sinovels Chapter 1956 The Most Expensive Ginseng King
Chapter 1956 The Most Expensive Ginseng King
Chapter 1956 The Most Expensive Ginseng King
Li Ruhai's shout startled Zhao Jun and the others.
At this moment, Zhao Jun didn't bother moving the stones anymore; he got up and grabbed the semi-automatic rifle.
At the same time, the Ma brothers also rushed to Li Ruhai's aid with guns.
When the three of them passed by, they saw Li Ruhai crouching low, holding a bayonet, peering around cautiously.
"Ruhai, what's wrong?" Zhao Jun asked. Li Ruhai turned around, put away his gun, and said to Zhao Jun, "Brother, there are wolves."
Zhao Jun immediately knew that this was the escaped wolf seeking revenge. He promptly warned Ma Sheng and the other two to be vigilant and not to be alone.
Then, Zhao Jun continued carrying the ginseng.
If a pack of wolves attacked, he wouldn't be able to stop carrying ginseng. But if it was just one wolf, Zhao Jun wouldn't be afraid.
Just as Zhao Jun knelt down before the Phoenix Ginseng King, Ma Yang approached him and said, "Brother-in-law, something's not right."
"Huh?" Zhao Jun was taken aback upon hearing this and asked Ma Yang, "What's wrong with that?"
“Look, brother-in-law,” Ma Yang said, glancing at the Phoenix Ginseng King in front of Zhao Jun, “this ginseng must be two or three hundred years old, right?”
“I’ve got it.” Zhao Jun said this because in his previous life, this Phoenix Ginseng King was unearthed in 89 and won the reputation of being the best ginseng since the Kangxi Emperor.
The "first" here refers to its age.
Now that the Zhao family has brought out the Cross-Sea Ginseng King, the Phoenix Ginseng King's first place is no longer secure, but it was only unearthed a year earlier, so it doesn't have much impact on its age.
“Brother-in-law, think about it.” At this moment, Ma Yang said again, “In the past two or three hundred years, wouldn’t this ginseng have produced seeds? Where would those seeds come from? Even if the ginseng is small and can be eaten as much as it wants, there still needs to be some left around it, right? Don’t the seeds come out of the ginseng?”
Ma Yang's words were so clear and logical that Ma Sheng exclaimed in amazement, "Wow, my little brother has really made something of himself!"
Before Ma Yang could even feel smug, Li Ruhai said from the side, "What's so great about that? Those are just things my brother Jun said."
Ma Yang glared fiercely at Li Ruhai, and Zhao Jun quickly acted as a peacemaker, saying to Ma Sheng, "Brother, our little brother has really made something of himself lately."
“You taught me all of that.” Ma Sheng unhesitatingly attributed the credit to Zhao Jun, saying, “Our parents both say it’s all your doing.”
"It's all thanks to our family's good upbringing; my little brother is a good kid from the bottom of his heart." Zhao Jun pushed the credit outwards, then said to Ma Yang, "Little brother, think about it, why aren't there any other scoundrels around here?"
"I don't know." Zhao Jun meant for him to use his brain, but Ma Yang didn't think about it at all and asked directly, "What's going on, brother-in-law?"
“This embankment has been waded through,” Zhao Jun answered, glancing around as he added, “And it wasn’t just any ordinary person wading through it; they waded through it perfectly clean.”
"Jun," Zhao Jun said, and Ma Sheng immediately asked, "Then why did this big club fall?"
"Hehe." Zhao Jun chuckled upon hearing this, and said, "Brother, have you forgotten? Doesn't this club go dormant anymore?"
“Ah…” Hearing Zhao Jun say this, Ma Sheng suddenly realized: “They came to Anziqian, and the club was dormant, so they didn’t take it away.”
“Right.” Zhao Jun replied with a smile, and Li Ruhai next to him laughed and said, “Alright, you’ve saved the best one for us. We’re so lucky.”
“That’s my good fortune!” Ma Yang suddenly said, and was then pulled aside by Ma Sheng.
Next, Ma Sheng and Ma Yang stopped wading around and, together with Li Ruhai, tightened their defenses, protecting Zhao Jun.
During this time, Ma Sheng helped Zhao Jun, and the two of them moved four stones, one large and three small, out of the soil.
The remaining pebbles were no longer an obstacle, and Zhao Jun continued to use the deer antler shovel to remove the soil.
