Wang Li held seven or eight carved wooden skewers, speaking to Wang An as he walked
"Fourth Brother, look at these skewers; there are wide ones and narrow ones. Will they work? If not, I'll hurry back and get a few more."
It had to be said that Wang Li was very meticulous in his work. He mainly thought things through thoroughly and looked far ahead, which made him exceptionally reassuring to be around.
However, if it were Mu Xueli, it would be different. In a situation like this, Wang An would let Mu Xueli figure out how to extract the ginseng on her own.
Because for a task as delicate as digging up ginseng, Wang An believed Mu Xueli could do a better job than he could.
This was evident from the way Mu Xueli could control the carving knife in her hand with near perfection.
Just as Wang Li finished speaking, he noticed the second ginseng Wang An had found on the ground and exclaimed
"Fourth Brother, you're too wicked! You found a second one this quickly?"
As he spoke, Wang Li stepped forward and crouched down to examine the ginseng.
Wang An said with a chuckle
"Mm-hmm. I reckon this spot is a proper old ginseng patch from years ago. It should be some ginseng gang's private plot."
After hearing Wang An's words, Wang Li pointed at the ginseng on the ground and said
"Fourth Brother, I see this one is about the same size as the previous one. Is this also a 'lamp-stand' [small root]? By the way, what do you mean by 'private plot'? Can you actually divide private plots in these big mountains?"
Wang An nodded.
"Mm-hmm, it's a lamp-stand. I reckon this place definitely won't be lacking in lamp-stands and 'second-cycles' [two-year-old roots], but I just don't know if there are any big goods with 4-leaf or 5-leaf grades."
The reason Wang An mentioned 4-leaf and 5-leaf grades but didn't mention 6-leaf was because Han Shuisheng had said that in all his years of digging, he had never found a 6-leaf ginseng.
Of course, Han Shuisheng had also said that in an old patch that had been dug countless times like this one, the probability of finding a 6-leaf ginseng was basically zero.
Unless the interval between this digging session and the last one had been long enough, and the old patch had remained undiscovered by other ginseng gangs during that time, only then could a 6-leaf be found.
But it should be known that if one was found, it wouldn't be just one; there would inevitably be many!
The reason this happened was that ginseng mostly grew in generations. If one happened upon a generation of 6-leaf ginseng, it would be, as they say, "like a small cow stepping on a power line—the cow's prestige is flashing like lightning" [meaning an incredible stroke of luck].
Pausing for a moment, Wang An continued
"See this sign? This is a mark left by a ginseng gang from years ago."
Following this, Wang An explained his guesses regarding the four "old signs" to Wang Li.
After listening, Wang Li asked with a look of confusion
"Then Fourth Brother, if you put it that way, this place was claimed by others first, right? Does that mean we're basically stealing their stuff?"
Wang An took the wooden skewers from Wang Li's hand and said in a disdainful tone
"Things that grow naturally belong to whoever digs them up. These big mountains don't belong to anyone. If it wasn't discovered before, that was their good luck; now that we've discovered it, it's ours. It doesn't fucking matter who comes along."
What Wang An said was actually not wrong at all. In the mountains, wild things were ownerless; whoever got them owned them. It wasn't as if marking something meant it belonged to you.
Wang Li didn't have a cowardly personality; he had just asked instinctively. Hearing Wang An say this, he nodded
"Mm-hmm, that's what I was thinking too. Uh, Fourth Brother, do you know how to dig these things? I reckon if you want to dig this without damaging the rootlets, it's a proper difficult task."
Hearing this, Wang An looked at the wooden skewers in his hand, then at the ginseng that had already poked its head out. After staring blankly with a frown for a while, he said
"Hah, what's there to it? Just dig it out. Everything has a first time. We just happen to have found two 'clubs' [ginseng roots], one for each of us. Come on, let's start digging."
As he spoke, Wang An split the wooden skewers in half and gave half to Wang Li.
Hearing this, Wang Li was instantly bewildered and murmured
"Four... Fourth Brother, I... I don't know how to dig. If the rootlets get broken, these clubs won't be worth any money."
Wang An waved his hand and said very generously
"Just do it, it's no fucking big deal. I trust you."
Although Wang An said this, he actually felt uncertain himself. After all, even for a job one had done before, there was no guarantee it would be done well, and for a job he had never done, there was even less of a guarantee.
Hearing this, Wang Li's spirit was suddenly lifted, but soon, he became distressed again. He pondered the wooden skewer in his hand for a long time, then gripped it tightly and walked resolutely toward the first 3-leaf ginseng.
To be honest, for someone who had never dug ginseng, it was truly a difficult task.
Mainly because the fine rootlets were simply too thin; a slight lapse in attention would snap them.
Furthermore, ginseng grew in forests, so there were plenty of small tree roots and grass roots around it. When they got mixed up with the ginseng rootlets, it was fucking annoying and disgusting.
Consequently, the sounds of the two brothers' exasperated dialogue soon echoed through the woods.
Wang Li: "It's over, it's over, it's over... Fourth Brother, I broke one of the rootlets."
Wang An: "It's fine, let it be broken. It's normal to damage one or two."
A while later.
Wang An: "Aiyaaa! I mistook a rootlet for a grass root and pulled it off! This is fucking disastrous!"
Wang Li: "It's fine, Fourth Brother. Didn't you just say it was fine?"
Wang An: "Fuck, that was you! How could I make such a low-level... Fuck, another one broke! Stop talking to me!"
Wang Li lowered his head and chuckled.
Wang An: "This is fucking completely ruined! Another one broke! This club is wasted!"
Wang Li: "Mm-hmm, I've broken several here too."
Wang An sucked in his teeth and said
"I reckon this job of lifting clubs isn't meant for humans. If we keep going like this, we're finished. No matter how many clubs there are, they can't withstand the two of us digging like this!"
Wang Li nodded in agreement
"How about we bring Brother Mu over? I reckon he'd have this job handled in the palm of his hand."
Wang An also nodded
"Mm-hmm, bring him tomorrow and let him dig."
About half an hour later, Wang An and Wang Li had each dug out their ginseng.
Actually, it couldn't really be called "digging," because by the end, the two of them had simultaneously lost heart and simply yanked the ginseng out of the soil.
Looking at the two ginsengs with heavily damaged rootlets, Wang An said with a face full of heartache
"Fuck, over 600 bucks, and the two of us just fucking scrapped them!"
(End of Chapter)