Chapter 19 Black Blind Man

  The ginseng is locked with a mallet lock, and then a fire is built upwind, one is to smoke mosquitoes, and the other is to drive away wild animals, so as to avoid being disturbed when digging ginseng.

  It had just rained, and the woods were wet. It was obviously not easy to start a fire.

  But people who are often in the mountains and forests also have a way to deal with it.

   There is a kind of tree called green straw, the trunk is green, the skin is smooth, and there is a thin layer of white wax on it.

   It is easy to find this kind of tree, cut it down and chop it into thin strips, and use birch bark to ignite it.

  When the fire is hotter, add other firewood, cover it with wormwood, press the fire head to suffocate thick smoke, and float along the wind to the place where the ginseng is. At this time, you can dig ginseng.

  Excavating ginseng is called lifting a mallet to show respect.

  Lifting a mallet is not an easy job, it requires experienced people, and usually the ginseng will do it by himself.

  Xu Shiyan has only one elder brother, so don’t be careless, do it yourself.

   Use your hands to remove the grass and leaves around the ginseng, and open the "plate".

  Ginseng is often entangled with tree roots and grass roots, and the roots should be sawed off with a "quick saw".

  The main reason is that the roots are elastic and cannot be chopped with an ax, as it is easy to damage the ginseng.

   Thin tree roots and grass roots should be cut with "quick scissors".

  Clean out the plate and expose the soil. At this time, take out the "quick sticks", usually made of deer bones, and push the soil away.

  Start digging from the reed head under the ginseng stalk until all the roots of the ginseng are exposed.

  Any small roots cannot be cut off, otherwise the price of ginseng will drop when selling.

   Every root of ginseng that has been cleaned must be covered with loose soil at any time to keep moisture.

  This is a very labor-intensive job. The man who carries the ginseng must be steady, not rush, and take it slowly.

   Fortunately, Xu Shiyan has a stable temperament and is careful in doing things, so he is the most suitable.

  Although it is just a four-leaf tree, and the main root is only as thick as a finger, it will take a long time to dig it out of the soil completely.

  Xu Shiyan was alone, and there was no one to replace him when he was tired, so he could only sit on the ground for a while and smoke a cigarette before continuing.

   After spending half a day, I finally lifted the ginseng tree out completely.

   Although this ginseng tree is not too big, its shape is extremely beautiful.

  The reed head is the size of a bean, with a twisted mouth, a slender neck, and two beards on the shoulders that look like arms.

  The main body is as thick as an index finger and as long as three fingers, and then there are two legs. The ginseng whiskers are about half a foot long and covered with pearl bumps.

   It's pretty good. Although it's not too heavy, it weighs a couple of dollars at most, but it's definitely top grade. Based on the purchase price this year, it's estimated to sell for around two hundred yuan.

  Thinking of this, Xu Shiyan couldn't help but shake his head. If it was put in forty years, it might sell for tens of thousands.

   Yes, it’s useless to think so much.

  Xu Shiyan shook his head, went to the side and took off a large piece of fresh moss to lay it out, spread the ginseng on it, covered some original soil, and carefully wrapped the ginseng with the moss.

  Moss is soft, moist, breathable, and not easy to dry. It is used to wrap ginseng, which will not damage ginseng, and is also good for freshness. It can keep the parameters of the ginseng unchanged every month.

   Then peel off a large piece of birch bark, wrap the moss in it, use the catalpa bark as a rope, and tie it carefully.

  The ginseng package is packed and put away, and the "omen" must be cut.

  Find a red pine tree near the place where the ginseng was unearthed, and use a knife or an ax to cut off a foot-square piece of bark in the direction of the ginseng at a height of a rope stick from the ground.

  Carve a mark on the smooth trunk, engrave the number of people on the left, how many people there are, and engrave the size of ginseng on the right, and carve how many leaves.

   After the engraving is over, the omen needs to be "washed". It is to use fire to burn off the pine oil flowing out from around the omen, so that the omen can still be seen clearly after decades.

  The purpose of chopping off the "omen" is to commemorate the ginseng produced here, and to remind people in the future that after decades, someone may still find ginseng near the old omen.

  Of course, some people use other methods to record or adjust the direction of omens in order to prevent others from knowing the size of the ginseng they dug.

   After finishing all this, Xu Shiyan casually scattered the ginseng seeds that he picked before, and scattered them nearby.

  Fangshan people also pay attention to sustainable development, sowing ginseng seeds, maybe after many years, there will be more ginseng here.

  Busy and busy, most of the day has passed, but fortunately, I have gained something, no matter how big or small, it is worth comforting.

  Xu Shiyan no longer misses it, he packed up his things and returned to Dimenzi.

   For the next three days, Xu Shiyan wandered around here, but found nothing. I only saw an Erjiazi tree in the middle, but it was too small, so I let it go.

   Xu Shiyan felt a little depressed after three consecutive days with no gains.

  In his previous life, when he was working in the Daan Coal Mine, he heard from his family members that a group of people from the village went to the mountains to release the mountain and met a big tree, which was sold for nearly 1,000 yuan.

  One thousand yuan in this year is not a small amount, let alone the Dongjiangyan Brigade, even the Daying Commune knows it.

   Such a sensational thing, he couldn't remember it wrong, it was found near the fairy cave, and he saw that omen later.

  Why has he been wandering around for five days, why didn't he see it? Shouldn't the co-author make this fortune? No luck with this?

   Fangshan was originally a matter of luck. It is estimated that he did not have this kind of fortune.

   Well, in another two days, if he still can't meet him, he should go home. I think the wife should be anxious to wait at home.

  Xu Shiyan relieved himself, and regained his spirits. Holding the Suobao stick in his hand, he kept beating the surrounding vegetation, and his eyes kept looking around.

  The mountain forest was silent, except for the sound of sticks pushing away the grass, and the sound of trouser legs rubbing against branches and grass, there were no other sounds.

  Suddenly, there was a different sound behind him.

  Xu Shiyan's back felt cold. Based on his years of hunting experience in his previous life, he dared to conclude that there must be some beast following behind him.

  Xu Shiyan didn't dare to make too much movement, and turned his body slightly to look back.

  When he saw the situation behind him, he couldn't help but take a deep breath, well, I have to explain here if I have trouble today.

   Two or three hundred meters away from behind Xu Shiyan, a huge black animal was wandering towards this side.

  That body shape, that walking posture, don't even think about it, it must be a black and blind man.

  Hei Xiazi is a local name for the black bear. This thing has poor eyesight and black hair all over, so it is called Hei Xiazi.

   Don't look at this thing's poor vision, but its sense of smell is very sensitive, and its strength is so great that it can shatter a cow's shoulder blades with a slap.

   This is a guy who can fight a tiger. He moves quickly, has a strong bite, and has rough skin and thick flesh that is resistant to beatings.

   Fuck, this luck is far from bad, it's almost memorized.

  Xu Shiyan secretly regretted that he shouldn't have dug up the four leaves. It makes sense for the elders to stay.

   While he was thinking, the blind man with his head down suddenly sniffled, then raised his head and looked in Xu Shiyan's direction.

  Xu Shiyan's heart skipped a beat, he was stunned to control the urge to turn around and run away, and moved back gently and slowly.

  (end of this chapter)