On May 9th, in Juchuan Village, Jiekou Town, She County, villager Wang Guiqing looked at the knee-high Polygonatum (Huangjing) seedlings thriving in the forest understory, his face beaming with a smile. This once "dormant" forested mountain area has now become the villagers' "green bank" for increasing their income. Juchuan Village is located deep in the Jieyuan hinterland, characterized by steep slopes and limited arable land, making it typical of a deep mountainous reservoir area. For a long time, villagers' income relied heavily on tea, with many young and middle-aged adults working away from home, leaving large tracts of forest and mountain land idle. How to revitalize these resources was once a difficult challenge for the village's "two committees" (Party branch and villagers' committee). The turning point began in May 2020. A training session on Polygonatum cultivation was held in the village, with experts providing detailed instruction that the villagers readily absorbed. Juchuan Village, with its misty conditions, damp forest floors, and loose soil layers, perfectly matches the characteristics of Polygonatum, which thrives in shade and tolerates cold. At that time, the market for traditional Chinese medicinal herbs was continuously rising. Seizing the opportunity, both the town and village levels decided to develop large-scale Polygonatum cultivation tailored to local conditions. In the initial stage, the town government secured over 300,000 yuan in project funds and distributed more than 45,000 Polygonatum seedlings to villagers free of charge, achieving a first-phase planting area exceeding 30 mu (approximately 2 hectares). Simultaneously, they proactively connected with Suweitang Co., Ltd. from Qingyang County, providing comprehensive support from technical guidance to guaranteed purchase agreements, enabling farmers to plant with confidence, manage effectively, and not worry about sales. Planting was just the first step; the challenges of difficult management and slow returns followed closely. Weeds grow quickly in mountainous areas, making management by individual households difficult, especially for elderly residents staying behind. Starting in 2022, the village implemented intensive management, organizing villagers collectively for weeding, soil loosening, and fertilizing. This provided elderly residents with income opportunities right at their doorsteps. More crucially, Polygonatum has a growth cycle of three to five years, involving significant upfront investment with little initial output. To address this, the village explored a three-dimensional planting model of "Camellia oleifera forest + Polygonatum" — planting Camellia oleifera (tea-oil trees) on hilltops and intercropping Polygonatum in the forest understory. After the Camellia oleifera enters its high-yield period in three years, it can increase income by about 2,000 yuan per mu. Harvesting fruits from the upper forest layer and digging medicinal herbs from the understory yields dual benefits from a single plot of mountainous land. Good cultivation at the front end must be matched by smooth sales at the back end. The village repurposed an idle desulfurization plant building into a Polygonatum processing factory, leasing it entirely to the Lizhuang Agricultural and Sideline Products Professional Cooperative. This not only solved a 360-square-meter storage problem but also turned idle assets into "active capital." Villager Fang, an elder sister, said: "The old building was just sitting idle, which was a waste. Now it's rented out as a warehouse, providing annual rent, and I can also work right near home. Where else could you find such a good deal!" Currently, the processing factory has created employment for over 10 nearby villagers. The industry has taken root, bringing prosperity to the area. In 2025, the Juchuan Village understory Polygonatum cultivation base provided stable employment for 35 individuals from 25 surrounding households classified as former poverty-stricken households or monitored households, with cumulative labor wages paid exceeding 150,000 yuan. Elderly residents staying behind can earn over a hundred yuan a day by managing the forest understory, becoming the "main force" of the understory economy. With the medicinal herb available and pathways expanding, the village is now considering new "Polygonatum+" ventures — utilizing understory space for free-range native chicken farming, introducing a "Polygonatum Chicken" specialty dish at local farmhouse restaurants, transforming the medicinal herb into an ingredient, directly connecting the field to the dining table, and extending the industrial chain further. Looking down from a high vantage point, over a hundred mu of terraced forest land spreads along the mountain, with Polygonatum thriving in the understory, its medicinal fragrance permeating the air. The story of Polygonatum turning into "gold" is quietly unfolding in this landscape. "Develop the understory economy well and expand the forest food industry in the Jieyuan mountainous area," said Chang Xiaonian, Party Secretary of Jiekou Town. The next steps will involve continuously promoting the scale and standardization of the Polygonatum industry, extending the industrial chain, and upgrading Polygonatum products, enabling more villagers to derive a "prosperity guide" from medicinal herbs and allowing the great mountains to truly "grow" a better life.