Going into the mountains, he found several trees covered in bumps; the older brother cut the large ones and left the small ones, and they sold out at the market first thing in the morning
The older brother went into the mountains and came across several trees covered in bumps; he cut the large ones and left the small ones, and they sold out at the market first thing in the morning!
The older brother is the big grower of Gastrodia elata (tianma) in our village, and he built himself a small thatched hut in the mountains. You could say he spends most of the year in the mountain forests; especially when the weather is good, he wanders around the woods. He checks whether the Gastrodia elata he planted has been damaged by any wild animals.
Sure enough, yesterday he came home to carry food back into the mountains, and when he returned he was still carrying a big bundle of wooden sticks on his shoulder. At first glance it was just a bundle of firewood, but look closely and these sticks were covered in little bumps. When the older brother's wife saw this she asked, what are you bringing this stuff back for? I told you to cut a few hoe handles when you came back, and here you are carrying back these bumpy sticks that prick your hand when you touch them. How are you supposed to make hoe handles out of them?
The older brother said, you just don't get it. On my phone I saw city people use them as ornamental playthings, especially people who are a bit older, who buy them to make walking sticks, and one stick goes for several dozen yuan, while the ones with better shapes go for several hundred or even over a thousand yuan. So it turns out the older brother had spotted this little business opportunity and could sell these things.
It turns out these sticks are called "shenlong wood" around here, and people also call them "duijiezi." These sticks are covered in little bumps, ring after ring, very symmetrical. Because people's lives are prosperous now, these good-looking sticks have also become nice playthings for city people. So the older brother scraped the bark off these sticks and did some rough processing on them, getting ready to take them to the market to see how the demand is.
Once these sticks were ready, early this morning the older brother drove the minivan to the city. He went to the place that specifically sells flowers, plants and tree stumps, and within just a short while of arriving, he was surrounded by people, and in less than half a day, his several dozen sticks were snapped up completely.
After returning, the older brother said that although these sticks are very popular with city people, this year he won't go into the woods to cut them to sell again; he doesn't want to do something destructive. At the very least he should wait for the small trees to grow bigger and cut again after a couple of years. And when he cuts this kind of tree, he always cuts the large ones and leaves the small ones. Don't do something that uses everything up in one go; you have to understand sustainable use.
Thank you for taking your precious time out of your busy schedule to patiently read this; reading takes you to a higher level. Also, if you have any thoughts or views, you can post them in the comment section below. Everyone is welcome to save or share this! Click the two words "Follow" and you can read more articles about shenlong wood. Have you ever seen plaything sticks like these? What do you think about them?