HPDBC Chapter 1765 Gnawing on a Wild Ginseng Skin for 7 Days and 7 Nights Without Rest
Chapter 1765 Gnawing on a Wild Ginseng Skin for 7 Days and 7 Nights Without Rest
Chapter 1765: Take a bite of wild ginseng skin and not rest for seven days and seven nights
The Liberation truck entered the village and first went to Liu Hanshan's house.
Zhao Youcai, Zhao Jun, and others got out of the car and went inside to visit Liu Hanshan. When they left, they left him with half a sack of bear meat, weighing about forty pounds.
Then, the Liberation truck drove all the way back to the Zhao family compound.
It was only a little past two in the afternoon, and the people who had gone to work in the fields hadn't returned yet. Li Dayong and Zhang Yuanmin hurried off to the southern fields, leaving Zhao Jun, Zhao Youcai, Zhao Weipeng and his son, along with the two old men, at home to cook.
Just then, Ma Yang was about to go home, but Zhao Jun stopped him. Zhao Youcai also said, "Kid, what are you going back for? Let's eat hot pot here tonight."
"Hot pot lamb..." Upon hearing this, Ma Yang subconsciously pursed his lips.
Although he was tempted, Ma Yang still refused, saying, "No, Uncle, I'm going back right now."
"What are we going back for?" Zhao Youcai grabbed Ma Yang with one hand and waved to Zhao Jun with the other, saying, "Go, go and invite your father-in-law and mother-in-law over. They can eat here tonight."
"Dad," Zhao Jun said with a smile, "can I ask him to come?"
Knowing Ma Dafu and his wife as he did, Zhao Jun knew they would be too embarrassed to come if he, as a junior, went to invite them.
“Then I’ll go.” Zhao Youcai said, raising his hand to Zhao Jun and saying, “Give me the motorcycle keys, I’ll ride the motorcycle.”
“You’re riding a motorcycle…” Zhao Jun frowned and said, “It’s only a few steps, why are you riding a motorcycle?”
"What the hell is this 'steps'?" Zhao Youcai said irritably, "Don't your father-in-law and his wife have to go to the fields? Don't they have to go gather grass? Don't I have to go to the fields to find them?"
“Yes.” When Zhao Youcai said that, Zhao Jun also remembered that Ma Ling had mentioned before going to bed last night that she had run into Wang Cuihua and Xu Xiaoqing when she went to the fields during the day.
Just as Zhao Jun was about to go back to the house to get the key, he heard Ma Yang say to Zhao Youcai, "Uncle, then I'll chase Li Ruhai away, and I'll go to the South Land with them."
“Go ahead, kid,” Zhao Youcai said with a smile. “Tell them to finish work early today.”
Ma Yang agreed and ran out of the yard. Watching Ma Yang's departing figure, Zhao Jun was speechless.
This kid went to help Old Li's family with chores, but not his dad or mom...
Not long after Zhao Jun went inside, he came out with the motorcycle keys. Zhao Youcai reached out to take the keys, but when he tried to pull them away, he couldn't get them out of Zhao Jun's hand.
"Huh?" Zhao Youcai was taken aback, and then he heard Zhao Jun instruct him, "Dad, be careful when you ride your motorcycle, don't hit anyone or anything."
"Go to hell!" Zhao Youcai roared, snatching the motorcycle key and then pulling his hand inward as if to hit Zhao Jun.
Zhao Jun quickly dodged, and after dodging, he turned and ran towards the backyard.
"You little bastard!" Zhao Youcai flicked the key in his hand and strode towards the warehouse.
As soon as Zhao Jun arrived in the backyard, he saw that the large pots were already burning.
One large pot was used to boil water in preparation for cleaning the sheep, while three other pots were used to render bear fat.
"Mother... Mother..." The big black goat, which had been placed on the chopping board, still struggled desperately and cried out in unwillingness, even though its four hooves were tied.
"Little lamb, little lamb, don't blame me, you're just a dish in the mortal world." Zhao Weipeng muttered as he sharpened his knife with the bottom of a bowl, "Leave early this year, come early next year."
As soon as Zhao Weipeng finished speaking, Zhao Jinhui chimed in, "Dad, look at what you're saying, it's so scary."
"Huh? How scary is that?" Zhao Weipeng was taken aback, then heard Zhao Jinhui laugh and say, "You little lamb, you little lamb, if I didn't know better, I would have thought you were going to slaughter my brother-in-law's brother."
Zhao Weipeng laughed heartily upon hearing this, and seeing Zhao Jun coming from the front yard, he immediately called out, "Jun, come here, you two, with Jin Hui, hold the sheep for me."
