Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 644: You are no better than a dog and can't rely on you for anything
The sky outside the window was slightly brighter, and the yellow light bulb in the east room lit up instantly. Xu Ning loosened the light cord and grabbed Meng Ziyan and Wang Shujuan, preventing them from going forward.

It’s not that Xu Ning has bad intentions, but given Liu Lizhen’s personality, the more you try to stop her, the harder she’ll hit you.

Xu Laonian was covered with a thick blanket. He knew he was in the wrong, so he protected his head with both hands and begged for mercy loudly. His voice was as loud as a pig being slaughtered. When Liu Lizhen got tired of kicking him, she rode on him and punched him...

After about three to five minutes, Liu Lizhen wiped the sweat from her forehead with her hand, kicked his butt in annoyance, and said, "Why are you so mean? If anything happens to the dog, I'll see what you'll do to it! Do you have the brains to use the moisture-proof wooden planks in the doghouse to pad the corn barn? I'll kick you to death!"

At this time, Wang Shujuan stepped forward and took Liu Lizhen's arm, persuading her: "Mom, calm down. My dad knows he was wrong. He didn't do it on purpose. He probably just thought about it and didn't think deeply about it."

Meng Ziyan said, "Well, Mom, let's go to the west room to watch some TV. There's ready-made meals in the morning, so I'll light the fire later."

Liu Lizhen drooped her face and said, "Hurry up and fix the dog a board! Don't just lie there pretending to be dead."

Upon hearing this, Xu Laonian lifted the thick quilt, rubbed his head and said, "I'm a little confused, please give me some time to calm down. You scolded me in front of my two daughters-in-law and didn't give me any face at all..."

"You deserve it! I've tolerated you for so long, and you think I'm willing to pay attention to you? I'm even giving you face, but you don't even have any shame yourself, so who do you expect to give you face?"

Xu Laonian lowered his head and put on a thin sweater and coat. After his two daughters-in-law sent Liu Lizhen into the west room, he turned his head suddenly and saw Xu Ning standing at the door with a grin on his face.

"What are you looking at? I'm getting beaten, so you're happy, right?"

Xu Ning smiled and said, "I'm not too happy. After all, you are my biological father. The pain in my heart is because of the beating on you."

"Well... that sounds like human language."

Seeing that Xu Ning did not make any sarcastic remarks, Xu Laonian asked, "Which dog is sick? Is it running a big nose?"

"They are all a little depressed, Hualang is the worst. I'm thinking of asking Zhang Yinshan for some pills later."

"Hey, I really didn't think about the wood planks being moisture-proof. You too, when you built the doghouse, why didn't you raise the foundation a little higher? And you even laid a layer of wood planks on it. You're just fooling around..."

"The floor was laid first, and the doghouse was built later. Without laying a layer of wood, can you take out the bricks and scrape a new layer of cement? Hurry up and fold the quilt. Are you not confused now?"

"Get lost! I don't need you to tell me what to do... Go to the lower room and get some boards and wood. I'll make a pad for the doghouse later."

"I don't need you. You should go to work. I won't go into the mountains today. I'll clean up at home and go hunting tomorrow."

After Xu Laonian folded the quilt, he went downstairs to put on his shoes, holding his waist, and said, "Your mother was really cruel. She kicked me in the waist. It hurts every time I stretch my waist."

"Who told you to do bad things..."

Xu Laonian glared at Xu Ning and said, "You did good things, didn't you? Old Wei mentioned you, and I spent nearly 20 yuan to treat the security department to a meal. You have to pay me back!"

Xu Ning laughed and said, "What kind of meal can cost 20 yuan? You are making false accounts here, you are worthy of being a great accountant..."

"Get the hell out of here, you bastard! Hurry up and give it to me!"

Xu Ning reached into his pocket and pulled out a stack of banknotes. He counted out five dollars and threw them on the edge of the kang. "That's all. Take it or not."

