Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 372 The Chang brothers headhunted bears and Xu Ning wanted to buy bear paws
In the evening, the setting sun casts a red glow, stretching the shadows very long.

At the fork in the road, he gave Da Laba some prickly ash buds and a yellow-haired pig weighing over 100 kilograms. He dragged the pig and carried the cloth bag filled with prickly ash buds and hurried home.

Xu Ning and others dragged the remaining sow, a yellow pig weighing more than 200 pounds, and carried more than ten pounds of prickly ash back to Old Xu's house.

These three pigs were held down by a gang of dogs in Daliusgou, northeast of Ximaduozi. A hole had been dug in the neck of the yellow-haired pig. When Xu Ning arrived, he saw the three idiots chewing meat and eating happily.

Xu Ning did not beat or scold the three idiots. These three dogs had formed a habit. They were afraid of being hungry when they entered the mountains, and they would dig their necks when they saw pork...

"I'm going to go back directly from here. I have to prepare dinner when I get home. Xiaoqiu should be back soon."

Liu Daming handed him the prickly ash cloth bag he was carrying, "Brother Jiang, hold this bag."

"Okay, we'll go deliver the meat tomorrow. When you get home, unload the pigs and divide them into piles."

"OK."

Lao Jiang walked through the alley and returned home. Xu Ning, Wang Hu and Liu Daming also entered the house dragging two pigs.

Liu Lizhen was shoveling the dog's poop. When she saw the three of them coming in, she put her shovel against the wall, put her hands on her hips and said, "Oh, you scratched it a lot!"

"Haha, sister! This is the second batch of pigs. We got two more this afternoon and sent them to Lei Zi and Yang Jun."

"Then why did you bring all of it home? Did you leave any for Jiang'er and Guoxing?"

"How can we not keep some? Brother Jiang cut a piece of meat and gave Guoxing a yellow-haired goat weighing more than 100 kilograms. It must be edible. Let's keep some fresh meat, and I'll sell the rest with Brother Jiang tomorrow."

"It's okay if you leave a little. I'll make some dumplings tomorrow."

After the dog gang was tied up, Xu Ning turned around and said, "Uncle, put some meat aside first, and I'll take it to Uncle Chang."

"Okay, can you cut off half of the yellow-haired pig?"

"You don't need half a fan, just cut some. Let's eat something fresh."

Now that the weather is getting warmer, the meat can no longer be frozen. However, before the first festival, Xu Ning cleared out all the meat in the vat in the lower room, and Liu Lizhen made it into "Duozi Meat", which is almost finished now.

"Oh my god! What are you doing with all these old thorny buds?" Wang Shujuan opened the cloth bag and said in surprise: "Sister-in-law, look, they are all quite big!"

Yang Shuhua nodded: "Yes, the first batch of prickly ash has old and tender buds. Shall we fry them with eggs?"

"Okay! I'll fry some eggs later, blanch them again and dip them in the sauce. I'll make dumplings with the rest tomorrow. If you want to save time, I'll make buns."

"OK."

Although a few pounds were shared with Lao Jiang and Da Laba, there were still more than 20 pounds left in the two cloth bags, enough for several meals.

When Xu Ning went to deliver pork to Chang Danian, he also brought three pounds of prickly ash sprouts. Chang Danian's legs and feet were not in good condition, and it would be too dangerous for him to go into the mountains alone without a dog. Chang Juan had told him several times not to go into the mountains alone, but no one could persuade Chang Danian because of his stubborn character, and he would become sour-faced when tried to persuade him.

On the day of Lao Batou Festival, Xu Ning went to look for him, but he refused to come. Xu Ning had no choice but to give him some duozi meat and braised pork. It was quite comfortable for the four of them to eat at home, but with so few people, it didn't feel like a festive occasion.

"Oh my, have the prickly ash sprouts in the mountains grown so big now?" Chang Danian pinched a prickly ash sprout as long as his index finger.

"This is the thorn buds from Pingdingshan. They are always exposed to the sun, so they grow well. The thorn buds on the sunny slopes here have just sprouted. What's the matter, uncle? Haven't you been into the mountains recently?"

