The man's name was Wu Zhongzhong, and he had been here for two years. He had come last year, when Ma County had just begun contracting out farmland and the market had just opened, after hearing back home that money was easy to make here. He had originally planned to do some small trading and brought a little capital with him. Unfortunately, he knew nothing about the local market, and some goods he bought in Wu City failed to sell here. He lost everything. With his capital gone and too ashamed to go home, he spent the winter staying with relatives in the Corps. Life in the Corps companies was not easy now either. Although there was cornmeal to eat, making money was truly difficult. So he had come into the mountains as soon as spring arrived. Someone had pointed him in this direction, saying there were good things in the mountains that he could exchange for money at the Purchasing Station. If he happened to pick up or come across something valuable, he would strike it rich.
Wu Zhongzhong had not quite believed it at first. There were mountains near his hometown too, so he knew something about them, but he was not particularly skilled at gathering mountain produce. Before coming, he had even made a special trip to the Purchasing Station to ask. The people there had clearly told him that they bought plenty of mountain goods-pelts, codonopsis, fritillaria, deer antlers, and the like-and the prices were not low.
After hearing that, Wu Zhongzhong had gone into the mountains. Of the medicinal plants there, he only recognized fritillaria. Others had told him about codonopsis later. It was not the season to dig codonopsis yet, so Wu Zhongzhong focused solely on fritillaria. Along the way, he came across all