The happy little days of the Ye family

Since getting married, Tang Xiaojing has not gone up the mountain for several days.

Tang Xiaojing plans to go to Stone Mountain tomorrow and check out the herbs on the mountain.

Ye Qingqing knew that Tang Xiaojing was going to go up the mountain, and she also wanted to visit the mountain. She had not seen the medicinal fields on the mountain yet.

Tang Xiaojing walked around the mountain almost every day and knew that there were no large beasts on Stone Mountain.

Moreover, it was still early spring, and the poisonous insects and snakes on the mountain were still hibernating. There was no danger on the mountain at this time, so they agreed to take Ye Qingqing with them.

Because they had to go up the mountain, the two of them got up early the next day.

Not coming back for lunch, Ye Qingqing specially baked some egg pancakes and planned to eat them at noon.

Before going out, Ye Qingqing mixed a lot of chicken food and put it in the chicken pen, which was probably enough for them to eat for a day.

As soon as the oxcart was pulled out, Dahuang and Xiaohuang jumped on it very consciously and walked around in the oxcart excitedly.

Although the road to Stone Mountain has been repaired, the stones were simply removed and the road is still very bumpy.

When they arrived at Stone Mountain, Ye Qingqing felt like his body was about to fall apart.

At this time, the family's long-term workers were cleaning the pig pens and rabbit sheds. In the distance, there were several long-term workers discharging water in the paddy fields. In a few days, plowing would begin.

The rabbit shed and pig pen at home were built at the foot of Stone Mountain. Before going up the mountain, Tang Xiaojing took Ye Qingqing for a walk around the pig pen and rabbit shed at home.

"Now there are 8 rabbit sheds and 6 pig pens at home, which are usually taken care of by the family's long-term workers."

The pig pen and rabbit shed are similar to those of the Ye family, but the Ye family raises more pigs, while the Tang family raises more rabbits.

Tang Xiaojing looked at the big fat pig in the pig pen and said to Ye Qingqing:

"After the pigs are raised in the pigsty, the manager of the family will make the pigs into bacon. When the pigs are almost saved, I will transport them to the dock and sell the bacon to the merchants who come and go."

There are too many pigs at home. If we sell live pigs directly, it is difficult to find a butcher who can eat so many pigs.

It would be much more convenient to make bacon, and the profit from bacon would be higher than selling live pigs directly.

"As for the rabbits at home, I have made an agreement with Shopkeeper Liang of the Liang Family Restaurant to send them rabbits every three days."

"In the beginning, we sent 9 rabbits each time, but now we send 12 rabbits each time."

"Then in the past few days, why haven't I seen you going out to deliver rabbits to the Liang Family Restaurant?" Ye Qingqing asked doubtfully.

"It's because we don't have time to get married. Last time I sent 24 rabbits there, so I didn't have to send rabbits there a few days ago."

"But tomorrow is the time to deliver the rabbit. I will go to the county tomorrow."

Ye Qingqing only saw pig pens and rabbit sheds at the foot of the mountain, but no ducks seemed to be seen.

"Don't you have ducks at home?"

Ye Qingqing felt a little strange. There was a river next to it. Why didn't they raise ducks?

“We have a lot of livestock and a lot of fields at home, but we don’t raise them because we’re worried that we can’t take care of them.”

Tang Xiaojing originally only wanted to raise rabbits, but because the fields at home had no fertilizer, he raised pigs instead of ducks.

Ye Qingqing explained: "Ducks will find snails, small fish and shrimps in the river to eat by themselves, and ducks will know their way around. They will go to the river to find food by themselves in the morning and come back by themselves at night."

"It saves food without having to take care of it, and with such a big river, it would be a pity not to raise ducks."

The Tang family has never raised ducks, and Tang Xiaojing really doesn't know the habits of ducks. After hearing what Ye Qingqing said, he felt that he could raise some more ducks.

"Spring plowing will begin soon. It's too late to build a duck shed now. Let's build a duck shed and raise a batch of ducks after the spring plowing."

