Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 658: Talking Hurtfully is Too Much, Just Do It for the Bonus

Human relationships are something that is hard to explain, so Xu Ning and Li Feng didn't discuss it in detail. After Chang Lihong gave some advice, Sun Cuiping had already put the food on the table.

There were six dishes on the table, including big rooster stewed with hazel mushrooms, carp stewed with sauce, stewed deer chops, stir-fried bear meat, bear bones and meat stewed with sauerkraut, and home-cooked tofu.

Why is homemade tofu served? The reason is naturally related to Li San's death...

Li Feng stood on the ground and opened the Wuliangye brought by Yang Jun, while Chang Lihong entered the house carrying bowls, chopsticks and wine glasses.

Yang Jun saw that the meal was good, so he smiled and said, "This meal is quite hard."

Li Feng grinned and said, "This photo is far worse than the Erning family's..."

"Come on, forget it. My family doesn't even eat a big rooster once a year. Only after my sister-in-law had a child did we dare to buy two old hens."

"If you want to eat it, you can eat it anytime. You'd better get used to eating wild chicken in the mountains."

Xu Ning pointed at the bear meat in the pickled cabbage and asked, "Who is beating the black bear again?"

"Do you know the old man in Beitun? He and two other people went into the mountains yesterday to dig out a bear barn, and they just chopped it down with an axe..."

Chang Lihong continued, "You two just had a short while, and he went to Beitun. He brought back half a bear's meat. Take some when you two leave later."

"No, no, I still have a lot of meat left at home. My mother has pickled it all."

Chang Lihong asked: "How does my aunt pickle it?"

"How would I know? Go ask when you have time."

"Okay! Hurry up and start eating."

Yang Jun said, "Come to the table and eat together! Isn't the child asleep?"

Chang Lihong shook her head: "She just woke up a short time ago. Let my sister-in-law sit down and eat. I have to go and coax the child."

"I'll coax you and you eat..." Sun Cuiping looked at the empty seat next to Yang Jun and felt a little uncomfortable.

Li Feng said with a smile: "Sister-in-law, why are you being so polite to your own family? Just sit down quickly."

Sun Cuiping sat slowly next to Yang Jun, feeling a little uncomfortable. Xu Ning noticed it but didn't say anything. It was normal for them to feel a little uncomfortable at first when eating at the same table together.

Li Feng filled the glasses of wine for both of them and started chatting about family matters. Sun Cuiping was relatively silent on the side, but Yang Jun was very happy.

Every time he tasted a dish, he would comment on it, saying that this dish smelled good, that dish tasted good, that dish was neither too salty nor too bland, and that it suited his taste...

Sun Cuiping's face turned red. She had never been praised like this before. If it didn't suit her taste, Li Shan would just slap her in the face. If it suited her taste, Li Shan wouldn't say anything to praise her.

Yang Jun could drink a lot, so two bottles of Wuliangye were not enough for three people. But when Li Feng was about to get some wine, he was stopped by Xu Ning. He said that he had to go home to pack his equipment for tomorrow's trip into the mountains. Li Feng then turned around and sat down.

By two o'clock, the three of them had sobered up. Sun Cuiping served them hot dishes and rice. After they hurriedly finished two bowls of rice, Sun Cuiping made tea and poured water for them. Xu Ning didn't even have a chance to ask to leave, so he stayed at Li Feng's house until after four o'clock. Seeing that Li Tong was about to go home from school, Xu Ning and Yang Jun left leisurely.

"I see you're still reluctant to leave?"

Yang Jun grinned and said, "I just want to take a closer look."

"You are such a loser. Wait till I tell Brother Huang about this..."

"Oh, don't do that! His mouth can scare people to death. What if he scares Cuiping again?"

"It's over..." Xu Ning rolled his eyes.

After Yang Jun sent Xu Ning to the bridgehead, he turned around and drove back home to take Yang Yi to Old Xu's house.

As soon as he entered the door, he heard Xu Ning talking to Liu Lizhen and others about having dinner at Li Feng's house, which made everyone laugh.

Yang Jun stepped into the doorway and said, "Oh my god, whose glorious deeds are you talking about?"

Xu Ning turned around and said, "You!"

Liu Lizhen smiled and called out, "Baozhu, come here and let Grandma Liu treat you."

Yang Yi ran over and said, "Grandma Liu, how is the wife my dad found?"

"Oh my god, how come this kid knows everything? Jun, have you finished talking to the kid?"

Yang Jun said helplessly: "Even if I don't tell him, he knows it. The woman next door tells my child everything. It makes me so angry that my liver hurts!"

Liu Lizhen turned around and said, "That's great! Once her daughter nods, you can meet her."

"Oh, she has an older sister. That's great. I heard that older sisters love their younger brothers. I used to hope that my mother would give birth to another sister..."

Hearing this, the old ladies were all amused and laughed. The more they looked at Yang Yi, the more they admired him. This child inherited his father's humor, eloquence, and his mother's face. If he looked like Yang Jun, to be honest, the old ladies would not be so admiring...