"Give me five more dollars. I see you have more than 80 dollars in your hand. Give me five more dollars, and you'll have more than dollars left."

Upon hearing this, Xu Ning didn't say anything and turned around and walked out. He heard that Liu Lizhen and her two daughters-in-law were chatting happily, so he didn't go into the west room to disturb them.

Xu Laonian looked at his back and curled his lips, saying, "I don't believe that you don't have any difficulties. If you let me catch you, I will blackmail you to death! Hey, my family status now is not as good as a dog, failure..."

Xu Laonian stood on the ground with his back straight. Before, he always felt like there was a heavy stone pressing on him, but after Liu Lizhen helped him relax his muscles and bones, he just felt relaxed all over. He felt insecure when he owed debts, but now that the debts had been paid off, he didn't have to worry anymore.

Although Xu Ning said that he didn't need to fix the wooden board, since Liu Lizhen had spoken, how could he not listen?
After he rubbed his face, he walked to the door of the lower house and looked around. He saw that all the dogs were lying listlessly on the straw. He frowned slightly. His heart was not made of stone, and he felt a little distressed when he saw this scene.

"You feed the dog some food, and I'll fix the mat."

Xu Ning threw down two wooden boards and said, "Don't rush to feed them. Let's observe for a while."

At this time, Li Fuqiang and Wang Hu walked quickly into the courtyard and saw two people sawing wood boards under the shed. Li Fuqiang asked, "Brother, how is the dog?"

"I don't think it's a big deal. Maybe it caught a cold last night. Has my sister-in-law prepared dinner?"

"Okay, I'll bring it over later... Why do you look so listless, uncle?"

Xu Ning laughed and said, "I just got beaten up by my mom."

Xu Laonian gnashed his teeth and said, "You talk too fast! You might suffocate if you talk less."

"Hahahaha...then why don't you let people talk about what you did yourself?"

"Get out of the way, you're annoying!" Xu Laonian said unhappily.

Li Fuqiang asked with a smile: "What's going on, uncle? Why did my aunt punch you?"

"Oh, I said my back was a little itchy, and she started punching and kicking me."

Xu Ning said, "Dad, just tell the truth. We are all family, who are you afraid of being laughed at?"

Then, Xu Ning briefly explained what happened this morning. During the explanation, Wang Erli, Han Fengjiao and Guan Hua all came over.

Everyone gathered in the reception room and heard what happened, and they burst into laughter. Xu Laonian shamelessly said, "What are you laughing at? I have thorns all over my body, so what can you do if your sister-in-law hits me a few times?"

Wang Erli said, "Brother, why doesn't my sister-in-law use a hook and rake to scratch it for you?"

"You're even worse! I don't want to chat with you."

Xu Laonian walked into the north kitchen with a sullen look on his face and wandered around Liu Lizhen. Just when Liu Lizhen was getting impatient, he suddenly put his arm around her waist and said, "Zhen, I know I was wrong. Don't get angry and hurt yourself."

"Humph, with four of you bastards at home, I'm going to be pissed off sooner or later."

"Aiya, you can't say that. You are the most important contributor to our family. Who dares to make you angry?"

Han Fengjiao and the three daughters-in-law were laughing. Whatever happened, Xu Laonian was good at coaxing his daughters-in-law. Otherwise, Xu Long and Xu Ning would not have such high emotional intelligence. Xu Laonian said in his heart: This is nothing. What is the most important thing for a man? Face! If I didn't have this face, would dear Zhen have chosen me?
Li Fuqiang and Yang Shuhua brought two dishes when he returned home, one was egg cake, the other was pickled cabbage. Liu Lizhen had cooked a pot of porridge in the morning, with some pickled vegetables, and it tasted extremely delicious...

After dinner, the masters were busy nailing the dog kennel pads in the yard, while the women were cleaning the stove and chopping board in the north kitchen, or feeding the dogs.

