sinovels Chapter 1860 I'll be able to live comfortably for the rest of my life!
Chapter 1860 I'll be able to live comfortably for the rest of my life!
Chapter 1860 I'll be able to live comfortably for the rest of my life!
Upon hearing Zhao Jun tell him to go back with the car, Ma Yang's expression instantly changed, and he angrily shouted, "Brother-in-law, you're using me and then discarding me, you're kicking me while I'm down!"
"What are you saying?" Zhao Jun slapped Ma Yang on the shoulder and said, "You only know this much, and you've used it all on your brother-in-law!"
"Brother-in-law!" Ma Yang clutched his shoulder, his face flushed, and said, "Are you killing the dog right after the hunt?!"
"Hmm?" Zhao Jun was taken aback by Ma Yang's analogy, which touched Zhao Jun, who was surrounded by dogs.
Just then, Zhao Jun heard Li Ruhai beside him sneer, "That's called 'when the cunning rabbit dies, the hunting dog is cooked.'"
"Slap!" Zhao Jun slapped Ma Yang again, shouting, "If you don't study properly for a day, that's like a rabbit dying while hunting... or something like that!"
Ma Yang covered the spot where Zhao Jun had hit him. The slap didn't hurt that much, but Ma Yang was heartbroken and aggrieved, tears welling up in his eyes. He said, "Brother-in-law, I'm the one who's been watching over these sticks. You can't send me back."
Hearing Ma Yang's voice tremble with tears, Zhao Youcai quickly stepped forward to comfort him, saying, "Child, you sneaked out without my mother-in-law knowing. She's been worried sick about you since you didn't come home for lunch. If you don't come home tonight, my mother-in-law and I will think you've gone missing, and we'll be frantic with worry!"
What Zhao Youcai said was also what Zhao Jun was thinking. Although children aren't valued enough these days, losing a child is definitely unacceptable.
Ma Yang goes home for lunch every day, and Wang Cuihua will be worried if he doesn't go back today. If he doesn't go back tonight, the whole Yong'an Village will have to go looking for him.
But to everyone's surprise, Ma Yang, who was usually simple-minded, was quick-witted at this moment. He immediately responded to Zhao Youcai, saying, "Uncle, isn't my brother Baoyu going back to the village? Just let him come to my house and tell my mother, that'll be fine."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Youcai looked at Zhao Jun with his small eyes. Zhao Jun pursed his lips, unsure of what to do.
It wouldn't be good to force Ma Yang to go back; after all, he was the hero of this mountain trek.
Why not send it back to him? Zhao Jun is worried that his father-in-law and mother-in-law won't be happy.
Seeing Zhao Jun in a difficult position, Li Ruhai stepped forward and leaned close to Zhao Jun's ear again.
For some reason, Ma Yang was unusually clever today. Seeing this, he suddenly leaped forward, shoved Li Ruhai aside, and shouted, "Li Ruhai, why can't you stand to see me doing well?"
"How could I not want to see you doing well?" Li Ruhai laughed. "I'm doing this for your own good. You sneaked off to the mountains; if I, Uncle Ma, don't do this, I'll skin you alive!"
Upon hearing Li Ruhai's words, Ma Yang couldn't help but think of the triangular belts his father collected; those things really hurt when they were whipped around.
Seeing that Ma Yang was silent, Li Ruhai moved closer to Ma Yang and said, "Listen to my advice, come back with me in his car now. When you get home, don't mention going up the mountain. Just eat and do whatever you want, and pretend nothing happened."
"This..." For a moment, a thought of backing out flashed through Ma Yang's mind, but it must be said that he was also a man of strong will. After a brief hesitation, Ma Yang straightened his neck and shouted, "I am his son, I don't believe he can beat me to death!"
Zhao Jun: "..."
Everyone: "..."
Xing San shook his head, slowly walked to the side, and muttered to himself, "What a tragedy!"
"Brother-in-law!" Ma Yang pushed Li Ruhai aside and went to Zhao Jun, saying, "I'm going all out. As long as my dad doesn't beat me to death, I won't go to school anymore. I'll go up the mountain with you!"
