At the foot of Zhongnan Mountain, there was a young man named Liu Jie who lived by picking herbs. His family had lived picking herbs in Zhongnan Mountain for generations, and Liu Jie's generation was no exception. Now Liu Jie is 65 years old and has no strength to climb mountains and wade through water to collect herbs. Therefore, he simply built a few grass huts in the deep mountains alone to continue picking herbs.

Every two months, he took dried herbs down the mountain and took them to the county seat to sell some silver to maintain his household, and he lived a comfortable life.

One day, the herb-picker sold the herbs that came down the mountain for a good price, and he got some more silver. His son bought him some more cooked beef and two pots of wine. The herb-picker ate some and took the rest of the wine and meat back to the hut thatched in the deep mountain.

On the second day, the herb-picker staggered out of the thatched hut with herb-picking tools and wine and meat to find herbs. After a long time, he finally collected half of the backbasket of herbs. Looking at the noon of the sun, the herb-picker found a cool place to put down the backbasket, took out the wine and meat, and started to eat lunch.

Just after drinking a few sips of wine and eating a few slices of cooked beef, he suddenly saw an old man with white hair standing under a big tree not far away. The herb picker didn't think much and asked with a smile, "Brother, come and drink and eat meat together." It was rare to see people in the mountains.

After hearing this, the old man walked over with a smile on his face, thanked him, and then sat down together to drink and eat meat. During the chat, he learned that the old man lived in a village on the other side of the mountain. He came to the mountains to pick up some dried fruit, and he smelled the aroma of wine and meat just now.

The two old men chatted while drinking and eating meat. Before they knew it, they were full after eating wine and meat. The herb picker invited the old man to play in his thatched hut for a while, and then invited him to play in the thatched hut often when he had time. The old man happily agreed.

From then on, the old man would go to the herb picker's thatched hut every three days to play for a while. Of course, he would also bring him some dried fruits from the mountains and some precious herbs.

Unknowingly, the two old men had been dating for two months, and they both treated each other very kindly. One day, the old man drank some more wine, and some were drunk, so he told the truth. It turned out that he was a thousand-year-old ginseng essence in this mountain, living in a cave not far away.

Although the herb picker was very surprised after hearing this, he was an old acquaintance after all, so he was not afraid. After a while of surprise, his mood calmed down. The ginseng man happily invited the herb picker to live in his cave for a few days.

In the future, the two old men took care of each other's lives. After another month, the old man of ginseng essence did not go to the old man's house to play for five days. The old gingerbread man felt very strange and worried, so he went to cave of the old man of ginseng essence to see what was going on.

Before the herb picking old man walked to the cave of the ginseng picking old man, he smelled a medicinal smell from a distance. "Well, it seems to be the smell of ginseng soup." The herb-picking old man's heart tightened, he felt bad, and he quickened his pace.

"What?!"   The herbpicking old man saw two people dressed as hunters outside the cave where the ginsengpicking old man was scooping soup from a steaming pot. "No, something happened to the old man!" The old man picking herbs staggered over, and when he ran to the pot, he saw a large ginseng being boiled in the pot, and his ginseng had been boiled to pulp.

The herb-picking old man hurriedly picked up the thinly boiled ginseng and cried bitterly with tears on his face, "Old man, why did you suffer such a calamity and be cooked..."

The bleak and sad cry of the herb picker echoed in the mountains…