Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 488: How to Prevent Birds from Making Lamb Cake and Egg Soup
Chai Liangyu laughed so hard that he fell backwards. He said, "Great! We just met and you don't look strange at all. It looks like we have known each other for many years. I really like Erning. You two are worthy of being father and son."

Xu Laonian laughed twice: "Haha, big brother, to be honest, I always mention my name wherever I go. Since this little bastard has become a little famous in our Qing'an, people will say to me when they see me: Hey, this is Xiao Xu Pao's dad."

Chai Liangyu said: "Not at all! Erning can get along well anywhere. You should be happy to have a son like him."

"That is required!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Chai Shao and others took the initiative to greet the two of them, and then Guan Lei, Guan Hua and Sun Lianfang came forward. There was no need for Xu Ning to go through the trouble of introducing them. They just introduced themselves and that was it. Anyway, the relationship between them had already been determined.

Apart from Xu Ning, even Guan Lei is related to the Chai family, so no one can complain.

"Da Lin, come in quickly. The food will be ready in ten minutes. Shouldn't we have a nice drink today?"

"Drink! You must drink it all! Let my little calf accompany you to drink more."

Chai Liangyu was stunned when he heard this. "What the hell? Did Erning pick up the wine?"

Chai Shao, Chai Bing and the others also looked over. Liu Lizhen said with a smile, "Didn't they go to the mountains of Sandaohe to hunt black bears a few days ago? There was a heavy rain in the middle of the night, and they were almost thrown into the mountains. They were soaked, so they drank a few sips of wine to keep the cold away."

Xu Laonian continued, "Before, his mother asked him to drink, but he just stood there and refused. Now that he has picked it up, just pick it up. Just don't become the same person as before."

Chai Liangyu nodded, "That's right. He's young now and it's okay for him to drink a little. Besides, he doesn't get drunk and gets mad. He has changed his bad habits and nothing will happen to him. Hey, Erning, where are you guys going?"

Xu Ning and others were walking out of the courtyard. Hearing this, he turned around and said, "Move some things."

Chai Liangyu frowned and said, "Why are you taking things again? Didn't I tell you last time not to take anything next time you come over?"

"I didn't take it. My parents, my second uncle, Shitou, Lianfang, and Jun'er took it. Uncle, I can't do anything about it."

Chai Liangyu smiled silently and said, "You...Okay, hurry up and move to the house. I'll see what you have taken."

After the middle-aged and elderly people entered the house, the young people went to the back of the car and started to carry things. There were two bags of fish and meat, vegetables, more than 40 kilograms of bear meat and venison, as well as cigarettes and alcohol, canned food, biscuits, etc.

Chai Liangyu stood at the door of the east room, pointing at the double portion of fish and vegetables, and glared at them, "Why did you give me two bags?"

Xu Ning grinned, "Uncle, one of them is for my family. I think it will go bad if left in the car for a day, so I'd better store it in your cellar first and take it when we leave."

"The bear meat and venison were cut in half, the cigarettes and alcohol were brought by Lian Jun and Lian Fang, and the canned food and biscuits were brought by Stone..."

Basically no one came empty-handed, except Wang Hu, who didn't buy anything. He didn't need to buy anything because he came here with Xu Ning. Xu Laonian bought cigarettes and alcohol, so what could a child do?

"Ah, hahaha, I was wondering why there were two servings... Third brother, throw the meat and other things into the cellar."

Chai Bing is Chai Liangyu's leg at home. He is always ordered around by him in everything. It's because the eldest son sits in the village office all day and the second son looks after the store.

At this moment, less than five minutes after entering the door, Sun Lianfang had already become friends with the three sisters-in-law. She had to call Xu Ning's three sisters-in-law "aunt", while Guan Lei and Guan Hua did not change their address and still called them sister-in-law.

They were chattering in the outer room. When Xu Ning and Chai Liangyu came in, they found that Chai Shao and Xu Laonian were also chatting happily.

"Erning, drink more today? It's not easy for you to hold the wine glass."

Xu Ning looked at Chai Feng and said, "Haha, second brother, isn't this a coincidence? I was originally thinking of holding the wine glass after the wedding, so that I can avoid drinking before the wedding."

"Look at what you're thinking. That's it. Drink more today. On your wedding day, I'll ask you three brothers to force you to drink less. But you have to accompany me well. If you don't, I won't be responsible."

After listening to Chai Liangyu's words, Xu Ning said, "Of course! Yesterday I drank less than a pound and I blacked out, but today I can drink more than a pound!"

"Hahaha, that's all that matters. It doesn't matter how much you drink, the main thing is to be happy!"

Chai Liangyu sat on the edge of the kang and asked, "Have Leizi and Lianfang decided on a date?"

