Back to 1984: Hunting in the Mountains

have to.

The children looked at each other and exchanged glances.

Whether it was Wang Chunhua and Yu Qiushi over there, or Yu Chunmei and the others here, they all knew that Chen Meidi would not make a fuss easily. Once she was really angry, she would not be able to stop for a while when she met her father's violent temper.

"I'm full. I'm going to sleep." Yu Qiushi stood up first and ran into the room snoring.

"I'm sleepy." Wang Chunhua followed closely behind.

Yu Xiaowei and Yu Xiaoyun looked at Yu Qiutang. Yu Qiutang had no choice but to say, "Third sister, you guys clean up and go to sleep."

"Okay." Yu Chunmei collected the empty plates on her side and fled with Yu Xiaowei and Yu Xiaoyun.

Only Yu Qiutang and three others were left at the table.

Because the children were snoring, the rhythm of the quarrel was temporarily disrupted. Now they quieted down and neither of them wanted to speak, so the situation remained deadlocked.

"Try to quarrel less in the future. We will move out before the New Year, and you will be the only ones left in this yard. When Qiushi is not at home for a day, and we find a partner for Chunhua, then it will be just the two of you.

No need.

There's really no need to keep arguing."

Yu Qiutang estimated that this would be the last time he would say these things in front of the two people before leaving the troglodyte courtyard, so he decided to do his best.

Through what happened to his grandmother in the past few days, he also understood something.

It is best to have a companion in your old age.

Otherwise, it's like duckweed. When you are old, no matter what children or friends you have, they are actually meaningless and they are all outsiders.

"You're half buried in the earth, and yet you're not as open-minded as Qiutang. I really don't know where you've been living for the rest of your life?" Chen Meidi continued.

"If you want to go, go ahead. I can't stop you." Yu Dejin ignored Chen Meidi, left a word, turned around and went back to the cave.

Only some Langji and Yu Qiutang were left on the table.

Of course Yu Qiutang and Chen Meidi had nothing to say, so they had to find an excuse to leave.

Chen Meidi was left standing there in a daze for a long time before she shouted in frustration, "You all left so quickly, leaving me alone to clean up your things. I owe you!"

Yu Qiutang pretended not to hear.

Back to preparing what you’ll need for the next day.

Considering that this trip into the mountains might take a few more days, we need to be more prepared than before.

It just so happened that Yu Chunmei baked a lot of mooncakes in the afternoon, so she could carry more.

Now the temperature on the plains has dropped to more than ten degrees, and the temperature on the mountains is probably even lower, so things won't go bad for a while.

"Uncle, how long will it take you to go to the mountains this time?"

"Three to five days, probably. But it could be faster. It depends on luck."

Yu Xiaowei bit the end of his pencil and said enviously, "I want to go with you, too."

"Don't think too much, your top priority is to study hard."

"Then when I have winter vacation, can you take me there?"

Yu Qiutang smiled and nodded, "I can take you around the area and hunt rabbits, snow chickens, etc. Don't even think about going into the mountains until you reach adulthood."

"Oh, I see." Yu Xiaowei was a little frustrated.

"Don't think that going to the mountains is too fun," Yu Qiutang put the cleaned crossbow aside and squatted in front of the doghouse to tease the puppy.

These dogs were able to grow to twice their original size, and their personalities began to show differences from each other.

Two of them looked relatively docile, but the pure black one was particularly ferocious, baring its teeth at everyone except Yu Qiutang.

Yu Qiutang didn't object to it.

This shows that it is suitable to be a biting dog, and it can help him solve the prey at critical moments in the future.

But being ferocious also has its price, which is that others find it difficult to feed it and are too lazy to pay attention to it. As long as Yu Qiutang is busy, it often does not have time to eat.

“You are just like these puppies now, still in the training stage. You look fierce and full of fighting spirit, but if you are really released into the mountains, you will have no fighting power and may even become food for wild beasts.

Hunting is not a very interesting thing, it is just a way for us to make a living. We can't make much money by hunting, and we can't live a good life. After the house over there is built, we must do something else to make money easily and safely, understand?"

Yu Xiaowei shook his head, "I don't quite understand."

"That's why you need to study more. Studying is to help you understand more knowledge and principles."

Yu Xiaowei didn't expect that after all the talk, the final destination would still be studying. He suddenly felt that he could not escape Yu Qiutang's trap.

Cunning lord.

"After I leave, you have to behave yourself at home and help me feed my three dogs. Xiao Hei has a bad temper, so ignore him and just feed him as usual.

