Zhang An, who was busy cleaning Huang Jing with Mr. Zhang, suddenly heard the sound of an engine outside the yard.
When I looked up, it turned out that Ding Yi had already arrived.
"Hey, you're here so early." Zhang An stood up and opened the door to his yard, letting Ding Yi drive in.
"Why is it still early? It's already past eleven o'clock."
When Zhang An heard this, he glanced at the wall clock in the main room and saw that it was indeed past eleven o'clock.
My family has been washing this pile of Polygonatum for more than two hours, but it is still not clean.
"Hello, uncle and aunt." Ding Yi picked up some things from the car, said hello to Wang Fang and Zhang Jianguo, and handed the things over.
"Xiao Ding is here, what else do you bring?" Wang Fang took it over with a smile, while Zhang Jianguo brought Ding Yi a stool.
"Yes, Auntie." Then she turned to Zhang An and asked, "Zhang An, who is this old man?"
"Let me introduce you, this is my second grandfather, dear. Second grandfather, this is my friend, his name is Ding Yi."
"Hello, Second Grandpa, Zhang An and I are good friends. Just call me Xiao Ding."
Ding Yi had not seen any of the old people like Second Grandpa Zhang when he came here last time, so when he heard Zhang An say that this old man was his Second Grandpa this time, he quickly went up to say hello.
"How about you, Xiao Ding." Mr. Zhang also responded to Ding Yi with a kind smile.
Zhang An told him last night that a friend wanted to buy ginseng, and it was probably this one.
Seeing that it was getting late, Wang Fang did not continue to clean Huang Jing, but got up and went into the house to make lunch.
Zhang An continued to clean the remaining Huangjing while talking to Ding Yi.
"Zhang An, are you washing the ginger? Why are there such big gingers?"
Ding Yi may not know Huangjing, but it’s already good if he knows Jiang.
"This is not ginger, this is Huangjing, which I dug up in the mountains yesterday."
Zhang An smiled and explained.
"This is what Huang Jing originally looked like. I have only seen black and wrinkled ones. I bought them for my grandpa at home."
Ding Yi heard that it was Huang Jing. He was familiar with this stuff, but it was different from what he had seen.
"Hahaha, the one you bought at home is cooked Huangjing prepared by others, but the one we wash now is still raw, so it is different. After it is prepared, it will become what you said."
Finally, after everyone chatted for a while, the Polygonatum odorifera in the basin was finally washed.
"I finally washed it, but it was really difficult to wash."
Zhang An stretched and poured out all the water in the basin.
"This is already the best thing to wash. The ones you dug up this time are larger and easier to clean. Even the gaps are bigger. If they are smaller, there will be so much Huangjing, so they probably need to be washed.
It was the day before."
When Zhang An and the others finished washing Huang Jing, Wang Fang also prepared lunch.
Knowing that Ding Yi was coming over today, Wang Fang also prepared what to cook in advance, and it was faster to cook.
"Didn't I ask you to bring someone who knows? Why did you come here alone?"
Zhang An saw that Ding Yi came alone, so he asked.
He was not as familiar with Ding Yi as Chen Ze and others, so he still felt that the process should be followed.
"Who should I bring with me? We don't do that with each other, and we can't bring anyone with me, otherwise they will know what I am going to do."
In order to keep it secret, no one told anyone about Ding Yi.
"By the way, you have to keep it a secret from me. Don't tell Lao Chen and others if they ask you. Just find an excuse."
It turns out that Ding Yi didn't want people to know what he was going to give, so all of this was done in secret.
"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."
After everyone had a good meal and had a good meal, Zhang An took out the treasure he cherished so much from the room when he saw that Ding Yina was impatient but didn't want to speak directly.
"I've seen ginseng before, but this is the first time I've seen one that looks so human. I'm so excited. This ginseng must be quite old."
Watching Zhang An unfold the bark wrapping the ginseng, Ding Yi finally saw the treasure he wanted to see the most.
"Of course, otherwise I told you last night that I wanted to give you a surprise. My second grandfather has some experience in this area, at least more than 20 or 30 years, a lot, but I don't have it here.
I’ll put the box in the box for you.”
Now it's Dingo's turn, because the money he brought may not be enough.
"Zhang An, the surprise you mentioned is a bit too big." Ding Yi's face now looked a little tangled.
This time he brought 50,000 yuan, because he asked the old shopkeeper of the Chinese Medicine Hall, so he knew that Zhang An sold it for 50,000 yuan last time.
