang Qing'er crouched down, like a nimble little fox, searching for mushrooms in a carpet-like fashion.

She suddenly noticed that many small trees in front of her were entwined with vines, and the leaves on the red vines looked like little hearts.

Wang Qing'er took light steps forward and examined it carefully. "Huh! This looks like a medicinal herb?" As for what kind of medicinal herb it was, she racked her brains but couldn't remember. She only vaguely remembered seeing her grandfather dig it up when she was a child.

"Brother Mu Nan, come here quickly." Wang Qing'er could only ask Mu Nan, who was picking goat milk fruit not far away, for help.

Upon hearing the sound, Mu Nan quickly walked towards her. "What's wrong?"

"Brother Mu Nan, take a look, are these medicinal herbs?" Wang Qing'er asked impatiently, pointing to the green plants.

Mu Nan circled the sapling, examining it carefully, and after a while, she slowly said, "This is He Shou Wu (Polygonum multiflorum)."

"What? He Shou Wu?" Wang Qing'er exclaimed in astonishment. She examined it carefully again, trying to recall the scene of her grandfather digging for medicinal herbs when she was a child. She still found it hard to believe that this was the He Shou Wu she had been dreaming of. It was truly a case of finding something without even looking for it!

"Brother Mu Nan, is this really He Shou Wu?" Wang Qing'er asked with a look of suspicion as she stared at the lush green plants in front of her.

"Yes, it's absolutely true." Mu Nan had already started digging.

Before long, Mu Nan skillfully dug out a cluster of He Shou Wu (Polygonum multiflorum). Wang Qing'er squatted beside her, staring at the size of the He Shou Wu, her eyes wide with amazement. "So big? It must be several decades old!"

"Hmm, this one is at least a hundred years old." Mu Nan carefully cleaned the soil off the Polygonum multiflorum and began digging up the second one.

Wang Qing'er stayed by his side the whole time, watching intently, completely forgetting about picking mushrooms.

Every time Mu Nan dug up a plant, she would stare at it with shining eyes, then carefully take the he shou wu that Mu Nan handed her and gently put it into her basket.

We finally dug up all the available He Shou Wu plants, a total of eighteen. There are still quite a few younger ones left in this area, but we won't dig them up for now.

Mu Nan reburied all the dug-up He Shou Wu vines back into the soil. He planned to bring a bucket later, fetch some water from the nearby river, and water them so that He Shou Wu could grow again after they survived.

“Brother Mu Nan, this Polygonum multiflorum can be propagated by cuttings. I think this place is suitable for the growth of Polygonum multiflorum. Why don’t we try to propagate some with the vines? Maybe they will survive?” Wang Qing’er remembered that there are several ways to propagate Polygonum multiflorum. One way is to propagate it with seeds, and another way is to propagate it with cuttings. She wanted Mu Nan to try it.

“Okay, I’ll give it a try.” Mu Nan had seen methods for cultivating medicinal herbs in his master’s book, including cuttings. He carefully recalled the methods recorded in the book and then searched for suitable Polygonum multiflorum branches in the forest.

Wang Qing'er watched from the side. She had only seen some videos about cuttings and grafting in her previous life, and she really didn't know how to do it herself.

Mu Nan buried the last prepared branch in the soil and said to his wife, "Qing'er, let's go back first."

"Oh, okay." Wang Qing'er was a little stunned when she saw Mu Nan's smooth and effortless movements. Had this man done cuttings before? He had already planted more than twenty cuttings in such a short time.

If they can survive, then we should propagate more cuttings. This area looks quite fertile, so let's propagate cuttings all over it.

Mu Nan picked some more leaves to cover the Polygonum multiflorum, then put a bunch of mushrooms from the ground into it, and then picked up the basket and walked towards the peach grove.

"Oh, okay!" Wang Qing'er was still a little dazed looking at so many He Shou Wu (Polygonum multiflorum) plants, but she obediently followed him into the peach grove.

"Mom, Muqin is home." Mu Nan called out to Wang Cuiying and Muqin.

Wang Cuiying and her daughter hadn't gone far when Mu Nan called out once and they heard each other. Soon they all gathered in the peach grove.

Wang Qing'er carried her two baskets of peach blossoms, Wang Cuiying carried two and a half baskets of mushrooms, and Mu Qin carried a large half-basket of goat milk fruit.

Mu Nan carried a basket filled with Polygonum multiflorum and then picked up a load of sugarcane. In this way, everyone went home with a full harvest.

Wang Qing'er kept thinking about all the He Shou Wu (Polygonum multiflorum) on the way. Now that the Mu family is heavily in debt, they definitely need to sell it to pay off their debts.

If she suggested setting aside some to make shampoo bars, would that be inappropriate? Before I knew it, I was home.

Looking at the mountain of bamboo shoots piled up in the yard, Wang Qing'er thought that Old Man Mu and Mu Xiao must have picked them after returning from town.

Seeing wisps of smoke rising from the kitchen roof, Wang Qing'er assumed it was Zhou Shi cooking and eagerly went inside to see what she was making. She realized she hadn't eaten any of Zhou Shi's cooking since arriving at the Mu family.

The kitchen was empty, but the wood in the stove was still burning brightly, and the pot was steaming. She lifted the lid and saw that it contained the large bones she had bought earlier.

The pork bones must have been freshly put into the pot. Wang Qing'er skimmed off all the foam that had risen to the top, added two slices of ginger, and then put the lid back on to continue simmering.

Some people don't cook meat dishes well, mainly because they are reluctant to add oil and seasonings, and they don't wash the blood off properly. They also don't blanch the bones before stewing them, and they don't skim off the foam that comes out during cooking.

When Wang Qing'er was holding a basin to scoop out rice to cook, her eyes, like a scanner, spotted what looked like some white flour in the bag next to her. Suddenly, she had a whim to make some knife-cut noodles for lunch.

With that thought in mind, I reached out and scooped out a bowl of wheat flour and a bowl of buckwheat flour, mixed them together, and started kneading the dough.

After kneading the dough, place it in a bowl, cover it with a white cloth, and let it rest.

Wang Qing'er glanced at the bone broth and saw that it would take a while to simmer, so she added another piece of firewood to the stove.

When she came out, she saw Wang Cuiying peeling bamboo shoots, while Mu Qin was helping to wash peach blossoms.

When Wang Qing'er was picking peach blossoms on the mountain, she briefly explained to Mu Qin how to use them to extract peach blossom hydrosol and how to make it. So as soon as Mu Qin returned, she started washing the peach blossoms.

Seeing that the peach blossoms had been washed almost completely, Wang Qing'er moved the wooden bucket to the stove in the backyard and placed it steadily in the pot. The size was just right. Then she added water to the pot and firewood to the stove to start a fire.

Wang Qing'er then hurriedly moved another large pot to the backyard, and also asked Mu Qin to move the washed peach blossoms to the backyard as well.

Relying on her memory, she began to try to extract peach blossom hydrosol.

Before long, water droplets, like pearls, fell from the spout in the middle of the wooden bucket and landed in the large bowl below.

Wang Qing'er's eyes were fixed on the falling water droplets like magnets; the dripping sound was like heavenly music to her ears.