Back to 1984: Hunting in the Mountains

Chapter 42 Who will care about you? !

Yu Qiujiang looked at the smiling Yu Qiutang and said unhappily, "I don't need you to watch me. You'd better stay away. Be careful that we don't pass the disease to you."

Yu Qiutang knew that he was depressed, so he could only smile and continue to say: "Brother Jiang, you see I'm here, doesn't it prove that I don't think that way? I can't control what others think, anyway, I'm firmly on your side."

"Who asked you to stand on this side? What's the matter? You were very afraid of your stepmother, but now you are not afraid of her? Are you not afraid of your father beating you?"

"I'm not afraid anymore."

Yu Qiutang put the basket outside and went straight in to sit on the only iron chair. "My father and I have separated."

"Divide the family?" Yu Qiujiang was startled, and subconsciously asked: "What family are you dividing now? What about your brother's two children? Will they follow you? How can you take care of children when you can't even handle yourself?"

Yu Qiutang didn't rush to answer, but just looked at Yu Qiujiang and smiled: "Look, even though you are so cold to me, you still care about me in your heart."

Yu Qiujiang turned around, squatted on the ground and started rolling cigarettes like a middle-aged man.

"Who cares about you?"

"Hey, Brother Jiang, please don't get angry with me. You know how we are brothers. How could we be influenced by others? What I did before was just a temporary solution. Look, I came to see you right after we separated. Doesn't that prove my point? Don't you think so, Chunju?"

Yu Chunju nodded shyly.

Her face was very pale. She wore long clothes and long pants in the middle of summer and could not stand the slightest breeze, otherwise she would immediately get sick.

Yu Qiutang had seen her when she had an attack. Within a few minutes, her whole body would be covered with one or two centimeter-long, cloud-like spots that felt about one or two millimeters thick, and her body would become very hot.

He had never seen anyone with such symptoms since then, and could only roughly guess that it was some kind of skin disease, but he didn't know the specific cause.

The previous generation of the Yu family had five sons and two daughters.

By the time of Yu Qiutang's generation, he had eight cousins ​​and exactly eight cousins, which meant that the family was prosperous and had many descendants.

But among the many people, there are some who are doing well and living happily, but naturally there are also some who have tragic fates and have hard lives.

Yu Chunju and Yu Qiutang’s third sister Yu Chunmei were the two girls who had the worst lives.

For poor families, common diseases are a hurdle, not to mention this kind of difficult and complicated disease. Once it befalls you, it basically declares in advance that your life is doomed and it is almost impossible to change.

"What's the matter?" Yu Qiujiang's expression relaxed, probably because he had calmed down a lot.

After all, there was an emotional basis between them, so Yu Qiutang humbled himself and explained to him, and he didn't remain stern anymore.

"Hey, hey, I can come and see you two if I have nothing to do, right, Chunju?"

Yu Chunju nodded again.

The blacksmith's furnace didn't need to be lit for the time being, and she didn't get up. She still sat on the small stool, as obedient as a little mouse that met a cat.

Whenever Yu Qiutang asked her questions, she would feel like someone poured a bucket of cold water on her. She would suddenly shudder and then react a little.

Yu Qiutang had a smile on his face, but he secretly felt sad for her in his heart.

"If you're fine, go back and don't disturb me while I'm working!" Yu Qiujiang said in a muffled voice. Suddenly, he remembered something and looked up at Yu Qiutang. "Are you sure you're fine?"

Yes. Yu Qiutang knew that Yu Qiujiang began to doubt his behavior, which was completely different from before. There was no way to explain it. He couldn't do the same thing as before, not to mention that he couldn't do it now. Even if he could do it, he wouldn't do it.

"It's okay," Yu Qiutang took out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Yu Qiujiang, "We are splitting up, so I must find a way to support my family. After thinking about it, since we are close to the mountains, we can only make a living in the mountains.

Show me, this is something I want to make, it looks roughly like the picture, can you type it out?"

Yu Qiujiang looked at Yu Qiutang again, reached out to take the paper, took a glance at it, and said in surprise: "Is this a crossbow?"

"You know him?" Yu Qiutang was also a little surprised.

Yu Qiujiang nodded, turning the paper over and over and looking at it from different angles. "Yes, Master has an atlas with this kind of thing in it. Judging from the shape, it's an early heavy crossbow. These next to it are crossbow arrows, right?"

"That's right. I didn't expect Brother Jiang to know all this. This makes things much easier. My idea is to make a crossbow that is as powerful and penetrating as possible, and preferably capable of firing continuously or quickly in a short period of time."

Yu Qiutang became interested and began to share his ideas with Yu Qiujiang.

Hunting around the Qinling Mountains is much stricter than that in the Northeast, mainly because there are too many protected animals and plants around the Qinling Mountains.

Many of these animals have been listed as national protected animals as early as the early 1980s, and illegal hunting will result in criminal penalties.

For example, in 1982, someone was sentenced to prison for accidentally killing three red-crowned cranes.

If you want to get a gun, even if it has not been banned yet, it is not that easy. If the channel is not formal, even if you get it, it will be reported and confiscated, and you may even go to jail.

A heavy crossbow, if used well, can temporarily solve many problems.

After all, hunting does not necessarily require hunting bears, and there are not actually that many wild boars, unlike what is written in many novels, where there are wild boars everywhere in the mountains and black bears sleeping just after walking through a few tree holes.

"Look, can you make this crossbow? I've been talking about it for a long time!" Yu Qiutang enthusiastically told Yu Qiujiang about his plan. He also thought that if he wanted to go hunting in the mountains in the future, he naturally could not go alone.

Even after forty years, many places in the Qinling Mountains are still uninhabited primeval forests, and there are still many mountain ranges where it is still very dangerous for humans to land.

Almost every year, there are people who die while hiking in the Qinling Mountains.

The famous "Aotai Crossing", although a paradise for all hikers, is also a hell for those who fail in hiking.

The Qinling Mountains stretch from north to south, with an altitude of more than 3,700 meters. The climate is unpredictable and changeable. Often the first few dozen meters are sunny and windy, but the next distance is immediately shrouded in clouds and fog, and you will lose your way if you are not careful.

Not to mention, there are countless poisonous snakes and ferocious beasts in this era. Wanting to go hunting alone is just a fantasy.

Real hunting has no romantic flavor; it is a fight between life and death, blood and flesh. It is almost impossible for humans to conquer various wild beasts in the mountains without the help of tools.

"Can do it."

Yu Qiujiang was silent for a long time before he agreed, but he asked again: "The key is that I can make it, but can you use it? According to the size you drew, this crossbow is estimated to weigh several dozen kilograms. It's okay if you can't lift it, but the key is to be able to hang the crossbow string. With your skinny arms and legs, do you have the strength to do that?"

Yu Qiutang smiled.

Yu Qiujiang seemed reluctant, but he actually cared about him very much. He was worthy of being the person he chose to go into the mountains with.

(End of this chapter)