Back to 1984: Hunting in the Mountains

Chapter 48 Entering the Mountain
When he got closer, Yu Qiutang discovered that some of Old Man Qin's clothes were wet. It seemed that he had been waiting when it started raining just now, which was proved by the water droplets on the bicycle beam.

But even so, Old Man Qin is still in high spirits.

His spirit and energy are no less than that of the young man Yu Qiutang now.

"Finally you're here, Brother Yu!" Old man Qin was very enthusiastic and patted Yu Qiutang on the shoulder.

"Are you afraid that I won't come, so you'll stand you up?" Yu Qiutang joked, but his eyes stayed on the cloth bag in front of him, wondering what kind of gun was inside.

Anyone who can get guns in the area near Rongcheng is a powerful person.

Even a mediocre-looking pole is not something that ordinary people can afford. In the same era, if it were placed in the three northeastern provinces, probably every household could afford one or two poles.

Even this kind of old rifle is too lazy to be used by most hunters. At least they have to use a five or six-charge rifle to modify it. Otherwise, the loading ability is completely useless. If they encounter a ferocious beast and cannot hit it with one shot, they will be finished.

"Look at what you said. I can tell that Brother Yu is a trustworthy person. Otherwise, how could I wait for him without any worries?"

It didn't matter whether this was just a polite remark or not, and Yu Qiutang didn't care. He looked at the car and found that there was no trace of the little civet cat, so he asked how to find the small one if there was no big one.
“It’s right here.”

Old man Qin took out a small brown bottle from his pocket and waved it in front of Yu Qiutang. "It's all in here."

Only then did Yu Qiutang realize that this old man Qin was really quite professional.

He simply collected the civet cat's incense in a bottle, and then used the incense to apply when the time came, without having to bring the civet cat's mother over.

I couldn't help but give a thumbs up to Old Man Qin.

"major."

"Hehe~, this is nothing. I've lived longer and seen more. So, let's go now..."

Old Man Qin was talking when he suddenly slapped his head and said with a smile, "Look at my brain. It's already lunchtime, and Brother Yu must not have eaten yet. Let's go, I'll treat you to some pot-cake soup."

Yu Qiutang did not refuse. He became more interested in this old man Qin.

He is a game dealer and must have channels to sell game. Even if he can hunt good things in the future, he will definitely need to sell them, otherwise it would be meaningless to just eat the meat.

Building closer relationships can also pave the way for the future.

Old Man Qin pushed his bicycle and took Yu Qiutang to a restaurant specializing in Guokui soup.

The so-called Guokui soup is actually no different from mutton soup with steamed buns.

Guokui is a kind of pancake commonly eaten by people in the northwest, and it is not much different from the steamed bun in the famous snack mutton soup with steamed bun.

But later, mutton soup with steamed buns became famous, so many folk snacks changed their names. They just changed their names as long as they could. As a result, people only know mutton soup and no longer remember other snacks.

Because it was not a market day and it was a hot morning, there was no customer in the store. The two of them found a seat in a corner and sat down to eat and chat.

From the conversation, I learned that Old Man Qin was from Gansu. He used to work in Ziwuling Mountains as a forest ranger. Later, because he couldn't get along with his leaders, he left home to make a living.

At first, he worked as a hunter for a while because of his good marksmanship. Later, he broke his lumbar spine while chasing roe deer. Although he recovered a lot, he could no longer use his strength. He had no choice but to change his career again. He used his connections as a hunter and became a wild animal trader.

While speaking, he kept touching the cloth stick leaning against the wall, and he missed it very much.

What was wrapped inside was a modified gun, a pistol with a 56-shot handle, which could solve the inherent shortcomings of the pistol clip. Although it was not as easy to use as the 56-and-a-half, it could still handle most wild animals.

Every hunter is like a retired soldier. His past is the battlefield. Even if he has retired now and cannot go to the front line, he will still be full of passion when talking about the glorious deeds in the past.

The mental age of Yu Qiutang and Old Man Qin were not far apart. After a few sentences of adjustment, he slowly got into the rhythm and was able to stroke Old Man Qin's hair, which made Old Man Qin very happy. He treated Yu Qiutang as a friend regardless of age difference and asked how come they had not known each other before.

After dinner, Yu Qiutang rode Old Man Qin’s bicycle back to the village.

Thinking of helping Old Man Qin fulfill his wish, he did not rush home, but took Old Man Qin directly to the foot of the mountain, hid the car in a bush, covered it with branches, and the two of them walked to the sour jujube forest.

Old Man Qin had already untied the cloth by then, and just as he said, there was a modified gun inside. Yu Qiutang took it and tried it, and found that the gun was well-tuned, and there were many scratches on the gun, which were all its medals of honor.

The mountain road was a bit slippery after the rain. The soil mixed with rain water and yellow fallen leaves made the mountain road, which was not a regular path to begin with, even more difficult to walk on.

The Qinling Mountains are a rare mountain range where broad-leaved and coniferous forests are fully intertwined. Because of its high altitude, the distribution of trees here is not only related to the region, but also to the altitude.

The reason why the Qinling Mountains can maintain biodiversity and support both temperate and cold climate animals and plants is because animals only need to adjust the temperature by changing the altitude.

For example, the giant pandas in Qinling Mountains actually have a different survival trajectory from those in Sichuan and Chongqing.

If you have observed the Qinling giant pandas, you will find that although they are all giant pandas, the Qinling species are chubby, have round heads, and relatively short limbs, and look very cute at first glance.

But the giant pandas in Sichuan and Chongqing have longer mouths, more developed limbs, and relatively thin bodies. They are not only black, but also black and yellow, yellow and white, etc.

It's because we need to adapt to the climate here.

There are two kinds of bamboo in Qinling Mountains, the Bashan bamboo at lower altitude and the Songhua bamboo, also known as Lingnan arrow bamboo, at higher altitude.

The Qinling giant pandas complete their migration between June and July every year, ensuring that they can live in the Qinling Mountains for a long time and last for millions of years.

Yu Qiutang was originally worried that Old Qin would have difficulty walking, but when he learned from the conversation that he was already fifty-five years old, he thought that he would not be as agile as young people.

Although the road at the foot of the mountain was not steep, if one slipped down accidentally, he would still be badly injured, so he deliberately walked on the outside of the mountain path and protected Old Man Qin on the inside.

Naturally, Old Man Qin noticed his instinctive action and nodded secretly.

Along the way, the two chatted as they walked. Yu Qiutang and Old Man Qin had a lot in common as they both had spent a long time in the mountains.

One is a patrolman and the other is a forest ranger.

The functions are slightly different.

Forest rangers have more responsibilities. They not only have to protect the trees in the mountains, but also stop poaching, prevent hidden dangers of forest fires, and even have the responsibility to clean up garbage when they encounter it.

Forest ranger is an earlier profession whose duty is simple: to protect forest resources from being illegally logged.

"Look, it's right in front of us. If we climb up this ridge, we can see the jujube forest." Yu Qiutang pointed ahead.

"I smell it." Old Qin pointed to his nose and said with a little pride: "Nothing in this mountain can escape my nose."

(End of this chapter)