Back to 1984: Hunting in the Mountains

Chapter 120 Red Fox Hunting Mule? !

"Cousin, why are you here?"

As soon as Yu Qiutang arrived at his uncle's house, he saw that the yard was brightly lit, with the fire illuminating half of the sky.

Out of curiosity, he saw Yu Qiyuan running out of the door in a hurry with a torch in his hand, and he just met him at the door.

"What are you in such a hurry for?" Yu Qiutang pointed at the torch in Yu Qiyuan's hand.

This torch is made of waste cloth wrapped around a wooden stick and soaked in kerosene. It can burn for at least two or three hours.

It is generally not used.

Only during the Chinese New Year will every household make one, and then in the evening the fire team will come to the doorstep with torches for a welcoming ceremony.

It is a traditional project.

"Well, I'll tell you later." Yu Qiyuan said, and prepared to bypass Yu Qiutang.

"Wait a minute, let's work together to find a solution. It's so dark, what can you do if you rush out?"

When Yu Qiyuan heard Yu Qiutang say this, he looked at the night sky. It was gloomy, without any moon or stars. It was so dark that you couldn't see your hand in front of you. The light from the torch could not illuminate the way forward at all.

"You don't know, cousin, my father lost the mule on the team."

"what?"

Yu Qiutang was also shocked. "I remember there is a white-butt on the team now. Is it that one?"

"That's right. What should I do about this? My dad is going crazy with worry."

Yu Qiyuan didn't know whether to walk or stand. He stamped his feet anxiously, looking flustered and confused.

No wonder.

This production team originally had seven or eight mules, but later they were contracted out to each household and some people bought the mules one by one.

In the end, the only strongest mule was left. It was the heroic mule that rescued an old man from a troglodyte courtyard during the flood. Because it had a big white spot on its butt, it was called the White Butt by everyone.

It is called Baigouzi in the local dialect.

Bai Pitbu was loved by the villagers because of his heroic deeds. When his deeds spread to the commune, he was set up as a model and was even featured in the Rongcheng Daily.

The commune leaders and the village chief specifically explained that white-buttocks must not be sold or killed, and must be well raised and not easily put into the fields unless under special circumstances.

But Yu Daner couldn't raise such a big mule by himself, so he entrusted it to several people in the team who were good at raising animals to take care of it in turns. In return, the mule could help with some work.

Yu Deshui used to feed mules in the production team, so he naturally became a part of this mission.

"…Speaking of which, this mule is also strange. We tied it in the yard every day and it was fine. Today, my mother said that we should take advantage of the sun during the day to dry the corn we harvested. If it is dry, we can put it in bags and store it.

There was limited space in the yard, and it was difficult to do anything with the mule tied up next to it, so we temporarily pulled it out and tied it up outside the door for a while.

I had planned to let the mule in before dark.

But who would have thought that while my mother and I were working in the fields, my father was watching over the corn at home. He said he had nothing to do and wanted to drink some wine to relieve his fatigue, but he actually drank too much. When we came back after dark and woke him up, the mule was nowhere to be seen.

Look at what this has caused. The mule is going to be lost. If our family is asked to compensate for it, how can we afford it?
It is said that this is a heroic mule. Even if it is an ordinary mule with this size and weight, it would cost at least fifteen hundred yuan.

Oh, if I really can’t find it back, my dad will regret it to death!

He usually..."

Yu Qiutang signaled Yu Qiyuan to stop saying these useless words, as now was not the time to discuss right and wrong.

He knew clearly that the loss of the mule would not only involve a problem of financial compensation, but would also have a negative impact on the team, the village, and even the commune.

Terrible.

Even the villagers' saliva could drown Uncle San's family.

This is what happened.

"Where is Third Uncle?"

"I went out to look for it. I don't know who was the heartless person who took our mule away. Isn't this going to kill us?"

"Mule, where is it tied?"

The more problems Yu Qiutang encountered, the calmer he became.

