Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 711 Why are you staring at other women? Are you drooling?
After spending the last two days with Lao Kuai, Xu Ning was truly impressed by Lao Kuai's hardworking, uncomplaining, and non-competitive nature. However, he also knew that Lao Kuai must have a story to tell. Someone like Lao Kuai must have experienced a lot of unpleasant things in the past, otherwise he wouldn't have seemed so helpless.

Xu Ning didn't ask any further questions. Although he thought Old Kuai was a nice person, he also knew that they had only met by chance and that they might never see each other again unless something else happened.

Late at night, the biting cold wind subsided slightly, and they didn't manage to crawl into the cave to sleep until 1:30 a.m. At the entrance of the cave was a black bear that had been skinned, its exposed flesh covered with black skin and white snow, and a horn-missing Andahan.

There were many burning willow branches in the fire at the cave entrance. Wang Hu roasted more than ten skewers of bear meat and elk meat. How to describe the taste? They sizzled and were oily and a bit salty and gamey.

Around eight o'clock in the morning, Old Kuai rekindled the extinguished fire. No one had kept watch last night; weren't they worried about other animals attacking? That was good. The main reason was the bear's roar last night, which scared away many wild beasts they hadn't seen. Even though there was flesh and blood on the fire, most carnivorous animals wouldn't dare approach it. Besides, the entrance to the cave was very narrow, making it difficult to squeeze in…

Wang Hu folded up the blankets covering him, took out a lunchbox from his cloth bag, and warmed it by the fire. He saw that Xu Ning was fast asleep, so he tiptoed out of the cave. Li Fuqiang and Guan Lei also woke up. They all went outside the cave, squatted down in the snow, scooped up a handful of snowflakes, and vigorously rubbed them on their faces. As the icy feeling filled their bodies, they immediately lost their fatigue and became energetic again.

When the food was almost ready, Xu Ning heard the commotion outside and began to move. He sat in the cave for a while before stepping out. When he saw An Dahan at the cave entrance, he suddenly realized that last night was not a dream.

Xu Ning was overjoyed to have successfully killed two animals in a row. Although the animals were not heavy, Xu Ning, who had never killed an animal before, felt an unprecedented sense of satisfaction.

After everyone sat around the fire, picking at their food and chewing on the cornbread that Lao Kuai had brought, Xu Ning suggested that they should cut tree branches to make a sled later, otherwise the three of them really couldn't lift the 700-pound An Dahan. This thing's meat was all piled up on its upper body, and its legs were thin and long, only slightly thicker than a cow's leg. However, a cow's leg goes from thick to thin, while An Dahan's legs were like two pairs of chopsticks!

They had to eat their fill early in the morning, otherwise they wouldn't be able to drag the two animals out of the mountains. Twenty minutes later, they put down their lunchboxes and chopsticks. Li Fuqiang, Wang Hu, and Guan Lei went to cut tree branches, while Xu Ning and Lao Kuai laid the bear skin on the snow, then slung the exposed bear carcass onto the skin, wrapped the skin with rope, and tied two ropes to the front legs. This made it much easier than dragging the whole bear.

After the sled was made, the five men worked together to lift An Dahan onto it. Then Xu Ning and Guan Lei pulled Hei Xiazi, while Li Fuqiang, Wang Hu, and Lao Kuai pulled An Dahan. They made their way forward with great difficulty, having to rest every two miles because the mountains in this area were undulating, with uphill and downhill sections, making it really strenuous to pull them along.

After going down a slope for four or five miles from the narrow pass, they finally felt a bit more relaxed. Lao Kuai, Li Fuqiang, and Guan Lei took advantage of the break to smoke two cigarettes in quick succession, then took the wine flask handed to them by Wang Hu, took two big gulps, and continued on their way.

Although the temperature today is a bit stronger than yesterday, it's not much stronger. They hunted two animals last night, and their thermal underwear was damp when they slept fully clothed. It was slightly dry when they woke up this morning, but all the moisture had been absorbed by their bodies, and all five of them were sneezing and had runny noses!

After a day's journey along mountain roads, they finally arrived at Laopingding before dark. When they reached the car, they breathed a sigh of relief.

Xu Ning didn't consult with Lao Kuai and directly asked Wang Hu to take two pieces of bear meat from the bear's belly. One was all fat and the other was half fat and half lean. You could tell at a glance that it was good meat, probably weighing about ten pounds. He also cut off a piece of elk meat.

While Lao Kuai and the others were smoking, Xu Ning secretly nudged Li Fuqiang a couple of times and asked, "How much money do you have in your pocket?"

Li Fuqiang turned his back, took out some change from his pocket, and said, "I didn't ask your sister-in-law for money before I left. She stuffed a handful into my pocket. I didn't count how much it was. You can check it."

Xu Ning took the money and counted it while using the front of the car to block his view. It totaled 34.6 yuan. He then took out more than 50 yuan from his pocket, stared at the wad of money in his hand, and realized it was less than 100 yuan. He immediately frowned and whispered, "Call Shi Tou over."

