70: Raising a wife, the whole village is inhaling the aroma of stewed meat.

Zhao Angshan said with a look of disdain, "You hunt? You may look quite capable, but hunting depends on luck. Don't waste my bullets!"

Zhou Qingwen coaxed and pleaded, "Old Zhao, I've already told you, if I hunt a wild goat, I'll give you a goat leg and ten catties of mutton as payment for the bullets. How about that? What do you think of my sincerity?"

Zhao Angshan said with a strange look, "The Taihang Mountains are full of dangers. Hunters usually only hunt pheasants and rabbits. How could you hunt a wild goat?"

"You brag without even thinking it through?"

Zhou Qingwen immediately said, "Give me a bullet, and I'll show you!"

Zhao Angshan pulled something out of his pants and said, "Try it!"

Zhou Qingwen loaded the bullets deftly, just as a small bird flew overhead.

Zhou Qingwen aimed his gun and fired, "Bang!"

Everyone around was startled. Then they saw the little bird in the sky fall down, leaving a little bit of its blood on the ground.

A man came out and said, "Wow, whose marksmanship is so accurate?"

At this moment, Zhou Qingwen pushed through the crowd and said, "Brother, this little bird is mine, please make way."

The person who picked up the bird then gave it to Zhou Qingwen, saying, "Your marksmanship is really good!"

"Hey! Thanks for the compliment!"

At this moment, Old Zhao squeezed in: "Hey! You're really something, kid! I can give you the bullets first, but it's a deal: a leg of lamb plus 10 jin of mutton, and a bowl of offal!"

Zhou Qingwen smiled brightly and said, "Okay, Uncle Zhao, thanks!"

"Hey, brat, you finally called me Uncle Zhao?"

"It's kind of embarrassing to keep mentioning Old Man Zhao."

Everyone laughed and said, "Old Zhao, you've got another long-term hunter in your hands! This kid's marksmanship is really impressive!"

"Yeah, yeah! Like a sharpshooter!"

"Absolutely! He can even hit birds in flight; he'd definitely be a master hunter in the mountains!"

Zhou Qingwen said cautiously, "Thank you all for your high regard. When I hunt a big prey in the future, please come to the black market and support me!"

"Sure, sure!"

The crowd slowly dispersed.

The black market has returned to normal order.

Zhou Qingwen was holding a heavy box of bullets in his arms.

I got home around 11 a.m.

Zhou Qingwen glanced into the kitchen and saw a steamed bun and a sauerkraut bun. He picked them up and ate them as he walked away.

I promised my family I'd get some meat for them to eat today.

We must not break our promise!

Zhou Qingwen walked up the mountain, his long, straight legs moving with firm strides. On his back were a rope, a knife, a water bottle, his sharpened arrows and bow, and a gun he had borrowed from the brigade leader—this time it had bullets! A real weapon!

We went all the way up into the Taihang Mountains.

On the first hill we reached, we encountered two pheasants, which we quickly dealt with with our arrows.

Hang it directly on your waist.

That's good. We caught two pheasants as soon as we got up the mountain, which is a good backup plan.

Zhou Qingwen walked deeper into the mountains and saw some sheep droppings. He followed them for a while but didn't see any sheep. However, he did see a fat gray rabbit.

"Whoosh!"

With one arrow, the gray rabbit was pinned to the tree root.

Zhou Qingwen immediately looked around to make sure there were no other wild beasts, then went over and took the gray rabbit down from under the tree roots, still attached to the arrow.

Goodness, this rabbit weighs at least six or seven pounds!

What a fat rabbit!

Zhou Qingwen glanced around and realized it was almost dark. It wasn't safe to be in the mountains after dark, so he picked up the rabbit and prepared to head back.

And the sheep droppings should also be marked.

Zhou Qingwen left a mark and then departed.

By the time we got back to the village, it was completely dark, around 7 or 8 pm.

Everyone in the family cooked vegetable soup, but no one dared to say they wanted to eat.

