Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 45 A strange combination of circumstances
night.

"Old Guo, Old Yan, come out!" Old Song shouted excitedly at the door.

"What's the matter?" Yan Hui and Lao Guo were washing autumn fruits (a kind of apple) in the yard. When they heard Lao Song calling from outside, they responded from a distance.

"There's something good."

"Wait a minute." After the two washed the autumn fruit, Lao Guo tried to pry it open with force, but failed. He handed it to Yan Hui again.

Yan Hui's hands were strong and he pried it open in one go.

After breaking the autumn fruit, Yan Hui and Lao Guo each took half and left the yard.

"What's going on?" Yan Hui was in a good mood. He went out and looked around. He saw Lao Song holding a flashlight. "Where did you get this flashlight?"

"I borrowed it from the convenience store! But I bought the batteries myself!" said Lao Song.

This kind of flashlight requires two D-type batteries, which are not cheap. Old Song is quite sensible.

"The store isn't closed yet?" Yan Hui was a little confused.

"Well, it's not closed yet. The uncle is still thinking about the wood you sent him. He told me to give him the flashlight tomorrow morning. I was thinking of going out hiking and exploring tonight!" Old Song was eager to try, "I haven't been out for a long time!"

"It's so cold." Yan Hui was speechless, but he didn't know what to say.

When he first came to the mountain, he was also very curious and wanted to explore everywhere. Now that he has no interest, it doesn't mean that his brothers are not interested.

"Let's go, it's okay to take a walk." Old Guo nodded.

"Old Wu is waiting for us over there," Old Song pointed in a direction, "We just found some delicious food over there!"

"delicious?"

"Well, this," Lao Song held out his hand and shone the flashlight. "We asked, and this is called a tray! It's edible!" (Raspberry)
"Tray?" Yan Hui had never seen this thing before, so he reached out and picked it up.

A hemisphere as big as a chestnut, red in color, with dozens of small red beads on it. It looks a bit like a strawberry, but it is not.

"Eat it? Who said that?"

"An uncle from the forest farm said so. I just took several, and he ate two." Old Song said, "This is the only one left, but there are still many on the mountain over there. Old Wu is over there."

"Let's go and take a look." Yan Hui nodded.

The snow on the mountain is still sparse and has not completely covered the entire mountain. After a few days and another snowfall, all the shrubs and weeds will not appear again until next year.

The three of them walked quite fast and arrived at a hillside after more than ten minutes. Old Wu had already picked up a lot of fruit in the moonlight, and he ate them as he picked them up.

"Old Wu, eat less. It's so cold and you didn't wash it." Yan Hui reminded him, but still couldn't wait to pick up a big one and stuff it into his mouth.

It’s cool, sour and sweet, with 30% sour and 60% sweet. The extra bit of ice unexpectedly enhances the taste, and it’s really delicious!
"Come here, here are the ones I picked," Old Wu pointed to a patch of clean snow nearby, where dozens of trays were placed.

"Okay, that's nice." Old Song smiled, then picked up the flashlight and shone it around. "There's only this patch. The four of us can pick some and take them home to eat slowly. It's better to wash them first."

"It doesn't matter whether you wash it or not, this place is so clean. Besides, when you wash it, aren't you using river water? It's hard to say which is cleaner, river water or this!" Old Wu was not convinced and ate two more.

"That's true."

It is rare to have such a harvest. The brothers kept expanding the surrounding area and each of them had a good harvest. Old Song took a large piece of maple leaves, which weighed nearly half a pound.

"Let's go, get ready to go down the mountain. We haven't stayed on the mountain for too long." Yan Hui also picked up a lot and stood up to remind everyone.

As soon as he looked up, Yan Hui's hair stood on end, and he saw two wolves not far away!

"What's wrong with you, Old Yan?" Old Guo noticed Yan Hui's abnormality and asked casually.

"Everyone, come closer to me," Yan Hui growled, his voice still trembling. "There are wolves."

"Ah?" Everyone understood Yan Hui's words, but their reactions were different.

Old Guo jumped and danced as he came over, while Old Wu immediately became alert and then slowly moved towards Yan Hui. Old Song was so scared that he dropped the leaves in his hand and looked around, not knowing which way to go.

"This way." Yan Hui shouted again. Seeing Lao Guo rushing over, he felt a little relieved. Then he looked around carefully and felt a little relieved. He only saw two wolves.

Only then did Old Song come to his senses and quickly ran towards Yan Hui.

