Zuo Shaoyang said: "Then what are you doing with so much firewood?" I saw that the back of the house was full of firewood. ”

Miao Peilan smiled and said: "Who wants to collect firewood in winter, you need firewood at home, the firewood must be dried to burn, raw firewood is not easy to burn, the smoke is too big, you have to dry it and then burn it." Besides, you can't do anything in the winter, and it won't be bad to fetch more firewood, and you won't have time to collect firewood when you're busy. If you don't collect firewood now, how can you have time at that time? ”

Only then did Zuo Shaoyang understand that Miao Peilan's firewood was mainly kept for her family in the future, and she couldn't sell so much. So the money earned by collecting firewood is far less than I imagined.

Zuo Shaoyang said: "That's not good, it's always delaying your farm work." ――By the way, the son of Aunt Li in your village is the eldest brother Li, how much can they earn in a day for the wages they earn on the canal construction site? ”

"It's hard to say, it depends on how much work the individual does."

"How much does Big Brother Li make?"

"Well, I heard that you can make three cents a day. Two meals are also included. ”

Zuo Shaoyang was speechless: "It's only three pennies? Too little, right? ”

"Brother Li has earned quite a lot. Some of them cost only a penny a day, but it is already very good to be able to eat two meals and save one person's rations. ”

"That's right. Otherwise, you help me cultivate medicinal herbs, and I will pay you. According to Brother Li's standard, three articles a day, two meals. ”

"I don't want money. Just help you clear the wasteland. ”

"That's not good, you have to pay for it with your labor, of course. Otherwise, forget it, I'll dig it myself slowly, and I'll be idle anyway. Zuo Shaoyang deliberately said pitifully.

Miao Peilan smiled and turned around: "Then two articles a day, two meals, if it doesn't work, pull it down." ”

Zuo Shaoyang smiled and sighed: "I've heard of people who raise the price of part-time jobs, but I haven't heard of me lowering the price for myself." Well, since you insist, so be it for now. However, if my medicinal herb cultivation has a future and makes money, and the tide rises, then I will give you a wage increase, and you are not allowed to push it. ”

Miao Peilan smiled slightly and nodded.

The place where Miao Peilan often collects firewood is not far from Laohuai Village, and as soon as she spoke, she arrived at a large slope facing the sun. The slope is relatively gentle, suitable for firewood, but it is not very suitable for Zuo Shaoyang to collect medicine in winter, because the ground is covered with snow on the calf, and the snow must be swept away to find medicinal materials, which is still after the sun in the morning has melted part of the snow.

Zuo Shaoyang didn't want to sweep away the snow to find it in general to find treasure, he could only find the medicinal materials of the tall plants, and soon saw several golden buckwheat, which is a kind of heat clearing and detoxification, draining pus and removing stasis, and it is best to collect the stems and leaves on the ground in autumn and winter.

Zuo Shaoyang was looking everywhere, suddenly, his eyes lit up, and he saw a herb, the rhizome was like an arrow shaft, and there were some spike flowers growing on the top, which looked like a red carved arrow inserted into the snow from a distance! This is gastrodia! In the "Shennong Materia Medica", it is called "red arrow".

Zuo Shaoyang hurriedly cut away the snow and carefully dug out the rhizomes underneath. Remove the stems and fibrous roots from the ground and wash them with snow water. I saw that this gastrodia was heavy, full and firm, and the pointed tip resembled a parrot's beak, which was a high-grade gastrodia.

Zuo Shaoyang heard the sound of chopping wood not far away, and shouted, "Miss Peilan! Miss Perran, come here! ”

The sound of chopping wood stopped, and the sound of trampling on broken branches was heard again, and Miao Peilan's body was covered with snowflakes falling on the branches, and she came over with a firewood knife like Santa Claus, smiling at him.

Zuo Shaoyang will light up the gastrodia in his hand: "Do you know what this is?" ”

Miao Peilan took it and shook her head.

"This is called gastrodia, also called red arrows. It is a very good medicinal material, two days ago I saw it in the wholesale market of medicinal materials in Liwa City, and their top-grade gastrodia sold for 20 wen a catty! Ordinary gastrodia can also be sold for more than ten yuan. In our pharmacy, the retail price of gastrodia is higher than the wholesale price in the medicinal herb market. You think, if you can dig a few catties of gastrodia a day, isn't it better than you chopping wood? You said that in many cases, the chopped firewood cannot be sold, and you can only use it yourself, but gastrodia is different, it is a common medicinal material for extinguishing wind and spasmodic, and it is in great demand. As long as you dig it, you can sell it! ”

"Really?"