A long ginseng age does not necessarily mean that the ginseng will grow to a large size.
This Phoenix Ginseng King can't compare to the Cross-Sea Ginseng King, but what they sell isn't size or weight, but rather its appearance.
This Phoenix Ginseng King grows in the cracks of rocks, its main root, or the entire ginseng body, is squeezed by the rocks and grows horizontally.
Its body is sturdy, wider at the top and narrower at the bottom, with broad, rounded shoulders, resembling the puffed-out chest of a poultry.
But here, we can't say it looks like poultry; we have to say it looks like a phoenix!
Zhao Jun observed its skin color; this ginseng king had a deep, rich, yellowish-brown hue. Looking at the skin itself, it was firm, delicate, and resilient; when lightly touched with his fingertips, it felt smooth and didn't crack—truly the finest quality ginseng skin.
Zhao Jun suppressed his excitement and continued to use the deer antler spoon to clear away the soil around the ginseng. He saw that the shoulders slowly shrunk down to the waist, making the waist appear exquisite and strong.
Further down, the legs naturally separate, with the ginseng's legs slightly bent and spread apart, just like a pair of legs that are tucked in.
Ma Sheng, Ma Yang, and Li Ruhai watched from the side. Seeing Zhao Jun's method of lifting the ginseng, Li Ruhai couldn't help but feel secretly glad that he had stopped in time when he noticed something was wrong, otherwise he might have really damaged the ginseng.
Because Li Ruhai saw that there were four short, thin, downy tendrils growing on the ginseng body.
These four tendrils are soft yet resilient, neither thick nor hard, and hang slightly off the ginseng body without growing outwards haphazardly.
At this moment, Zhao Jun's mood was different from Li Ruhai's. When he saw the beard, he remembered a sentence that an old chieftain had said in his previous life: "The body has fine, neat beard, which is the appearance of a spiritual ginseng."
And these four tufts of hair are positioned in a particularly spiritual way.
The shoulder is where the ginseng head connects to the body. This ginseng king has a ring of fine lines on its shoulder, as fine as hair and as deep as knife carvings. These are what the trade calls "locked shoulder lines".
The lines on the entire shoulder slope downwards, spiraling and tightly intertwined, with almost no gaps.
Moreover, the grooves are deep and filled with mud.
Zhao Jun knew that this part with the iron wire pattern was the most valuable part of the Phoenix Ginseng King, and it looked like a ginseng that was over a hundred years old.
From the outer shoulder downwards, the iron wire pattern becomes slightly sparser, but it is still very deep.
Four fine hairs grow here, in the gaps between the sparse iron wire patterns.
Further down, in the lower part of the body and at the leg section, the iron wire patterns gradually decrease and become shallower, disappearing completely at the leg.
Although some of the main stems had not yet emerged from the ground, the ginseng king before us, with its head raised, body horizontal, wings outstretched, and legs slightly bent, looked just like a phoenix about to take flight.
"Brother-in-law, this..." Taking advantage of the moment when Zhao Jun was looking at the ginseng, Ma Yang wanted to ask him a question, but remembering the rules of the mountain expedition, he swallowed the words back.
Zhao Jun turned around, smiled at Ma Yang, and said, "Little brother, you've done another great service!"
"Huh?" Ma Yang was taken aback, then heard Zhao Jun continue, "And this time your contribution is greater than ever before!"
Zhao Jun's words were a way of telling Ma Yang that the price of this Phoenix Ginseng King was higher than that of the Cross-Sea Ginseng King.
As I said before, wild ginseng is not sold based on size, weight, or age, but on its quality.
As the saying goes: You won't know until you see it, and once you do, you'll be shocked.
When the King of Sea Cucumbers was first presented, Zhao Jun felt that he had never seen such a fine wild ginseng in two lifetimes.
Today, upon seeing the Phoenix Ginseng King, Zhao Jun had the same thought flash through his mind again.
The shock that the Phoenix Ginseng King brought to Zhao Jun was unprecedented and unparalleled.
After a short rest, Zhao Jun resumed his work.
Next comes the main tendril. At this point, Zhao Jun didn't know how many tendrils were on the two ginseng legs, but he noticed a tendril between the two legs, that is, in the groin area.
Zhao Jun concentrated and carefully lifted the soil.
