Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 681 The Municipal Bureau Called! Ask Xiao Xupao for Help
The treetops and branches are covered with white snow, which really looks like jade trees and beautiful branches. Looking around, the entire forest is covered with snow. Under the sunlight, the reflected light hurts people's eyes.

The group passed through the spacious old forest, climbed over Shuangfeng Ridge and ran towards Xiaoshi River. Halfway through, Wang Hu saw a set of tracks. The tracks were rather messy. He looked down and knew they were pig tracks because the flat and neat snow was overturned.

In addition to wild boars, red foxes also do this. In order to avoid starvation in winter, if they find food, they will use their claws to dig snow, hide the food in the snow, and eat it when they are hungry.

They did not see any traces of tigers, bears, roe deer or deer. These animals would not run too far in the two or three days after the snow fell. They would only continue to migrate when there was no food in the area, or flee far away when being chased by wild beasts.

There are not only toads in the Xiaoshi River, but also cicadas, loaches, and small flat fish. Wang Hu specially took a scoop net with a small hole. Two people set up the scoop net downstream, and three people used a sledgehammer to chisel stones upstream, then lifted the stones and reached out to pick up toads and small fish.

It was not until after 2 o'clock in the afternoon that everyone returned home with a full load, including more than 10 kilograms of frogs, more than 5 kilograms of small fish, and more than 3 kilograms of crayfish. This was because the ice in the ditch and pond was too thin, so they did not dare to go into the ditch and pond to catch fish, otherwise the harvest would have been more!

On the way back, the group suddenly heard a shrill "ying ying" sound. Xu Ning looked towards the source of the sound and saw a red fox squatting on a mound of earth, baring its teeth at him and covering its face with its front paws.

Xu Feng saw the red-skinned boy and shouted excitedly, "Second brother! Foxdog!"

Xu Ning said, "Don't talk nonsense. What if it goes home and tells its grandmother about you? What will you do then?"

"Oh my god, I'll apologize to it."

Xu Feng had no idea that the consequences would be so serious, but she was flexible. If an apology couldn't solve the problem, then...

"Brother, can I give it some small fish?"

"Row!"

This red-skinned cat is an old friend of Xu Ning. They have established a friendship since Xu Ning started hiking last year. After that, it led Xu Ning to catch two little black blind cats and lure out a brown bear, and it can be said that it has made great contributions.

Xu Feng took out a handful of small fish from the bag, threw them close to Hongpizi, and said with a smile: "I'll give them all to you to eat. Don't tell your third grandmother about me."

The red-skinned man looked up at Xu Ning, then glanced at everyone else. Then he stepped forward, picked up two small fish with his sharp beak and fangs, and squatted on the spot to chew them.

"Brother, this red-skinned guy has appeared again, can't he be in trouble?"

Xu Ning frowned and asked, "What could be the matter?"

"Think about it, when did you encounter it and didn't encounter any trouble? It was either catching a black bear or hunting a brown bear. There were two other times when we didn't kill any animals, but it also gave us a heads-up."

Wang Hu nodded: "Yeah, second brother, maybe there is something to it."

Xu Ning thought for a moment and raised his chin and said, "There are so many children here. You can't get involved if something happens. Let's go home first."

"Second brother, I'm not afraid! It's only so late now, let's just walk around the mountain for a few more rounds." Wang Biao said.

Liu Tianen nodded: "Yeah, I still want to hunt animals."

Xu Feng was mischievous and didn't say a word, but she could see the difference in her expression. For Xu Ning, he never let his family members get involved in dangerous things, especially children like them.

Xu Ning shook his head: "No, let's go home first."

Da Laba breathed a sigh of relief. He was afraid that Xu Ning would make the wrong choice, because they went into the mountains today to catch frogs, not to hunt animals. Without complete equipment, the danger level would be at least five times higher!
Besides, Da Laba’s son Huang Lin was also among them, and he was unwilling to let his own son take the risk. After all, only mountain runners know how dangerous the mountains are.

Seeing Xu Ning's unquestionable look, Wang Biao and Liu Tianen did not continue to bother him. They just stared at the red leather jacket reluctantly and followed Li Fuqiang, slowly walking towards Shuangfeng Ridge.

They returned the same way they came, so they didn't see any new tracks. However, three hundred meters away, out of sight of them, there was a row of large paw prints. The paw prints were deeply embedded in the snow and were clearly shaped like a plum blossom. These were the tracks left by the big cat.

After passing by the place where traps were set in Shuangfengling, Li Fuqiang, Wang Hu, Da Laba and others followed the animal trail to check the traps and clamps, and picked up 3 pheasants, 4 jumping catfishes, and 5 sand chickens.

Wang Hu put some bait made of tofu dregs and cornmeal under the trap again, and then came out with the pheasant and other things. He said, "Brother, I saw a lot of greyhounds just now. When can I use the empty old workbench to kill the greyhounds? Aren't greyhound skins quite valuable now?"

