The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 273 - 262: Nothing Gained

Chapter 273: Chapter 262: Nothing Gained

The harvested China root was stored in the junk room because they didn’t know how to handle it and didn’t dare to wash it. They simply peeled off the clean mud and left it on a winnowing basket to dry.

Zhou SiLang planned to try his luck in the mountains the next day, and he tried hard to convince his father, "Just look at what Manbao has found before, hasn’t everything been valuable? Those privet fruits in the mountains, last year, Big Brother and Second Brother dried and sold them for nearly an ounce of silver, and the Chinese yams we’re growing in the fields, not to mention the ginger Manbao wants to plant. Our family doesn’t make as much money in a whole year of farming as we do from those, so this China root might even be more profitable."

Manbao nodded repeatedly. She based it on scarcity, reasoning that since China root became extinct so early in the future, it must certainly be very valuable, right?

"But we can’t neglect the work in the fields. In half a month’s time, we’ll need to start harvesting the wheat, and after that, the soybeans. Right up until August, or even September, we likely won’t have any time to spare. Big Brother can’t do heavy labor, and don’t you need to prepare the manure first?"

Zhou Wulang then volunteered eagerly, "Dad, Sixth Brother and I can go. We’re young and there’s a limit to what we can do at home, but we can go look for China root."

Old Zhou fell into thought. Digging and shoveling was tough work, and Five and Sixth, being young, rarely did such labor. Going up the mountain wasn’t a problem for them, but...

Old Zhou shook his head and said, "If it were our village’s mountain, I’d let you all run around as you pleased, but that area has been allocated to Dali Village, and those two families are not easy to talk to. You are young, and what if something happens and you’re taken advantage of?"

It would have to be Four or Third taking charge.

Thinking this, Old Zhou’s eyes twinkled, and he said, "Here’s the plan, tomorrow Four will take Five for a look. If you find any, you two brothers can take turns with Third and Sixth. Remember, even if you meet people from Dali Village, don’t be afraid. The fields they distribute are not Yongye Fields, and they can’t do anything to you for looking for things in the mountains; it’s not as if they cultivated it."

The brothers agreed.

Manbao felt quite regretful, "It’s a pity that the mountains are too far away, otherwise I could also go after school."

Everyone chuckled, thinking to themselves: It’s a good thing they are far enough; otherwise, they’d have to take one more child along.

Keke also felt somewhat regretful, "Although the researcher hasn’t yet seen the entry results, I have already recorded its basic data. If the host could also go, I would be able to provide scanning. My energy has accumulated a lot now, and I am already able to stably provide scanning within a hundred meters."

This scanning didn’t consume many points, and since it aligned with its data collection work, this expense could be reimbursed by the encyclopedia, without the host needing to provide it.

But a host with a system could only silently regret, in their opinion, Manbao’s current main task was still to study.

Sharpening the axe will not delay the work of chopping wood.

Unfortunately, Keke’s main duty was to record living organisms, and it had always wanted to find an encyclopedia of plants and animals for the host, but alas, it seemed there was no such book in this era.

Zhou SiLang and the others didn’t know what they were missing and cheerfully set out the next day with a basket on their backs and a hoe in hand.

Manbao was still yawning; she had stayed up a bit late reading books with Keke last night, so she wasn’t feeling very spirited and lazily waved goodbye to Four and Fifth Brother, wishing them luck in finding the China root and hoping for their success.

Though it wasn’t necessarily effective, kind words make for good omens when leaving the house, right?

Then, when Manbao returned from school in the afternoon, Zhou SiLang and Zhou Wulang came back with dejected faces. Manbao hurried over to ask, "Four Brother, did you find any?"

Zhou SiLang pointed to the basket, and Manbao rushed to look. Junior Ms.Qian, standing aside, smiled and said, "They didn’t find China root, but they found a basketful of straw mushrooms."

"That’s still pretty good. Mom told me to soak soybeans because we’ll make tofu early tomorrow morning to sell it, along with Second Brother in town," Junior Ms.Qian said. "Dad and Mom were just discussing letting Second Brother take some China root to the pharmacy to ask about prices. If it sells, then we’ll look for more later."

Today, Zhou SiLang and his group searched all day and couldn’t find any, which clearly showed it wasn’t easy to locate. So after discussing it, Old Zhou and Ms.Qian decided to first inquire about prices to see if it was worth allocating two laborers each day to scour the mountains for it, in case the China root wasn’t valuable.

If it turned out to be worthless, then it would be better to honestly return to stacking compost and tending to the crops.

Manbao nodded, "Okay, but be sure to tell Second Brother that if they offer too little money, then don’t sell it. Bring it back and I’ll make China root frost with it at Bai Shanbao’s place."

Manbao thought for a moment and felt this idea was good. She cheerfully said to Junior Ms.Qian, "Sister-in-law, China root frost is delicious, and so are China root cakes. If you knew how to make them, that would be great."

Junior Ms.Qian then excitedly said, "The ingredients for delicious snacks are always expensive. Our family can’t afford to eat them, but we could send some to the Bai Family instead."

Ms.Qian, who had heard the conversation from inside, came out with the support of the wall and laughed, "Not bad, I almost forgot. Manbao, tomorrow take two pieces to the Bai Family. This stuff is so hard to find; they probably don’t eat it often, right?"

Manbao nodded, indeed they didn’t eat it often; she had only had it twice.

So the next day, while Zhou Er took things to town, Manbao packed two pieces in a bamboo basket and took them to school. Bai Shanbao looked at them curiously over and over again.

Manbao pushed the bamboo basket towards him and said, "It’s for you."

Bai Shanbao, looking at the roots in the basket, asked, "Why are you giving me tree roots?"

"It’s China root."

Bai Shanbao, being Manbao’s good friend, lit up and immediately exclaimed, "China root frost and China root cakes?"

Manbao nodded vigorously, "Yes, yes, take it home and let your cook make it. If it’s not enough, we still have more at home. Later, we can make some for the teacher to soothe him."

She said, "It’s the teacher who told me this is China root."

Since it was not a common food, Bai Shanbao asked, "Where did your family get it from?"

If possible, his family could buy more to store and later make something delicious out of it.

"Found in the mountains, it’s really hard to find. Yesterday, my Fourth Brother and Fifth Brother went up the mountain and searched all day but didn’t find any. This was from the day before yesterday when I stumbled upon it in the mountains."

"It’s so rare; can we grow it ourselves?"

After some thought, Manbao felt that his idea wasn’t bad, "It seems to grow a bit like Chinese yam, yet, it’s a fungus, so how to cultivate it?"

Bai Shanbao examined it from all sides and couldn’t figure out where exactly it resembled Chinese yam. Perhaps it was because both were white inside.

Keke, too, could not see any resemblance, so it remained silent as well.

Scratching his head, Bai Shanbao suggested, "Why don’t we try all methods? We could see if we can make it sprout, and then plant it in the soil, or we could bring the soil from where it grows back to plant it since you said it belongs to the fungal family, right?"