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

Gao Hongmei gave Li Yunshan a deep look, knowing that he must be feeling a mix of emotions upon hearing the news that Su Lihua was about to return to the city. After a long while, she nodded and said, "Okay, once her parents reply to her and confirm that everything is arranged there, she will go to the village office and Xiangyang Commune to apply for her return permit. I will let you know when I confirm her return date."

"Well... I'll be going now. Be careful at home, and it's best to keep your hunting rifle with you so you can grab it immediately if you encounter any danger," Li Yunshan instructed.

"Okay, okay, you really talk too much nonsense. Hurry up and kill that tiger. I want to get a good night's sleep."

Gao Hongmei waved her hand impatiently, signaling Li Yunshan to leave quickly.

Seeing Gao Hongmei's carefree demeanor, Li Yunshan smiled and turned to leave.

Soon, he arrived at the village's threshing ground.

At this time, all the hunters in the village had arrived.

With Li Yunshan's arrival, Uncle Zhou gathered everyone together and began assigning tasks.

"Wang Laojiu, Zhao Shuanzhu, Cai Er, Peng Youlian, you and Baotian form a group and lie in ambush in the granary on the east side."

"Zhang San, Li Yunshan, Wu Shenghong, you'll be in my group. We'll guard the granary on the west side."

After gathering everyone together, Uncle Zhou began to divide people into groups and assign tasks.

Among them, Wang Laojiu's group of five hunters, except for Peng Youlian who used a bird gun, the other four used hunting rifles, some with double barrels and some with single barrels, and were led by Li Baotian, another old hunter in the village.

As for Uncle Zhou's group, apart from Brother Zhang San who used a bow and arrow, the other three used guns.

Among them, Uncle Zhou himself and another hunter in the village, Wu Shenghong, both used double-barreled shotguns, while Li Yunshan used a Mosin-Nagant, a standard rifle that was once used by hunting troops.

Therefore, although Uncle Zhou's group only had four people and appeared to have only three guns, Li Yunshan's Mosin-Nagant was far more powerful, penetrating, and had a longer range than their hunting rifles.

Uncle Zhou made this arrangement for two reasons: first, to balance the firepower of the two groups; and second, because he often teamed up with Brother Zhang and Li Yunshi when he went hunting in the mountains, and they had a deep trust in each other.

Now, although Li Yunshi is not at Hongxing Forest Farm, Li Yunshan is, so it's the same.

Wu Shenghong, Uncle Zhou, and Brother Zhang from their group went hunting in the mountains much less often.

In addition, Li Baotian and Wang Laojiu's group also often went hunting in the mountains together, and they had a tacit understanding and trust with each other.

"Baotian, we'll guard the granary. If a tiger really comes into the village and runs to the threshing ground, once it's inside the enclosure and grabs that big fat pig, your men should open fire immediately when they hear the gunshots from our side. We'll shoot the tiger to death."

After assigning two groups of people, Uncle Zhou put his arm around Li Baotian's shoulder, and the two huddled together before Uncle Zhou spoke.

"Okay, Brother Zhou, don't worry. As soon as you fire your shot, my men will definitely open fire immediately." Li Baotian patted his chest and made a promise with great confidence.

Then, the two groups of people quickly entered the granaries located on the east and west sides of the shrimp drying ground.

Although it was called a granary, the grain in the granary was already distributed long after the crops in the fields were harvested, dried, and stored in the granary, as the village settled work points at the end of the year.

Later, when the village primary school collapsed, dozens or even hundreds of students had nowhere to attend classes, so this place was used as a temporary classroom.

However, since the tiger entered the village last night, the village primary school was closed this morning.

Now, in the dim candlelight, the huge granary only has the students' desks and chairs, the blackboard hanging on the wall, and the chalk on the podium.

After entering the granary, the door was closed from the inside, and Zhang Sange also installed a bolt as thick as an arm.

After doing all this, Uncle Zhou and the other three hid behind the windows of the granary, each holding their own gun or bow and arrow, and quietly observed the activity on the threshing floor through the window glass, waiting for the tiger to appear.

On the threshing floor, the big fat pig, kept in its enclosure, was unaware that it might be in danger, and was still grunting as it ate the half-bucket of swill that the hunter Wang Laojiu had brought from his home.

The swill contained rice bran, which the big, fat pig ate with great relish.

"Old Jiu's pig is really fat. It would be a shame if a tiger carried it away."

Inside the granary, by the dim moonlight, Wu Shenghong could see the big fat pig engrossed in eating and drinking, and he couldn't help but feel sorry for it.

"If that tiger hadn't left, and we could have lured it over, we could have opened fire and killed it. That would have been a huge win. What's sacrificing a big fat pig compared to that?"

Zhang Sange chuckled softly.

