This wild fruit looks like chocolate drops, makes your mouth go numb when eaten, is used specifically to treat snake bites, and now sells for 15 yuan per jin.
Every year after spring arrives, all kinds of wild grasses grow in every corner of the countryside, and by late spring and early summer, these wild grasses also begin to bear fruit one after another. Farmers are very fond of these wild grasses and wild fruits, especially since quite a few wild grasses can be eaten as wild vegetables and can also be used as herbal medicine to treat illnesses. However, there are too many wild grasses in the countryside, and not everyone necessarily knows them. Below, the author introduces a rather peculiar wild grass, and its fruit is even more peculiar.
The author remembers that when I was little, about more than 20 years ago, when we still lived in the rural mountainous area, living conditions were not as good as now. When we got sick, I often went with my mother into the mountains to dig up some wild grasses to use, or when there was nothing to eat, we would go into the mountains to dig up some wild mushrooms, wild vegetables and other wild foods. In the mountains, in July and August, I often saw this kind of wild fruit. It looked very much like the kind of "chocolate drops" that were popular in the city back in the 1990s. As a greedy child, when the adults were not paying attention, I secretly ate one, and found that it was not as tasty as "chocolate drops" at all. Instead, it was very bitter, and after eating it my mouth even went numb.
Later, when the adults saw me, I almost got a beating, and they said this thing could not be eaten because it was poisonous. Only after the adults explained it did I learn that this wild fruit was called "Huang Yaozi," and in rural areas in many places it was regarded as a top-grade medicinal herb.
Back then, the countryside was not as good as it is now. The wild areas were basically overgrown with weeds. Especially after summer arrived, there were particularly many venomous snakes and venomous insects in the wild grass in the countryside. If you got bitten by one accidentally, it was extremely painful, and if you encountered a venomous snake, it could even be life-threatening. But at that time, medical conditions were not as good as they are now, so many farmers would grind up Huang Yaozi and apply it to the wound to treat snake bites.
Only after growing up did I learn that the wild fruit Huang Yaozi is indeed poisonous, but only mildly so. If accidentally eaten, it can cause poisoning reactions such as burning pain, numbness, salivation, nausea and vomiting in the mouth, tongue and throat. Although it is mildly toxic, it is indeed a top-grade Chinese medicinal material. According to the "Chinese Materia Medica," Huang Yaozi can be used as medicine. It tastes bitter, is cold in nature, and is mildly toxic. As medicine, it has the effects of dissipating masses and reducing goiter, clearing heat and detoxifying, and cooling blood and stopping bleeding. It can be used to treat many symptoms such as sore throat, carbuncles, swellings and sores, snake and insect bites, goiter, vomiting blood, coughing blood, and whooping cough.
It is also because of these effects of Huang Yaozi that it was often used by farmers specifically to treat snake bites in the past. A few days ago, the author saw an old farmer friend in the village selling Huang Yaozi. According to the old farmer friend, in the past this thing was not worth much, but now wild Huang Yaozi is becoming increasingly rare, which has also caused its price to rise year after year. Now it is worth 15 yuan per jin, so it can be considered a rare commodity.
Dear friends, did you see this "Huang Yaozi" when you were children? You are welcome to leave a message and share your thoughts!
Author's note: Because Huang Yaozi is mildly toxic, please do not eat this wild fruit by mistake if you see it. What should you do if you accidentally eat Huang Yaozi? The author knows 2 methods here. 1. Gastric lavage, catharsis, and oral administration of egg white or kudzu powder paste and activated charcoal. 2. Drink sugar water or receive intravenous drip of glucose saline; some also take mung bean soup orally.