There is no point in being anxious all the time, when problems arise try to resolve them, if they cannot be resolved then discuss the consequences.

The most useless thing is to blame others or regret.

This attitude is cheap and serves no purpose.

"Over here, that's the old apricot tree, the one in the middle, where we used to like playing."

Yu Qiyuan pointed at a row of apricot trees diagonally opposite the entrance.

Most apricot trees have fallen by this time, but there are still a few winter apricot trees here with apricots still hanging on them.

The ground was covered with apricot leaves.

"that is……"

"Wait, Qiu Yuan, please stand further away and don't come over. Let me take a look at the scene first..."

"There's nothing to see at this scene. The mule ran away. My family has come here several times to walk around."

"It's okay, give me your torch."

"Okay then... here you go."

Yu Qiyuan had no idea what Yu Qiutang was thinking, but he had helped them catch badgers in the gourd field before, and he had heard a lot about hunting wild boars recently. In his eyes, his cousin Yu Qiutang was already a capable man.

Yu Qiutang used a torch to illuminate the ground around the apricot tree and found that the leaves were indeed trampled into a mess.

But he still squatted down patiently and carefully checked the information on the ground.

He was a little puzzled when he saw that the bark used to tie the rope was torn into a deep scratch, revealing the green tender skin inside.

"Qiu Yuan, when you found the mule was missing, was there still a half rope hanging on the tree?"

"Ah, how did you know?"

Yu Qiyuan was very shocked. "You are right. We were in a hurry to get out because we saw that only a small part of the rope was left on the tree. It must have been cut by the mule."

"Is the remaining half of the rope still there?"

"Yes, it's behind the door. I'll get it for you."

Yu Qiyuan quickly ran into the house and handed the half broken rope to Yu Qiutang.

Yu Qiutang took the rope, looked at it carefully in the light of the torch, put it under his nose and sniffed it gently, shook his head and said, "This rope was not cut, the end of the rope is not neat, and the knife cannot leave such a mark.

and……

There is a special stench on the rope..."

"That's not surprising. The mule is tied up. It says it's a hero, but it's still a beast. It's not surprising that the rope has some stink on it."

Yu Qiyuan didn't understand why Yu Qiutang was so entangled with this rope.

Yu Qiutang shook his head. "No, this is not the smell of a mule, it's more like the smell of a fox."

"What did you say, foxy?!"

Yu Qiyuan was extremely shocked. "How is this possible? Although we are still a little far from the mountain and there is a forest in front of us, I don't believe that a fox could come through the forest.

Besides, even if the fox came, it would only steal chickens and ducks. Why would it want to provoke the mule? Is it planning to kill the mule?"

Yu Qiutang also frowned.

What Yu Qiyuan said was indeed correct. The chance of foxes appearing in this place was not to say zero, but it was very small, and it should be in the winter when food was more scarce, after the snow, rather than now at the junction of autumn and winter.

At this time, various rodents, birds, and some small weasels in the mountains are at their peak activity, so food should be sufficient.

Animals are naturally inclined to seek benefits and avoid harm. If they can easily fill their stomachs, they will not take risks.

Many people don't know how strong the mule is. In fact, this thing has completely inherited the stubbornness of the donkey and the strength of the horse's hooves.

Not to mention an ordinary fox, even if a wolf comes, it is difficult to deal with the mule. If you are not careful, you may be kicked to death or crippled by the mule.

Yu Qiutang took the torch again and carefully checked the ground bit by bit. While checking, he sniffed carefully with his nose, and finally he smelled a strong smell of fox behind the tree.

When I carefully shone the torch, I found a pool of unknown liquid here. Judging from the smell, it should be fox urine.

Is it really a fox?
Things had come to this point, and even if Yu Qiutang didn't admit it, he had no choice but to assume that there had indeed been a fox, or several foxes, here.

Of course, the possibility of one is the greatest.

This is because foxes rarely come to the village in groups to steal food, which is not conducive to concealing their bodies.