Zhao Jun quickly stepped forward and held down the large black goat's four hooves, which were tied together. Zhao Jinhui also stretched out his fat hands and pressed down on the large black goat's back and hindquarters.
"Come on!" Zhao Weipeng shouted, placing the basin under the black goat's neck. He grabbed the goat's horns with one hand and picked up an iron brush from a bucket next to him with the other, scrubbing its throat several times.
The moment the iron brush touched the wool, the water droplets it kicked up instantly turned into black water that dripped down.
Zhao Weipeng's chubby hand trembled, and the iron brush was thrown into the bucket. Then he grabbed a water ladle and scooped water onto the sheep's neck.
Before the water had completely receded, Zhao Weipeng stabbed him with his knife.
The big black goat let out a miserable cry and struggled desperately. Zhao Weipeng held the goat's horns with both hands, letting the goat's blood flow into the basin through the knife handle, while Zhao Jun and Zhao Jinhui pressed down on the goat's body together.
It took a while for the blood to stop flowing before the big black goat calmed down.
"This guy!" Zhao Weipeng exclaimed, releasing the ram's horns. "He can struggle so much!"
“If we want to kill it, it’s bound to struggle,” Zhao Jinhui added with a laugh. But then Zhao Weipeng turned to Zhao Jun and said, “Jun, is it this difficult for us to eat mutton before the New Year?”
"Before the New Year..." Zhao Jun was taken aback by Zhao Weipeng's question. He suddenly realized that his family had slaughtered quite a few pigs and sheep in the past six months. But slaughtering pigs was always a collective effort, while slaughtering sheep... he had no recollection of it.
Just as Zhao Jun was having doubts, Zhao Youcai returned on his motorcycle. The old man rode all the way to the backyard, then took a basket off the handlebars and handed it to Zhao Jun.
"What is this... Oh my." Zhao Jun took it and saw that it contained daylily fragrance.
This is a wild vegetable, scientifically known as *Dryopteris spp.*, and is also called Guangdong vegetable because people in Guangdong love to eat it.
"Your mother-in-law gave it to me," Zhao Youcai said. "Perfect for our hot pot tonight."
"Hey, Dad?" Zhao Jun hurriedly asked Zhao Youcai, "Did my father-in-law and the others say they've arrived?"
“No, I’m not coming.” Zhao Youcai said, “Erchengzi is still at Liu Bao’s house, helping your father-in-law with chores. They’re drinking at your father-in-law’s house tonight, and your father-in-law said he couldn’t come.”
"Ah, okay then." Zhao Jun said, then suddenly remembered something and said, "Dad, didn't you tell them that Xiao Yang is having dinner at our house tonight?"
"I told them, I've told them," Zhao Youcai said, then rode his motorcycle back to the front yard.
This old rascal is a typical case of forgetting the pain once the wound has healed. These past few days, with nothing to do at home, he's been secretly riding his motorcycle around the villages.
Here, the sheep are slaughtered without removing the wool; they are skinned directly. Zhao Weipeng wasn't skilled at this, so Zhao Youcai skinned the sheep while Zhao Weipeng went over there to help his father and Xing San cut bear meat and roast bear fat.
"Dad, don't feed the mutton fat to the dog." As they approached the evisceration procedure, Zhao Jun hurriedly instructed Zhao Youcai, "Save it for me."
"What are you going to do?" Zhao Youcai wasn't in the back of the truck when Zhao Jun said he wanted to use sheep as bait. But when he heard Zhao Jun ask for sheep fat, he immediately thought it was related to hunting.
“I have to go to Lingnan at the end of the month,” Zhao Jun said. “I have to get rid of that big claw that Grandpa Shao mentioned, otherwise it will delay the lifting of that stone dragon.”
Upon hearing Zhao Jun mention the tiger, Zhao Youcai knew that the tiger couldn't be hunted. Feeling somewhat disappointed, he asked Zhao Jun again, "We can't use explosives, can we?"
Whether you use beef tallow or mutton tallow for frying, it's fine. Zhao Jun used beef tallow from Zhao Youcai's cattle slaughtering when he used it to fry tigers across the border.
"We can't use explosives, they didn't say we could," Zhao Jun said. "I'm thinking of using a pole..."
"Lift a pole?" Zhao Youcai's small eyes widened upon hearing this. He said, "You're talking nonsense. What kind of thing can lift a big claw?"
“No need to catch it,” Zhao Jun said. “Just tease it for three to five minutes, scare it away for three to five days, and then we can carry the stone dragon out while we’re doing this.”