After Xu Laonian and Wang Erli left, Xu Ning rode his donkey to Zhang Yinshan's house, took some pills, crushed them and mixed them into the dog's food. This method of feeding medicine is relatively simple. In addition, the current medicine is too strong and must be diluted before feeding to the dog, otherwise it is easy to cause problems.

After all the doghouse mats were finished, the torn mattress was hung on the pole to dry. The sun was strong today and it would be completely dry in half a day.

Xu Ning carefully rearranged the straw in the doghouse, and together with Li Fuqiang and Wang Hu, cleaned up the dog poop.

In the afternoon, just after finishing their meal, the three of them went to Lengchang. Xu Ning told Yang Jun, Liu Daming and Guan Lei the news he got at the forest farm. After hearing the accurate reply from the forest farm, Yang Jun, Guan Lei and Liu Daming had a clear idea in their minds.

Since the forest farm is no longer pursuing the matter and the Leng farm has recruited enough people, there is naturally nothing else to worry about.

Yang Jun said with a smile, "Anyway, I'm not tight on money now, and I'm not in a hurry to sell wood to make money. Erning, if you have time, can you drive me to the street to sell the corn? You don't have to give me the money after the sale, just give it to my aunt and ask her to help me find a good house in the village." Liu Daming was moved when he heard this, and said, "We really have to sell the corn. If we keep it for a while, it will get moldy. Isn't there anyone from the street grain station coming to collect the grain?"

"I haven't heard the news. I don't think we'll be able to come down to collect the grain until the end of the month."

Liu Daming shook his head: "No, that won't work. We should lower the price by the end of the month. Last year's corn production was OK, and we only paid 9 cents per pound. I heard that Wanye was paying 9 cents..."

Yang Jun said: "We are not a grain-producing area, so it is good to get this price. My family's corn warehouse can hold more than 2000 kilograms. At 9 cents, it can be sold for 180 yuan."

Xu Ning nodded and said, "Let me ask the market price, then we can talk about selling corn."

"to make!"

The national price of corn these days is roughly between 8 cents and 1 cents. The price is high in some places and low in others. The price is not uniform across the country.

Moreover, in the early years, you couldn't make any money from farming, and you had to tighten your belt and live frugally to pay grain to the government. Now it's much better. The grain produced by farming can be eaten by yourself and sold to supplement the family income.

In the evening, after Xu Ning got home, he heard Liu Lizhen say, "Your brother wrote to say that the bran and wheat bran from the reinforcement unit are quite cheap, and he has already negotiated a price. They will be delivered directly to your home in a few days, so we don't have to go to the city to get them."

"Oh, that's good. How much bran and chaff is there?"

"It should be more than 2000 kilograms, and the total cost was less than 50 yuan, which seems to be 2% on average. I heard from your brother that he can still give you more than 3 kilograms of cornmeal."

"Very good, this price is cheap. Didn't you ask how much a pound of corn costs in the market?"

"How can I not ask? Corn kernels are 9 cents, wheat is 7 cents, and I didn't ask about the rest. I'm thinking of grinding our corn into flour. The crusher you borrowed from the street agricultural machinery station last time couldn't be repaired, so I asked your brother to research it in the city and bring back one so that we can grind it ourselves."

"If all else fails, just buy one. It's a cheap machine that you can use at home! You don't have to borrow one anymore."

Liu Lizhen hesitated and said, "That machine must cost more than 1000 yuan, right?"

"Oh my god, what are you thinking of? It's not a gold brick, how can it be so expensive? At most it's only two or three hundred yuan! It's sold in the city mall, and you don't need a ticket. Let my brother go and ask."

"Then you can call tomorrow."

"I'm thinking of taking a walk in the mountains tomorrow."

Liu Lizhen rolled her eyes: "I can't blame you for anything."

At night, Xu Ning and Meng Ziyan were lying on the kang in the west room. Meng Ziyan put one leg on his stomach, rested her head on her other hand, and looked at him quietly.

