Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 777 Help Me Get a Dog Breeding, Buy a House, Change Houses
There are many rains in the Qingming season, and pedestrians on the road want to break their souls.

There's an old saying that if it rains on Qingming Festival, even a widow will worry. This means that if it rains on Qingming Festival, the year will definitely be dry and water-scarce.

However, Qing'an area enjoyed sunny weather with clear blue skies, a rare sight indeed.

In the morning, after a hurried breakfast, the Xu family members carried sacks containing gold ingots, yellow paper, and offerings, along with shovels and saws, and took a car to Dongshan.

Some diligent people came to burn paper money and sweep the grave two or three days ago, but the Xu family was in no hurry. This was mainly because the three siblings, Xu Ning, Xu Long and Xu Feng, all lived in the city. As the third generation of the Xu family rooted in Qing'an, it would be a bit incomplete without the three siblings.

Once they entered the mountains, they dispersed in groups of two or three. When waves of heat and white smoke rose from the forest, they used shovels to clear the snow and saws to cut off branches that obstructed their view.

After paying respects at the graves, everyone gathered at the foot of the mountain. Liu Daming patted Liu Tianen on the head and asked how his studies were going. Liu Tianen looked distressed and said that he had been so busy lately that he had to fix engines or check circuits before he could even eat after waking up every day. He had even been swinging a sledgehammer for two days.

After listening to his son's explanation, Liu Daming roughly understood the nature of their work and simply nodded and praised him a couple of times. Liu Tianen stared at his father's eyes, feeling somewhat incredulous.

It's obvious that Liu Tianen's upbringing consisted of physical abuse. Aside from his uncle Xu Chunlin and second uncle Wang Erli offering some advice and correcting his mistakes, Liu Daming rarely spoke to him. Yet, just now at his grandparents' graves, Liu Daming said, "Your eldest grandson is more successful than me; he now has a skill to repair cars..."

This was the first time in his life that Liu Tianen had clearly heard Liu Daming praise him. Although he had been praised before, he had been hesitant and awkward. This made Liu Tianen very happy. But just as he was about to say a few words to his father, someone came up from the mountain. Liu Daming waved his hand and scolded him, which startled Liu Tianen.

Dad is still Dad...

"Brother-in-law!" Liu Daming jumped up to greet Xu Laonian when he saw him.

"You two are quick! Have you mentioned their grandson to your parents yet?"

"How can I not nag about it? I have to nag about it every time I come back."

After Wang Erli, Wang Hu, and Wang Biao came down the mountain, everyone went straight home.

Although he had nothing to do today, Xu Ning didn't go visiting anyone. It was better to stay with family during the Qingming Festival.

In the afternoon, Guan Lei drove Yang Jun's car down the mountain to the village office to call Ma Lian's ginseng gang back.

After the junior guard from the detachment explained when he had arrived in Qing'an, Guan Lei didn't chat with him about everyday matters. He simply said that in Qing'an, one could easily find out where Old Xu's family was by asking around.

The words may sound arrogant, but they are the truth!

Tonight, only a few members of Old Xu's family are eating; people like Wang, Liu, and Li are having dinner at their own homes.

After dinner, Xu Ning sat on the sofa and chatted with Xu Laonian and Xu Long. When he heard that Xu Laonian wanted to invite Yu Kaihe to the city to be a supervisor, Xu Laonian shook his head and objected, simply because Yu Kaihe was old and there was only Aunt Yu at home. What would Aunt Yu do after Yu Kaihe left?

Seeing Xu Ning's furrowed brows, Xu Laonian relented and said, "If all else fails, let Lao Wei and your Uncle Yu go together. You can't find anyone in the city, can you?"

“There’s no one trustworthy. Old Jin did hire his brother-in-law, but what does his brother-in-law know about building houses? If bricks or tiles are lost on the construction site, that’s one thing, but if steel bars are lost, the loss will be huge…”

Xu Long asked, "Didn't you ask Lao Qian to find a construction team? They're not reliable either."

"Who knows if they're reliable or not? We can't just pay whatever the construction team says they've spent, or we'll be ripped off. We have to find someone to keep an eye on things, otherwise I won't feel at ease."

Xu Laonian nodded: "I'll go talk to Lao Wei tomorrow morning, and then you can go talk to him about how much he's going to pay."

"I'll pay you 40 yuan a month, including room and board."

"Even if you give it to him, he can't accept it, but you have to say it out loud."

"Whether he wants it or not, I have to give it to him..."

Old Xu chuckled and said, "You're really something now, aren't you? How much debt do you owe?"

"We only owe 10 yuan now. After the auto repair shop is built, we will conservatively owe another 20 yuan."

Old Xu's face fell, and he said, "How am I supposed to pay this back..."

"What does it have to do with you? I owe it, I'll pay it back."

"I'm your father! Shouldn't I be there to support you? Ha, now that you've grown wings and can fly on your own, you don't like your father anymore, do you?"

"Oh my god, what are you saying? Are you trying to throw me into the deepest, most rebellious place in the earth?"

