Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 371: People fight for their dignity and the first thorn sprouts
"I heard that the agricultural machinery station has other tractors. You can go and have a look when the time comes. You don't have to buy this one."

"Brother Lin, you are so real, thank you."

Lao Lin said with a smile: "What's the truth? Aren't we all from Qing'an? My brother doesn't want to suffer any loss. He doesn't even think about how much money the tractor has made for him over the years. When he bought the tractor home, he owed the village more than 3,000 yuan, and he paid it back in less than two years...

When I bought this car, I wanted to ask him for help, but he shut me up with one sentence. He said that his family was building a house and he wanted to ask me to borrow some money.

Later I found out that he was already a millionaire. Eh… I couldn’t accept it before, but I understood it over the years. He was afraid that I couldn’t pay it back, so when I heard about my letter to buy a car, he found an excuse to shut me up when I went to see him.

Xu Ning nodded: "Yes, it's embarrassing to ask others for money. I'm afraid that they won't lend me money, and it will be even more difficult to get it later. So how did you buy the car later?"

"My wife told his parents, and then my father-in-law and my eldest brother-in-law discussed it and raised more than 800 yuan for me."

Wang Hu was shocked and said, "Brother Lin, you are greedy for a good father-in-law and brother-in-law!"

Lao Lin said with a smile: "Of course!"

Xu Ning said: "I am more greedy for a good wife."

"Not really. Why do I work so hard? There's a saying that goes, 'A tree relies on its bark, and a man relies on his breath!' I just want to make more money so that others won't look down on me."

"That's right. Nowadays, as long as you work hard, you can definitely make money. So what is my sister-in-law doing at home?"

"I'm taking care of my mother. The old lady hasn't been in good health in the past two years. The children have grown up, so I don't have to worry about them anymore. But at my age, after raising the children, I have to take care of the old lady..."

Xu Ning agreed with him and said, "It's not a big deal. We are all the same in the future. We earn money to support our family and to prevent ourselves from having no money to treat illnesses when we get sick."

Lao Lin smiled and said, "Then you are quite family-oriented."

"Haha, I'm really family-oriented."

The timber yard is also the timber yard at the foot of the mountain and the final timber yard. That is, all the timber from the small timber yards is transported to the timber yard to wait for allocation, processing and storage.

There is a train stop on the north side of the lumberyard, and a car loading and unloading point on the east side. There are also various machines inside, such as crawler machines, hooks, winches, etc.

After arriving at the lumberyard, Lao Lin drove nearly two miles south before reaching the foot of the southern mountain. From this, one can see how big the Qing'an lumberyard is and how much timber is stored.

Xu Ning and Wang Hu jumped out of the car, followed by Lao Lin. Li Fuqiang and the others had already untied the dog leashes, and the dogs jumped out of the car one by one and rushed to Xu Ning's side. They seemed to be wolves who had never seen the world, and they were curious about the piles of wood in the lumberyard, looking around...

"Brother, Brother Lin and I are leaving, so you better be careful."

"Hey, Brother Lin, thank you so much!"

Lao Lin waved his hand and smiled, "Don't be polite, it's just a matter of convenience! If you have anything to say in the future, just tell me directly."

"Okay!"

When Lao Lin and Li Fuqiang got into the car and drove away, Xu Ning, leading Qinglang and a few others, took the lead and went up the mountain along the edge of the mountain. At this time, the trees had already sprouted, but the mountains were not green, with only scattered traces of green.

There are not many trees on the mountain here. Tree stumps can be seen everywhere, some of which are as thick as if you could hug them with both arms. When the lumberyard was built, the surrounding forests were cleared. You can even see man-made canals and wells in the lumberyard, which are used for firefighting water to prevent fires.

The Qing'an Forest Farm is indeed poor. It has only three timber-collecting crawler tractors that run back and forth in the huge timber yard. However, they are small and powerful and can load more than 10,000 cubic meters of timber per year without any effort. They are known as the "10,000-meter tractors."

"Brother, be careful. There are traps and clamps set by the workers here."

Hearing the loud speaker reminding him, Xu Ning turned around and said with a smile: "There are no clamps on this road. Brother Lin told me in the car."

"Ah, that'll do."

Lao Jiang said, "It's about four or five miles from Shizuishan. Let's go to the ditch first."

"Okay, Uncle Jiang, you and my uncle walk in front."

Lao Jiang didn't waste any words. He led the four dogs, Dahuang, Xiaohuang and others, and went to the front. Then Liu Daming followed behind with the dogs. After walking more than a mile to the south, they climbed up a small shilazi mountain, which was called Xiaoshishan.

After descending the small stone mountain, you will come to a ditch. Walk another three or four miles southeast before you touch the edge of Shizuishan. To the left is Shizuishu.

"Erning! Did you see that? There are deer tracks on the ground!" Liu Daming said, pointing at the deer tracks three meters away.

Xu Ning looked down and followed the direction the deer was heading. He said, "It went southeast. There is a rocky mountain over there... Or we can release the dogs and catch whatever they can. They have been following it for three or four days and we can't catch it even if we chase it."

