What is the mountain girl doing? She is digging herbs. It is said that there is a plant similar to Cordyceps on Guangwu Mountain. This medicine has a magical effect on treating kidney deficiency. However, like Cordyceps, it is hidden in the weeds on the hillside and is not easy to be found. The rarer the medicinal material, the higher the price, so people in the nearby mountain villages often come out to look for the roots of this grass called "Dragon Tooth Grass". If they can find ten plants a day, they can sell them for two or three hundred yuan.
However, it is impossible to find so many every day. On average, it is good to find 70 to 80 plants a month, which can bring a harvest of about 2,000 yuan. For mountain villages, 2,000 yuan of income is quite considerable and can greatly improve living conditions. Children in the mountains become independent early. A mountain girl followed her father to collect dragon tooth grass at the age of 12, and she started working independently at the age of 15.
The mountain girl was called Miao Fengyi. She was only 19 years old this year, but she acted mature and steady, and looked like she was about 25 or 26 years old. She was kind and friendly, and Shen Bing quickly became familiar with her and helped her find dragon tooth grass roots nearby. The two of them lay in the dry grass, looking cautious, as interesting as catching crickets.
The two of them were looking for dragon's tooth grass. I sat on the hillside and, with Miao Fengyi's permission, took a look at the results in her bag, two grass roots that she had just dug up today.
The grass root was slightly curved, with some tendrils, golden yellow in color, and icy cold to the touch. Damn it, this is the dragon tooth root? Who has ever seen what a dragon tooth looks like? Besides, this thing is so cold, it should be a very yin and cold thing, how can it treat kidney deficiency? Kidney deficiency is generally attributed to yang deficiency, and replenishing yang is the root. If you replenish such a yin and cold thing, won't you die
After Miao Fengyi dug up two more grass roots, she told us that she had searched everywhere and there was no more dragon tooth grass to dig. She was going to go to the east hillside to have a look, but in order to lead the way for us, she called it a day and went back. She hung the hoe on her waist and strode down the mountain.
On the way, Miao Fengyi introduced us to the customs of the mountain villages here. It turned out that she was a Miao girl. The Shiyuan Village where she lived was on the slope of Guiming Mountain. It was an authentic Miao village. Shen Bing and I knew a lot about the customs of the Miao villages. Miao Fengyi was surprised to see that we were familiar with the Miao customs. Shen Bing smiled and told her that she had been to Xiangxi before, and Miao Fengyi's eyes revealed a longing.
I asked how many mountain villages there were near Guiming Mountain. Miao Fengyi said there was only one Shiyuan Village, which was a very old village. It was a long time ago, and they migrated from Xiangxi. So the jade refiners lived in Shiyuan Village, and the magical jade refining technique was also passed down from Xiangxi. I tentatively asked if there were any strange stories or strange people in the village
Miao Fengyi shook her head. The people in the village were simple and kind, and lived a peaceful life. The only weird thing was that the grass root diggers in the village always went out for a few days before coming back, and sometimes they were not seen for ten days or half a month.
"Isn't there anyone who tinkers with jade or something?" Shen Bing couldn't hold back his anger and went straight to the point.
"No, the village is very poor, how can we afford to trade paper money?"
Miao Fengyi's answer made us feel disappointed. We looked at each other, wondering if Ruan Hongyu was lying to us. But then we thought, the jade refiner should be a strange person hidden among the people, doing things in a low-key manner, so it's normal that the people in the village don't know about him.
So I asked Miao Fengyi: "Do outsiders come here often?"
It seemed that we asked too many questions, and a trace of vigilance flashed across Miao Fengyi's face. She shook her head and then nodded and said, "Guiming Mountain is very remote, and its name is scary, so few people come here. But there is a city guy who comes here several times a year to have a drink with Gu Qinglin from the village." Speaking of this man's appearance, hope was rekindled in the hearts of both of us. This man is the antique shop owner Ma Mingshi.
We asked about Gu Qinglin's situation. Miao Fengyi was puzzled, but she still patiently introduced us. Gu Qinglin was born lame, deaf and dumb, but he married a beautiful woman from the city. She gave birth to a son for him. Unfortunately, the child was also born with disabilities, and was lame like his father. The couple opened a small shop in the village. Every time the boss from the city came, they would help him bring the goods, saving him from going out to buy goods when his legs were not in good condition.
After listening to what Miao Fengyi said, I was sure that Gu Qinglin was the descendant of the jade refining. Because although I don't know much about the magic of jade refining, it is a kind of witchcraft anyway, which will be hated by the heaven, and the consequences of five disadvantages and three deficiencies will appear. What are the five disadvantages and three deficiencies? The so-called five disadvantages are "widowhood, widowhood, orphanage, loneliness, and disability", and the three deficiencies are "money, life, and power". Like the descendants of Cao in Duanlong Village, they cut off the dragon vein themselves in order to get rid of the bad luck of the five disadvantages and three deficiencies.
However, the Gu family does not have the ability to change their fate, so they will suffer from one of the five disadvantages and three deficiencies, and are destined to be disabled, and this will also affect their future generations, and the children they give birth to will be crippled.
After the jade refining matter was settled, we stopped asking so many questions and told Miao Fengyi some jokes. The girl was so amused by me that she laughed brightly.
When it was dark, it started to drizzle. Miao Fengyi led us to the left and climbed up a slope and entered a cave. She had been working in this mountain for seven or eight years and knew every path and cave by heart. After we went in, we just found the flashlight when we heard a "click" in front of us and a ball of fire lit up. Miao Fengyi struck a match and lit a half candle on a big rock.
She told us that this cave was a place for those who dug dragon tooth grass to shelter from the wind and rain, so the ancestors would leave matches and candles for future generations to use. The cave was not very deep, but it was cleaned up very well. There was a pile of burnt ashes in the middle and a pile of unburned dry wood next to it.
Miao Fengyi lit the firewood, took out the lunch box and put it on the fire to cook rice, and took out the bacon to share with the two of us. Shen Bing also took out bread, beef, sausages and other things for her to eat, and we finished this dinner around the campfire.
Just when we had laid out our straw and were about to go to sleep, the firewood in the cave suddenly went out strangely. This was not a newly lit fire that would go out with a gust of wind. Besides, this cave was a dead hole with no ventilation, and the wind could hardly blow in. How could the firewood go out for no reason
Shen Bing immediately grabbed my hand in the dark. She was weak now, and she was particularly timid when she was not very energetic. I pinched her hand with my backhand to indicate that she didn't need to worry. While looking for a flashlight in my bag, I asked Miao Fengyi, "Big sister, why did the fire go out?"
Miao Fengyi remained silent, which made me wonder. I turned around and looked in the dark cave, thinking that I didn't see anything unusual. Could it be that this little girl was like those three beasts of Brother Niu and wanted to rob us
Just as I thought of this, I suddenly heard a burst of eerie laughter coming from outside!