Because Zhou Feitian looked sullen.

The hunters did not return, and no one ate.

Zhou Qingwen's mother stood outside the door with an oil lamp, her eyes red.

She wiped her eyes from time to time, saying, "I should have known better than to let the third son go up the mountain."

Zhou Feitian said, "Perhaps the third son will have better luck."

It turns out that two strong men from the village went hunting in the mountains and were injured by a wild boar.

Although he has returned, he may be crippled from now on.

From a distance, Zhou Qingwen could see a small light outside his house.

"Mom, I'm home!"

Zhou Qingwen knew without a doubt that it was his mother waiting for him.

At this time, Zhou Qingwen didn't have a wife, so it must have been his mother waiting for him outside the door.

Zhou Feitian's face, which had been sullen all night, finally relaxed slightly: "You brat! You're finally back!"

The eldest and second eldest brothers immediately stood up and said, "Let's go greet the third brother!"

Zhou Feitian nodded: "Go ahead!"

The eldest and second eldest brothers immediately came out: "Third brother! Are you alright?"

"Big brother, second brother, I'm fine, I'm alright!"

"Mom, why are you crying?"

"Third brother, you should just stay home next time and not go up the mountain!"

The eldest and second sisters-in-law said with concern, "Going up the mountain is too dangerous. You can just stay home and cook. We'll earn your work points."

Zhou Qingwen only showed his face briefly before asking, "Why won't you let me go up the mountain?"

Not seeing any prey, Liu Yue'e said worriedly, "You don't know, your brother Gou Sheng and brother Er Niu were both injured by wild boars! They'll probably be crippled from now on!"

Zhou Qingwen slapped his thigh: "Wild boar? Why didn't I run into one?"

"Big brother, second brother, help me get the prey!"

Zhou Qingwen shoved the pheasant into his second brother's hand and pressed the wild rabbit against his eldest brother's shoulder: "No, wait, I'll take one of the pheasants and go ask Brother Erniu where we encountered the wild boar!"

Liu Yue'e was stunned for a moment: "You caught prey again?"

"Ah, this isn't really true!"

Zhou Qingwen picked up a pheasant and said, "I'm going to Erniu's house. I'll be back for dinner in a bit. Sister-in-law, Second Sister-in-law, could you please make braised rabbit?"

"We'll trade the pheasant for food tomorrow!"

When Liu Yue'e saw the prey, she was utterly astonished: "What are you all standing there for? Eat half of this rabbit and leave the other half!"

Zhou Feitian couldn't help but come out of the courtyard and give the instructions.

Zhou Feitian's eyes did not miss the arrow wound.

That kid's good!

His archery skills are superb!

No one fired a shot?

Zhou Qingwen carried the pheasant to Erniu's house.

When they arrived at Erniu's house, the doctor had just stitched up Erniu's leg wound, and Erniu's wife's eyes were swollen like a frog's from crying.

The two children were also crying weakly, clearly quite frightened.

Erniu's widowed mother was also wiping away tears.

"Brother Erniu, are you home?"

Erniu's mother came out. "Who is it?"

"Aunt Chen, I am Zhou Qingwen."

Chen Guihua is the name of Erniu's mother.

"Hey, Qingwen, come inside quickly! Your brother Erniu can't get out. His leg was injured by a wild boar, and he just had it stitched up. He can't move."

As Chen Guihua spoke, she wiped away her tears and pinched her nose with her right hand, lightly touching her snot on the fence.

"Aunt Chen, I brought a pheasant. Go kill it and make soup for Brother Erniu to help him recover!"

Upon seeing the pheasant, Chen Guihua rubbed her eyes with her right hand, exclaiming, "This...this is unacceptable! This pheasant is worth a lot of grain!"

Hearing the commotion, Erniu shouted, "Qingwen, take the pheasant back! You can trade it for twenty catties of cornmeal! You rascal, how could you just give it away like that!"