冬至·药农

　　粤东普宁市是华南地区最大的中药材基地，城市周边许多农民从事药材加工批发。画中男主人公小刘自称“草药佬”，称自己妻子是“草药婆”，小刘喜欢并自学《本草纲目》等中草药知识，经常上山挖草药，后来，自己租了几十亩地种植木槿花、金银花、蛇舌草等，收获后加工销售。广东人擅长煲老火靓汤，潮汕人则将煲汤的药材发挥至极致，什么石橄榄、牛大力、五爪毛桃、溪黄草等，但凡传说能清热解毒的中草药仿佛都能入汤。这对夫妻则开发了木槿花、牛奶树，正是冬至时节，有幸在他们农场喝了木槿花鸡汤，自有一种清香。潮汕人喜欢自己做生意当老板，商贩多数是农民洗脚上田，从农至商的身份转换，也正是农村城镇化的发展趋势。他们刚刚注册了自己的“悯农”品牌做起了“微商”，接下来还准备在电商平台上销售，这一新商业模式也是头脑灵活的潮汕人不会错过的商机，小刘显然对自家生意很有信心，妻子则沉默寡言，似乎对未来若有所思。

The Winter Solstice: Medicinal Herb Farmer

　　Located in eastern Guangdong, Puning City is the largest Chinese herbal medicine base in South China. Many peasants around the city are engaged in the processing and wholesale of medicinal materials. The man in the painting is Mr. Liu who calls himself Herbs Man and calls his wife Herbs Woman. Mr. Liu likes and taught himself herbology such as Compendium of Materia Medica and he often went up the mountain to find herbs. Later, he rented dozens of acres of land for cultivating the hibiscus, honeysuckle, hedyotis diffusa etc., and then he would process and sell them after harvest. Guangdong people are good at cooking soup, and Chaoshan people use the herbs for the soup to the extreme. Such as Pholidota chinensis, Millettia specisoa, Ficus hirta, and Rabdosia serra, once they know the herb has the function of clearing heat and removing toxicity, they will cook it with soup. The couple in the painting has planted the hibiscus and Symplocos laurina. During the winter time, having a bowl of chicken soup stewed with hibiscus in their farm was enjoyable. Chaoshan people like to have their own business. Many local businessmen used to be peasants, and this identity change from farmer to merchant is also the developmental trend of rural urbanization. This couple just registered their own brand called "Min Nong" and sells the products on WeChat, and they also plan to open the e-commerce platform later - the smart Chaoshan people never miss such a good business opportunity. Obviously Mr. Liu is very confident in his business, but his wife is silent and seems to think about the future.