Mountain driving career since 1982

Chapter 768 How many years has it been?

Chapter 768 How many years has it been?

Different from carrying the mallet on the hillside and in the forest, some of the mallets are easy to carry on the cliffs covered with jagged rocks, but many of them are quite troublesome.

The places where sticks can grow in the cracks of these stone tiles are mostly shallow humus soil where dead branches, rotten leaves and moss accumulate.

On a relatively flat stone platform, you can simply clean up a small amount of humus and lift out the mallet, and you can finish a tree in three to five minutes.

But in that very narrow gap, it is difficult to handle a mallet with long roots.

The stones didn't move at all, and there were many places where you couldn't put your fingers in. This made it more difficult to lift the mallet and required more patience.

The deer bone stick couldn't be reached, so Lu Lu could only fiddle with it little by little with a simple repair stick. There were even many places where Lu Lu had to shine a flashlight.

Lu Lu wanted to lift those sixth-grade leaf sticks out together with the original soil, but it was obviously impossible, including the seventh-grade leaf tree.

Moreover, it would be too unfair for Zhang Shaofeng and others to take so many sixth-grade leaf sticks back for transplanting.

It is precisely because of the strange place where it grows that the more difficult it is to lift the mallet, the more beautiful and graceful its shape becomes.

Several sixth-grade leaf sticks were brought out. After a brief look, Lu Lu was able to determine that they were large-scale products that were more than a hundred years old, and some were even more than 200 years old.

Take these sixth-grade leaf sticks out, and the vintage alone is enough to double their worth.

The only shortcoming is probably because the soil layer is too thin and the nutrients are not available. The weight is not large, and there are only four or five trees that can reach [-] grams.

But it is precisely because of this that the nature has a sense of age, which is a good bonus.

Alone on the cliff, Lu Lu spent four days to finally lift out the mallets. In the end, only the seventh-grade leaves were left.

In just these four days, Zhao Yongke's left hand, which was stung twice by mine bees, was only slightly swollen and was back to normal.The heads of Zhang Shaofeng and Liang Kangbo were still very large and dissipated very slowly.

However, after their eyesight was fine and the swelling in their hands subsided, they still followed them to the top of the cliff to help seal the buns and other things, mainly because they wanted to see the mallets.

Lin Yulong stayed by the stove, carrying pots, letting horses go, and catching fish in the river every day, just like a normal person.

For a few days, he didn't even come up to the top of the cliff. He only came over to take a look when he was sealing the buns and taking them back to Zangzi every day, which seemed quite ordinary.

While Zhang Shaofeng and others were excited because there were a few more century-old ginseng trees, his reaction was mediocre.

Not only Lu Lu, but also Zhang Shaofeng and the others found this strange.

During dinner in the evening, Zhang Shaofeng finally couldn't help but ask: "Yulong, aren't you happy to get so many big products?"

"I'm so happy!" Lin Yulong said he was happy, but he just smiled faintly, as calmly as ever.

"I can't tell..." Liang Kangbo shook his head and said.

"Yulong, are you worried about something?" Lu Lu asked more directly.

"No...Brother Lu, I...I'm just a little afraid of heights, so I don't dare to help. I was discharged from the army because of this problem. I went up to deliver medicine, and when I came down, my feet couldn't help but tremble." long time."

Lin Yulong hesitated and said, "Am I a waste?"

"Afraid of heights!"

Lu Lu was stunned for a moment. This was indeed a difficult psychological barrier to overcome.

Is it because of this reason that you feel unhappy because you haven’t been able to help?

Lu Lu knew that people with this kind of mental disorder really couldn't force themselves.

When he reached the top of the cliff, it was no different than killing him. No wonder he had no initiative at all during this period and seemed to be shrinking. He was just taking care of chores below. If he didn't go to the top of the cliff to help, it would be even more difficult to help. Not a word was mentioned.

Now I feel excusable.

Lu Lu felt that he should take back his thoughts from the past few days.

"Get over it slowly. Places like this with sticks on the cliffs are indeed rare. There are not so many cliffs for us to climb!"

Lu Lu smiled and comforted: "It's okay, it's good to do something you can do. Aren't there a few of us left? Tomorrow only the last seven-grade leaf stick stick will be left. After carrying it, we will move to other places. Take a look, if not, we’ll go out.”

He changed the subject appropriately and said nothing more on this issue.

A few days ago, Lu Lu had the idea of ​​excluding him from the mountain climbing team. Now that he thought about it, it was because he didn't know enough.

He and Chen Xiuqing's strong curiosity and bravery without thinking are completely different.

Driving into the mountains is different from farm management. When leading Chen Xiuqing into the mountains, Lu Lu was supervising everything and not letting him make mistakes. This was because many times if he made a mistake, his life would be lost, and the cost of trial and error was too high.

Lin Yulong knows his own weaknesses, knows how to think about problems, and knows what he can do. This is a sign of stability, a rare quality.

It is this courage that still needs to be strengthened.

As long as he directly explained his fear of heights, Lu Lu would not have to think so much.

Let’s take a look later!

"A stick with a sixth-grade leaf can be 200 years old. I really don't know how many years that seven-grade leaf will have!" Zhang Shaofeng said happily. "You'll know when you lift it out!"

"I guess at least 300 years."

"It would be great if this was a thousand-year-old mallet."

Liang Kangbo and Zhang Shaofeng talked with great interest.

Finally, the two of them turned to look at Lu Lu, and Zhang Shaofeng asked: "Lao Wu, can you estimate how old the seventh-grade leaf stick tree is?"