It was past six o'clock when he carried the ginseng out. By then, the ginseng from the other burial mound had already been carried out. Zhang Yuanmin and Lin Xiangshun returned to their shack, while Li Baoyu and Xie Chen came to pick up Zhao Jun.
"Brother, are you still carrying it?" Li Baoyu came to Zhao Jun's side and whispered, "Third Uncle has already prepared the meal, and the wolf meat is stewed and smells delicious."
Wolf meat can't possibly taste as good as yellow-haired roe deer meat, but what else can you eat in the mountains? You're lucky if you can eat this.
"Brother, you've worked hard." At this moment, Li Ruhai approached Zhao Jun and put his hand on Zhao Jun's arm, saying, "You have to do all the heavy and tiring work. I can't help you with anything."
Hearing Li Ruhai's words, Li Baoyu, Ma Yang, and the others all pursed their lips, but Zhao Jun comforted Li Ruhai, saying, "It's alright, Ruhai. It's great that we brothers can play 'sticks' together."
“That’s true, but you’ve worked so hard, brother…” Li Ruhai wanted to express his feelings again, but Li Baoyu grabbed him by the collar and pulled him aside.
Leaving Li Ruhai behind, Li Baoyu said to Zhao Jun, "Brother, what this kid said makes sense. You've been working hard all day. Go back and have a hot meal and rest."
At this moment, Zhao Jun was bent over, pounding his legs with his hands. He had been kneeling on the ground since morning, for more than seven hours. How could he not be tired?
"Jun, let's go." Ma Sheng came over and supported Zhao Jun's arm, saying, "Go back and eat, then go to bed early and get a good night's sleep."
“No, brother.” Upon hearing this, Zhao Jun quickly pressed Ma Sheng’s hand down, then looked at the Phoenix Ginseng King that had not yet been fully unearthed and said, “We can’t all go back. This ginseng can’t be left unattended.”
"Can't we just cover it with straw?" Ma Sheng asked. Zhao Jun waved his hands repeatedly and said, "No, no, absolutely not!"
This ginseng king is different from those with four or five leaves; it's worth a fortune.
You can't be too afraid of the unexpected. What if someone or some animal comes along and discovers this ginseng king?
The ginseng is almost ready to be brought out; the project has progressed to this point. Zhao Jun would rather stay here all night than let anything go wrong.
Seeing Zhao Jun's insistence, Ma Sheng didn't hesitate and immediately said, "Well then, Jun, you guys go back and eat, I'll stay here and watch over things."
Zhao Jun hesitated for a moment upon hearing this, then looked at Li Baoyu and Xie Chen and asked, "Baoyu, Xiao Chen, are you two hungry?"
“I’m not hungry, brother!” Li Baoyu was the first to speak up, saying, “I’ll stay here and keep watch too.”
“I’m not hungry either!” Jie Chen immediately said, “Brother Jun, you take Ru Hai and Xiao Yang back. The three of us will definitely be fine here.”
"You absolutely must hold this position!" Zhao Jun was still worried. As he spoke, he reached for the lunchboxes the men had used at noon and instructed the three of them, "When I get to the shack, have Jin Hui and the other two come over immediately."
These men in front of him were all trusted confidants of Zhao Jun, reliable people. But he couldn't rest easy without Zhao Jun watching over them.
However, he was truly exhausted after a long day. Moreover, he had to carry ginseng tomorrow, so he needed a good rest tonight. Therefore, Zhao Jun ultimately left with Li Ruhai and Ma Yang.
They weren't far from the shack; it only took them half an hour to get there. By then, the food was already prepared, but since Zhao Jun hadn't returned, no one touched their chopsticks.
Seeing Zhao Jun return, Xing San hurriedly came up to him and asked with concern, "Kid, are you tired?"
"Not bad, Uncle San," Zhao Jun replied, and was then helped into the shack by Li Ruhai.
Upon seeing Zhao Jun enter, Zhang Yuanmin and Zhao Jinhui, who were sitting on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), hurriedly made room for him.
Just then, Xing San came in carrying a stew pot. Even before the lid was opened, a meaty aroma wafted into Zhao Jun's nose.
There was a small earthenware pot on the kang (heated brick bed) filled with rice. Wang Qiang brought the pot over and asked Zhao Jun, "Nephew, are your brother-in-law and the others watching over there?"
