Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 758: You have to be ruthless. What kind of tactic is this?

In the courtyard, five or six young men, some holding shovels and pickaxes, others standing at the door holding old hoe handles, were puzzled by Guan Lei's words, but also lowered their guard a little.

First, Guan Lei, Li Fuqiang, and Liu Eryin came empty-handed. Second, only the three of them entered the house. Currently, Wei Lai's side in the courtyard has the upper hand. If a real fight breaks out, the three of them will definitely suffer a great loss.

Seeing that Lü Mazi and Xiao Liu remained silent, Guan Lei exchanged a glance with Li Fuqiang and then walked into the house.

By the time Liu Eryin realized what was happening, Guan Lei had already made contact with Lü Mazi. He stared at Lü Mazi and asked, "Is your older brother awake now?"

"Has a slight fever, is half asleep..."

After saying that, Guan Lei jumped over the outer room, lifted the curtain and entered the east room. Inside, an old man with white hair was lying on his side at the end of the kang (a heated brick bed), with a thick mattress under him to prevent bedsores from developing from holding the kang for too long.

Anyone who has cared for a paralyzed person knows that to prevent bedsores, you have to turn the patient over frequently; otherwise, no matter how thick the mattress is, bedsores will still develop.

Lying flat beside the old man was a young man, Wei Lai, who had been shot twice. His forehead was covered in sweat, and his legs and shoulders were wrapped in white cloth strips with dark ointment seeping through them, as if it had contaminated his wounds.

The old man did not speak after seeing Guan Lei, Li Fuqiang, and Liu Eryin.

Guan Lei and Li Fuqiang weren't in a hurry. If they wanted to improve their relationship, no amount of talking would help, since Wei Lai had been shot twice by Guan Lei and Li Fuqiang. So the first thing they needed to do was send him to the hospital.

Li Fuqiang reached out and touched Wei Lai's forehead, muttering, "He has a high fever..."

Guan Lei nodded, then turned and said, "Brother Qiang, how about we take Hu Zi and the others home, and then take him to the hospital?"

"There are no hospitals in this small place."

"Let's send it to the city. It should be delivered before dark, then we can head home in the dark, okay?"

At this moment, Lü Mazi leaned close to the old man's ear and told him who the three men were. The old man suddenly realized what was going on and said loudly, "My son stopped you, you shot and wounded him, why are you coming back to treat his illness?"

Upon hearing the old man's voice, Guan Lei and Li Fuqiang knew that the old man had some hearing problems and probably hadn't heard the noise outside.

Li Fuqiang looked at the old man and said, "I heard they've had a tough time. Although they broke the law, they didn't hurt anyone. We're just ordinary people, and I heard his family doesn't have much money. I'm afraid he might get shot and die..."

The old man nodded with his mouth agape: "Ah, thank you so much! You're very kind."

Guan Lei waved his hand: "What's with the talk of benevolence and righteousness? I was just trying to earn some hard-earned money, who would have thought I'd run into this! What kind of illness do you have?"

The old man patted his leg and said, "I have some joint problems! My ankles swell up after walking just a few steps, and I can't move them."

His illness is most severe in the dead of winter, and he feels better in the spring, but he still doesn't dare to go too far. The root of the illness is from when he was young. Back then, he wore straw sandals and single-layered trousers with hardly any cotton stuffing. At most, he would stuff some oak leaves in them. How could that withstand the biting cold wind?
"Then you need to take care of this illness!"

"Yeah, we need to raise it..."

Liu Eryin stood aside without saying a word. He had come along because he was afraid that Lu Mazi, Xiao Liu and the others would fight with the three of them. Now that there was no tension between the two sides, he wisely chose not to step forward.

Li Fuqiang glanced at Wei Lai, then turned to Lü Mazi and said, "Go find him some clothes, a thermos, a teacup, and some bedding. We'll take him to the hospital. Tell the rest of you to leave."

Lu Mazi and Xiao Liu exchanged a glance, finding it somewhat unbelievable. This society was too crazy; one moment they were fighting, and the next they were benefactors.

The old man waved his hand: "We have no money. If you don't listen to him, how will you get treatment? Stop dwelling on grudges. People need to live first. Get moving."

Lu Mazi and Xiao Liu nodded upon hearing this. One rummaged through the chests and cabinets in the east room, while the other searched around the west room. The rest of the people remained standing in place.

Guan Lei turned to Liu Erge and asked, "Brother Liu, we can't take you home later, can you find a car to go back?"

Liu Eryin shook his head and said, "No need, it's not far from Shuangfu, I can walk back. You guys go about your business."

Li Fuqiang glanced at Lü Mazi, who was rummaging through drawers and cabinets, and said, "Why don't you ask your nephew to find a car to take you? He's been hanging around in Malian for so long, surely he can find a car?"

Lu Mazi paused, turned around and asked, "Uncle Liu, are you going home? Then I'll have someone drive you home in a donkey cart."

