Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 375: Daylily This is a good business
After soaking the meat, the Chang brothers carried two sacks of bear meat and put them on the sled outside the house. Li Feng and Liu Daming pulled the sled out of the yard with Lao Jiang.

The Chang brothers, Gao Yanhong and Zhang Yan did not go out to see him off. This matter could not be seen by others, otherwise there would be endless gossip.

They all tacitly agreed not to mention the money, because they couldn't deny it. Besides, the Chang brothers couldn't ask Lao Jiang and Liu Daming for money, after all, Li Feng paid 9 cents for the meat.

He needed to pay the Chang brothers 185 yuan, but Li Feng made a net profit of 4 yuan after reselling it. It can be said that he was picking up money for free.

Li Feng went out and talked to Lao Jiang, asking whether he should give the 20 yuan to his eldest brother-in-law as well. Lao Jiang shut him up with one sentence and said: If you want to give the money to those two brothers, then we can't accept the meat, do you understand?

After Liu Daming's patient explanation, Li Feng finally understood the reason and nodded quickly, saying, "Well, we definitely can't give it to them, even if they want it."

After getting the guarantee, Lao Jiang and Liu Daming felt relieved. The three of them walked into Liu Daming's courtyard. Wu Qiuxia came out quickly to greet them. When she heard that they had bought 206 kilograms of bear meat, she couldn't stop smiling.

Liu Daming dragged Wu Qiuxia to the west room and muttered a few words to her, then took 150 yuan from her, and then returned to the east room. He took 56 yuan from Lao Jiang, making a total of 206 yuan and handed it to Li Feng.

"Count it to see if it's enough."

Li Feng took the money, bowed his head and counted it carefully twice, and said, "Uncle Liu, it's correct, not a cent off."

"Okay, then you sit for a while, I'll go out and talk to your uncle Jiang."

"Eh!"

Li Feng held the money in his hand, his heart pounding as if it was about to jump out. He couldn't suppress his joy, and couldn't help but smile. He thought to himself: I earned more than 20 yuan just by walking a few steps. This job is quite easy. If there is such a job that can make money for free, it would be even better...

Liu Daming and Lao Jiang stood in the west room, smoking in the dark without turning on the lights. All they heard was Lao Jiang saying, "I owe you 12 yuan. I'll give it to you after we sell all the meat..."

Although Lao Jiang sold yellow foxes a few days ago, he had barely even warmed his eyes to the money before he went hungry. In the past few days he also made some money from selling pork and roe deer meat, but after dividing it among the three of them, he didn't actually get much.

"Hey, Brother Jiang, I'm not talking about that! I'm just thinking, let Erning remind us today, normally we can't hunt animals in the mountains, but that doesn't mean others can't..."

Old Jiang immediately understood what he meant and said, "Do you want to collect some more meat to sell? Daming, this job makes money quickly, but we can't do it all the time. How can we go hiking after a long time? Hiking is the real way to make money."

"I know, Jiang."

Liu Daming nodded and smiled, "So I want Li Feng to go to Nanbeitun and Qinglitun to look for them. This way, we can have an extra living without being delayed in our mountain climbing!"

Lao Jiang thought for a moment and said, "If Li Feng sells animal meat himself, where will the three of us make money?"

"What are you afraid of? If Li Feng can sell the livestock meat, that's his ability. But right now the three of us have too much demand. It's almost spring. If we can't get livestock in a few days, won't those who ordered meat from us blame us?"

Liu Daming continued, "I want Li Feng to collect more deer, roe deer and bear meat, but not wild boar meat. My nephew can catch enough in one day!"

"Alright, then we have to raise the price for him in the future. We have to let Li Feng earn more. Otherwise, if he sells it himself, it will be easy for him to undercut our price."

"Well, I'll go talk to him."

Lao Jiang nodded: "Then I'll come over tomorrow, and we'll go directly to Taiping to find Guoxing."

"OK!"

In the east room, Li Feng saw the two people enter the room, so he stood up and said with a smile: "Uncle Liu, I should go back."

"Let's go together. I have something to tell you."

"What's the matter?"

"Let's talk as we walk."

The three of them left the yard, and then Lao Jiang went home first. His daughter was alone at home, so Lao Jiang must have been a little worried.

Liu Daming stood beside the fence and told Li Feng about what he had discussed with Lao Jiang. Li Feng immediately found an idea.

He slapped his thigh and said, "Oh! Uncle Liu, I... I don't know how to thank you! You don't know how worried I have been these days. My biological father is in a state of madness, the child was born less than half a year ago, and I still have to support my eldest brother's child..."

Liu Daming tilted his head and asked, "So you agreed?"

"Of course I agree! Uncle Liu, you've found a good job for me, how can I not agree? Uncle Liu, I'll do whatever you tell me to do, I'll listen to you."

Li Feng doesn't have much money now. He can't afford to pay when he goes to other villages to buy bear, roe deer and venison, so Liu Daming has to pay for it.

