Returning to my hometown to inherit three mountains: Don't stop me from raising pigs

Chapter 258 Quarrying Stone Ears

Gu Chang bent down, picked up some stone ears and examined them carefully.

"To be honest, I've only seen this stone ear a few times."

This thing is very rare in the mountains!

The "Yongding County Chronicles" records: "Rock ear is a folk treasure, a delicacy, and has the function of removing heat, clearing fire and nourishing the body. It is delicious when made into soup with meat or stewed with chicken."

In ancient times, this thing has always been a tribute.

Stone ear is not only popular in my country, but also very popular in Japan and South Korea, and it has a very long history of consumption.

The stone ear in Gu Chang's hand is flat and irregularly round in shape, dark brown in color, and covered with black fluff on the back, resembling an animal's ear.

Because it is winter now, the picked stone ear is very crisp and will even break into pieces if you squeeze it with your hands.

The best season to pick stone ear is after May, when it rains a lot in the mountains and various fungi are in their rapid growth season.

At this time, the stone ears are extremely plump and tender, and they are really delicious when eaten!

The villagers of Yaling Village will choose to pick some in this season and dry them for daily consumption.

"Xiao Chang, you don't know how difficult it is to pick this thing. I saw Shen Long picking it once, and I was almost scared to death!" Qi Tianming said loudly.

"What's going on?" Gu Chang asked curiously.

"You know, these stone ears all grow on cliffs." Qi Tianming said.

Gu Chang nodded and replied: "This thing is very picky about its growing environment. It must be on the shady side of a cliff that is moist all year round, and it only grows on south-facing cliffs."

"That's right, the cliff we just visited is too steep and very wet. We could fall down if we weren't careful!"

"Stone fungus grows on these misty cliffs, and mountain people often call it 'magic vegetable'."

"Tsk tsk, this is indeed a dish that only gods can eat!" Qi Tianming exclaimed.

"It takes a lot of courage to pick rock ears. A very long rope is dropped from the top of the mountain and one end is tied to a fixed stone on the top of the mountain. The other end is tied around the waist. Then you slowly climb up the cliff and move back and forth to find and pick rock ears!" Qi Tianming said excitedly.

"I'm down there, and I'm almost scared to death just looking at it, let alone going up to dig it up!"

"After picking them, I have to climb up slowly. I don't have the courage to do that. I would rather not eat them than dig them!" Qi Tianming said firmly.

"Shen Long is so awesome, just like Spider-Man!" Qi Tianming said admiringly.

Shen Long felt a little embarrassed by what he said. He scratched his head and said, "I have been used to crawling since I was a child, so I don't think it's a big deal. Besides, these are all passed down by the older generation. We just need to learn from them."

Gu Chang lowered his head and looked at his tools with a look of great interest.

Shen Long looked at him curiously and took the initiative to introduce him.

"We mainly need these three tools to dig for stone ears."

"First, this straw rope. Its production is very particular."

"What do you mean?" Qi Tianming asked curiously.

"This kind of rope must be made of high-quality ramie, with two strands twisted together in left and right directions."

"Why is there a left-hand twist?"

"Let me explain this to you." Gu Guoqing said with a smile.

"When a rope twisted left and right rotates left in the air, the left strand is tight and the right strand is loose. When the rope rotates right, the right strand is tight and the left strand is loose. This way, the rope will not break due to the strong twisting of the two strands at the same time, thus ensuring safety."

"This is the crystallization of the wisdom of the ancient mountain villagers! This kind of rope was used in the past!"

"Awesome!" Qi Tianming exclaimed.

“This is called a scraper.”

Shen Long held up something that was the size of an ordinary metal rice ladle, but with a thicker handle.

"What is this used for?" Gu Chang asked.

"This scraper is used to scrape the stone ears. When scraping the stone ears, it is important to scrape them thoroughly in one go. A second scrape is absolutely not allowed! After all, the longer you stay in the air, the greater the risk to your life!" Shen Long explained.

Everyone nodded and looked at the small scraper carefully.

"The last one is the cloth bag, which is used to hold the stone ears. The cloth bag is the lightest and will not collide with the rocks, so it is the most suitable!"

"But nowadays, some people like to use plastic bags, which are lighter than cloth bags, but they are afraid of wear and tear, so they are not as durable as cloth bags!"

Several people looked at these three tools and sighed, and couldn't help but admire the wisdom of the ancients!

These three tools are the most suitable tools under the level of development of productivity in ancient times!

"In the past, there were many taboos when going into the mountains to dig for stone ears!" said a villager from Yaling Village next to Shen Long.

"Oh? What taboo is it? Tell me quickly!" Qi Tianming likes to hear this.