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

Back in the village, many villagers, upon hearing the news that the village hunters had brought back several deer, all flocked out of their homes to join the excitement.

Many villagers stared wide-eyed as they saw the deer being carried to Uncle Zhou's house.

In previous winters, the village hunters would go into the mountains to hunt, but they had never caught so many prey before. They usually caught wild boars, roe deer, and sika deer, usually only two or three or four at a time. But now…

"One, two, three... seven, eight, nine... Oh my god, a nine-headed deer! The hunters in our village are going to make a fortune this winter!"

An older woman, counting the deer being carried into Uncle Zhou's yard, couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

The village hunters had recently killed the tiger that had entered the village, and after selling it, each of them reportedly received several hundred yuan.

No one knows exactly how much was distributed. Even when you asked the hunters' families, no one would say. But the village was rife with rumors that each hunter received at least four or five hundred yuan.

Now, the village hunters are returning with a full load: nine...nine red deer! How much can they sell for? How much will they get in cuts?

That's why the expert exclaimed that the hunters in the village had struck it rich this winter.

Moreover, they didn't just make a small fortune; in the eyes of the villagers, Li Yunshan and his group made a huge one.

In those days, a farmer could only earn a few dozen yuan by working hard all year round to earn work points for the village collective. If a family had many able-bodied men, they would earn more work points and receive more money at the end of the year when the profits were distributed.

But right now, the hunters in the village can earn more money in a year than many farmers can earn in a single trip into the deep mountains and forests. It would be a lie to say that people are not envious or even jealous.

"Oh dear, how come you brought back so many deer? My goodness, did you break into a deer's den?"

On Friday, Auntie returned from the market in Xiangyang Commune and saw a large crowd gathered at the gate of her yard. She struggled to push through the villagers who were there to watch the excitement and squeezed into the yard. Only then did she see several deer piled up in the yard and couldn't help but exclaim.

"We were lucky to encounter a herd of red deer. We sneaked up to them and approached them without being noticed, and we managed to hunt so many red deer."

Uncle Zhou smiled and explained, but he couldn't hide the fatigue on his face.

Li Baotian, Cai Er, and the others were in the same boat. After putting the deer they were carrying down, they all breathed a sigh of relief, but the soreness in their bodies quickly followed. In just a short while, their shoulders, backs, thighs, and other parts of their bodies became sore and achy.

Even Liu Maocai and a few others who came into the mountains to help looked exhausted.

However, thinking about the three yuan reward that Li Yunshan had promised, the three catties of venison and a deer head that Uncle Zhou had promised, and the pheasants and rabbits that Gao Hongmei had hunted, they felt that this trip into the mountains was worthwhile.

Because the soil is frozen in winter, and the village collective has basically no farm work, they don't even have a place to earn work points.

If you can't earn work points, it means you can't earn much money.

For each trip into the mountains, they can earn not only three yuan but also a few kilograms of meat.

Some villagers who went into the mountains to help were even thinking of selling their three kilograms of venison for money.

I heard that when Xiangyang Commune goes to market, a pound of venison can sell for more than one yuan. They sell the venison and use the money they earn to buy pork.

Pork has a lot of fat, which can be rendered into lard, which can be used for stir-frying. Venison, on the other hand, cannot be used for this purpose.

Moreover, the rendered pork lard can be used as a side dish with rice, making it a win-win situation.

After resting for a while, Uncle Zhou called Liu Maocai and the others over and settled the promised rewards with them one by one. Li Baotian and Cai Er also cut off six deer heads and a piece of venison, which they distributed to Liu Maocai and the other six villagers who had come to the mountains to help.

Because the money, venison, and deer head were distributed in front of the villagers who were watching and joining in the fun, when Liu Maocai and his group received the three yuan reward, along with the venison and deer head, it made the villagers either envious or jealous.

Some villagers were already regretting their actions.

Yesterday, when Li Yunshan found them, he said he would help transport game into the mountains and would pay them three yuan. They were afraid of the danger and thought the road was too far, so they didn't go.

But now...

The three yuan was the reward Li Yunshan had promised yesterday. If they had known that Uncle Zhou and Li Baotian would also give those who helped a piece of venison and a deer head, they would have rushed to get it.

At this moment, many villagers who had been approached by Li Yunshan the day before were filled with regret.

Liu Maocai and the others, clutching the money in their hands and holding the venison and deer head handed to them by Uncle Zhou and Li Baotian, were beaming with joy.

Although Uncle Zhou said that they would give them an extra three catties of venison and a deer head after they helped transport the game back to the village, when they held the piece of venison in their hands, they could tell that the venison definitely weighed more than three catties, probably four or five catties of venison, and the deer head was still attached to a section of red deer neck.

The meat on a deer's neck is also meat.

