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

Su Minggui was already waiting at the gate with his bicycle. He turned around and called out, "Sister-in-law, let's go. It'll be dark and the road will be difficult to walk if we don't leave soon."

Lin Hui squatted down and hugged Xiao Shitou again. The little guy was familiar with his grandma and hugged her neck tightly, calling out "Grandma" in his baby voice.

Lin Hui's eyes immediately reddened. She handed the child back to Su Wanqing, turned around and got into Su Jianjun's back seat, waving her hand without looking back.

Su Jianjun got on his bike, and Su Minggui led the way. The two bicycles left the courtyard one after the other and headed towards the town along the village road.

Zhao Lei stood at the door with Su Wanqing, and only turned back into the yard after watching the two cars turn the corner at the end of the field.

Su Wanqing stood by the threshold, holding the small stone, and remained silent with her head down.

Zhao Lei walked over and patted her on the back: "Mom is very happy today. There are many days ahead, and we'll see each other many times."

Su Wanqing nodded, bounced the little stone up a bit, and sniffed, "Yes, I know."

Qin Yuchan came out of the woodshed at this moment, carrying a winnowing basket. Seeing Su Wanqing's red eyes, she raised her loud voice: "Wanqing, don't be sad. Your mother said she'll go to the county town to see her later, and then she'll bring our whole family to talk things out. After all, family members shouldn't hold grudges overnight!"

Su Wanqing was amused by her: "Okay, I'll let Mom try your cooking later."

Jiang Xinyue came out of the main room with a notebook in her hand and walked to Zhao Lei's side: "I've written down all the money and gifts we received today. Take a look at them later."

Zhao Lei waved his hand: "You can manage it, I trust you."

Jiang Xinyue put away the notebook and turned to put her things away.

There were a few people left in the courtyard.

They were Qin Bowen, Wang Dalong, Wang Xiaohu, Zhang Lin, and Zhang Sen, who all stayed to help tidy up.

Qin Yuchan had already brewed a pot of coarse tea and brought it out. Several people sat down by the courtyard to rest and drink water.

Zhao Lei walked over and offered each of them a cigarette: "Thank you all for your hard work today, brothers. You've been busy all day."

Wang Dalong took the cigarette, lit it, and took a drag: "Brother Lei, you're being too polite. If we didn't help you move, would we even be brothers?"

Wang Xiaohu chimed in from the side, "That's right, call us again next time you need something."

Zhang Lin smiled憨厚ly: "Brother Lei, your house is so tidy. I'll make sure my house is built like this in the future."

Zhao Lei smoked a cigarette, but he was thinking about something else.

Did Deputy Factory Director Li accept the request I made today?

From what he said, it wasn't that the Jinxiu Textile Factory couldn't recruit workers, but rather that they had to wait for quotas.

Who can say for sure about this thing? It can be there or it can not.

Looks like I'll have to use money to pave the way!

Human relationships are human relationships, and things are things; you can't get them done just by talking.

Zhao Lei did the math in his head; after the banquet, there wouldn't be much money left from selling the musk pouches.

With three children to raise and considerable daily expenses, they weren't exactly flush with cash to arrange for Jiang Xinyue to get a job at the factory.

We still have to go into the mountains!

Make money!

Zhao Lei stubbed out his cigarette on the sole of his shoe, stood up, and dusted off his pants. "Bowen, come with me into the mountains first thing tomorrow morning to check on those condoms."

Qin Bowen was squatting on the ground drinking water when he heard this, so he looked up and asked, "Okay, what time are we leaving?"

"Set off before dawn, as early as possible."

Qin Bowen nodded: "Okay, I'll get ready when I get back."

Then, with the help of the brothers, the banquet was quickly set up.

That evening, the brothers waited until Wang Zongbao and Qin Dajun arrived, and the young men drank for another round before it was finally over.

The next day, before dawn, Zhao Lei got up.

Qin Yuchan had already made two pancakes for him and put them in a cloth bag, and also filled a pot with water.

Zhao Lei slung his hunting knife and rope over his shoulder and left the courtyard.

Qin Bowen was already waiting at the village entrance, carrying a bamboo basket filled with some dry food and tools.

The two met up and headed into the mountains, one after the other.

Qingfeng Mountain stretches for dozens of miles, with dense trees and tall grass, and is home to many wild animals.

Zhao Lei was familiar with every gully and road in these mountains. He led Qin Bowen through many twists and turns, and in a little over an hour, they arrived at the place where they had set the trap.

Forty traps were distributed on both sides of a ravine, and Zhao Lei and Qin Bowen inspected them separately.

With good luck, he caught three rabbits and two pheasants. Zhao Lei took the prey out of the snare, replaced the snare that needed repairing, and talked to Qin Bowen as he worked.

"I'll send one of these wild rabbits to Dajun's family later; his wife is pregnant and needs some nourishment."

Qin Bowen stuffed a pheasant into the bamboo basket: "Brother-in-law, you've thought of everything."

Most of the condoms either didn't contain anything or had been damaged by some unknown animal.

In addition, Qin Bowen had untied more than a dozen traps last time but failed to restore them.

They say there are forty sets, but only a dozen or so are actually usable.

After checking all the snares, they found only these few wild rabbits, which disappointed the two of them.

However, it's good to have something at all.

Qin Bowen sighed and complained, "Oh brother-in-law, these snares aren't very useful. So many snares and we've only caught a few rabbits. It's not worth it."

"Bowen, you should be content. Now that it's autumn, this is the last peak season for hunting. After winter comes, many wild animals won't come out so easily."

"Then brother-in-law, we'd better hurry up and make as much as possible."

"Let's see how it goes, one step at a time."

The two walked down the ravine, and as the sun rose higher, the forest became increasingly stuffy.

Sweat beaded on Zhao Lei's forehead as he unbuttoned two buttons on his jacket.

As they were walking, Qin Bowen suddenly stopped behind them.

Zhao Lei turned around: "What's wrong?"

Qin Bowen clutched his stomach, his face pale. "Brother-in-law, I... I have a stomachache, I need to poop."

Zhao Lei glared at him irritably: "Lazy donkeys have too much shit and pee on the millstone, hurry up and go."

Qin Bowen clutched his stomach and crawled into a bush by the roadside. Zhao Lei sat down against a tree to rest and took a sip of water from his water bottle.

About seven or eight minutes later, a scream suddenly came from the bushes.

"Ouch! Ouch! My goodness!"

Zhao Lei suddenly stood up: "Bowen? What's wrong?"

There was a rustling sound in the bushes, and Qin Bowen scrambled out from inside.

He hadn't even properly pulled up his pants, and while running, he was slapping his head and neck, yelling incoherently.

Zhao Lei took a closer look and almost burst out laughing.

Qin Bowen had a large swelling on the left side of his face, a red patch on his forehead, and several bees buzzing around in his hair.

He ran a few steps, tripped and fell, got up and kept running, like a firecracker was chasing after him.

Zhao Lei couldn't help but burst into laughter: "What did you do? Did you stir up a hornet's nest?"

Qin Bowen ran up to him, panting heavily, half his face swollen like a steamed bun, and his speech was slurred:

"Brother-in-law, you're still laughing! I was doing my business when my bottom suddenly itched. I turned around and saw a swarm of bees with a huge beehive hanging from a branch next to me! I was so startled that I fell backward and knocked the beehive down!"