083: The North Mountain’s Medicinal Plants

[T/N: Sorry this chapter looks weird]

Wang Cheng was not very interested in the medicinal plants of the north mountain. If it wasn't for Papa Wang, he would not have wanted to contract the north mountain. His goal was the fruit mountain from the beginning, so he was really clueless about the north mountain’s medicinal plants. He said this as soon as he talked to Papa Wang.

"You stupid boy, the terrain of the north mountain is flatter than that of the fruit mountain. The climate and soil are also suitable for planting most medicinal plants. It is a huge treasure in itself."

When Papa Wang said these words, he had a feeling of hating iron for not becoming steel.

This was the reason why the north mountain could grow so many medicinal plants. Although some medicinal plants grew tall and dense in some places, overall, there was almost no remaining land for planting more. The trees grew abundantly in the whole eastern section of the north mountain, and the south was the place for the medicinal plants.

Papa Wang was still afraid that he would not believe him and did not let him refute what he said, continuing to educate him. “For example, many people today are not in good health, not only the elderly but also many young people, so the market demand for medicinal plants is great. Since the quality is good, there are no worries with finding a buyer.”

Wang Cheng was only told to keep nodding. He was wrong. He knew that his dad loved to say so, and he shouldn’t have told him these things, although his dad did make sense. In the end, Mama Wang had appeared to rescue him. Otherwise, Papa Wang could speak for another hour or two.

"Mom, I plan to invite some more people to pick medicine in the north mountain tomorrow, and then figure out what kind of medicinal herbs to plant." Wang Cheng said.

"I'll go with you." Papa Wang answered.

Wang Cheng had no objection. The reason why Papa Wang had said that he was stupid was because he had a deeper understanding of Chinese herbal medicine. He had heard Mama Wang say that if not because Granny Wang refused to let him go to college, his father would have gone to medical school. As a student, Wang Cheng’s older brother started a pharmaceutical company because of his father's influence.

There were more workers recruited this time, but the number of applicants was twice as many as they expected. The news of Wang Cheng’s previous recruitment for fruitpickers had spread.

Twenty or thirty people went up the mountain to pick fruits. It took about six or seven days. Wang Cheng's salary that he offered was reasonable. After they were done, everybody got their money. Even the children who came to help themselves had money. There was also fruit to eat during the period. One could also bring some fresh fruits home afterwards, let alone do a job that very pleasant.

Although this time they were digging the plants in the mountain and there were no fruits to eat, everyone wanted to earn extra money. So when they got the wind that Wang Cheng’s family was recruiting temporary workers, both the elderly and the children had crowded around. They were afraid that they would have no chance if they were too slow.

Wang Cheng quieted them and let them line up in order. He then refused to hire people making trouble. Because he spoke very seriously and his voice was twice as large as usual, almost everyone heard it. The villagers were shocked unexpectedly, and the scene suddenly became quiet. Everyone voluntarily lined up, but not everyone who came had a chance to be recruited. Familiarity with the north mountain was the first requirement.

There were many people who applied, and it was inevitable to encounter some unpredictable people. For example, the old man in front of Wang Cheng, who walked slowly with a cane. In this case, he still wanted to pick plants from the north mountain?

"Uncle, we are going to collect plants in the north mountain. You are too old, and it may be inconvenient to move. Will you forget it?" Wang Cheng advised.

"Although I am old, I am familiar with herbal medicine. It doesn't matter, I can do it." The old man, in order to show that he was still healthy, was quite chesty.

‘If you are still in good health, throw your cane away now and I will believe you.’

Wang Cheng was speechless, but no matter how he persuaded, the old man wouldn’t give up. In the end, Papa Wang couldn't see him go, and let Wang Cheng to accept the old man to do some behind-the-scenes work, such as sorting the collected herbs into categories, because not everyone knew herbs. They needed to be sorted in time.

This purpose was also reasonable. Wang Cheng agreed, but because he made an exception, some people later wanted to use this excuse and say that they knew herbal medicine. Wang Cheng didn't refute it. He took out a plant and asked them if anyone knew what kind of herbal medicine it was, they could come up.

After seeing this scene, those people in the back did not dare to think about it again. They didn’t know medicine and honestly told the truth. Things finally went smoothly. One hour later, Wang Cheng recruited twenty workers, divided into two groups. In each group, one person understood herbal medicine and the rest did not understand.

