Chapter 64 - 65: Lady Luck
Jin Qianqian clutched her pounding heart. "Is all of this real?"
Ancient Wen Heng moved even faster, his machete quickly clearing a path ahead.
"This must be it. Looks like we’ve stumbled into a Lingzhi den." Ancient Wen Heng paced excitedly. "I once studied this with some upperclassmen from medical school. This kind of red ginseng is the rarest and most precious of all Lingzhi. I can’t believe we found so many of them here."
Jin Qianqian walked over and stood there, grinning foolishly. "I can’t believe I have plot armor too. I just took a quick glance and found something this amazing.
"Oh, no, I have to take a picture to commemorate this. This is my very first outdoor harvest!"
Ancient Wen Heng thoughtfully took his machete and patrolled the area. After confirming no animals were hiding nearby, he took the camera. "How could you leave me out? Let’s take one together."
They weren’t in a hurry to gather the Lingzhi. Instead, they took picture after picture from every possible angle.
When they had their fun, they took the entire patch—all seventeen stalks of red ginseng, big and small—and sent them all into the planting area of their space.
Jin Qianqian satisfyingly dusted the dirt off her hands, a greedy, money-loving grin on her face. "Finally, it’s not all expenses and no income."
Ancient Wen Heng checked to make sure they hadn’t missed any, then led Jin Qianqian back in their original direction.
Jin Qianqian pulled out the traditional Chinese medicine book she had stored away. "I need to study this properly. Otherwise, even if a Wild Ginseng was growing right in front of me, I might not recognize it. That would be a true waste of a heavenly gift."
Ancient Wen Heng couldn’t help but turn back and laugh. "Do you really think this stuff grows all over the mountains? That they’d just line up for us to come and pick them?"
Jin Qianqian made a face. "You never know! I just found this Red Ganoderma, so maybe I’ll find Purple Lingzhi and Yellow Reishi next. It’s just a pity we don’t know how to tell the age of these herbs. But judging by the biggest one, it must be pretty old, right?"
"You’ve really been brainwashed by all those TV dramas and novels. Lingzhi is a fungus, an annual or biennial one. If a mature Lingzhi isn’t harvested in time, it will age or be eaten by insects and rot, losing all its medicinal value.
"Generally speaking, the so-called ’thousand-year Lingzhi’ is just a myth. Even a Lingzhi that’s eight or ten years old might not have any medicinal effect. The growing habits of Lingzhi are also very particular. They usually grow next to tree stumps in areas with dense vegetation, low light, and fertile, moist, loose soil. That’s why they’re so susceptible to insects and decay."
"Huh?" Jin Qianqian quickly flipped to the page on Lingzhi. After skimming through it, she looked a little disappointed. "And here I was, happy for no reason. So size doesn’t depend on age."
Ancient Wen Heng said, "But don’t be too disappointed. This Red Ganoderma is wild, after all. In this dynasty, it’s considered a high-end, expensive medicinal herb. Whether we use it ourselves or give it as a gift, it’s a top-quality item."
Jin Qianqian pouted. "In the novels I’ve read, people dig up a single Lingzhi and sell it for hundreds or even a thousand taels of silver. How come when it’s my turn, it’s only good for gifts or personal use?"
Ancient Wen Heng picked up his pace, comforting her as he worked. "You can sell it if you want. It’s just that the price might be a little different from what you’re imagining. Besides, something this memorable, we should definitely keep it for ourselves."
Jin Qianqian sullenly kicked a rock in front of her, watching it sail past a few trees before dropping straight down.
"Wait!" Jin Qianqian suddenly cried out in astonishment. "Senior, quick, pinch me! Have I really been blessed by Lady Luck?"
She pointed in the direction the rock had fallen, jumping up and down excitedly. "Look over there! Quick, look at those red berries! Aren’t they exactly the same as the ones in the book?"
"You’re probably mistaken." Ancient Wen Heng didn’t think it could be such a coincidence. "Some plants look similar but are completely different things..."
"No way!" Jin Qianqian compared it again with the color illustrations in her hand. "They look identical.
Senior, wait for me! Didn’t you just say they only looked similar?"
Seeing Ancient Wen Heng already half-running ahead, Jin Qianqian grew even more certain.
"You really are Lady Luck!" Ancient Wen Heng suddenly turned back, sweeping Jin Qianqian into his arms and spinning her around. "This is real, aged wild ginseng! It’s like your mouth has been blessed—you get whatever you wish for."
Jin Qianqian was so happy she couldn’t think straight, her eyes glued to the red berries on the ground. "So... we’re really rich this time?"
Ancient Wen Heng looked up at the sky, then back at the patch of ginseng. There were twenty or thirty stalks, big and small. To dig them all up without damaging them would probably take a long time.
"Looks like we’re spending the night here again. It’s a shame we don’t have the right tools. We’ll have to do the delicate work bit by bit."
"Wait, you still haven’t told me. This isn’t going to be a false alarm like with the Lingzhi, is it?"
Ancient Wen Heng grinned. "This is different. We just don’t know how to determine the age, so we’ll have to find a knowledgeable doctor to ask later on.
If this Wild Ginseng is old enough, a lot of people will be scrambling to buy it."
Ancient Wen Heng had once heard a teacher at his private school say that he had spent several taels of silver just to buy two small, not particularly old slices for his wife, who was about to give birth.
Jin Qianqian immediately got excited and pulled out a large pile of tools, grabbing a hoe. "Then let’s get to it! This stuff is only safe once it’s in our own pockets."
Ancient Wen Heng quickly ran over to stop her. "That’s not how you dig up Wild Ginseng! See if you have an herb shovel. If not, a smaller, thinner hoe will do. We have to keep the entire ginseng root intact to get a better price."
"It’s that troublesome?" Jin Qianqian walked over, took hold of the smallest ginseng stalk, and with a single thought, the plant she was touching vanished.
She then brought the ginseng back out from her space and saw that the entire plant, including all its fine rootlets, was perfectly intact with no signs of breakage. "See? I’m the smart one!"
Seeing Jin Qianqian’s smug look, Ancient Wen Heng rubbed his chin. "That’s a great function. It’ll save us a lot of time."
He had thought they would be stuck here all day, but he never expected such a sudden, pleasant surprise.
Ancient Wen Heng picked up a nearby stick. Same old routine—he checked the area ahead before letting Jin Qianqian collect the ginseng, stalk by stalk.
"Later tonight, we should find some time to go inside and see. If we can cultivate these, we won’t have to struggle with growing vegetables anymore." Thinking of the unplanned land in their space, Ancient Wen Heng thought, ’It’s more profitable to grow these medicinal herbs that only get better with age.’