So this time Ding Yi brought 50,000 yuan. No matter how big Zhang An was looking for, just because Zhang An was willing to go into the mountains and woods to look for it after hearing what he said, he was willing to give him the 50,000 yuan.
Although the old man at the Chinese Medicine Hall did not sell him the ginseng, he still gave him a look and said that such a large ginseng was rare, so he brought such a small amount of money.
But Zhang An gave him a big surprise. The old shopkeeper said it was a rare treasure, and Zhang An found it again.
After Ding Yi looked at it, Zhang An wrapped the bark again and handed it to Ding Yi.
After Ding Yi took it, he handed the fifty thousand yuan he brought to Zhang An.
"Zhang An, I know that this treasure must have more than this amount. You can take the money first, and I will send you the rest when I get back."
Zhang An was not pretentious, and did not say that only the fifty thousand yuan was enough. If he asked for less, what if Ding Yi thought it was a tree root he dug casually.
"There's no rush. By the way, you can take this with you as well. It's a little thought from me to your old man."
Zhang An picked a few larger Ganoderma lucidum flowers, put them in a plastic bag and handed them to Ding Yi.
"Is this Ganoderma lucidum? It's so big. It seems that I gained a lot from this trip to the mountains. Let me thank you first on behalf of my old man."
These Ganoderma lucidum trees can be sold for hundreds of dollars in a Chinese medicine shop, but it is not easy to buy them because such large wild Ganoderma lucidum is not easily available.
After getting what he wanted, Ding Yi couldn't sit still.
Immediately he got up and said goodbye to Zhang An's family. He was in a hurry to go back and had to go to the provincial capital in the evening.
He believed that he would be able to make a big splash this time by congratulating his old man on his birthday.
Zhang An did not try to persuade Ding Yi to stay, he just said to drive carefully.
Wang Fang and Zhang Jianguo at home no longer looked like they had never seen money before. They were just a little excited this time.
Zhang An handed the money to his mother Wang Fang, but Wang Fang pushed it back.
"Put it where you are first, and then take it and save it when you are free."
Zhang An didn't refuse after hearing this. He walked into the room and put the money into the space.
After Ding left, Zhang An's family returned to normal. It was as if the incident had not happened and it did not cause any disturbance.
"Xiao An, you go to the well and bring back a load of water. We will start steaming Huangjing later."
After resting, Mr. Zhang shouted.
"Ah, isn't this tap water good?"
"This tap water is not good, because it flows out of this iron pipe, and the water contains iron. After the polygonatum is steamed, be sure not to touch iron things. It is not good at all."
After hearing this, Zhang An went out carrying a bucket from home.
By going to the well, I picked up a load of space spring water and came back.
In the yard, Zhang An's father had built a small stove with stones and was lighting a fire.
Wang Fang also took out her own large aluminum pot and cleaned it. Since it couldn't come into contact with iron, she replaced it with an aluminum pot for steaming.
Soon, the fire in the yard was already burning. After putting the aluminum pot and pouring in the water that Zhang An brought back, he put the cleaned rice cooker at home into it, and finally put the Polygonatum odorifera washed in the morning into the rice cooker and started.
Steam first.
This steamer was not the one that Zhang An usually used to steam rice at home, but a much larger steamer. To save trouble, Zhang An borrowed a big steamer and put it all in one go.
"Xiao An, remember, when steaming Polygonatum sibiricum, especially after it is cooked, do not touch iron objects, and the fire must be made of wood. It must not be cut off, and it must be burning vigorously.
, don’t forget to add firewood.”
Mr. Zhang put Huang Jing into the steamer and told Zhang An.
Zhang An responded repeatedly, saying that he understood.
Throughout the afternoon, a pot of Polygonatum japonica was steamed for more than five hours. Water was added several times during the process, and a pile of firewood was also added. This is what Zhang Erye said, and the steaming time must be full.
Fortunately, Zhang An borrowed a big steamer. Otherwise, if he had used the small steamer at home, it would have been five hours this time and he would not have slept tonight.
Finally, Mr. Zhang felt that the steaming was done, so he asked Zhang An to take out the clean dustpan and began to pick it out and spread it out to dry.
The first steaming of the Polygonatum japonica has been completed. It is already five or six o'clock in the afternoon. Although there is still sun, it probably won't be in the sun for long. I can only dry it like this and continue to dry it tomorrow.
The steamed Polygonatum japonica became soft and soft. Zhang An picked up a small piece and ate it. It was a little sweet, but also a little numb.
Later generations heard people say that after the Polygonatum japonica is steamed, it needs to be sprinkled with Polygonatum odorifera and soaked in other things.
