Reborn in the 1980s, starting with fishing and hunting to build a fortune

Chapter 121 The Moving Stone

Li Xiangdong had seen these small yellow flowers on the grasslands before, but they were mostly seen after the snow melted in spring. He didn't know then that the flower could be used as medicine, and that it was a valuable Chinese herbal medicine.

I ignored it.

Then, he hurriedly led Li Xiangyang to the haystack where he had just cut the dry grass to search for him.

This is also a sheltered spot, with thin snow on the ground. The air is noticeably more humid than other places, possibly due to underground currents.

Li Xiangyang arrived in front of the haystack, slowly squatted down, first brushed aside the messy withered grass on the ground, and then carefully dug away the surrounding snow layer.

His eyes immediately lit up.

One by one, clusters of plump, firm, dark purplish-red flower buds emerged, like tiny nails, hard and exposed to the outside through the frozen snow.

Li Xiangyang was secretly delighted.

"It really is a winter flower."

This is a common name for "Dongdonghua" in eastern Inner Mongolia. Its scientific name is Coltsfoot, a perennial herbaceous plant belonging to the genus Coltsfoot in the family Asteraceae. Of course, some people also call it Donghua, Kuanhua, Jiujiuhua, or Liansanduo.

It is a peculiar plant that blooms before its leaves appear. In winter, it only has small purplish-red flower buds, which look like purple bumps or small nails.

There were no leaves.

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that it has the effects of moistening the lungs and lowering qi, relieving cough and resolving phlegm, and can treat new and chronic coughs caused by lung inflammation.

Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, and phlegm.

It is a rare and precious Chinese herbal medicine.

I heard that at its peak, it was sold for over 800 yuan per kilogram, but the price only came down after it was widely cultivated.

However, no one in eastern Inner Mongolia is planting them yet, so a pound of dried flowers should sell for at least thirty yuan.

Moreover, winter flowers are worthless when they bloom in spring; they are only valuable when harvested during the bud stage in winter. However, in winter, they are just small purple buds and are not very noticeable.

If it weren't for Li Xiangdong noticing that small yellow flower that had just bloomed out of place, they would have been hidden in this haystack and most people wouldn't have been able to find them.

Li Xiangyang even wondered if his good luck had been transferred to his brother!

As long as the good stuff doesn't go to outsiders, that's fine.

"Brother, let's pluck all these little flower buds and take them home."

Li Xiangyang said with a smile, his hands already working in tandem, frantically harvesting flower buds.

Li Xiangdong was still somewhat skeptical: "Brother, these flowers—can they really be sold?"

He and Li Xiangyang had been brothers for decades, and he knew Li Xiangyang's capabilities to some extent. He wondered when Li Xiangyang had learned to identify Chinese herbal medicines.

"Brother, this can really sell! You don't know, drying this stuff and selling it is much better than running around hunting all day."

You were lucky to find it; other people would love to dig but wouldn't know where to start!

Afterwards, Li Xiangyang patiently explained the effects and value of winter jasmine to Li Xiangdong.

As for how he knew this, it must have been told to him by a friend he knew online.

Li Xiangdong was surprised when he heard this; such an inconspicuous little flower bud was actually so valuable.

Then he'll have to be ruthless and destroy the flower!

Subsequently, the two "flower thieves" picked a small pile of frozen winterflower buds one after another.

Feeling that it was not enough, they searched in the surrounding grass, and after searching through more than a dozen haystacks, they found four or five clusters of winterflowers.

It took nearly half an hour of work to pick all four or five clusters of winterflowers.

Looking at the sack full of frozen flowers, estimating that there should be more than six pounds of fresh flower buds, he stopped with satisfaction.

Li Xiangyang rubbed his aching lower back and said with a smile.

"Brother, these flower buds, once dried, will weigh at least a pound and can sell for over thirty yuan."

"Thirty-odd yuan — that's alright."

Li Xiangdong replied indifferently, seemingly not very happy.

In the past, he would have jumped for joy long ago, but having just received a huge sum of six or seven hundred yuan that morning, he naturally wasn't very interested in this thirty-odd yuan.

Li Xiangyang could understand this mentality, but it was not advisable.

He put his arm around Li Xiangdong's shoulder and said earnestly, "Brother! This is more than thirty yuan, which is equivalent to two months' wages for an ordinary farmer."

Quite a lot!

Even though we didn't catch any other prey this afternoon, it was still a worthwhile trip.

"Yes, that's true." Li Xiangdong nodded slightly after hearing this.

Thirty yuan is indeed a lot!

Li Xiangyang continued, "Brother, remember this haystack. It's a money bag that nature has given us brothers. We'll come back to dig it up next winter."

"What? We've ruined all these flower buds. Won't they all wither and die?"

Li Xiangdong frowned and smiled wryly.

"No, this flower is very resilient."

"Alright, I'll go find a dry twig and make a mark first!"

"Uh-huh."

By this time, their hands were already red from the cold, so they returned to the sheltered, windproof spot where they had been and warmed themselves by the fire.

Afraid of disturbing the animals in the valley behind them, they didn't dare to light a large fire, so they lit a small one and slowly roasted the animals.

"Let's go, brother, let's go to the valley and see if we can catch some pheasants or rabbits to take back."

Li Xiangyang shoveled a few handfuls of snow from the ground and used them to extinguish the small, still-burning haystack in front of him. He then smeared some more snow on his body to get rid of the smell.

Then the two of them took Wangcai by the hand and bent over to reach him.

At this time, the snow in the valley was very thick, almost up to the knees, but there was much less in some places, probably because it had been dug up by wild boars earlier, and then small animals went to forage for it.

Li Xiangyang bent down and squatted down to take a closer look, and he could still vaguely see some tiny hoof and claw prints on the snow.

I reckon it was left by some small animals like pheasants and rabbits.

"Brother, there really are animals here!" Li Xiangdong whispered, having also seen the animal footprints on the ground.

"Shh~"

Li Xiangyang gestured for him to be quiet.

Then he led Wangcai over to sniff it.

Wangcai simply lowered its head and sniffed, then turned and crept towards another slope in the valley.

The movements were extremely slow, as if one could see the animals just by climbing over the hillside.

"Brother, has Wangcai spotted prey?"

Li Xiangdong didn't say these words aloud, but communicated with Li Xiangyang through his eyes.

Li Xiangyang nodded in agreement, and the two of them followed Wangcai's footprints.

It started snowing again, not much, just a dense blanket of snow that really obscured the view.

This adds considerable difficulty to the hunt, which is not a good thing.

When Wangcai reached the highest point of the hillside, he stopped, lay down on the hillside, and stared intently at the opposite side.

The two brothers, Li Xiangyang and Li Xiangdong, also looked in the direction it was staring at.

There's nothing there!

There are just a few rocks on the opposite side of the hillside.

"Little brother, what did you see?"

Li Xiangdong rubbed his eyes.

"without!"

"Then tell me—could it be that Wangcai is mistaken?"

"Impossible! Even if Wangcai were blind, he would be better at seeing than us."

'

""

"Brother, my eyes are starting to hurt from staring. Look at those rocks over there, did they move?"

After a while.

The stone really moved.