Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 721 Medicine Beans! So Wicked! Tang Hao Tells the Truth
When Xu Ning heard that the snares at the foot of Nanshan Mountain had been lost, he did not feel angry. Instead, he remained calm. He knew very well that anything could happen in such remote mountains where few people ventured. Losing the snares today was just an interlude. In the past, they did not often come to Nanshan Mountain to hunt snares, and who knows how many pheasants and jumping cats they had lost.

However, Wang Hu was quite angry because the person who stole the chickens had broken the rules. Just as he had said, it wouldn't matter if all the pheasants were taken away, but why take the snares as well? Wasn't that like stealing a gun from a hunter? Without a handy tool, the hunter was essentially being starved to death!

Xu Ning handed the cloth bag containing the greyhound to Wang Hu and then walked towards the direction where the trap was set.

At that moment, Li Fuqiang, Li Feng, and Da Laba were observing a small tree. There were traces of wire binding under the tree. After seeing Xu Ning walk over, Li Fuqiang turned his head and said, "Brother, this thief must have done it on purpose. Look at the base of this tree, there are even marks from pliers."

Xu Ning bent down and glanced at it, then nodded: "Yes, they must have used pliers to remove all the covers. We don't need to be angry, because we definitely won't be able to find out who did it."

The loudspeaker laughed and said, "It's right that you think that way, brother. There are too many people coming and going around here. They all go through this route to Xiaoshi River or the back garden. You can't find anything even if you want to investigate."

Wang Hu protested: "So, we're just going to call it a day?"

"What else can we do? The snow from the past two days has covered all the traces. Where are we supposed to search?"

"Ugh, this is so frustrating! Don't let me find out who did this, or I'll definitely rip their basket off!"

Li Fuqiang laughed and said, "Tiger is getting more and more unruly. He'll lock someone's genitals at the drop of a hat."

"Hahaha..." Everyone threw their heads back and laughed.

Old Jiang squatted under a tree nearby and said, "After the snowfall, the pheasants and jumping cats are all active, but there are obviously fewer pheasants in this area than before. Er Ning, take a look at this thing?"

He held a red bean in his palm, and Xu Ning, Li Fuqiang, and the others leaned over to take a look.

"Isn't this soybean? I was thinking of using soybeans as bait before, but my brother said soybeans are not as good as tofu dregs and cornmeal..."

Xu Ning shook his head: "These are medicine beans sealed with oil, and they should contain potassium aluminum cyanate."

After saying that, he suddenly shouted, "Brother! Quickly tie the dog up, hurry up!"

Li Fuqiang reacted quickly and yelled, "Damn it!"

Immediately, he grabbed Wang Hu and Li Feng and pulled out dog leashes from his cloth bag. Xu Ning quickly grabbed Qinglang and Heilang and called for Hualang, Huilang, and other dogs to gather together.

"Check their mouths first!"

Wang Hu and Li Fuqiang did as instructed. After checking that there were no food scraps in the dogs' mouths, the group hurriedly tied up all the dogs.

Xu Ning cursed, "That bastard! He drugged my hair, you dog-like beast..."

The man with the loudspeaker helped leash the dog, working up a sweat. He sat on the snow, panting, and said, "Brother, as long as the dog is alright, it's fine to just leave the harness behind."

Old Jiang squatted under a small oak tree and said, "I found three more medicinal beans. These people are really shameless. If they have a trap, they should just use it. Why do they have to resort to this kind of low-class, disgusting thing!"

Li Fuqiang frowned and said, "I haven't heard of anyone in these villages who knows how to poison beans."

These medicinal beans come in all sorts of strange shapes. Some people use corn kernels or soybeans as bait. First, they use a sewing needle to drill a small hole in the soybean. Then, they heat the sewing needle until it is red-hot, and use a small hammer to break it into a small shovel. They use the small shovel to put the medicine into the soybean hole, and then use lard to plug the hole.

Alternatively, you can use small yam beans, about the size of a peanut. Soak them in salt water, then hollow them out, stuff them with potassium cyanide, and seal them with lard. This is used to poison deer, and of course, it can also be used to poison pheasants...

Li Feng, puffing on his cigarette, said, "I've heard that the Zhao brothers from Nantun are good at making medicinal beans."

Li Fuqiang exclaimed in surprise, "Who? The Zhao brothers from Nantun? Holy crap, these two brothers are so good at creating a scene. I've heard so many stories about them these days, how come they're everywhere?"

Xu Ning frowned: "Have these two brothers been to Shuangfengling before?"

The loudspeaker announced, "Didn't those two hunt two deer with Tang Hao in Nanshan? Why haven't they come here?"

"Damn it, I'll go back and ask Tang Hao later. If it really was those two Zhao brothers who did it, I'll definitely kick them out of the strait!"

Old Jiang said, "Er Ning, it's better to keep this kind of thing quiet. Let's just pretend it never happened."