Liu Lizhen stood at the door of the east room, cracking sunflower seeds, and said, "Can you three stop arguing? You've been making a ruckus all day, just go to sleep."

Xu Long stood up and said, "Mom, I didn't say a word."

"You're the most cunning! Just like your father..."

Xu Ning laughed loudly: "Hahaha, my mom is right!"

The next day, Xu Ning went to Lao Yu's house and told Yu Kaihe about asking him to go to the city to help supervise the construction.

Yu Kaihe was bored at home and felt bitter. When he heard that there was something to do, he immediately agreed.

When asked about wages, Yu Kaihe waved his hand and refused. Xu Ning didn't try to persuade him any further. He figured he'd give Yu Kaihe some money once the auto repair shop was built, whether he wanted it or not, it was just a token of his appreciation.

Xu went to talk to Lao Wei again. After Xu explained the situation to him, Lao Wei readily agreed. Anyway, his family didn't have many acres of land, and he wasn't in a hurry to plant in the spring.

Moreover, Xu Ning helped him find two jobs last year, which allowed him to earn some money for his family. Now, his impoverished family has a chance to thrive, and they can eat a big meal of meat every few days.

When it came to salary, he waved his hand and said he didn't want any. Xu Ning followed suit and said he would give him some money after the project was completed, so he couldn't let him help for nothing.

Afterwards, Xu Ning, Wang Hu, and Li Fuqiang went to visit Lao Chang and had some drinks at Lao Chang's house at noon.

Chang Danian's son-in-law, Li Baoquan, was sent to study veterinary medicine on the seventeenth day of the first lunar month. He wrote a few days ago saying that he was doing well and that his teacher was happy to teach him wholeheartedly.

"Grandpa, is Black Wolf ready to mate this year?"

Chang Danian nodded: "They can mate, but why mate with a blue wolf? Your spotted bear should mate with one too."

"It's time to pair them up. I was thinking of pairing up the flower bear and the blue wolf as well, but I'm not sure if I'm confident."

"The spotted bear and the blue wolf have been together since they were puppies... but it's too much of a strain on the dog to have the blue wolf mate twice."

Xu Ning clapped his hands: "That's what I was thinking too. Last year I was too soft-hearted to let Qinglang and Huaxiong mate. I was mainly afraid that the resulting dog wouldn't obey me!"

"Worrying about this is useless. After the puppies are born, we need to look at their appearance and courage to know if they can be hunted. If you don't let them mate, why are you worrying about this?"

After Chang Danian finished speaking, he looked up and saw Xu Ning grinning mischievously. He paused, pointed at her, and said, "What do you mean? You want me to help you breed a dog?"

Inside the room, Li Fuqiang, Wang Hu, and Xu Ning were all laughing loudly.

"Hahaha, grandpa, you're not a match for a dog either. There's a reproductive barrier between you and a dog..."

Chang Danian waved his hand with a sour face: "Get the hell out of here! How old am I? Don't try to talk nonsense with me."

"Hey, sir, I need to go to the city on business, and it clashes with the dog breeding schedule. My family doesn't know how to do this, so I was thinking of asking you for help, okay? Could you help me get a dog bred?" "Speak properly, you scared me..."

Chang Danian rolled his eyes and said, "When they start growing rice seedlings, bring them to me."

"Alright! It has to be my grandpa."

Chang Danian pouted: "All you do is tease me."

"Who told you to be the only one in the whole village with this skill? If you're not the one to mess with, who is? When Black Wolf and Flower Bear have their offspring, you can keep one to raise for fun."

"I won't keep it. I don't hunt in the mountains or engage in hunting, so what's the point of keeping it?"

"Wouldn't it be fine to just guard the gate?"

"You're going to use the wolf cubs to guard the gate? Are you kidding me? You get attached to dogs, and my legs are already aching from chasing Xiao Bao. If I get another dog, it'll torture me to death. Forget it."

Xu Ning said seriously, "I'm mainly worried that you'll get bored staying at home."

"Isn't the security guard going to raise cattle when he gets back? I'll go with him and raise cattle then..."

“Hey, speaking of raising cattle, I’ll have my older brother and brother-in-law work together. My idea is not just to raise cattle, because raising cattle doesn’t make much money these days. I’d also raise pigs.”

Xu Ning and the other two chatted about this topic for more than half an hour, and it was almost 2 o'clock before they finally left.

The three of them went home to get their car and drove to Lengchang.

When they arrived at Lengchang, they saw Ma Liu sitting on a wooden stump adding firewood to the stove, where wild boar meat was being stewed in a large pot.

Since Ma Liu fell ill, he has raised his standards for himself, only drinking two ounces of liquor per meal and becoming more particular about his food.

"Who shot the wild boar?"

"Guoxing brought it here, saying it was from Lan Dadan in their village. Why are you back?"

"I miss you."

"Wow, you're really exaggerating!"

Ma Liu said this, but he was secretly delighted. Of course, he also knew that yesterday was Qingming Festival and Xu Ning must have come back to pay respects at the grave.

How have you been feeling lately? Are you still feeling dizzy?

