Three ginseng diggers
Source: Chinese Ginseng Information NetworkOur Laobai Mountain is the hometown of Bangchui, and Bangchui is very generous. There are plenty of six-grade leaves and lampstands, but I can't dig them all out.
Several lifetimes ago, I can’t tell which year it was, there were two young men who went into the mountains to dig ginseng. One is named Lin San, who has been farming with his father since he was a child. There is also a man named Wang Er who runs a small grocery store at home. He messes around and smashes the pot. He kept it for more than ten days without opening his eyes. He almost ran out of rice and could not go down the mountain. They didn't know each other at first, but once they met on the road, Lin San saw that Wang Er was pitiful, so she said:
"I have rice here, let's keep it together for a few days!"
They wandered around the mountains for two days without opening their eyes. At noon that day, before they finished cooking, they heard someone shouting in the forest:
"Help, help!"
Wang Er and Lin San ran over to take a look and saw a tiger chasing a person. Wang Er was so frightened that three of his souls escaped from his body and six of his souls left his body. He crawled under a fallen tree and did not even dare to get out. Lin San was brave and outspoken. He stretched out his legs and ran towards the tiger with his fork in hand. The tiger pounced on him, and Lin San lay down on the ground. The tiger was right on top of him. Lin San looked at the tiger's belly and it turned out to be a guy. The tiger made a sound and ran away in a flash.
The man rescued from the tiger's mouth was named Zhao Da, and he was the son of a poor scholar. Zhao Da was grateful to Lin San for saving his life, so he and the two of them planted grass as incense, worshiped, and became brothers with the surname Yi. They swore to their cousin: "We share hardships and share blessings, just like brothers. Anyone with bad intentions will never leave Laobai Mountain."
After the three of them became sworn friends, they were determined to find ginseng. Digging ginseng is not easy! Not to mention the hardship. During the day, I walked around the mountains, crawled into the woods, and climbed up big ridges. My feet were bruised by big blisters and small blisters, and my body was bruised by new injuries. I had to stay overnight and get bitten by mosquitoes. .
In this way, the three brothers walked for more than ten days. Not to mention the big stick, not even the horse shoe was seen. The little millet Lin San carried on his back was almost gone.
Zhao Da didn't want to do it anymore, so he said, "It's really unlucky that I didn't even see a shadow. Why don't we go back."
Wang Er also gathered his anger: "We don't have this blessing, why should we suffer this."
Lin San was not discouraged and persuaded them: "Why did we go to Laobai Mountain? Isn't it to survive? Wouldn't it be better if we could find mountain goods to sell to merchant ships in exchange for food and clothing?" Zhao Da and Wang Er heard this. When I got money, I felt motivated again.
That night, they stayed by a small river, cooked some wild vegetables, and then went to bed. Lin San had something on his mind and couldn't sleep, so he took out his small cigarette pouch and wanted to smoke. Leng Ding looked up. I saw Nanshan turning red. Lin San couldn't help but the tips of his hair stood on end. He stared at the fire without blinking, not even daring to breathe. I saw that the fire was getting closer and closer. It turned out to be a group of red lanterns. The one in the middle was the size of three basins. On the four sides were dozens of elephant bowl-sized ones. They were red and yellow inside. Outside, there were hundreds of small elephants. The lantern is as big as a saucer and is yellow. This lantern disappeared all the way to the foot of Dongshan Mountain.
Lin San thought it was strange. Where did he get all these lanterns and still leave? He Lingding remembered what the elders said, if the old mountain guy was disturbed by people or animals during the day, he would move secretly in the evening. Most likely this is a stick move.
At dawn the next day, Lin San prepared the meal, asked them to get up and eat, and then went to Dongshan Gen'er. I’ve been looking for it for a long time, He! It's such a big piece of stick, with three to four hundred seedlings, all with six-grade leaves, with red seeds on top, getting redder toward the center. The seedling in the center is holding a red hammer as big as three pots, and the connecting rods are all red. , dug it out and saw that it was as big as a small pillow, with arms and legs, and its eyes were blinking.
When going down the mountain, Lin San was so happy that she couldn't shut her mouth. She thought sweetly in her heart: It's great now. The three of them have had a good life. Zhao Da was also thinking: It would be great if there was one less person, more money, and an official job. Wang Er also made a calculation in his mind: If I keep it all by myself, I can start a big business and make a fortune. The two of them had bad intentions, and once they figured it out, they pushed Lin San under the lid.
Wang Er and Zhao Da were left. They walked for another two days and were about to leave the mountain. There was a small village not far ahead. Zhao Da had evil intentions again and said to Wang Er:
"Brother, you go to the small village in front to get some wine and cooked meat while there's no one around. Let's have a good drink on the mountain."
Wang Eryi thought about it and went there happily. At this time, Zhao Da secretly put his legs in his sleeves. As soon as Wang Er came back, Zhao Da made a loud noise: "Oh, why did Lin San come with you!" Wang Er was frightened and quickly looked back. Zhao Da went up and stabbed him right in the back of his heart.
Wang Er died, and Zhao Dal was so happy that he jumped up to eight feet high. "Haha, I should enjoy the blessings when I go back to my Zhao University. I can buy a house and land..." He held the ginseng in one hand and picked up the wine bottle in the other. He raised his neck and clucked. , drank all the wine in one go. As soon as he put the bottle down, his stomach hurt like a knife, blood came from his nose, and he died after stretching his legs twice. It turns out that Wang Er also had evil intentions and put poison in the wine.
Besides, Lin San was pushed off the ladder by the two of them, and suddenly he didn't know anything anymore. When he woke up, he felt that his whole body hurt like needles. When he opened his eyes, he saw that he was lying in a small thatched house. There was an old man, dressed as a married woman, holding a rope in his hand and bringing a bowl of ginseng soup to Lin San. After Lin San drank it, he felt no pain anywhere, just like a good person. Lin San asked quickly:
"Grandpa, what's your surname?"
The old man nodded and said with a smile: "I live in Laiyang and my surname is Sun."
As soon as Lin San heard this, he knew that he had met a boss, so he quickly knelt down and kowtowed. The old man helped Lin San up: "Goodbye, we are all poor." Lin San felt that the pain was gone, so he hurriedly went to find his two brothers so that they could go home together. When he got up and was about to leave, Lao Baotou sighed and said:
"You kind-hearted young man, you will understand when you go back and take a look."
The old man pinched a ginseng leaf and asked Lin San to step on it under his feet and close his eyes. Lin San could only hear the sound of wind in his ears. When the wind stopped, Lin San opened his eyes and saw that he had already left the mountain. Just as he was about to lift his legs and walk forward, he saw a big bun and an empty wine bottle placed under his legs. Zhao Da and Wang Er were lying next to them. Zhao Da's face looked like a purple eggplant, with blood still hanging from his nostrils and eyes. The fork Zhao Da used to trip was stuck in the back of Wang Er's heart.
At this moment, Lin San understood everything. He sighed and carried the mountain ginseng down the mountain.