Xu Ning nodded with a smile: "Okay, Tiger, when you see Tang Hao sometime, just casually ask him. Don't go looking for him all fuss, it won't do any good."

Wang Hu responded, "Fine, but it's really inhumane of them to poison the beans! Luckily, our dog doesn't eat corn kernels, otherwise he would definitely be dead."

Li Feng said, "Alright, stop talking. Er Ning is feeling pretty bad too. Right now we have no evidence, not even a clue. Just because the Zhao brothers know how to make drugs, we're going to go after them? That's not realistic."

"Yeah, that makes sense. Alright, let's not go into the mountains today, let's just go home."

Old Jiang casually tossed the medicinal beans under the tree roots, squatted down, rubbed his hands with snow, and said, "Let's go home. Aren't you going to take the rest of the traps home?"

“I won’t take them. There are still more than 20 left. What can I do with them if I take them home? Unless I tie some bean trellises for my mom, but it’s not even spring yet, so there’s no time to plant.”

Wang Hu suddenly had a bright idea: "Second Brother, do you think the person who stole our traps could actually take them home and use them to tie up the bean trellis?"

"Haha, you're so quick to believe anything you hear."

It's not that Wang Hu was reckless and thoughtless; he genuinely had never experienced anything like this before, so it's normal for him to be indignant. These snares and traps were put there by him and Li Fuqiang themselves, so they had some emotional attachment to them. There were more than 80 snares in total, and now only 20 or so are left. Who wouldn't be angry in that situation?

In contrast, Li Feng and Li Fuqiang were not so angry. The environment in which Li Feng grew up and the things Li Fuqiang had experienced over the years had taught them to be patient and calm, because getting angry would not solve anything and would only make them angry.

Xu Ning led three dogs ahead, while Li Fuqiang, Da Laba, Lao Jiang, and others led another group of dogs, strolling leisurely along the narrow path home.

Along the way, Da Ba and Wang Hu chatted animatedly, discussing how they would slap the person who stole the trap twice, then crush the walnut with a monkey-like grabbing motion. The more they talked, the more relieved they felt. By the time they got home, Wang Hu had calmed down.

When they got home, Xu Ning handed the dog over to Yang Shuhua to deal with. Li Fuqiang was definitely the one who skinned and gutted it, so Xu Ning sat on the sofa and told his mother about losing the condom.

My mom was quite calm and said, "So what if it's gone? We still have some wire in the downstairs room. You can make some more if you have nothing else to do."

"The people who poisoned the beans are really wicked! Nobody in my area dares to poison beans anymore. Last time, my third uncle caught two people and broke their arms."

Wang Hu asked, "Sister-in-law, what kind of poison did they use?"

Sun Lianfang said, "It was cyanide. They put it in soybeans to poison pheasants. But in my area, several families raised chickens, ducks, and geese on the mountain. Usually, even if someone was watching, they wouldn't steal them. They would even help herd them into the village. That time, it was autumn, and all the chickens, ducks, and geese that were wandering on the mountain were poisoned to death. My dad and my third uncle led people to check house to house. After checking, they broke their arms."

Liu Lizhen said, "Poisoned beans are really harmful! If you scattered some poisoned beans on the hill behind our house, would there be any living creatures left? If they kill the weasels, that would be considered getting rid of the pest, but what if they kill our dog?"

"Broken arm is fine. You're good at using poison, but why don't you go deeper into the mountains? Just dropping it on the edge of the mountain is really disgusting!" Xu Ning laughed and said, "We didn't suffer any losses this time. Next time we take the dog into the mountains, we'll take the northeast branch, or we'll take the west branch."

The loudspeaker rubbed his hands together and said, "Shouldn't we publicize this?"

"Don't spread it around. If you do, the people who use medicine beans will find out. Let's just wait quietly. Someone will definitely suffer later. Let's just observe and see what happens."

After Li Fuqiang finished speaking, Yang Shuhua pouted and said, "Why are you so mean? Wouldn't others also suffer if they were to be affected?"

"So what if there's a loss? He'll be shouting all over the village looking for the person who gave him the drugs. We'll just be watching the show."

The loudmouth laughed, "Hahaha, no problem! If you ask me, Qiangzi is smart. Look at this chatterbox, so insightful!"

With nothing to do at home, they chopped up the firewood piled up in the backyard. Xu Ning even went downstairs to get half a bundle of wire, cut it with pliers, and made it into a snare.

After a busy half-day, it finally got dark. When Xu Laonian returned and heard that the condom was missing, he slammed his fist on the table and glared at Liu Lizhen. Just as he was about to launch into a tirade, Liu Lizhen glanced at him and silenced him.

"Why don't you go down to Nanshan and set some more traps tomorrow? We still have some wire in the house downstairs, so we won't get angry with them."

