Dashan Orchard 1988

Chapter 2 Want to dig up Cordyceps sinensis

People in Qingyang generally get married early. Many young people are in their early twenties and have several children.

Because the Li family was poor, the children got married relatively late.

Basically, you have to marry a girl to find a wife.

The bride price is just enough to pass through in your hands.

When the eldest sister gets married, the eldest brother will have a wife.

The second sister got married and the second brother got a wife.

The seventh sister is married off, and the sixth sister has a daughter-in-law.

The eighth sister is getting married, and the youngest brother is preparing to start a family.

He was the only one left free.

Speaking of which, he can't blame his family. Originally, Lao Liu's wife introduced him to him, but when he saw the girl, he didn't dare to raise his head, so the girl fell in love with Lao Liu, and finally they became friends.

When the younger sister got married and the younger brother Li Muyang reached the age of marriage, Li Muyang gave up the opportunity again.

then……

He couldn't raise enough money for the betrothal gift for a while. Seeing that he was getting older and older, his brothers and sisters just couldn't stand it anymore, so they tried to collect some. He borrowed some more, and then he barely managed to collect enough for the betrothal gift to welcome Lin Xiuli. Home door.

The bride price at that time only cost 170. Firstly, the father-in-law and mother-in-law valued others' honesty, and secondly, Lin Xiuli was indeed older, so he "took advantage".

"Lao Wu, what are you doing up so early?"

Li Muyang was already very gentle, but his mother Yuan Rufeng was still woken up.

She is now hemiplegic. She has no feeling on the left side of her body, but can move the right half. When she saw that it was not yet bright outside the window, she asked her son worriedly.

"I woke you up, mother."

Seeing that his mother had woken up, Li Muyang began to put on his clothes with confidence, and his movements became wider.

Now is the transition period between early spring and summer. The temperature difference between day and night on the Loess Plateau is very large. The highest temperature can reach over 20 degrees Celsius during the day, while it is only [-] or [-] degrees Celsius at night and early morning.

Li Muyang specially wore a cotton drill inside to suppress the wind.

A cotton vest is a cotton vest.

After putting it on, tuck the hem into the waistband of your pants so that the mountain wind cannot penetrate your body.

Li Muyang had a difficult life since he was a child. He had a bad stomach and would be in severe pain if he even caught a slight cold.

Although Qingyang is located in the lower reaches of the Loess Plateau, there are still strong winds. Especially during this transition period, the mountain wind can reach level [-] or [-], and even children can be blown away.

My mother once told a legendary story about Li Muyang.

It is said that when Li Muyang was two or three years old, he went to the fields with his mother. Her mother was busy working, so she left Li Muyang to play in the mountains and fields by herself, and kept watching.

While he was working, he suddenly heard the neighbors shouting: "The earth arrow has abducted the child." When he looked up, he found that Li Muyang had been blown into the air by the earth arrow, also known as a "whirlwind", or a tornado, and was floating in the air. A few dozen meters away.

She hurriedly took off her shoes, not caring that her feet were pricked with blood, and chased after the arrow. After catching up, she threw her shoes at the arrow and cursed: "I'll kill you, you shameless long tongue." , Where are you going to drag my son into?"

Li Muyang fell into the haystack and was picked up by his mother.

People in Qingyang rumored that Tujian, also known as tornado, is actually a monster with a long tongue, which likes to eat children. When it encounters it, it must be smoked with a shoe. If it smells the stench of the shoes, it will be fumigated and run away.

Li Muyang guessed that it was true that he was swept away by a tornado, because many people in the village would mention this incident accidentally, saying that his mother's feet were pricked by thorns and were bleeding, but she still chased the arrow with her little feet. Running, it hurts just looking at it.A long tongue, red and blood-red, would often appear in his mind, curling around his body.

I don’t know if it’s because I think about it every day and dream about it at night. The more I say it, the more it seems to be true.

But from the side, the mountain breeze is not small, and he must pay attention to it.

Yuan Rufeng couldn't turn over and could only watch her son putting on clothes. "It's time for me to wake up. At my age, half of my body is buried in the loess. How can I still get so much sleep? You got up so early. This is what you have to do." Even more?"

"I want to go to Xishan. The snow has just fallen and see if I can dig up some cordyceps."

"It's not easy to dig. We don't produce it here. There are more in the mountains in our hometown."

The Cordyceps that Li Muyang mentioned is Cordyceps sinensis.

It is a kind of precious Chinese medicinal material with symbiotic fungus and parasite eggs, which eventually replaces the parasite and becomes its own. It is widely used in medical research and clinical use in many fields.

Grows on high plateaus.

The best Cordyceps sinensis is produced in snowy areas, the next best is Cordyceps sinensis from Qinghai and Gansu, and the worse ones are Cordyceps sinensis from Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan.

Mainly affected by altitude.

The winter worms of Cordyceps sinensis refer to a kind of bat moth larvae. In winter, their eggs hatch into larvae underground, and the Cordyceps sinensis fungus parasitizes them.

After a winter of nutrient absorption, in April or May of next spring, the worms will be completely hollowed out, and the fungus will sprout grass buds from the heads of the worms and stick out of the ground. This is the best time to pick.

Because the bat moth is a bug that likes to live in extremely cold areas, its eggs can only be found in places with high altitudes. Cordyceps sinensis at low altitudes will develop its buds in advance due to environmental influences such as temperature. , so the quality is very poor and the useful ingredients are not good either.

There are not many places in Gansu that are rich in cordyceps, and they are mainly concentrated in Longnan, which is the area in southern Gansu.

Qingyang belongs to Longdong, with a relatively low altitude. The highest position is only 3000 meters, which is not suitable for Cordyceps to survive. Cordyceps cannot be seen.

But there is an exception to everything.

The winter of 1987 was much colder than before. As a result, many insects that relied on temperature to complete their migration and transfer lost their ability to judge, and somehow ended up living in Xishan for a while.

Therefore, from 1988 to 1993, Cordyceps sinensis could be dug out in Xishan Mountain. After the 93 Dynasty, the Cordyceps sinensis was completely dug out, and Cordyceps sinensis has not been found since.

Li Muyang clearly remembers that many experts and scholars were still collecting samples on the West Mountain at that time, saying that the discovery of new varieties of Cordyceps might break the inherent thinking that Cordyceps can only survive on mountains above 4500 meters above sea level.

No one thought that the cordyceps here would be short-lived.

Li Muyang remembers that many outsiders came to the village to buy Cordyceps.

It is said that a pound of cordyceps can be purchased for 500 yuan.

After hearing about it, people in the village rushed to the mountains to dig, and some lucky people also made a small fortune.

But later people learned that there was actually a supply and marketing cooperative for purchasing medicinal materials in the town, and if sold to them, one kilogram could be sold for 800 yuan.

Sold to a medicine dealer, it was obviously a loss.

Li Muyang was also a member of the army digging grass. By the time he found out, there were many more people digging. From front to back, they only dug less than a hundred roots.

The quality of the cordyceps here is not high, with an average of four cordyceps per gram, which costs about 20 yuan.

As for those who started early in the village, it is said that some people can dig out more than half a catty, which can be sold for two to three hundred yuan. The bachelor directly married a clever wife.

(End of this chapter)