When Perfected Letian returned and placed it on his palm, Fangzheng saw it clearly. He exclaimed, "Ginseng flower!?"
"Hehe, you have good eyes! Guess how old this ginseng is, "said Perfected Letian proudly.
Fangzheng shook his head. "You have stumped This Penniless Monk. This Penniless Monk knows that the age of a ginseng depends on its leaves. You don't even have leaves, so how can you tell?"
"Haha, Abbot, it looks like you really don't know anything about ginseng. If not, you would not have said such amateurish words," said Perfected Letian with a roar of laughter. He did not care if Fangzheng was displeased by his words.
Fangzheng naturally would not be displeased. He returned with a question, "Oh? Don't you look at the leaves? This Penniless Monk has always heard that it depends on the grade of the leaves. "
"Those are all amateurs. People who don't know the ropes speak nonsense. Wild ginseng that is a year old is known as Three Flowers. It only has three tiny leaves. Two years old is known as Five Leaves. Three years old is known as Two Seeds. Fourth-year ginseng has Four Leaves and Five Leaves. Five, six, seven … Even wild ginseng might have Seven Leaves. Furthermore, wild ginseng's leaves grow in cycles. It starts growing from the first grade. 123456
Then, it returns to the first grade and begins growing from 123456. Therefore, how can one determine the age by looking at the leaves? "countered Perfected Letian.
Fangzheng was taken aback. He never expected the words he had heard since he was young to be a scam.
Perfected Letian continued, "That's not wrong in the first place. It's useful to identify young ginseng. Later on, it was used wantonly to trick people who don't know the ropes. If the other party really thinks that they can tell the age of a ginseng just by looking at its leaves. A swindler can use a five or six-year-old ginseng to pass it off as a few decades or a hundred years old ginseng and make a killing. However, people are smart now. Fewer people fall for such tricks. "
Fangzheng sighed. "Different professions are worlds apart. Then how is one to identify ginseng?"
Perfected Letian shook his head. "It's not something that can be explained in a few words. There's a folk song that goes: Wild ginseng identification. There's such a folk song: Reed bowls are tightly intertwined, with round arms and jujube stones. Tight skin and fine lines. Whiskers are long and clear, with pearls dotting the whiskers. is a wild ginseng with such characteristics." The words "reed", "body", "pattern", and "whiskers" were industrial terms that corresponded to the head, upper limbs, main body, veins, and feet.
The reed head of wild ginseng was generally divided into three sections, and the round reed at the bottom was a typical feature of wild ginseng. It needed more than 30 years of growth to show its shape. Ginseng usually didn't have ring patterns on its reed. Only ginseng that was especially old would have rings on its reed.
Ginseng grew for decades or even centuries in harsh natural environments. The older the skin on the ginseng, the darker the color, and the older the ginseng.
The iron thread pattern on the ginseng was one of the characteristics of wild ginseng. It was shaped like iron threads, thin, dense, and deep. The circles were opposite each other, but not connected. The denser the iron thread pattern, the older the ginseng was.
Ginseng roots were used by ginseng to absorb nutrients. The older a ginseng was, the fewer its roots were. Therefore, the roots of old ginseng were simple and refreshing.
Ginseng has been growing underground for decades, and many of its roots will rot and grow out again. The rotten roots will leave behind scars, which are pearl spots. Therefore, the more pearl spots there are, the older the ginseng will be.
The older a ginseng is, the more valuable it is. Wild ginseng that weighs more than 50 grams will take decades to mature. Larger ones will take a century or two. As the saying goes, seven taels is ginseng, eight taels is treasure. "
After saying that in one breath, Perfected Letian looked at the dumbfounded Fangzheng and said with a wry smile, "Abbot, you didn't understand?"
Fangzheng shook his head helplessly. "I don't really understand. It looks like I understand, but I might not be able to tell it apart if I really tried."
At that moment, Red Boy asked impatiently, "After saying so much, how old is this ginseng of yours? Don't tell me it's three to five years old? "
Fangzheng glared at Red Boy, who immediately shut up obediently. He did not dare act rashly.
Perfected Letian laughed out loud. "This ginseng of mine is this old!" As he spoke, Perfected Letian extended three fingers!
"Three years?" Red Boy asked subconsciously.
Perfected Letian rolled his eyes at him.
"Thirty years?"
Perfected Letian shook his head. He happily poured away the water in the first pot of tea and filled it with water. His actions were as smooth as flowing water. Every move he made seemed natural and extremely elegant. Fangzheng's eyes lit up as well. He had long heard that tea making was good, but he always thought that it was just for show. How good could brewing tea be? But now, seeing Perfected Letian brew tea was truly pleasing to the eye. He felt relaxed and delighted! It was comfortable!
"Could it be three hundred years?"
Perfected Letian raised his head proudly and said with a smile, "More than three hundred years. This Penniless Priest doesn't know exactly how many years it is. It's a pity to dig such good stuff up. This Penniless Priest only occasionally takes some ginseng flowers to brew tea. "
"Occasionally takes some? One ginseng is probably not enough, right? Could it be? " Fangzheng's eyes turned brighter as he clicked his tongue inwardly. He had no idea how much he had drunk from that mouthful of tea. As for Perfected Letian, he seemed to drink it often. This fellow was way too rich!
Perfected Letian laughed out loud. "My yard is filled with ginseng. How much do you think there is?"
When Fangzheng heard that, he immediately looked at the yard. It was lush and green. Fangzheng thought nothing of it in the beginning, but now that he looked carefully, he realized that while calling it a yard was an exaggeration, there was still half a yard! There were probably dozens of ginseng!
"You planted them?" asked Fangzheng.
Perfected Letian shook his head. "Of course not. Back when This Penniless Priest was looking for a place of cultivation, This Penniless Priest chanced upon this place and saw this ginseng king leading a bunch of ginseng seeds and ginseng seeds to make their nest here. Legend has it that ginseng can turn into a spirit. This Penniless Priest guessed that they must have chosen this place because of the good fengshui. Furthermore, this place is indeed not bad. Therefore This Penniless Priest stayed and became neighbors with them. Usually, this Penniless Priest helps them chase away wild beasts or weed. As payment, it's not too much to take some ginseng flowers or ginseng seeds from them, right? "
Fangzheng was taken aback. From what Perfected Letian said, this fellow did not take the ginseng for himself. Instead, he interacted with the ginseng as equals. This was the first time Fangzheng was seeing such behavior. If a three-hundred-year-old wild ginseng was dug up, Perfected Letian would probably immediately escape poverty and reach the pinnacle of life, right?
Red Boy came over as well. "Are you dumb? This ginseng hasn't turned into a spirit. It's just a plant. Is there a need for you to do this? Or could it be that you're just acting tough? I think selling it should be a good choice. "
Perfected Letian shook his head. "Why should I sell it? To exchange it for money? What use is that to This Penniless Priest? Some people like to rear dogs, some like to rear cats, and some like to rear monkeys, squirrels, wolfdogs. Bad boy, there's nothing wrong with rearing ginseng as a pet, right? "
Red Boy, Lone Wolf, Monkey, and Squirrel immediately rolled their eyes at him angrily when they heard that.
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