"Spring plowing is important. Raising ducks is not urgent. It's okay to wait a little later." Ye Qingqing said cheerfully.

After seeing the rabbit shed and pig pen at the foot of the mountain, the two walked up the stone.

Dahuang and Xiaohuang ran fast. Once they reached the mountain, they ran forward like crazy, leaving the two people far behind.

The terrain at the foot of the mountain was gentle and mostly covered with short miscellaneous trees. Tang Xiaojing took good care of Ye Qingqing and walked slowly along the way.

Some common herbs were grown at the foot of the mountain. Although the prices were not high, Tang Xiaojing planted a lot of them.

Most of these herbs at the foot of the mountain were planted by Tang Xiaojing a year ago, and they are growing well now.

Along the way, Tang Xiaojing carefully explained to Ye Qingqing which herbs had what uses, and when they could be ripe for picking.

As the two of them walked up the mountain, the vegetation on the mountain became lusher and the temperature became lower and lower.

When we reached the halfway point of the mountain, weeds and vines were already growing around us, and the surrounding trees were also very tall.

The sunlight was blocked by the dense leaves, making the surrounding area a little dark, and the mountains were particularly shady.

Occasionally the wind blows or a small animal passes by, making the grass and leaves rustle.

Ye Qingqing felt a little scared but also very excited. She hugged Tang Xiaojing's arm tightly all the way.

There are many valuable herbs in the mountains, most of which were planted by Tang Xiaojing, but a few are wild.

Tang Xiaojing bent over and carefully looked for mature herbs under trees and in the grass. Every time he found one, he would show it to Ye Qingqing and teach her how to identify herbs.

Tang Xiaojing picked a lot of herbs along the way, and there were still a few herbs of good vintage in the basket on his back. Today's harvest was pretty good.

When digging for herbs, Tang Xiaojing deliberately dug back the surrounding soil.

"Why do you have to dig the soil back together?" Ye Qingqing asked in confusion as this was the first time he and Tang Xiaojing went to the mountain to dig herbs.

"If you pull them out directly, the herbs will wilt quickly, but if you dig them with the soil and leave them for a day or two, the efficacy will not be affected."

Herbal medicine does not mean that you can go back and prepare it immediately after you dig it. If the herbs you dug in the morning are not nourished by the soil, they will be wilted by the time you get back in the evening, and their efficacy will be greatly reduced.

And there may not be time to cook at night, so every time Tang Xiaojing digs herbs, he digs them back together with the soil.

Along the way, the two of them also encountered a few pheasants and hares, but they were all skinny.

There is little food on the mountain in winter, and all the small animals that come down from the mountain are starved and skinny during the winter.

Recently, Tang Xiaojing didn't even bother to dig traps. He planned to wait for them to fatten up before going up to the mountains to hunt in the summer.

Tang Xiaojing took Ye Qingqing to the rock wall. Tang Xiaojing motioned to Ye Qingqing to look up.

Ye Qingqing looked up and saw two lush plants above the rock.

Ye Qingqing didn't know Dendrobium, "What kind of plant is this? It grows on rocks. Is it also a herb?"

"This is Dendrobium, a very precious herbal medicine."

When going up the mountain this time, Tang Xiaojing mainly wanted to bring Ye Qingqing over to see these dendrobium trees. These dendrobium trees can be said to be the most important things in the entire stone mountain.

"Dendrobium? Did you go up the mountain today to pick this dendrobium?"

Tang Xiaojing shook his head and continued:

"I discovered these dendrobiums before I bought the mountain. I used the money from selling the dendrobiums to buy the mountain."

"I didn't pick all the dendrobium, I only picked half of it each time. It will continue to grow after picking and can be picked every two years."

"A third of the money my family saves comes from selling dendrobium."

Ye Qingqing's eyes widened. He didn't expect this humble grass vine to be so valuable.

Tang Xiaojing lowered his voice and whispered in Ye Qingqing's ear:

"In addition to the two dendrobiums you see with your eyes, there are three more dendrobiums hidden behind the rocks above. These five dendrobiums are the small treasury of our family."