"Okay, you're like this..."

Then, Liu Daming told Li Feng his idea and asked him to go to Nanbeitun and Qingli the next day to talk to the hunters in each village about collecting meat and set the price.

"Okay, I'll go tomorrow."

Liu Daming warned, "Don't tell the Chang family about this. Tell them to keep their mouths shut and not say anything."

"I know, Uncle Liu. Then I'll go back first?"

"Go back."

Staring at Li Feng's departing back, Liu Daming turned around and went into the house in a good mood.

Wu Qiuxia was covering herself with the quilt. She looked up and said, "You'd better ask your brother-in-law about asking Li Feng to collect the meat."

Liu Daming sat on the end of the kang, crossed his legs and rolled a cigarette, saying, "It's no use asking my brother-in-law. This was Erning's idea. Besides, my sister usually listens to Erning at home... Don't worry, this business won't lose money."

"Then you should ask Erning, don't make the decision on your own."

"I know. I'll ask him tomorrow night. If he thinks it's not okay, I won't let Li Feng go."

After Wu Qiuxia covered the bedding, she went to the outer room to get a basin of water for washing feet, placed it at Liu Daming's feet, and said, "Throw your socks next to you, I'll wash them later."

"No, I just washed it. How are you down there?"

Wu Qiuxia said: "Much better, I feel fine now."

"Then I have to go to the health center for a checkup after I'm done with this..."

It was useless for the couple to do anything at night because they just didn't have the energy to do it.

The next day, dawn.

Xu Ning opened the gate with the 56 and a half in his hand. From a distance, he saw Chang Danian walking leisurely with an old stick on his back. He shrank back and went to the doghouse. At this time, Wang Hu also climbed over the wall. The two of them quickly untied the dog's rope, and then tied the dog's rope to the thick rope on the spot...

Originally, Xu Ning wanted to lead the seven dogs, including Black Wolf and Blue Wolf, into the mountains, and at most take the Spotted Wolf as well. But after careful consideration, he felt that it would not be good to leave any of them at home. Besides, the Spotted Wolf, One-Eye, and the three black dogs had just been brought to the critical moment. If they felt that they were treated differently at this time, they might develop bad habits when they go into the mountains again in the future.

So Xu Ning tied up all the eighteen dogs. He and Wang Hu held the thick ropes and tied nine dog leashes each to the thick ropes.

"Eh? How come they are all tied up?"

Chang Danian just happened to walk to the gate of the courtyard and was surprised to see the dog gang rushing out.

"I would feel uncomfortable leaving them alone with anyone, so I just tied them up and let them go when we got to the old forest."

"Okay, let's go."

Chang Danian stepped forward, glanced at the black wolf, the second wolf, and the third wolf, nodded and smiled: "How did you feed it? The black wolf is much fatter than when it was at home." "Really? I don't see much change."

"You look at him every day, so of course you don't notice him. He is indeed a lot fatter, and his fur is shiny!"

Xu Ning said with a smile: "Usually I feed them cornmeal, cabbage, etc...."

"Did you give me salt?"

"Yes! You can give it once a week, just mix it into the dog food."

"Oh, that's how you feed it. I usually feed it three sticks of food, and I always give it a lot of meat slices. The more it eats, the more delicate it becomes."

Xu Ning said: "That's because there are no dogs competing with the three of them for food, so the food doesn't taste good."

"That's the case, where are we going today?"

"Shuangfeng Ridge..."

The three of them were chatting on the road, talking about the Chang brothers hunting a black bear yesterday and Xu Ning buying bear paws. Chang Danian didn't react much after hearing this, and just said in a normal tone: "They can catch two or three black bears a year. They caught two last year. I taught them a lot from my experience."

Wang Hu asked, "Master, do you regret it?"

"Then why regret? I've already taught you."

Chang Danian waved his hand and said, "When they came here before, they were in a miserable state, with their clothes torn and tattered. Now that I am no longer needed, they have both married. People still need to be strong and healthy to speak with confidence."

Xu Ning nodded: "That's right! Uncle, aren't you happy now? Don't think about the future. There is a saying that goes, children and grandchildren will have their own blessings."

"Hahaha, that's absolutely true!"

After reaching the middle of the old forest, Xu Ning let the gang of dogs loose. Led by the blue wolf and the black wolf, the dogs ran around in the forest happily. It was not because they were excited as they had not been in the mountains for a long time, but they did not expect Xu Ning to let them loose in the old forest. In the past, they would let them loose only when they were in the mountains and about to work, so they were naturally a little excited.

"Are you going to Dongshan to learn beekeeping from Ma Liu in a few days?"

"Well, in four or five days, Hu Zi and I will go to live in Dongshan. When we get down the mountain, the soil will probably be loose, and then we can prepare to build a house."

"You've made very detailed arrangements. You really haven't been idle at all."

Xu Ning smiled and said, "Wouldn't it be nice to just sit there and stare at each other if we were idle at home? Find something to do, and time will pass faster."

