Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 364 Old I-shaped air gun compensates me for the lead bullets
On the low hillside more than three miles southwest of the northeast fork, all you can see are oak and birch trees. Every autumn, this forest forms a beautiful scenery, with the leaves all bright red, like maple leaves.

There are almost no shrubs or weeds in this forest, so there is only a layer of snow on the ground, apart from a large number of oak leaves and branches.

Li Fuqiang and Wang Hu were squatting and walking down the mountain in front, Xu Ning and Guan Lei were behind. After hearing Guan Lei's words, the three of them stopped instantly. The two in front looked back at Xu Ning. Xu Ning stood with his feet forward and backward, immediately took the 56 and a half in his hand and looked back.

Just for a moment, Wang Hu felt the pores on his back open up, and his hair stood up. A burst of cold wind penetrated into his collar and into the open pores. He couldn't help but shiver...

"Brother, drop the things off and let's go back and take a look!"

"it is good."

Li Fuqiang threw away the cloth bag on his body, took out two single-headed bullets from the pocket, pressed one into the barrel of the gun, and held the remaining one in his palm.

Guan Lei said: "Brother, I will go with you."

"You and Hu Zi stay here and don't move."

"Hey, then you two should be more careful."

Xu Ning did not doubt Guan Lei's feelings, because sometimes the feelings of a "greenhorn" are more obvious and reliable.

Immediately, Li Fuqiang and Xu Ning walked back the way they had come, and they walked slowly up the ladder following their footprints, while observing their surroundings with their eyes. Wang Hu and Guan Lei also unloaded their guns and loaded bullets into the chambers.

Climbing to the top of the hill, Xu Ning glanced to the left and right. Although he saw nothing, he saw the branches of a birch tree on the right move.

The two took two steps forward and saw a small red animal jumping down from a tree branch. It landed on all fours in the snow and bared its teeth at Xu Ning and Li Fuqiang. Its expression was like a flattering smile...

"Redskin..."

Xu Ning hurriedly stopped Li Fuqiang from speaking: "Hush! Big brother, call Hu Zi to get a fish."

"Okay." Li Fuqiang put away his hunting rifle, turned around and went down the mountain.

Xu Ning stared at the fox in front of him, narrowed his eyes and muttered: "I think I saw you last time, why are you here?"

"Ahhh..." The fox went around the tree and squatted down, looking up and making a shrill cry towards Xu Ning. The sound was a bit harsh, similar to the crying and laughing of a baby.

"I don't understand what you are saying."

Xu Ning turned his head and looked around. He saw Li Fuqiang running over with a three-jin carp. He raised his hand to take it and said to the fox squatting under the tree: "This fish is for you. Don't go over there to eat fish. That fish is very useful. You have to keep it for fishing brown bears."

After that, Xu Ning threw the carp over and waved his hand: "Eat it quickly!"

The fox raised its head and barked twice, then lowered its head and rushed over to grab the carp in one bite. Then it glanced at Xu Ning, turned around and disappeared into the woods.

Li Fuqiang looked in the direction where the fox disappeared and said, "Brother, have we encountered this red-skinned fox before?"

Xu Ning nodded: "Yeah, judging from the size, it should be the same one. I met it in Ximaduozi before. It was chased up a tree by a blue wolf."

As the two walked down the hill, Wang Hu asked, "Second brother, how big is that red skin?"

"Not much bigger. Looks like the one I met in Ximaduozi before. Even thinner than before."

"It... My brother Lei is very alert."

Guan Lei said with a smile: "I felt a chill on my back the whole time, and I didn't even look back to see what it was..."

"Luckily it wasn't a brown bear. If it had been following us and pounced on us out of the blue, we wouldn't have been able to react."

"Not good!"

Wang Hu asked, "Second brother, we can't let the little fox eat the fish that's hanging up, right?"

"Just eat it, there's nothing you can do about it. But I just told it not to eat, I don't know if it understood."

Li Fuqiang said with a smile: "Let's give it food twice. If it doesn't understand, I will complain to its grandmother!"

"Hahaha, Brother Qiang is really good at talking."

It was past five o'clock, dusk had arrived, and the sunset glow was colorful.

Old Xu's house, east room.

Xu Laonian sat on the edge of the kang, fiddling with the gun in his hand with his head down. Wang Erli sat on a stool against the edge of the kang, placed a gun flat on the kang, held a box of lead bullets in one hand, then opened it and counted the remaining lead bullets inside.

Xu Feng stood beside Xu Laonian, holding his waist with both hands, his eyes shining slightly.

"Dad, how come you and my second uncle have run out of bullets? What's my second brother going to do?"

"What toys are all gone? There's still half a box left! Why are you thinking about your second brother? Your father has had a hard time these days, don't you know?"

Xu Feng curled her lips and said, "You asked for it, you lied to my mother..."

Xu Laonian glared and said, "Hey! Kid, stop talking nonsense! Feng, go to the west room and do your homework. Your second brother should be back soon."

"Dad, you scolded me...I will never be friends with you again!"

"Hey, when did I scold you? Stop making trouble."