After Xu Laonian and Wang Erli came back, everyone explained the matter. Xu Laonian teased Yang Jun, saying that he did a good job in buying clothes for Sun Cuiping.

When everyone was sitting at the table and about to start eating, Xu Laonian asked, "Did your uncle come over today to tell you what time we're going to the forest farm tomorrow?"

Li Fuqiang slapped his thigh and said, "Oh, I almost forgot about this! Tomorrow morning at 5: a.m., a car from the forest farm will come to the village to pick us up. We will go to the forest farm canteen to have a meal, but we need to bring lunch boxes..."

Wang Hu said, "Second brother, the old man came to tell us about this at about 2:00 p.m., not long after we got home."

"Okay, let's clean our weapons and sharpen our knives after dinner. How do you feel about the snow in the mountains today?"

Guan Lei said: "Bang bang, it's hard! When I kick it, all it's ice particles."

Liu Daming added: "The traces over at Shuangfengling are a bit messy, and there are a lot of footprints around..."

"It just snowed, they must be busy. Dad, why don't you go with them tomorrow?"

"Oh, I'm ready."

Liu Lizhen warned: "Don't do anything naughty when you go into the mountains. Listen to Erli more, understand?"

"What does he know? He's not even as good as me at beating animals." Xu Laonian said unconvinced.

"Who is not as good as you? Big brother, we have to be honest when we chat!"

"You are the most heartless person. How can I talk to you about conscience? It's ridiculous..."

"Hey, you two should stop talking. You can't even have a meal in peace."

At around 6:, the women cleared the dining table, and the men sat in the reception room to sharpen their knives, clean their guns, and check their ropes and bullets.

Guan Lei was still sharpening the axe, Li Fuqiang was sharpening the spear, Xu Ning and Wang Hu were polishing the 56 and a half rifles and the old buttocks.

Didn't the Xu family have a total of three old-style rifles? But since Xu Laonian and Wang Erli were going into the mountains to hunt, they had to share two of them. However, Xu Laonian made a special trip to the military camp and got another 56 and more than a hundred rounds of bullets from Du Shoucai.

"Will you take the dog out tomorrow?" asked Xu Laonian.

"Hold them on a leash. They haven't been out for a walk in the mountains for a while."

"Then you better pay attention. I heard from someone in the forest farm that there seems to be a black bear in Laoniugou that hasn't been put into the warehouse yet."

Xu Ning nodded: "I know. It's a pain for these dogs to follow me. Whenever I want to hunt black bears, I tie them up..."

Li Fuqiang said: "What kind of suffering is this? Isn't it to avoid casualties? How powerful are the claws of the black bear? One touch will make three cuts."

"Be careful and you won't make a big mistake..."

Before he finished speaking, the dog in the yard barked twice, and then the door of the plastic shed was pulled open, and Li Feng popped his head in. After entering the house, he greeted Xu Laonian and others first, and after drinking two sips of tea, he talked about the main thing.

"Brother Jun, my sister-in-law is fine. My niece just nodded. If you have nothing to do, come back to the village and have a meal at home..."

Yang Jun was very happy to hear this, but Yang Yi, who was sitting next to him, asked, "Uncle Li, when is my dad getting married?"

"Oh my god, this kid is really brave. Good job! He will definitely be successful when he grows up!"

Xu Laonian praised them generously and continued, "There's nothing wrong with what the child said. Since they both agreed, let's set a date quickly. You two families can sit together and make it a done deal as soon as possible!"

"I know, uncle."

Yang Jun turned his head and said, "Feng, let's meet up tomorrow. Your niece should be on vacation, right?"

"Yes, it's a holiday! Then come to my place?"

"Go to my place."

"Alright, let's all go there tomorrow afternoon... Or why not go to my house? My wife and sister-in-law can cook..."

Xu Ning interrupted, "Brother Feng, you can't go to the girl's house for dinner after meeting each other. You must go to my brother Jun's house for dinner. Don't worry about not having anyone to help you prepare the meal. My wife and the others are all idle at home. Let them go over and help out tomorrow. Anyway, we won't be eating at home."

"Well, my brother Jun has found a good wife, and we, as his sisters-in-law, must show off our skills! Isn't it, Little Stone?"

Guan Lei curled his lips when he heard this: "Don't yell nonsense, it's annoying!"

Yang Jun smiled and said, "Okay, then I'd like to thank my brothers and sisters first."

Then everyone chatted in the house until 8:. When Yang Jun was leading Yang Yi to leave, Meng Ziyan took out the clothes that she had hurriedly made this afternoon.

It is very quick to make children's clothes with a sewing machine because it does not require much fabric and there is no need to thread a needle and sew by hand. All you have to do is cut the clothes to the appropriate size and then sew them with the sewing machine.

Yang Yi was very happy to get the new clothes, he finally had his own clothes and no longer had to wear his brother's leftovers. Yang Jun's emotions were indescribable, with a mixture of bitterness, relief, etc.

The next day, around 5 o'clock.

Xu Ning jumped up from the kang in high spirits, jumped to the ground and ran straight to the toilet.

