“Sister Song, can we really use this to hunt pheasants?”
Song Wei replied, “You can’t—not yet. You need practice.”
“Then can you teach me, Sister Song?”
“Sure, or you can ask your brother when you’re home. He probably knows how.”
The crunch of their footsteps in the snow echoed softly as the two ventured deeper into the forest, chatting along the way.
Song Wei scanned their surroundings carefully, hoping to spot tracks of pheasants or rabbits.
“Sister Song, there are some red berries over there!”
The small cluster of bright red berries stood out sharply against the snowy landscape.
Song Wei, who had been focused on finding animal tracks, turned to look in the direction Hei Dan pointed.
“That looks like schisandra berries.”
The berries, resembling small grape clusters, were a type of medicinal herb sought after by the hospital.
Song Wei led Hei Dan to the bushes, plucking the berries carefully and placing them into a small bag.
The harvest wasn’t much—less than three ounces of fresh berries—but she made sure none went to waste.
Once done, she continued heading in the same direction, keeping an eye out for anything else.
About ten minutes later, a faint flurry of wings caught her attention.
Her eyes lit up. She quickly signaled Hei Dan to stay silent, pressing a finger to her lips, and then led him stealthily toward the sound.
Despite carrying Hei Dan, her movements were light and calculated. Soon, they arrived beneath a tree. Song Wei gently set Hei Dan down, and the two peeked around the trunk to see what was ahead.
The sound of pheasants clucking became clear.
Jackpot.
Not just one but two pheasants were in sight, seemingly engaged in a fierce fight.
The vibrant feathers of the male pheasants glimmered in the light, their long tail feathers fluttering as they clashed. Wings flapped and beaks jabbed in a chaotic flurry of movement.
Song Wei wasn’t going to miss this opportunity. She reached for her slingshot and a prepared stone, her expression sharpening with focus.
With the precision of a marksman, she aimed at one of the pheasants.
Whoosh!
The stone shot out and struck its target with a dull thud. The pheasants let out a strangled cluck, its head tilting before collapsing lifelessly into the snow.
The other pheasants panicked and tried to flee, flapping its wings in an attempt to fly.
But another stone quickly followed, hitting its mark. The second pheasants barely managed to rise two meters off the ground before it too plummeted into the snow.
“Got them!”
Hei Dan was ecstatic. He had been holding his breath the entire time, afraid of scaring the pheasants away. Now, he was jumping and cheering with excitement.
“Go pick them up,” Song Wei instructed with a smile.
Hei Dan wasted no time, waddling through the snow with his short legs. His little face was flushed from the cold and excitement as he returned with the two pheasants.
It was still early in the day, so Song Wei decided to keep searching for more.
However, she wasn’t overly ambitious. With two pheasants already secured, the pressure to find more was gone. At least they now had enough meat to welcome her brother properly.
“Sister Song, there are more red berries over there, but they don’t look like the ones we picked earlier.”
Song Wei had just collected a few more schisandra bushes, bringing her total to about a pound, when she looked in the direction Hei Dan indicated.
Her eyes widened.
“That’s not schisandra.”
She hurried over, taking a closer look at the plant.
Its leaves spread out like five fingers, with clusters of small red oval berries sprouting from the center. Everything about it screamed the identity of this plant.
Wild ginseng.
Her eyes sparkled with excitement as she broke into a delighted smile.
“Hei Dan, we’re really lucky today!”
She had heard rumors of wild ginseng growing in this area. As a prized medicinal herb with a revered status in traditional Chinese medicine, wild ginseng fetched sky-high prices—especially the older ones.
Even the most uneducated villagers knew its value, which is why any ginseng near commonly frequented areas had long been harvested.
Deep within the forest, however, treasures like this could still be found. Song Wei had explored these mountains several times before, collecting other herbs, but this was her first time encountering wild ginseng.
Her eyes gleamed as she crouched down to carefully clear the surrounding snow and soil with a knife.
Switching to a stick for the finer work, she delicately unearthed the ginseng bit by bit.
She wasn’t skilled in determining the age of ginseng, but it didn’t matter. Finding it alone was already a stroke of luck.
“I’ll need a while to dig this up properly,” she told Hei Dan. “You can play nearby, but don’t wander too far.”
Wild ginseng was delicate; even the smallest root hairs carried medicinal value. To ensure the plant remained intact, she had to dig carefully and patiently.
The soil here was soft, which made the task slightly easier, but she still needed to take her time.
Hei Dan initially wanted to help, but seeing how cautious Song Wei was, he decided not to risk messing things up. Instead, he squatted nearby, watching her intently.
After some time, Song Wei paused, clapping the dirt off her hands. She washed them with some snow and pulled out a small pouch of roasted nuts.
She handed a portion to Hei Dan and unwrapped a few pine nut candies for herself.
“Not playing? Then snack on these while you wait,” she said with a smile, popping a candy into her mouth.
The pine nut candies were crisp and sweet, with a unique aroma. Hei Dan nodded obediently, sitting on the edge of her basket and peeling nuts.
He would eat one nut for every two he saved, carefully placing the extra ones on a clean handkerchief to give to Song Wei later.
Neither noticed the small squirrel creeping toward them.
If Song Wei had seen it, she would’ve recognized it immediately.
It was the same squirrel she had stolen food from before.
By sheer coincidence, the area Song Wei and Hei Dan had chosen to rest in was home to another one of the squirrel’s stashes. The little creature, with its cheeks stuffed full of nuts, caught the scent of something familiar and mouthwatering.
Those delicious nuts from last time!
Following the aroma, the squirrel climbed onto a nearby tree, its fluffy tail twitching excitedly.
Hei Dan, engrossed in his task, suddenly felt something cold hit his shoulder. He looked up to see nothing but branches and assumed it was falling snow.
Shrugging it off, he went back to peeling.
Moments later, another snowball hit him.
Hei Dan frowned and glanced up again. “Why is snow only falling on me?”
When a fifth snowball landed, he couldn’t take it anymore.
Gathering his nuts and basket, he waddled off to find a new spot, leaving the peeled nuts behind for later retrieval.
Leave a Reply