"Why go into the mountains? Whenever I wanted to go for a walk, your sister Juan started crying. I thought I should just stay home and take care of the kids."

"It's better for you not to go into the mountains alone. Otherwise, won't your family be worried? If you really feel suffocated, I'll go for a walk in the mountains with you."

Chang Danian was a little tempted, "Do you have time?"

"Yes! As long as you open your mouth, I can do anything."

“Hahaha…” Chang Danian laughed, “Are we going into the mountains tomorrow? I haven’t been there for more than ten days. If I wait any longer, it will be summer.”

"Okay, let's go tomorrow. Are we going to walk the dog or just take a stroll?"

"Leave the dogs! They can run away if you follow them."

After deciding this matter, Xu Ning didn't stay for too long. He got up and hurried home.

When I entered the house, I saw Xu Laonian standing in front of the stove, holding a freshly blanched prickly ash sprout in one hand and putting it into his mouth.

Xu Ning yelled, "Hey! What are you doing? Are you cheating? Tell my mom."

Xu Laonian chewed quickly, rolled his eyes and said, "Get lost! You're annoying me."

"I picked these prickly ash buds. Don't eat them."

"Just eat, just eat..." Xu Laonian glanced at him out of the corner of his eye and went into the house.

After Liu Lizhen came out of the west room, she said, "Why are you always teasing your dad? Your dad was just praising you."

"Oh my god, I won't listen. What good things can come out of his mouth?"

Xu Feng jumped out of the door curtain, raised his hand and said, "Second brother, I know! Our father said: This little bastard did something good."

Xu Ning pinched the old thorn bud and put it in his mouth, grinning and said, "Mom, listen to how my dad is good at praising people."

"Come into the house quickly, you two are both good at beating people."

If you spend time with Xu Laonian, you will find that he actually has the mentality of a child. He used to play well, but he would easily throw a tantrum when he was wronged. He would even go to the teacher to complain with grievance, and be the first to complain, showing his sinister face to the fullest!

Of course, the three children of the Xu family all took after their parents to some extent, and each inherited the good qualities of Xu Laonian and Liu Lizhen...

Not long after Xu Ning entered the house and was busy setting the table, Li Fuqiang ran into the courtyard, panting and shouting:

"Brother! Brother!"

Xu Ning stood at the door of the east room with his bowl and chopsticks, turned his head to look at Li Fuqiang who was walking into the outer room, and asked, "What's the matter, brother?"

Li Fuqiang's face turned red and white, and he said angrily: "Oh! God is blind! Let the Chang brothers bring back a blind man!"

"What?" Wang Hu was stunned, clapping his hands in regret, "Where did you get it? Why didn't we see it when we entered the mountain today! Oh no..."

Liu Lizhen, Han Fengjiao, Yang Shuhua, and Wang Shujuan all looked at each other without saying anything. Wu Qiuxia, who was sitting on a wooden block burning a fire, said, "Go inside and chat. Don't stand there and get in the way."

Li Fuqiang covered his face with his hands and walked into the house and said, "It's a bear that weighs more than 300 kilograms. How much does this bear gall cost? You can't ask anyone else to get it, but these two bastards must get it."

Xu Ning put down his bowl and chopsticks, and Xu Laonian sat on the edge of the kang with his legs crossed, saying, "Isn't this what these two brothers do? You are allowed to get bear gall, but they are not allowed to? Hurry up and sit down and have a rest. You came back running?"

"Yeah! Didn't Lao Lin drive me to the fork in the road? As soon as I got off the car, I saw two people walking towards me from a distance. They were pulling a black thing. I thought I would smoke a cigarette there and see who it was. Unexpectedly, it was these two bastards. I saw that they were black blind men, and they turned around and went into the village..."

Liu Daming asked, "They should have just been taken out of the warehouse. These two brothers are lucky. We walked in the mountains for a day, from Shizuishan to Ximaduozi, and we killed five wild boars without sweeping the ground." Wang Erli said, holding a cigarette in his mouth, "Daming is quite good at chatting now. At first, he sounded very modest, but after thinking about it, he seemed to be showing off."

