Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 724 Tang Er, the Habitual Offender Who Whispers Like a Woman

Outside, Li Fuqiang went to the outhouse and came back in. He then naturally took out some money from his pocket and asked, "Boss, how much is it in total?"

The boss, Da Feng, was stunned for a moment, then quickly stepped forward and stopped Li Fuqiang's arm as he was taking the money, saying, "What money? My brother said he's treating, so take it back."

"Oh, it doesn't matter who pays, right? I'll just throw you 30..."

Li Fuqiang counted out 30 yuan from the banknotes in his hand and placed it on the table, but the boss, Dafeng, took it back with one hand and stuffed it into his pocket.

"Come on, bro! If you're going to pay, my brother definitely won't be happy about it."

The proprietress chuckled and advised, "Brother, you should put it away quickly. We're all family, it's no big deal about money..."

At this moment, Zhou Dayong, Xu Ning, and Wang Hu, who were chatting in the inner room, hurriedly came out upon hearing the noise. Upon seeing this, Zhou Dayong quickly stepped forward and grabbed Li Fuqiang, saying, "Brother, why aren't you giving me face? I already said it was my treat, so you should take it back quickly."

Li Fuqiang turned to look at Xu Ning and heard him say, "Alright, brother, Brother Zhou said he's treating today. We're all brothers, why are you paying? That would be too formal."

Zhou Dayong laughed and said, "That's right! Erning is absolutely right."

Li Fuqiang grinned and said, "Hey, I just thought we're buddies, so it doesn't matter who pays. Besides, Brother Zhou's brothers are in business, how could we let them lose money?"

"Hahaha, my brother would never let me lose money? Alright, alright, just pocket it."

Xu Ning said, "Hurry up and put it away. This time, let Brother Zhou treat us, but next time we'll treat you. This kind of thing is about giving and receiving, and that's how our relationship gets deeper!"

"That's right! Haha, relationships only deepen with give and take, and we're not just having this one meal together."

After saying that, Li Fuqiang pretended to stuff the money deeper into his pocket and said, "Then I'll keep it, Brother Zhou. We'll treat you to dinner next time."

“Okay! It’s settled then.” Zhou Dayong replied with a big smile.

Fortunately, both sides were sober, otherwise they might have easily started arguing in the outer room. Zhou Dayong looked at the three brothers Xu Ning and his brother and felt that they were not faking it. He was a little moved. Although the three brothers were young, they were more mature than middle-aged and elderly people in their conversations and work. They could not do everything perfectly and leave no room for criticism, but they could make people feel comfortable, which was a skill in itself!

Then, Xu Ning pretended to have something else to do and asked Zhou Dayong if he was going back to the police station, saying he could give him a ride back. However, Zhou Dayong said he had to pick up his child from school and go to his child's maternal grandparents' house, so the three of them drove off first.

First, she went to the market to buy chicken, goose and other meats. When she passed by the pharmacy, she also bought some spices, such as cinnamon, dried tangerine peel and angelica root. These spices can be used to stew chicken soup. Then she went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy odds and ends. Old Qian had just left yesterday. She asked the beautiful young woman when she would be back. She said she estimated that it would be after the child finished the exam. Xu Ning calculated that it would be less than a week.

The young woman helped with the shopping, throwing things like yellow paper, white and red wax, and incense directly into the carriage. She also bought three boxes of Longtan instant noodles, spending a total of more than 80 yuan.

It was 3:40 when Xu Ning and the others started walking home, and they arrived home at exactly 5:00.

Sun Lianfang, holding two boxes of instant noodles, smiled broadly. She thought Xu Ning was truly a good older brother. Although he had argued with whatever his younger sister said the other day, he had genuinely taken her words to heart.

Wang Shujuan, holding her visibly pregnant belly, stood at the door, gripping the plastic door. Xu Ning, carrying yellow paper, entered the house and said, "Sister-in-law, don't just stand here. What if I bump into you again? Come inside quickly."

"It's alright, we won't be a problem here... Your brother just wrote to say he's going to the provincial capital with Uncle San, it seems like it'll take about half a month. He told Brother Bin about it..."

"Ah, I heard Bin mention this. We'll have Lao Qian bring them back. What are he and Uncle San going to do in the provincial capital?"

Wang Shujuan shook her head: "He didn't say what it was about, maybe it's inconvenient for him to say, it was a call from his workplace."

Upon entering the house, Liu Lizhen, Han Fengjiao, Wu Qiuxia, and others carried candles, incense, yellow paper, and other items. Since the four hens, one rooster, and two geese were all alive, Wang Hu and Li Fuqiang threw them into the narrow space between the Xu and Wang families. There was also a roe deer inside. When the roe deer saw the chickens and geese entering the pen, it panicked and jumped around to avoid them, almost kicking one of the hens to death.

