After burying Da Huang, Li Xu packed down the earth on the grave with his shovel, then found a flat stone to set up in front of it as a marker.
He stood before the two graves in silence for a mont. The mountain wind tugged at the corner of his clothes, carrying the rustling of the distant woods.
Leaving the graves, Li Xu headed out of the village.
He made his way to a mountain slope.
Over a month ago, he had planted cucumbers and green beans here.
To his pleasant surprise, the rows were covered in green vines. A few tender green cucumbers hung from them, and the green beans had produced plump pods.
He squatted down and gently touched the small spines on a cucumber’s surface, feeling its vitality.
"Grandpa Zhou, look. They’re growing very well."
Li Xu spoke to the empty air, as if the old man were standing right beside him.
He found a ripe cucumber on a vine, picked it, wiped it on his clothes, and took a bite.
The crisp texture and sweet juice imdiately filled his mouth.
It was a rare delicacy in these mountains.
After finishing the cucumber, Li Xu went to the cliff.
There was a plot of land on the cliff, roughly a tenth of an acre.
A large patch of foxtail grass grew there.
Because they had been left undisturbed, they were growing more vigorously than they had over a month ago and had spread even further.
Although there was a good amount of this foxtail grass, it was far from enough to supply a pharmaceutical company.
He needed to plant more.
He took a few small cloth bags from his backpack, each filled with foxtail grass seeds.
Following his plan, he began to sow the seeds in various locations around the village—on sun-facing slopes, in shaded hollows, in the wetlands near the stream, and even in the courtyards of several abandoned houses within the village.
He wasn’t expecting them to mature before autumn.
They only needed to grow—after all, he didn’t need to save any seeds, as seeds from ordinary foxtail grass were plentiful.
By the ti he finished, it was just past noon.
Li Xu headed back.
...
「Jiangyou, Anchi Village.」
The villagers had been busy in the fields since early morning.
Ma Jinhua stood on a ridge between the fields and wiped the sweat from his forehead. His gaze swept over the villagers harvesting Aconite.
His eyes finally settled on a young figure not far away—Ma Rui was squatting in the field, skillfully digging up Aconite tubers, his movents even more deft than a few days ago.
"Son!" Ma Jinhua called out, striding over. "Did you take your dicine?"
Ma Rui looked up, his face smudged with a few specks of dirt, but it couldn’t hide the clarity in his eyes. "Dad, I took it this morning."
He patted the cloth pouch at his waist. "I have the dicine with . I won’t forget."
Ma Jinhua studied his son carefully.
Half a month ago, Ma Rui had been a ntally confused "fool," but now he was already able to work in the fields.
Although he still had monts of daze, compared to before, it was a world of difference.
"How are you feeling? Still dizzy?" Ma Jinhua asked, still worried.
"Much better!" Ma Rui grinned, revealing a set of straight, white teeth. "Doctor Li’s dicine is miraculous. I sleep soundly at night and have energy during the day. It’s just..." He scratched his head. "Sotis I suddenly can’t rember where I put things."
Ma Jinhua’s heart ward, and he reached out to pat his son’s shoulder. "Take it slow, no need to rush. Doctor Li said that nerve damage takes ti to heal."
"Also, be extra careful when you’re digging up the Aconite. You can’t get any of the poison on you again... If you ask , you should just rest at ho."
Ma Rui shook his head. "It’s too boring at ho. I feel better when I’m working."
Ma Jinhua was at a loss with his son.
At noon, Ma Jinhua led a few villagers to the herb-drying yard behind the village.
Dozens of bamboo trays were neatly arranged here, covered with black and white slices of processed Aconite drying in the sun.
Under the sun, these processed Aconite slices glistened with an oily sheen and gave off a unique dicinal aroma.
"This batch is specially for Doctor Li," Ma Jinhua said, pointing to the front row of bamboo trays. "We used the best Aconite, processed it according to the ancient thod, and didn’t use a single drop of Daban."
Elder Ma, who was nearby, squatted down, picked up a black slice, and held it up to the sun. "Village Chief, this batch is really high quality. It has a good oil content, and the cross-section’s texture is clear. Doctor Li will definitely be satisfied."
"Of course!" Ma Jinhua’s tone was firm. "He saved Ma Rui, so we can’t treat him unfairly. Xiao Wang, go contact a logistics company. Get this shipnt out in the next two days."
"You got it!" his assistant, Xiao Wang, replied, pulling out his phone to make the call.
Ma Jinhua checked the packaging one more ti.
The Aconite in each bamboo tray was carefully wrapped in oil paper and then placed into moisture-proof bamboo baskets.
This was Anchi Village’s highest standard of packaging, a treatnt previously reserved only for top-grade products exported to Japan.
...
In the village committee office, Sato was pacing back and forth anxiously.
His eyes were filled with gloom.
"Village Chief Ma," Sato said, imdiately approaching Ma Jinhua as he entered. Suppressing his anger, he continued, "Our harvesting is already three days behind schedule. Headquarters keeps pushing. You see..."
Ma Jinhua unhurriedly poured a cup of tea and said slowly, "Mr. Sato, we’ve had a lot of rain since the start of sumr. It makes the Aconite difficult to harvest, and it also needs to be dried. Naturally, it’s going to be a few days late."
"But..." Sato pushed up his glasses. "I heard you prioritized the harvest from a plot of over three acres for that Dr. Li?"
Ma Jinhua paused mid-sip and explained, "Mr. Sato, I personally funded the purchase of that land. It has nothing to do with the village. As for the harvesting order, I, as the village chief, have my own arrangents."
Sato’s expression changed, and he forced a smile. "Village Chief Ma, we’ve been working together for so many years..."
"It’s precisely because we’ve worked together for so many years," Ma Jinhua said, his face all smiles, but he didn’t yield an inch. "That I need to be clear. Dr. Li is my son’s savior. His Aconite must be prioritized."
He put down his teacup and offered a vague promise. "Tsumura’s shipnt won’t be short. It’ll just be a few days late."
A vein throbbed on Sato’s forehead.
’In the past, Ma Jinhua would never have been so perfunctory.’
’As the largest buyer of Anchi’s Aconite, Tsumura had always enjoyed priority.’
’But now...’
Sato, unwilling to give up, lowered his voice and said with a threatening tone, "Village Chief Ma, headquarters is placing great importance on the quality of this year’s Aconite. If there’s a delay..."
"Mr. Sato," Ma Jinhua replied bluntly, "While it’s true that Tsumura Pharmaceutical offers a high price, the quality of Anchi Village’s Aconite is plain for all to see. We have no shortage of buyers. If you feel you can’t wait, we can reconsider our partnership."
Sato’s face instantly darkened.
’He knew the value of Anchi’s Aconite all too well—if the sa variety was grown elsewhere, its dicinal efficacy would be greatly diminished.’
’Tsumura Pharmaceutical’s signature Kampo dicine relied entirely on the Aconite from here.’
"You’re joking, Village Chief Ma," Sato said, imdiately switching to a respectful expression. "I was just conveying the concerns from headquarters. A few days’ delay is no problem at all. Please, proceed according to your own schedule."
Ma Jinhua nodded and said no more.
Sato took his leave dejectedly. When he returned to the village committee’s guesthouse, the smile vanished from his face, replaced by a sullen fury.
He glanced through the window at the villagers busy in the fields. His gaze lingered on Ma Rui for a mont, then shifted to the high-quality Aconite about to be shipped to Li Xu, and his fists clenched unconsciously.
"Damn it!"
...
PS: It’s the end of the month, so please vote with your monthly tickets!
User Comments
0 comments from readers