"Well... um?" Zhao Youcai was about to say something when he suddenly remembered something. He hurriedly asked Zhao Jun, "What are you doing picking at it? Can you hold it for three to five minutes?"
"Hehe..." Zhao Jun chuckled, moved closer to Zhao Youcai, and said, "Dad, are you buying that leopard tendon rope from Uncle Song?"
With Wang Haitao's arrest, the serial murder case in the Yong'an forest area has been solved. Although Wang Haitao's wife and children are still missing and the stolen money has not yet been recovered, the victims' belongings have been gradually returned to their families.
The leopard sinew rope that Song Laowai used to lasso sheep has now fallen into his brother's hands.
Song Erzhu was a night watchman but not a hunter. His son, Song Tiemin, was a forestry worker and didn't know what a "picking pole" was.
So when Zhao Youcai brought Li Dayong to buy leopard tendon rope, the Song father and son agreed without hesitation.
"Damn it..." Upon hearing Zhao Jun's interest in his treasure, Zhao Youcai was about to curse, but Zhao Jun interrupted him, saying, "Dad, chase that tiger away, carry it out and sell it to Shi Long, and I'll buy you some Zhonghua cigarettes."
“China…” Zhao Youcai was taken aback, then heard Zhao Jun continue to add, “And Wuliangye.”
"I think you look like Wuliangye liquor," Zhao Youcai retorted to Zhao Jun. "You're talking nonsense. How powerful are those big claws? Wouldn't it be a waste to use that rope to cut them?"
"Dad, what can we do?" Zhao Jun said. "It's easier in winter; we can just find a deep spot in the snow and let it sink in. But what can we do now? Chasing it with a dog or forcing our way in isn't going to work either."
"Oh dear!" Zhao Youcai sighed, slammed the cleaver he was holding onto the cutting board, and then said to Zhao Jun, "You're going to Lingnan at the end of the month, shall we go catching sheep these next few days?"
“Okay, Dad,” Zhao Jun said. “Let’s go tomorrow. We’ll go up the mountain after breakfast.”
"Will that work?" Zhao Youcai looked up at the setting sun and said, "We'll go up the mountain at this time tomorrow, surround it with the carrying pole, and then the day after tomorrow morning, it'll step on it as soon as it puts out its food."
“Okay, Dad. If you hadn’t told me, I really wouldn’t have known.” Zhao Jun said this, and Zhao Youcai snorted coldly: “Well, look, you’ve only been hunting for a few days. Before I started hunting, you weren’t even born yet.”
“Yes.” Zhao Jun laughed, “You went hunting in the mountains when you were seven or eight years old. Not to mention me, even my uncle didn’t have that kind of experience.”
"Get lost!" Zhao Youcai grabbed a kitchen knife, scaring Zhao Jun so much that he ran away.
Zhao Jun returned to the front yard, wrapped the two stalks of corn he had carried that day in a wrung-out dry towel, and then stored them in the refrigerator's crisper drawer.
This is different from the traditional method of wrapping with moss and pine bark, but that little white dragon seedling might be sold at the end of the month. Keeping it in the refrigerator for a while is perfectly fine.
As for the seedling with its feathers pulled out, Zhao Jun hadn't yet figured out how to deal with it.
After putting away the two ginseng seedlings, Zhao Jun took out the rusty ginseng seedling and used a knife to cut off the rotten and rusty parts.
Just then, Xing San pulled the door open and came in.
"Hey kid, what are you doing?" Xing San asked. Zhao Jun replied, "This club got rusty today, so I'm shaving it off and then I'll make you guys some wine."
Upon hearing this, Xing San came over, took a look, and then shook his head, saying, "It's a waste to put on the rust."
"Yeah, I guess," Zhao Jun replied, then washed the ginseng he had just peeled with water. After washing away the dirt, Zhao Jun threw it into a large wine barrel.
When Zhao Jun turned around, he saw that there was still a piece of ginseng root about two centimeters long in the water ladle where he had washed the ginseng.
Zhao Jun grabbed it from the water and put it directly into his mouth.
Zhao Jun chewed it gently; it was slightly bitter, but had a strong aftertaste.
Seeing Zhao Jun's actions, Xing San asked, "Why did you eat it?"
"Hehe..." Zhao Jun chuckled and said, "Let me see if there's any difference between the clubs from Huangnigang and those from that place?"
After saying this, Zhao Jun answered his own question, "I don't feel any difference."
"Kid, can you eat that stuff directly?" Xing San asked. "Don't make yourself sick!"