"I have to go to the mountain tomorrow morning, so don't mess around."

"Oh, I know. How was the wine you drank tonight? Was it strong?"

"It's nothing, just go to bed."

Meng Ziyan put her hand on his chest and said, "You said that after the fight, my parents acted like nothing happened and their relationship is still as good as before."

"What do you mean, you want to be beaten?"

"Then hit me twice..."

Xu Ning raised his hand and slapped her butt twice, which frightened her so much that she trembled and said with a pout, "It hurts..."

"It hurts, so go to sleep. It's normal for parents to quarrel. My dad is sometimes a bad guy, but there is one good thing about him. No matter how my mom hits him, he never fights back. You know women don't really hit hard unless they use a rolling pin or a fire poker."

"Ah, then I'll cut you, will you fight back?" Meng Ziyan asked for the sake of conversation.

Xu Ning pinched her, causing Meng Ziyan to scream in pain. He laughed and said, "If you show off to me again, I'll give you a big slap."

"Hey, where are you pinching? If you pinch me again, I will bite you!"

Xu Ning immediately drooped his face when he heard this and said, "I give in, okay?"

"Haha...I'm going to bite you now!"

"Don't bother, don't bother. We still have to run in the mountains tomorrow."

In the end, he couldn't escape Meng Ziyan's clutches. After she executed Xu Ning on the spot, she went down to fetch water for cleaning with a smile on her face.

The next day, after Xu Ning got up, he went to the kennel to take a look at the spotted wolf. It, along with the spotted bear, the gray wolf, and the three wolves, was the sickest. Although it was still a little listless, it was obviously in better condition than yesterday.

Xu Ning put on his running clothes, carrying his Type 56 and a half rifle, a rifle, a bullet bag, a water bottle and other things. When he walked to the yard, the dog gang saw his outfit and suddenly jumped out of their kennels. Xu Ning had no choice but to appease them again before he escaped amid the dog gang's groans.

Wang Hu stood at the foot of the wall, took the old pistol and the bullet bag, and said, "Second brother, where are we going today?"

"Just walk around, enter from the East Mountain and exit from the South Mountain. Maybe you can see a roe deer."

"Okay! We haven't hunted roe deer for a while. Hey, second brother, didn't you set three roe deer traps before? Why didn't you set any this year?"

"Who has time to walk around after setting a trap? We won't set a trap this year. If we can catch a target, we'll be lucky. If we can't catch a target, forget it."

As they were talking, the two walked to Li Fuqiang's house. After entering the house, they saw Li Fuqiang squatting in front of the stove. He raised his hand and pointed at the washbasin rack and said, "You two should wash quickly. The food will be ready soon."

"You also feel sorry for my sister-in-law, and you even know how to help add fuel to the fire."

Li Fuqiang grinned and said, "How can you not feel the pain? Now there are only two of us left at home. If I don't do it, your sister-in-law will do all the work. She will be so tired."

Yang Shuhua opened the pot and said with a smile: "He can only help to light the fire, he can't do anything else."

"You always discourage me."

"Hey, you are the pillar of the family, do you still need me to praise you?"

Li Fuqiang lowered his head when he heard this, his mouth almost stretched to his ears. These words made him happier than a hundred compliments.

After washing his face, Xu Ning said, "My eldest brother couldn't help but praise me. Did he drink secretly again last night?"

"How do you know?"

Wang Hu pointed at the wine glasses on the windowsill and said, "The wine glasses are all on the windowsill."

"I didn't drink it secretly. Your sister-in-law forced me to drink it. I had no choice but to drink it!"

Yang Shuhua looked a little tipsy, and said a little embarrassedly: "It's okay to drink a little at home, just don't go out and drink a lot."

Xu Ning smiled and said, "Look how tolerant my sister-in-law is!"

(End of this chapter)