Returning to the small mountain village of '86, intelligence updated daily.

After working methodically for half an hour, a stretcher made mainly of wood finally appeared on the open ground in front of them.

Zhou Rui had already carefully removed the most valuable antlers from the water deer, wrapped them in dry grass, and put them into the basket containing the Ganoderma lucidum.

"Second brother, you lift the side, Xiao Rui, you lift the lower leg. I'll count to three, then we'll all pull together."

The four men didn't dare to delay. Under Zhou Shiwei's unified command, they carried the water deer onto a makeshift stretcher, and the next step was to secure it.

The water deer is very heavy, weighing over 150 kilograms. It's impossible for one or two people to lift it, let alone carry it home.

If it's just Zhou Rui and his nephew Zhou Shijie coming again this time, they'll probably have to take the most valuable parts home first and then risk leaving the rest in this desolate mountain.

If that were the case, the remaining parts would likely be discovered and eaten by other wild animals in the mountains.

Zhou Rui felt relieved that his father had come along, and that all four able-bodied men in his family had come.

After eating well for the past ten days or so, all four of them were in good physical condition, and there were also two strong adult men in the group.

Zhou Shiwei was strong and powerful, while Zhou Shijie, though weaker, was still a strong man.

"Xiao Rui, come here, tie that leg up. Second brother, tie the other one up."

Zhou Shiwei took out the rope he had prepared and threw it to the two of them.

After quickly securing the prey, the four tested it to make sure it wouldn't fall apart.

So, after replenishing their water and energy, the four of them, each carrying one of the antlers, carried the enormous water deer home.

Zhou Shiwei's center of gravity was noticeably shifted inward, which was done to distribute more of the weight.

Because the person next to him was Zhou Ming. The two of them were at the back of the makeshift stretcher, while Zhou Rui and his nephew Zhou Shijie were at the front of the group, responsible for leading the way and controlling the direction.

This allocation was also carefully considered, and it was Zhou Rui who proposed it.

Of the four, Zhou Ming was the weakest, so he and Zhou Shiwei, the strongest, stayed at the rear.

Zhou Rui was the next strongest, so he and his middle-aged second uncle, Zhou Shijie, carried the front end.

This way, the workload can be distributed more evenly, preventing any one person from being overworked and avoiding an imbalance where the front-end or back-end is either too strong or too weak.

Zhou Shijie also wanted to shift his weight slightly inward, but after only a little, Zhou Rui refused, saying that it would take a lot of effort to carry him back intact.

Although the baskets carried by the four people were a bit large, they all loosened the ropes so that they wouldn't obstruct the wood on their shoulders.

This is a test for the four of them. If any one of them makes a mistake, it will slow down the team's progress.

"Dad, I'm fine, but you're too heavy."

Zhou Ming, who had been walking silently, glanced at Zhou Shiwei and couldn't help but speak up.

He also worked with an outside construction team; he was actually quite strong, just young.

The eldest brother, Zhou Rui, often did manual labor and heavy work, which is why he was a little stronger than him.

Zhou Shiwei simply smiled in relief upon hearing this.

"You brat, don't you trust your old man? Stop talking and let's go. We have to get out of the mountains before dark."

Although Zhou Shiwei appeared relaxed, anyone with a discerning eye could tell at a glance that 6-7% of the weight was resting on his shoulders...

Because the ropes are tied at different points, Zhou Rui suggested that the weight at the front and back ends should be roughly the same.

However, the deer's head was still behind the stretcher, which meant that Zhou Shiwei was carrying over 90 kilograms on his shoulders.

This also illustrates the fact that Zhou Shiwei carried about one-third of the total weight by himself.

……

It's not that they didn't want to tie it horizontally, but that would cause it to lose its balance and make it harder to carry.

The four of them traveled a distance and it took them almost twice as long to return to the cliff where they had previously gathered the Ganoderma lucidum.

In about forty or fifty minutes, the sun in the sky has now tilted to the other side, and it is almost three o'clock.

At Zhou Rui's suggestion, the four of them put down the makeshift stretcher and rested for a while with some water.

Although everyone didn't seem particularly tired at the moment, they needed time to adjust.

Three to five minutes later, the group carried the enormous water deer back again.

This walk took almost two hours.

They took a break every thirty minutes during the period.

However, the results were significant; they finally reached the fork in the road.

A little further out from the fork in the road is a pine forest.

Zhou Rui didn't dare let the team stop at the fork in the road to rest. He hadn't forgotten that there were poisonous snakes on the other side of the road!

Who can be sure that venomous snakes won't move to another location?

So, after walking for a while, the four of them arrived in the pine forest, panting heavily.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh..."

"I'm so tired, but we've finally made it here."

"Why is this forest so gloomy? It wasn't like this this morning."

Zhou Ming plopped down on the pine needles, took out some food to replenish his energy, and drank a sip of water.

At this moment, he also looked at the dense forest in front of him with a sense of fear and trepidation.

By this time, the sun had completely shifted to the other side, and the pine forest further obstructed the view, making the woods, which had been quite visible in the morning, appear somewhat gloomy.

Deep in the dense forest, rustling sounds could be heard from time to time. Although they all knew that it was squirrels, the atmosphere was still chilling.

"Almost there! We're almost out of the mountains. Keep it up!"

Zhou Shiwei cheered him on from the sidelines while also stretching his shoulders.

Although Zhou Ming didn't notice, Zhou Rui pretended to see it by chance: on his father's shoulder, there seemed to be a touch of scarlet on his thin, coarse cloth clothes.

That was fresh blood from grinding.

Even strong men who frequently do manual labor or carry loads on shoulder poles will have their shoulders worn raw and calloused under continuous, high-intensity physical pressure.

Zhou Shiwei shrugged his shoulders a couple of times without saying a word, instead encouraging his younger brother.

Zhou Rui felt a strange, indescribable sensation in his throat, as if something was blocking it.

He turned his head away, somewhat reluctantly, and took a deep breath.

The water deer, which actually weighed just over 300 jin, had more than 90 jin taken by Zhou Shiwei, and the rest was shared among the three of them, with each person carrying less than 70 jin. Zhou Ming even had only 60 jin left on his shoulders.

Even so, Zhou Rui and the other two still felt extremely tired. It was evident from the fact that Zhou Ming, who was slightly more robust, was panting heavily as soon as he sat down that the weight of over sixty kilograms was still very tiring.

Although Zhou Shijie was also tired, he was carrying the musk deer, which had undergone simple treatment and weighed more than ten kilograms.

So he actually had about 80 pounds on his shoulders, but he didn't say anything, and his eyes still held the excitement from before.

After taking a sip of water, Zhou Rui handed the kettle to Zhou Shiwei, and then he went to the back and groped around for something.

After a while, Zhou Shiwei, who was resting, took a sip of water and suddenly felt something on his shoulder.

When he turned around, he saw Zhou Rui holding something made of soft weeds wrapped in plant leaves and placing it on his shoulder.

Zhou Rui suppressed his emotions, then leaned closer and whispered:

"Dad, you've worked so hard all these years. Our family will definitely get better and better in the future."