Foxes rarely live in groups, they prefer to act alone.

"Well, cousin, what did you find?"

Yu Qiutang was squatting under the tree, still thinking.

Since it is a fox, he can only judge it based on the fox species in Qinling. Different foxes have slightly different living habits.

If the mule was really influenced by the fox, even if he thought it was impossible, he had to prepare for the worst.

There are two kinds of foxes in Qinling Mountains, namely red fox and Tibetan fox.

Tibetan foxes are relatively rare. Even if they appear, they are only found on the top of very high mountains, where the temperature is relatively low and there may be snow all year round, which is more conducive to their lives.

The most widely distributed species is the red fox, also known as the grass fox.

An adult red fox is about 5 to 7 centimeters long and weighs to kilograms. Females are slightly smaller, while males are slightly larger. Male red foxes are about the same size as female jackals.

The red fox's fur color varies greatly depending on the season and region.

Generally, the back is brown-gray or brown-red, the abdomen is white or yellow-white, the tip of the tail is white, the back of the ears is black or dark brown, and the black stripes on the outside of the limbs extend to the soles of the feet. It is very easy to identify and quite beautiful.

Within the Qinling Mountains, the living space of red foxes is greatly affected by other wild animals around them.

For example, jackals, weasels, and various ferocious mustelids, such as yellow-throated martens and stone martens, not to mention the golden eagles flying in the sky.

There are dozens of large carnivorous birds of prey in the Qinling Mountains. If these birds of prey are just competing with red foxes for food, they are already gentle. If they are in a bad mood, they may even take away the red fox.

Going further afield, there are wild boars, wolves, and a series of other competitors.

As a member of the fox family, the red fox has a very flexible mind and a cunning temperament.

But their fighting power is not strong.

There was basically no animal of the same size that he could handle. Not to mention jackals, he couldn't even handle a larger tabby cat, and even a weasel could challenge him.

But this is limited to female red foxes or young red foxes. When encountering a red fox leader weighing eight or nine kilograms, ordinary small animals dare not act rashly.

Yu Qiutang was thinking when he heard footsteps. It turned out to be his uncle and aunt coming back with torches.

It seems that they look anxious and worried, and they definitely won't gain anything.

Come to think of it, it was the middle of the night and the village was full of flowers, plants and trees. Finding a mule that was unwilling to be caught in this environment would be harder than climbing to the sky.

"Qiu Tang, you're here."

Yu Deshui is a short and strong middle-aged man, and the shortest among the previous generation of the Yu family.

His eyes were small, and his hair was still curly and messy, as if he hadn't washed it for a long time. Yu Qiutang remembered his father saying that his uncle's curly hair was inherited from his great grandfather, and it was a cross-generational inheritance.

Among all the grandchildren at that time, only Yu Deshui had this hairstyle, and he was very much loved by his great-grandfather.

When Yu Deshui saw Yu Qiutang coming over, he greeted him naively, but because he was worried about something, his face showed helplessness and anxiety.

After entering the far gate, he threw the torch on the ground, sat down under the eaves and sighed.

Then, Third Aunt Gao Meilan also came in.

Gao Meilan is taller than Yu Deshui. In later times, her figure is pretty good, but in the countryside, she looks a little thin and frail.

But this thin body contains a very strong anger. When she is in a good mood, she is really good. If she is irritated, she will be really angry and most people can't withstand it.

"Third aunt."

"Oh, Tangtang, what are you doing here so late at night?"

Gao Meilan was calmer than her husband. Although she was also very tired, she had not yet collapsed.

Following behind the two men was a girl of about eleven or twelve years old. She was Yu Qiuyuan’s sister and of course Yu Qiutang’s cousin. Her name was Yu Chunzhu.

When this name was chosen, it was of course arranged according to the names of girls of this generation in the family, and the homophony of the characters was not considered at all.

As a result, after Yu Chunzhu went to school, she was a little fat and not very good-looking, so her classmates called her "Yu the Stupid Pig", and she was extremely inferior for a while.