“No, Uncle San.” Zhao Jun replied with a smile, but Xing San said with a serious face, “I heard it from your great-grandmother, Wang the rich man, that before… that was your eldest uncle, right? That child died later.”
"Ah, yes, my maternal uncle." Zhao Jun nodded. He had another maternal uncle named Wang Yong, but he died young.
At this moment, Xing San continued the previous topic, saying, "They said that one day when they didn't take care of him, that kid took out the stick that your great-grandmother had hidden, took a bite and said he wanted to eat a piece of skin, but then he complained that it didn't taste good and threw it aside."
This guy, he only ate that one piece of skin, not even half of it, and his uncle's nose started bleeding. He didn't sleep for seven or eight days after that.
"Isn't that amazing? He didn't sleep for seven or eight days and wasn't tired at all. He went to the doctor, and after asking what was wrong, the doctor just told him to hang in there, and that he'd get better once he got through it."
When Xing San first told Zhao Jun that Wang Yong stole a stick, took a bite, and complained that it didn't taste good, Zhao Jun was still laughing. But when Xing San mentioned that Wang Yong hadn't slept for seven or eight days, the smile on Zhao Jun's face vanished.
"Kid, what's wrong?" Seeing Zhao Jun's strange expression, Xing San quickly asked, "Are you feeling unwell?"
“No!” Zhao Jun turned to look at Xing San and shook his head, “Uncle, if you want a stick that can keep someone awake for seven or eight days after just one bite, that would have to be a divine child.”
"Huh?" Xing San was taken aback, then heard Zhao Jun continue, "Then there are the three dragons who are fifth-rank leaves and above."
Wild ginseng is good for replenishing qi, mainly because it contains an active substance called ginsenoside.
Some say that ginseng leaves contain higher levels of saponins, but that's useless. The effectiveness of wild ginseng in replenishing qi depends not on the amount of saponins, but on the activity level of those saponins.
The higher the saponin activity of a wild ginseng seedling, the better its qi-tonifying effect.
Manager Huang's regular customer, a wealthy tycoon, wanted to buy Sanlong because the saponins in Sanlong had extremely high activity, enough to keep his father alive.
"That's normal." Faced with Zhao Jun's surprise, Xing San remained calm and said, "Wang the Rich Man was so powerful back then, wasn't he?"
At this point, Xing San raised his hand and pointed outside, towards the distant mountains, saying, "Any good stuff on the mountain belongs to his family."
Zhao Jun believed Xing San's words. He remembered Wang Meilan saying that when people from the surrounding villages hunted, all the game they caught had to be sent to her house so that she could choose first.
The Wang family kept the good ones, and the hunters took the rest and disposed of them themselves.
But wild animals are just wild animals, they're not worth much, but the Great Immortal Child and the Three Dragons are valuable.
At this moment, Zhao Jun seemed to remember something. He quickly walked to the north window and gently knocked on the glass twice.
Even though it's the end of May, people in the mountainous areas still need to heat their kang (traditional heated brick beds) at night.
The north side is shaded, and the plastic sheeting covering the windows hasn't been removed yet; otherwise, Zhao Jun would have opened the window and called out to Zhao Youcai.
Seeing Zhao Youcai and Zhao Weipeng looking this way, Zhao Jun gestured to Zhao Youcai several times, indicating that Zhao Youcai should come into the house.
"What a day!" Zhao Youcai muttered under his breath as he walked briskly toward the front yard, "He's always ordering me around."
Soon, Zhao Youcai entered the house. Before he could ask what was going on, Zhao Jun said, "Dad, my third uncle said that my great-grandmother's family used to have dried fruit sticks?"
"I don't know..." Zhao Youcai quickly shook his head and said, "I really don't know."
Hearing Zhao Youcai's words, Zhao Jun and Xing San both curled their lips, and then Zhao Jun asked, "Dad, do you think we can have him slice up that club and hide it?"
Upon hearing Zhao Jun's words, Zhao Youcai's small eyes widened instantly, and he didn't even bother to pick up the cigarette pack he had just pulled out of his pocket, which slipped to the ground.
At this moment, Zhao Youcai looked at Zhao Jun, and Zhao Jun also looked at Zhao Youcai. The two of them exchanged a glance and then walked together toward the east wing.
Sorry guys, I said I'd update at 8 PM, but I'm late again. I went into town to buy medicine yesterday and caught a chill. I developed a fever late last night, and I feel terrible today...
That day, things didn't get better. Those few days I had positive symptoms, and afterwards my blood pressure was high. Today my blood pressure isn't high, but I have a fever...
(End of this chapter)