"You said I was being unreasonable!"

Xu Laonian's head was buzzing with pain, and he said helplessly: "I didn't say anything, go and do your homework quickly. No matter how much I want it, this gun will have to be given to your second brother."

"Okay!" Xu Feng ran out of the house quickly, went into the west room, and lay on the kang with Jin Yumantang to start doing homework.

In the outer room, Liu Lizhen saw Xu Feng's impetuous look and said, "Jiao, did you give Erli money?"

"No, I just gave him three or five dollars to buy cigarettes and alcohol. I asked him to keep the account. You said you were embarrassed."

Liu Lizhen narrowed her eyes and said, "Then look at what kind of cigarette he is smoking?"

"They've been rolling dry tobacco these days... Hey, sister-in-law, did they buy their own guns?"

"I couldn't prepare for that. I asked your eldest brother to get the gun back that day, and now he has got it back."

"Why are they wasting money?"

Liu Lizhen said: "They really started to act up after just two days of good life. I saved all the money for them."

At this time, Xu Ning, Wang Hu, Guan Lei and Li Fuqiang entered the courtyard carrying cloth bags. The dog gang came out and barked twice, then looked at the things they were holding and made aggrieved noises.

Xu Ning ignored him and just walked into the outer room.

"You came back early today."

"Haha, I was afraid you wouldn't leave any food for us!"

Liu Lizhen watched Li Fuqiang put the glacier he was carrying on his shoulders down by the wall and said, "Is that glacier Hu Zhiyong's? Did you find it back?"

"Yeah, we found it, and we also spotted the bear, but we didn't chase it down..."

Xu Laonian pulled aside the door curtain, looked up and said in a weird tone: "Didn't he chase her down, or did he catch her?"

"Oh my God! Uncle, where can you get a new gun?" Wang Hu exclaimed when he saw the gun in Xu Laonian's hand.

Seeing Wang Hu's reaction, Xu Laonian smiled with satisfaction and said, "Your second brother asked me to buy it. How is it? A genuine I-shaped air gun..."

"Very good! It looks straight!" Wang Hu said with a grin.

Xu Ning glanced at Xu Laonian, then turned to Liu Lizhen and said, "Mom, we didn't come back empty-handed. We caught five fish in the ditch and pond."

Liu Lizhen took the cloth bag containing the fish, opened it and took a look, "It's quite big, it must be about four or five kilograms, right?"

"Yes, when I dug them out, there were two still breathing." Han Fengjiao said, "Sister-in-law, just keep one to offer as a sacrifice in two days."

"Yeah. All right, you guys hurry up and wash up and go inside."

Xu Feng ran out from the west room, threw herself into Xu Ning's arms, and said, "Second brother! All the bullets for the air rifle our father gave you are gone!"

Xu Ning rubbed her head and said, "It's okay, just ask dad to buy me another one!"

"Oh, that's what I was thinking too, hehe..."

After Xu Ning washed his hands, he went into the house and saw Wang Hu, Li Fuqiang and Guan Lei surrounding Xu Laonian and Wang Erli. Li Fuqiang was fiddling with an air gun in his hand, and when he saw his brothers come in, he handed the gun to him.

"Brother, take the gun! Look at this air rifle. It doesn't seem to have any special parts."

Xu Ning took it and said with a smile: "What's so special about it? It's just a piece of cake..."

The model of this air gun is I-brand B2, and it adopts a compression spring design, which means that you can compress gas and load bullets by opening the barrel, and fire by closing it. The principle is similar to that of an old pistol.

However, the airgun is definitely not as powerful as the old jue-handle. This I-shaped B2 spring piston airgun is also called the old I-shaped. There are many types of this gun. The most common ones on the market are B1 and B2, because this is the factory type...

There are two calibers of old I-shaped coins, one is 4.5 mm and the other is 5.5 mm, but the 5.5 mm caliber is rare in the market, most of them are 4.5 mm, and the one in Xu Ning's hand is no exception.

This gun is 1.090 meters long and weighs 2.8 kilograms. In fact, the old I-shaped gun is not originally made in China, but a copy of the Soviet Vostok B1 type...

Lead bullets are not round bullets, but are shaped like used rivets.

The advantage of the Lao Gongzi rifle is that it can be loaded quickly. For example, Xu Laonian can load a bullet in 6 seconds when he just gets started. The disadvantage is that it is not airtight, has low air pressure, and the range does not exceed 50 meters.

There is a front sight on the head of the barrel and a wrench on the left side of the end of the gun body. Press down the wrench to open the chamber. When the barrel is bent to the bottom, you will hear a "click". This means that the pressure has reached the bottom and the trigger is stuck. At this time, press a lead bullet into the chamber and close it to fire.

There are many brands of airguns, in addition to Laogongzi, there are Sanjian, Emei, Jianwei, Changjiang, Jinzhong, Kuailu, etc.

There are shooting ranges in the city and the province, and even in the park there are shooting stalls.