Oh, and there's the fairy tofu. I told the restaurant that your aunt has to help cook for the people who build the house recently, so she won't make it for now. Wait until this is done, so you don't have to worry about it."

"Okay, I see."

"That's good."

Yu Qiutang rubbed his nephew's head and said, "I'm very happy that you are so sensible. Your father and mother must be relieved too."

"Ah."

Yu Xiaowei nodded heavily.
.
At around four o'clock the next day, Yu Qiutang got up and washed.

I was originally planning to drink some water, eat a steamed bun and then meet Yu Qiujiang, but I didn't expect that Yu Chunmei had also gotten up early.

"You're asleep, why are you in such a hurry to get up? You've been standing all day and night and you must be exhausted. I'm worried that your legs won't be able to take it anymore."

Yu Qiutang thought about this problem yesterday.

After all, my sister is in poor health and has been so busy, so she must be more tired than ordinary people.

I decided to come back and if that doesn’t work, I’ll find someone else to help with cooking.

Yu Chunmei, wearing long johns and a long coat, swayed back to the kitchen and said, "I'll make you a bowl of egg soup. It's so cold, eating dry steamed buns is unbearable."

Rongcheng is located in the northwest, where the temperature difference between day and night is large. In autumn and winter, the temperature is even worse.

Often the temperature is close to 20 degrees under the sun during the day, but only a few degrees at night or even in the early morning.

Anyway, Yu Qiutang has already prepared a military coat. The temperature in the mountains at night may drop below zero, and it may even snow.

Since his sister had already gotten up, Yu Qiutang didn't insist any more.

He came to the kitchen and saw Yu Xiaoyun's little head sticking out from under the quilt, her face red from sleeping.

Seeing him come in, I asked in a daze: "Uncle, are you leaving?"

"Well, let's go early so we can get into the mountains before dawn."

"Oh." Yu Xiaoyun changed from lying down to lying on her stomach, staring at Yu Qiutang, "Are you coming back tonight?"

"It's probably going to be difficult. It might take several days."

"Oh."

"Uncle is not at home, you have to watch your brother and stop him from messing around. If he doesn't obey, tell me when you get back, understand?"

"Hehe, I know, I will definitely tell you!"

Yu Xiaoyun grinned. "It's still early, you can sleep a little longer, I won't disturb you."

"I've had enough sleep," Yu Xiaoyun sat up wrapped in the quilt, "When my aunt was making tofu, I sometimes got up to help her."

"Is that so?" Yu Qiutang didn't know about this. He thought all the tofu was made in the evening.

"Yes, Yunyun is very well behaved."

Although Yu Chunmei had a problem with her legs, she was still very efficient at her work. In less than ten minutes, a bowl of fragrant leek and egg soup was placed on the railing.

He took out two slices of steamed bread from the back pot. They were warm and smelled rich.

"Kang" is a local dialect here, which probably means putting something on a hot pot and heating it slightly, a bit like ironing, but not quite.

The culture is truly profound and extensive.

It is said that eating steamed buns cooked on a kang is good for the stomach, so it is a very common way of heating them for people here.

Yu Qiutang finished his work in a few bites, said goodbye to his sister and niece, and walked towards the alley carrying his heavy bag and crossbow.

When we passed by my father's cave, he said, "Don't go too deep. Don't go deeper than 3,000 meters."

"know."

Yu Qiutang responded without stopping.

His father didn't know that he was very familiar with the situation in the mountains, and it was difficult for him to understand the changes in him.

But Yu Qiutang had a successful precedent, so he couldn't say anything.

I could only remind him based on my limited experience of chopping wood in the mountains.

Yu Qiutang didn't mind and accepted the reminder.

As he walked to the entrance of the alley, he suddenly thought of a question. If people's evaluation of others is subject to the relationship between them, then is his evaluation of his father fair and just?

Because he hated him in his heart, he didn't like anything about him and tried every means to go against him, so his father hated him even more and liked to beat him more, and then he hated his father even more...

This vicious cycle continued until my father passed away. The force was gone and I finally fell into endless emptiness.

It’s hard to define.

Sure enough, people always move forward slowly while reflecting.
.
When Yu Qiutang arrived at Yu Qiujiang's place, Yu Qiujiang had not yet finished packing, but Yu Qiyuan had arrived first, full of energy and eager to try.

"Did your mother agree?"

Yu Qiutang asked Yu Qiuyuan with a smile.

"Of course, my mother supports me to go. She said that a man should go out and hone his skills. If he stays at home all the time, what can he achieve?" Yu Qiyuan seemed very proud. Thinking of something, he smiled and said, "It was my father who was worried and advised me before I left."