However, she later went south to Guangdong to work and did quite well. Her small business grew bigger and bigger, and finally she seemed to have opened a factory, married a local, and made a lot of money.

When Yu Qiutang was young, he didn't have much contact with Yu Chunzhu. When he grew up, they contacted even less. He just heard some things from Yu Qiyuan, but they met no more than five times in total, so he didn't have much impression.

Unlike later generations when there were fewer people and cousins ​​seemed quite close, at that time there were dozens of cousins, cousins, and sisters in total, and it was impossible to be familiar with everyone.

It’s normal when we’re young, but it becomes harder to get close as we grow older.

Gradually, we became more distant.

"Cousin."

Yu Chunzhu was still quite lively at this time, not too fat, and didn't look that bad.

She called out Yu Qiutang and sat down next to her mother.

This is their family of four.

In comparison, Yu Qiyuan was considered to be relatively energetic. No matter whether the others were desperate or calm, they were actually exhausted.

"Uncle San, I heard from Qiu Yuan about the mule. Don't worry, I'll think of a solution."

"Do you have any idea?"

As if they were drowning people who suddenly grabbed a life-saving straw, Yu Deshui and Gao Meilan asked in unison.

Yu Chunzhu also looked at Yu Qiutang curiously.

"I can only try. So, Qiu Yuan, I remember you have a bicycle at home, right?"

"Yes, do you want to use it?"

"Give me the car."

"You are now..."

"Atom, push the car to your brother."

Before Yu Qiyuan could continue to talk, Gao Meilan gave him a direct order. Yu Qiyuan hurried into the next building and pushed out the bike, which was a Yongjiu "light bicycle".

Bicycles have actually gone through an evolution from big to small, and from heavy to light.

The original 28-bar bicycle, also known as a weighted bicycle, was very large, had a very sturdy back seat, and could carry a good amount of load.

There can be two people sitting in the back seat and two children sitting on the beam, and the bike can still be ridden forward.

If it is a sack, it can carry a weight of two to three hundred kilograms.

It is simply the load-carrying king of bicycles.

Moreover, the tires of this type of car are very large. With one pedal stroke, the car can turn a long distance. It is completely unlike the cars of later generations, where you can only see the pedals but not the car moving forward.

But the biggest problem with this type of car is that it is heavy and large, and is not suitable for children and short women.

So a smaller version of the vehicle came into being, called a "moped".

A moped looks similar to a weighted bike, but is a smaller version.

If we make a comparison, a weighted bicycle is like a burly man, while a lightweight bicycle is like a slim girl.

It has all the functions it should have, except for its weak points.

Later, as people's use of bicycles changed, the function of bicycles for carrying people and goods gradually weakened, leaving only the purpose of riding.

Therefore, the front beam and the rear seat lose their meaning and only increase the weight of the car.

Therefore, bicycles began to have the curved beams that were common among people later on.

This type of bike is easy to get on and off, which makes learning to ride a bike much more convenient. Unlike the early days when people learned to ride a bicycle, they had to go through the difficult process of digging out the beam... putting on the beam... and sitting on the bike.

Yu Qiuyuan's family has a second-generation lightweight bicycle, which obviously means they are well-off.

At that time, this type of car had just come out and was still relatively new, and most people had no intention of buying it.

"Don't worry, it's so dark, it's hard to look for it outside," Yu Qiutang got on the car, "I need to go to where my brother Jiang is, I'll give you the car later."

"Use it. Use it."

Seeing that Yu Qiutang was so serious, Yu Deshui's family placed their hopes on him.

Just let him do whatever he wants.

Yu Qiutang said no more and rode out on his bike.

He wanted to go to Yu Qiujiang's house to find the black dog.

The black dog is a specially trained hunting dog with a much stronger sense of smell than the average domestic dog, and its tracking ability is also trustworthy.

The mule has such a strong smell, so it should be fine.

