Chapter 642: Everything Has a First Time

Wang Li held seven or eight whittled wooden sticks and said to Wang An while walking: "Fourth Brother, look at these sticks, some are wide and some are narrow. Can they be used? If not, I'll hurry up and whittle a few more."

It must be said that Wang Li was very meticulous in his work, mainly because he thought about problems a lot and looked ahead, which made people feel very relieved.

However, if it were Seeing Mu Xueli, it would be different, because in a situation like this, Wang An would let Seeing Mu Xueli figure out how to get the ginseng out himself.

Because for a very delicate job like digging for ginseng, Wang An believed Seeing Mu Xueli could do it even better than himself.

This could be seen from how perfectly Seeing Mu Xueli could control the hunting knife in his hand.

As soon as Wang Li finished speaking, he noticed the second ginseng root Wang An had found on the ground and exclaimed directly: "Fourth Brother, you're too fierce! You found the second one so quickly?"

As he spoke, Wang Li stepped forward, squatted down, and examined the ginseng.

Wang An said with a smile:

"Yeah, I feel like this place is an old ginseng patch that's been here for quite some years. It should be a private plot for some ginseng gang."

After hearing what Wang An said, Wang Li pointed to the ginseng on the ground and said: "Fourth Brother, I think this one is about the same size as the previous one. This is also a 'lamp stand,' right? By the way, what do you mean by a private plot? Can you divide up private plots in these big mountains?"

Wang An nodded and said:

"Yeah, it's a lamp stand. I feel like there must be no shortage of lamp stands and two-year-olds here; I just don't know if there are any big goods of four-leaf or five-leaf grade."

The reason Wang An mentioned four-leaf and five-leaf grades but didn't even mention six-leaf grade was that Han Shuisheng had said that in all the years he dug for ginseng, he had never dug up a six-leaf ginseng root.

Of course, Han Shuisheng also said that in an old ginseng patch that had been dug by people for countless years, the probability of having a six-leaf ginseng root was basically zero.

Unless the time between this ginseng-digging trip and the last one was long enough, and during this period, this old patch hadn't been discovered by other ginseng gangs, only then would one be able to dig up a six-leaf one.

But one must know that as long as one is dug up, it won't be just one; there will definitely be many! And the reason this situation happens is that ginseng, as a thing, mostly grows generation after generation. If you happen to encounter this generation of six-leaf ginseng, I have to say, it's like "a little cow stepping on a wire—shockingly awesome."

After a pause, Wang An continued:

"See these markers? These are the signs cut by ginseng gangs from the early years."

Immediately after, Wang An told Wang Li his guesses about the four "old markers."

After listening, Wang Li asked with full eyes of doubt:

"Then Fourth Brother, if you put it that way, this place was occupied by others first, right? Does this count as us stealing other people's things?"

Wang An, while taking the wooden sticks from Wang Li's hand, said with a disdainful tone:

"Things that grow naturally in heaven and earth belong to whoever digs them up. These big mountains don't belong to anyone. If they weren't discovered by others before, that's their good luck. If we discovered them, then they're ours. No matter who comes, it won't work."

What Wang An said was actually not wrong at all. In the big mountains, wild things are ownerless; whoever gets them, they belong to them. It's not like whoever marks them owns them.

Wang Li didn't have a cowardly personality; just now he was actually just asking subconsciously. Hearing Wang An say this, he nodded and said: "Yeah, that's what I was thinking too. So, Fourth Brother, do you know how to dig this thing? Why do I feel like digging this thing without hurting the root hairs is a really difficult task?"

Upon hearing this, Wang An looked at the wooden sticks in his hand, then looked at the ginseng that had already revealed its head, and after frowning and being stunned for a while, he said: "Hey, what's so hard about digging this thing? Just dig it, that's all. Everything has a first time. Now that we've found two ginseng roots, let's each take one. Come on, let's start digging."

As he spoke, Wang An divided half of the wooden sticks in his hand to Wang Li. Upon hearing this, Wang Li was instantly dumbfounded and muttered:

"Fourth... Fourth Brother, I... I don't know how to dig. If I break the root hairs, this ginseng won't be worth any money."

Wang An waved his hand and said very heroically:

"Just do it, it doesn't matter, I believe in you."

Although Wang An said this, he was actually in a state of uncertainty himself. After all, even for work he had done before, he couldn't guarantee he could do it well, and for this kind of work he had never done, he couldn't guarantee it even more.

Upon hearing this, Wang Li's spirit was instantly lifted, but soon, Wang Li became worried again. He looked at the wooden sticks in his hand, pondered for a long time, then gripped the wooden sticks tightly and resolutely walked toward the first three-leaf ginseng root.

To be honest, for someone who has never dug for ginseng, digging for ginseng is really a very difficult thing.

The main thing is that the fine root hairs of this thing are really too thin; if you are not careful, you will break them.

And the place where ginseng grows is in the woods, so the small tree roots and grass roots next to it are also quite numerous, and they are mixed with the ginseng root hairs, which is really annoying and disgusting.

Therefore, in this woods, the exasperated conversation between the two brothers soon spread.

Wang Li: "It's over, it's over, it's over... Fourth Brother, I broke one of the root hairs."

Wang An: "It's okay, let it break. It's normal to hurt one or two."

After a while.

Wang An: "Oh my, oh my, oh my... I brushed the root hairs off as grass roots and broke them. This is really messed up."

Wang Li: "It's okay, Fourth Brother, didn't you just say it was okay?"

Wang An: "Damn, that's you. I could make such a low-level... Damn, broke another one. Don't talk to me."

Wang Li secretly laughed at Wang An: "This is really messed up, broke another one. This ginseng is ruined."

Wang Li: "Yeah, I've broken quite a few here too."

Wang An sucked his teeth and said:

"I feel like this job of lifting ginseng is not something humans can do. If we keep doing it like this, won't it be over? No matter how many ginseng roots there are, they can't withstand us digging like this!"

Wang Li nodded in agreement and said: "Why don't we bring my brother Mu here? I feel like he should be able to handle this job easily."

Wang An also nodded and said: "Yeah, bring him here tomorrow and let him dig."

About half an hour later, Wang An and Wang Li dug out their respective ginseng roots.

Actually, it couldn't be called digging, because when they got to the end, the two brothers gave up in unison and just pulled the ginseng out of the soil.

Looking at the two ginseng roots with severely damaged root hairs, Wang An said with a pained face: "Damn, over 600 yuan, we just scrapped it!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 643 =====