Chapter 3 Little White Yak
After almost half a month of busyness, Cai Hongming finally completed the planning of the 1,000 acres of desert land, but it was May.
Last year, he agreed to Songna that he would go to their place to dig Cordyceps sinensis, so he packed up, brought some essential things to go out, borrowed a desert truck from Tuobaniu, and went to Songna's Lasmedo.
"Xiao Niu, why don't you repair your car at home? Why don't you make money when you go dig Cordyceps? "Cai Hongming asked Tuoba Niu while driving.
When he went to his house to borrow a car, the guy wanted to follow him when he heard that he was going to dig Cordyceps, and even brought his friend Qi Diao Ji Shao with him. There were several more people at once, which made Cai Hongming very upset. This was not to dig Cordyceps, it was obviously a move to take the children on a spring outing.
"I always heard that I was digging Cordyceps, but I never dug it before. I wanted to dig it out. I don't want to make money, so I just took it as a fun."
Seeing him saying this, Cai Hongming had nothing to say. He turned to Qi Diao Ji Shao who was sitting behind him and asked, "Aji, it's okay to say that Xiao Niu went, what are you doing? He was so thin that he could even blow away the wind. Be careful that he would roll down from the mountain after climbing the mountain without oxygen."
"Brother Bird, it's okay. If I can't go up, I will stay in the village to play. The scenery there is nice and I like it very much."
Well, it was two people who were good at it. Cai Hongming simply stopped talking.
On the vast yellow sand, it seems that there is no end to see, silent and lifeless. The car walked on the straight desert highway for a few hours, then left the desert highway and headed to a rural-level highway. After walking for a while, he arrived at the bottom of the village of Lasmedo. The car could not drive in front, and the old rules were the same, so the group got off and walked.
Lasmedo is still as peaceful, calm, simple as before, and has not changed because of their arrival. He has not lost anything because of their departure.
Songna's father Basan knew they were coming today, so he waited at the village head. After receiving them, he went home together.
When I arrived at Songna's house, I saw that it was filled with tsampa, cheese and other foods. A fat and tender lamb was roasted golden and crispy on the charcoal stove in the hall. Songna's mother Jin Zhuoma was taking a butter bucket in the kitchen to make butter. Seeing the guests coming, she quickly took out the bowl and poured the butter. Songna looked at it and went over to help.
It was noon when we arrived in Las Medou. Today we couldn’t go up the mountain to dig Cordyceps, so we could only wait for the morning tomorrow. Otherwise, we would be digging for a while and then coming back, which would be a waste of time.
"Hongming, you're late. The few children of the Maga family went up the mountain with the villagers to dig Cordyceps in the sky." Basang said while enthusiastically urging everyone to eat and drink.
"It's okay, we're going to dig and play. It doesn't matter if we dig it or not." Cai Hongming said.
"That's good, otherwise you might be disappointed, because there are very few Cordyceps here." As he said that, Basang put down the bowl in his hand and sighed: "Hey, everyone used to dig Cordyceps, but now they all go to dig for money. They are not afraid of the mountain gods blaming them."
In the past, some people said that Cordyceps is the hair of a mountain god and has spirituality. Digging Cordyceps means pulling God's hair.
Some people say that Cordyceps is the intestine of a mountain god. Whoever digs it will annoy the gods and people and animals will suffer. Therefore, many Tibetans do not dig Cordyceps, and the main ones they dig are from outsiders.
But now, driven by interests, and people are not as ignorant as before and have lost the awe of the gods, many Tibetans in the local area have also begun to dig Cordyceps. However, in some areas, there are still many Tibetans who do not dig Cordyceps sinensis. Otherwise, they will be criticized by villagers.
This is how people in Lasmedo Village are. Some people don’t dig Cordyceps, and some people dig. This is the collision between faith and secular world.
The Cordyceps sinensis on the mountain is no longer as much as it used to be, because it is caused by artificial large-scale mining, insufficient environmental protection and natural climate.
After eating, Basang took Cai Hongming to the ranch to see the white yaks he left for him. Basang's ranch is on the mountain not far from the village, and it raises white yaks and sheep in it. Since he has earned money from raising white yaks, he has increased the number of breeding every year, and this year he has raised 200 white yaks and 100 sheep. These cattle and sheep are raised on the green pasture, and they look white and pleasing to the eye.
After spring, the white snow covering the mountains gradually retreats back to the top of the mountain, and the trickles of water melted from the snow merge into streams and pour into the lake in front of Lasmedo.
The mountain was soaked by white snow. After nearly half a year of ice and snow, the grassland that was almost lifeless was gradually revealed under the spring breeze, and new buds quietly sprouted. The originally yellow grassland seemed to suddenly turn into a green ocean overnight. Many unknown wild flowers also emerged with the spring. For a time, on the grassland like green velvet blanket, white, red, purple, yellow, blue, and various wild flowers competed for beauty, just like gorgeous spots embroidered on plush blankets, dotted with green grasslands, forming a colorful, magnificent, dynamic three-dimensional picture.
The yaks and sheep were just looking down at the fresh green grass, and did not care about everyone's arrival at all.
Basang pointed to a little white yak with a red ribbon tied to the head of a cow in the white yak herd and said to Cai Hongming: "Look, that's what I left for you."
Cai Hongming looked in the direction he pointed, and saw a calf snuggling beside a female yak, lowering her head to chew on the grass, but restless, running around from time to time, looking like a clever ghost.
Stayed at Basang's house for one night. The next day, just dawn, Cai Hongming and others got up, brought the food they had for lunch, and the pickaxe (also called Xiaozhutou) for digging Cordyceps, and walked up the mountain.
In order to dig Cordyceps, some people take tents to sleep on the mountain, which not only saves the back and forth, but also makes time to dig Cordyceps. However, Cai Hongming doesn't want to do this. Because this is too tiring, and they don't plan to dig Cordyceps to make money, it's just fun. They want to experience the feeling of digging Cordyceps, so there is no need to be so troublesome.
From Lasmedo upwards, there are a forest. After passing through the forest, you can see alpine pastures.
Above the grassland, there is a blue sky as clear as a green lake, and white clouds of various shapes float between the clear waters, either far or near. Looking into the distance, I can see the silent snow-capped peaks in the distance, like a snow lotus, shining in the sun.
Green grass, flowers, mountains, and flowing water are like endless scrolls of paintings that come into view.
In an instant, Cai Hongming and other people who had lived in towns for a long time were shocked by what they saw. They had never seen a more beautiful and shocking picture than before.
"ah..."
Finally, someone couldn't help but shouted loudly, and then he saw a terrible howl of wolves resounding among the mountains.
Chapter completed!