Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 716 Going to Baishilazi to get big hides again is a small matter

To say that Xu Ning was cunning and manipulative is really unfair to him. He didn't originally intend to hide it from Wu Zhouquan and Han Fang. He just knew that the old couple were quite traditional and would definitely be unhappy that Wu Haitao was dating on his own. If Wu Haitao and Pan Xiaozhen really got together, they would probably find something to do to fill their dissatisfaction.

Therefore, when he spoke with Wu Zhouquan on the phone, he revealed a lot of information, which Wu Zhouquan, given his character and experience, would surely be able to understand.

Sure enough, after Wu Zhouquan and Han Fang, who were far away in Wanye Village, walked out of the village office, the elderly couple looked at each other and smiled.

Although the call came suddenly and was completely unexpected, Xu Ning had already told the elderly couple about Wu Haitao and Pan Xiao's basic situation. Moreover, Xu Ning was a reasonable person and made his meaning very clear.

"Haitao must have hit it off with that girl, otherwise Erning wouldn't even have made this phone call."

Han Fang laughed and said, "Er Ning is so sensible. Hey, do you think this girl is a good match for our Hai Tao?"

“What’s wrong with that? Haitao is lazy and good-for-nothing. If this girl is really virtuous, so what if her family isn’t well-off? She’s marrying into our family, not Haitao moving in. Besides, she’s like Xiaomei, without parents. Those three brothers are definitely not as well off as Shitou. We could at least keep an eye on Shitou before, but who’s going to take care of those three brothers?”

“You bet it is. If you ask me, not having parents is a good thing. It saves you from wanting to go back to your parents' house all the time. Wouldn't it be better to treat this place as your own home? But I think Xiaomei is different from that girl. We watched Xiaomei grow up. She and our Hailong grew up together, practically naked as babies…”

Wu Zhouquan nodded: "It's definitely different, that makes sense. So what's your reasoning?"

"Oh, what else could I be thinking? Haitao finally found someone he likes, the sooner they get married, the better. Look at the third son of the Li family in the front yard, he got married last year at only 17. Although I haven't seen the girl, Lianfang, Shitou, and Erning all praised her for being virtuous, so she must be pretty good."

Wu Zhouquan said, "Let's go take a look when we have time."

"Okay! You have work to do later?"

"Ah, deliver two truckloads of coal cinders to the old ranch in Qianjin..."

In winter, there are not many places that need to burn coal. Those close to the mountains burn wood or charcoal, while cities farther from the mountains burn coal. Except for boiler rooms where large pieces of coal can be burned, other places break the coal into smaller pieces and mix it with some yellow mud to make honeycomb briquettes.

Far away in Qing'an, at the Xu family's house, Xu Ning and Wang Hu were also mixing mud, smearing yellow mud into the cracks in the base of a copper pot, while Sun Lianfang stood by, talking animatedly.

"Oh my god, Haitao was about to cry. He was singing and dancing while hugging Xiaoshitou, and then Xiaoshitou chased me down the mountain."

"Haha, so he'll still let you stay for lunch? Didn't you tell Pan Xiao?"

Sun Lianfang shook her head: "I didn't go. I just got home. Shall I go now?"

"just go."

Having received a clear answer, Sun Lianfang turned and rushed into the house. After telling Liu Lizhen and the others, she called Meng Ziyan and Guan Hua to go to the old house to find Pan Xiao.

Xu Ning placed the copper pot base in the north kitchen, and covered the floor with burlap sacks to prevent the yellow mud from burying the terrazzo floor.

We can't have sauerkraut hot pot today, we'll have to wait a couple of days. Originally, Liu Lizhen wanted to stew the pork knuckle, but Xu Ning said that he had been eating meat for several meals in a row and needed to eat something vegetarian to cleanse his stomach. Liu Lizhen laughed and scolded him for being too fussy.

