Chapter 26

Given that the soil on the mountain was very hard and the he shou wu (Polygonum multiflorum) grew in the crevices of the rocks, this time Lu Baiwei and Tang Yunling brought a large hoe for digging. The two of them took turns applying force to dig.

“Digging this deep and still no end in sight, good heavens, how old is the he shou wu we’re digging up?”

Heaven knows how difficult it was to dig out he shou wu from the cracks in the rocks. After a few strikes, the stones sparked, nearly destroying the hoe.

Later, Lu Baiwei came up with a plan. She started a fire on the rocks and then poured water on them.

By burning the rocks to crack them, they were able to move the smaller pieces of stone away.

Only then could they continue digging deeper.

“At least four or five hundred years old, seems to be several pounds of it,” Lu Baiwei speculated, based on her experience harvesting herbs with her grandfather.

Tang Yunling continued to dig, and sure enough, they were getting closer to the root.

The he shou wu they unearthed was quite large, with a humanoid shape.

Lu Baiwei held it in her hands and estimated it weighed about three or four pounds.

“This must be at least five or six hundred years old. We’ve really struck it lucky this time.”

In addition to the large root, they also found some young he shou wu plants growing along the roots.

Lu Baiwei and Tang Yunling continued digging with their hoes until it got dark. They unearthed several other pieces that were over a hundred years old, similar to the ones they found last time.

For the smaller vines, they decided not to dig them up.

Just like with the Fritillaria, they planned to leave them to grow as seeds.

By the time they carried the harvested he shou wu back to the lake, Tang Yuanliang and the others had also caught a full basket of fish.

Even though Tang Yuanliang and her cousins wanted to take a rest, He Ting and Zhou Yanfeng were full of energy. They quickly grabbed some dried food and, under the moonlight, continued to use the bamboo raft to fish.

“The weather’s hot, and the fish in these mountains are too agile. It’s hard to catch them,” Tang Yuanliang said, a bit disappointed after catching a basket of fish.

“At least we got some,” he added. “It would be easier to catch them when the lake freezes over in winter, we can just cut a hole in the ice.”

“Let’s not continue now. We’ll come back early tomorrow morning, and I’ll take you all to catch wild chickens.”

It was too hot, and the fish would spoil if they caught too many, so they decided to rest for the night.

Tang Yuanliang thought for a moment, then said, “We’ll stay on the mountain tonight. Just like last time, we’ll sneak down early tomorrow morning to avoid the people from the team and take the fish to the black market in the county.”

To spend the night on the mountain, they would need to find a place to rest.

—

Spending the night on the mountain meant they had to find a place to rest.

They also had to figure out how to keep the fish alive.

To ensure the fish stayed fresh, Tang Yuanliang had already come up with a plan. He decided to dig a small pond by the lake, divert the lake water into it, and put the fish in there to keep them alive.

While he took He Ting and Zhou Yanfeng to set rabbit traps and find wild chicken nests, Tang Yuanliang found a ventilated cave near the cliff. That would be their resting place for the night.

To rest sooner, Tang Yuanliang divided the tasks. He assigned a few brothers to dig the pond while he took He Ting and Zhou Yanfeng with the tools to check the wild chicken nests.

As they walked ahead, they heard a short, sharp sound from the bushes, which sounded like a mix of a chicken call and a bird’s chirp. Tang Yuanliang halted, signaling Zhou Yanfeng and He Ting to stop. He quickly shone his flashlight directly into the eyes of the wild chicken hiding in the brush.

Taking advantage of the wild chicken being stunned by the light, he threw the long bamboo pole with a net over it, trapping the chicken.

He called to He Ting, “Alright, grab it.”

He Ting swiftly pulled the chicken from the net and tied it up.

Seeing Zhou Yanfeng eager to try, Tang Yuanliang discouraged him, “You’re too slow, you won’t catch a wild chicken.”