"Okay, let's release the dog. Just take it as a leisurely stroll."

After untying the dog leashes one by one, the dog gang, led by Blue Wolf and Black Wolf, ran more than ten meters away and came to a big poplar tree. Blue Wolf looked back at Xu Ning, and only when he waved his hand did Blue Wolf dare to continue running forward.

After walking more than two miles, Lao Jiang pointed to the moss on the ground and said, "I picked a lot of fungus here last year. There are a lot of hazel mushrooms on the hillside over there."

"Yes, we have quite a few in Dongshan, but it is too close to the village. Some people go up the mountain to pick them at three or four o'clock in the morning, but they are really diligent." Liu Daming said.

"How can you not be more diligent? The place is so small and there are so many people waiting to have a bite of this."

Dababa said with a smile: "Then let's go into the mountains and collect them in a group. Those big sacks, 200 kilograms, can feed us for a year."

Two hundred kilograms of hazel mushrooms sounds scary, but in fact there is not much to be found after they are dried.

"Okay."

Wang Hu walked behind and asked, "Second brother, is it time for Black Blind to leave the warehouse now?"

Xu Ning nodded: "This winter is long. The snow just melted a few days ago. These few days are the right time to move out of the warehouse."

Generally speaking, black bears leave the warehouse at the end of March or the beginning of April, but the time cannot be too strict. After all, some black bears are very peculiar. Some stay in the warehouse until the end of April, while others leave the warehouse in mid-March. It all depends on whether the bear is hungry or has given birth to cubs...

"This year is colder than last year. I don't know why. I thought it was warm at this time last year."

The loud speaker said, "Isn't October a leap month this year?"

"It was a wet February the year before last, and it was a wet October this year, so it's normal to have a cold spot."

At around nine o'clock, everyone arrived at the forest southeast of Shizuishan Mountain. The snow on the sunny slope had almost melted, but the snow on the shady slope had not yet melted, but green buds had already appeared on the ground.

The dogs were running around in front of them, and they didn't seem to feel tired. After all, they were brought into the mountains to play, and whether they could capture the animals depended on their ability. At about 9:30, the blue wolf and the black wolf started to bark at the same time. The spotted wolf stood on the stone and looked up to sniff, and also barked twice, but Lao Fei was a little confused. He didn't smell anything, but the three leading dogs had already jumped out, and the rest of the dogs followed closely behind. Lao Fei didn't have time to think. He barked twice, glanced at the big trumpet, and chased after it.

Xu Ning, Da Laba, Lao Jiang and others followed the dog gang quickly. At first, they ran all the way to Luancha Stone Mountain, but after running less than two miles, the Blue Wolf and the Black Wolf changed direction at the same time and ran towards the sunny slope in the south.

"Oh my god, what is this dog doing? Is he taking us for a walk?"

After running wildly, Liu Daming felt a little out of breath. He covered his left rib with one hand and spoke while panting.

"Maybe he ran into some animals wandering around the mountains."

The loud speaker trembled and said, "Brother, could it be that you smell the scent of a deer?"

Before seeing the animals, everyone had some visions in their hearts, but each of them had different ideas in his mind. For example, Da Laba, Liu Daming and Lao Jiang thought that it would be best if they could smell the black bear that had just come out of the warehouse. If 18 dogs surrounded the black bear, it would definitely die!
However, what Xu Ning was thinking was, just hunt wild boars honestly, even if you encounter a big egg digger, don't run into a black bear, this animal is too harmful to dogs...

After running forward for more than a mile, they came to a sunny slope. Xu Ning looked up and saw the dog gang on the hillside. They surrounded the two wild boars, but did not bite them. They just harassed them by barking all around, which made the wild boars very annoyed. They pushed forward repeatedly, but the dogs dodged flexibly.

When Xu Ning and others arrived, the dog gang rushed forward collectively and pressed the two wild boars to the ground. Dogs like Dahei, Sanhei and Ersha didn't even try to grab a spot and just wandered around the edge.

Wang Hu and Liu Daming didn't even bother with their knives. They just grabbed the knives and bled the two wild boars. After taking out the lanterns, they cut the livers and lungs to feed the dogs. They didn't feed the dogs too much. Each dog was only about 40% full. If they were fed more, they would get bloating.

After dealing with the two wild boars, they looked at their watch and it was only half past ten. Their location was too far away from Qing'an, and it would take three or four hours to walk over the mountains and hills. What should they do?
"It would be a waste to throw these two pigs away. Even if we can't take them back, we can give them away as gifts," said Lao Jiang.

Loudspeaker nodded: "Not at all. It would be useless if we just throw it in the mountains."

Xu Ning frowned and thought for a while, then said, "Why don't we go to 17lengchang, stop the cage fire halfway, and then let Huzi go to 17lengchang to find Yang Jun and give him these two pigs."

"Okay! Erning, are you familiar with Yang Jun?" Lao Jiang asked.

"Well, my brother Shitou works in his field, and he and Shitou get along well."