"Hahaha, second brother, why am I pretending? I didn't kill the wild boar. My nephew led 18 dogs to hunt. It's normal for him to kill five wild boars a day!"

Xu Laonian scolded, "Tsk, tsk! Stop bragging for him. Qiangzi, where is the injury on that black bear?"

Li Fuqiang said: "The black bear was lying on the ground. I saw the top of his head was opened, but I don't know if he had any injuries on his body."

"This brother from the Chang family is quite ruthless. He just ripped open the black bear's head right in front of him?"

At this time, Wang Shujuan brought dishes into the house and called Xu Feng and others who were doing homework in the west room. Wang Biao and Liu Tianen came in first, and before entering the house, Han Fengjiao stuffed a large sauce dish into their hands.

Li Fuqiang felt a little uncomfortable. As he said, this black blind cat could be beaten by anyone, but not by the Chang brothers. Why?
Xu Laonian asked with a smile: "You didn't talk to them?"

Li Fuqiang shook his head: "What's there to say? I see they don't bother others..."

That's why.

"Okay, don't feel bad for now. They can beat the black bear because they are capable. We should not feel bad about it. Even if we look down on them, we live in the same village and we can't have bad intentions towards them."

Liu Lizhen was very observant and said this as soon as she entered the room. Then, she placed the scrambled eggs with prickly ash on the table.

"Yes, I know, Auntie."

Xu Ning sat on a stool and said, "Hu Zhibin told me the other day to look for Hei Xia Zi, saying that his leader was going to celebrate his mother's birthday, and he would probably set up several tables, and would serve bear paws as the main dish."

Li Fuqiang frowned: "When do you want it?"

"Before June."

Xu Laonian was carrying a half-flask of wine and pouring it into the cup. He glanced at Xu Ning and said, "If it doesn't work, you can find someone to buy the paw of the black bear that the Chang brothers beat back. Hu Zhibin is very particular about his work, so he must not let it go."

Wang Biao interrupted and said, "Uncle, why not let my second brother tell Hu Zhibin directly and let him go and talk to the Chang brothers himself."

"Well, will that work?" Wang Erli waved his hand.

This matter definitely cannot be handled this way, why? Once Xu Ning went to Taiping to tell Hu Zhibin, it would be completely unnecessary, and Hu Zhibin would forget the favor.

Why did Xu Laonian ask Xu Ning to find someone to buy bear paws from the Chang brothers? Wasn't it to make Hu Zhibin remember a favor? Although both parties were from the two villages of Taiping and Qing'an, there was no telling when they might need the paws.

Besides, isn't friendship the result of give and take? If someone asks for something but you don't give anything in return, why would they remember your kindness?
"I'll go buy some palms after dinner." Xu Ning said as he grabbed the chopsticks.

Li Fuqiang was stunned and said, "Brother, I'll go with you."

"No need, why would there be so many people to buy a bear paw?"

Xu Laonian looked up at him without saying anything, but Wang Erli smiled and said, "Erning is becoming more and more mature. If it were before, he would never be so embarrassed."

Xu Ning said with a smile: "Uncle, this is not a loss of face. Originally, the Chang brothers and I were not at the point of life and death. Besides, business is not about feelings, so money speaks the truth."

"Satisfactory!"

At this time, Liu Lizhen, Han Fengjiao and others had already served all the food. Xu Laonian looked at the prickly ash sprouts on the table and grinned, "This is really good! Who of you can go up the mountain and get some back tomorrow?"

Liu Lizhen glared at him and said, "It's enough as long as there's enough to eat. Why are you always focusing on eating? I'll make you some buns tomorrow!"

"That's okay too!"

The leaves of the prickly ash buds are very tender, and the stems are a little bit chewy. After blanching, the prickly ash buds are somewhat sweet. This thing can be eaten in any way, stir-fried, mixed, sautéed, pickled, deep-fried, stewed, and made into soup...

Xu Ning was picking up the fried eggs with prickly ash. It was fried with bear oil and it had a strong taste of bear oil in its mouth. When mixed with rice, it was oily and smelled so damn good!
He put down his chopsticks, went to the west room, and took out a wad of money from the corner of the cabinet.

