Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 583: A Real Man, a Pure Tiger, a Whistle, a Favor
Chen Jinlong's wife paused after hearing this and asked, "Just tell me, is He Shuang dead or not?"

"Not dead! But my arms and legs are broken."

The wife was stunned and yelled, "Damn it! I'll wait for you to come back! I'll scratch you to death..."

Chen Jinlong urged helplessly: "Hey, hurry up and call Hexi."

The wife put down the phone, cursing, and ran out to call Chen Hexi. After a while, Chen Hexi answered the phone and asked, "Dad, what happened? Why did my eldest brother break his arms and legs?"

"If you encounter a tiger in the mountains..."

Just as Chen Jinlong was about to explain further, Chen Hedong suddenly snatched the phone. He was afraid that Chen Jinlong would talk nonsense and misunderstand Xu Ning and others again, which would be really troublesome.

"My eldest brother couldn't stand the hardship and kept mumbling along the way. We told him that there was a tiger following him, but he still didn't believe it. He shouted and attracted the tiger. My buddy fired two shots and scared the tiger away.

Then when it got dark, my brother suddenly disappeared, and then we heard a tiger roaring in front of us. Just like that, my brother was bitten by the tiger.

His arms and legs are broken. My buddy treated his wounds briefly, but he is now unconscious and needs to be rushed to the hospital. You go find my sister-in-law and her uncle right away, and you two bring the money to Mudan City! Did you hear that?"

Chen Hexi digested his words, paused for two seconds, and asked, "Are you and Dad okay?"

"We didn't even see what the tiger looked like, but my eldest brother ran to the front and let the tiger take it out! Oh, I'm convinced! Come here quickly, remember to bring money, and don't tell me about this in advance, otherwise he will be anxious."

Chen Hexi said, "Okay, I'll go find my uncle now. I'll probably be at Mudan around seven or eight tomorrow morning."

"Okay! Come directly to Mudan First Hospital."

"Are you in the hospital now?"

"No, we just came out of the mountain and saw a village. We called the village and were told that we would arrive in Mudan around four in the morning."

"That's it, I'll pack up and leave."

"Hey, don't give up..."

A mother's voice came from the microphone. Chen Hedong didn't hesitate and hung up the phone without giving his mother a chance to complain.

Chen Jinlong saw him turn around and asked, "When can we get to Hexi?"

"Be at Mudan at seven or eight tomorrow morning."

Liu Sitie heard this and said, "Uncle Zhang, when will Zhang Yu come over?"

Village Chief Zhang said, "I'll ask him to clean up when I get back. I estimate it will be half an hour."

Liu Eryin waved and said, "That's a good opportunity to let them have some food. Let's go, Brother Xu."

Immediately, Xu Ning said hello to Village Chief Zhang, and asked Guan Lei and Chen Hedong to lift the stretcher and go out. On the way to Liu Sitie's house, Chen Jinlong remained silent. He seemed to be still wondering why Liu Sitie was angry. For a middle-aged man, it was really heartbreaking that he could not do things as well as young people.

As they walked into Liu Sitie's courtyard, three old women came out from the outer room to greet them. They were the wives of the three brothers. They had smiles on their faces, but when they saw Chen Heshuang lying on the stretcher, they were frightened. For a moment they didn't know whether to smile or keep a straight face.

Xu Ning said, "Brother Dong, can you let your eldest brother put it in the courtyard? Don't go into the house and scare the child."

"Oh, it's okay, the children are sleeping."

At this time, the noise of children could be heard in the house. Xu Ning waved his hand and said, "Let's leave it in the courtyard, Brother Dong?"

"Okay! Let my dad stay here and call him after dinner."

Chen Hedong has been heartbroken time and again by his father and brother, so he is quite rational when making decisions and will not fall into a dilemma because of family ties!
Unfilial? Against the Tian Gang? Whatever you want, what else do you want after doing this?
Guan Lei and Chen Hedong put the stretcher on the haystack. Chen Jinlong sat next to the haystack and kept watch. He lowered his head and said nothing. When he was about to enter the door, Chen Hedong reminded him, "Be careful when you smoke. Don't set the haystack on fire."

Chen Jinlong tilted his head and stared at his own son Chen Hedong, feeling mixed emotions. He just nodded and turned away.

Xu Ning and others entered the house. The walls were plastered with yellow mud, and the roof was exposed with logs and purlins. The roof of the outer room where cooking was often done had been blackened by smoke. The floor of the east room was bumpy, but not dirty. On the contrary, it was very bright and reflective. The bedding on the kang had been rolled up to the feet near the window sill. A rectangular kang table was placed horizontally, and on the table there was a pile of bowls and chopsticks and a plate of pickles.

After Xu Ning entered the room, he sat on the edge of the kang. Xu He and Guan Lei took out cigarettes and handed them to the three Liu brothers. Liu Sitie smiled and said, "These are good cigarettes!"

"We're going out now, I'm just pretending to be a kid." Xu He said with a smile.

