Hunting 81: Gathering Goods in the Mountains, I Spoil My Ex-Wife to the Extreme

After cursing, Gao Hongmei turned to Su Lihua and asked, "Lihua, are you alright?"

"It's nothing, I just felt a bit uncomfortable running into these street thugs."

Su Lihua shook her head and said.

Back when she lived in the educated youth settlement, Li Jianren, a young man from Guapigou Village, would often come to the settlement to fawn over her. However, knowing Li Jianren's character, Su Lihua never paid him any attention and never gave him a kind look.

But Lee Kin-yan's attentiveness, or rather, harassment, did cause her a lot of trouble.

Later, other educated youth returned to the city one after another, and the educated youth settlement collapsed after a storm. Because she had the same experience as Gao Hongmei and they got along well, she moved into Gao Hongmei's house after the educated youth settlement was gone.

In recent years, Gao Hongmei has shielded her from a lot of harassment and protected her.

"It's good that you're alright."

After Gao Hongmei finished speaking, she looked Su Lihua up and down before taking the deerskin back from her: "Let's go to the commune and see how much this deerskin can sell for."

Su Lihua nodded, and the two of them set off for Xiangyang Commune, bathed in the warm winter sun.

"That shrew Gao Hongmei..."

Not far away, after Gao Hongmei and Su Lihua left, Li Jianren peeked out from the corner. He touched his still slightly burning cheeks, but his eyes were fixed on the deerskin in Gao Hongmei's hand.

Guapigou Village is so small. The news that Gao Hongmei and Li Yunshan went hunting in the mountains the day before yesterday and each caught a red deer has already spread.

I heard that early yesterday morning, Gao Hongmei got on a tractor that Li Yunshan borrowed from the village office and went to the city to sell venison.

He didn't know how much money he made, but when he went to the market in Xiangyang Commune, Li Jianren saw that a pound of venison sold for 1.7 or 1.8 yuan. A red deer that big would have at least 200 or 300 pounds of meat, so it could sell for at least 300 to 500 yuan.

What she was holding just now looked like a deerskin, and she and Su Lihua were heading towards Xiangyang Commune...

Thinking of this, Li Jianren's eyes darted around: "Gao Hongmei, you've ruined my plans several times before, and today you even hit me, so don't blame me for being ruthless."

……

"Selling pork! This is a big, fat pig that was just slaughtered this morning. Everyone passing by, young and old, aunties, young wives, come and see the fresh pork. It's still tender."

"Selling tofu, tofu made from this year's fresh soybeans..."

"Grandpa, these are river fish that were caught early this morning..."

"Don't miss out! Fresh wild boar meat, no coupons needed, only 80 cents a pound..."

"Steamed buns, steamed buns, freshly baked big steamed buns..."

"..."

When Gao Hongmei and Su Lihua arrived at Xiangyang Commune, it happened to be market day.

Along the narrow street, shouts rose and fell, from vendors selling large, fat pigs raised at home, to river fish, wild boar meat, and various snacks such as needles and thread, candied hawthorns, and twisted dough sticks.

Despite the freezing weather, people flocked to the market on the streets, and the supply and marketing cooperative was packed with people. As soon as one group of people left the cooperative to buy things, another group arrived.

Gao Hongmei and Su Lihua squeezed into the supply and marketing cooperative, but instead of rushing to sell the deerskins to the sales clerks, they went to the display case for hunting rifles and checked their prices.

Domestically produced hunting rifles include brands such as Tiger Head and Gongzi, with fewer single-barrel models and more double-barrel models.

Moreover, double-barreled shotguns are significantly more expensive than single-barreled shotguns.

This wasn't the first time Gao Hongmei had bought things at the supply and marketing cooperative; it's just that she hadn't hunted before, so she had never paid attention to the price of hunting rifles.

Later, she went hunting in the mountains with Li Yunshan, and she also used Li Yunshan's hunting rifle.

It wasn't until now, when she realized she needed to own a hunting rifle, that Gao Hongmei discovered how expensive hunting rifles really are.

A Gong brand hunting rifle costs 220 yuan, a Tiger Head brand hunting rifle costs 230 yuan... and there are even more expensive hunting rifles imported from abroad, which sell for 400 or 500 yuan each.

The price left Gao Hongmei speechless, and she also felt apprehensive, wondering if she would have enough money to buy a hunting rifle after selling the deerskin.

"Look, this Tiger Head brand hunting rifle is the one Li Yunshan gave me to use. I used this rifle to kill a wild boar and that deer the day before yesterday."

In front of the counter, Gao Hongmei pointed to the Tiger Head brand hunting rifle in the cabinet and said to Su Lihua.

"This hunting rifle is too expensive, it costs two hundred and thirty yuan."

Su Lihua glanced at the price and couldn't help but whisper in Gao Hongmei's ear.

"As the saying goes, if you want to do a good job, you must first have the right tools. This Tiger Head brand hunting rifle is not expensive at all. With a hunting rifle, I can hunt more prey, and I can earn back the money I spent."

