Wang Li looked at the two ginseng roots, his face a picture of speechlessness.
After a while, Wang Li asked Wang An with a face full of confusion
"Fourth Brother, after all this fuss, you don't actually know how to lift a 'club' either?"
Wang An gave Wang Li a sidelong glance and said with great confidence
"When did I ever say I did? Our two families don't live far apart; have you ever seen me lift a club?"
Hearing this, Wang Li whispered
"I saw you acting so flashy just now, so I figured you knew how to lift this thing."
Upon hearing this, Wang An gave Wang Li a "bang" of a kick and said with great dissatisfaction
"How are you talking to your brother? Are you asking for a kicking? Doesn't everyone have to learn the things they don't know? You useless brat."
Having taken a kick, Wang Li immediately became obedient. He lowered his head sheepishly, muttering under his breath
"But... but you've never learned either!"
Hearing this, Wang An gave Wang Li another "bang" of a kick and said
"Who could teach me this stuff? Who would I learn it from?"
This time, Wang Li said nothing and shut his mouth completely.
After kicking Wang Li, Wang An looked at the two ginseng roots in his hands. After a long sigh, he handed one over to Wang Li. As he did, Wang An said
"Fine, it's not like we're short on a bit of money. Take this club home, wash it, and soak it in liquor. Oh, right, stewing it with a small chicken works too; I heard this stuff is incredibly nourishing when stewed with chicken. Just don't drink the chicken soup—if you do, your nose will probably start bleeding."
After taking the ginseng, Wang Li picked at the broken rootlets and muttered to the root
"Why did you have to break? Even if you don't know how to dig, you shouldn't have broken. Useless thing, not sturdy at all."
Seeing this, Wang An rolled his eyes and said
"Alright, stop showing off. There must be plenty of clubs around here. Hurry up and look."
Having said that, Wang An bent his waist and stuck out his rear, searching the ground.
It must be said that it was only at this moment that Wang An understood what "searching for sprouts in the market" truly meant.
Because at this time, although the leaves and stems of the ginseng were small, there was a difference between them and the small green sprouts of various other plants. As long as one could distinguish this difference, finding ginseng became not so difficult.
For ginseng that had just sprouted, the young shoot emerging from the soil was curved, somewhat like the sprout of a bean that had just germinated. However, unlike a bean sprout, the ginseng shoot was hook-shaped, with a small bump at the tip.
This small bump was actually the leaves and stems that had not yet unfolded.
However, whether it was a ginseng shoot or a shoot from another plant, they were all very small. If one's eyesight was poor, they certainly wouldn't be visible.
Of course, besides that, these shoots were very fragile. They could easily be trampled by animals that had passed through previously, or by Wang An and Wang Li themselves, causing the hard-won shoots to break off immediately upon emerging from the soil.
But unlike other plants, once a ginseng shoot broke, it would not grow a new sprout again that year, making that particular ginseng root very difficult to discover for the remainder of the season.
By the time Wang An found the third ginseng root of this trip into the mountains, Wang Li still hadn't found any. Thus, Wang An immediately shouted to Wang Li
"Fifth Brother, get over here, chop-chop!"
Not far away, Wang Li heard Wang An's shout and immediately stood up and ran toward him, saying as he ran
"What is it, Fourth Brother? Did you find another club?"
Once Wang Li reached him, Wang An said
"Look closely. This is a small seedling of a club. The previous two seemed to have had this little bump broken off by a knife, but this one..."
Before Wang An could finish, Wang Li interrupted anxiously
"This is a club? No way! I saw a bunch of things that looked like this just now. Fourth Brother, why didn't you tell me what a club looks like earlier?"
Wang An was momentarily stunned. His first reaction was: why hadn't he told Wang Li what ginseng looked like?
But immediately after, Wang An felt something was wrong. For half the day, if Wang Li didn't recognize ginseng, why hadn't he asked?
Most importantly, if Wang Li didn't even recognize ginseng, what on earth had he been digging for while bent over with his rear in the air?
Thinking of this, Wang An gave Wang Li another "bang" of a kick and asked with wide eyes
"If you didn't know what a club looks like, what were you digging for? If you didn't know, why didn't you ask me?"
Hearing this, Wang Li reached into his pocket and pulled out a ginseng root, pointing to it and saying to Wang An
"I thought the small seedlings of clubs looked like this!"
Looking at the shoot of the ginseng in Wang Li's hand, Wang An suddenly felt that his kick had been somewhat unfair to Wang Li.
Because the shoot of the ginseng in Wang Li's hand had a small bump at the tip that had perhaps developed late, or had forgotten to develop altogether; it wasn't a fluffy ball, but rather looked like a fishhook without a point.
Wang An instinctively asked
"Then why didn't you dig away the soil to check? Why are you so stupid?"
Hearing this, Wang Li actually said with great indignation
"Clubs are so precious, I figured there's no way a whole bunch of them would grow together!"
One could tell that Wang Li was feeling quite miserable at the moment, miserable because he had "thought too much."
However, after hearing this, Wang An was suddenly frozen. Previously, when Wang Li said the words "a bunch," Wang An hadn't paid it any mind. But now that Wang Li had said "a bunch" again, Wang An suddenly realized something.
What was the concept of "a bunch of ginseng"?
This was clearly striking it rich!
Holy crap! A bunch! This damn...
Thinking of this, Wang An grabbed Wang Li by the scruff of his neck and hauled him up from his crouching position, asking with an excited and urgent face
"You said a bunch of club seedlings? Where? Quick, quick, quick, take me there to see!"
Suddenly being hauled up by the collar, Wang Li was in a state of confusion. It was only then that Wang Li realized why Wang An was so good at fighting—mainly because Wang An's strength was truly immense.
But very quickly, Wang Li also realized what he had missed.
Once he reacted, Wang Li's eyes instantly lit up, his face flushed, and he grabbed Wang An's clothes and turned to lead the way.
As he walked, he said
"Not far, just a few steps. I'm telling you, Fourth Brother, it's a seriously big bunch."
Indeed, as Wang Li said, it was only a few steps away.
Just as Wang Li finished speaking, he immediately pointed to a patch of withered grass and said
"Look, Fourth Brother, right over here, a whole bunch."
After speaking, Wang Li squatted down, and Wang An naturally did the same.
Then the two brothers pushed aside the withered grass and looked underneath!
With one glance, Wang An was instantly stunned by the scene before his eyes!
(End of Chapter)