Even though Xu Laonian was given fifty yuan a few days ago, he still had more than two hundred yuan left in his hand. This money was given by his mother and sister-in-law. Now everyone in the family knew that he would not spend money recklessly, so his mother only gave him twenty or thirty yuan at a time, or asked him to buy something, and the rest of the money was put into his pocket.

"I'm going to go out for a while, sister-in-law. Don't worry about feeding the dogs. They have almost eaten enough on the mountain."

"OK!"

Liu Lizhen ran out and saw Xu Ning walking to the courtyard. She asked, "Do you have any money in your pocket?"

"Have."

"Then you should talk to the two brothers of the Chang family nicely. Even if the deal doesn't work out, there is still friendship. Don't fight."

"I know. Go eat quickly."

After saying that, Xu Ning turned around and walked out. While he was chatting with Xu Laonian, he had thought in his mind that this matter was basically all good, with no disadvantages...

It is now mid-April, and Hu Zhibin said that the bear paw will be done in June, so there is a gap of one and a half months in between. However, Xu Ning cannot guarantee that he can hunt a black bear during this period, because his luck has been very bad recently. He lost the brown bear twice when he chased it, and he didn't encounter any deer or roe deer. It seems that he hasn't hunted any large animals since he strangled the leopard.

So he had to prepare for the future and get the bear paw first and send it to Hu Zhibin. Since he had promised, he had to do it.

Moreover, when Hu Zhibin heard that Xu Ning bought the palm from the Chang brothers, he must have thought: Oh, Er Ning is really considerate. For such a small matter like mine, he even lowered himself to look for the Chang brothers. He really treats me as his own brother.

Don’t say Xu Ning is cunning, and don’t scold him for being heartless, because this is how things should be done!

There was no one in sight on the dim street. After Xu Ning arrived at Chang Xifeng's house, he saw that the doorlight was on and there were two or three puppies squatting behind the threshold. When they saw a stranger standing at the door, they opened their mouths and barked.

Chang Xifeng and Chang Beifeng were unloading the bear in the outer room. Zhang Yan and Gao Yanhong were squatting in front of the stove with grins on their faces, adding firewood to boil water. The children in the family ran to Li Feng's house. Li Feng had already taken Chang Lihong and the children, Li Tong, and Sun Cuiping to live in the newly bought house.

Chang Xifeng had just finished his meal. He put down his bowl and chopsticks and hurried to the outer room to unload the bear.

The beating of this bear was purely accidental. Why?
Because the two brothers also went to the mountains to pick thorny buds, they didn't expect that while Chang Beifeng was taking a shit, they actually saw fresh bear tracks. The two brothers followed the tracks for less than a mile and saw a black bear lying in the upper reaches of Xiaoshi River drinking water.

The two of them had been thinking for a long time whether to fight or not. After all, the Black Bear that had escaped from the warehouse was extremely difficult to fight and could easily be counterattacked. The two brothers only had one gun, and if the bullet missed, the Black Bear would be scared away or rush towards them.

But the Chang brothers did not expect that Hei Xia Zi would walk towards them after drinking the water. Chang Xifeng hurriedly handed over his gun and fired a shot when Hei Xia Zi was thirty meters away from them.

The shot hit the black bear in the chest. It paused obviously and then fled backwards, but stopped after just two steps. It then ran towards the two brothers ferociously, roaring as it ran.

The Chang brothers were terrified when they saw this, and hurriedly ran back. While fleeing, Chang Xifeng finished reloading his bullet, turned around and shot Hei Xiazi in the head, then knocked him down with one shot...

The movements were quite smooth. When Hei Xia Zi fell to the ground, Chang Beifeng had not yet recovered from his shock, and Chang Xifeng was also panting, as if he had been frightened out of his wits.

Then the two of them bled the bear and opened its stomach to take out the bear's gallbladder. After a while, they dragged the bear back home.

When he got home, he boasted a lot, but Chang Xifeng kept repeating: "This is a good idea!" The mountain god brought wealth to his mouth.

It was indeed good luck, otherwise the black bear would have run away when the first shot was fired, so how could it counterattack?
(End of this chapter)