Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 534: I'll give you two more eyes to run. How are you going to eat all this meat?

Xu Laonian originally wanted to keep the female roe deer, but it had already slipped and become a meal on the plate, so he immediately moved the muzzle of the gun up and pulled the trigger at the black bear with its four paws sticking to the ground.

On the left side, Guan Lei and Wang Hu raised their rifles and responded at the same time. For a while, there were continuous gunshots and the loud bangs scared the birds and beasts around to fly away in panic.

Under the powerful firepower of two 56-and-a-half rounds and two old-styled rifles, Hei Xiazi was shot several times with only his head exposed...

After the black bear was shot in the head, his whole body leaned forward and downward, with his chin directly hitting the ground, and he fell forward. However, he had retracted his strength before he died, so he did not slide too far, leaving only a scratch of about half a meter on the ground.

Xu Ning raised his hand and shouted, "Stop! Shitouhuzi, you two stay where you are. Dad, let's go over and take a look..."

"Eh!"

Xu Laonian responded and walked forward. He and Xu Ning walked to the left and right of the black bear's body. When they got to the front of the black bear's body and saw two bullet holes on its head, and four or five bullet holes on its forelimbs and sides, with blood flowing out, Xu Laonian raised his head and laughed: "Hahaha! There's meat to eat!"

Xu Ning turned his head and glanced at the female roe deer lying on the ground, still gasping for breath. It could no longer move at this point, only its abdomen was rising and falling with its breath, and it was screaming with its mouth open.

"Huzi, quickly drain the blood and gut Hei Xiazi. Shitou, boil some water to scald the bear's gallbladder!"

"okay!"

Wang Hu and Guan Lei were in a very excited mood. When Hei Xia Zi pounced on them just now, they could both hear the sound of his heart beating. The situation was very tense, but it was a close call.

Xu Laonian kicked the black bear twice and said, "Old man, take the gallbladder of this black bear, look..."

Xu Ning laughed and said, "What am I looking at? Isn't it your fault? If you hadn't insisted on bringing the little roe deer back, would the mother roe deer have held a grudge? If it didn't hold a grudge, would it have attracted the black bear here? It scared us all just now, shouldn't you compensate us for the mental damages?"

After hearing such a twisted logic, Xu Laonian was shocked and said, "Oh my god, no... Since the cause is my fault, if it weren't for me, would the female roe deer have been attracted by the black bear? Then can we still eat bear meat and get bear gall?"

Xu Ning squatted beside the female roe deer, looked at the wound on its body carefully, and said, "Don't argue with me. I am the leader, and what I say is what I mean! This time, because you were greedy, we were almost attacked by a black bear, so your share of bear gall is gone."

"Oh! No... Old man, I'm not making excuses, but shouldn't we be reasonable when doing things? One thing is one thing, I made a mistake, but I also made a contribution!"

At this time, there was a noise in the distance, and Liu Daming came running over with a basket on his back, shouting as he ran: "What's going on? What happened?..."

When Liu Daming ran closer, he was stunned when he saw the body of a black bear and a dying female roe deer lying on the ground. He clapped his hands and said, "Oh my God, how come this black bear and roe deer came to my door?"

Xu Laonian curled his lips: "You can't even eat hot shit, why are you running around so early in the morning?"

"I was wondering if I had nothing to eat in the morning, so I went to pick some wild vegetables. Look! I picked up a lot of hazel mushrooms and water celery..."

Liu Daming put down the backpack and asked, "What's going on?"

Xu Ning said: "I don't know exactly what happened. I was still sleeping in the tent when I heard Hu Zi calling me and saying there was some movement. When I jumped out of the tent, I heard Hei Xia Zi calling out, and then we fired our guns and put it to bed."

Liu Daming looked at Hei Xiazi's body and said, "It must weigh more than 300 kilograms, right?"

"Definitely."

Xu Laonian said: "What should we do with this roe deer? It looks like it's in a lot of pain."

"Brother-in-law, just tell me you want to eat meat."

"Hey, how come you are so good at bickering... The most important thing is how to divide the bear gall. We are a hunting gang, right? Then we can divide it according to your own way..."

"We are a gang, brother-in-law. Fighting the black bear is a form of self-protection, so we can't be considered a hunting gang. We should still follow Erning's three shares and each of us will have one share."

Xu Laonian turned around and glared at him, "What the hell are you? Are you a cunning man or a fool?"

"Hahaha, uncle, there's nothing wrong with what my uncle said. Anyway, I didn't contribute anything just now, so I'll be satisfied if I can get a share. The rest will all be given to my brothers."

Wang Hu and Guan Lei had the same idea. Hearing this, Xu Laonian slapped his forehead and said, "You guys, why can't you just go along with money?"

Liu Daming said, "Brother-in-law, please have some conscience. Erning has given you a lot of pocket money. He always puts ten or twenty yuan into your pocket. How can a father compete with his son for money?"