While Xu Ning, Li Fuqiang, and Wang Hu were out hunting in Nanshan, Liu Lizhen boiled the pig liver and cooked a soup of red dates, yams, and lotus seeds in a clay pot. Yams can be found in the mountains of Qing'an, but Xu Ning and the others hadn't dug any up before, so they didn't have any at home. As for lotus seeds, Qing'an is a place that specializes in producing them, and Sun Island in the provincial capital even introduced a batch of lotus flowers for cultivation, a variety called Shangzhi Red Lotus.

The only hard thing to find is jujubes, because fresh jujubes wilt after winter sets in. Jujubes from a certain place in Jiaodong need to be baked in a special environment to be preserved, and they are dry and not very sweet.

When I came back from Nanshan, I was carrying three pheasants and two juveniles. These days, juveniles don't have much meat, but they were still quite delicious stir-fried as a side dish with drinks.

Xu Ning only rested at home for one day before going to run in the mountains the next day. He originally wanted to find a bear enclosure, but he had searched all over Nanshan and hadn't found any trees with white frost. Li Fuqiang even went into two underground enclosures to take a look, but all he found inside were some withered leaves and snow, and he didn't even see any bear fur.

However, there were some gains. After running around for three days, he caught four wild boars and one roe deer. He also spotted the red-skinned one again, but Xu Ning didn't have any fish, so he could only throw it some meat.

That evening, the rosy clouds drifted by, and the setting sun was a deep, crimson hue.

Meng Ziyan and Xu Ning whispered to each other, "Don't let Mom make any more lotus seed soup. I really can't drink it anymore. The more I drink, the angrier I get."

"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

"It's not that... It's just that my mom makes lotus seed soup all day long. I said I would make it myself, but she wouldn't let me. She made me come inside and sit down. After I finished the lotus seed soup, my mouth didn't taste like anything, and my stomach felt a little uncomfortable."

"Oh, then don't drink it tomorrow. That's just how my mom is. If it's something you want to eat, she'll make sure you eat your fill."

"I know, I'm also afraid of tiring Mom out. You have no idea, we squat there watching over her every time we make lotus seed soup..."

After understanding the situation, Xu Ning told Meng Ziyan not to worry, and that he would tell Liu Lizhen in a moment.

Tonight's meal was sauerkraut hot pot. Liu Lizhen still managed to stew the pork knuckle. Xu Ning ate a bowl of rice soaked in the pork knuckle broth, and then another bowl of rice soaked in the sauerkraut broth. Only when they were clearing the table did he find a moment to talk to Liu Lizhen.

"Mom, don't make lotus seed soup for her tomorrow. It'll only make you sick. Why are you always taking care of her?"

Liu Lizhen frowned: "What kind of talk is that? Don't you have any conscience? She's carrying your own son and daughter!"

"Oh, I know, even if they're my own son or daughter, I can't let my mom suffer. What are sons and daughters anyway..."

"Hmph, you have no conscience! What do you want?"

Liu Lizhen was secretly pleased to hear this, but she said it defiantly.

Xu Ning laughed and said, "What could possibly happen to me? I'm just worried you'll get tired. I heard from Yan that you sit up all afternoon making lotus seed soup. That won't do. Don't make it tomorrow. Just make it twice a week. You can't eat that stuff every day. If you overdo it, it'll be harder to manage."

"Yes, the food is sitting in the pot. If Yan is hungry, you can bring it inside for her."

"Oh dear, why are you so indulgent towards her? Let her be hungry if she wants to."

"Go away, I don't want to listen to your nagging. There are three mouths to feed. Do you think she can survive on such a small amount of food at night? You don't understand anything!"

The next day, Liu Lizhen didn't make lotus seed soup for Meng Ziyan, but she didn't sit idle. She tried her best to make some poached fish balls for her two daughters-in-law. Since they hadn't eaten fish balls for a long time, Wang Shujuan and Meng Ziyan ate them with great relish, which made Liu Lizhen very happy.

