Phi-Fic Chapter 364 The Mountain Spirit, with its Compassion, Finally Calls It Back?
Chapter 364 The Mountain Spirit, with its Compassion, Finally Calls It Back?
As the sun began to set, a mountain wind picked up, making the forest whistle and the sky grow so overcast it seemed like water could be wrung out of it.
Old Du finally showed a slight smile.
The day's harvest was quite good; several top-quality, heavy ginseng roots were unearthed. One of them, with its graceful posture, even seemed to be "flying" into the sky, and might actually be able to compete for the title of King of Ginseng.
There were no more unpleasant incidents of "exploding" ginseng. Only four ginseng roots were damaged and had their roots broken or skin torn, which meant they passed the test under the watchful eye of the mountain god.
Old Du left behind his experienced "Old Hawk" to guard the ginseng farm, and called everyone to squeeze onto the dilapidated truck, which swayed and rattled down the mountain.
At the dinner table, Sizi kept winking and making faces at Old Du.
Sizi's mother slammed down her chopsticks and spoke first: "Damn it, we've lost a lot of money today! The fifty or so ginseng roots we dug up are barely enough to make up the number for the exhibition! Sizi, you'll have to wait for your ginseng!"
Sizi panicked: "You have to keep your word!" Her little face fell, looking pitiful, "I...I don't want the good ones! Can't I just pick the worst little 'little creeper'? As long as it has some tassels!"
"Even the worst one is worth a thousand or two! Have some sense, will you?" Sizi's mother glared at her.
“They…they even gave me Lego!” Si Zi was even more anxious, and blurted out the words in her haste.
His mother chuckled, and Sizi had barely breathed a sigh of relief when she said, "I saw your 'Lego' ginseng! It's worth at most twenty yuan! So you came here to 'steal' our own old ginseng? We haven't even become landlords yet, and you little brat have already learned to act like a 'foolish son'!"
"I promised the kid something, and even the Heavenly King himself would have to honor it! We won't miss out on this one ginseng for the exhibition!" Old Du slammed his wine cup on the table, his voice booming. "I already picked one out for the kid, a 'golden baby' with a whole root and red seeds, wrapped up in a special ginseng bun! Don't worry about it!"
After the "Heavenly King" spoke, Sizi stuck out his tongue at his mother, made a big face, and then fawned over his grandfather by putting the biggest piece of fish in his bowl.
Sizi's mother glared at her and then remained silent.
The family worked until late into the night, and the living room was brightly lit.
Everyone was busy washing the mud off the ginseng, straightening each of its tendrils, and then carefully packing it with moss and birch bark.
A strange aroma, a mixture of earthy smells, fresh grass and wood scents, and a strong ginseng fragrance, filled the room, making people's heads throb. Si Zi sensed that there were unseen spirits wandering around.
I had barely lain down when raindrops started pattering against the window, making a loud thud on the roof.
"Well, it looks like we won't be able to go to the mountain tomorrow."
Sizi grinned and said, "Now that Grandpa Mountain God has stopped smiling, Uncles and Grandpas can take a break from work."
……
The next day, after breakfast, the rain stopped and the clouds cleared, and Si's parents went out to make arrangements.
Sizi's little eyes darted around, and he quickly grabbed the ginseng bun wrapped tightly in moss that was left for him, looking like a little mouse stealing oil, and darted out the door with a "whoosh".
After running a dozen or so steps, her little ears perked up and she heard familiar, slow footsteps behind her.
When she turned around, she saw her grandfather, Du Laozao, with his hands behind his back, slowly following behind, his face still bearing that knowing smile that said, "I saw through you, you little rascal." Even the tips of his beard seemed to know what he meant.
"I'll go take a look and teach them how to take care of this precious thing," Old Master Du said in a loud voice, which made the water droplets on the leaves fall down.
"There's a lot to know about eating ginseng! If you don't do it right, all the cultivation it's accumulated underground over the decades will be wasted, and its spiritual energy will dissipate!"
Sizi pouted, a hundred times unwilling for her grandfather to come along, but his words struck her heart like a hammer.
The pale, lifeless ginseng flesh, now disemboweled and devoid of any vitality, flashed before her eyes again, and her brows furrowed involuntarily.
Sigh, I guess I'll just have to go with him. After all, Grandpa's a well-known "ginseng expert" in this area!
“Sizi, who will be the destined person to give this golden nugget to?” Old Du took two quick steps to stand shoulder to shoulder with his granddaughter, looking down at the ginseng bun she was holding tightly in her arms.
The answer was revealed, and Si Zi answered crisply, "It's for my deskmate, Zhi Xiao Ye!" Her little chest puffed out high, and the red ribbon on her braid bounced up and down, as if announcing something momentous, "Zi An is my very, very best friend!"
"Oh? How so? Let me hear it too, and broaden my horizons." Old Du teased her deliberately, smiling with his eyes narrowed.
"That's good, that's good!" Sizi's face flushed slightly with excitement, like a mountain berry dyed red, as she tried to think of the right words. "Um... we always play basketball together. He guards me, and I attack him. It's so exciting! The wind from the ball is so swift! That time when we were working outside of school, I didn't know how to cook, and Zhi Xiaoye taught me how to cook a big pot of cauliflower. It smelled so good that even the teacher came over to praise me!" The little girl's eyes sparkled, as if they were filled with the brightest pride in the forest.
"Hmm! Sounds really solid! A good deskmate!" Old Du gave a thumbs up and praised.
"And there's more!" Si Zi exclaimed excitedly, gesturing with her little arms. "When Zhi Xiaoye first transferred here, he was skinny and looked like a stunted ginseng seedling. A few bad boys from Class Two always bullied him! So I took the boys from our class and went to 'reason' with them! After that, hmph, no one dared to lay a finger on him again!" Si Zi spoke with great enthusiasm, feeling like a triumphant shopkeeper who had just harvested a bountiful harvest!
"Wow! My granddaughter can even 'speak out against injustice'! Well done! She's the phoenix offspring of the Du family!" Old Du laughed heartily, gently rubbing Sizi's little head with his large, fan-like hand, afraid of messing up her cute little hair clip.
“Before the holiday, we made plans to learn Tai Chi,” Si Zi’s excitement suddenly wilted, and her little shoulders slumped a bit, like a frostbitten blade of grass. “I didn’t expect that as soon as the holiday started, he would run off to the ginseng garden to ‘harvest ginseng seeds,’ saying he wanted to earn money to buy a wild ginseng. But he’s only so young, he can only be counted as half a worker, earning only fifty yuan a day… When will he ever save enough to buy a ginseng…” Si Zi’s tone was full of worry and heartache for her friend, and her brows furrowed again.
"So you confidently said you'd give him one?" Old Du nodded knowingly, his white beard trembling. "Yes, you should! You're so kind and righteous! But do you know why he insists on having this forest ginseng? Is he sick at home? To ward off evil spirits? Or to attract spiritual energy?"
Sizi shook her little head, her braids swaying as she said, "I don't know!"
Then, remembering something, he added, "Zhi Xiaoye said that his grandfather used to grow ginseng in the forest. He and his grandmother guarded the deep mountains and forests for decades, enduring immense hardship and even competing with the mountain gods for food. Later... his grandmother fell ill and died, and the ginseng was then hit by a 'slow-spring frost' (referring to ginseng being damaged by a late spring frost when it sprouts), and the spirit of the ginseng was completely taken away by the King of Hell, leaving them with millions in debt... His family could no longer afford to grow ginseng, and the spiritual energy of the mountain seemed to dissipate along with it..."