The two wolves were about a hundred meters away from everyone. They didn't move at all because of the four people's running, and just watched from afar.

The four of them quickly gathered together. Old Song's hands were shaking a little. He grabbed Yan Hui's arm and said, "Old Yan, what are we going to do? Do it?"

"You're quite brave." Yan Hui was no longer panicking. They had four men, and Gao Bo and the others had said that wolves only dared to outnumber humans when facing them, unless they were extremely hungry. This wasn't the beginning of spring, so the wolves weren't considered hungry.

"Stop talking, brother. Tell me, what should we do?"

"Walk slowly down the mountain." Yan Hui said, "Give me the flashlight."

Old Song immediately handed the flashlight to Yan Hui.

Shine the flashlight around, Yan Hui realized it was completely useless. The flashlight had a very limited range, and for anything a little further away, it was better to look at the moonlight, which was actually a waste of time.

The four of them supported each other and slowly walked down the mountain. However, the wolf in the distance slowly followed them, making everyone's emotions even more tense.

"Pick up some sticks," Yan Hui shone the flashlight around, "stones will work too."

Old Song nodded quickly, but his hands and feet were not very obedient. Everyone had picked up something, but he just grabbed a piece of mud, thinking it was a stone. It broke when he exerted force, and he was almost crying with anxiety.

Yan Hui knew at a glance that Old Song would only be a burden to everyone. Fortunately, the hillside here was not far from the forest farm. He immediately shouted loudly: "Da Huang! Da Huang!"

"Ah? Lao Yan, what are you shouting?" Lao Song was shocked.

"A dog from the forest farm." Yan Hui explained and then shouted.

"Oh oh oh, Dahuang! Dahuang!" Old Song also shouted.

"Don't yell, the dog doesn't know you." Yan Hui interrupted Lao Song and then called out the names of other dogs. Yan Hui's shouting made the wolves hesitate. Although they didn't know what Yan Hui was yelling, they still thought he was pretty awesome.

Just as they were about to move forward to explore further, several dogs from the foot of the mountain came running towards this direction in a hurry.

These dogs are so familiar with this area that they can climb this mountain road as if it were flat ground. The sound of their rapid galloping can be heard from a hundred meters away.

"Oh my god, here they come, we're saved!" Old Song suddenly felt strong in his legs and feet.

The two wolves had better hearing and vision than humans. They were the first to notice the dog and started to evacuate without thinking.

But I really didn’t expect that the dog was so brave that it went straight towards the wolf.

"Da Huang, Lao Hei! Come back! Come back!" Yan Hui shouted loudly.

These dogs had some affection for Yan Hui, so they immediately came over and circled around Yan Hui affectionately.

"Let's go, let's go down the mountain. I'll give you some sausages." Yan Hui laughed. On the way here, Lao Guo had prepared a lot of delicious food.

"I must give it to you! Is the convenience store still open? I'll go buy it!" Old Song almost cried while hugging the dog.

"Look at you, you're such a loser," Old Wu said sarcastically. "If you had been braver just now, the wolves probably wouldn't have dared to come our way."

"Go to hell! I told Lao Yan that we should get rid of them! I said it first!" Lao Song argued.

"Using mud?"

"You!" Old Guo was so angry that he threw the mud directly at Old Wu, but because he was in a very bad condition just now, his strength and accuracy were completely out of control, and the mud fell directly to the ground, making everyone laugh.

"Alright, alright, hurry up and get down the mountain." Yan Hui scolded with a smile. He was not worried at this time, after all, it was not far from the forest farm.

After getting down the mountain, Yan Hui immediately went to get bread and sausages to feed the dogs. If it weren't for these dogs today, everyone should be fine, but they definitely wouldn't be so calm.

Old Song originally wanted to run to the store to buy some sausages, but after thinking about it, he didn't dare to run there alone. Although the distance was only a hundred meters and it was inside the forest farm, he was really scared.

After the dogs were almost fed, everyone started washing the trays. Old Song threw away all the trays he had picked. Everyone else brought some back, but Old Song was too embarrassed to eat any, saying he had eaten enough in the mountains. Yan Hui and the other two quickly finished the few trays.

After all, they were all teenagers, so the fear quickly turned into excitement. After a while, even Old Song was no longer afraid. Everyone in the yard discussed how to use sticks and weapons to fight wolves. They all said that if they had time, they would make a handy weapon at the lumber market and kill a wolf today to show everyone!
At this time, no one actually laughed at Lao Song anymore. At the beginning on the mountain, Lao Wu laughed at Lao Song purely because he was also afraid in his heart. Now talking about this, the brothers were like brothers who had experienced war together and were planning to get drunk after returning.