“Yeah.” Wang Qiang didn’t mention it, but Zhao Jun was about to say something when he continued, “We need two more people to go over there and deliver the food to them, and then stay with them for half the night.”
"I go!"
"I go!"
Wang Qiang, Zhang Yuanmin, and the others were eager to go, but Xing San stopped them and said to Zhao Jun, "Kid, stop messing around. There are ten of us, we'll take turns in groups of five. If two of us go now, we'll keep watch with those three for half the night, and then we're done for..."
At this point, Xing San paused slightly and said, "At midnight, those five will go and keep watch for the rest of the night, right?"
“Yes, let’s do it that way.” Zhao Jun nodded, and Xing San added, “Among us, Big Guy and Fatty are the strongest, so we’ll split them up. And then… Ru Hai and Ma Xiaozi will split up too.”
Upon hearing this, Zhao Jun felt that the old man's arrangement was quite good, and immediately agreed, saying, "Okay, now it's done... Big brother."
Zhao Jun looked around and finally pointed to Zhang Yuanmin's general, saying, "You and Ru Hai, you two eat quickly, and after you finish eating, take their food, and then stay there."
“Brother, let’s go now.” Zhang Yuanmin agreed readily, saying, “We’re still a little worried about leaving the three of them behind.”
Hearing Zhang Yuanmin say this, Zhao Jun did not stop them. Zhang Yuanmin and Li Ruhai packed their things and put the lunch boxes into their satchels.
Then the two of them, carrying guns, took Mao Mao to find Li Baoyu and the other two.
After Zhao Jun finished eating, he lay down. After Wang Qiang and the others finished cleaning up, they also went to bed on the kang (a heated brick bed).
At midnight, Xing San, holding a flashlight, woke up Wang Qiang, Lin Xiangshun, Zhao Jinhui, and Ma Yang one by one.
Without waking Zhao Jun, the group left their shack, carrying their guns, to guard the Phoenix Ginseng King.
Inside the shack, only Zhao Jun and Mud Loach remained, the man and the dog sleeping soundly.
An hour later, Ma Sheng and his four companions returned to the shack. Zhao Jun was awakened by the sound of loaches. When he saw that it was his own people returning, Zhao Jun didn't say anything, just turned over and went back to sleep.
The group climbed onto the kang (a heated brick bed) and quickly fell asleep.
Meanwhile, three meters away from the Phoenix Ginseng King, a bonfire was burning fiercely.
If there's a fire, Black Bear and Xiong Ba won't come over, and even in summer, the forest gets cold at night.
Xing San and his five companions sat around the fire to warm themselves when suddenly Zhao Jinhui cried out "Ouch!" and stood up, clutching his stomach. He reached out to Xing San and said, "Uncle Xing, give me some toilet paper, I need to relieve myself."
Upon hearing this, Xing San hurriedly pulled toilet paper out of his pocket.
Seeing this, Wang Qiang said to Zhao Jinhui, "Jinhui, I'll go with you?"
“No need, Uncle.” Zhao Jinhui took the paper and stun gun with one hand and replied to Wang Qiang, “I’m not going far, I’m not afraid.”
After saying that, Zhao Jinhui took the stun gun, clutched his stomach, and left.
Zhao Jinhui didn't go very far, only about five meters from the fire. He went behind a tree, took off his pants, and squatted down.
Just two minutes after Zhao Jinhui left, Mao Mao, who was lying by the fire, suddenly raised his head and looked in Zhao Jinhui's direction.
Then Mao Mao got up. There was a rope around its neck, the other end of which was tied to a tree next to it, so the dog couldn't jump out, but it opened its mouth and barked.
"Oh no!" Xing San and the others stood up as soon as they saw this, while Zhao Jinhui was wiping his bottom with toilet paper.
Hearing a dog barking from not far away, Zhao Jinhui subconsciously looked up.
At that moment, the flashlight was placed in front of his feet. The flashlight beam shone forward, and two green lights shot out from between the two trees. An old wolf pounced straight at the unarmed Zhao Jinhui!
During the three-day Qingming Festival holiday, it snowed for all three days. The first day, the snow was heavy; we hadn't seen such heavy snow all winter.
I'm exhausted from pushing snow, and I've unknowingly missed another chapter these past few days.
I'll add it shortly, around 12:30.