Chapter 91

I wonder if the villagers have been hunting wild boars too fiercely these days—now all the boars have fled deeper into the mountains, and after climbing for a long time today, we didn't see a single one.

After Luo Ping and Huang Chuanyong climbed the mountain, they kept making surprising discoveries; this wild boar ridge had never been developed, and the villagers never engaged in destructive mining, so the vegetation here was remarkably well-preserved, and many rare plants hard to find elsewhere could be seen here.

Both Luo and Huang had spent their entire lives studying botany, and naturally regarded these rare plants as treasures, constantly jotting notes into their notebooks and taking photographs of the plants with their cameras.

They said that Meng Hu Ling was a tributary range of the massive Tianyue Mountain range in central China; although its elevation wasn't high—the highest point barely reached a thousand meters—the terrain was extremely rugged, its area vast, encompassing all kinds of landscapes, and its climate highly diverse, making its animal and plant resources exceptionally rich.

What delighted Luo and Huang even more was that the vegetation here had been preserved so well, with no large-scale development, which had instead become a major advantage for plant conservation here.

After two hours of climbing, Su Xinghui urged them to descend for dinner; only then did they reluctantly head down. They ate at Fang Youcai's house, rested for less than an hour after the meal, and climbed back up—the plant resources here had thrilled them immensely.

That night, Professor Rao and the others returned to rest at the Meng Hu Ling township government. That evening, Luo Ping and Huang Chuanyong excitedly laid out the plant specimens they had collected, admiring them as if they were rare treasures.

Su Xinghui thought the plant specimens looked unremarkable, and couldn't help asking curiously: "Are these plants really that valuable?"

Luo Ping said: "Little Su, you don't know—many of the specimens we collected today are nationally endangered plants, mostly ferns, like the narrow-leaved Ophioglossum, Chinese Isoetes, and Chinese Polypodium, all extremely precious; this Cephalotaxus oliveri is an especially rare shrub—I've never found it in the wild before."

Huang Chuanyong said: "Yes, Chinese Isoetes—I've never found it in our province before; this fills a major gap in our provincial records!"

Professor Rao chuckled: "So you didn't come here in vain, right?"

Luo Ping said: "Definitely not in vain, definitely not—we owe it all to you, Professor Rao. If you hadn't come here, we'd never have known such precious plants existed here!"

Huang Chuanyong said: "These plants have tremendous research value. It seems we'll need to stay longer in Meng Hu Ling—maybe we'll find even more rare plants."

Luo Ping said: "By the way, Little Su, today on the mountain we also found several plants with high economic value, like medicinal herbs: Shi'er, Paris polyphylla, agarwood, Angelica pubescens, Codonopsis lanceolata, Polygonatum, Asparagus cochinchinensis, and Scrophularia, plus fruit trees like chestnuts, walnuts, jujubes, and kiwifruit."

Huang Chuanyong said: "Also the fragrant tree and Du Zhong—both rare plants and valuable medicinal herbs. If planted on a large scale, they could generate high economic returns while also ensuring their protection."

Su Xinghui said: "I'd ask both professors to conduct a detailed survey of which economic crops are suitable for large-scale cultivation in Meng Hu Ling, so we can target our efforts and determine our next development plan."

Luo Ping exclaimed excitedly: "Absolutely! I feel Meng Hu Ling must be a great treasure trove—just on this wild boar ridge we've already found so many precious plants; who knows how many more we'll find across the entire Meng Hu Ling region!"

Huang Chuanyong said: "We still need to spend two more days exploring the mountains around Ye Zhugou village, then move on to other villages—we'll need at least a month just for a preliminary survey of the entire Meng Hu Ling area!"

Luo Ping said: "After the semester starts, we'll bring a few more graduate students here to join the survey—it'll boost efficiency, and it'll be an excellent research topic for them too."

Professor Rao said: "After the semester starts, I'll also bring some students here—the animal resources here are rich too. Today I thought I saw a white pheasant, but didn't get a clear look; I also seemed to spot a water deer. If we can confirm that, the discovery would be huge."

The three professors grew more and more excited; discovering so many rare animals and plants here was a major achievement for them—just this alone would let them write several weighty papers, and for researchers, that was the greatest joy.

Su Xinghui was also very pleased—his plan to bring in experts had worked wonderfully; on the very first day, they'd found so many plants with high economic value. The future economic development of Meng Hu Ling was no longer a concern.