Wang Erli laughed and said, "Look how good my older brother is at chatting."

"Get out of the way, um... Feng'er and the others should be back in a couple of days, right? Zhen, how about we make some donkey meat dumplings when Feng'er gets back?"

"I'm thinking of eating it the day after tomorrow."

"What should we eat next? It's fun. We should wait until my eldest daughter comes back to eat. Anyway, there are only a few days left."

Xu Ning laughed and said, "Feng'er and the others eat much better in the city than we do at home. They go to restaurants all the time and can order whatever they want."

"Do you think everyone is like you? Extravagant and wasteful!! Besides, has Feng'er ever been bad to you? She always thinks of you when there's something good to eat. And look at you, is this how a brother should act?"

Liu Lizhen said, "With a father like you, why can't he act like a brother like this?"

"Damn it... I have nothing in common with you two!"

Xu Laonian was rendered speechless by the mother and daughter's words, and felt a sharp pain in his heart, liver, spleen, and lungs.

He drank two glasses of wine that night and felt a little better. Before going to bed, he pleaded in a humble manner, "Zhen, can we eat the donkey meat when Feng'er comes back?"

"Oh dear, why are you so persistent? I was planning to wait for Feng'er and the others to come back before inviting Lao Meng and the others over for a meal, but why are you just nagging me?"

"Oh, didn't you say you were going to eat the next one while you were eating?"

"Can't I just tease you?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Laonian grinned and said, "Sure, why not! I'm like a ball in our house, anyone can tease me a bit."

"Get lost, go to sleep."

After two consecutive days, Xu Ning, Li Fuqiang, and Wang Hu set more than 30 snares in the old forest of Nanshan. They tied a strip of cloth to the spot where they set the snares, not because they were afraid of theft, but mainly because if a blind man came into the forest to pull wood, he might kick down the snare and it would be a waste of time.

The sun was shining brightly that day, and the weather was quite nice. Although there was a slight breeze, it wasn't biting.

Early in the morning, Xu Ning had just put down his chopsticks when Li Fuqiang burst through the door.

"Have you eaten?"

"I just finished eating a little while ago, my wife made fried rice with eggs. Hey bro, guess who I just bumped into?"

"Who? Tang Hao?"

"Yeah, that's right! He's waiting at the North Crossroads right now, shall we go over there?"

Why didn't you ask him to come over?

Li Fuqiang said, "I asked him to come with me, but he insisted that he had something to do... I told him to wait at the North Crossroads for a while, and he nodded in agreement."

Xu Laonian turned his head and said, "This child has always been shy. You should go quickly and find out what happened and whether it was the two Zhao brothers who did it."

Xu Ning nodded, grabbed his coat and put it on, and walked quickly with Li Fuqiang toward the North Crossing.

At the north entrance, Tang Hao squatted against the wall, holding a pipe in his left hand and shoveling snowflakes with his right.

"Hey, Erning, Qiangzi asked me to come to your house, but I was a little embarrassed."

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about..."

Tang Hao looked embarrassed and said, "You don't understand, oh dear, I'm so ashamed!"

Xu Ning and Li Fuqiang exchanged a glance and asked, "What exactly happened?"

"Hey, I was just thinking of hunting livestock in the mountains for fun, I never thought I could make money, but before..."

Tang Hao stood there and recounted what had happened. It turned out that he had helped Zhao Guofeng and Zhao Guoqing with their hunting, and had hauled livestock for two trips in the mountains. The two Zhao brothers didn't offer him any money, but only gave him two animal legs.

The Tang family all said that the meat from livestock was quite delicious, so Tang Hao thought he would go to the mountains with the Zhao brothers for two more trips. On the first trip, they hunted a wild boar and he got two pieces of meat from its belly. On the second trip, he got a deer leg, a deer rib, and five or six pounds of lean meat.

The problem arose on the third trip. After three days of searching in the mountains without finding anything, the Zhao brothers finally snapped. Hearing Tang Hao boast about Xu Ning's livestock-hunting prowess, they yelled, "Who does he think he is? Don't you know who you're eating with these days? He's got the nerve to say he can kill three pigs with two shots? What a load of bull! What kind of gun does he use? It's a Type 56 semi-automatic. Give me the gun, and I'll shoot four candied hawthorns in one go..."

Tang Hao was also stubborn. He hadn't originally intended to brag about Xu Ning, but the atmosphere was just right, so he brought up Xu Ning's story of hunting bears with leopards. The two Zhao brothers got angrier and angrier as they listened, and then the three of them started arguing.

After rolling around in the snow twice, the two brothers from the Zhao family spotted Huang Liguo and his two sons. The three of them then stopped what they were doing and sat down in the snow for a bit of a tug-of-war.

After a long argument, they naturally parted on bad terms. However, the three of them were classmates after all, and they got together again a couple of days later.

(End of this chapter)