Xu Ning looked at the child who was about the same age as Wang Biao and Liu Tianen and asked, "Second brother, is this your child?"

"Yes, my eldest son, this is my daughter!"

"How old are you?"

"I got married late. My eldest son is only 14 and my daughter is 10."

"Oh, then you should get married in a few years. Are you going to school now?"

Liu Eryin patted his son on the back of his neck and said, "Say something! Your Uncle Xu is asking you a question, you're screwed!"

"Uncle Xu, I don't want to read it anymore."

"He's not doing well in school, so he was dropped out of school this year."

Xu Ning nodded, looked at the four children in the house, and said with a smile: "Second brother, your Liu family is indeed full of people. No wonder Village Chief Zhang doesn't dare to show off to you."

"It's just a lot of people. We are five brothers and have eight children in total. But more people means more food. We couldn't afford to feed them before, but it's only been better in the past two years."

Liu Sitie said with a smile: "In fact, our village chief still has some feelings for us. My father saved his life during the flood. Otherwise, he would have dealt with us long ago."

Liu Wulu said: "He dares! If he dares to deal with the five of us, I will..."

"Old Five, stop talking nonsense! Uncle Zhang is just greedy for money, but when we need help from him, he's always helped us. Stop saying such shameless things."

At this time, the second sister-in-law and the fourth sister-in-law came into the house carrying vegetable bowls and rice bowls. There were three kinds of rice in total, steamed rice with sorghum rice, corn stubble, and corn flour cakes. There were two dishes on the table, one was pickled vegetables, and the other was a stew with fungus, mushrooms, beans, potatoes, and eggplants. There was almost no oil in the vegetable bowls.

Liu Sitie scratched his head in embarrassment and said, "Brother, you guys just have to make do with what you have. This is the only condition we have at home."

Xu Ning said with a smile: "Then we won't be polite. Brother Dong, call your dad to come in and eat."

Chen Hedong walked out of the house. When he passed by the outer room, he saw three old women beating eggs. He was slightly startled and stood at the door and called out, "Dad, come in and eat!"

He didn't care whether Chen Jinlong moved or not, he turned around and went into the house, whispering, "Erning, I saw the third sister-in-law beating eggs in the outer room."

Xu Ning smiled and said, "It's okay, sit down and eat quickly."

Chen Jinlong walked into the room and sat down on the edge of the kang without saying a word. He picked up his chopsticks only after seeing Xu Ning and the others start eating. Then, after seeing the dishes in the basin, he narrowed his eyes, scooped a bowl of kaoliang rice, picked up the stewed vegetables with two chopsticks, and shoveled them into his mouth.

When the three Liu brothers saw them wolfing down the food, smiles appeared on their faces. They knew that these people were better off than them, and they were afraid that Xu Ning and the others would look down on them.

Liu Eryin heard the sound of cooking in the outer room, lifted the door curtain to take a look, and clapped his hands, "Hey! Brothers, eat slowly, your sister-in-law is frying leeks and eggs in the outer room!"

"Okay, I smelled it just now. Second brother, what do you usually do?"

Liu Eryin said: "When we have nothing to do, we just clean the land. Some people don't want to farm, so we help them do it. When the time comes, we are given some money or food. In winter, we go to the river to help fish. We can earn a few cents a day. If we catch a lot of fish, we will get the fish heads and some fish fry."

Xu Ning frowned and asked, "Does the fish farm make so little money? I heard that fishing in the Songhua River can make five or six yuan a day."

"Don't you bring your own tools? We don't have anything. All the tools are handmade. What we do is dig a hole in the ice to anchor the fish. It's a skill. Carp and silver carp are not valuable. Only those with hooks are worth one or two cents." Liu Sitie said, "There are too many people doing this job here. Basically, you have to scramble for the job, so the price is relatively low."

Xu He nodded: "Yes, everyone is idle at home in the winter, and everyone wants to find some work. As a result of the competition, the price becomes lower."

"That's right! That's the truth."

At this time, the second sister-in-law brought leek fried eggs to the table and said with a smile: "Brothers, you try it."

"Hey, thank you, second sister-in-law."

Xu Ning picked up some leeks and put them into his mouth. He chewed them twice and said, "These leeks are quite tender! Second Aunt's cooking skills are really good."

"Mmm, it's delicious!"

"..."

Everyone gave feedback in time, and the second sister-in-law grinned and said, "Hey, if it tastes good, eat more."

Liu Sitie said: "What do you guys hunt in the mountains? There's an old guy in our village who often hunts in the mountains. Last winter he hunted a black bear. I heard he sold the bear's gall for more than 1000 yuan."

"I've hunted everything, including wolves, tigers, leopards and bears. I've hunted all except tigers. Fourth brother, mountaineering is not that easy. Don't try to learn from others just because they make money. This job is quite dangerous..."

Liu Eryin clapped his hands and said, "Brother, you are so good at chatting! Last year, he wanted to take Lao Wu into the mountains, but Lao San and I stopped him."

