Chapter 310

The crowd was genuinely surprised.

Then they thought of a place where people were sure to be!

A large group of people then marched towards the village entrance, where they saw Zhang Xiaogou diligently standing guard on the wall from a distance.

Zhang Xiaogou was the child of Zhang Tuzi. Unlike his lazy and shameless father, young Xiaogou was hardworking, ambitious, and sensible. His diligence in patrol duty and building the schoolhouse had shown the villagers that he was different from his father. Over time, they began to treat him differently from his father, not lumping them together anymore.

Aunt Wu hurriedly asked, “Xiaogou, where is everyone in the village?”

Why was it that they left in the morning and came back to find the village almost empty?

Zhang Xiaogou was sitting on the wall next to the village gate. This part of the wall was built from sandbags to block floodwaters. It was high and wide, offering a good view of distant places. There were wooden supports behind it, making it convenient to climb up and down.

Upon hearing Aunt Wu’s question, he quickly replied, “Auntie, everyone is up in the mountains digging kudzu roots! Most of the families who didn’t plant it went along to watch. If you want to go, you should hurry; otherwise, they’ll probably be back soon.”

There were only a few families in the village who hadn’t planted kudzu, and his was one of them.

Today, Brother Xu San, whose family had planted an entire mountain of kudzu, traded guard duty with him and went up the mountain to dig kudzu. He had promised to bring some back for Xiaogou.

“Kudzu?” Aunt Wu pondered for a while, thinking the name sounded familiar.

It seemed like she had heard it somewhere before.

“Yes, Brother Xu San said that early this morning, Brother Fan came over to tell the village chief that the kudzu was ready to be harvested. The village chief then informed everyone who had planted it, and they decided to harvest it early for peace of mind. So, the whole village went up the mountain,” Zhang Xiaogou explained, grateful for his morning chatter with Brother Xu San, which allowed him to explain everything clearly to the aunts and sisters before him.

Zhao Lan suddenly remembered and said, “I recall now, Shuiqing gave us those seeds. They were called kudzu!

After planting the seeds, my husband even went up the mountain to check. He said they were growing well, and it should be harvest time now.”

“Yes, I remember trying some at Shuiqing’s house. It looked like an old tree root, only much thicker and less appealing. It tasted a bit bitter at first but then had a slight sweetness after chewing.”

“Let’s go and take a look at what’s in the soil!” “Xiaogou, when we dig some up, we’ll share a piece with you.”

Only a few people present had seen or tasted kudzu before; most were curious and had never encountered it. Their curiosity peaked.

People who had experienced hunger craved food deeply, valuing it as much as silver.

Thirty people quickly turned and headed for the village’s back gate.

Shanshui Village was surrounded by mountains on three sides, with the densest coverage at the back. Going out through the back gate, they were sure to see something.

They had to work at the herbal shop in the afternoon, so they needed to use this morning gap to check it out.

Zhang Xiaogou, smiling, agreed and watched as the group gradually disappeared into the distance. The smile on his face slowly faded.

He turned and climbed the wooden stakes back onto the dike, sitting there to look at the distant dirt road in front of the village. His thin back looked a bit lonely.

In the village, people were busy picking mushrooms, peeling lotus seeds, planting potatoes and kudzu, raising rabbits and livestock… Although they were busy and tired, life visibly improved. But his own family’s situation had always been the worst in the village.

In fact, as one of the earliest families to settle in Shanshui Village, the Zhang family originally had a lot of land and forest. Even in his father and uncle’s generation, they still had quite a bit. But his father was a gambler, and his uncle was lazy, squandering the family assets.

No, his uncle had already squandered everything. It was only thanks to his diligent aunt and cousins that the family assets were slowly restored, even better than when his uncle was alive!

People used to say his aunt had bad luck, becoming a widow at a young age. But recently, he heard them saying she was lucky her husband died. Otherwise, with his uncle alive, they would probably have nothing left…

As for his own father, his laziness had already led them to start selling off land. The future was predictable; life would only get harder.

He couldn’t rely on his parents; he had to depend on himself. People without an umbrella run faster in the rain, and those who can’t rely on their parents have to work harder…

Zhao Lan, Li Tiantian, and the others exited through the village’s back gate, seeing people scattered all over the nearest mountain.

This was Zhao Lan’s family’s mountain. Judging by the number of people, most of the villagers were there, likely gathering at the village chief’s mountain to share their experiences on the first day. Others had followed suit and gone up the mountain as well.

On the mountain, Fan Xiaoliu exaggeratedly shouted, “Come quick! I found one! Come see if this is it?”

“Where?” Li Wen quickly ran over with a hoe.

Other men carried full bamboo baskets closely behind.

The old village chief and similarly aged Fan Qian and other elders lagged behind. They were in no hurry, leisurely walking and commenting, “The yield of the kudzu roots is really good. Just scatter the seeds and they can grow so well on their own.”

Some were nearly a meter long, others as short as an arm’s length, with thin parts resembling wrists and thick parts as fat as calves. It was truly unexpected.

“I thought wild growth like this would be as thin as tree roots,” said Fan Qian, eyes filled with the joy of a good harvest.

“This food is amazing. Just scatter it in the mountains and it grows so well without any attention. With so many forests here, it will be useful in the future!”

“I heard from Xiao Ding that these vines can also be propagated by cuttings. We mustn’t waste them. With these, the people in our village won’t go hungry in the future,” said Old Man Xu, eyes gleaming as he looked at the vines under the trees, as if they were treasures.

Indeed, to them, this was a treasure—the most important treasure.

Hearing his father speak, Xu San eagerly interjected, “It’s not just about not going hungry. Brother Ding also said it’s a medicinal herb! It can relieve thirst, treat measles, dysentery, diarrhea, and dizziness! Father, it’s really a treasure!”

People in the village revered medicinal herbs from the bottom of their hearts, especially ones that could also fill their bellies.

According to the city master’s words, doesn’t this belong to, belong to that kind of medicinal diet?

Li Wu, responsible for carrying the bamboo baskets on the other side, heard Xu San’s words and feared the old man might consider selling them, quickly extinguishing that idea, “Brother Ding also said that kudzu roots are too easy to grow. Once one plant grows on a mountain, in a few years, the whole mountain will be covered. But because of the high yield, they’re not valuable. Medicinal shops barely take them in, and the prices are low—they complain it’s labor-intensive to dig.”

The hope that had risen in Old Man Xu and Fan Qian vanished without a trace.

The old village chief didn’t give up too soon, instructing his son, “Next time you go to the city, take some with you. Find a medicine shop and ask if they accept them and what the buying price is. That way, we’ll have an idea.”