"Yes, Zhang San is right. As long as we can take down that tiger, it's worth sacrificing two or even three big fat pigs. Sheng Hong, think long-term and don't get hung up on these immediate gains and losses."

Uncle Zhou also strongly agreed with what Brother Zhang said.

If you can kill a tiger, the tiger meat alone can fetch a lot of money, not to mention the more valuable tiger skin, tiger bones, and tiger gallbladder.

Among the hunters in the village, only Li Yunshan had ever killed a tiger.

Although he didn't know exactly how much money he made from the tiger he killed at Hongxing Forest Farm, as a hunter with extensive hunting experience, Uncle Zhou had a general idea of ​​the selling prices of tiger skin, tiger bones, tiger gallbladders, and tiger meat.

After Li Yunshan killed the tiger, the Hongxing Forestry Farm transported him and the tiger's carcass back to the village in a car. According to Uncle Zhou's guess, based on the size of the tiger, Li Yunshan must have made a lot of money, at least no less than six thousand yuan.

However, Li Yunshan didn't say anything, and Uncle Zhou wouldn't take the initiative to inquire about it.

If the tiger that entered the village didn't leave but instead roamed around the village, and was attracted to the fat pigs on the threshing floor at night to hunt for food, and they killed the tiger, then the money earned by each person should not be less than a handful.

This is why Uncle Zhou wanted to take the initiative and defeat that tiger.

If they could lure the tiger here, with their six hunting rifles, one musket, one bow, and Li Yunshan's rifle with its high lethality and long range, a barrage of shots would surely kill the tiger on the spot.

Now, we'll see if that tiger just dropped by the village last night and left, or if it's still roaming around the village.

That depends on fate.

However, even though they stayed in the granary until midnight, the large, fat pigs kept in enclosures on the threshing floor were still perfectly fine.

The big fat pig was so sleepy that it even lay down on the ground and fell asleep.

They kept staring at each other until the early hours of the morning. Uncle Zhou, Brother Zhang, and Wu Shenghong were already sleepy, and their eyelids were starting to droop.

Seeing this, Li Yunshan, who had been in high spirits, told them to take a nap first and handed over the task of watching the threshing floor outside to him.

However, Li Yunshan kept watching until after four in the morning, when the east was already turning a pale white, but there was still no movement on the threshing floor. The big fat pig was also freezing all night, and its nostrils were dripping with snot.

"I need to take the pig back first, lest I end up freezing to death instead of luring out the tiger."

As Wang Laojiu spoke, he hurriedly drove the big fat pig home.

"Brother Zhou, do you think that tiger just dropped by our village the night before last?"

Hunter Li Baotian had dark circles under his eyes, was yawning, and looked exhausted.

Cai Er, Zhao Shuanzhu, and the others also had dark circles under their eyes, just in varying shades, and they were all yawning.

Over there, several people took turns watching the threshing ground. Although they had time to sleep, thinking about hunting tigers, none of them were sleepy last night.

Unlike Uncle Zhou, who stayed up until dawn, Uncle Zhou, Brother Zhang, and Wu Shenghong all slept from midnight until daybreak.

"That's hard to say."

Uncle Zhou shook his head: "Let's go check around the village and inside the village to see if there are any tiger footprints. If there are, it means that tiger is roaming around our village."

"If we don't find any new tiger footprints, we'll keep watch for two more nights and then we'll stop."

If they keep watch for three nights in a row and don't find any trace of the tiger, it means that the tiger that entered the village was just visiting and didn't roam around the village.

"Okay, let's go check out the area around the village first."

Upon hearing this, Li Baotian, along with Uncle Zhou, led the village hunters to check out the place where animal traps were set on the east side of the village.

More than thirty animal traps were all intact and untouched, and there wasn't even a single tiger footprint near where the traps were set.

Then, the group of them, guns in hand, circled the edge of the village and searched the area, but they didn't find even a single tiger footprint.

Finally, they arrived at the place where animal traps were set on the north side of the village. One of the traps was triggered, killing a gray wild rabbit weighing four or five pounds.

When Li Yunshan and his group found it, the gray-furred wild rabbit was frozen stiff from excessive blood loss.

Clearly, the hare may have triggered the trap last night.

Finally, the rabbit ended up in Zhang Sange's hands, because the trap that caught it belonged to him.

While this was a pleasant surprise, everyone was more concerned about whether the tiger was just visiting the village or roaming around the area.

Brother Zhang got a wild rabbit weighing four or five pounds for nothing, and his face lit up with a smile.

He took this wild rabbit home; it would be enough to improve the meals for his wife and children.

"Everyone's been on guard all night, let's go home and catch up on some sleep and rest. We'll stay at the same spot tonight."

Uncle Zhou said.