“Okay, Xiaoyang.” Zhao Jun agreed readily, but then changed the subject, saying, “We’ll talk about school and going up the mountain later, but you have to go home first today. After you get home, you can discuss it properly with your parents…”
"No, brother-in-law!" Ma Yang retorted, "I can't leave!"
“You can walk.” Zhao Jun advised kindly, “We’re building shelters and carrying ginseng, you’re no use here.”
After saying this, Zhao Jun seemed to remember something and quickly added, "Don't worry, once that club is brought out, no matter how much it sells for, your share will definitely be there. I'm your brother-in-law, you can trust me, right?"
“That might work…” Ma Yang suddenly realized something was wrong and immediately changed the subject, saying, “Brother-in-law, why wouldn’t I be of any use if I stayed?”
As he spoke, Ma Yang straightened his back and said confidently, "My third uncle said I'm lucky to have found a club."
"I..." Xing San never expected that a casual remark he made would have such a negative impact on him.
"Brother-in-law, you guys go about your business." At this moment, Ma Yang raised his hand and gestured around, saying, "I'll just leave it here to find you a club."
Seeing that the young man was unmoved by reason, Zhao Jun was at a loss. The ginseng gang in Lingxi didn't offer obvious preferential treatment to those who had opened their eyes, but they didn't mistreat them either.
Therefore, Zhao Jun could not force Ma Yang to go home, and could only pretend not to see Li Ruhai's throat-slitting gesture.
"Brother." Seeing Zhao Jun hesitate, Li Baoyu secretly urged him.
"Baoyu," Zhang Yuanmin stopped Li Baoyu and said, "Bring out the paper containing the things from Ruhaiji."
"What's wrong?" Li Baoyu asked Zhang Yuanmin while rummaging through his pockets. "What else do you want?"
"Okay." Zhang Yuanmin nodded and said, "There's an iron furnace and furnace tube in the storeroom in the west courtyard of my house. Could you bring it over with you?"
"What are you going to do with that thing?" Li Baoyu asked. "Are you going to set up a stove here?"
"What's wrong?" Zhang Yuanmin asked. "It's so cold in this woods at night, don't you heat your kang (heated brick bed) at home?"
This is no exaggeration. Even though it's already June, the temperature is still low at night in Heilongjiang Province.
The temperature in Yong'an Village at night is only 13 or 14 degrees Celsius, and it's colder inside than outside, a damp and chilly feeling. So you have to heat the kang (a heated brick bed) before going to bed at night.
If Yong'an Village is like this, then the situation in the mountains and forests is even more dire.
Normally, ginseng hunters stay in the mountains in August or September, unlike the Zhao family group who are in such cold weather now.
Hearing Zhang Yuanmin's words, Zhao Jun called to Li Baoyu, "Baoyu, listen to your big brother. Anyway, that furnace isn't heavy. You can transport it down the mountain in a Liberation truck, and then haul it up in a jeep."
After explaining things to Li Baoyu, Zhao Jun asked Zhang Yuanmin, "Brother, if you think there's anything else we need, just tell Baoyu."
"Then bring up ten catties of wine." Zhang Yuanmin said to Zhao Jun with a smile, "Brother, you don't drink, but we have to."
Hearing Zhang Yuanmin say this, Zhao Jun also laughed. He said to Li Baoyu, "Baoyu, carry twenty catties. If it's not handled properly, we'll have to wait three or four days."
"Yes!" Li Baoyu responded, then winked at Zhao Jun and glanced at Ma Yang, as if to say, "Is your brother-in-law coming or not?"
Zhao Jun turned to look at Ma Yang. Upon meeting Zhao Jun's gaze, Ma Yang quickly hugged the tree beside him.
Seeing his expression, Zhao Jun shook his head and turned to Zhao Youcai, saying, "Dad, you should go back."
"Me?" Zhao Youcai was taken aback, then heard Zhao Jun nod and say, "If the two of us come out, can we leave my mother and the other three alone?"
