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

"Yunshan, wake up, it's dawn."

The next morning, Li Yunshan was woken up by Lin Xiulan.

"Huh? It's dawn?"

Li Yunshan opened his sleepy eyes and looked out the window, only to find that it was already daylight outside.

"It was just getting light. I remember you said you were going into the mountains early this morning, so I quickly woke you up. I hope you didn't miss out on a good night's sleep?"

Lin Xiulan handed the cotton-padded coat hanging on the wall to Li Yunshan, and then said, "I've already made breakfast. You can brush your teeth and wash your face, and then you can go into the mountains after you've eaten your fill."

"Xiulan, you've really worked hard."

Li Yunshan said sincerely as he put on his cotton-padded coat.

Thinking of Lin Xiulan's kindness and how she took care of the household chores for him, Li Yunshan couldn't help but recall his past life, when he was blinded by greed and treated Lin Xiulan badly, even divorcing her.

Thinking about this, Li Yunshan almost wanted to slap himself twice.

"What's so hard about it? As long as you're good to my daughter and me, I'm happy to endure any hardship."

Lin Xiulan smiled and said casually.

Lin Xiulan is very satisfied with her current life.

Li Yunshan suddenly realized that he had stood up for himself and earned a lot of money hunting. His attitude towards her and Dou Dou was completely different from before.

Li Yunshan used to dislike that she gave birth to a daughter, and he looked down on Dou Dou for being a girl who was idle and didn't care about family matters.

But now, Li Yunshan treats her extremely well, giving her money to save so she can eat meat every meal, and buying her new clothes, new shoes, face cream, and delicious food.

They treated DouDou extremely well, completely changing their previous attitude of disliking DouDou for being a little girl, and now treating DouDou like the apple of their eye.

Li Yunshan scratched his head sheepishly after hearing Lin Xiulan's words.

But then he thought about it again. Lin Xiulan didn't ask much of him; she only wanted him to be good to her and Dou Dou, but he couldn't do that in his past life.

Soon, Li Yunshan put on his cotton-padded jacket, trousers, and shoes, brushed his teeth and washed his face, and then ate breakfast.

Breakfast consisted of a few leftover steamed buns from last night, along with half a bowl of dry-pot rabbit meat. Lin Xiulan reheated them in a pot and also made Li Yunshan a bowl of egg noodles.

"Snoring...snoring..."

Li Yunshan slurped his noodles with great relish.

After stuffing a bowl of noodles into his stomach, Li Yunshan ate a steamed bun and some dry-pot rabbit meat before he felt full.

"I'm going to the village entrance now. I'm going into the mountains today. If I come back late, don't wait for me to eat dinner. Eat with DouDou first."

Before leaving, Li Yunshan gave Lin Xiulan some instructions.

Be careful when you go into the mountains, and pay attention to safety.

Lin Xiulan straightened the collar of his cotton-padded coat and said.

"Um."

Li Yunshan nodded and walked away from home.

When he arrived at the village entrance, three villagers were already waiting there, and three others had not yet arrived.

"Yunshan, how many people are left?"

When Uncle Maocai, who arrived first, saw Li Yunshan, he stamped his foot, clasped his hands together, and asked.

"There are still three... no, there are still four people who haven't arrived."

Li Yunshan originally intended to say three people, but considering that he had asked Gao Hongmei to come along today as well, he changed his mind and said four.

After speaking, Li Yunshan glanced at Uncle Maocai and the other two, and found that they had all carried ropes and machetes with them as he had instructed yesterday, which pleased him.

"Yunshan, I'm here. Sorry I got up a little late."

"Yunshan, um... hi, my wife didn't want me to go. I had to persuade her for a long time before she finally agreed to let me go out."

"..."

The people he had found yesterday gradually arrived at the village entrance. Some were late risers, while others said their wives wouldn't let them come because they were at home. Li Yunshan understood.

In this day and age, not everyone owns a watch. Everyone follows the rhythm of working at sunrise and resting at sunset, so the time they gather at the village entrance will not be the same.

As for the villager whose wife wouldn't allow him to help, Li Yunshan understood.

After all, they were heading into the deep mountains and forests today, and no one knew what kind of ferocious beasts were lurking there. Following Li Yunshan into the deep mountains and forests also involved certain risks.

Nobody wants their family to take risks.

However, Li Yunshan was still sincerely grateful to the villager for coming.

"Yunshan, is everyone here? If everyone's here, let's go. Let's get there as soon as possible to meet up with Friday so we can help you transport the game out sooner."

Uncle Maocai said with a smile.

"We're still short one person, let's wait a little longer."

Li Yunshan said.

Who is it?

Uncle Maocai was curious.

"Gao Hongmei, she also has a hunting rifle. I told her yesterday to take the rifle and come with us into the mountains so that we can protect your safety."

Li Yunshan explained.

"Oh, then let's wait."

Uncle Maocai nodded after listening.

But as soon as he finished speaking, Li Yunshan saw Gao Hongmei carrying a hunting rifle and running towards the village entrance.

"Li Yunshan, I'm sorry, I overslept."

After running to the village entrance, Gao Hongmei, panting heavily, apologized to Li Yunshan, something she rarely did.