"Fifth Brother, remember to call us again if there's another good thing like this."

Liu Maocai said with a grateful smile.

"Haha, thank you for your kind words. After we sell these deer, we'll treat you to a good meal."

Uncle Zhou laughed heartily as he spoke.

When Li Yunshan offered a reward of three yuan, but the villagers were unwilling to go into the mountains to help because they were afraid of the danger and thought the journey was too far, Liu Maocai and his group agreed to help, which was like sending charcoal in snowy weather.

Although they were only helping out in the mountains because they were poor and needed payment, it was still a gesture of goodwill.

Of course, Uncle Zhou wouldn't hold a grudge against the villagers who were unwilling to help, because they had their own choices.

However, as Liu Maocai said, if they go hunting in the mountains again and catch a lot of game that they can't carry back, they should still prioritize asking Liu Maocai and the others who helped them this time for help.

"Fifth Brother, thank you so much."

When Uncle Zhou said he would treat them to a meal, Liu Maocai and the others were even more grateful.

Because of their poverty, many people in the village openly or secretly looked down on them and were unwilling to associate with them. However, Uncle Zhou and his hunters did not mind and even invited them to dinner in front of so many people in and around the courtyard.

"The hunters in our village are really honest and don't look down on people."

"Indeed, it's much better than the others. Look at this piece of venison, it definitely weighs more than three pounds. And under this deer head, there's such a long section of the red deer's neck attached. There's quite a bit of meat on that red deer's neck too!"

"If they can catch that many prey again next time, I'll go help them again."

"Haha, I'll go too."

On the way back from leaving Uncle Zhou's house, several villagers said with a smile.

……

After Liu Maocai and the others left, Uncle Zhou and the others rested for a while, then asked Li Baotian to borrow a tractor from the village office. The remaining people then set up a chopping board in the yard and began to butcher the deer.

The sika deer was killed yesterday morning, and it wasn't until almost dark that it was brought back. If it weren't for the fact that it's winter and the weather is freezing cold, the sika deer would have already started to rot.

However, it's impossible to leave all the deer meat out in the cold just because the temperature is low. After all, it's meat from nine deer. If we leave it out like this, who knows, someone might come here to steal it when it gets dark.

Although the rural areas are now known for their simple and honest customs and many people are quite well-behaved, human nature is unpredictable.

Driven by self-interest, people's hearts can change.

Another reason is that they need to sell the venison tomorrow, so they need to quickly butcher it now so that it can be loaded onto the tractor and set off early tomorrow morning.

If we wait until tomorrow morning to dismember the deer, it will take up a lot of time.

Even last-minute preparation can be effective.

Therefore, Li Yunshan, Uncle Zhou, and others were extremely busy.

The villagers watched with great interest as Li Yunshan and Uncle Zhou dismembered the deer in the yard, seemingly unfazed by the cold weather. Many even gathered together from time to time to whisper and discuss the matter.

There were also a few people with ulterior motives and driven by jealousy, their eyes gleaming with greed as they looked at the venison being butchered on the cutting board.

A villager named Zhou Erdan stepped forward and deliberately cleared his throat: "Uncle Zhou Wu, your hunters have hunted so many deer, I reckon there's at least a thousand or so pounds of venison. Shouldn't you share some with the villagers?"

As soon as Zhou Erdan said this, the other villagers, whose minds were not pure and whose eyes gleamed with greed, all chimed in with agreement.

"Yes, Uncle Zhou, there's so much venison, why don't you share some with the villagers so they can have a taste?"

As the old saying goes, it's hard to get fat by eating alone.

"The villagers in our village don't need much from you, just half a jin each is fine."

"..."

Several villagers with ulterior motives started talking all at once, raising their voices to the maximum. They actually managed to incite some of the onlookers to join in the commotion, or perhaps they too were thinking about getting a share of the spoils.

When Li Yunshan, Cai Er, and the others heard these words, their gazes narrowed slightly as they looked at the people who had incited the other villagers.

Should each person cut half a pound of meat?

This half-pound weight may seem insignificant, but given the population of several hundred people in Guapigou Village, it can account for more than two hundred or even three hundred pounds of venison.

In other words, these ill-intentioned people, with just a few words, were about to take away the meat from about two deer.

However, if hunters like Li Yunshan are unwilling to share the venison with the villagers, they will inevitably be labeled with negative tags such as "stingy" and "selfish".

If Li Yunshan and his group were willing to share the venison, the villagers would thank them and speak well of them. However, the villagers would also remember that if it weren't for these few people with ulterior motives speaking up, Li Yunshan and his group would never have been willing to share the venison with the rest of the village.

So this puts Li Yunshan and his hunters in a dilemma, while those with ulterior motives reap both fame and fortune.

They got all the benefits.