The Zhao family had such a large courtyard, and they had hidden a lot of money and treasures inside. There were also countless fox pelts in the shed in the backyard.
In this situation, even with dogs, bears, and lynxes around, Wang Meilan and her daughter-in-law Ma Ling would feel uneasy if there were no men at home.
Thinking of this, and recalling Zhao Youcai's previous act of stealing a motorcycle and running away, Zhao Jun couldn't help but glare at him.
"Huh?" Zhao Youcai's small eyes widened, and he glared back at Zhao Jun without showing any weakness.
But Zhao Jun had no time to pay attention to Zhao Youcai at this moment. Zhang Yuanmin came over and nudged him a couple of times, pointed to two trees side by side to the west, and then gestured to the east, saying, "Brother, do you want to put the saplings down, cut off the branches, tie them to this tree, and then put up a stick over there, a plank in the middle or something?"
"Yes, yes." Zhao Jun nodded repeatedly, then Zhang Yuanmin said, "After that, nail tarpaulins to the four corners, and also surround the four sides with tarpaulins, right?"
“Yes, yes.” Zhao Jun nodded again, but Zhang Yuanmin shook his head and said, “That won’t do, brother. If the wind blows at night, the tarpaulin will rustle and you won’t be able to sleep.”
"What should we do then, brother?" Zhao Jun really had no experience in this area. In his previous life, when he was hunting in Luosha Mountain, there was no way he could have built a shelter. It wasn't a problem with materials or tools, but rather that back then, Zhao Jun not only had to avoid wild animals, but also the Russians.
“Don’t we still have those fried stalks and planks left over from building the shed?” Zhang Yuanmin said, “Let Baoyu and Xiaochen bring some over. We don’t need to nail too many around the outside; three or four planks on each side will be enough. Then we can nail the tarpaulin to the planks. It’ll be warm and won’t move.”
“Brother,” Zhao Jun pulled Zhang Yuanmin over and said, “Why don’t you go back with Baoyu and the others? When you get home, see what you need and what you can use, and bring it all.”
“That works too.” Zhang Yuanmin replied, then habitually pulled up his trousers and said to Zhao Youcai, “Let’s go, Uncle.”
"Let's go!" Zhao Youcai picked up his gun and was about to leave when he heard Zhao Jun say to Xing San, "Uncle San, you should go back too."
Xing San was still in good health, but he was getting old, and Zhao Jun couldn't bear to see him suffer in the mountains.
“No way!” Xing San refused without hesitation, saying, “I’m not going back, I have to stay here.”
"What are you doing here?" Zhao Jun stepped forward to help Xing San up and advised, "You can't eat or sleep well here."
"I'm not afraid," Xing San waved his hand and said, "I didn't care when I lived in the mountains all those years. Alright, you don't need to persuade me, I'm not going back!"
After saying this, Xing Sanchong raised his hand to Zhao Youcai and said, "Second brother, go home and get me two packs of good cigarettes, and then have Yuanmin bring them over to me."
Zhao Youcai: "..."
Zhao Jun couldn't persuade Ma Yang or Xing San, and could only watch Zhao Youcai, Zhang Yuanmin, Li Baoyu, and Xie Chen leave.
Watching the four leave, Ma Yang happily circled the tree three times until Zhao Jun kicked him, which finally calmed him down.
Zhao Jun told Xing San to rest aside, and then arranged for Wang Qiang to lead Zhao Jinhui and Ma Yang to clear the ground vines and weeds within the shelter area, while Zhao Jun led Li Ruhai to carry the seedling lampstand.
Zhao Jun took action, and Li Ruhai assisted him from the side.
The antler-shaped spatula parted the black humus, revealing the rhizome, stem, and body.
Seeing that the upper half of the ginseng was wrapped with roots, Li Ruhai assumed they were tree roots or grass roots, so he picked up a small pair of scissors to hand to Zhao Jun.
"Look at this!" Zhao Jun said. Li Ruhai looked down and saw that the whiskers were covered with pearl-like bumps.