Wang Cheng himself did not understand herbal medicine, but he had not been idle all afternoon. He ran almost all over the mountain. Fortunately, the mountain was relatively cold. He was also used to walking the mountain road. After two laps, he was only panting a little bit. The workers who saw him were very surprised, not understanding what Wang Cheng was doing. It wasn't until some time later that they knew what Wang Cheng was doing. Some people felt remorse, but there was no second chance.

At 4 or 5 o'clock, one group took down their dug-out baskets. Papa Wang and others picked herbs near the foot of the mountain, some of which were relatively large, such as cassia seeds, which are mainly distributed at the foot of the mountain. There was also Ban Lan Gen, Poria mushrooms, and more types of herbs.

Grandpa originally wanted to come to help, but it was inconvenient with his health. Papa Wang and Wang Cheng did not want him to get too tired. Mama Wang also joined the ranks of persuasion, which eventually caused him to give up the idea.

Some people dug more, some people dug less; Wang Chengdu recorded it, and they dug like this for two days. On the third day, Wang Cheng settled their wages to them, but when he settled the wages, he asked a question on the way. There were no villagers who intend to be long-term workers.

He had already figured out the situation of the north mountain. After discussing with Papa Wang, he planned to reclaim some land in several places and then plant the suitable herbs. However, it was impossible for the people in his family to complete it. He needed to plan again, so he directly invited more than a dozen workers from the village, all experienced with strong limbs.

The most important thing was that they were not lazy.

This was the last batch of workers. He also paid their wages according to working hours so some people thought that their laziness would not be discovered. They were all separate anyway, so some dug the whole basket of herbs, while others dug only one third. These people, Wang Cheng wouldn’t recruit again; this was why he ran around the north mountain before.

In the evening, Wang Cheng drew a sketch of the north mountain. The father and son had a discussion in the living room for more than two hours, and finally planned a few more concentrated areas.

"We can grow some herbs such as honeysuckle and cassia seeds. These are easier to cultivate, but the Poria mushroom is more troublesome. The nutrition for its growth is mainly based on the spread of hyphae in the roots and trunks of the Songcun trees, so I'm afraid we will have to hire a few more workers," Papa Wang said.

"The workers are not a problem. There are many people in the village who are idle and have nothing to do. We just need to find someone to manage them. There is also a shortage of people in the fruit mountain. You can do it, but too much management will be tiring for you." From the beginning, Wang Cheng didn't plan to do everything himself. He went to work in Huaying Real Estate for a month or two and also learned management skills.

"Well, let your eldest aunt try? She has been with your grandpa for the longest time and knows a little about herbs." Mama Wang came over with a plate of cut fruits. When she heard the conversation between father and son, she remembered her bitter eldest sister.

Wang Cheng also heard that although the lives of the eldest aunt and cousin were a little better than before, big cousin couldn’t always live like this. One day if the eldest aunt let go of him, who would take care of the big cousin? So auntie started to collect money early and wanted to take his big cousin to another big hospital to see if it could be cured. He heard that she went there once last year, but returned without medicine because she ran out of savings.

"Mom, I was going to let the eldest aunt and the big cousin help our family manage the fruit mountain. The big cousin doesn't understand medicinal plants, so it is more suitable for him to go to the fruit mountain."

Upon hearing this, Mama Wang felt that it was justified. "That's okay, you decide for yourself."

And that was it.

The next day, Papa Wang personally took people to the north mountain to weed it. The places they chose were covered with weeds, and no one had ever cleaned them up. Some weeds had grown to their calves, so weeding was a huge problem. This work would cause backache and pains the next day. Later, Papa Wang himself hired a dozen more temporary workers and calculated their salary by the hour. Whoever could complete the day’s work in advance would have their salary raised by a third. This sudden reward really improved efficiency by a lot.

The eldest aunt was there to assist them. When they were making jam before, she had also come to help. She heard that Wang Cheng wanted to ask her to come and do something, and she left her original job without saying a word.

The eldest aunt worked in a restaurant, but she did rough work, washing dishes in the restaurant. She worked hard every day, but only made a salary of 1,500 yuan a month. This was the number for more than ten years. Except for in the beginning when wages rose for two or three years, her salary hadn’t changed since.

Some time ago, the eldest aunt came to help them and asked for a few days off. The restaurant manager made some remarks about this, and once hinted that if the aunt asked for leave, she would not have to come back again. Apparently, the eldest aunt had used her vacation already, and the manager was careful and fussy.

The eldest aunt also didn't want to be mad anymore. In the past, she had to consider the big cousin, but now, she didn’t need to. Because of this, the eldest aunt was very grateful to them and promised to do things well in front of Mama Wang. 

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