"No need, it's too much trouble. After dropping me off, he has to catch a bus back. I'll just walk back by myself, it's not far anyway."

Li Fuqiang smiled and said, "Then it's settled. Brother Liu, remember to give my brother a call after the New Year."

"OK."

After Xiao Liu returned to the east room with the thermos, teacup, and two or three pieces of clothing, Lü Mazi also found bedding, a washbasin, and other items. However, these things were a bit dirty, but there was nothing he could do about it, since his family only had such limited resources and no wife to manage the household.

"Alright, find a few people to carry this old man and him into the car. Leave four people with us to go to the hospital, and let the rest go home."

Lu Mazi was a little embarrassed, but Xiao Liu took a deep breath and said, "I'll go talk to them. As long as you can save my brother's life, we can forget about Guo'er!"

Guan Lei laughed and said, "This kid is still not convinced. I'll say it again: if you're not convinced, you can come to Wanye to find me. I'll take you to my house later. You can come anytime, and I'll entertain you anytime."

Xiao Liu was tugged twice by Lü Mazi and lost the courage to make any more threats. Li Fuqiang waved his hand and said, "Hurry up and get him to the hospital to bring down his fever, otherwise he might get sick from the fever."

Two people went to lift the old man up. The old man looked around and said loudly, "Oh dear, I'm going to the hospital too?"

Guan Lei was counting on this old man to make his fortune. Since he had the chance, he had to make a lasting impression. How much would it cost to treat the old man? But once the old man recovered, a steady stream of wealth would await him.

“You’re paralyzed on the bed and can’t take care of yourself. If I take him to the hospital, who will take care of your eating, drinking and toileting needs? Let’s go to the hospital together to get him checked out.”

"Oh my, you're so particular, but I don't have any money."

"You don't need to spend any money!"

After Lü Mazi and Xiao Liu carried the old man and Wei Lai out of the house, Li Fuqiang had already arrived at the back of the car outside the yard. He looked up at Wang Hu and said, "Hu Zi, have Hai Tao and Pan Xiao go to the passenger seat. We'll sit in the back."

After Wang Hu spoke to Wu Haitao at the far end of the carriage, he and Pan Xiao got up, got off the bus, and then got into the passenger seat.

After they helped the old man and Wei Lai into the carriage and laid them down on the mattresses, Guan Lei urged, "Hurry up and let them all go home. Brother Liu, you should go home too. Your wife and the others are waiting for you to have dinner at home."

"Okay, drive slowly."

"OK."

Li Fuqiang pointed at the old gun in Xiao Liu's hand and said, "If we throw the gun inside, who's going to go to the hospital to get it?"

Xiao Liu pouted: "I was just doing it in case."

"You're a highway robber yourself, why are you afraid of being robbed by others?"

Hearing this, Xiao Liu was a little angry, but there was nothing he could do. He could only hand the old gun to the person under the car and say, "Take the gun to my house and tell my dad that I have some business to take care of in the city. Don't mention that my older brother was injured."

"Understood. When will you be back?"

"I estimate it will take two or three days if things go smoothly, and ten days or more if things go slowly."

Guan Lei ignored their conversation and only said to Li Fuqiang, "Brother Qiang, are you driving? I'll stay in the back." "No need, you drive. I don't know how to get to Wanye from this roundabout."

"That works too... Sixth grade?"

Xiao Liu turned around, and Guan Lei said, "I have 20 yuan here. Give the money to them and tell them not to worry about it. Go home and have a peaceful New Year. Don't cause any more trouble."

He looked down at the loose 20 yuan bills and was at a loss. He only came to his senses when Guan Lei put the money in his palm. He moved his body, took out 5 yuan from the bills, and handed the remaining 15 yuan to the person under the bus.

"You should divide this money among them. Your eldest brother is unconscious right now, so you should all behave yourselves and give the money to your parents so they can buy some meat for the New Year."

"Hey, Sixth Brother, they..."

"It's alright, the worst has already happened, what else can happen? Go back now."

At this moment, Guan Lei had already started the car, and with two honks of the horn, the old Dongfeng slowly drove forward.

Inside the carriage, Xiao Liu and Lü Mazi remained silent, while Li Fuqiang and Pan Yan exchanged a few words.

"I was planning to have a drink with you, but I don't think I'll be able to today."

"Let's drink again when you come back tomorrow. You're going to be staying here for a few days, aren't you?"

"Yeah, he can only stay for three or four days at most. Lei's wife is already married, and he gets upset every few days if he doesn't see her."

Because of the noise, the old man couldn't hear their conversation clearly, but Xiao Liu and Lü Mazi heard it all. Li Fuqiang spoke so frankly about their family, showing that he had no intention of guarding against them and didn't take them seriously at all.

Xiao Liu said through gritted teeth, "Brother, are you from Wanye?"

