Chapter 634: Medicine King Valley

Shen Yibin’s yard originally had plenty of empty space, which should have been more than enough for anything. But first, Maphario planted a ton of flowers and plants. Then came the bamboo grove and large trees for Hah’Er and Xiaoliu, and later, several Heaven-Reaching Trees. All of that took up a lot of room. After returning from Dongting Lake, they cleared a patch of land to plant Junshan Silver Needle Tea. And now, with so many medicinal herbs to plant, no amount of space seemed to be enough. The yard suddenly felt cramped.

“Alright, I’ll go till that plot of land by the bamboo grove.” Shen Yibin mused, ‘I wonder if I can talk to Director Kong about this. He doesn’t stay in Yunzhong City for very long each year anyway. It might be better to just let Maphario and the others take care of his yard. Then, if we manage to get seeds for West Lake Longjing Tea and Wuyi Mountain Dahongpao, we could plant them at his place. The worst that could happen is we’d have to share some of the tea with him after harvesting. I’m sure he’d agree, right?’

So, Shen Yibin sprang into action. He cleared the land originally intended for West Lake Longjing Tea and Wuyi Mountain Dahongpao and had Maphario and the Turtle Immortal plant the Yellow Ginseng there.

Maphario continuously brought over Yellow Ginseng rhizomes with young shoots, tossing them into the holes dug by Xiaoliu. The Turtle Immortal would then cover them with soil, and finally, Hah’Er would water them with a watering can. The little guys worked together in perfect harmony, and soon all the Yellow Ginseng rhizomes were planted. Even so, a large patch of land still remained unused.

“What should we plant next?” They had brought back more than just these herbs from the mountain. Shen Yibin wiped the sweat from his brow, leaned on his hoe, and asked, “Let’s keep it up and get all this work done today.” It had been a while since they collected these seeds from the mountain, so it was best to plant them as soon as possible. Besides, Spring was just around the corner, the perfect season for planting new crops. It would be much harder if they waited any longer.

“SQUEAK! SQUEAK!” Bouncing and leaping, Maphario scurried over to Hah’Er’s pocket. A moment later, it emerged holding a handful of obovoid seeds with thick, leathery tops and four to five angles.

“This… this must be the fruit of the Spatholobus suberectus, right? Are we planting this next? Are there any special requirements?” Shen Yibin asked, curiously picking up a seed to examine it.

Maphario, Hah’Er, Xiaoliu, and the Turtle Immortal got busy again, dropping the seeds one by one into the prepared holes, then covering them with soil and watering them. But after they finished, they didn’t stop. Maphario ran over to Xiaoliu and squeaked something. Xiaoliu immediately sprang into action, darting into the bamboo grove, breaking off a large bundle of bamboo branches, and tossing them in front of Hah’Er.

Hah’Er then picked up the bamboo branches one by one, stripped off the leaves, and stuck them in the ground next to where the Spatholobus suberectus seeds were planted. Only then did Shen Yibin begin to understand. As its name suggested, Spatholobus suberectus must be a vine. It needed a frame to climb on. Just like growing grapes or peas, you had to set up a trellis in advance for it to cling to so it could grow strong and healthy.

“Amazing! Are there enough bamboo branches? If not, I can help Xiaoliu chop some more,” Shen Yibin said. He then went to the tool shed, found a machete, and wandered into the bamboo grove. He chopped down some thicker branches to use as the main frame, sticking them in the Spatholobus suberectus patch. Then he added some cross-branches on top and tied them securely with rope.

“This height is just right. Once they grow and cover this trellis, we can move the tea table under here to cool off and drink tea. That’ll feel amazing!” Looking at the nearly two-meter-high frame, Shen Yibin was very satisfied. ‘Hmm, I can even build a swing for Hah’Er to play on under here later.’

“Time to plant the Polygonum multiflorum, right?” Shen Yibin was particularly interested in this one. Not only could middle-aged men like Wen Yuan and Director Kong use it, but young people like himself, Xia Shixuan, and Bai Yanni could also benefit from it. It nourished the hair, making it darker and shinier. This was good stuff, something he absolutely couldn’t miss out on.

However, planting Polygonum multiflorum was different from the previous herbs. First, Maphario dug a shallow trench in the ground. Then, it went to the side and buried the soaked Polygonum multiflorum seeds inside it. They were buried very densely, not looking like they were being planted for good. Only then did it cover them with soil, add fertilizer, and water them.

‘What was going on?’ Curious, Shen Yibin pulled out his phone and did a search. ‘Oh, so that’s how it is. There are several ways to plant Polygonum multiflorum: direct sowing, raising seedlings from cuttings, and division. Maphario is probably cultivating seedlings first and will transplant them after they grow bigger. This will likely result in a higher survival rate.’

‘Hmm, you’re the expert, I’ll listen to you. But this means we need to leave an empty plot for the Polygonum multiflorum seedlings, so we can transplant them when they’re mature. But which plot should we save?’ Shen Yibin stroked his chin, pondering. Before he could think for long, he saw Maphario start squeaking and running back and forth on an empty patch of ground, soon marking out a moderately sized plot.

“Okay, we won’t plant anything else in this spot. I’ll go get some leftover sawdust from last time and toss it in to fertilize the soil. How does that sound?” Shen Yibin understood immediately. He went to get the fermented sawdust and spread it evenly over the empty plot. By the time the Polygonum multiflorum seedlings were mature, this soil would be exceptionally fertile, ensuring they would grow into even healthier plants.

“Whoa, you can plant this too?” Just as he finished preparing the plot, he saw Maphario holding a stalk of Cordyceps. It went to a shady, empty spot and directed Xiaoliu and Hah’Er to cover the area with a layer of sandy soil. Then, it buried the Cordyceps in it. After emptying all the Cordyceps from Hah’Er’s pocket, the little guy ran back into the house, dragged out a large roll of plastic sheeting, and covered the sandy soil to protect the Cordyceps.

‘That’s incredible.’ It wasn’t that strange to plant things like Maca or Dendrobium officinale, but to be able to plant even Cordyceps was truly admirable. The others were, at least, plants. Cordyceps, on the other hand, was an insect in winter and a plant in summer, possessing the dual characteristics of both animal and plant. Cultivating it was notoriously difficult.

Working together, everyone finally managed to plant all the seeds they had brought back in Shen Yibin’s yard before lunch.

“Always going into the mountains to gather them isn’t a sustainable solution. It’ll be so much more convenient if we can cultivate them ourselves,” Shen Yibin said, nodding in satisfaction as he looked at the freshly planted patches of land around him.

‘It probably won’t be long before my yard is completely filled with all sorts of medicinal herbs. When that happens, I might as well just rename my estate. I’ll call it Medicine King Valley.’