The kang (heated brick bed) for left-behind women

Chapter 141 Scarcity Makes Things Valuable

A torrential rain finally arrived during the sweltering summer.

They filled Lin Dachun's water cellar halfway.

This rainstorm was a godsend for the sea buckthorn and jujube trees on the mountain.

The high temperatures on the Loess Plateau have also dropped slightly.

As soon as the sky cleared, Lin Dachun led Li Ruoxue and Ma Guihua up the mountain.

Each of the three carried a bamboo basket on their back and held a sickle and a small hoe in their hands.

Ma Guihua walked ahead. She was a regular on the mountain and knew the mountain paths well, so she was very steady on her feet.

Li Ruoxue followed behind her, her steps somewhat cautious.

Lin Dachun brought up the rear, carrying a thick tree branch in his hand, which he would occasionally extend to Li Ruoxue for support.

"If any acquaintances ask, we can't say we went up the mountain to pick acacia flowers," Lin Dachun specifically reminded them.

The relevant target for this collection was described as acacia grass.

"Okay, okay, we won't tell, we'll keep it a secret."

"By the way, have you tried this wine before?" Ma Guihua asked again.

"I've had it," Li Ruoxue answered quickly.

"Then I'm puzzled." Ma Guihua looked at Li Ruoxue and then at Lin Dachun.

"What's wrong, Sister-in-law Guihua?" Li Ruoxue was naive and obviously didn't know that Ma Guihua had set her up.

"I've drunk that wine before. After drinking it, I really crave men." Ma Guihua had drunk it herself and knew what that feeling was like.

"Little sister Ruoxue, can you control yourself?"

Ma Guihua asked deliberately.

Li Ruoxue's face flushed instantly, and she hurriedly said, "I drank very, very little, so..."

"So what? Da Chun drank it too, right? Da Chun didn't do anything to you, did he?" Ma Guihua set a trap for Lin Da Chun again.

"I have strong willpower, and besides, I'm in good health and don't need this kind of alcohol to warm me up." Lin Dachun couldn't admit that.

Li Ruoxue and Lin Dachun both felt guilty.

"Haha, you guys can just lie all you want. Anyway, everyone knows, so it doesn't matter. We've had reform and opening up, so our thinking has become more open, right? Besides, aren't there plenty of affairs in our village? It's fine. There's no need to be embarrassed."

Ma Guihua, however, took it all in stride and instead comforted Li Ruoxue and Lin Dachun.

After all, their relationship was special; they weren't husband and wife, yet they lived under the same roof and slept on the same kang (heated brick bed).

The roadside weeds grew wildly, their leaves covered in water droplets; if you touched them, they would spray all over you.

"This way." Ma Guihua turned onto a narrower path, with dense bushes on both sides, their branches growing horizontally, requiring her to push them aside to pass.

As she walked, she said, "Epipremnum aureum prefers shade, so you have to look for it on shady slopes. Cistanche deserticola is even harder to find, and it's easy to mistake it for something else, which can be dangerous."

"It would be great if we could grow it ourselves. I managed to find some seeds of Epimedium last time, but I really don't have any Cistanche deserticola," Lin Dachun replied.

"So, the price of our wine really can't be called cheap. It's because it's rare and valuable. This is something that others can't brew. We're short of the medicinal herbs, not to mention the recipe," Ma Guihua replied.

"So you were right to have Director Zhao use exquisite packaging to position it as a high-end product," Li Ruoxue replied in agreement.

But when Ma Guihua mentioned alcohol, she still thought about what happened that night; it was truly crazy.

The three searched for a long time, but the Loess Plateau was barren and there was nothing there.

There were some other herbs, so I picked some and brought them back.

"What should we do? There's no medicine." Lin Dachun was also anxious.

"How about we go to Liushan?" Ma Guihua replied.

"Liushan? That's a mining area."

"Yes, no one collects herbs at the mines, they only mine, so there's a lot left. However, the mining area is quite chaotic, and we're in a hurry to get there now, so let's go another day," Ma Guihua explained.

"Let's go that way, and turn back when it gets dark," Lin Dachun said.

We walked for a while, passing several mountains.

Li Ruoxue listened carefully, her eyes searching through the bushes.

She saw clusters of purple wildflowers, fluffy foxtail grass, and moss-covered stones, but she didn't see the medicinal herbs that Ma Guihua had mentioned.

"Look, that's it." Ma Guihua suddenly stopped and pointed to a hillside.

Lin Dachun and Li Ruoxue looked in the direction she pointed.

It was a shady, gentle slope covered with low shrubs with dark green, oval leaves and finely serrated edges.

Among those leaves, inconspicuous yellow-green flowers bloom in clusters, like little bells.

"Is this Cistanche deserticola?" Li Ruoxue walked closer and squatted down to examine it closely.

The leaves are thick with clear veins, and when you get close, you can smell a faint, bitter scent similar to fresh grass.

"Yes. Leave the roots when harvesting, only cut the above-ground parts." Ma Guihua demonstrated, carefully cutting off a plant with a sickle. "You have to choose those with thick, dark-colored leaves, they have more medicinal properties."

Lin Dachun also squatted down and started cutting, imitating Ma Guihua's movements.

When the sickle cuts the stem, a milky white sap seeps out; it's sticky and dries quickly on your hands.

He cut very carefully, trying not to damage the roots—Ma Guihua said that this thing grows slowly, and we can't drain the pond to catch all the fish.

But there aren't many here; the smaller ones need to be kept until they grow up.

"Let's make a note of this place. We'll come back when new ones grow. Generally, nobody wants these herbs with special properties," Ma Guihua said.

These herbs are precious, but generally no one would pick them.

"This little bit is still not enough. It seems that if we want to continue to have it, we'll have to go to a Chinese medicine shop." Lin Dachun thought to himself that if the business really grew big, relying on picking alone would probably not be enough.

But the smaller the quantity, the more expensive the wine will be.

It was already dark when I got home.

Both of them were tired from walking and climbing the mountain.

"How about we go take a cold shower together at the side cave? We're all sweaty," Li Ruoxue suggested.