"I can't say for sure. Anyway, it is almost impossible for Bangchui to grow for a thousand years. In 1000 years, the world has changed greatly. Bangchui will grow only when it grows in a place and the environment at that time is suitable. But in 1000 years , the small tree next to it can grow into a towering tree. The environment that was suitable at the beginning has become completely different due to constant changes. It is too difficult to survive for thousands of years. How lucky does that have to be? Only then is it possible.

Therefore, a hundred-year-old Bangchui tree is already extremely precious... If I had to guess, this seventh-grade leaf Bangchui tree should be about 300 years old. There are not many Bangchui trees of this age in the entire wilderness. "

Lu Lu said with a smile.

I have nothing to do now, just chatting.

"I have been carrying the mallet with you for so long. As for the year of this mallet, I only know how to count the reed bowls. It is really difficult to distinguish. Please explain it to us." Zhang Shaofeng was very interested in this.

"Let's talk about something simple: first look at the reed head, if there are round reeds, one finger of round reeds is eight to ten years; secondly, look at the reed bowl, one year to form a reed bowl, add two to three years to the end of the reed, and swallow the reed , except residual reeds; thirdly, look at the skin color and texture. Older people have older skin and deeper lines (horizontal lines); fourthly, look at the pearly spots on the beard and hair. Pearly spots can only be formed after more than 15 years. The older the pearly spots are, the more likely they are. The more obvious..."

The so-called pearl spots are actually raised points formed on the main whiskers when the fibrous roots of the mallet stretch out during the growth process. They will rot after a certain period of time and then heal.

They wanted to learn, and Lu Lu didn't hide it. He opened a six-grade leaf mallet on the spot and started teaching.

Several people naturally approached and turned on their flashlights to shine.

"What about the more complicated ones?" Liang Kangbo asked.

"It's a little more complicated... Some sticks can count the year by counting reed heads, reed bowls, etc., but it does not apply to all sticks. For example, there are Tunlu, Canlu, etc., and one Canlu can represent two years. , may also represent ten years, and counting reed heads and reed bowls will not work. Furthermore, sticks do not sprout every year, and even if they are not damaged, they will enter a dormant state on their own. To judge the year of sticks, all factors must be considered. , very complicated..."

Lu Lu was stunned when he said this: "Yes, the stick will go into sleep on its own..."

Suddenly seeing Lu Lu's expression was different, Zhang Shaofeng quickly asked: "Lao Wu, what do you want to say?"

"I want to say that we may have to stay here for two more days." Lu Lu said with a smile.

"why?"

"The sticks will go dormant. Those cracks in the stone slabs that seem to have no sticks now, but may contain sticks, should be carefully searched. It is very likely that some more will be found."

As soon as these words came out, several people seemed excited.

"Go to bed quickly... have a good job tomorrow!"

At night, Zhang Shoufeng, Liang Kangbo and Lin Yulong took turns to keep vigil. After a good sleep, they went straight to the top of the cliff after eating breakfast cooked by Lin Yulong the next morning.

Lu Lu sat down to the cliff again in his soft cane bag. He did not rush to lift the seventh-grade leaf stick, but carefully rummaged through the gaps in the stone lids where soil humus had accumulated. As a result, It didn't take long to find two stick trees for him, and they were quite old.

This made Lu Lu very happy, so he spent another two days searching everywhere and found a lot of harvest. Three more mallets with a score of more than [-] years were found.

When he found that he was almost there, he focused his energy on the seventh-grade leaf stick, and dug out the soil in the gaps little by little, carefully exposing the roots.

It took him three full hours to carefully lift out the entire stick.

As soon as he saw this mallet, Lu Lu screamed in his heart: "It's a masterpiece!"

This seedling has a big stick, and the underground reed stem is divided into three sections. The base is round reed, and the middle is piled flower reed, which is lined with large stalks, mostly in the shape of jujube pits, and is very dense. The top is horse tooth reed, with four in total. There are five beards with many pearl spots. The longest one is fifty centimeters at least. The most important thing is the shape. It is like a little man with hands and feet. It is so vivid. The key is that it is still very heavy. The foot weighed at least [-] grams. It was not the biggest mallet that Lu Lu had ever lifted, but it was definitely the most human-like and the most handsome one.

Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Lu Lu packed up his things and planted the ginseng seeds he had picked in the past few days in the crevices of the rocks. Then he got into his soft pocket and shouted toward the top: "Pull me up." .”

Several people worked together to lift Lu Lu up from the cliff.

When they saw the mallet that Lu Lu brought, several people leaned over to look at it and marveled.

"I'm afraid this stick has become a spirit!" Zhao Yongke couldn't help but get excited when he looked at its small appearance: "It's just like a human being."

"Yes, it has hands and feet, like a little old man... beautiful!" Liang Kangbo was also very excited.

Zhang Shaofeng is indeed more concerned about one question: "How old is this stick?"

Before Lu Lu could count the details, he immediately took the deer bone stick and pulled it bit by bit. After a while, he came to the result: "Preliminary judgment, it is at least 350 years old... Lifting such a stick is enough to blow for a lifetime."

Seeing that several people couldn't keep their eyes away, Lu Lu quickly urged: "Stop inking, this is a lot of money, if you keep it down like this, any loss of water will be a loss."

Upon hearing this, several people immediately reacted and hurriedly used the moss and birch bark they had prepared earlier to make a thick and large bun.

(End of this chapter)