When he returned to the west room, Meng Ziyan, wearing a small red bag and leaning on the edge of the kang with both hands, turned around and said, "Be careful."

"I know. Why did you wake up so early?"

"I'm worried about you. I've prepared the little cotton-padded jacket for you at the end of the kang. You can wear some autumn clothes inside and a sweater outside."

"It's too hot to wear a sweater now. Just go into the mountains and run. You should get some sleep. Why are you worrying about me? I'll be back in the evening."

After Xu Ning put on his autumn clothes again, he went out carrying his gun, bullet bag, cowhide belt and cloth bag.

As soon as I walked into the reception room, I was startled. I saw Xu Laonian sitting upright on the sofa, holding a cigarette in one hand and a 56-and-a-half in the other. It was obvious that he was ready to go.

"What are you doing sitting here? Hurry up and go to the entrance of the village."

"Hey, why are you in such a hurry? It would be better if we could just drive there ourselves."

Xu Ning said helplessly: "It's too troublesome to drive by yourself. Do you know which mountain to come down from? The car is parked on the south side, what are you going to do if you come down from the north? Let's go quickly."

"Just go!" Xu Laonian snorted coldly. He didn't know who had irritated him. He was in a bad mood early in the morning.

Xu Ning grinned. Xu Laonian was arguing with Wang Erli again, but Xu Ning couldn't and didn't need to talk about their affairs as brothers.

When they walked out of the house and reached the doghouse, Xu Laonian had already opened the door. Wang Hu and Wang Erli just came out of their own yard, one went to meet Xu Laonian, and the other ran towards Xu Ning.

"Brother, my dad stole my knife!" Wang Hu ran to Xu Ning and complained.

"Don't you have two knives?"

Wang Hu said aggrievedly: "The blade of that knife is bent, and I only have one good knife left, but my dad tried to steal it..."

"Then why do you use this knife like theirs? How many more years can they run in the mountains? I will go to Qingli in a few days to buy two good knives from your sister-in-law's brother."

"Okay, what kind of knife do you use?"

"I have a boning knife. Come on, untie the dog."

"Eh!"

After Xu Ning and Wang Hu untied the dog leash, they led the dog out.

Xu Laonian and Wang Erli were having a fierce argument at the gate of the courtyard. The reason was naturally about the position of the cannon.

"Last time I was the cannonball, and you hit me hard, and I was almost killed by the pig. This time I must be the cannonball again! Look at the thing in my hand, what is it? 56 semi-automatic! What can I do to compete with you with a broken old pistol?"

Wang Erli said angrily, "Didn't Big Brother lend it to you? If he can lend it to you, he can lend it to me! Besides, you were the one who was the spearhead last time, but this time it's my turn. What's wrong with that?"

"You're sick!" Xu Laonian rolled his eyes.

Xu Ning and Wang Hu smiled at each other, and walked past the two of them calmly with the dog, with no intention of talking to them at all.

This caught Xu Laonian's attention. "Little calf! Who do you think is more suitable to be the cannon leader, me or your second uncle?"

Xu Ning said as a matter of course: "How should I know? I don't play tricks... Besides, I always have two strands of hair wherever I go. How can you two compete with me?"

"Oh my god! This little bastard's words are so hurtful!"

Wang Erli covered his chest and said, "Brother, my heart aches."

"..." Xu Laonian remained silent and dragged Wang Erli towards the bridgehead.

When the four men and the dog gang came to the fork in the road, they saw Liu Daming leaning against the wall with a sledgehammer in his hand, Lao Jiang following on the rock with an old buttocks on his back, while Li Fuqiang and Guan Lei were wearing cowhide belts, with knives and hatchets on their waists and chests respectively, and holding spears in their hands.

The eight people immediately split into two teams when they met. Liu Daming curled his lips and said, "Brother-in-law, look at Erning and his team's equipment. They are more complete than ours."

Lao Jiang said, "Why compare with them? We are almost 40 years old, how old are they?"

Xu Laonian sighed and shook his head: "I was thinking of going for the 200 yuan reward from the forest farm, but now that I see this, I'd better go for the second place!"

"Hey, there are rewards for killing animals? How much money will the second place get?" Liu Daming asked.

Xu Laonian said generously: "The second place should be 100 yuan, and then we will split it equally among the four of us!"

"Yes! He has to be my brother-in-law."

Wang Erli said: "Don't be too happy yet. Qing'an is also known for its hidden talents. Guoxing from Taiping Village, Li Mazi, Lan Dadan, and Lao Han are not much worse than us."

"You only boost others' morale and destroy your own prestige! Are you afraid of anything? Just do it!"

Wang Erli retorted: "Am I afraid? I just think we can't be too careless! The forest farm should be divided into different areas. Brother, go talk to Secretary Zheng and ask him to assign us to Laoniugou."

"I won't say that. Besides, Laoniugou is too far away. If the four of us want to have fun, we have to spend the night in the mountains."

Lao Jiang said with a smile: "If I had known that I would spend the night in the mountains, I would have brought my bedding with me."

"Hahaha, you're even better at talking bullshit."

(End of this chapter)