Xu Ning said, "Since the beginning of the year, I have seen several people killed by animals in the mountains. I just heard from my fifth brother that my eldest brother's legs are not in good condition?"

"Well, his leg was broken by a mule before he passed away, and now he walks with a limp. Fortunately, his two sons are married and can support the family, otherwise it would be difficult for him to survive..."

Xu Ning scraped the rice from the bottom of the bowl, put down his chopsticks and asked, "How old is your child?"

"Guosheng is 21 this year, right? Guosheng is just 19."

Liu Sitie nodded: "Yes, my eldest brother got married early, and his second brother Guosheng just got married last year."

At this time, there was a roar of a car outside the door, and an old Jiefang car stopped at the gate of the yard. Chen Jinlong stood up and looked, and saw a young man jumping out of the car.

Liu Sitie in the house quickly stopped talking and ran out to greet them, "Come in quickly!"

"I'm not going into the house. Hurry up, we need to save our lives."

"Okay! Then you wait a moment."

When Liu Sitie turned around, Guan Lei, Chen Hedong and Xu He had already left the house.

Xu Ning followed behind slowly and said, "Carry it to the car first, remember to take the gun!"

"Eh!"

When they reached the courtyard, Xu Ning reached into his pocket with one hand, turned around and said, "Nephew, come here!"

Liu Eryin's son came over in a daze. Xu Ning took out a stack of change, counted out four fifty-cent bills, and stuffed them into his hip pocket. He said, "Uncle came here in a hurry and didn't prepare anything. This little money is a gift for meeting you."

Liu Eryin was stunned when he saw it, and hurried forward to stop him: "Brother, what are you doing!"

"Hey, second brother, don't tear it up! It's for the child, don't tear it up, okay?"

"No! Why give money to a child? No, it's not right for you to do this..."

"What's wrong? Give my nephew some presents. Why are you quarreling with me? Stop quarreling, okay? Second brother!"

Liu Sitie said, "Brother, aren't you insulting us by doing this?"

"Fourth brother, what do you mean by 'shit'? I give some pocket money to my nephew and niece, is that shit? I just want to ask you one question, you guys are doing me such a big favor, are you thinking of something from me? No, then I give pocket money to my nephew and niece, that's also what I mean! Can't we just go there today and not contact each other in the future..."

Xu Ning stuffed the money into Liu Eryin's son's hip pocket, counted the money and continued, "I knocked on your door, this is fate! So don't hesitate, keep in touch in the future. We are not far away, I live in Qing'an, if you go to Qing'an, you will know where my home is once you ask."

"Come here, niece, this is for you..."

The four children in the room didn't dare to accept it at first, but when they saw their parents nod, they took it with both hands and timidly thanked them, "Thank you, Uncle Xu."

"Why are you being so polite, second brother? Are the children of third brother married? I think they are not married yet. Give these two to the two children of third brother. The children of eldest brother are married, so I won't give any."

Liu Sitie raised his hand to take it and said, "Okay! Let your fourth sister-in-law give it to them. Brother, next time you come here, don't do it like this."

"Well, if it happens to be during the New Year or other festivals, I will definitely give it to you. If it is a normal day, I won't give it to you. We don't want anything else, just to have a happy and smooth life, right?"

"That is required!"

Guan Lei hurried to the door and said, "Brother, everything is ready, shall we go?"

"go!"

Liu Eryin turned around and said, "You can take the children to sleep in this room. The three of us will follow you."

"Hey, you guys better be careful."

"Brother, come often when you have time."

"..."

The three sisters-in-law sent everyone to the gate of the courtyard. Xu Ning took the 56 from Guan Lei, and got into the passenger seat with Liu Sitie, while Guan Lei, Liu Eryin and Alu got into the back compartment.

After getting on the bus, Liu Sitie introduced each other. Zhang Yu grinned and said, "I saw it just now. The old bitch in the back was really fucking miserable..."

Liu Sitie raised his hand and slapped his head, "Do you know how to chat? Stop honking and drive!"

Zhang Yu curled her lips and said, "Why do you keep hitting me?"

"Don't be so mean! This brother gave your dad money. You are now the one who takes the money to do the work. Do you understand?"

"Really? You gave my dad money? Oh fuck, I'll have to ask him for it when I get home! He just talks and makes things difficult for me..."

Xu Ning grinned and said, "Then you have to torment him too, and ask him for more."

"Of course! Hey, brother, I heard that you encountered a tiger when you went into the mountains to move the graves, and this guy was injured. How did it happen?"

After Xu Ning finished his story, he continued, "That idiot is just like me, totally stupid!"

"Hahaha……"

There is a professional term in Northeast China to describe people like Zhang Yu, called "tiger whistle".

He chatted with him for a while, making Xu Ning laugh continuously. Liu Sitie would exchange a few words with him from time to time. Halfway through the journey, Xu Ning and Zhang Yu switched seats. He drove straight to Yanwangkanzi, and after turning into the abandoned mountain road, he found a place to park the car.

(End of this chapter)