After hunting a wild boar and a red deer, Gao Hongmei tasted the sweetness of hunting and was full of hope for the future.

"Li Yunshan has two guns, so you can just use his hunting rifle. Why spend so much money to buy another one?"

Su Lihua felt that Gao Hongmei didn't need to buy a gun; she could just use Li Yunshan's. That way, she could save 230 yuan to improve her life or prepare for unforeseen circumstances.

"Every time I go hunting in the mountains, I use his hunting rifle, which makes me uncomfortable. It prevents me from freely confronting him when I'm annoyed with him. Once I have my own hunting rifle, I can confront him however I want when I'm annoyed with him," Gao Hongmei said through gritted teeth.

"That's secondary. What I'm worried about is that once you have a hunting rifle, you'll go hunting in the deep mountains on your own. Aren't you afraid of the jackals, wolves, and tigers there?"

"Lihua, don't worry, I won't be stupid enough to go hunting in the deep mountains by myself. Whenever Li Yunshan goes hunting in the mountains, I'll go with him. I usually stay near the village and hunt a wild rabbit or a pheasant to give us a treat."

Gao Hongmei patted Su Lihua on the shoulder, and then went to find the salesperson at the supply and marketing cooperative.

The supply and marketing cooperative has a special department responsible for purchasing local specialties. When the sales clerk saw that Gao Hongmei was going to sell a deer hide, he was as excited as a bear seeing honey.

"This is such a large deer hide, it looks like it was just peeled off recently, and the quality of the hide is excellent. Young lady, how much are you looking to sell it for?"

The salesperson spread out the deer hide, examined it carefully, and then smiled at Gao Hongmei.

People who came to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy things nearby couldn't help but gather around when they saw someone taking out a large, high-quality deer hide to sell.

"One hundred and fifty yuan, I won't sell it for less than that."

Gao Hongmei quoted a price.

Although Li Yunshan told her not to sell if the price was below 100 yuan, and to sell quickly if the price was 120 yuan or even higher, Gao Hongmei thought about it and wondered what if she tried to bargain by offering 120 yuan.

There has to be room for negotiation.

So she took it upon herself to quote a price of one hundred and fifty yuan.

"One hundred and fifty yuan? Young lady, that's a bit high. To be honest, although your deer hide is quite nice, I estimate I can only offer you one hundred and thirty yuan at most. Would you like to consider lowering your price a bit?"

"One hundred and thirty yuan? That's too little. You should give me at least one hundred and forty yuan."

Although she didn't know if the price the salesperson offered was his bottom line, Gao Hongmei still pretended to be dissatisfied with the price of 130 yuan.

"Young lady, the salesperson is right. Your deer hide is worth 130 yuan, which is quite good. I advise you to take your money and sell it."

At this moment, an older man standing nearby spoke up.

Gao Hongmei glanced at him and saw that the uncle was wearing a wolfskin coat and carrying a single-barreled shotgun, so she knew that he must be an old hunter.

"Uncle, you're a hunter too, right?"

Gao Hongmei asked.

"right."

The uncle nodded.

"Salesperson, is it really not possible to sell it for 140 yuan?"

Gao Hongmei asked tentatively.

"No, ma'am, like this uncle said, the price I can offer is 130 yuan, which is already a very good price. If you insist on selling it for 140 yuan, then I suggest you try somewhere else."

The sales clerk looked somewhat embarrassed.

"Well... alright then, 130 it is, I'll sell it."

Gao Hongmei hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

Originally, Li Yunshan instructed that he would not sell for less than one hundred, but would sell if it could fetch one hundred and twenty or even higher.

The salesperson at the supply and marketing cooperative offered a price of 130 yuan, which exceeded the price Li Yunshan had instructed her to pay, so Gao Hongmei made a decisive purchase.

Soon, Gao Hongmei exchanged money and goods with the salesperson of the supply and marketing cooperative, and the thirteen large sums of money were in Gao Hongmei's hands.

She tucked the thirteen ten-yuan bills into the inside pocket of her cotton-padded coat, feeling more at ease.

Previously, when Gao Zhankui was hospitalized, the money she spent was borrowed from Li Yunshan. She only spent a small portion of the money she had saved from earning work points in the village collective and doing odd jobs over the years.

Gao Hongmei came to Xiangyang Commune to sell deerskin in order to buy a hunting rifle, so she brought almost all the money she had saved, a total of 110 yuan, leaving only 20-odd yuan at home for emergencies.

The 110 yuan she saved, plus the 130 yuan she earned from selling deerskin, was enough for her to buy a hunting rifle of her own.

"Come on, Lihua, let's go buy a hunting rifle."

The thought of finally getting the hunting rifle she had been longing for filled Gao Hongmei with excitement.

However, when she took the money and went to the counter selling hunting rifles, Gao Hongmei was completely dumbfounded.

"Comrade, you need a gun license to buy a hunting rifle. Do you have one?"

"This... I didn't."