Miao Peilan looked at him with half a doubt, and her expression was clearly saying, there is such a good thing, why don't others do it? Zuo Shaoyang said with a smile: "Gastrodia is not like ordinary weeds, the yield is not so much, maybe you can find one or two after looking for a day." If you are unlucky, you may not even be able to find one, and gastrodia can only be dug in winter and spring, and it is best to dig in winter, which is called 'winter hemp', which is of good quality, and the quality of 'spring hemp' in spring is much worse. So, you can't have that kind of good luck all year round. However, there are more herbs that can be mined in other seasons. ”

Zuo Shaoyang raised his hand and pointed to the silver-covered hill: "Look at the mountains all over the wilderness, how many people still go up the mountain to collect firewood on the first and second days of the first month of the snowy day?" These people don't have you to endure hardships, and digging medicinal materials to sell is also a science, many people don't understand, and there is nowhere to learn, just like you, even if you see this gastrodia, you don't know that it's gastrodia, and you won't dig it out and sell it. Someone has to teach that. No one else teaches, I can teach you. Dig up some medicinal herbs that are dug in winter. It should be able to make more money than you chop wood. ”

Miao Peilan nodded: "I believe in you." Then you teach me. Anyway, there is almost enough firewood cut at home. ”

"Good!" Zuo Shaoyang showed her the stems he had just removed, taught her how to identify gastrodia, and then took her to start looking for it all over the mountains.

They were really lucky, and after walking a short distance, they saw another gastrodia.

Zuo Shaoyang didn't remind her, and deliberately looked around without seeing it. Miao Peilan grabbed the stem of the gastrodia stem and looked up and down, turned around and said happily: "Zuo Langzhong, look, is this gastrodia?" ”

Zuo Shaoyang smiled and said, "You dig it out and take a look." ”

"Okay!" Miao Peilan quickly dug out the gastrodia, got rid of the soil, compared it with the gastrodia dug before, and immediately became overjoyed, and said, "It should be, it's very similar!" ”

Zuo Shaoyang smiled: "Well, that's right, you dug up the first herb, and it's a more valuable gastrodia!" ”

Miao Peilan happily held the hemp left and right to look at it, and was so happy that a few freckles on the side of her nose were laughing, very cute, Zuo Shaoyang was very moved, thinking that although this firewood girl had dark skin, she looked very handsome. It is said that women are not cute because they are beautiful, but beautiful because they are cute. This is true for Miao Peilan.

Miao Peilan dug up Gastrodia, and became more interested, followed Zuo Shaoyang to look around with wide eyes, and soon, they found another scrop. Although it is also called "ginseng", it is far worse than the price of ginseng, and one pound is only a penny.

Next, the two also discovered the fruit of the sweetgum tree, as well as the mountain and strychnine, etc., which were used as medicinal materials after the Song Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty, and the early Tang Dynasty did not know that it was medicine, so no one picked it. Lulutong is a medicine that dispels wind, activates the meridians, and improves the water and meridians, and has a very good effect on the treatment of rheumatism, paralysis, and hemiplegia after stroke. It is used to strengthen the stomach and eliminate food, regulate qi and relieve pain, and can also be used for lactation promotion of maternal milk. As for strychnine, it is an excellent medicinal material for wound treatment and pain relief, treatment of bruises, which can disperse knots and reduce swelling, and relieve pain.

Zuo Shaoyang picked these medicines and said to Miao Peilan: "These kinds of medicines can be used in medicine, but many Langzhong don't know, so the medicinal materials market doesn't accept them, but you can pick them and sell them to me, and I want to use them as medicinal materials." It's easier to find, but it's only available in winter. I'll count you three pounds a penny. ”

Miao Peilan smiled: "How much can you use as a medicine alone?" It's not expensive, so I picked it when I was collecting firewood and brought it to you. ”

"Hehe, thank you so much."

Don't look for don't know, this Qianren Mountain turned out to be a treasure trove of medicinal materials, in the morning, Zuo Shaoyang took Miao Peilan to find a lot of medicinal materials, including mulberry parasitism, neem seeds, green silk tulip, turmeric, hyssop, front Hu and so on are picked in winter, at noon, picked a full basket, it is estimated that it can be sold for more than ten dollars.

The two of them hurried back, and then the sky was overcast again, and occasionally snowflakes fell.