Sun Lianfang had sharp ears and could hear the three sisters-in-law chatting in the outer room. She lifted the door curtain, blinked her big eyes, grinned and said, "Master Chai, it's settled! We'll be getting married on September 9th of the solar calendar and August 20th of the lunar calendar! You must come and show your support when the time comes."

"How could I not go? I was a little anxious a few days ago. A lot of my family's fields needed to be thinned out, so I thought about going to Sandaohe as soon as possible. I didn't expect you were still in Qing'an."

"Oh, it's my fault too. I should have gone home earlier. Master Chai, I'll ask Little Stone to toast you a few more glasses of wine later."

"Hahaha, good! This girl is really sensible." Chai Liangyu was happy to drink a little wine. Sun Lianfang's words touched his heart. How could he not be happy?

Chai Bing walked into the house and said, "Erning, come with me to the mountain to take a walk tomorrow. I have built a fence and asked someone to set up some explosives and ground guns..."

Xu Ning agreed immediately and said, "Then we have to go tomorrow morning. We have to go home in the morning."

Chai Liangyu glared and said, "Why are you in such a hurry? Your parents finally came here!"

Liu Lizhen said: "Brother, we have been out for three or four days, and the house is still under construction. If we don't go back early, we are afraid something might go wrong, and we are worried about it."

"That's not a big deal. Besides, we've already found our way here. We can come back when we have time."

Chai Liangyu took a puff of his cigarette and said, "Then let's go after lunch tomorrow! It will be light when you get home."

Xu Ning glanced at his parents and nodded: "Okay, let's go at noon. Uncle, what delicious food can you prepare for me at noon tomorrow?"

"I'll make you a pot of soup with lamb dung and eggs."

"Hahaha……"

After the atmosphere became more relaxed, the third sister-in-law asked Chai Baotong to set the table. Sun Lianfang was very active in getting dishes and chopsticks from the table. She was more diligent than when she was at Old Xu's house. Why? Because when she got home, she heard her mother say: "Hongyan is a very diligent girl. She can do everything."

In fact, people like Sun Lianfang and Chai Hongyan are still at an age where their personalities are not yet fully determined. It is normal for them to have more eccentric personalities. As they grow older and gain more experience, they always feel childish when they think back to what they did in the past. When they reach the age of knowing the destiny, they think that they were indeed very naive back then.

The three sisters-in-law put the dishes on the table, and Chai Liangyu pulled Xu Laonian to sit down. After everyone was seated, they started eating with their chopsticks.

Today, Lao Chai’s family prepared a home-cooked meal, with six main dishes, three cold dishes, and a pot of pork ribs and mushroom soup!

Of course, cucumber and pig ears were indispensable. Although Xu Ning had eaten several meals in a row, he did not feel sick. Instead, the more he ate, the more he enjoyed it. After the meal started, Xu Ning drank the wine in his glass. Chai Bing sat next to him and said with a smile: "Er Ning has a good alcohol tolerance."

After saying that, Chai Bing picked up the bottle and filled it up again.

Xu Ning took a bite of food and said, "What good is it? It's much worse than before. Third brother, didn't you form a mountain patrol team? How's it going?"

Hearing this, Chai Bing shook his head and said, "Normally, they are all kids, they haven't settled down yet, they don't have much experience, and there's no one to lead them. They just run around in the mountains without any rules, and sometimes they even get crazy..."

Xu Ning was surprised and asked, "What, Mada Mountain? I grew up near the mountains, how can there be Mada Mountain?"

Chai Feng continued, "These kids were playing while patrolling the mountains. Some time ago, they forgot the time and only knew to go home when it was almost dark."

"Well, three days ago, a guy named Haizi almost starved to death in the mountains because of half a basket of mushrooms. Fortunately, he found a mountain road and a timber truck passed by and brought him back. Guess where he went?"

"where?"

"They've already run to Dongxing Dagou. Damn it! It's not far to the county! There's really no way to deal with this kid."

Xu Ning smiled and said, "It's good that they can come back. They have never been to the mountains since they were young. It's easy to get lost in the mountains, especially in this season. You can hardly see the sun when you look up, and there are leaves all around. People who have never been to the mountains can easily get lost."

"Well, I was thinking of just fooling around this year, and waiting for you to come over in the fall, and then help me tidy up the mountain ginseng field. Uncle Xu came here before, and he asked us to release the moxa bombs regularly. At first, it was quite effective, but later the animals got used to it."

"Well, setting off double-shot bombs and firecrackers can only help for a while. Then you should prepare more gunpowder, glass, broken porcelain pieces, etc., and make more explosives when the time comes."

"Okay! I'll start preparing it in two days, so it can be used just in time for you to come over in the fall."

Chai Feng looked at Xu Ning and nodded, saying, "Someone told me before that it's useless to set off bombs in the mountains. The animals will come anyway. It's better to build two scarecrows."

"Brother, I'm not scolding this guy, he's just talking nonsense. A scarecrow can't even protect against birds, how can it protect against livestock? Some wild boars dare to hurt people, what's a scarecrow?"