Xu Laonian stood up, clenched his fists, and angrily said with a stern face: "You are the only one who understands! But I just fired so many gunshots..."

"A 56 semi-automatic rifle wouldn't make a noise if it were put in someone's hand? There are only a few of us who don't know how to use a gun."

Xu Laonian said angrily: "I won't argue with you! You are his uncle, you are his mother's family, whatever you say is reasonable!"

"Hahaha..." everyone laughed.

Liu Daming handed him a cigarette and said, "Brother-in-law, you and Erning haven't separated yet. The money he makes is yours."

"How can it be the same?"

At this time, Xu Ning waved his hand and said, "Stop wasting time. This female roe deer has already died. Dad, you take care of it."

Xu Laonian was somewhat reluctant, "Are you not going to give me some hard-earned money?"

"Let my mom give you two more cannons?"

"piss off!"

Xu Ning stood up and said with a smile: "Uncle, let's go over there and look for that little roe deer."

"Why bother looking for it? There's not much meat on it." Xu Laonian muttered.

"Saving a roe deer is better than building a seven-story pagoda, you know? Now that the little roe deer's mother is gone, can it survive on its own?"

Liu Daming nodded: "Not bad, let's take it home and raise it until the New Year, just in time for eating meat."

"You are even more ridiculous..." Xu Laonian waved his hand, took the knife from Li Fuqiang, and bled the female roe deer.

Xu Ning instructed, "Let my dad boil the bear gallbladder when the pot is boiling. Shitou, hurry up and stew the meat. Use a ladle to make some bear oil and stir-fry the basket of vegetables that my uncle brought back."

"Hey, I know."

Xu Laonian raised his head and reminded them: "You two should be more careful."

After Xu Ning and Liu Daming left with their guns, Wang Hu had already cut open the bear's stomach and took out the lantern from it. He said, "Sir, you can't throw this lantern in front of us, right? What if some animals smell it? What should we do..."

Xu Laonian said, "Put it aside first. I'll take out the roe deer lantern and then throw it away together."

Li Fuqiang held the bear gall and said, "Uncle, please boil the gall!"

"Oh my god, this bear's gall looks pretty big."

Wang Hu said: "My second brother told me that the black bear's courage became bigger when it was running, so it looked bigger."

"That's right." Xu Laonian stood up, took the bear bile, walked to the front of the big pot, and poured hot water on the bear bile with a gourd ladle.

After Xu Ning left, Xu Laonian seemed like a different person, looking a little more mature and more like an elder.

Li Fuqiang cut two more pieces of fat and lean meat, and threw the bear heart and liver into the ladle, which Guan Lei cleaned. After Xu Laonian scalded the bear gall, he said, "Huzi, go throw those two lanterns far away, and find some more oak leaves. We will grill the bear heart and liver over charcoal later! I'll make it for you, it's guaranteed to be delicious." Li Fuqiang said with a smile, "Uncle, you really know how to cook, don't you? Don't let it go to waste."

"Oh, you still don't believe your uncle? We used to do this when we went hiking. We sprinkled salt inside and it smelled really good. Just wait and see!"

"Okay, then Hu Zi and I will go and throw the lanterns. He can't lift them alone..."

The two men carried the lantern to the hillside two or three hundred meters away, threw it on a tree branch, and picked half a basket of oak leaves on the way back.

When they returned to the camp, Guan Lei had refilled the big pot with cold water and put the bear meat into the pot, while Xu Laonian built a new stove next to it and stewed a few pieces of roe deer meat with a ladle.

Xu Laonian wrapped the cleaned bear and roe deer hearts with oak leaves, sprinkled some salt inside, dug two small holes in the ground, spread a layer of red charcoal and wood ash on the bottom, and put the four hearts wrapped in oak leaves inside, then covered them with red charcoal and buried them with moist black soil...

"Look at my uncle's technique, he has indeed practiced it before!"

Xu Laonian smiled and said, "You think I'm joking with you."

Guan Lei said, "Uncle, do you think we should put some salt in the pot?"

"No need to add salt. How much salt should be added to such a big pot? Add less salt after it's cooked."

The four of them were busy in the camp, and three miles away, Xu Ning and Liu Daming followed the trail and bloodstains and found the little roe deer in the haystack.

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

When the two saw that the little roe deer's chest was almost crushed, they were both stunned.

Liu Daming walked slowly closer and looked down, frowning and said, "It should have been crushed to death by a black bear."

"That's what I thought. The black bear wanted to eat it, and the female roe deer saw it. Then the female roe deer fought with the black bear to save her cub. The bloodstain must have been left by the female roe deer."

"Well, then, the female roe deer wants to use us to kill the bear?"

Xu Ning laughed and said, "It doesn't have that kind of intelligence. I guess it often comes to our camp and it's a subconscious action... It doesn't matter what you say. It's fine to say that the female roe deer wants to use the black bear to seek revenge on us, or that it wants to use our hands to kill the black bear. It all depends on what we think."