“I’m not from Wanye. I’ve told you so many times. My brother is from Wanye. He’s currently managing two forest farms in Qing’an Forest Farm. He went to Shuangfu to send the workers home for the New Year. Who would have thought you would stop him like this?”

Lu Mazi blinked: "I've heard... Uncle Liu said before he left this autumn that I originally wanted to go, but my dad insisted that I stay at home... So are they still hiring?"

Li Fuqiang laughed and said, "We wouldn't hire people like you; you're too much troublemaker."

"No, we're out of options too. So many people are trying to make some money before the Lunar New Year..."

"Don't say that. You're all able-bodied. You could work on the river and earn two or three cents a day. Why do you have to do this kind of thing?"

Lu Mazi's eyes dimmed. He knew there was no way to explain this, since he had been caught red-handed.

Xiao Liu said, "You are rich people, you probably don't know how hard it is for us poor people to make money."

Li Fuqiang frowned upon hearing this and retorted angrily, "Stop talking nonsense! Do you know what kind of life I had last year? It was almost as bad as yours, if not worse. I had two kids in school, my wife was arguing with me, and everyone in the village looked down on me. But I've recovered now, haven't I?"

"So how did you recover? Brother, you don't look that old, just thirty this year?"

Li Fuqiang laughed and said, "My child is almost 14, and I'm almost 40. As for how we got through it? I made a good friend, and he led me to hunt livestock in the mountains to earn some money. Then we slowly recovered. Now I dare say that, except for a few families, no one else in the whole village is as well off as my family!"

"Going up the mountain to hunt livestock? My goodness, this is not a job that ordinary people can do. We wanted to hunt livestock before, but we didn't see a single thing after we went into the mountains. We wandered around for three or four days and our hands and feet got sores from the cold. How did you manage to hunt livestock?"

Li Fuqiang then recounted some of the more typical stories about hunting livestock in the mountains. Xiao Liu, Lü Mazi, and the others were all amazed by Xu Ning's prowess after hearing them.

This might seem simple to someone who has never run a mountain trail, but anyone who has run a mountain trail can tell you just by listening to someone else explain how difficult and dangerous it is.

Li Fuqiang didn't rush to say: "You all have ginseng, you can go and carry ginseng."

This matter cannot be rushed; we must proceed slowly and deliberately. Otherwise, if we reveal our true intentions, the other party will definitely become wary.

As I said before, you should build a relationship with someone before doing anything. You can't just use someone as a tool, and you certainly can't just pick them up and use them. That's a big no-no!
The old Dongfeng car drove into Wanye Village, and Guan Lei parked it in front of Lao Wu's house.

Soon, Wu Zhouquan, Han Fang, and Wu Hailong came out of the house.

Wu Haitao, Guan Lei, and Pan Xiaoxian jumped out of the car and greeted everyone. Then Pan Yan, Wang Hu, and others got out of the car.

"Auntie, you guys eat first. I have something to do; I need to take two people to the hospital."

Han Fang was taken aback and asked, "Why are you in such a hurry? Why don't you eat something first?"

"A life is at stake, ma'am..."

Wu Zhouquan frowned: "Who's injured? You're all fine."

“They’re not one of ours. We’ll have Daiyan tell you later.”

Han Fang asked anxiously, "Are you coming back tonight?"

"Just leave us some food when you come back."

Wu Zhouquan said, "If you're going to the hospital, just go directly to the surgery department and see the same doctor as before. If all else fails, I can call your brother Quan..."

“Alright, sir, just tell my brother Quan that this person was shot.”

Wu Zhouquan nodded: "Understood."

Immediately, Guan Lei and the others got back into the car, this time with Li Fuqiang and Wang Hu in the passenger seat. They sped towards the city and arrived at the hospital just before sunset.

He glanced up and saw Wu Haiquan standing at the gate. Wu Haiquan looked at the familiar car, took two steps forward, waved, and shouted, "Here I am!!"

Guan Lei parked the car, got out, and said, "Brother Quan, when did you arrive?"

"It was only half past the hour. I finished talking to the doctor and was about to take the person straight to the operating room... Hey, how come there are just the two of us?"

"Ah, this old man probably has rheumatoid arthritis. He has no one to take care of him at home, so I thought I'd bring him here for a check-up as well."

Medical staff had already pushed Wei Lai and the old man into the house, and Xiao Liu, Lü Mazi, Wang Hu, Li Fuqiang and others followed them in.

Wu Haiquan asked in a low voice, "Did you run into robbers on the road?"

"Yeah, that young man we just pushed in was the bandit leader..."

"Damn, you've got some nerve these days. You beat up the gang leader and then brought him to the hospital?"

Guan Lei grinned and said, "My brother asked me to do it. We figured Malian wasn't far from Wanye, and having more friends means having more options. I didn't consider the consequences before and was a bit ruthless."

Wu Haiquan pondered for a moment: "You should be ruthless, otherwise you'll definitely suffer. You can only continue the talks after you've intimidated them. Let's go in and take a look."

(End of this chapter)