"That's normal." Yu Qiutang said.

Yu Qiyuan was slightly stunned, then smiled and said, "That's right, it's normal."

"Where's my grandma, is she okay?"

"It's okay, but he's not in good spirits." Yu Qiyuan restrained his smile and said, "In fact, it's better to be as fierce as the past two days. At least it shows that he is still healthy. His current condition is quite worrying."

Yu Qiutang frowned, feeling helpless.

Human emotions are really complicated.

To say that I have deep feelings for my grandmother, it’s not that deep. But I would feel sad if I thought about her dying from illness.

Blood ties are truly a wonderful thing, they exist beyond emotions and cannot be separated from them by simply letting go.

Thinking of grandma, he thought of his grandmother again. He said he wanted to go see his grandmother, but he never had the time.

Ever since my mother passed away, the relationship between my grandmother's family and this side has actually been very strained. Mainly because my three uncles were very suspicious of my father Yu Dejin, and believed that my mother's death was caused by this side, and that there was something fishy going on.

No wonder they are suspicious.

My mother's death was indeed sudden.

He went to work in the fields in the afternoon, and when he came back in the evening he had a high fever and died in the late night.

This was a rural area at the time, and the control over death was not strict. Because the man was not old, the coffin was not kept for three days like for an old man. He was buried in just one and a half days.

So the death of my mother has always been a thorn in my side.

In my grandmother's words, when my mother finished work at night and was going home, she did not take the main road and passed by the grave of some evil ghost and was hindered by the dirty things.

But this is certainly superstition.

Yu Qiutang was still young at that time. After listening to his uncle, he always felt that his mother's death was related to his father. This was the fundamental reason why their relationship had become so cold.

Although I gradually realized as I grew older that my mother did have a bad heart and high blood pressure, I guess it was some acute illness at the time and it wasn't because of my father's ill intentions.

After all, my father and mother had a deep relationship. After my mother died, my father's energy and spirit were drained away all at once. It felt like a turning point in his life.

A young man in his prime was transformed into a middle-aged man with a haggard face.

But he could understand it, but his uncle and grandmother didn't.

My grandmother gave birth to three sons and two daughters in total. My aunt reportedly died of illness at a very young age, leaving only my mother's daughter, who is the darling of the whole family.

Who knew, leaving so early, it's totally unacceptable.

It's also very troublesome.

It is said that every family has its own problems. Yu Qiutang doesn’t know what the situation is like in other families, but their situation is still quite chaotic.

While Yu Qiujiang was preparing, Yu Qiutang came to his yard and checked the construction site, but found that there was basically nothing to see.

Professional things still need to be done by professionals.

He is only responsible for paying money and making requests, and he is not allowed to interfere too much.

The National Day has just passed. I hope that the foundation can be completed before the weather gets completely cold in November, and then I can find time to start the decoration.

Decoration in the countryside is not as troublesome as that in later cities. Basically, it just involves a suspended ceiling, painting the walls, and at most paving the ground with red bricks.

It won’t take much time if there are really a lot of people.

Turning back, Yu Qiujiang had packed his things and was about to carry them on his back, but Yu Qiutang signaled that there was no rush.

"Come on, Qiu Yuan, open all your packages and let me check your stuff. This trip into the mountains will be more dangerous than before. We may have to go to the top of the mountain, which is 3,000 meters above sea level."

"跘" means to fall, and "坎羊顶" refers to a cliff that even mountain goats cannot lie on.

It is the most precipitous mountain in the Qinling Mountains near Xiangrong City.

It can even be compared with Mount Taibai and Mount Zhongnan.

Moreover, when people really climbed Mount Taibai and Mount Zhongnan on a large scale, the basic development had already been done, and they were far from being as steep as when Li Bai, Du Fu, or even Xu Xiake climbed them.

However, due to its remote location, dangerous mountain and small area, it is not conducive to development. Therefore, even decades later, there is only a simple gravel road and no formal steps have been paved.

At that time, things were even more primitive. There were not even normal roads in the mountains, and people had to grope their way forward.

In his previous life, when Yu Qiutang was a ranger at the station, there were several mountains that he was most reluctant to visit, including this Zhuanyangding.

There are even some colleagues who are so exaggerated that every time they go to the Zhuanyangding for inspection and marking as usual, they have to burn three incense sticks before leaving. They also bring some things and sprinkle them everywhere after arriving, in order to ask the mountain gods and the land to bless them to complete their work smoothly. They must not come standing up and go back sideways.

"Where is the Mandragora water?" (End of this chapter)