Chapter 67: Obtaining Ginseng

The villagers couldn’t suppress the smiles on their faces, exchanging glances with each other: Did you hear that? Lord Zhou said we’re important!

A woman mustered up her courage and asked, “Lord Zhou, do you have enough provisions? Should we gather some for you?”

“No need,” Zhou Yu waved his hand. “Thank you! But times are hard for everyone now—better to keep it for yourselves. It’s getting late; we must be on our way. Listen to Uncle Chen Jiu’s instructions—farm well, plant trees properly.

“When we return next time, we’ll settle your wages.”

The villagers voluntarily escorted Zhou Yu and his party out of the village. Watching them walk farther and farther until they became a black line in the distance, they reluctantly turned back.

Uncle Chen Jiu stood at the center of the village with his cane and shouted, “Stop standing around! Get back to whatever you’re supposed to be doing!”

The villagers cheerfully responded and scattered, soon carrying baskets as they left the village and entered the mountains.

Now, the hillside behind Tongshu Village had already spread with green for about two li (around 1 kilometer), mostly with trees, and a smaller portion covered in wild herbs and vegetables.

The village had some skilled carpenters who made several sprayers and distributed them. So in addition to planting trees, the villagers would carry the sprayers uphill to mist water around.

Even when going into the mountains to gather firewood, they brought sprayers along.

As a result, even the areas near the deep mountains now showed faint traces of green.

After Qin Ying and Aunt Zhao finished planting in their designated area, they prepared to go deeper into the mountains.

Seeing them heading that way, several villagers followed, saying, “It’s dangerous for the three of you to go into the deep mountains. Let’s all go together!”

Their team quickly grew to ten people—young and old—each carrying a basket and tools like sickles and shovels.

Now and then, faint rustling sounds could be heard in the deep mountains. Villagers suspected that large wild animals had returned, so everyone stayed cautious. Even when they spread out to search, no one dared to go too far.

Aunt Zhao found a cluster of dried mushrooms, Qin Ying discovered some dried wild persimmons and sour jujubes, but An’an had the biggest find—she caught a squirrel!

Her cheer startled Aunt Zhao and Qin Ying. When they saw the fluffy tail swaying in her arms, they were a bit relieved but still warned, “Be careful it doesn’t bite you!”

“It won’t!” An’an petted the now-calm little squirrel in her arms. This little cutie would never bite!

However, she couldn’t afford to raise this little thing, so after playing with it for a bit, she let it go.

She then started digging randomly with her small shovel, and before long, she unearthed a ginseng root.

Of course, this wasn’t naturally grown. She had used some energy points to exchange for it—it was about a hundred years old. Since the system mall wasn’t open, her treasure-hunting ability could only locate some wild mountain goods. Without spending energy points, she couldn’t really do anything useful.

She knew that Handsome Uncle (Zhou Yu) didn’t have much money left. While this hundred-year-old ginseng couldn’t bring someone back from the dead, it could at least solve his urgent problems.

Besides, credit for discovering the ginseng could go to her mother. That way, it could help draw the two of them closer.

Handsome Uncle might try to refuse if he felt personally indebted to her mother, but once her mother understood the value of the ginseng, she likely wouldn’t refuse as she had before. Back and forth like that… hehe…

A child like her digging up a perfectly intact ginseng root would be too unbelievable, so after digging halfway, she called out to Qin Ying, “Mama, come over here!”

Qin Ying wasn’t far away and quickly walked over. “What is it?”

An’an lowered her voice and pointed at the ground, “Mama, a radish!”

Qin Ying crouched down and looked carefully. Her pupils trembled slightly. “This…”

It looked like ginseng, but she wasn’t sure, so she called Aunt Zhao over too.

Aunt Zhao’s heart nearly jumped out of her chest. Glancing around and seeing that the other villagers were all focused on their own foraging and hadn’t noticed anything, she leaned in and whispered to Qin Ying, “Be careful when you dig it out. Try not to break the roots. I’ll help shield you with An’an.

“This is something valuable. It’s not that we’re being stingy—it just wouldn’t be easy to split.”

Qin Ying nodded and carefully started digging.

Aunt Zhao led An’an a few steps away, pretending to search the ground for something.

After about half an hour, Qin Ying finally unearthed the ginseng. She carefully wrapped it in wild grass and tucked it into her basket.

Only then did she wipe the sweat from her brow and stand up. Her legs buckled, and she nearly fell, quickly grabbing a nearby tree for support.

Then she called out to them, “Mama, An’an, come drink some water.”

Aunt Zhao knew this meant the digging was done. She led An’an back and had some water. With a glance, she silently asked for confirmation.

Qin Ying gave a definite nod. Looking up at the sky, she said, “It’s getting late, and the mountain path isn’t easy to walk. Let’s head back early.”

Aunt Zhao gave a shout, and the other villagers quickly gathered.

“What did you guys find?” they asked one another.

Some hadn’t found anything, some had picked a few wild fruits, and some had dug up wild vegetables—not a wasted trip overall.

Aunt Zhao said cheerfully, “We found some mushrooms and wild fruits. Let’s share them when we get back.”

“No, no,” the villagers quickly refused. “You keep them for An’an! We’re not short on food anymore. We came more to try our luck—and to keep you company.”

Once home, Aunt Zhao still sorted out some of the foraged goods and distributed a portion to the villagers who had accompanied them.

That night, after An’an fell asleep, mother and daughter sat by the moonlight, took out the ginseng, and discussed what to do with it.

Aunt Zhao said, “We still need to figure out a way to go into town and exchange it for some money. It’d be useful to buy some things for the house.

“Once the drought ends, we’ll need to repair the house too. It’s been sun-dried for three years without rain—if it rains suddenly, it’ll collapse!

“And we need to start saving for An’an’s dowry. Just relying on what we can dig from the dirt won’t get us far.”

Qin Ying bit her lip. Her gaze gradually shifted from hesitant to resolute. “Mother, I think we shouldn’t keep the ginseng.”

Aunt Zhao was stunned. “What do you mean?”

“I mean we should give it to Lord Zhou,” Qin Ying said softly.

Aunt Zhao slapped her thigh. “Look at me! I must be getting senile! You’re right—we found something good, we should give it to Lord Zhou first.

“He’s a good official, and he’s gotten so thin recently. He really should get some nourishment.”

Qin Ying said quietly, “I suspect that Lord Zhou wouldn’t eat it himself. The money he promised us isn’t a small amount. The county office probably ran out of funds long ago.

“Who knows, he might’ve been paying from his own pocket for a while now.

“This ginseng might not be worth much, but it should be enough to cover the rewards for the tree planting work.”

Aunt Zhao stayed silent for a while before saying, “So Lord Zhou’s been having such a hard time? Then we’ll do as you say. We’ll give it to him.

“But… should we wait until he comes back or take it to Mister Zhang first?”

“Let’s give it to Mister Zhang first,” Qin Ying thought it over. “Ginseng can’t be left lying around like this. We don’t know how to properly store it.

“Mister Zhang will know what to do—whether to sell it directly or process it first, it’ll be up to him.”

Aunt Zhao nodded in agreement. “Then tomorrow it is. When An’an goes over to feed the chickens, you can bring the ginseng to Mister Zhang.”