Chapter 51

I don't know if the villagers have been catching wild boars too fiercely these days, but the wild boars have all run into deeper mountains. Today, they went up the mountain for a long time and didn't see a shadow of a wild boar.

After Luo Ping and Huang Chuanyong went up the mountain, they would have surprising discoveries from time to time. This Wild Boar Ridge had never been developed, and the villagers here would not carry out destructive mining. Therefore, the vegetation here was protected quite well, and many rare plants that were difficult to find in other places could be seen here.

Luo and Huang had both studied botany for a lifetime, so they naturally regarded these rare plants as treasures. They kept recording something in their notebooks and also took out cameras to take pictures of these plants.

They said that this Menguhuling was a branch of the Tianyue Mountain Range, a huge mountain range in Central China. Although the altitude was not very high, the highest place was less than 1,000 meters, but the mountain was very steep, occupied a vast area, had various terrains, and had rich climate diversity. Therefore, the animal and plant resources here were also very rich.

What made Luo and Huang even happier was that the vegetation here was protected too well, and there was no large-scale development, which instead became an advantage in terms of plant protection here.

After going up the mountain for two hours, Su Xinghui urged them to go down the mountain to eat. Only then did they reluctantly go down the mountain. Today, they ate at Fang Youcai's house. After eating, they rested for less than an hour and went up the mountain again. The plant resources here surprised them too much.

That night, Professor Rao and the others returned to the Menguhuling Township Government to rest. That night, Luo Ping and Huang Chuanyong excitedly took out the plant specimens they had collected and appreciated them as if they were facing rare treasures.

Su Xinghui saw that those plant specimens didn't look very eye-catching, so he couldn't help but ask curiously, "Are these plants really very precious?"

Luo Ping said, "Little Su, you don't know, many of the specimens we collected today are national endangered plants, most of which are ferns, such as Ophioglossum parvifolium, Isoetes sinensis, and Coniogramme japonica are all very precious. This Cephalotaxus oliveri is a very precious shrub. This is the first time I have discovered it in the wild."

Huang Chuanyong said, "Yes, like this Isoetes sinensis, this is the first time it has been discovered in our province, filling the gap in this area in our province!"

Professor Rao smiled, "You didn't come to the wrong place this time, right?"

Luo Ping said, "Didn't come to the wrong place, didn't come to the wrong place. This still has to thank you, Professor Rao. If it weren't for you coming here, we wouldn't know that such precious plants could be found here!"

Huang Chuanyong said, "These plants all have very high research value. It seems that we have to stay in Menguhuling for a while longer. Maybe we can find more precious plants."

Luo Ping said, "By the way, Little Su, today on the mountain, we also found some plants with high economic value, such as some Chinese medicinal materials, such as Umbilicaria esculenta, Paris polyphylla, Aquilaria sinensis, Angelica pubescens, Codonopsis pilosula, Polygonatum sibiricum, Asparagus cochinchinensis, Scrophularia ningpoensis, and some fruit trees, such as chestnuts, walnuts, dates, kiwifruit, etc."

Huang Chuanyong said, "There are also this Camptotheca acuminata, Eucommia ulmoides, etc., which are both rare plants and precious Chinese medicinal materials. If large-scale planting is carried out, it can not only produce high economic value but also protect them."

Su Xinghui said, "This still requires the two professors to conduct a detailed investigation on the economic crops suitable for large-scale planting in Menguhuling, so that we can be targeted and determine the next development plan."

Luo Ping said excitedly, "Okay, I feel that Menguhuling must be a big treasure house. Just on this Wild Boar Ridge, so many precious plants have been found. I don't know how many can be found in the entire Menguhuling area."

Huang Chuanyong said, "We still have to turn around the mountains around Wild Boar Gully village for two days, and then go to other villages to conduct investigations. It is estimated that it will take at least more than a month to conduct a preliminary investigation of the entire Menguhuling area!"

Luo Ping said, "After school starts, we will transfer a few more graduate students to come over and let them participate in the investigation. It can not only improve work efficiency, but it is also a very good research topic for them."

Professor Rao said, "After school starts, I also have to transfer some students to come over. The animal resources here are also very rich. Today, I seemed to see a silver pheasant, but I didn't see it clearly. I also seemed to see a sambar deer. If it can be confirmed, then this discovery will be incredible."

The three professors became more and more excited. Being able to discover the traces of so many rare animals and plants here was also a quite incredible achievement for them. With this, they could write a few weighty papers. For scientific researchers, this was the greatest fun.

Su Xinghui was naturally very happy. The effect of inviting experts to investigate was really good. On the first day, so many plants with high economic value were discovered. In the future, the economy of Menguhuling would not have to worry about not developing.

In the following days, Su Xinghui accompanied several professors to wander in the mountains. They spent two and a half days finishing the mountains next to Wild Boar Gully, and then went to Qishuping, Hujiaao, Taohua Village, Lutoushan, and other places to investigate. In these places, they had not small gains.