"It's not too late yet, we're getting ready to leave."

Li Yunshan smiled and said.

Once Gao Hongmei had caught her breath, Li Yunshan waved his hand and led his men into the mountains.

At first, when they were still on the edge of the forest, Uncle Maocai and the others were able to chat and laugh, but after entering the deep mountains and forests, they gradually became nervous.

A pheasant flew by, and the sound of its flapping wings startled Uncle Mao and his companions: "My goodness, what's that thing?"

"Bang!"

But with a gunshot, Uncle Maocai and the others saw the bird that had been shot fall on the snow and realized it was a pheasant, and they immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

"Phew, it's just a pheasant. It almost scared me to death."

"But this pheasant is really big, I'd guess it weighs two or three pounds."

"Gao Hongmei, was it you who shot that pheasant just now?"

"..."

Several villagers started to discuss it, and some even looked at Gao Hongmei, who had put down her gun, incredulously.

"Of course, I fired the shot."

Gao Hongmei raised her chin slightly with a touch of arrogance, looking smug, and then picked up the pheasant that had fallen into the snow: "We'll have chicken soup tonight."

Uncle Maocai and the others looked at each other, all somewhat admiring Gao Hongmei's courage.

After all, these grown men were making a fuss over a pheasant flying by in the deep mountains and forests, while Gao Hongmei had already shot the pheasant down. The difference in their abilities was obvious.

"Hehe, Uncle Maocai, you don't need to worry about encountering wild animals in the deep mountains and forests. My gun has a long range. As long as we don't panic, I can kill the wild animals from hundreds of meters away before they even get close to us."

Li Yunshan said with a relaxed smile.

"Hehe, Yunshan, we farmers aren't like you hunters who often venture into deep mountains and forests, shouting and yelling. Don't be surprised, we're just afraid of encountering beasts like tigers and bears."

"Yes, after all, we're not like you and Gao Hongmei, we don't have guns."

Uncle Maocai and the others walked forward with smiles on their faces.

After a while, Li Yunshan leaned close to Gao Hongmei's ear and whispered, "If you encounter pheasants or rabbits on the way, shoot them and let Uncle Maocai and the others take them."

"Why should I? I hunted the game, so of course I get to keep it."

Upon hearing this, Gao Hongmei frowned, clearly displeased.

"Didn't you see that the people who came with us into the mountains and helped transport the game were the poorest people in our village? Giving away the wild rabbits and pheasants you hunted won't cost you many bullets, and it will make them grateful to you."

Li Yunshan said in a low voice.

"Why don't you do it yourself? Wouldn't it make them grateful to you?"

Gao Hongmei rolled her eyes and asked back.

"The gun I'm carrying is a standard-issue rifle, and it doesn't have many bullets left. Every bullet I fire is one less I have. I'm willing to use it to hunt tigers and bears, but to use it to hunt rabbits and pheasants is like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. It's a waste of its potential."

Li Yunshan complained.

He had almost run out of bullets in his Mosin-Nagant rifle during his second trip to the Red Star Forest Farm, and it was only with the help of Director Zhou that he was able to get some more.

He had no choice but to bring Mosin-Nagant along this time when he was leading the villagers into the mountains to help.

This gun has a long range and great killing power. It can kill wild animals such as bears and tigers from a distance when encountered in deep mountains and forests.

A hunting rifle wouldn't work; that Tiger Head brand hunting rifle only had an effective range of sixty or seventy meters.

Although Li Yunshan didn't believe he would be so unlucky as to encounter wild beasts like tigers or bears in the mountains, he was always just in case.

But he couldn't bear to waste Mosin-Nagant bullets on small animals like rabbits and pheasants, so he had to ask Gao Hongmei to help hunt some wild animals for Uncle Maocai and the others who were helping transport deer in the mountains.

"Oh, okay, no problem, but I'm telling you upfront, you have to reimburse me for the ammunition!"

After listening for a moment, Gao Hongmei agreed.

However, she did have conditions.

"Hongmei, how come I never noticed before? How can you be so stingy?"

Li Yunshan stared at Gao Hongmei for a while, then joked.

"I'm stingy, what can you do about it?"

Gao Hongmei puffed out her chest and snorted.

"Alright, alright, I'll reimburse you for the ammunition, okay? I'll go to Xiangyang Commune and buy you a box of bullets."

Li Yunshan was at his wits' end with Gao Hongmei.

"No, I want two boxes."

"Are you pushing your luck?"

"Just tell me if you'll reimburse me for two boxes of ammunition."

Gao Hongmei did not back down at all.

"Okay, two boxes it is."

Li Yunshan gritted his teeth and agreed.

However, two boxes of ammunition were no big deal for him.

After all, a box of shotgun bullets only costs ten yuan, and two boxes would only cost twenty yuan.

He can afford the money, but now he can only buy a ration of two boxes of shotgun ammunition per month, and he has already bought two boxes this month.

It seems we can only wait for my older brother to come back and have him use his quota to buy two boxes of bullets for Gao Hongmei.

"That's more like it."

Seeing that Li Yunshan had agreed, Gao Hongmei finally showed a smug smile: "Let's go, I'll let you see if my marksmanship has improved later."