Li Fuqiang waved, and Guan Lei threw away his cigarette butt and ran over. He could tell what was going on as soon as he saw Xu Ning holding a handful of money. Before Xu Ning could speak, he reached into his pocket and took out more than 30 yuan.

Xu Ning stuffed the few cents into his pocket, counted the money with both hands, and it came to a total of 113.7 yuan.

To be honest, they all felt it was a bit too little. Even though Lao Kuai didn't fire a shot at the livestock last night, he did just as much work as Xu Ning. Without Lao Kuai with them, they wouldn't have made it to Yixiantian, let alone encountered Heixiazi hunting the Andahan.

But that's all the money they had in their pockets, what else could they do? Wang Hu had a little over 20 yuan left, but Xu Ning was worried about what might happen on the way back, so he definitely needed to leave some money to cross the river...

Xu Ning walked to the back of the car and said to Wang Hu, who was taking out the bear meat, "You take the bear heart and liver, brother."

"Oh dear, I can't accept this..."

Upon hearing this, Lao Kuai waved his hands repeatedly, but Xu Ning turned his head and smiled, "How can that be? It must have been tiring for you to come with us. If it weren't for you last night, we wouldn't have been able to catch the black bear, let alone the An Dahan."

"I really can't accept this. You're Mr. Sun's friends. Just give me two pieces of meat, that's enough, really."

Xu Ning walked over and stuffed the money in his hand into Lao Kuai's pocket, saying, "He's him, and I'm me. That's how I do things. Brother, don't think I'm playing games. Take this money and buy something. Keep the meat and the heart too. It's just a little something to do. Why are you fighting over it?"

Old Kuai looked conflicted. He took out the money from his pocket and saw that there were several ten-yuan bills, the rest were all steelworkers' and lathe workers' bills, and only a few small bills.

"No way, why bring so much stuff? I'm not going into the mountains with you for the money!"

“I know! But I've already killed two animals, and even if you don't want the shares, I certainly can't let you go home empty-handed. Brother, to be honest, those two animals alone are worth this much…”

Xu Ning held up his five-finger palm and continued, "How much money is this? It's not even enough to buy a bear bile pod. Just accept it, otherwise I won't feel right about it."

Li Fuqiang, Guan Lei, and Wang Hu all chimed in, and Lao Kuai pondered for a moment before nodding, "Okay, thank you then."

"Don't be so polite, shall we get in the car? It's getting dark."

"Okay, just drop me off at the entrance of the village."

"It's just a matter of a few steps."

Xu Ning drove Lao Kuai to his doorstep. Seeing him standing in front of the door waving with a basket on his back, Xu Ning smiled and said, "Brother, if you run into An Dahan again, let me know."

"Okay, go ahead and drive slowly."

As I drove out of Daliugou Village and arrived at the mine entrance, it was already getting dark, and the setting sun was hanging on the mountain peaks, slowly sinking.

Xu Ning didn't dwell on the scene of Old Kuai carrying meat and money home; he only saw Sun Weimin and Master Li coming out of the yard to greet him.

Sun Weimin clapped his hands and laughed loudly, "You've come back just in time! Third brother, see? I told you, you definitely couldn't leave tonight!"

Master Li made way for Sun Jiye, who then emerged from behind the door.

He saw Xu Ning inside the car waving and saying with a smile, "It's better if you don't leave, I'll give you a good beating!"

"Oh my god, I couldn't be happier! Usually when I want to have a drink with you, you always have something to say. But this time, with Erning here, let's see what you say."

The car stopped, and Xu Ning jumped out, asking, "When did Third Uncle arrive?"

“I arrived around 3 o’clock. Your Uncle Min said he was craving fish, so he asked me to bring him a net.”

Sun Weimin said, "If you hadn't come back, he would have left right after dinner. But now, he's bound to have a few drinks and stay overnight."

"I'll stay one night then. It's been a long time since I've had a drink with Erning."

Sun Weimin pointed at him and clicked his tongue: "Hey, I'm telling you, Third Brother, I'm your brother, and I always invite you to drink, saying you're too busy. But when you see Erning, you're so affectionate..."

"Hahaha, Brother Min, you're being picky? My nephew-in-law is right here too, look at you, is it really necessary to make such a fuss over such a small matter..."

Sun Weimin waved his hand: "Forget it, I'm not going to argue with you."

He turned his head and looked at Xu Ning and the others, who were covered in blood, and asked, "Why is there blood on you? Are you injured? Oh dear, could you have killed some livestock?" "We really did. We were sleeping last night when we suddenly heard a bear roar. We rushed out and killed it. After that, we heard some noise down the mountain, chased after it, and saw a wild goose..."

Sun Jiye stared in surprise and exclaimed, "You hit Andahan? Wow, that's pretty fierce!"

"Where is it? Let me see."

Sun Weimin ran to the back of the truck and clapped his hands, exclaiming, "Great! This thing is huge! It must weigh over 500 pounds!"

After Sun Jiye spotted the An Dahan in the back of the carriage, he said, "What a jerk! I've never even fought an An Dahan before, and you actually managed to run into one."

"That's a good idea. So, what should we say? Uncle Min, how about we save some meat for you?"

