Chapter 2082

Of course, Zhu Yanyi had no such thoughts yet, as no one had noticed this detail.

Old She led them down a narrow path. It was a staircase carved by hand. Zhu Yanyi walked along and laughed. "I never thought there was a path like this. If Uncle Old She hadn't led us, we would have had to go around, and we might not have found the way at all."

Old He smiled. "Our ancestors carved this path so that future generations would have a good road to walk."

She then sighed. "But now, only walking is possible. If you want to ride a bicycle, you have to take another road. That mountain road has many sharp turns and is inconvenient. People here don't like it, so few ride bikes. Most just walk."

Zhu Yanyi and her companions nodded slightly, understanding.

"Your terrain is really nice," Zhu Yanyi said, looking admiring. "We observed it earlier. We thought living down here was strange, but seeing the view from above, we realized this place is very safe. Your ancestors must have been very smart."

"Indeed. Our ancestors are descendants of Zhuge Liang." Old He’s face was full of pride.

Zhu Yanyi raised an eyebrow slightly. "Zhuge Liang? The Sleeping Dragon from the Three Kingdoms period?"

"Yes, exactly him." Old He laughed. "Actually, it’s a legend. It is said our ancestors came from Zhuge Liang’s lineage. Mr. Kongming predicted trouble for the family, so he told his nephews to leave their original place, change their surnames and names, and start anew. Our ancestor was one of them. He changed his surname to He because this river is special, so he took the name from it."

"It seems your ancestors were indeed very smart." Zhu Yanyi’s heart moved slightly, but her face showed no emotion.

"Of course. Our ancestors were smart, which is why they found such a good place." Old He laughed. "Unfortunately, our ancestors only considered walking, not carts or horses. So although this place is good, it is sometimes helpless. Traveling is still very inconvenient."

Old She spoke casually, but Zhu Yanyi said, "Actually, you could carve a road yourselves. Your ancestors could carve a path, so I don’t believe you can’t."

Old He replied, "We have indeed been carving. We have worked on it for several generations, which is why there is a road for bicycles and motorcycles. It’s just not easy to travel on."

Hearing Old She say it was not easy to travel, Zhu Yanyi became even more curious. She decided that when the weather cleared, she would definitely go to see how difficult it really was.

"Old woman, we have guests at home!" Old He shouted as soon as he entered the house.

A somewhat plump old lady came out. She wore a brown cotton jacket with an oblique neck, looking very cheerful. "The old man is back, and guests have arrived. Come in quickly. Don’t freeze in this heavy snow. And there’s a young girl too." The old lady pulled Zhu Yanyi inside. "Good, her hands aren’t too cold. Girl, you must keep warm. Treat yourself well when you are young. Let the men handle the cold and freezing things."

"Thank you, Auntie," Zhu Yanyi smiled and thanked her. Then she introduced everyone. "Uncle Old She, Auntie, this is my husband, Yan Aohan. These are my senior classmates from school, also my senior brothers. From left to right, they are Yu Qingyun, Yi Yunfei, Ouyang Tianyun, and Sikong Xuran."

"Since the girl is married, I think your husband is quite good." The old lady smiled satisfactorily as she saw Yan Aohan handing a cup of hot water to Zhu Yanyi.

"Yes, my husband treats me very well. She can’t bear to see me freeze. This time, we came out for a free travel trip. To be honest, my senior brothers and I came to sketch and gather inspiration. But my husband was worried, so she came along too." Zhu Yanyi’s words were a mix of truth and fiction, with no loopholes.

"What do you study, girl?" Old He asked curiously.

"Medicine," Zhu Yanyi smiled. "We all study medicine, specifically Traditional Chinese Medicine. We travel freely to gain experience, mainly to see various herbs around the world. So we chose remote paths. We didn’t expect to encounter such heavy snow here."

A truly skilled liar speaks with three parts lie and seven parts truth. Zhu Yanyi was like this. She did study medicine. She did take remote paths to recognize various herbs, which explained why they were here.

Old He nodded. "In this weather, herbs are basically withered."

"Not necessarily. More than half a month ago, we went to Daibai Mountain. Many herbs there were still growing well." Zhu Yanyi smiled. "Moreover, for some medicinal materials, only when they wither can we harvest the roots and stems for use."

Old He’s eyes lit up. "Then you must have harvested some ginseng from there?"

"We did harvest two ginseng roots, about twenty years old," Ouyang Tianyun answered from the side.

"Can you sell me one ginseng root?" Old He asked urgently. Seeing their surprised looks, he spoke a bit embarrassedly.

"My daughter is due to give birth soon. Although we have many native medicinal herbs here, ginseng is rarely found. I wanted to buy one from outside, but ginseng from outside might not be from Daibai Mountain. I heard that Daibai Mountain ginseng is truly the king of ginseng."

"So Uncle Old She wants to buy one for your daughter? Of course, that’s fine. Wait a moment." Ouyang Tianyun saw Zhu Yanyi give her a glance and smiled. She then went to a bag nearby, took out a box, and handed it to Old She.

"Uncle Old He, this one is about twenty-five years old. Please take a look. Are you satisfied?" Ouyang Tianyun asked with a smile.

Old He looked at the ginseng. Although it was small, not even as long as a little finger, the roots and stems were very clear. This showed they had processed the ginseng very well. Old He and his family had lived here for generations and knew something about medicinal herbs. Seeing this, he knew the medicinal properties were preserved about ninety percent. The person who processed this ginseng was very skilled. He nodded quickly. "Satisfied, very satisfied. I don’t know how much it costs."

Zhu Yanyi smiled. "In such heavy snow, we met Uncle Old She, and you gave us a place to stay. We can’t let Uncle Old She suffer a loss. Originally, we could give this ginseng for free, but then Uncle Old She might not feel comfortable. After all, this is not for you, but for your daughter. In that case, please give us eight hundred."