Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 409: Seeing the two brown bears doing useless things makes me feel itchy

Old Xu's house is bustling with activity and filled with laughter.

It's a trivial matter for these people to get together, but they can tell it like a joke and it never gets boring.

For dinner, Yang Shuhua prepared six dishes. Liu Daming arrived late just as it was time for dinner. Xu Laonian and others drank some wine and made arrangements, asking Liu Daming, Li Fuqiang and Xu Ning to drive a tractor to cut down trees and build a bridge tomorrow.

Then they talked about Guan Lei and Wang Hu going to Wanye. They definitely couldn't go there empty-handed, but the Xu family really had nothing for them to take now.

The main reason was that Xu Ning didn't go hiking during this period, so naturally he didn't catch any wild boars, black bears or other livestock. The meat that the Xu family ate these days was all sent by Liu Daming, Lao Jiang and Da Laba, but it was impossible to send a whole head. At most, six or seven pounds could be sent to try, because the meat was bought with money, and the remaining meat had to be sold.

Xu Laonian said that since there was nothing to give, then give more money. This really touched Wang Erli and Han Fengjiao's heart. That night, the two of them gave Wang Hu 100 yuan and asked Wang Hu to buy more things in Wanye City. They also told Wang Hu to buy more and not to be stingy when doing things. He should be generous when he should be generous...

In fact, there is no need to specifically remind him of these words. Wang Hu has been following Xu Ning for so long, and he is not just fooling around. He knows how to do things.

In the evening, around 8:30.

As it was time to go to bed, everyone put away their smiles and left.

The shadows were long under the moonlight. The four members of the Li family walked slowly towards the west. When they were about to reach the door of their home, they ran into an old man walking slowly. In the moonlight, they could see that his clothes were torn in several places. When they got closer, they saw that his hair was disheveled and his face was dirty...

This person was Yu Kaihe who had talked to Xu Laonian in the morning. At this moment, all his equipment was gone, and there were two red marks on his face that were bleeding, but the bleeding spots were not big and had scabs over due to the long time.

Li Fuqiang asked in shock: "Uncle Yu, where have you been? Why did you come back just now?"

"Oh, Qiangzi! Don't mention it..."

Yang Shuhua and Jin Yumantang greeted them, and then Li Fuqiang let the mother and her two daughters go home first.

"What's going on? How did this happen?!"

Li Fuqiang took out a cigarette from his pocket and handed it to him. After lighting it, Yu Kaihe took a deep breath and exhaled gently before speaking: "Hey, I don't know what's wrong with me today. I looked at the almanac before I went out, and it said that I can do anything today, and there is no taboo at all...

I went into the mountains early in the morning. In the morning, I collected half a sack of prickly ash and some elm yellow mushrooms and hazel mushrooms. But at noon, just after I finished my meal, I heard a bear roar. The more I listened, the more something seemed wrong. The sound was getting closer and closer, and more and more urgent. Then I hurriedly walked away with the sack on my back, but unexpectedly I saw a black bear in front of me. This guy scared me so much that I quickly dropped the sack and ran to the left, but I also saw another one from the left, which was a circle bigger than the first one!
Oh my god, I saw a big poplar tree next to me, so I immediately climbed up. Look at how my face was rubbed by me, leaving several bloody streaks. Then I sat on the tree, and when I looked down, I saw that these two black bears were useless! Fuck…they were just doing it under the tree, and I didn’t even dare to move while sitting on the tree. They did it to me three or four times, and even rolled around together after they were done…”

Li Fuqiang tried to hold back his laughter when he heard that, but couldn't help but pursed his lips and asked, "Then how did you get back?"

"After they rolled around, they started fighting for some reason. After a quarrel, they ran away. I waited on the tree for a while. When it got dark, I got down from the tree. After they were done, I didn't even dare to look for a sack and went straight back. Oh! I was so unlucky today!"

Yu Kaihe looked helpless. Li Fuqiang rubbed his face and said, "Uncle, I just hope you can come back safely. You weren't scared, were you?"

"Why are you so scared? It's not like I haven't seen it before..."

Li Fuqiang frowned and thought, "I remember that now seems to be the time for black bears to start seedlings. Don't black bears start seedlings in July and August? How can it be useless now?"

Yu Kaihe glared and said, "Brown bears! Two brown bears... The place I'm going to is the ditch pond west of Ximaduozi. Isn't there a small mountain over there? There are a lot of thorny old sprouts in it."

"Ah!" Li Fuqiang perked up after hearing that and asked, "Uncle, how big are those two brown bears? Can they weigh 600 kilograms?"

"Of course there is! It's so big... I must weigh more than 600 pounds!" Yu Kaihe gestured with his hand.

Li Fuqiang asked, "Does the brown bear have any scars on its eyelids?"

"How can I see clearly from the tree? It must be more than ten meters away from me. I am old now and my eyesight is not very good."

"Okay, uncle, my brother wanted to ask you to check if there are any rocks under his homestead today, but you were not at home..."