Sun Weimin rubbed his hands awkwardly: "Leave some? Thank you so much! If you were asking me to leave something else, I definitely couldn't accept it, but if you leave meat, wouldn't that be a blessing in disguise?"

"Hahaha, Brother Min is still just like Xiao Qian'er, with a heart full of cravings. You guys don't know, your Uncle Min, Xiao Qian'er, climbed trees to steal bird eggs just for some food, and was chased by magpies for almost half a year afterward!"

Sun Weimin scoffed and waved his hand: "You've revealed all my glorious deeds."

Xu Ning and the others laughed heartily. Afterwards, everyone went into the house one after another. Xu Ning asked Wang Hu and Guan Lei to take axes to the back of the car and pretended to chop a couple of times. In reality, the meat had already been cut up last night.

"Uncle Min, don't be so picky. I have to send this An Dahan to the city's specimen museum. We can't cut off too much meat. I'll have Hu Zi cut off a bear leg for you later."

"Fine! What can I complain about? As long as we have something to eat, we're happy! You guys hurry up and warm up on the kang..."

“Let’s go wash up first and change our clothes. Our clothes were soaked with sweat from chasing the bear last night.”

Master Li said, "Oh my god, I hope you don't catch a cold. I'll have them make some ginger soup."

"No need, I'll just have a drink later to clear my head and feel better."

Sun Weimin laughed and said, "That makes sense, a little drink will make you feel better!"

Immediately, Xu Ning and the others changed their clothes, while Wang Hu and Guan Lei placed the bear thighs, bear meat, and elk meat in a large basin in the outer room.

Guan Lei entered the house and said, "Third Uncle, I threw a thigh and two pieces of meat into your car. Take them back for my parents to try."

"Hey, how's Lianfang doing lately? Have you two heard anything? Your parents keep talking to me about her."

Guan Lei scratched his head and said, "No news yet, Uncle. We've only been married for two months, how could it be so fast?"

"Hurry up, your parents are really looking forward to having a grandson."

Guan Lei nodded and asked with a smile, "Have Lian Jun and Hong Yan set a date yet?"

"What's there to settle? Your dad is thinking of inviting them over for the New Year, so our two families can have a meal together and settle their marriage at the same time."

The "arrangement" mentioned here refers to the exchange of betrothal gifts and dowry, because Sun Lianjun and Chai Hongyan's wedding date has already been set for May 25th of next year.

While chatting about everyday things and waiting for the food to be served, Sun Weimin unscrewed the cap of the Wujia Bai liquor bottle and poured Sun Jiye a full glass of wine. On the table were salmon, carp, small fried fish, and fried shrimp.

Sun Weimin wanted to eat fish, but he certainly wouldn't have asked Sun Jiye to deliver it personally. He only came because he knew Xu Ning and the others were there.

Moreover, what was delivered was not only fish, but also greenhouse vegetables grown by his family. Sun Jiye figured that Xu Ning was in Dongyao, so it was convenient to deliver them here, saving him the trouble of making a long trip to Qing'an.

Sun Jiye told Xu Ning to remember to take care of the two baskets of vegetables and two sacks of fish in Sun Weimin's cellar when he left tomorrow.

Xu Ning nodded and then asked Sun Lianxu if he had found a partner. Sun Jiye laughed and said, "I've set him up with two, and he's in contact with the second one now."

"Whose daughter is she?" Sun Weimin asked.

"The daughter of the old Dong family in Jiangbianzi Village."

"Oh! Old Dong's eldest daughter? That's great! I think Old Dong's wife is quite pretty, so his daughter can't be any less!"

Sun Jiye laughed and said, "Why are you always staring at other people's old women? Have you ever seen Old Dong's wife?"

"I'm classmates with Lao Dong's wife, so what do you think?"

"Hahaha, you're the best at talking nonsense..."

The drinking session lasted until after 8 o'clock. Everyone drank tea and chatted for about 10 o'clock before going back to their rooms to sleep.

The next day, after breakfast.

Sun Weimin took out two stacks of money from his pocket and placed them on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) next to Xu Ning's legs, saying, "Er Ning, these two stacks total 1500 yuan. Count them."

Xu Ning looked up at Sun Jiye and saw his smiling face, so he asked, "Uncle Min, didn't we agree that 1400 would be fine?"

"The two hides I had Lao Li pick out are both pretty good. They definitely wouldn't sell for cheap outside. Let's just say it's 1500. You can take them and that's it."

Sun Jiye laughed and said, "Er Ning, since your Uncle Min has already paid, you should accept it."

Xu Ning shook his head: "Third Uncle, we can't accept this. Uncle Min asked me to go hunting for livestock with him, but we didn't hunt any. We just went for a walk in the mountains. We've paid too much."

Sun Weimin said, "It's not much, it's not much. If I need anything in the future, you'll still have to come over."

“One thing at a time! I’ll only take 1200 yuan.”

Seeing this, Sun Weimin laughed and said, "This kid won't even take money. Third brother, what do you think of Erning?"

“Oh dear, that’s just how Er Ning does things. Brother Min, why don’t you just take the 300 back? We’re both fine.”

"Okay! I'll call you again if anything comes up in the future."

"OK……"

(End of this chapter)