Xu Ning agreed, of course. Compared with last year's price, this year's greyhound skin is close to 15 yuan! I heard that a big businessman came from the south, specializing in collecting greyhound skins and transporting them to the south to process them into coats and ship them to Hong Kong, so the price of the skins was driven up.

Chen Hedong told Xu Ning about this when he came here last time. He also said that there were several overseas Chinese who specialized in collecting wild ginseng in the provincial capital and sending them abroad. The price of a single ginseng seedling could skyrocket 50 times when shipped to the other side of the ocean!
At that time, Xu Ning did not think it was an exaggeration. After all, the currency on the other side of the ocean was US dollars, and with the cost of customs clearance and transportation, Xu Ning would believe it even if it soared 50 times, let alone 100 times!
After returning home, Xu Feng showed off her find to everyone else. When Liu Lizhen heard that she was going to give it to her class teacher, her expression looked a little strange.

Liu Lizhen didn't know whether she should be relieved or worried... Xu Feng was so young and yet she knew how to give gifts and make trouble. It was obvious that she was led astray by the three people in the family. But she knew how to make trouble at such a young age, so her future will definitely be easier. After all, no leader doesn't like subordinates who know how to make trouble.

"Oh my god, there are more than 20 frogs left. Should we make tofu stew tonight?"

Liu Lizhen took out 2 yuan from her pocket and handed it to her, "Go pick up six pieces of tofu."

"Okay, thank you mom!"

Xu Fengkuai had money in her pocket, but she still reached out to take the money her mother handed over, turned around, called Li Jinyu and ran out the door.

Liu Lizhen wanted to talk to Xu Ning and Xu Long about Xu Feng, but the two brothers were chatting with Wu Haitao in the west room. Didn’t Wu Haitao go to see Pan Xiao in the morning? When he came back, his mood fluctuated greatly, and he felt inexplicably agitated...

"We had a pretty good chat. I heard her family used to be quite wealthy, but her grandfather was a landlord. They fell into poverty in her generation. I wondered why she was so well behaved."

Xu Long said: "If you like her, call home and tell your parents."

Wu Haitao grinned and said, "I'm not in a hurry. There's nothing going on right now. If it fails, they'll be worried. I thought I'd go to work in the field first, so I can get in touch with her brothers for a while. After we get to know each other better, I'll bring it up... As long as her brothers agree, it'll be easy for my parents to talk to. "

Xu Long nodded and said, "There's nothing wrong with this, but don't rush to go to the Lengchang. You've only met her a few times, so you need to get to know her better. You can live here first, and when you've developed a good relationship with her, you can go to the Lengchang to work."

Xu Ning leaned against the kang and the piano cabinet without saying a word. He didn't want to get too involved in this matter, nor did he want Wu Zhouquan and Han Fang to think that he was the one who introduced them, because the conditions of both families were not equal. If something went wrong in the future, wouldn't he be blamed?

The next day, Xu Long, Xu Feng, Wang Biao, Jin Yumantang and others returned to the city, while Xu Ning stayed at home to relax for a while. However, he also visited every household when he had time and chatted with several old men in the village. In the afternoon, he went to Lengchang to deliver some cigarettes, alcohol and other supplies to Ma Liu. He did not go down the mountain until almost evening.

As soon as I got home and hadn't even taken off my clothes, I heard Liu Lizhen say, "Just now your brother Manzhi came over and said there was a call from the city, asking for you by name."

"Looking for me? Didn't you say who it was?" Xu Ning paused and asked. "It seems to be the police. What trouble have you gotten into again?"

"Oh my god, what kind of trouble can I get into if I stay at home all day? Then I'll go to the military headquarters and ask."

Wang Hu asked in confusion: "Who could it be in the city? Second brother, it seems that among the people you know..."

Li Fuqiang walked out and said, "I think it should be Lin Dongliang, or Cheng Yang or Zhang Yuemin from the Criminal Investigation Team 2. Apart from these three, do you know anyone else?"

"I don't know him. Why don't you call him first and ask what's going on? We haven't done anything wrong, so what should we be afraid of?"

Xu Ning is really confident and calm. As the saying goes, if you don't do anything wrong, you don't have to worry about ghosts knocking on your door. This is his mentality now.

Cheng Yang and Zhang Yuemin were the leaders of the team that went to Sandaohe to arrest Lao Ba and Li Quan. They also gave gifts to Xu Ning when he got married. Although they didn't have much contact in normal times, they still had some affection for each other. After all, when Xu Ning went to receive the award certificate, the city team was all surrounding Yang Yusheng, and they could see how good they were.

After Xu Ning arrived at the village headquarters, he saw Du Manzhi sitting on the edge of the kang drinking tea. "Brother, who called me?"