"Er Ning, are you looking for me? Then go tomorrow. I'm not going into the mountains. I have to stay at home and rest for two days!"

Li Fuqiang said with a smile: "Take a rest for two days. I really want to eat prickly ash buds. I'll bring some back from the mountain someday and bring it back for you. Don't go into the mountain by yourself now. It's too dangerous!"

"Well, I'll go back first. I don't know how worried your aunt is at home."

"Eh!"

Li Fuqiang stood there and watched Yu Kaihe leave. After thinking for a moment, he decided to go home first. He thought it would be safer to tell Xu Ning about this matter tomorrow morning. If he told Xu Ning now, Xu Ning would be very worried and he would not be able to go into the mountains to track down the brown bear in the middle of the night...

He returned home and mentioned this to Yang Shuhua while soaking his feet. Yang Shuhua said, "It's useless to talk about this. Auntie will definitely not let you go into the mountains. Besides, Hu Zi and the other four should leave tomorrow morning. Don't make trouble now."

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Find me some clothes to work in."

Yang Shuhua said: "Just wear this."

Li Fuqiang fiddled with his clothes and said, "These clothes don't have patches on them. I can wear them when I go out. Let's find something with patches. Why, now that our family is doing well, you want to be extravagant? I think you are getting carried away."

"You are the one who is getting cocky!" Yang Shuhua rolled her eyes and said, "I think your clothes are already dirty. If you change into another one to work, I will have to wash it twice!"

Li Fuqiang grinned and said, "Really? Go check if the child is asleep, and then you can wash up too..."

"Get lost! We still have work to do tomorrow, can't you save some energy?"

"Oh, I don't have enough energy left, hurry up!"

Yang Shuhua winked and said, "You are even uglier than those two black blind men!"

"Why should I be afraid of my own wife being ugly..."
-
It’s late at night, the song ends and everyone is quiet.

The sun rises and smoke rises into the sky.

Since the beginning of summer, the days have become longer and longer, and now it is bright at six o'clock.

Yang Shuhua was tossed around all night but nothing happened. Instead, she looked radiant and more charming. When she arrived at Old Xu's house, Liu Lizhen was kneading dough, and Wang Shujuan and Han Fengjiao were chopping dumpling stuffing. Last night, Xu Feng insisted on eating dumplings stuffed with prickly ash, which made Liu Lizhen so angry that she slapped her twice in the morning. Xu Feng was more tough and didn't say a word after being hit on the buttocks twice, and continued to sleep soundly.

Wu Qiuxia and Yang Shuhua arrived at the same time. They squatted in front of the stove and started the fire. Then Xu Laonian spread the panel on the kang in the east room, and the old woman started making dumplings. What did Xu Laonian do at this time? He went to clean the car with a rag, wiping the three words "Dongfanghong" printed on the front of the car until it was shiny!
When Xu Ning saw him, he smiled and said, "Dad, it's useless for you to clean it. You still have to pull wood today..."

"I'd love to! Drive carefully and don't bump into things. Look at the paint, it's so new!" Xu Laonian warned with a glare.

Xu Ning smiled and went to the toilet. When he came back, he ran into Wang Hu and Wang Erli. He said to them, "Huzi, go to the forest farm to fill up the gas tank!"

"Okay, I was thinking of adding more yesterday, but when I saw there was only half a box left, I didn't rush."

Walking to the east room, Sun Lianfang watched the old woman making dumplings. After washing her face, she stood in the east wing combing her hair, then hurried into the room and said, "Auntie, do you want me? Oh, Auntie, these are made by you. They look so good. I feel hungry at the first sight!"

"Haha, this girl...eat more later to avoid being hungry on the road." "Yeah, I have to make more than 20! Oh my god, two fillings, oh, they are all fillings that I like to eat!"

Xu Feng turned over while lying on the kang, opened her sleepy eyes and said, "Sister Fang, my second aunt and sister-in-law make the best dumplings! My eldest sister-in-law and uncle make dumplings that look good, with big fillings and thin skins, and they are very chewy!"

Xu Ning sat against the cabinet and said with a smile, "Who are you trying to impress as soon as you two get up this morning?"

"Hey, second brother, please pick me up." Xu Feng said while rubbing his eye boogers.

"Come on, I'll throw you into the toilet, do you believe me?"

Xu Lao stood up in a sly manner and said, "Feng, let Dad hold you."

"No! I can get up on my own."

“Hahahaha…” The old women laughed happily when they heard that.

The room was filled with smoke. Wang Biao and Liu Tianen set the table and went into the house to get the dishes and chopsticks. When it was almost time for dinner, Li Fuqiang came into the house wearing patched clothes.

"Qiangzi, you and your uncle will install the trailer later. Do you know how to do it?"

"Yes!" Not long after Li Fuqiang sat down, he started eating.

At the dinner table, he told about his encounter with Yu Kaihe last night, and about the shameless and useless actions of the two brown bears...

The more Xu Ning listened, the more he ate. He stuffed two dumplings into his mouth, which was enough to show how anxious he was.