"What do you use to prevent birds?"

"A large row of nets! This thing is specially used to catch birds."

Xu Ning's subtext was that neither birds nor wild animals could be defended, and the only way was to trap them and retreat by advancing.

Why are there fewer pheasants in recent years? It’s because there are pheasant traps everywhere in the mountains, which has reduced the number of pheasants eaten.

Everyone at the table was toasting each other, and after three rounds of wine and five dishes, they were all a little drunk. Xu Ning stared at the half-bitten spareribs. Wang Hu had fallen asleep on the table. Guan Lei and Chai Baotong were chatting happily. He didn't drink much today because he drank too much at Old Sun's house yesterday and he didn't recover even after a night.

Xu Laonian and Chai Shao are of the same age and have a lot in common. They both have high emotional intelligence and feel very comfortable chatting with each other. They flatter Chai Liangyu and make him grin the whole time.

The old ladies had already cleared the table. They sat on the kang and chattered about how to prepare for their children's weddings. They came to Liu Lizhen for advice.

It was past five o'clock when Xu Laonian, Chai Liangyu, Chai Shao, Xu Ning and others had sobered up. The third sister-in-law heated up the dishes for them, and after they finished their meal, they drank tea and chatted at the table.

"I drank quite a bit of Er Ning today, so it must be more than a pound in total, right?"

Xu Ning pointed at the teacup and said, "I must have drunk six or seven cups. The key is that as soon as the glass was empty, my third brother refilled it and stared at me closely!"

Chai Bing laughed: "Hahaha, how can I not keep an eye on you? You've come here so many times before, and every time I wanted to drink less with you, but it's you who keeps nagging about quitting drinking."

"Let's just drink enough from now on, don't drink too much, this amount is just right today!"

Xu Laonian agreed very much. He didn't know what was wrong today. Usually he would feel dizzy after drinking about one pound of wine, but today he became more and more courageous. It was not like when he was at Old Sun's house, where he collapsed on the kang after drinking.

Chai Liangyu smoked a cigarette and said, "I really drank well today. It's the first time in these years."

Xu Laonian continued: "Brother, there are still many years to come..."

Everyone chatted in the house until nine o'clock, and then went back to their rooms to rest. Sun Lianfang, Chai Hongyan and the children lived in the same room, while Lian Jun and Guan Lei lived in the second east room with Xu Ning and Xu Laonian.

The night passed quietly, and the sun rose slowly. When the golden warm sun shone on the window frame, everyone had already gotten up, some quilts were folded, some fires were lit...

When breakfast was over, Xu Ning changed into clothes for mountain running. The clothes were washed by his third aunt, and his shoes were brushed by his second mother. He and Chai Bing drove to the edge of the mountain. Wang Hu, Guan Lei and others did not follow them. Seeing that they would leave at noon, they had to stay and get to know Chai Liangyu, Chai Hongyan and others better.

Lao Chai's family had two ginseng fields, one on the edge of the mountain and the other halfway up the mountain. Xu Ning first took a walk around the edge of the mountain and found that the soil in this ginseng field was very fertile.

"Both of these fields have been fertilized with farmyard manure. Didn't you catch several large egg-diggers when you came here last year? They are all in this field..."

"Ah, so there are a lot of snakes around these two plots of land, right?"

"Of course! It happens all year round. When we go to work in the mountains, we wear rain boots and stuff straw in the shoe shells to prevent being bitten through by snakes."

Xu Ning nodded and said, "You'd better get some sulfur and sprinkle it around the ginseng field... Pull two wires from this tree to that tree, about 20 centimeters and half a meter from the ground. The position of the bomb is a bit high, it should be lowered..."

"Erning, this is what I'm thinking. Explosives can easily hurt people. Can we put more pheasant traps and wild boar traps in the mountains? I thought of putting a mark on the tree. People can see it, but animals can't."

Xu Ning smiled and said, "Third brother, there's nothing wrong with your idea. I wanted you to do this from the beginning, but there's one downside to this. It's too expensive. You have to buy bundles of No. 8 wire, springs, and clips. It would be even better if you could find steel wire, but the cost is too high..."

"I'm not afraid of the high cost. Last time, didn't you say that the price of the ginseng in the garden might drop? My eldest brother did some calculations and decided that it would be better to earn more in the next two years. Even if we earn less in the future, it's okay as long as we have money in our pockets."

"Okay, then you prepare. When I come here in the fall, I will put condoms and clamps all over this circle."

Chai Bing pointed at the wire fence at the foot of the mountain and said, "We need to remove these wires, right?"

"No need to tear it down, just move it closer to the ginseng field."

Xu Ning and Chai Bing walked around the two ginseng fields for a few times. Seeing that it was almost half past ten, they went down the mountain and went home.

(End of this chapter)