"That's right, animals don't know anything. Then what should we do with this little roe deer?"

"We didn't bring any shovels, so let's just leave it here."

Liu Daming nodded: "Okay, let's go back quickly."

Afterwards, the two men returned the same way they came, without any sympathy for the death of the roe deer. After all, animals die in the mountains every day, and the law of the jungle is the law of survival in these mountains, so the two men left so resolutely.

When we returned to the camp, it was almost 6:. The sun was rising higher and the temperature was getting hotter.

Xu Ning saw Xu Laonian tearing the bear's heart with his hands, while Guan Lei was cutting the bear's liver...

Wang Hu and Li Fuqiang, who were unloading the bear and roe deer, stood up and asked, "What are we going to do with the meat? It's too hot, and it will go bad if left out for too long."

"Second brother, my uncle said to build a smoking rack and smoke all the meat. It will last for at least six or seven days."

Xu Ning nodded: "Then smoke it, how much salt is left?"

"There's still half a can left, enough salt for us to eat."

Xu Laonian put the bear heart in the lunch box and said, "With so much meat, we don't need to cook rice today. We can be full just by eating the meat."

"No problem. We haven't eaten meat for several days. Let's satisfy our craving first."

Li Fuqiang said with a smile: "We are very lucky. Yesterday my brother said he wanted some meat, and today the black bear and roe deer came to our door!"

"It's not good..."

Wang Hu threw the bear leg into the pile of leaves and turned to ask, "Second brother, shall we go pull the cart after dinner?"

"No, after dinner, put away the tarpaulin and other things. We have to move. This place is full of blood. If animals with good noses smell it, it will be a bit unsafe to live here at night."

Xu Laonian agreed: "My son is right!"

Guan Lei said, "Brother, what should we do with the meat? We can't move it to a new place and smoke it again."

"Let it sit here until it's done fumigating before moving away. You can refine the bear oil first..."

Although they no longer have to worry about food, having too much meat is still quite troublesome because the six of them simply cannot finish eating a black bear weighing more than 300 kilograms and a roe deer weighing more than 50 kilograms in a short period of time.

But it would be a pity to throw away part of the meat, so what should he do? Xu Laonian came up with a trick: he threw the most difficult part of the bear, such as the paw, directly into the charcoal fire and only ate the meat inside!
Liu Daming said, "Brother-in-law, it must be very fishy. How can you eat it?"

"Wouldn't it be a shame if you threw it away? Just do it this way. Listen to me... Okay, son?"

Xu Ning smiled and said, "Okay, of course. In that case, we have to change the next process. After dinner, let my dad take Shitou, Huzi and my uncle to pack up the meat. My eldest brother and I will go out to find a new place to live and cut some branches to build a shack."

"Okay! It's settled. Leizi, when is dinner ready?"

Guan Lei said: "It's boiling now. We can eat it after the soup is boiled. I will start cooking right away."

"Okay, I'll have a cigarette and take a break."

The morning meal was not a source of worry for us because of the harassment from the two animals. Instead, we ate it very happily and deliciously.

The taste of bear meat torn into strips, bear meat soup, charcoal-grilled bear and roe deer heart and liver, and some garlic and wild vegetables is simply delicious.

"It smells so good! This meat tastes so good."

Xu Laonian grabbed large pieces of bear liver and bear meat and ate them with his mouth full of oil. These days were really hard, but now there is finally light at the end of the tunnel. At least he won't have to crave meat anymore.

"Leizi cooked this dish well, your cooking skills have improved. Let's stew some roe deer bones for lunch, but there's no sauerkraut, otherwise it would be very delicious."

"Hahaha..." Everyone looked up and laughed.

After the meal, everyone sat comfortably on the tarpaulin and chatted. After they finished smoking, they got up to clean up the leftovers.

Since they were not going to pull the trolley this afternoon, they were not in a hurry. The meat in the pot had long been empty, and even the broth was only a little left. There was still some bear heart and liver left in the aluminum lunch box, which Guan Lei put into Li Fuqiang's cloth bag to prevent Xu Ning and the others from being hungry while looking for a new place to live.

The roe deer heart and liver are not very big to begin with, so six people finished it in just two or three bites.

Guan Lei and Wang Hu went to wash the pots and wash the utensils, and fetch some water for making lunch. Xu Laonian and Liu Daming were chopping branches nearby with axes, as they were preparing to build a rack for smoking meat.

After Xu Ning and Li Fuqiang packed up their things, they carried their guns and walked towards the red pine forest.

Arriving at the pit where they had carried three batches of leaves yesterday, Xu Ning said, "Let's go around to the east. I think there should be a small river over there."

Li Fuqiang said: "Well, there is a small river in the southwest of where we live now. This river flows to the northeast. It would be great if we could find a ditch or pond."

"How can there be so many good things? I am quite content with this. I didn't expect to be able to eat meat today..."

(End of this chapter)