"Are there any scars on your eyelids?" Xu Ning asked after putting down his chopsticks.

"Uncle Yu said he didn't see clearly because he was leaning on the tree, but I think it must be that one!"

Wang Hu said, "How long has my second brother been thinking about that brown bear? He has been thinking about it since the beginning of the year, second brother..."

Xu Ning knew what he meant and shook his head: "You should leave if you need to. Don't go into the mountains for the next two days. Take care of your family affairs first."

Sun Liansheng asked: "Is that the brown bear the one that hurt people?"

"Not good."

"It has to be killed as soon as possible, otherwise it will hurt people in the future. That old man was lucky yesterday, probably because of the mountain wind, the two brown bears didn't smell the scent, otherwise he wouldn't have come back."

"It's really a good fortune."

Yu Kaihe should have died at the end of last year, but by chance, Li Shan died early and protected him. Now fate is even more kind to him, allowing him to escape again.

Sun Lianfang sat on the kang and said, "Brother, wait until I come back before we go fight. I'm pretty good at shooting."

"Stop getting involved..."

Xu Laonian asked: "After you arrive in Wanye, are you going to come back here directly, or go back to Sandaohe?"

Guan Lei said: "I have to go back first to give the flowers to you, and then I will go by myself..."

He certainly couldn't let Guan Hua go to Sandaohe, because the situation in Sandaohe was still unknown. Although Sun Lianfang's parents said they were nice on the phone, who knew what it would be like in person? What if her parents were mean and Xiao Hua saw them? Wouldn't she feel wronged?

Guan Lei told Xu Ning yesterday that he was not afraid of being wronged, after all, Sun Lianfang had been chased here and he had already done his job. He was just afraid that his younger sister would suffer any injustice.

This is not to doubt the character of Old Sun's family, but it is human nature. It is best to go alone to meet the other party's parents for the first time. In this way, even if the other party deliberately makes things difficult, he can bear it. As long as he comes back and doesn't tell anyone, who would know?

However, Xu Ning assured him that the Sun family would not make things difficult for him. After all, they were a wealthy family. If they did something so disgusting, their reputation in Sandaohe would be ruined.

Since you are going there, you should go there to have a good talk and don't be afraid of anything else.

At around seven o'clock, Wang Hu, Guan Lei, Sun Lianfang and Sun Liansheng drove away.

Today is Saturday and all the college students are on holiday. After seeing them off, Xu Feng took the rubber band and took Jin Yumantang to play with Jiang Qiuer.

Xu Laonian and Wang Erli drank some tea, sat in the room for a while, and then left.

At 8 o'clock, Xu Ning, Li Fuqiang, and Liu Daming loaded the trailer in the yard. This thing is a truck bed that can carry sand, wood, and food...

After hanging it on the front and rear of the tractor and starting the vehicle with the crank, Xu Ning drove the tractor out. Liu Daming and Li Fuqiang threw several axes into the vehicle. Wang Biao and Liu Tianen also jumped on the vehicle, shouting that they wanted to cut down trees to build a bridge.

When he drove the tractor to the fork in the road, he saw Lao Jiang, Yu Kaihe and Li Feng standing at the foot of the wall, each holding an axe. When they saw Xu Ning driving the tractor over, the three of them took two steps forward and waved.

"Uncle, Uncle Jiang, Brother Feng."

The three of them all nodded with a smile and threw the axe into the truck bed. Li Feng grinned and said, "This is my first time riding a tractor. It makes a really loud noise. I can hear it from far away."

"Our production team used to have two iron oxen. Have you ever ridden one?" asked Lao Jiang.

"What are we riding? My father took away the handle of a railway ox. From then on, the team won't let our family go to Dacang." Li Feng had no choice but to reveal his own shortcomings.

"Hey! Your father is a terrible person...how is he now?" Yu Kaihe said.

Li Feng shook his head and said, "It's still the same. He keeps making trouble at home all day. I sent him food twice, but he kicked the rice bowl away."

Li Feng had a good reputation in the village. Although he had been beaten up by Xu Ning, Li Fuqiang and others, he never bore a grudge against them. After all, it was his father who was wrong.

If Li Feng held a grudge, used shady tactics, and was unreasonable, Xu Ning would not have allowed the middle-aged trio to cooperate with him.

Besides, Li Feng heard that the Xu family was going to build a house and a bridge, so he came to help. As the saying goes, you should not hit a smiling person, and what's more, Li Feng didn't just smile, but was very open-hearted.

Ahead was the fork in the road between Taiping and Qing'an. Xu Ning held the steering wheel with both hands. From a distance he saw Da Laba and Huang Lin standing on the side of the road with a big axe. As Xu Ning and others got closer, the smile on Da Laba's face became more and more intense.

"These four wheels look really straight! Look at this shiny outer shell!"

Xu Ning smiled and said, "My dad cleaned it early in the morning. Hurry up and get in the car."

Da Laba handed the axe to Li Fuqiang, climbed onto the truck bed with Huang Lin, sat down and asked, "Brother, where are we going to get the wood?"

(End of this chapter)