Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 727 Xu Laonian is going to beat up the pig! The Zhao family's dirty tricks?

Immediately, the group discussed how to hunt over a hundred wild boars. Xu Ning suggested calling on those in the village who had experience hunting livestock, but the older and weaker middle-aged and elderly were not recommended. Xu Laonian disagreed, as he was also a member of the middle-aged group and had originally planned to show off his skills in the mountains, but this little brat had blocked his path!
Xu Ning pouted and said, "What are you going to do? It's pitch black, what if you get hurt again?"

Old Xu rolled his eyes, waved his hand, and said with a sour face, "I don't need your help! If your uncle can go, why can't I?"

Wang Erli said, "Erning, my brother and I were thinking of doing our part for the forest farm."

Xu Ning felt somewhat helpless because since his return, Xu Laonian and Wang Erli had rarely gone hiking. In the past, they would go hiking to bring meat to their family. Now that Xu Ning's hiking had changed their family's life, there was no point in the two brothers going hiking anymore.

Xu Laonian sneered, "I was thinking of using a sledgehammer to kill two pigs, and you're trying to limit my ideals?"

"Oh my god, Uncle, it's pitch black and you can't see your hand in front of your face. Why are you swinging a sledgehammer at a pig? My aunt will be furious if she finds out."

"Let her give birth however she wants..."

Because there were many people in the room, Xu Ning didn't intend to argue with him, but Xu Laonian said again, "Besides, my marksmanship is guaranteed to rank in the top 20 among all these people in the room. Do you think I would hold them back?"

Li Fuqiang counted the people in the room and said, "Uncle, there are only 24 people in the room, so your marksmanship must be better than mine and Hu Zi's, right?"

Li Feng raised his hand: "Me too!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Laonian was so angry that his head almost exploded. He waved his hand and shouted, "Don't give me that nonsense!"

"Hahaha..." The people inside burst into laughter.

After laughing, Xu Ning said, "Then go if you want to."

Guo Xingmin reminded him, "Brother, you'd better be careful. When you go into the mountains, you have to follow Er Ning's instructions."

Zheng Yunlong also offered a few words of advice, and Xu Laonian reluctantly nodded.

Xu Ning rubbed his face, looked up at Zheng Yunlong, and said, "It's past 4 o'clock now. Let's meet at the forest farm at 6:30, then take a car to 18 Lengchang, and from there head towards Woniuke..."

"to make!"

Zheng Yunlong nodded: "Liu'er, you and Tielin drive them back first, let them change their clothes and stuff. If you don't have time to eat at home tonight, then come to the forest farm canteen for a quick bite."

"Alright, thank you, Secretary Zheng."

"Thank you, Secretary Zheng..."

The people in each village expressed their gratitude, because even though the food at the forest farm was poor, it was still better than what some families could afford.

Zheng Yunlong added, "Liu'er, while you're at it, go collect guns from the various villages and call on those who haven't come yet. Let's try to gather 30 people, but don't call on anyone who's just there to fill the numbers. Otherwise, they might end up in the mountains and cause more trouble than help."

"clear."

Immediately, everyone walked outside. Zheng Yunlong specifically grabbed Xu Ning's arm and solemnly instructed him again: "Er Ning, whatever you do, don't look for tiger tracks behind the pigs. This is no small matter. What if something happens... After all, this is organized by the forest farm, you understand?"

Xu Ning nodded: "I know, I'll try to play it safe, don't worry, Uncle Zheng."

Zheng Yunlong nodded in satisfaction upon hearing this. He believed that Xu Ning could understand the meaning behind it, because if something happened to these people, it would be closely related to the forest farm, and they would almost be unable to shirk their responsibility.

They each got into their cars and left the forest farm. Xu Laonian and Wang Erli left earlier, but Xu Ning drove to the 28th Forest Farm first, hurriedly called Liu Daming and Guan Lei, and then returned home.

Liu Lizhen had already heard from Wang Erli that they were going to hunt wild boar tonight. When she heard that Xu Laonian wanted to get involved, she immediately retorted. Xu Laonian was a little unconvinced. This was his only dream in his life, and this old woman was going to take it away from him. Of course, he was not happy about it. He sat on the sofa and smoked in a sullen mood.

After Xu Ning and the others entered the house, Old Xu patted the armrest of the bench and said, "I'm going!"

Liu Lizhen gritted her teeth and scolded, "Do whatever you want! You think I'd care? And now you're making a scene."

Xu Ning glanced at him but remained silent, while Wang Erli chimed in, "Sister-in-law, my older brother hasn't been hiking in the mountains for quite some time..."

"What do you mean 'a long time'? Didn't he go on the big hunt a while ago? He even cheated and stole two deer from my son."

"Oh my god, everything is so great about your youngest son! He's not good at all..."

Seeing Liu Lizhen about to pounce, Xu Ning quickly hugged his mother and said, "Mom, if Dad wants to go, let him go. There are quite a few of us going together this time, so it should be fine."

Liu Lizhen glanced at her sideways and said, "You're no better than me!"