Although Menguhuling is a poor township and the population is not large, with a total of more than 10,000 people, there are more than a dozen villages here, and the area is also quite large. It is the township with the largest area in Shangjun County, and its jurisdiction is basically mountainous. If it weren't for the Agricultural University equipping Professor Rao and the others with a car, it would really not be a matter of one or two days to run to so many villages.

It is also fortunate that Professor Rao and the others have been engaged in field work for a long time and their physical quality is quite good, otherwise, climbing the mountain like this every day, ordinary people would have been unable to bear it long ago.

In order to accompany several professors, Su Xinghui had not rested for two Sundays again. These days, Xue Qin and Lu Xiaoya often called him. Xue Qin even planned to come to Menguhuling to see him one Sunday, but he said he didn't have time, so Xue Qin didn't come.

Xue Qin knew that Su Xinghui didn't lie. She called him several times, and the people in their Party and Government Office said he accompanied the professor to the village and was not in the township.

Lu Xiaoya didn't have anything to do either. She just wanted to hear Su Xinghui's voice, but she also didn't find him several times. It was only after he returned to the township government and heard people say that a girl named Lu called to find him that he called back.

Saying Lu Xiaoya had nothing to do is not right. Lu Xiaoya was not satisfied with having a sketch portrait. She also wanted Su Xinghui to draw a Chinese painting for her and give it to her. The Chinese painting also had to be stamped with his name seal. She wanted to keep it for collection.

Su Xinghui naturally agreed in one breath. Lu Xiaoya had helped him a lot. If he couldn't satisfy her with such a small request, it would be too unkind.

For this request, Su Xinghui also began to carve his Tianhuang frozen name seal. He didn't carve many characters, just preparing to carve the two characters "Xinghui". However, this seal knob was a bit more complicated. According to the natural shape of that piece of Tianhuang frozen, Su Xinghui prepared to carve a Qilin. To carve this Qilin well, it was not a matter of one or two days.

Because he had to accompany the professors every day during this period, he couldn't go to Xia Zhu's place every day. He gave Xia Zhu a lot of homework and let Xia Zhu complete it step by step, which could also improve Xia Zhu's art literacy day by day.

Good news also came from Xia Zhu's house. Xia Shisheng returned from Jiangcheng. After Yu Maode's careful acupuncture treatment, the hematoma that compressed the nerves basically disappeared. Now he only needs to persist in taking medicine at home, and after a long period of rehabilitation training, he can basically restore normal walking function.

Because of this matter, Xia Zhu came to the township government once. She couldn't wait to thank Su Xinghui. Unfortunately, Su Xinghui was not in the township government, so she could only return disappointed, but her gratitude to Su Xinghui in her heart was beyond words.

The last day of August, a Monday, Zhang Kaishan came to Menguhuling to inspect.

The reason why Zhang Kaishan came to Menguhuling until now is because July and August of each year are the flood season of the Yangtze River. Shangjun backs onto the Yangtze River, and the flood control task is very heavy every year. Although there is not much rain this year and the flood situation is not critical, Zhang Kaishan, as the deputy county magistrate, still has a very heavy flood control task.

Menguhuling Township does not rely on the Yangtze River, so it is not considered a key township for flood control. In these two months, generally, no county leaders will come here. They all have to go to those townships relying on the Yangtze River to guide flood control work.

By the end of August, the flood situation of the Yangtze River was basically lifted, and Zhang Kaishan could come to Menguhuling. Since the last time Chen Hongfu and Su Xinghui went to his house together, he has been paying attention to the situation in Menguhuling.

This time, those who came to Menguhuling with Zhang Kaishan included Cui Zimin, the director of the County Agricultural Office, and several other county staff, including a correspondent of the regional Party newspaper.

Because when the county government notified the Menguhuling Township Government the day before, it said that County Magistrate Zhang specifically named Su Xinghui to accompany him, so Su Xinghui could not accompany several professors to the mountains, so Su Xinghui simply persuaded several professors to rest for a day.

When Zhang Kaishan arrived at the Menguhuling Township Government, Su Xinghui first introduced the identities of several professors to him. Zhang Kaishan respected these experts who helped Menguhuling get rich very much. He expressed his gratitude to the professors again and again, which also moved the professors very much.

Zhang Kaishan asked the professors about their investigation situation. The professors said that although this investigation had not ended yet, the rare plants discovered in the Menguhuling area already included dozens of species such as Taxus chinensis var. mairei, Camptotheca acuminata, Cathaya argyrophylla, Metasequoia glyptostroboides, Bretschneidera sinensis, Taiwania flousiana, Eucommia ulmoides, Magnolia officinalis, Cephalotaxus oliveri, Isoetes sinensis, etc.

As for economic crops, there are even more. The precious Chinese medicinal materials they discovered already have dozens of species, and there are dozens of economic crops such as walnuts, chestnuts, oil tea, kiwifruit, wild dates, tung oil trees, lacquer trees, etc.

They said that Menguhuling is a treasure house of biological resources with unique advantages. If it can be reasonably developed, the potential for economic development here is very great, and they are all pollution-free industries, which are very suitable for Menguhuling's development.