One

With the development of society, many old professions are gradually forgotten. Old man Zhang was the last hunter in our village, and his big black dog, Biaozi, was the last hunting dog.

Old man Zhang originally had an old-fashioned shotgun, which was later reported and confiscated by the township government. Old man Zhang sharpened a wooden bow with a knife and used sharpened thin bamboo as arrows to hunt in the mountains.

"Biaozi, I have rabbit meat to eat again today!" Old man Zhang looked at a fat gray rabbit who was grazing not far away in the grass, and said excitedly to the black dog Biaozi beside him.

After speaking, the old man Zhang opened his bow and arrows, squinted his eyes, and aimed at the rabbit and launched it. Simple wooden arrows made of bamboo naturally cannot be compared with real bows and arrows, and the accuracy is too much worse. The bamboo arrow pierced into the soil next to the rabbit and almost hit the rabbit. The rabbit was frightened and jumped away with a kick.

Old man Zhang called, "Biaozi, hurry up and chase after you!" The big black dog had already grinded his teeth, and when he heard the order, he rushed over like a bullet. Old man Zhang stayed where he was, waiting for Biaozi to come back with great trust.

Not long after, Biaozi came back with a gray rabbit that was still kicking on all fours, and the old man Zhang grabbed the rabbit from Biaozi's mouth, carried the rabbit ears, and praised: "Sure enough, it is a smart Biaozi, who knows how to keep his mouth alive." Sell alive for a higher price. ”

Biao Zi stared at Old Man Zhang, and his erected tail wagged non-stop. Old man Zhang knew that Biaozi must have found something, so he put the rabbit into the basket behind him, buckled the basket tightly, and motioned for Biaozi to lead the way.

Biaozi led him forward for a while, stopped in front of a bush, and then barked at the grass.

Old man Zhang knew that there must be something in the grass, so he stretched out his wooden bow and pushed it inside, pushing away the thick grass outside. Old man Zhang's eagle-like eyes immediately saw a black snake, the snake was motionless, curled up, covered in green, and blended with the grass. If you don't look closely, you won't be able to see that there is a live snake here.

Old man Zhang felt a little lost: "Biaozi, it's just a little snake." But the boy barked, and the snake was alarmed. The snake writhed, stretched out, raised its head, spat out letters, and took an offensive stance.

Only then did the old man see that there was a small piece of emerald green seedlings growing on the soil that the snake had originally pressed, and this seedling still bore bright red fruits.

"Awesome mallet!" Old man Zhang's eyes widened and a light came out. He took out a bamboo arrow from the box on his back and stabbed it hard at the snake's head. The snake's head was pierced, and its slender body twisted violently, and for a while, it straightened up and stopped moving.

Old man Zhang threw the dead snake aside, carefully dug up the soil, and dug out the seedling. The roots and branches of the seedlings are complex, and a bunch of tentacles are exactly a ginseng tree.

Two

After a few more years, Old Man Zhang is old, and the big black dog Biaozi is older than him. According to the age of the dog, Biaozi should be an eighty-year-old man.

Most of the people around me have gone out to work, and those who have stayed in the village to cultivate the fields have also used harvesters instead of using sickles to manually cut rice. Old man Zhang has no children and no daughters, and his only reliance is on Biaozi and the bow and arrow in his hand.

Old man Zhang was lying on a wicker chair in front of the wooden house basking in the sun, and Biaozi was also lying listlessly on the ground. Both are enjoying their old age in peace.

Old man Zhang suddenly coughed violently, his whole chest rose and fell, he propped up his upper body from the rattan chair, skimmed his face, and spat out a mouthful of blood on the ground.

Biao Zi quickly ran over and looked at Old Man Zhang, his drooping eyes shining with water.

Old man Zhang suddenly fell ill, and the neighbor helped him invite a doctor from the past, but the doctor just shook his head and left.

Old man Zhang had been lying on the bed, his face had turned yellow, his eyes were sunken inward, and there was a black circle around his eye sockets.

"Biaozi!cough!Biaozi!" the old man shouted, but he didn't see Biaozi running to him as fast as usual. "Ahem!" Old man Zhang wanted to get up, and just turned over, but he felt that his limbs were weak and fell to the ground.

Biaozi is gone. The neighbor came to Old Man Zhang's house and helped Old Man Zhang to the bed, but Old Man Zhang was confused.

The neighbors around him began to help Zhang Luo. "Hey!" exclaimed a neighbor who saw a familiar black shadow enter the house.

Several old people rushed into the house together, only to see the big black dog holding a green grass in its mouth, and just about to climb to the bed, the big black dog suddenly convulsed, and then kicked his legs, foamed at the mouth, and collapsed on the ground.

An old man walked up to the biaozi, and the grass in its mouth fell to the side and was picked up by the old man. Some experienced old people looked at it and said, "This is a mallet!" and then quickly called the old doctor and asked the old doctor to see what to do.

After the old doctor confirmed that it was ginseng, he came to the room and bent down to look at the motionless Biaozi, who was skinny and covered with mud. The old doctor said, "Biaozi was bitten by a snake and ran in a hurry, so he couldn't be helped." ”

The old doctor boiled the ginseng into medicine and fed it to Old Man Zhang, and Old Man Zhang's face became more ruddy. Old man Zhang became a little conscious, so he shouted: "Biaozi! Where is Biaozi?"

Everyone didn't speak, Biaozi's body had already been buried by them, and they agreed together not to tell Old Man Zhang the truth. Later, after the old man Zhang was in good health, he asked if he had seen a big black dog, and everyone shook their heads.