Old Xu's face flushed, and he said with a big smile, "How could my youngest son be a bad person? I think he's perfectly fine!"

"Hahaha……"

Xu Laonian ignored their laughter and went into the east room to search for the clothes he wore while running in the mountains. Li Fuqiang and Wang Hu hadn't gone home to change their clothes because they always wore tattered cotton-padded jackets and trousers.

In the west room, Xu Ning was disassembling the Type 56 semi-automatic flashlight, applying a drop of oil to the springs, while Wang Hu unscrewed the back covers of all five flashlights in the house and replaced the batteries...

"Those two Zhao brothers are really scoundrels. Why did they have to provoke you for no reason?"

"He's just foul-mouthed. Didn't you see Wang Linhai make a move? And he hit Zhao Guofeng the hardest; Zhao Guofeng's lip was cut because of his kick..."

"Serves them right! I'd say they should have been beaten to a pulp. Those two brothers can't come tonight, right?"

"Who can say for sure? Let them come if they want to..."

In the North Kitchen, Liu Lizhen, Han Fengjiao, Sun Lianfang, Meng Ziyan, and others were not surprised when they heard that Xu Ning and his group had beaten up the two brothers from the Zhao family. According to Liu Lizhen's logic, the reason why my son beat up you two must be because you two provoked my son.

The others shared this view, mainly because they had never heard of Xu Ning provoking the Zhao brothers. In front of the forest farm leaders, you're being sarcastic? Who else would we teach a lesson to?
So where are the two Zhao brothers right now? They are strolling through the snow and ice, limping towards home.

The bloodstains on Zhao Guofeng and Zhao Guoqing's faces had faded because they had washed their faces twice with snow. Even though the snow melted on their faces and cold air seeped into their pores, they endured it without screaming and blamed all the pain on Xu Ning.

About two miles from the village, a car pulled up behind them. Wang Linhai, sitting in the passenger seat, laughed twice. The two men stood by the roadside watching, and Wang Linhai chuckled, "Serves him right! He deserves it! Hey..."

The car drove past without stopping. Zhao Guofeng squinted at the rear of the car, while Zhao Guoqing cursed, "That son of a bitch! What does this have to do with him? He even attacked us! Brother, let's go find him later, I'm going to smash his head open!"

Zhao Guofeng glanced at his underling and said, "No rush, we'll settle accounts with him slowly! Didn't I tell you before we went to the forest farm to be polite when you talk to Xu Er? Look at you, every word you uttered was barbed. What? You want to tell him that we were the ones who took his trap and scattered the poison?"

Zhao Guoqing scoffed, "Even if he knew, so what? Could he execute me? What a load of bull! Does everyone in Qing'an revolve around him? Look at him sitting here today, so arrogant. The more I look at him, the more I dislike him!"

“Well, you have to consider the occasion. There were so many people in the room just now, and almost half of them were his relatives and friends. The two leaders from the forest farm were also on their side… Ugh, never mind, anyway, this feud is now set in stone.” Zhao Guoqing asked, “So what do we do? Just let it go like this? I can’t swallow this. Look at the damage I got from the beating, my eyelids are all swollen, and it hurts every time I blink.”

Zhao Guofeng was also injured, but he wasn't so dramatic, simply saying, "Who can swallow this insult?"

"Brother, doesn't Xu Er's family keep dogs? Why don't I go over tonight and throw some poison beans into the doghouse to kill all the dogs!"

Zhao Guofeng squinted and shook his head: "No, we just got beaten up, it would be too obvious to spread the poison tonight."

"So what if it's obvious? So what if Xu Er finds out? I just want him to know that I was the one who scattered the poison..."

Zhao Guofeng waved his hand: "Stop messing around. This is definitely not something you can do carelessly. Listen to me, let's go back to the village and ask Lao Zhang how they were doing their research at the forest farm."

"Going into the mountains with them tonight? How about we set off a couple of firecrackers in the dark?"

"Let's look into that later, let's go home first!"

When the two returned to the village, they went straight to Old Zhang. Old Zhang was over 40 years old, with elderly parents and young children to support. His family was in dire straits, and he was struggling financially.

He hadn't originally planned to go hunting wild boar with Xu Ning tonight, but when he heard that the forest farm was giving each person 10 yuan, he got the idea. He had just gotten home and found his cotton-padded coat, leggings, and rope when the two brothers from the Zhao family came to his door.

Zhao Guofeng first stuffed 5 cents into his pocket, then asked about the forest farm's decision. Old Zhang explained Xu Ning's arrangements in detail, and then the two Zhao brothers left.

"Xu Er is afraid there's a big cat behind the pigs? Holy crap, that's not like him at all. Is he really that timid?"

Zhao Guofeng shook his head with a smile: "He's got some nerve. It must be the decision of the forest farm leaders that he didn't want to look for tiger tracks behind the pigs. They're afraid something might happen."

"Hey, those two pretentious guys aren't any good either. They just stood by and watched us get beaten up. Brother, how about we go look for tiger tracks behind the wild boar?"