"Oh!" Li Ruhai exclaimed in surprise, "Brother, this is ginseng rootlets."
"Then what are you thinking about?" Zhao Jun's face darkened as he scolded, "You didn't even look carefully before you started using the scissors? How much difference is there between a perfectly good lampstand and a lamp with a broken root?"
When people like Li Ruhai first entered this industry and started learning how to carry ginseng, Zhao Jun had to be strict with them and correct their bad habits.
"Yes, brother, I was wrong." Li Ruhai humbly accepted Zhao Jun's criticism, and looked down at the ginseng root again. Then he said to Zhao Jun, "Brother, what was I thinking at the time? I thought that ginseng roots should grow downwards. And this root came from the side, so I didn't think much of it."
After saying this, Li Ruhai spoke up for himself, saying, "But before I cut the scissors, I will definitely have to take a closer look. I should be able to tell."
Zhao Jun glanced at Li Ruhai, then looked up and called out, "Uncle, Jin Hui, come and take a look."
Since they were all newbies and needed to learn, Zhao Jun also called Wang Qiang and Zhao Jinhui over.
Ma Yang also came along. He knelt on the ground, staring intently at the ginseng rootlets, and asked, "Brother-in-law, are these small bumps like pearls?"
“Yes.” Zhao Jun nodded and said, “This is called ‘pearls dotting the tassels.’”
As I said before, Zhao Jun has brought everyone else, so why wouldn't he bring his own brother-in-law? Since the kid is already here, Zhao Jun is willing to teach him.
"Pearls dot the beard, pearls dot the beard..." Ma Yang kept reciting the rhyme Zhao Jun taught him. If he had put this much effort into his studies, he would never have been last in his class.
At this moment, Zhao Jun said to the group, "When Ru Hai first took a look at these tree roots and grass roots, what did he say? He said he thought that ginseng roots shouldn't grow upwards, and they were even growing horizontally."
As he spoke, Zhao Jun looked at the four elephant trunk buds that had remained untouched.
Following Zhao Jun's gaze, Wang Qiang was taken aback and asked, "Nephew, did this beard come from that gang over there?"
After asking this question, Wang Qiang saw Zhao Jun nod and quickly followed up with, "So far?"
The four elephant trunk buds were at least two steps away from the lampstand, about 1.2 to 1.3 meters away.
"Holy shit!" Zhao Jinhui cursed, "This is a big shipment!"
"Big truck, kid?" Xing San, who had just arrived, asked curiously.
"Yes, Uncle San." Zhao Jun nodded solemnly, looking at the four elephant trunk buds over there, and said, "Bring these four ginseng seedlings out, dry them in the sun, and let them ripen for a few years before harvesting. If they are properly prepared by then, our families will be able to live comfortably for the rest of our lives."
When Zhao Jun said this, Wang Qiang, Zhao Jinhui, Li Ruhai, and Ma Yang were all stunned.
Several families, over forty people, spending money while lying down... how much money must that be?
At this moment, Xing San asked Zhao Jun, "What if I smoke Zhonghua cigarettes every day?"
Zhao Jun: "..."
Zhao Jun glanced at Xing San. Last year, when he bought the old man a nine-cent gold gourd, Xing San was still unhappy. How come he's now thinking about smoking Zhonghua cigarettes every day?
“That’s enough,” Zhao Jun said. “We’re in the mountains, you can smoke Zhonghua cigarettes and drink Wuliangye every day, that’s enough.”
"That's settled!" Xing San, who was squatting, slapped his thigh and stood up, saying, "Kid, we've managed to protect these ginseng seedlings."
As he spoke, Xing San reached back and touched the thing tucked into his waistband, while coldly scanning his surroundings.
Xing San stood guard around the area, while Wang Qiang, Zhao Jinhui, and Ma Yang finished cleaning up the site and then went to collect firewood from the surrounding area.
Zhao Jun continued to lift the ginseng, gently using a straw to block the extending tendrils to one side, and then continued to dig downwards with a deer antler spoon.