That night, Yan Hui recounted all his experiences at the forest farm, including the stories told to him by Gao Bo and others.

No one may have liked to listen to these stories before, but now everyone is listening with great interest, especially the story about the wolf. No one can fall asleep.

After getting up the next day, Yan Hui and Lao Guo went to the convenience store with the flashlight borrowed from Lao Song, and excitedly talked about what happened when they encountered the wolf last night.

Originally, Uncle Liu had something else to say, and he didn't know whether to politely decline or something like that, but when he saw the excited Yan Hui and Lao Guo, he couldn't get a word in at all, and the words in his mouth were ultimately not spoken.

"You guys on the mountain are really amazing. I'll tell those who come here to learn from you to pay attention!" There was still some excitement in Lao Guo's tone.

"." Old Liu didn't know what to say in response, and nodded for some reason.

After saying goodbye to Uncle Liu, the two quickly found a driver, took Lao Song and Lao Wu with them, and set off together.

Last night, Lao Guo fed the dogs some sausages and bread. Everyone had to go down the mountain for breakfast, so we had to set off early.

As they walked along, Lao Guo suddenly thought of something: "Haven't I discussed the cost of becoming Liu Bo's apprentice yet?"

"Well, you didn't say it." Yan Hui nodded, "I just realized it too."

"Ah? Then why did Uncle Liu agree? It seemed like we wanted to talk about something this morning, but for some reason, we didn't talk about anything." Old Guo said, feeling a little guilty, lamenting that he was still too young and not thoughtful at all.

"However, this may not be a bad thing. Did you see Uncle Liu's expression this morning? I was a little suspicious. He was going to reject us. Maybe he thought about it all night and was ready to refuse. But we went there in the morning and talked a lot, which stopped him from talking." Yan Hui analyzed.

"Now that you mention it, it's true! I always felt like the atmosphere was not right! If you put it that way, it's a good thing! Once we send the apprentices over and bring the money over, it'll be a done deal!" Old Guo high-fived excitedly.

"Yes, that's right. If we hadn't encountered the wolf, we might have failed today!" Yan Hui finished his summary.

"Hahaha, what good luck!" Lao Guo high-fived excitedly. "I'll definitely tell my dad about it when I get home! I'll tell him I bought a lot of roast chicken and pork legs on the way to thank the dog, and ask him to give me more money!"

"How much can you eat?" Yan Hui was a little speechless. "You have a brain for making money, but why do you go after your dad every day?"

"That's right. What should we say? What if the wolf damaged the car? We have to pay more compensation to the driver?" Lao Guo thought for a while again.

The driver looked back when he heard this and thought that this kid was someone important.

"It's more reliable than saying that a wolf bit me and I have to pay more for medical expenses." Yan Hui was speechless.

"Yeah, how about you, Lao Yan, work hard for a while and hide for a month, and I promise to give you an extra 300!"

"Get lost," Yan Hui cursed.

"I'll think about it."

After going down the mountain to the town and having breakfast, Lao Guo came up with a good idea.

"Old Yan, you must keep this secret for me. I will tell my dad that the key person to make this deal is Uncle Gao. I said that in order to deal with Uncle Gao, I gave him 2000 yuan, and I borrowed this money from you. What do you think? No one can verify this. Only God, the earth, you and I know it." Old Guo said mysteriously to Yan Hui.

"What's in it for me?" Yan Hui asked back.

"Didn't I say I'd give you 1000 yuan as a reward? If this works out, I'll give you 1200 yuan," Lao Guo said. "My dad is so stingy with me. We took such a big risk this time, and I almost lost all my money. I have to take this opportunity to make some money so I can have a chance to start a small business!"

"Okay." Yan Hui nodded. To be honest, if Lao Guo gave him 200, he would agree. If Lao Guo said 1000, Yan Hui would think Lao Guo was an idiot.

"Great, it's decided. This way, my money-making plan will be able to start soon!" Lao Guo said mysteriously.

"What's your plan to make money? Take me with you?" Yan Hui asked tentatively.

"You don't understand the rosewood-related industry. Just process the sawdust, add a little spice, and make it into sachets. You will definitely make money!" Lao Guo imagined his business plan.

(End of this chapter)