“Here’s the plan. You aim the flashlight at the wild chicken, and my brother-in-law will throw the bamboo pole to catch it. You two can work together and catch one.”

Knowing he wasn’t as quick as He Ting, Zhou Yanfeng agreed to Tang Yuanliang’s arrangement.

By late at night, they had caught five wild chickens. Realizing it was getting late, Tang Yuanliang yawned, feeling tired. He then led He Ting and Zhou Yanfeng back to the cave near the cliff.

Lu Baiwei’s other cousins had already finished digging the fish pond and had placed the basket of fish into the water to keep them alive.

They had already taken the two younger sisters back to the cave.

Lu Baiwei and Tang Yunling were both so tired that they had already fallen asleep.

Tang Yuanliang quietly entered the cave and, along with He Ting and Zhou Yanfeng, lay down on the mat they had prepared.

The cave was well-ventilated, and the cool breeze at night made it feel comfortable, not too hot.

Before entering, Lu Baiwei had already burned some herbs to drive away snakes, insects, and mice, so they slept peacefully through the night. However, in the middle of the night, there was a rustling sound coming from the bamboo pile at the entrance of the cave. It was unclear what small animal had come.

Tang Yuanliang got up and made some noise, scaring the animal away.

In the distance, they could vaguely hear the howl of wolves, and his expression changed.

He called Tang Yuanyang awake, and the two of them took turns standing watch until morning.

“I heard the howl of wolves last night,” Tang Yuanliang said.

—

“I heard the howl of wolves last night,” Tang Yuanliang said.

After getting up and washing his face with some water from the lake, he munched on some dry rations. “Based on my experience, it’s a good thing there were bamboo poles piled up at the entrance last night. If not, it could’ve been wolves scouting the area.”

“During the day, we’re fine, but tonight we need to head up the mountain early. We can’t stay in this valley overnight.”

After breakfast, they continued to fish as they had the day before, with Tang Yuanliang once again using the bamboo raft and nets.

As the sun began to set, they gathered all the fish from the small pond and packed them into baskets. They began their descent toward the mountain base.

This time, the moonlight wasn’t as bright as last time, but luckily, everyone had flashlights. They used the flashlights to navigate through the areas with tree cover. By late at night, they had reached a mountain ridge not far from the village. They waited for the rest of the team to rest before heading down the mountain.

Having spent the night on the mountain, everyone was exhausted.

Tang Yuanliang made the arrangements: “Go back and get some rest. Zhou, you’re coming to my place. I’ll sleep for a few hours, then wake up around four or five in the morning to go to the county with He Ting.”

“Good brother, I’m coming too,” Zhou Yanfeng responded.

“The fritillary bulbs I dried are almost ready, and the Chinese knotweed I dug up—I’ll leave one to process into medicine. The rest, I want to sell at the hospital’s collection point in the county. We’ll sort out the money from the medicinal herbs and divide it among everyone.”

“We said we don’t want any of the herbs, they’re all yours,” Lu Baiwei insisted.

Tang Yuanliang had no choice but to agree. “Fine, fine, we’ll take them to the county together.”

“Since you insist on dividing the money from the herbs, give one share to Lingling. As for the fish money, you won’t get a share of that.”

After seeing Tang Yuanliang and the others off, Lu Baiwei went to the inner room to sleep, and He Ting lay down in the main room.

Lu Baiwei was exhausted and quickly fell into a deep sleep.

Just as she was sleeping soundly, someone called her name, “Weiwei, Weiwei, wake up.”

“Ah, don’t bother me, Yin Zhihe, get lost.”

She had been talking to Yin Zhihe about marriage before.

Hearing her shout, He Ting, who had been calling her in the dark, became furious. His face darkened when he heard what she had said.

Fortunately, it was still dark, or the light would have revealed He Ting’s face, which had turned as black as a pot bottom.

When Lu Baiwei finally woke up and saw He Ting’s cold expression, she knew immediately something was wrong.