Jiayin brought the ginseng closer to her eyes and examined it carefully. Was ginseng really this small?
She remembered that in her father’s treasure house, there was a King Purple Ginseng that was a thousand years old—it was about the size of her entire arm. And her arm was as chubby and thick as a big white radish.
She had truly never seen ginseng this tiny before.
Fang Youwei explained, “This ginseng is still young—probably only about ten years old. The older the ginseng, the stronger its medicinal properties. But even though it’s small, it can still help replenish energy.”
Jiayin nodded. “Oh, so it’s just a little baby ginseng of about ten years. No wonder it’s so small.”
Now that they knew this was something valuable, Jiayin and Fang Zhiyuan carefully searched the surrounding area to see if they could find any more.
But they didn’t find another one. There was probably just this single plant here.
Fang Youwei, however, thought more deeply about it. Since there was a small one here, the place where ginseng truly thrived should also be somewhere in these mountains.
Once things settled down in the future, he could go deeper into the mountains and search properly.
If he found a century-old ginseng or something similar, he could sell it to a pharmacy in the county or even the prefectural city. He had heard that such things could fetch a lot of silver.
“There’s no more room in the basket for grass. Let’s head back quickly. Your grandmother and mother are waiting for us over there. If we get back too late, they’ll worry.”
Fang Youwei quickly stuffed the grass into the basket, pressing it down firmly until he couldn’t fit another blade inside.
He said, “Next time we come, we’ll bring an extra basket, just for gathering grass for Liu Liu.”
When Liu Liu heard this, he happily blew a snort in Fang Youwei’s direction.
…
Under the scorching sun day after day, the water level slowly receded. But soon after, the puddles near them also dried up.
With no place to draw water, cooking and drinking became a problem. Previously, they had placed a lot of charcoal in those puddles to purify the water, so they had been taking water from there for cooking and drinking.
They didn’t dare drink the water from the flooded roads outside—who knew if dead animals or worse had been soaking in it?
That day, in addition to checking the traps, they walked a bit deeper into the mountains to see if they could find a stream or a spring.
After all, the forest deeper in was lush and green—there should be a water source somewhere.
They didn’t search blindly. Instead, they followed Liu Liu.
Liu Liu led them forward. After walking for about an hour, they entered a hidden little valley.
The vegetation here was thick and the scenery pleasant. Right through the middle of the small valley flowed a creek about ten feet wide!
This creek emerged from a crack in a cliff face not far away. The water was crystal clear, and the stones at the bottom had been smoothed and rounded by the flow—a sign that this creek had been here for many years.
Fang Youwei filled several bamboo containers and a waterskin with water, then hurried back without lingering too long.
Fang Zhiyuan said, “Dad, if we have to come all the way here every day to fetch water, isn’t it a bit too far? This place is so beautiful—why don’t we just move here?”
Fang Youwei shook his head. “We’ll only have to rough it for another two days or so. Then we can go back to the village. The roads outside are a bit muddy now. After another two days of sun, they should be dry and flat.”
“Then we can go back to the village and take a look. If the floodwaters have receded, we can move back home.”
Fang Zhiyuan gave a disappointed, “Oh.” Sitting on the donkey’s back, he reluctantly turned his head to look back at the peaceful little valley.
Meanwhile, Jiayin was chatting telepathically with Liu Liu.
Jiayin: “Is this where your herd lives?”
Liu Liu: “No, this is my secret hideout. I used to come here alone to play. Where my herd lives is much farther in than this.”
Jiayin: “It seems like no other wild animals come here to drink.”
Liu Liu: “Up on that cliff face, there’s a deep pool. They all drink there.”
Jiayin nodded. “So that’s how it is. The place you found is really nice.”
Pleased by the compliment, Liu Liu happily flicked his tail.
On the way back, Fang Youwei used his machete to cut away small trees and branches, clearing a path. That way, it would be much easier to come back next time.
They had been out longer than usual today. By the time they returned to their campsite, the sun was almost setting.
They had set out in the morning and were only now coming back. Fortunately, they had brought some dried provisions and eaten along the way—otherwise, they would have been starving.
Seeing them return, Old Madam Yang and Li Shi both breathed sighs of relief. “You’re finally back! You were gone so long this time. Did you find water?”
Fang Youwei pointed to the bamboo containers on his back. “Found it—there’s a small creek in a valley.”
He took down the containers and the waterskin. “I looked around. There weren’t any animal tracks nearby. There must be another pool somewhere else where the animals drink.”
“This creek isn’t wide, but the water is very clear. I tasted it—it’s much better than the puddle water. It’s crisp and slightly sweet.”
“We’ll stay here for two more days. Once the muddy roads dry out, we’ll go back to the village and take a look. After soaking in so much floodwater for so many days, our house has almost certainly collapsed. We’ll probably have to rebuild…”