What to do? After thinking for a moment, Wang Hu decided to tie the roe deer to the corn granary in his backyard. Before winter, the corn in his yard had been threshed into grits and coarse flour, so there was basically nothing in the corn granary. Although the roe deer would poop and pee, it was still easier to clean than chicken droppings...

"What did you go to town for? Did buying such a small thing really take up half a day?"

Xu Ning laughed and said, "Brother Zhou from Hongxing Police Station insisted on treating me to a meal, and I couldn't refuse."

"Who? Zhou Dayong, who came to our house last time to find out what was going on? Why is he inviting you to dinner?"

“His child wanted to go to school in the city, so I talked to Brother Bin and he took care of it.”

Liu Lizhen rolled her eyes: "Why do you agree to everything? Isn't that doing me a favor? Besides, your brother Bin has only been in the city for a short time. Don't cause trouble for him."

"No, I just mentioned it to Brother Bin, and he said it's easy to handle, just a matter of a few words. If it were more complicated, would I have mentioned it to Brother Bin? Don't you even think about what kind of brain your son has..."

"This guy's putting on an act. I think you're just a pig with a scallion stuck in its nose, all you do is pretend to be an elephant!"

"Hahaha……"

The house was filled with joy. After dinner, the old women cleaned up the stove and dishes, then took their own yellow paper, candles, and other items and went home.

After dinner, Xu Ning went to the village office to call Qian Shude. The house where Lao Qian lived in the city was rented by the school and later bought by him with his own money. There was definitely no telephone at home, but there was one at the village office. So it took almost 15 minutes for Lao Qian to call back.

"My brother went to the provincial capital, and my little sister has an exam in a few days..."

“Feng’er and Jin Yumantang are staying here with me, so don’t worry about them. I’ll send them back after they finish their exams.”

"Oh, they're staying at your place? Okay! When will they finish their exams?"

"About four more days, I'll take the kids home the morning after the exam."

"Isn't my sister-in-law coming back?"

"She has to stay at school to grade papers and do shifts, so she has a lot of things to do."

"Okay, I'll talk to you about something else when you get here."

"What's wrong? Just tell me."

Xu Ning laughed and said, "Anyway, it's nothing serious. Come over and we'll talk about it."

"Okay."

The next day, Xu Ning originally planned to rest at home for a day, but unexpectedly, Da Laba came to his door with an old hoe handle. He wanted to invite Xu Ning to go for a walk in the mountains together, along with Lao Jiang, Li Feng, Lao Han, and Lan Dadan.

Xu Ning saw that this situation was pushing him to his limit. Why? Because these hunters hadn't seen any game for days. Apart from birds, they hadn't even seen a wild boar. The hunters were cursing and swearing behind his back, and when they discovered that poison had been scattered on the west side of Xiaofeng Mountain in Shuangfeng Ridge, they were even more furious. They wondered which damned bastard was scattering poison on the ground.
When they learned that Xu Ning's trap had been stolen, all the hunters who ran the mountains fell silent. They wanted to see what was going on, after all, Xu Ning wouldn't just give up after stealing his things! Would it be in Xu Ning's nature to remain indifferent? No, so he was bound to make a big move.

Xu Ning, Li Fuqiang, Wang Hu, and the others gathered together. Old Han asked a couple of questions about stealing the condoms. Xu Ning pretended not to care and just gave a perfunctory answer, saying that it was fine and that they couldn't find out who had scattered the condoms anyway.

Old Jiang, Old Han, and the others didn't believe Xu Ning's words. What nonsense! Is "forget it" even in your dictionary, Xu Ning? They arrived at Ximaduozi on an old Dongfeng truck, walking from the mountainside to the summit. They stopped and started along the way, observing the thick trees and old granaries, but after walking for half a day, they still hadn't found any trace of livestock. For a moment, Xu Ning even felt that this southern mountain was filled with death, without a single living creature.

Blue Bold used his axe to hollow out a tree, revealing hazelnuts and pine cones that Greyhound had hidden inside. They fell to the ground with a drizzle, and as he picked them up, he said, "It wasn't a wasted trip; at least I found something edible."

"If all else fails, we can just take a stroll around Dongshan."

Lan Dadan said, "What's the point of going to Dongshan if there's nothing there?"

"Nothing there? You went?"

“I went for a walk yesterday. I set about 20 snares, but I didn’t even see a pheasant. I only saw a few feathers.”

Are there any footprints?

"Of course there are. The footprints on Dongshan are very messy, and there are many more places where traps are often set, basically in a continuous line... But something seems off. The footprints where I set the trap are somewhat similar to the footprints where Li Mazi set the trap. It seems like they belong to the same person, but the traps were not lost and were not locked."

Locking means catching prey; not locking means not catching anything, as the snare does not bend or contract.

"For one person? How big are the feet?" Xu Ning asked, perking up.

Lan Dadan shook his head: "I can't tell, but that person was walking with slippers on."