But in fact, those are for some artificially grown Polygonatum japonica, because the nutrients of cultivated Polygonatum japonica are not as good as those of wild ones and cannot withstand waste.
For today’s wild Polygonatum japonica, especially the top quality ones dug out by Zhang An, Mr. Zhang said that the normal method of nine steaming and nine drying is enough.
"Mom, have people from the Power Supply Bureau come over to separate households?"
During dinner in the evening, Zhang An remembered that he had gone to the power supply bureau to install an electric meter.
"It has been installed, and it has also been installed at Li Hongbin's house."
After the sun came out the next morning, Zhang An took out the Polygonatum japonica steamed yesterday and dried it in the sun.
Nowadays, people often come to ask for duck eggs during the day, so Wang Fang basically stays at home, sewing clothes, mending pockets, making shoes, and waiting for others to come to buy duck eggs.
Women in the village joked about Wang Fang when they met her, saying that she was becoming more and more like a boss lady.
After the Polygonatum was dried, Wang Fang was watching at home, so Zhang An did not need to continue to watch.
"Dad, are you busy today?"
When the family was eating noodles, Zhang An asked his father.
"It may or may not happen, it just depends on whether you want to fish it out or not. What's wrong?"
What Zhang Jianguo said makes sense. The one who is more diligent has something to do, and if he wants to be lazy, he can be lazy.
"It's such a waste to have such a large piece of land in the backyard by the river and it's all filled with sand and gravel. I want to go to the mountain and bring a few carts of soil back to spread it over so that I can grow vegetables in the future."
On Zhang An's land, he built a house, dug fish ponds, and finally built a large enclosure, but only half of the land was used.
Although Li Hongbin had previously asked the excavator to clean the sand and gravel on the surface, there is still a lot of fine sand mixed on it.
"Then I'll borrow a carriage later and bring back a few more carriages today."
Zhang Jianguo, who finally went to borrow a carriage, came back, accompanied by Zhang Ping, Huang Ming, Zhou Yang and several others.
After knowing that Zhang An's family wanted to go up the mountain to pull earth, Zhang Ping said that he would go with them to help. He also said that he would find a new carriage. It would be faster if the two carriages came together.
As a result, when another family member borrowed the carriage, I met this group of young people from the village again. Everyone had nothing to do, and the grass had been cut in the morning. When they saw that Zhang An's family was about to work, everyone made an appointment to come over to help.
Finally, a group of five or six people sat on two carriages in a hurry and walked towards the entrance of the village.
Originally, Zhang An wanted to dig some black mud from the mountain, but Zhang Jianguo said that such a large piece of land would require digging up a large area before he could pull a cart back.
Therefore, Zhang An did not want to dig out the black mud, but chose to go to the road at the entrance of the village to pull out the loess that was dug out and piled under the roadbed before building the road.
Huang Ming felt as if he had changed his mind after being scared by a wild boar, and he stopped going to the town recently.
I help with things at home every day, and I take the initiative to call for help from everyone I see, and my sweet talk makes people uncomfortable.
Especially when I saw Zhang An, the two of them were about the same age before, but one was studying and the other was not.
Although Zhang An is a bit taciturn, he still takes the initiative to call people when he sees them.
Huang Ming, on the other hand, hangs around the town every day, acting like a fool, and doesn't shout much when he sees people.
As time passed, everyone's impression of Huang Ming was not very good.
It's different now, Huang Ming respects Zhang Anke now, and every time he sees Zhang An, he calls him "Ange, Ange."
At home, his mother sometimes went back from his grandmother's house, and when she was nagging Zhang An at home, she would be scolded by him. Li Xingyan was so angry with her son that she couldn't stand it.
When Mr. Huang saw the changes in his eldest grandson, he was very happy recently. In the past, he had always been dissatisfied with this grandson, and his face would be depressed all day long.
Now that the two elders see such a change in Huang Ming, their faces are smiling more.
Everyone was sitting on the carriage chatting and laughing when they arrived at the place where the soil was to be pulled.
After parking the carriage, several people began to dig the soil with hoes and dustpans. One person dug the soil, and the other carried it up to load the carriage.
"By the way, Zhou Yang, how's your food sales going lately?"
Since Zhang An paid attention to their family last time, he hasn't paid attention to it anymore. Today, they happened to be working together, so Zhang An still asked.
The people nearby knew that Zhou Yang's family was cooking and selling to fishermen recently, and the business was very good, so they all pricked up their ears to listen to what they were talking about.