"That's right... I'll pick some more prickly ash buds later. I think this year's prickly ash buds are better than last year's. They have a sweet stalk flavor."

Wang Hu said: "Yeah, my dad said the same thing."

After entering Shuangfeng Ridge, the dog gang became quiet. They surrounded the three people, extending forward thirty or forty meters, and looked back at Xu Ning and Chang Danian from time to time.

Walking along the ditch behind Shuangfeng Ridge towards Xiaoshi River, there is a valley here. Because there are fewer trees, the snow has melted long ago and many new buds have sprouted on the ground.

"These are yellow flower seeds. Come and pick some when you have time in June or July."

Xu Ning pointed to the hill fifty meters to the left and asked, "Are they all yellow flowers over there?"

"OK."

What is daylily? Its scientific name is daylily, forget-me-not, and it is called daylily in Northeast China. It is a perennial herb belonging to the genus Hemerocallis in the Liliaceae family.

Day lily cannot be eaten fresh, as it can easily cause gastrointestinal discomfort and poisoning. The correct way to eat it is to dry it or blanch it in water before eating. Day lily is delicious when stir-fried with meat or made into cold dishes, and has a slightly spicy taste.

As the three of them walked upstream along the Xiaoshi River, Liu Daming and Lao Jiang also pulled their sleds to Lao Huang's house in Taipingtun.

When the loud speaker saw the two people coming in, he quickly stood up and called his wife to go out to greet them. Zhang Guifang muttered, "They are all family members, why should we greet them?"

The loud speaker frowned and said, "You know nothing! Don't worry about the relationship. You have to welcome them. Will your legs break if you walk a few steps? Hurry up!"

After saying that, he had already opened the door of the outer room, walked into the courtyard in his slippers, and called out, "Uncle, Brother Jiang! Come in quickly."

Zhang Guifang followed behind and smiled at the two of them, "Oh my god, what's in this sack? Why is there so much blood?"

Liu Daming laughed and said, "Bear meat!"

The loud speaker was startled and said, "Where did you get the bear meat? Come in first, and we'll talk later."

"I'll go get some tea." Zhang Guifang turned around and went back to the east room, took the tea tray and poured water to make tea.

Throwing the sled under the eaves, Lao Jiang and Liu Daming went into the house, sat on the edge of the kang and talked about how the Chang brothers hunted a black bear yesterday and Xu Ning went to buy bear paws.

"Oh! Look at my brother's character. He is so shameless that he even lowered his face to ask these two bastards to do something for him. Why didn't he tell me? I could have gone to ask the Chang brothers instead."

Liu Daming said with a smile: "Erning wants to go, who knows what he is thinking."

Zhang Guifang placed the tea tray on the edge of the kang and asked, "Uncle, how much did you pay for the bear meat? We can't pay for it."

"What do you want to compensate? I'm willing to pay! Go and prepare the money..."

"Don't worry, I haven't finished talking yet."

Liu Daming stopped him and said, "Li Feng bought it from the Chang brothers for 9 yuan and sold it to the three of us for 1 yuan. I gave the money to Li Feng last night. I'll pay for your share..."

Da Laba was touched when he heard this. He turned to look at his wife and urged her, "Go get the money! What are you looking at?"

"Hey! Guoxing, why are you in such a hurry? Guifang, just do what you need to do. You don't have to pay. Isn't this a total of 206 yuan? The three of us will each pay 68 yuan. After we sell the bear meat, we can deduct the money from it."

"That's fine too. Thanks, uncle." Da Laba said with a grin.

Lao Jiang said, "This business was brought up by Er Ning, so I think I should give him a share, Guo Xing, what do you think?"

"That's for sure!"

Liu Daming hurriedly stopped him and said, "Brother Jiang, you didn't say anything yesterday."

"What am I telling you? You are Erning's uncle. He calls me uncle, but he is not my uncle. Just do what you have to do."

"That's right! Brother Jiang, what you said is right."

"What's right? Can Erning take this money? You two should not think about it. Don't do this again in the future. This business is for the three of us. Last night I asked Li Feng to go to Nanbeitun and Qingli to collect bear meat, roe deer meat and venison. The three of us will deliver the meat in the morning and then go to Siyong..."

"Great!" Big Loudspeaker laughed, "I never thought I could make money this way. My brother is really smart."

"Everyone has their own brains, but it depends on whether they dare to act. Erning dares to act if he dares to think. My brother-in-law said a few days ago that if Erning went out to do legitimate business, he would definitely be a successful person!"

Lao Jiang nodded: "Well, I don't dare to think about it anyway."

Why don’t they dare to think? Because they have experienced a period in the past and have not been to school for a few days, so they dare not have any ideas at all. It can be said that their thinking is solidified, and their daily life is just following the routine and muddling through.

After the three of them finished drinking tea in the house, Lao Jiang took out a small notebook from his pocket, which contained a list of people from Taipingtun who had ordered meat from him.

(End of this chapter)