However, air guns are not yet popular, so the price is not high. The two air guns purchased by Xu Laonian retailed for 48 yuan, and he asked someone to buy them for him at a cheaper price of 3 yuan, for a total of 45 yuan per air gun.

It was not until July 1984, 7, when Comrade Xu Haifeng, who was only 29 years old, won the first Olympic gold medal for the motherland at the Los Angeles Olympics, that an air gun craze swept the country!

There was a constant stream of people coming to supply and marketing cooperatives from all over the country to buy air guns, but the prices of air guns had increased at that time, and it could be said that they were quite expensive. The price of an old I-shaped air gun had soared to 1985 yuan in 220!

How much does an average person earn in a month? Thirty or forty yuan! It takes half a year to save up to buy an air gun, so it is considered a luxury item, which is why the roadside stall business was born...

When Xu Ning was fiddling with the old Gongzi, Xu Laonian tilted his head and asked with a smile: "How is it? Is it rare?"

"so so……"

Upon hearing this, Xu Laonian's expression changed immediately. He grabbed Lao Gongzi into his arms and said, "If you don't want me, don't touch me!"

"Hahaha! I paid for it, why can't I touch it?"

Wang Erli said with a smile: "Brother, Erning is teasing you."

"I'm his father, how dare he tease me? Anyway, I take it seriously. I'll lock up these two guns and no one is allowed to touch them."

Xu Ning picked up the lead bullet box and said, "Then I'll tell my mother for you."

Xu Laonian was stunned for a moment, and said through gritted teeth: "You little bastard, you are really awesome!"

"Hey, how come there's only half a box of lead bullets left? Second uncle, you two played a lot, did you shoot any birds?"

Wang Erli waved his hands: "What are you shooting at? I've been practicing my marksmanship these days. It's hard for me to even shoot at a 40-meter target..."

"Brother, let's go out and have some fun." Wang Hu suggested.

Xu Ning glanced at the sky outside and said, "Let's play during the day tomorrow. It's too dark now."

"Then wait until spring to hunt greyhounds?"

"Okay, ask your uncle if he can compensate you for half a box of lead bullets."

Wang Hu turned his head and asked, "Uncle?"

Xu Laonian gritted his teeth and said, "Compensation! I'll give you the entire mold, and you can fill it yourself when the time comes! I really don't know who is the father between us..."

Xu Ning smiled and patted his father's shoulder, "Dad, you can play with it when the time comes. The whole mold will do, I want a brass mold..."

"I'll give you the whole gold mold! Get out of here right now. I need it for myself."

Xu Laonian held on to Lao Gongzi tightly. Liu Lizhen lifted the door curtain and came into the room. She bent down to pick up the thermos and said, "Hold me while you sleep tonight."

"Just hug me. This piece of iron is warmer than you."

"Hahaha……"

Everyone in the room burst into laughter.

Li Fuqiang laughed and said, "Uncle, you are really tough."

"That must be the case."

For dinner, Liu Lizhen had pancakes, two plates of fried shredded potatoes, pickled cabbage, and shredded radish soup. Although the dishes were not very hard, they were all to everyone's taste.

After the meal, everyone sat in the room and chatted. Wang Shujuan made two pots of tea. Xu Ning sat next to the cabinet and listened to Xu Laonian and Wang Erli talking about the arrangements for the festival.

The sixteenth day of the third lunar month is the Lao Batou Festival. At that time, anyone who works in the mountains or eats in the mountains must take a day off, such as forest farms, quarries, woodworking gangs, ginseng gangs, hunting gangs...

Even residents living at the foot of the mountain have to go to the mountainside to offer sacrifices and set off firecrackers to celebrate the old boss's birthday.

"Jane, we have to eat at the forest farm at noon and won't be back until the evening. What should we eat then?"

Liu Lizhen said: "Nothing."

"Hey, we're just chatting, just speak up!"

Xu Ning took over the conversation, "Dad, you're going to the forest farm at noon, so let's go into the mountains together in the morning?"

"Okay, what are you going to prepare for the offering? Do you have any whips at home?"

"There's one more. My eldest brother has a lot of firecrackers. They're enough for us."

After finishing this topic, Xu Laonian asked while drinking tea: "Didn't you see any black bears when you went into the mountains today?"

Wang Hu shook his head: "No, we followed the trail in the mountains and made a long detour. We almost reached Mount Madara, and then my second brother said he didn't want to chase us anymore..."

Wang Erli said: "If you don't do it right, if something bad happens, it will be too late to regret it."

Xu Ning walked to the edge of the kang and poured some tea into the cup, saying, "Well, that's what I was thinking about. Later, when I was walking back, I met a fox."

"Fox? Oh my god, you didn't shoot it, did you?" Xu Laonian asked hurriedly.

"Can we kill it? I'll leave it a fish, and then we'll leave."

Wang Erli said, "That's fine. But don't mess with the red and yellow skinned people in the mountains. You guys make a living from this, so it's better to believe it than not."

"Of course. We have to go again tomorrow morning to see if the brown bear has left. If it has left, I won't worry about it. If it hasn't left, we will kill it."

"Be more careful."

(End of this chapter)