Even now, Yu Qiutang still doesn't think that the mule was taken away by the red fox. It's like saying that an ant moved a chicken.

The only theoretical possibility is that many foxes cut the mule into pieces and take them away.

Otherwise, no matter how many come, it will be useless.

The fox's fighting ability is not worth mentioning at all.

But why the fox appeared at the scene is still unknown. We can only wait until things are settled and then study it slowly.

"Can this Qiutang do it?"

Yu Qiutang walked away for several minutes, and Yu Deshui suddenly reacted and spoke subconsciously.

"What good ideas do you have? If this kid is willing to help you, just let him go. Didn't you hear people on the team say recently that Qiu Tang killed a wild boar?"

"Wild boar? Who told you that?"

"Are you really his third uncle? It's spread all over the team and the village. Many people have bought wild boar meat from him..."

"Yes, Dad, you forgot. There was a civet in our gourd field last time. Oh, it was the time when my brother Shan came back. It was my cousin who helped us catch the civet. I told you about it."

"It seems that's the case," Yu Deshui recalled, "I was in a hurry and forgot about it.

If that's the case, maybe that kid is really capable?"

"I think it's about the same." Yu Qiyuan said.

"It's hard to say. He may kill the wild boar, but he may not be able to find the mule. Damn it, if I knew who took my mule, I would kill them."

When Gao Meilan said this, she became angry.

"My cousin said that it is very likely that the mule was not taken away by someone?" Yu Qiyuan thought of Yu Qiutang's analysis.

"Where else could it go? It's not a human. Could it be taken away by a ghost?" Gao Meilan said angrily.

"There are no ghosts in the world, Mom."

Yu Chunzhu interrupted.

"..."

Gao Meilan almost fainted. She tapped Yu Chunzhu's forehead with her fingers. "I need you to remind me? You're just bringing up something irrelevant!"

"You were the one who said there were no ghosts."

Yu Chunzhu muttered.

"There must be something wrong with your brain. You just eat all day long, but you don't seem to be able to grow any brains. Where did all the food go?!"

"abdomen?"

Yu Chunzhu touched her belly.

Gao Meilan was too lazy to pay attention to her daughter.

She also didn't know how she, who had been so smart all her life, could give birth to such a stupid girl who could make people angry to death.

You have to know that when Yu Chunzhu grew up, she suddenly became smart and her life became so good. She definitely wouldn't say that now.

"My cousin said that the mule might have torn it off by itself."

"Tear it apart by itself?" Gao Meilan and Yu Deshui looked at each other. Yu Deshui thought about it, nodded and said, "That's not impossible. The beast is very strong. If it's frightened, its strength will be even greater..."

"Dad, you just said you were frightened. Could it be that the mule was tied up well and suddenly got frightened by a fox? Oh, my cousin said there was a strong smell of fox urine under our apricot tree.

If the mule is frightened by the fox, it is not impossible that it will break the rope directly. "

"It is indeed possible, if there really is a fox."

Yu Deshui nodded. Living at the foot of the mountains, he had experienced some incidents of foxes stealing chickens.

"If that's the case, let's go back and ask whose chicken it is... Hey, why didn't I hear Erhong crowing?"

Erhong is the big red rooster in our family. We have raised it for more than four years. He helps the hens to produce many nests of chicks and is the emperor of the chickens in our family.

After being raised for a long time, this rooster has some human nature. If it had been tormented like this, it would have crowed to death a long time ago.

"not……"

Yu Deshui jumped up quickly and ran towards the chicken coop, and the others followed hurriedly behind him.

Soon, Yu Deshui was seen running out crying, holding a dead chicken in his hand.

"This damn fox bit our Erhong to death."

Even if you raise chickens, you will develop feelings for them after raising them for a long time.

Gao Meilan and Yu Qiyuan both felt sad instantly.

"Dad, can we still eat the chicken that was killed by a fox?" Yu Chunzhu asked cautiously.

(End of this chapter)