Du Manzhi turned around and said with a smile: "He came over and said he wanted to see you. He also said he was from the police... He didn't say his name. He hung up because he had something else to do. The number is on the table. You should call him back quickly."

Immediately, Xu Ning picked up the phone and called back, while Li Fuqiang and Wang Hu chatted with Du Manzhi.

Soon the call was connected, but it was a woman who answered the phone. She said, "Criminal Investigation Team 2 of the Municipal Bureau, who are you looking for?"

"I'm Xu Ning, looking for the person who called me just now."

"Oh! I see. Okay... just wait a moment. Don't hang up the phone. I'll go find him right away..."

The woman put the microphone on the table, then rushed out of the room and ran towards the conference room. She didn't care whether there was a meeting in the conference room or not, and said bluntly: "Director Lin, Qing'an Xu Ning called back."

Lin Dongliang stood up and walked quickly out of the meeting room, saying, "You guys should first study what's going on! How can someone run away right under our noses?"

Zhang Yuemin and Cheng Yang looked at each other and smiled helplessly. They were the leaders of this operation. The suspect had escaped right under their noses. They had an unshirkable responsibility! And it was Zhang Yuemin who suggested calling Xu Ning...

Lin Dongliang picked up the phone and said, "Xu Ning? This is Lin Dongliang!"

"Hey, Director Lin, I was wondering who called me... Director Lin, I didn't do anything wrong. I've been staying at home and behaving well these days..."

Lin Dongliang said anxiously: "Stop talking nonsense, I have something important to do."

"Okay, Uncle Lin, you go ahead."

Xu Ning just climbed up the ladder and didn't get used to any bad habits.

Lin Dongliang didn't correct the address after hearing it, but just said, "I know you are very good at tracking people down. I have a case here and I want you to help me. Is that okay?"

"You want my help? Uncle Lin, if you ask me, I will definitely agree, but I'm afraid I'll delay your work."

Lin Dongliang said helplessly: "Now there is really no way, this is what happened..."

It all started after the second snowfall, when a group of people got three women drunk in a karaoke bar, carried them to the small second floor in the backyard and abused them. After dawn, a report was received that one of the women had corpse spots on her body.

Then Cheng Yang led the team to investigate, and they got some clues in just over two hours. The main suspect was a man nicknamed Third Brother, who lived in the forestry family compound. His real name seemed to be Liu Yu. There were a total of six people in the group.

Zhang Yuemin led two groups of people to follow three people and planned to arrest them at 11: pm. During the arrest, the main culprit Liu Yu was too vigilant and jumped out of the window and ran away.

They chased him back and forth for more than half an hour. Finally, Liu Yu stole a motorcycle and sped towards Wangxing. During the chase, a gunfight broke out...

As the road was slippery, the motorcycle was abandoned on the side of the road, and Liu Yu and his accomplices went into the mountains.

"It was just after 2 a.m. when our people entered the mountain and didn't know the situation, so they didn't dare to chase too closely. Then snow started to fall from the sky. When our people came out, their toes were almost frozen off. They are still lying on the hospital bed."

"The whereabouts of these two people were covered by heavy snow. We sent three groups of people into the mountains in the past two days but couldn't find them. I was thinking of asking you for help. Is that possible?"

When Xu Ning heard that the suspect's nickname was Third Brother, he was a little surprised and said with a smile: "Uncle Lin has already opened his mouth, how can I refuse? I must agree! Uncle Lin, what is the real name of this nickname Third Brother?"

"My real name is Liu Yu, a kid from the Forestry Family Compound. Just like you before, he often interacts with me, but he doesn't play as big a game as you do. It's just a small fight. I didn't expect that this time someone would die... Hey, I'll send someone to pick you up tonight. When you come over tomorrow, we can talk in detail."

Xu Ning was a little surprised to hear Liu Yu's name. The last time he saw him was just a few days ago. He didn't expect that he could accomplish such a big thing in such a short time. It really shows that you can't judge a book by its cover.

"Okay, if that doesn't work, I'll drive over there tonight."

Lin Dongliang said, "You have a car? That's even better! Come over tonight and have a good sleep, and then go tomorrow morning."

"Then what do I need to take?"

"You don't need anything. We have everything."

"Okay, Uncle Lin, I have to be frank with you. If it doesn't snow, it's easy to trace the tracks. But if it snows a second time, it will be hard to trace the tracks."

"I know, I asked you to come here to help, how can I blame you? It's because it's hard to find you that I came to you, so thank you in advance, Uncle Lin..."

"Hey, don't be so polite. You've taken care of me a lot in the past, so I should do that! I can probably get to the city around 9 o'clock. Can I go directly to the Municipal Bureau?"

"Yes, just tell the guard your name at the door and he will let you in."

(End of this chapter)