The next day, at nine o'clock in the morning.
"Good morning..."
After a peaceful night, Wan Yunting and Fang Yanxi had returned to their normal states. They greeted each other with smiles, then went downstairs and out of the hotel. They had breakfast at a local specialty breakfast shop next door, and then directly found a car to take them to Wangjiadian Village in Taiping Township.
Along the way, they chatted with the local driver, learning about the situation of cultivating dendrobium in a semi-wild state in Wangjiadian Village.
By eleven o'clock in the morning, the car arrived at Wangjiadian Village. It was a village surrounded by mountains. The population wasn't large, and the buildings were clustered at the foot of the mountains. Behind the village were continuous mountains with steep cliffs. It was said that wild dendrobium mostly grew on these steep cliffs.
This had thus given rise to the profession of herb gatherers!
The driver dropped Wan Yunting and Fang Yanxi off at the village entrance's small convenience store, and then immediately called the planter, Wang Meng.
"Let's sit for a while," Wan Yunting and Fang Yanxi sat on the stools at the convenience store, buying a bottle of water to quench their thirst.
Rumble...
Suddenly, a rolling thunderclap sounded.
"It looks like it's going to rain."
Wan Yunting looked towards the west, where dark clouds were gathering, suggesting rain was on its way.
At this moment, a man emerged from the village. He was not tall and was thin, but very sturdy. He was Wang Meng, the dendrobium planter.
"You must be the bosses from Hua Du, right?"
Wang Meng had seen Wan Yunting and Fang Yanxi sitting and waiting at the convenience store from a distance. Their city attire made them easy to identify.
"Yes."
Wan Yunting and Fang Yanxi stood up and shook hands with Wang Meng. "You must be Boss Wang. I'm Wan Yunting."
"Fang Yanxi."
Fang Yanxi also shook hands with Wang Meng.
Wang Meng nodded, gesturing towards the village, "Well then, Bosses, please come to my place first. I'll introduce you to the situation."
"Okay..."
So Wan Yunting and Fang Yanxi followed Wang Meng into Wangjiadian Village. After a few minutes, they arrived at his home, a newly built two-story building. To the west was an old shed where a minivan was parked, Wang Meng's delivery vehicle. The yard wasn't very large, with chickens, ducks, and geese being raised. There were also several flower pots containing dendrobium and other medicinal herbs.
"Please come in."
Wang Meng, being a true villager, didn't know much about pleasantries. He generously invited Wan Yunting and Fang Yanxi into the living room used for guests, and then a woman came out of a room. Wang Meng introduced her as his wife and asked her to pour water for Wan Yunting and Fang Yanxi.
"Here, Bosses, this is the dendrobium we grow..."
As he spoke, Wang Meng brought in two bundles of dendrobium. One was dried and ready for sale, and the other was fresh dendrobium he had picked from the mountain that morning. Wan Yunting examined it, smelled it, and then broke off a piece to taste. Fang Yanxi, sitting beside him, asked, "How is it?"
"Not bad."
Wan Yunting nodded and asked Wang Meng, "Boss Wang, is this all dendrobium you grow in a semi-wild state?"
"Yes."
Wang Meng took out a cigarette and offered one to Wan Yunting, smiling, "Now, the dendrobium in our area is mostly cultivated semi-wildly. Many Chinese medicine merchants from Hua Du even get their supplies from me."
"Mm, I know."
Wan Yunting nodded. The dendrobium used in prescriptions at the Traditional Chinese Medicine departments of southern hospitals these days were Wang Meng's semi-wild cultivated dendrobium. Wild ones were rare now.
"As you saw when you entered the village, the mountains are behind our village."
Wang Meng said, "Wild dendrobium is now protected by the state. Furthermore, wild dendrobium grows on cliffs, and the profession of collecting dendrobium is too dangerous. My late father was a professional dendrobium gatherer. He was accidentally hit in the head by a rock while collecting dendrobium on the mountain and died."
Hearing how dangerous it was, Fang Yanxi was astonished. She had thought wild dendrobium just grew in the wild and was rare, not that difficult to collect. Now, hearing that Wang Meng's father had died in an accident while collecting dendrobium, she was shocked.