"Everything's fine now. You're back just in time. I went to check on the underground beehive the day before yesterday, and quite a few of the overwintering bees were dead. Maybe it's because I haven't been taking good care of them lately. When you go back to the city, ask around and see if anyone sells queen bees..."

"Okay, I've got it. My father-in-law has already made the beehives. Is there anything else I need to prepare?"

"Just put the beehives out in the sun to dry, there's nothing else you need to prepare. When are you leaving?"

"I'll leave in the spring. I'll have Hu Zi help you with beekeeping then. I have to go to the city... I'll come back when the auto repair shop is up and running."

Xu Ning didn't eat at Lengchang. When he got home, he saw Da Laba squatting on the ground squeezing the entrails out of loaches.

The loudspeaker looked up and saw him return, then laughed, "You're back just in time. Today I asked a few people who have bear bile at home, and they heard that the price you offered was higher than that of the supply and marketing cooperative and the pharmacy. They're a little tempted. If you want to buy it, what's the procedure..."

Xu Ning said, "What kind of rules could there be? It's just a cash-on-delivery transaction... Hey, do they have other ideas?"

The loudspeaker threw the loach into the basin and nodded emphatically: "Yeah, they know you have other channels, otherwise they wouldn't go through all the trouble of collecting bear bile, so they also want to earn more money by following you, even if it's just ten or twenty yuan more. I didn't respond on the spot, I just said I didn't know."

Xu Ning rubbed his chin and pondered for a long time before saying, "If they want to make more money, that's fine. Then tell them that I will give them an extra 20 yuan for each bear bile, but the money from selling the bear bile will be given to them three months later."

The loudspeaker nodded: "That's what I was thinking at first too. This way we won't have any capital. Once we sell the bear bile, we can make a profit on the difference, and they can earn more too."

"Yeah, that makes sense. Go talk to them again tomorrow. My family lives in the village, how could we possibly owe them money?"

“They understand that we’ve talked a lot with them today, and our family is reputable throughout Qing’an.”

"Keep talking. Once the bear bile is collected, I'll give you ten yuan as a bonus for each bear bile."

The man with the megaphone waved his hand, saying, "What would I do with this money? I don't want it."

"Can you really refuse? Do you think I'd let you work for nothing?"

"No, Erning, listen to me. You've already helped me so much. If I accept this money again, it will make me, Huang Guoxing, look like a terrible person."

"Oh my god, come on, why are you dragging everything into this? What does this have to do with anything! I'm thinking of treating this job as a legitimate business, not just doing it once and then calling it a day, understand?"

The loudspeaker asked doubtfully, "Is this a long-term business?"

"It's a long-term business. You know a lot of people in Qing'an, so we have to let you do this job. In the future, we will also buy ginseng and medicinal herbs. There will be a commission for each type of purchase."

"Oh, I thought it was just this one round. Ten yuan is a bit too much, isn't it?"

"Not much. I can earn more than 200 yuan by delivering one bear bile to the provincial capital. What's 10 yuan?"

The loudspeaker grinned and said, "Then I'll tell Lao Jiang and Li Feng, and ask them to lend a hand as well."

"Okay! But when it comes to splitting the money, I'll give it to you, and you can decide how you want to divide it."

Big Horn delivered the loach to the kitchen, turned around to wash his hands, and said, "There's something else. The Chang brothers came out, and then they asked Uncle Du to sell the house, and they moved all their belongings out too..."

Xu Ning was taken aback and asked, "When did this happen?"

“Last week, Uncle Du paid for his house and land out of his own pocket, wrote a letter of introduction, and even went to the school to help his child transfer to another school.”

Li Fuqiang nodded: "I heard about this. Originally, Uncle Du asked Brother Jun if he wanted to buy the Chang brothers' house, but Brother Jun thought it was bad luck and didn't buy it. Instead, he bought their land."

"Well, then Lao Jiang and Li Feng heard about it and started thinking of buying the Chang brothers' house and turning it into a meat-selling workshop. What do you think?"

Xu Ning shook his head upon hearing this: "Not good. His house is at the west end, not far from the west entrance of the village. I told you before, if you want to open a retail store, it should be right on the main road! If you put the store in the village, how will people from other villages know about it? And if the people from the forest farm want to buy some meat on their way to and from get off work, they'll have to walk into the village, won't they?"

After thinking for a moment, the loudspeaker said, "It seems there really aren't any empty houses in Tun Dong right now."

Xu Ning laughed and said, "If there are no empty houses, just create them! The house of the Han family in the east is an adobe house with three rooms, but the front and back yards are not big. You buy the Chang brothers' house, and then think of a way to exchange it with them! When you exchange, you need to sign a contract and put your fingerprints on it."

Wang Hu clapped his hands and said, "My second brother is really good at this. Old Han's house looks dilapidated, while the Chang brothers' house is much more spacious, with bigger front and back yards. Old Han can definitely get a better deal!"

Big Mouth's eyes lit up: "Wow, bro, that's a whole new idea for me! It actually has potential, huh? I'll talk to Old Jiang and Li Feng after dinner!"

(End of this chapter)