To be honest, Xu Ning wasn't too keen on eating poached fish balls. He preferred fried food, so he said, "Mom, why don't you fry some balls? Go to Old Qin's house and get some tofu. There are still radishes in the cellar, right? Fry some vegetarian balls. They'll be so delicious soaked in sauerkraut soup."

"You look like a vegetarian meatball! How can you eat so much, even soaking in sauerkraut soup..."

That's what she said, but two days later Liu Lizhen still fried two basins of vegetarian meatballs. That day, she called over Chang Juan, Zhou Hui, Sun Cuiping, Pan Xiao and others, and the group of old women worked on it for three hours.

At three o'clock that afternoon, a small incident occurred in Qing'an Village.

The incident began when Yang Dong and Zhang Guangjun were brutally murdered by tigers. Wang Linhai, having nothing better to do, went to Qing'an Village to talk to Wang Changhai. There, he ran into the Chang brothers. Chang Xifeng didn't say anything, but Chang Beifeng, with his sharp tongue, told Wang Linhai, "Zhang Guangjun deserved to die from tigers! Who told him to be so arrogant..."

After listening to the conversation, Wang Linhai was filled with anger. He started arguing with Chang Beifeng in the room. Chang Xifeng naturally couldn't stand by and watch the show. The two brothers beat Wang Linhai up and tore his cotton-padded coat open, revealing the cotton wadding inside.

Wang Linhai, clutching his head, was shoved out the door by Wang Changhai. At the door, Wang Linhai shouted a threat: "You two bastards, just you wait!" "Fine, we'll wait. What are you pretending for in our village? You think you can kill a big cat just because you see it? Did you kill it?"

Chang Xifeng said with a dark face, "Shut up, why are you always causing trouble?"

Chang Beifeng retorted, "Look at his arrogant attitude! He even said we're afraid of Xu Ning. So what if I am afraid? Does he dare to fight Xu Ning? He's more docile than a mouse before a cat when he sees Xu Ning. What a show-off!"

Wang Linhai stood at the door and cursed, "You fucking foul mouth, you just wait! Don't let me see you again!"

Wang Changhai hurriedly advised, "Alright, alright, stop it. We're all brothers, what's all the arguing about?"

"Go to hell! Who says I'm buddy with those two? And don't you dare argue with me, you're the worst kind of jerk!"

Wang Linhai was beaten until his head was covered in blood, and his cotton-padded coat was torn. He left Qing'an Village in a sorry state.

Wang Changhai returned to the house and sighed, "Why did you two provoke him? He's holding a grudge right now."

"Whoever offended him, he won't listen to what they say!"

Chang Xifeng waved his hand: "Stop talking, go home and eat. We'll go into the mountains tomorrow and fire a couple of shots."

How did this story spread? Aunt Bai happened to be returning home from the small shop when she heard it and told Aunt Zhao. With these two passing on the word, it spread throughout the entire village by the time dinner was approaching.

Xu Ning sat on the sofa with his legs crossed and said, "These four people are a den of snakes and rats; they'll definitely fight each other again in the future."

"What can you do if we fight again? No one will die."

"That's hard to say. Wang Linhai can be pretty tough sometimes, but if he really gets into a bad mood, he might just act recklessly."

Old Xu chuckled and said, "Whatever, let them fight if they want to. It has nothing to do with us."

Old Jiang, holding his teacup, said, "I heard that Old Tang's nephew brought back a deer from the mountains yesterday. I don't know where he got it."

"A deer? Shall we have Li Feng go and take a look later?" the loudspeaker asked.

"Don't go in the evening, the environment at his place is a bit... well... Li Feng isn't in good health, and if you go there, you might get into trouble."

Xu Ning asked, "Why did my nephew Tang go hiking?"

"Yes, he was classmates with the two sons of the Zhao family in Beitun. When they were hunting, he helped the two sons of the Zhao family run errands in the mountains."