Xu Ning squinted, and heard Old Jiang say, "A repeat offender! Quite experienced. The things in your trap were probably taken too, but the trap itself wasn't taken."

"Can you?" Lan Dadan straightened up and said with a bad expression.

The loudspeaker said, "Can it be? Of course! Think carefully, are there any footprints or signs of damage near the snare? Are there any pheasants or leapcats on the animal trails..."

Lan Dadan pondered for a while, then frowned and said, "It's really possible. Damn it, I didn't even notice at the time. It's mainly because I'm a bit... well, you know. I should have asked Ma Zi to come along. He would definitely have noticed."

Old Jiang shook his head: "Even if we figure it out, there's nothing we can do. To catch a thief, you need to catch him red-handed. How can we tell who stole it just by looking at footprints? Sigh."

Li Feng said, "If my dad were alive, he would probably have taken it. But when he was alive, he also said that besides him, there were other people who would have taken it too..."

Xu Ning waved his hand and said, "Oh, never mind who took it, it's all in the past anyway. Shall we still stroll around? If not, let's go home. I think Nanshan is almost deserted."

"Haha, Erning used to be the least willing to go home, why is she in such a hurry today?"

Li Fuqiang chimed in, "There's nothing here, what's the point of wandering around? We might as well go home and sit on the warm kang (heated brick bed)."

Old Jiang nodded: "Then let's go home. It's already past 2 o'clock, isn't it?"

"OK."

They were located at Dayuan Mountain, west of Heishitang, with Xiaoshi River at its foot. However, the old Dongfeng truck was parked at the foot of Ximaduozi Mountain, so they couldn't take a detour to the back garden or return home via the northeast branch. Therefore, they had no choice but to return the way they came.

Just as I reached the top of Ximaduozi, I saw two people rushing towards me, each holding a knife with a stalk of ash wood in its hand.

"Who is this?"

"I don't know... Oh, isn't this Old Tang's second son and nephew!"

These two were Tang Er and Tang Hao. Seeing that they were moving quickly and getting closer and closer, Li Fuqiang shouted, "Why are you running?"

"Oh my god! We were really worried about you guys, thank goodness we found you!" Tang Hao said, panting.

Xu Ning frowned and said, "Why are you two running blindly into the mountains? What if it really is Mount Mada?"

Tang Er extended her delicate fingers and said in a soft, feminine tone, "Oh my god, I was just thinking of getting some pheasant to take home and stew with some mushrooms. I've been craving this for so long, it's driving me crazy."

Wang Hu shuddered at Tang Er's words, because Tang Er was more effeminate than any woman. In Xu Ning's words, he was comparable to Lin Daiyu. All the women from Jiangnan and the beauties from the Qinhuai River had to step aside. Tang Er standing still was the most eye-catching!
Tang Hao asked, "Where did you go?"

"I took a stroll around Heishitang, but didn't see anything. Did you guys see anything?"

"No, we saw a head of red fur, but we didn't dare to go closer."

Wang Hu suddenly had a flash of inspiration: "Red skin? Where did you see it?"

Tang Er rolled his eyes and said, his mouth opening and closing slightly, "Oh, if you're asking about the location, we really don't know. Anyway, it's about three or four miles from here."

Xu Ning felt a chill run down her spine as she listened to his rambling, and quickly waved her hand, turning around to say, "Let's go home! I'm feeling a bit cold..."

"Yeah, I feel a bit chilly too..."

Old Jiang advised, "You two, don't go any further up the mountain. If you really get hit by Mada Mountain, it's no small matter."

"Okay, Uncle Jiang~" Tang Er smiled broadly, took a step forward, and walked with a cat-like gait, his little butt swaying back and forth.

Xu Ning couldn't stand it anymore, so he took the lead and walked down the mountain. After arriving at the car, Tang Er casually pulled open the passenger seat. Xu Ning glanced at him and said expressionlessly, "Go to the back."

"Oh, it's so warm in here."

Tang Hao grabbed him and said, "It's fine as long as there's a car. Otherwise, it would take us two o'clock to walk back!"

Wang Hu climbed into the passenger seat, shivering, and said, "Second Brother, I think Tang Er seems a bit tight-lipped."

Xu Ning was speechless and said with a sneer, "I can't be bothered with him. With his looks, even if Feng'er slapped him, he would fall into the stove pit."

"Hahaha……"

The old Dongfeng car drove steadily to the fork in the road. After Lan Dadan and Lao Han got out, Xu Ning stepped on the brakes at the village intersection. He saw Tang Hao and Tang Er get out of the car. Tang Er raised her hand and waved to Xu Ning, her delicate voice saying, "Goodbye..."

"Damn it..." Just as Xu Ning was about to turn the steering wheel, he saw a Jiefang truck speeding towards him from the front.

The passenger in the front seat was Xiao Liu from the forest farm, and the driver was Li Tielin.

Xu Ning was puzzled. Why did they come together? Was something wrong?
(End of this chapter)