Five Black Dogs.
A type of farm dog.
Their entire bodies are pitch black, from head to toe, even their toes and tongues are black.
Hence, the name "Five Black Dog".
Besides Five Blacks, farm dogs also have a Five Red variety, which is not bad either.
"Brother, these Five Blacks are so expensive!"
At the market, Su Xiaoqiang looked at these Five Blacks being sold individually, amazed.
These Five Blacks with better appearances and sturdy bones, could fetch over ten thousand yuan.
Even those with less desirable appearances, still cost three to four thousand.
Su Ze also frowned as he looked.
He knew that Five Blacks had always been expensive.
But the problem was, this price inflation was too serious.
Su Ze shook his head, not wanting to buy them here.
"Xiaoqiang, does your village have a dog market?" Su Ze asked.
Su Xiaoqiang thought for a moment and shook his head, "Yes, but there are no Five Blacks."
"Five Reds seem to be there."
Su Ze: "Then forget it."
"Let's ask Professor Wen to help us find some later."
"Just a matter of a few days."
Su Xiaoqiang looked at these Five Blacks and sighed.
"Seems like that's the only way."
Seeing this, Su Ze patted Su Xiaoqiang's shoulder and said:
"Don't be down in the dumps."
"We're here at the market, let's go have a look around."
"There are a lot of good things in the market recently with the mountain goods coming in!"
Su Ze said, leading Su Xiaoqiang deeper into the market.
The market was bustling with people shouting out their wares.
Su Ze led Su Xiaoqiang through the market.
On both sides were various mountain goods, and wild fruits only found in the mountains.
Things like oil oranges, bitter loquats, and ground strawberries, were spread out all over the place.
Unlike the fruits in big cities, these mountain wild fruits had all sorts of flavors.
Su Ze's favorite was a mountain fruit called "Hu Tui Zi," or "Chinese strawberry," in English.
It's small, with silvery-white metallic luster on its leaves and fruits.
In the village, this fruit was called "Ban Han Chun," meaning "half spring."
Eaten with the skin, the taste is sour and astringent.
But after peeling the skin, it becomes sweet and sour.
It's more delicious than fruits in the market.
This fruit is also not expensive, five yuan can buy a small basket.
Su Ze took Su Xiaoqiang for a walk around the market, buying all sorts of mountain fruits.
Both of them were having a great time eating them.
"Hey, Jia Fu Shu?"
As they were about to exit the market, Su Ze saw a familiar figure.
It was Jia Fu Shu from the village.
"A Ze!"
"Here, try some of the wild yam I dug up from the mountains."
Jia Fu Shu beamed at Su Ze, breaking off a piece of wild yam from his stall and giving it to Su Ze.
Su Ze took it casually and looked at the yam in his hand.
The yam wasn't big, and had a strong earthy smell.
Su Ze didn't hesitate, peeled it and took a bite.
"Crunch."
Unlike the yams sold outside, this wild yam was sweet and delicious.
"Delicious!"
"Jia Fu Shu, is this all you have left?"
Su Ze squatted down and looked at Jia Fu Shu's stall.
On the stall now, there was only one small wild yam left, maybe just over a pound.
"Yeah, I didn't dig up much this morning, only five pounds plus, sold some later."
"What, you want some too?" Jia Fu Shu asked.
Su Ze nodded, "I want to buy some to take home and dry and grind into powder."
"This stuff is good for nourishing the spleen and kidneys, very nourishing."
Jia Fu Shu nodded, "That's right."
"But if you want some, I recommend you try your luck on the mountain."
"The price of this wild yam is pretty high now, over one hundred yuan per pound."
"Not only expensive, you also have to wait!"
Su Ze nodded.
Jia Fu Shu was telling the truth, Su Ze and his brother had basically visited the entire market.
But only Jia Fu Shu was selling wild yam.
"Brother, should we go to the mountains to have a look?"
"We don't have anything else to do anyway!" Su Xiaoqiang got excited.
Su Ze thought about it and also thought it was feasible.
There wasn't much to do at home anyway, so they might as well go to the mountains.
Thinking about it, they did it.
Su Ze took Su Xiaoqiang back home, brought their tools and went up the mountain.
To dig yam, you have to find the yam bean first, then dig along the vine.
If you're lucky, you can dig it up in a morning.
Su Ze's luck was good today.
It took them less than two hours to find and dig.
A wild yam, two meters long and almost ten pounds, was unearthed.
Seeing this, Su Xiaoqiang exclaimed.
"Brother, you're amazing!"
"This yam weighs at least ten pounds, grinding it into powder is enough for us to eat for half a month!"
Su Ze nodded upon seeing it.
With this harvest, at least they hadn't worked for nothing for these few hours.
"Pack up, let's go back." Su Ze said, wiping the dirt off his body.
"Ji—ji—ji——"
A few weak cries came from the mountain forest.
Su Ze frowned and looked in the direction of the sound.
It was a dense forest not far away.
Su Xiaoqiang also heard the sound, "Brother, what's that sound?"
"It's a fox!" Su Ze replied.
Su Xiaoqiang was stunned.
"A fox?"
Su Ze nodded, "It must be a trapped fox."
"Catch the fox and skin it, you can make it into a fur coat."
"This fox fur, if it's of good quality, can sell for a lot of money."
Su Xiaoqiang was stunned, "Isn't animal fur trade banned now?"
"Are there still people who dare to go into the mountains to hunt foxes?"
Su Ze shook his head, "Let's go have a look first."
"If we can rescue it, we'll rescue it."
With that, Su Ze walked towards the sound.
Su Xiaoqiang, carrying the basket with the yam, followed closely behind.
After about ten minutes of walking.
As the cries grew louder, Su Ze and his brother reached the fox's location.
Pushing aside the leaves, they saw.
A fox hanging from a tree trunk.
Unlike ordinary yellow-haired foxes, this was a fox with pure white fur.
Perhaps due to struggling, the white fox's white fur was mixed with some grass and leaves.
"Brother, it's a white fox!"