"Okay, let's do it! After lunch, we'll go for a stroll home and pick some prickly ash buds."

Wang Hu and Da Laba tied up the two pigs and dragged them to follow Xu Ning and the other two. The dogs didn't have enough to eat, especially the three idiots. The three dogs kept trying to grab the wild boar's necks, but they ran away after being scolded by Da Laba, but they turned around and still stuck out their tongues to act pitiful.

17lengchang was about five or six miles away from where they were. They walked forward for more than three miles and found a sheltered place on a sunny slope to make a fire. Wang Hu went to 17lengchang with Da Laba.

Originally, they wanted Yang Jun to find someone to come and get the two pigs, but Da Laba thought that Wang Hu couldn't go alone, so he suggested dragging the pigs over directly, which would at least do him a favor.

After they left, Xu Ning did not rush to heat up the meal, but sat down around the fire and chatted with Lao Jiang and his uncle.

"We have to go to Nanshan tomorrow. It's too far from here and it's not easy to bring the animals home." Liu Daming said.

Lao Jiang said, "I came here today to look for deer. I always feel like I can see deer. I even dreamed of shooting one a few days ago."

"Uncle Jiang, you always dream about what you think about during the day." Xu Ning said with a smile, "How many animals are still missing to make up the number?"

"I haven't been able to find a deer or a black bear. The wild boar is more than 100 kilograms heavier than the wild boar, but it's easy to hunt. The deer and roe deer are also 60 to 70 kilograms heavier than the wild boar."

Liu Daming said, "Then we have to hurry up. If we can't find the way, just tell them. Anyway, we haven't paid the deposit, so it won't count as regretting it."

"Well, Erning, I'll give you your share after a while..."

Xu Ning waved his hand: "Forget it, I didn't do anything."

"Why didn't you contribute? Didn't you kill the wild boar? I'll give it to your uncle, and you can share it with Hu Zi."

Liu Daming said, "Okay, let's settle it. I'll give you some money, but you still don't want it?"

Xu Ning smiled when he heard that. It's not that he didn't want the money, but the money had nothing to do with him in the first place. Xu Ning had already kept the meat of the wild boar he hunted a few days ago, and he also gave half of the roe deer that Liu Daming and Lao Jiang brought back to the Xu family. If he asked for this more money, it would be too much.

However, Liu Daming had already agreed. If he refused, he would be offending his uncle, so he had to nod.

Before Wang Hu and Da Laba came back, Xu Ning placed the lunch box on the red-hot charcoal, so that they could have the hot meal when they came back panting.

"Well, when Yang Jun heard that the two wild boars were sent by my brother, he was very happy and wanted to follow us into the mountains. He invited us to have lunch together at his farm, but Hu Zi and I refused, saying that we still had to hunt animals. That's why he let us go back..."

Wang Hu nodded: "Yeah, Brother Lei went to work and hasn't come back yet, but Yang Jun's shack has already been set up with a table and dishes, waiting for my brother Lei to come back and have a drink with him."

Liu Daming said: "How come Yang Jun gets along so well with Lei Zi? People used to say that Yang Jun is a very proud person."

Xu Ning said with a smile: "Uncle, just tell him that he likes to show off. No one will want to drink with him, right?"

"Hahaha, that's what happened."

"..."

After the meal, several people carried cloth bags and walked towards the west. During the journey, they passed by Blind Valley, but they did not hear any movement from Qinglang and his men.

It was not until 28: in the afternoon that they arrived at a flat-topped mountain about seven or eight miles away from the th field. There were many prickly ash trees here, and tender buds had already appeared on the branches, all as big as a thumb.

"This thorny bud is quite tender!"

"It's the first crop, so it must be tender! Pick them quickly, and pick them with your hands covered, otherwise you will get pricked."

"OK!"

The prickly ash buds we eat at this time are the first batch, they are not big, and they haven't split yet. Some people like to eat this kind, while others like to eat the ones with splits, saying that the ones with splits taste really good when dipped in sauce...

The prickly ash sprout is a seasonal wild delicacy because it is a pure green food. However, it can only be eaten for about one and a half months. No one will eat the prickly ash sprouts that are older than that.

It is not valuable in the forest area nowadays, but when the season comes every household has to go into the mountains to pick it, and later generations can sell a pound of prickly ash buds for 30-50 yuan, sometimes even up to 100 yuan!
In later generations, some people built greenhouses specifically for breeding. They would bundle the stems of the prickly ash buds together, throw them into the greenhouse for hydroponics, and maintain a sufficient temperature to keep them alive.

The five people picked three bags, estimated to be more than 30 kilograms. In order to prevent the prickly buds from being crushed, Xu Ning took out the dog leash from the cloth bag, and Da Laba took the dog leash and put it in his own pocket.

Then he headed back towards the back of 28lengchang, but before he reached 28lengchang, he heard Blue Wolf, Flower Wolf, Black Wolf, and Old Fatty howling, and then a group of dogs ran towards the northwest...

(End of this chapter)