Old Xu frowned and asked, "The Zhao family of Beitun? Are they relatives of Zhao, the foreman of the 34th Lengchang?"

Old Jiang nodded: "That makes sense! Their families are uncles and brothers."

"Oh, I remember a few years ago the Huang family in our village fought with this Zhao foreman. Da Ming even went there back then."

Xu Ning asked, "You've been in battle? For what reason?"

"It was about contracting the log yard. At the time, Lao Huang wanted to contract the 34th log yard, and the money was all prepared. Later, this Zhao foreman found someone and directly signed the contract for the 34th log yard."

Li Fuqiang laughed, "This Zhao, the foreman, knows people, he's got connections..."

The loudspeaker said, "What connections could he possibly have? If he really knew anyone, wouldn't he have said so already?"

"That makes sense. Didn't two deputy directors of the forest farm resign later?"

"Did you slip him money?"

Old Xu shook his head: "I haven't heard of bribery, but it's probably close. As long as you don't admit it, who can get to the bottom of this?"

This was the first time Xu Ning had heard about this. He had always been out there messing around, and after so much time had passed, he had completely forgotten about some things.

No wonder the Huang family keeps a low profile in the village. Actually, the Huang family is not bad off. Both of their sons are married, and their daughter is still in school...

Liu Daming didn't have many friends in the village, but he was on good terms with Lao Huang. Lao Huang used to take him fishing, and he would share most of the fish with him. Sometimes Lao Huang would even take him to do odd jobs. What did Lao Huang do? He specialized in repairing mud houses and log cabins...

The cost of building a mud house with a lattice-like pattern is extremely low. It is warm in winter and cool in summer. For the past five or six years, all the newly built houses were of this type. Only in the last two years have brick and tile houses become popular. You can imagine how much money Lao Huang made building mud houses with lattice-like patterns. Therefore, his family's conditions are not bad.

The next day, Xu Ning, Li Fuqiang, and Wang Hu took their dogs into the mountains. They wandered around until 3 p.m., but none of the three dogs made a sound. The mountains were full of old tracks, which made Xu Ning a little helpless. Although old tracks are still tracks, they all went deeper into the mountains. Xu Ning was not willing to chase two pigs into the deep mountains to suffer.

So Xu Ning decided to go to Baishilazi again. He had caught a big fish there last year, and maybe he could get something this year.

"Brother, we need to bring a ladle when we go to Baishilazi, otherwise what will we eat?"

Xu Ning nodded: "Take it! Let my sister-in-law make some more pancakes and bring more pickled vegetables and stuff. We need to be prepared to stay in Baishilazi for half a month this time."

Wang Hu laughed and said, "Yeah, let's tidy up that cave while we're at it. Second Brother, shall we go to Baishi Lazi, or maybe take a stroll over to Jilin Province?"

"No, it's all snow-capped mountains over there. What's the point of going? There must be some big hides around Baishi Lazi. We can look for them and maybe even run into a black bear."

"If I run into a black bear, I'll raise my gun and take it down!"

Upon hearing their conversation, Liu Lizhen asked, "When are you going?"

Xu Ning thought for a moment and said, "Tomorrow or the day after."

"Walk there? That White Stone Cliff is quite far, and the snow in the mountains is still thick. It will take several days to walk there?"

"Let's take three or four days. Or how about we drive there? We can drive to the foot of Wanye Farm, and then follow Xiaoqingshan into the area?"

"That works too!"

Liu Lizhen said, "You called your Uncle Wu a few days ago and asked him to arrange a meeting between Haitao and Pan Xiao, but you haven't given me a reply yet."

"Oh my god, that's for sure!" Xu Ning slapped his thigh.

Sun Lianfang said with a smile, "Auntie, I forgot about my brother as soon as I thought about him. Luckily you reminded me."

Xu Ning said, "I haven't seen anything while running around in the mountains these past two days, it's all made my head spin. I'll call them both tonight."

(End of this chapter)