Reborn in 78, I made my fortune by working in the mountains, supporting three families on my own.

Zhao Lei's purpose in going into the mountains was very clear: to make money from musk. The flesh and hide of this twenty-odd jin of female musk deer were of negligible value and not worth mentioning at all.

More importantly, he had a long-term vision. Female musk deer are the foundation for the reproduction of the species. The number of musk deer in this forest was already scarce. If they were to be killed indiscriminately, regardless of sex, it would be like killing the goose that lays the golden eggs or draining the pond to catch all the fish.

If that were the case, there would be no more musk deer in the mountains, thus cutting off his long-term source of income from musk. As a mountain hunter, he would never engage in such a one-off deal.

Zhao Lei grabbed one end of the lasso, took out a small knife from his waist, and gently sliced ​​along the knot, snapping the hemp rope in two. The female musk deer was startled at first, then suddenly flipped over and stood up, kicking up fallen leaves and debris as she leaped three or four meters away.

After running for a while, it suddenly stopped and looked back, its bright little eyes scanning the area behind it, as if it could hardly believe it had managed to escape. A few moments later, it leaped and disappeared completely into the dense forest.

Qin Bowen looked puzzled and asked, "Brother-in-law, why did you let it go?"

Zhao Lei tossed the broken rope back into his basket and patted the dirt off his hands: "It doesn't have any musk on it, so there's no point in keeping it. Let it go."

Qin Bowen said with a regretful expression, "But even a small mosquito is still meat!"

Zhao Lei seized the opportunity to reassure him: "Bowen, we don't need those twenty pounds of meat right now. The key is that the female musk deer doesn't produce musk, so hunting it for a few dozen yuan is not worth it."

"Besides, they can reproduce. If we exterminate all the breeding ones, there will be no more musk deer in the mountains. What will be the point of hunting in the mountains and making money?"

Upon hearing this, Qin Bowen immediately felt relieved and nodded repeatedly: "Brother-in-law is indeed far-sighted and thoughtful. I was too short-sighted."

Zhao Lei waved his hand and walked over to the male musk deer that was tied up at both ends: "Stop flattering me, come and lend a hand, let's take these two musk sacs off first."

"Okay!"

With yesterday's experience, the two worked together with even greater ease and skill. Zhao Lei pressed on the musk deer's abdomen, gathering blood and energy around the musk glands, while Qin Bowen steadily held down the semi-conscious musk deer to prevent it from moving around.

Following the same method as yesterday, Zhao Lei tightened the base of the musk sac with a thin hemp rope, carefully cut along the skin with the tip of the knife, and soon successfully removed two complete musk sacs, which he immediately wrapped carefully in oiled paper and put away.

Qin Bowen stared at the two plump musk sacs, unable to suppress a smile: "Brother-in-law, these two musk sacs are quite large, about the same size as the one from yesterday. They must be worth over a thousand yuan together!"

Zhao Lei smiled and nodded as he put away the items: "That's about right. Let's go down the mountain early today and sell the musk pouches."

"No problem, brother-in-law!"

Qin Bowen drew his dagger and swiftly disposed of the two musk deer. The two brothers worked for nearly half an hour by the manure field, carefully cleaning up the bloodstains and remaining pieces of meat, leaving no trace.

Looking at this success, Zhao Lei had a new plan in mind. Yesterday, three out of eight lassos he set hit their targets, a success rate far exceeding expectations.

If this method of trapping is implemented, with snares set up in suitable locations throughout the mountains and forests, and patrols conducted daily, a stable source of income from hunting can be established.

He immediately said to Qin Bowen, "Bowen, let's not go deep into the mountains today. Let's make more lassos on the spot and set up more traps in the mountains."

Qin Bowen had already tasted the benefits. Compared to aimlessly chasing wild boars and wandering the mountains searching for prey, the fixed-point cloth traps were more convenient and efficient. He immediately replied, "Okay! Brother-in-law, how many should we make?"

"Do as much as you can, and we'll be down the mountain around 3 p.m. sharp."

The two got right to work, using whatever materials were available: they cut down a large amount of highly flexible thin bamboo strips and mountain vines, found a flat stone, and focused on weaving a noose.

Zhao Lei provided hands-on guidance on the techniques. Qin Bowen had reviewed the instructions once yesterday and learned them again today, mastering them very quickly. After a little practice, he successfully made a standard slipknot lasso.

Zhao Lei praised with satisfaction: "Not bad, you learned very quickly and did it very well."

Qin Bowen chuckled: "It's all thanks to my brother-in-law's excellent teaching!"

The morning flew by, and the two brothers finished making twenty or thirty slipknots before stopping. In the afternoon, Zhao Lei, along with Qin Bowen, carefully selected prime locations where prey frequently appeared, such as mountain trails, tree roots, and water sources, and set up the snares one by one.

Setting up a lasso may seem simple, but it actually involves a lot of skill, with every position, tightness, and angle having its own intricacies.

The routine looks simple, and you can learn it after watching it a few times, but the real key is where to set the trap. If you just randomly place a trap in the mountains, you might not catch a single prey even if you wait for years.

Zhao Lei patiently taught Qin Bowen, then suddenly looked at a broken clump of bushes ahead and asked, "Bowen, look at this clump of grass, what clues can you see?"

Qin Bowen quickly stepped forward to examine the area closely and discovered that the tips of the grass had been nibbled on, and all the weeds were bent over in the same direction. He boldly guessed, "Brother-in-law, animals must have been here. Perhaps herbivores grazed on the grass?"

Zhao Lei nodded: "That's right, but you've missed the most crucial point."

"What is it, brother-in-law?"

Zhao Lei pointed to a patch of weeds lying flat in the same direction and said, "Look at these marks. These are left by wild animals passing by over a long period of time, not just once."

Qin Bowen looked puzzled: "Brother-in-law, how could you tell that?"

"It's very simple," Zhao Lei explained patiently. "When people or wild animals walk through the grass, they will trample the plants, but the plants are resilient and will recover in no time. However, in places where the grass is frequently trampled, the way the plants grow is completely different."

Qin Bowen seemed to understand but not quite: "How is it different? If you walk around a lot, will the weeds stop growing?"

Zhao Lei originally wanted to give a more intuitive example, but then he thought that most people in that era did not have relevant experience, but it was very common in later generations.

Just like the vegetation on both sides of a highway, the trees on the left and right lanes grow in completely different ways. The canopy of the tree following the direction of traffic flow will naturally tilt and grow tilted over the years due to the erosion of the wind, like having a side-swept fringe.

He said slowly, "The principle is the same. Plants don't shape themselves, but when subjected to external pressure in a fixed direction for a long time, they will form a fixed growth posture."

He pointed to the bushes in front of him, "This is a trail used by small wild animals all year round. We can't set traps arbitrarily. We must find the prey's fixed activity routes to increase the hit rate."

Upon hearing this, Qin Bowen suddenly realized: "So that's how it is! I was wondering why the mountain is so big and our lassos are so small. It's too unscientific to just set them up randomly and rely on luck."

Zhao Lei nodded with a smile: "That's right. When hunting in the mountains, there are always clues to follow. This afternoon, let's set up all thirty-two snares, and then we'll head down the mountain on time."