Wan Yunting nodded. He knew something about these matters but hadn't expected collecting wild dendrobium to be so perilous.
"Here, Bosses, please have some water." The woman brought in two cups of water, and Wan Yunting and Fang Yanxi thanked her.
Just then, someone arrived to pick up goods from Wang Meng. He went out to attend to them for a while. Wan Yunting and Fang Yanxi looked at the semi-wild cultivated dendrobium and said, "Although the medicinal efficacy cannot compare to pure wild dendrobium, it's still acceptable. There are no major issues."
"That's good." Fang Yanxi was also relieved.
"Cough cough..."
At this moment, a few coughs came from that room. Wang Meng's wife said apologetically, "It's my mother. She's sick and lying in the room."
"Oh, what's wrong?"
Upon hearing there was a patient, Wan Yunting inquired.
"It's her old stroke condition."
Wang Meng's wife said, "She fell a few days ago while working in the fields. Now she has a cold, and her legs can't support her, so she has to stay in bed at home."
"Stroke is quite serious," Wan Yunting said. "Why don't I take a look at your mother?"
"Are you a Chinese medicine doctor?"
Wang Meng's wife was surprised, as Wan Yunting was too young, and she thought he was a businessman since he was there to buy medicine.
"Yes, I'm a physician in the Traditional Chinese Medicine department at our hospital. I have some experience with stroke patients," Wan Yunting said with a smile.
"Oh, that's great. Please examine the old lady."
Wang Meng's wife was pleased and stood up to lead Wan Yunting and Fang Yanxi to her mother's room. "Mother has a stubborn temper and insists she's not sick..."
So Wan Yunting and Fang Yanxi also stood up and followed her into the old woman's room. On an old wooden bed lay an elderly woman in her sixties, with half-white hair and deep wrinkles on her face. Her skin was tanned, indicating she had been exposed to the sun for years while working in the fields.
However, the old woman's complexion was sallow, and she appeared very weak and tired. Coupled with the cold that followed her stroke, the village doctor had only visited that morning to administer a few IV drips. She seemed much better now.
"Huifen, I... I want some water..."
The elderly woman, drowsy, spoke weakly.
"Okay, Mom."
Wang Meng's wife, Chen Huifen, quickly held some water for her to drink a few sips, then introduced, "Mom, this Boss Wan is here to buy our dendrobium. He's also a doctor. Why don't you let him examine you?"
The old woman slowly opened her eyes, looked at Wan Yunting, and said weakly, "Such a young man, what can he diagnose? Besides, I don't have any serious illness. I'll be fine in a couple of days..."
However, Wan Yunting observed the old woman's sallow complexion and the dark purple tint on her temples, raising an eyebrow. "Grandma, your condition isn't quite right!"
"Ah."
Chen Huifen was startled and was about to ask Wan Yunting when Wang Meng entered. "Boss Wan, why are you in my mother's room?"
"Old Wang, Boss Wan wants to examine Mom," Chen Huifen said. "Boss Wan studies Traditional Chinese Medicine."
Wang Meng was also taken aback. He also thought Wan Yunting was just a medicine dealer. Seeing how young he was, he naturally doubted his medical skills would be sufficient to diagnose his mother. Moreover, he was busy and had to deliver goods to the city that afternoon. "Doctor Wan, my mother isn't seriously ill. Why don't I take you up the mountain to see our semi-wild cultivated dendrobium base?"
Wan Yunting could tell what he meant and nodded, but still reminded him, "Your mother's condition is not a simple stroke. You should take her to the hospital for a check-up."
"Alright, I'll be going to the city to deliver goods this afternoon, so I'll take her to the hospital then," Wang Meng agreed with a smile, as he had already intended to do so. "Then, I'll take you up the mountain."
Wan Yunting nodded, and he and Fang Yanxi followed Wang Meng out of the yard. A tricycle was parked at the gate. "The road up the mountain is a bit far, and it's about to rain. I'll take you up the mountain by tricycle to see it."
"Okay."
Wan Yunting nodded, then helped Fang Yanxi onto the tricycle and climbed on himself. Wang Meng cautioned them to hold on and then rode the tricycle towards the back mountain of Wangjiadian Village.