"Come on, give me a break. What if there really is a tiger? Do you think we can survive with our old weapons? You're talking nonsense... Hurry up and go home, pack your things, eat, and head straight up the mountain..."

Zhao Guoqing smiled upon hearing this, then seemed to have thought of something and asked, "So what should we say when we get home?"

"To be honest, Dad dotes on you, but you complain of pain in front of him."

"Okay!"

The two brothers arrived at their doorstep full of energy, but as soon as their left foot stepped inside, their breaths went weak. Zhao Guoqing limped forward, shouting, "Dad! Dad! I've been beaten..."

Inside the house, a middle-aged man wearing a dog-skin hat strode out. Upon seeing Zhao Guoqing's bruised and swollen face, he immediately frowned and demanded, "Who hit you? Huh!"

Before the two brothers could say anything, he yelled at Zhao Guofeng, "What kind of brother are you? You just stood by and watched your little brother get beaten up?"

"Dad, my older brother got beaten up too. A bunch of people beat us both up. Look at the damage they did to me!"

Just then, a shrewish woman burst out of the house, wielding a rice scoop in one hand and yelling, "Who hit him? Who the hell dares to hit my son?"

"Mom, let's go inside and talk. It's too embarrassing to leave it here."

"If you know how shameful it is, then don't get beaten up! This guy knew to go home and call for his mom after you beat him up, why didn't you fight back then?"

Zhao Guofeng put his arm around his mother's arm and said, "Mom, there were too many people in the room at the time, about seven or eight of them. My brother and I were pinned to the ground as soon as we fought back."

"Who on earth is this! So inhumane!"

Once inside, Zhao Guoqing pouted and said, "It's Xu Er from Qing'an Village. I praised him a couple of times, and his relatives slapped me on the back of the head. Before I could even finish speaking, his two brothers attacked me."

"Who? Xu Er... the second son of the Xu family?"

His mother frowned and said, "Honey, that second son of the Xu family is no good either. I've heard he's quite the troublemaker. Our child getting beaten is definitely their fault!"

"What do you know? Don't you know what's going on with your own son? Stop making excuses... Guofeng, tell me the whole story, don't embellish it, I want to hear what really happened."

Zhao Guofeng didn't exaggerate at all; he simply omitted Zhao Guoqing's sarcastic remarks, the theft of Xu Ning's trap, and the spreading of the poisoned beans. This tactic of taking things out of context was brilliantly executed. When his father heard about it, he was so angry that his head was buzzing. He slapped the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and said, "I'm going to find him!"

"Hey Dad, why are you looking for him? His dad was there too, and he didn't stop them at all. He just watched them fight. And Wang Linhai is no good either. His nephew has only been dead for a few days, and he's already acting all high and mighty with us. Wang Linhai was the worst. He kept kicking my older brother in the face. Mom and Dad, look at what he did to my brother's lip..."

His mother felt sorry for him and scolded, "I told you long ago that Wang Linhai was no fun! You two insisted on hanging out with him, and now look what's happened! You didn't even manage to surround him, and you've gotten yourself into all this trouble! From now on, if you two ever look at him again, just put a sack over his head and kill him! You little bastards..."

"Stop talking nonsense! What kind of mother are you? You could kill someone and not have to pay for it? Stop spouting nonsense!"

"Then what do you suggest we do? Your two kids got beaten up, and you're the father. If you don't take care of them, who will?"

"You take your daughter-in-law to prepare the dishes, I'll have a chat with them."

Immediately, the two men led their two daughters-in-law to the outer room, where Old Zhao asked from inside, "Weren't you going to a meeting at the forest farm? Why did you start fighting?"

"We only gathered here because of the meeting, I was thinking of saying a few words of praise to Xu Er..."

"Alright, alright, stop praising him. Do you think I don't know what kind of person you are? Just tell me why we're having a meeting."

"A group of wild boars has come to Snail Shell, I heard there are over a hundred of them..."

Zhao Guoqing pieced together what he had heard in the meeting room and what Lao Zhang had said later, and then recounted it.

Old Zhao said, "Then after we finish eating, the three of us will go into the mountains. Even if we can't get rid of Xu Er, we'll at least annoy him."

Zhao Guoqing clapped his hands excitedly: "That's right, Dad! Let me tell you, Xu Er is the worst kind of person..."

The two daughters-in-law who were cooking in the outer room didn't say a word. They both knew what kind of people the Zhao family were, especially their own mother-in-law, who was a shrew who could argue even when she was wrong, and was even more unforgiving when she was right!

So the two daughters-in-law wisely refrained from expressing their opinions, while Zhao's mother took the opportunity to go into the room, add fuel to the fire by scolding Xu Ning and Wang Linhai, and then took out some moisturizing cream and applied it to Zhao Guofeng's face.

Old Zhao said, "You should also apply some to the waiter."

"Doesn't he have hands? He makes me do everything. I've raised him from a baby, taking care of his every need. And look at what he called out when he first walked in the door—'Dad'! Oh my god, it broke my heart..."

(End of this chapter)