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

"Screw you."

The first to erupt was Cai Er. After hearing Zhou Erdan's words, he couldn't hold back any longer. He threw down the knife in his hand, rushed over, and punched Zhou Erdan hard in the eye socket.

With a loud "bang," Zhou Erdan screamed and fell to the ground, his left eye instantly turning into a bruise.

"Cai Er, are you fucking crazy? How dare you hit me!"

Zhou Erdan covered his bruised eye and shouted angrily.

"So what if I hit you?"

Cai Er made the first move, but now he remained fearless, coldly staring at Zhou Erdan, his eyes filled with rage: "These deer are the result of several days of hard work hunting in the mountains. You haven't done anything, yet you just want to share two deer with us with your mouth. You have the nerve to tell me now that we should each get half a pound of venison? Did a donkey kick your brain, or were you born disabled?"

"Cai Er is right. You think you can just talk your way out of our game? You're dreaming. Yesterday, when Li Yunshan went back to the village to ask Jinshan for help, he offered three yuan as payment. Some people were afraid of the danger and thought the road was too far, so they refused to go into the mountains to help. Now that we've brought the deer back, some people want to eat the spoils without paying. There's no such thing as a free lunch."

"If you want to eat venison, either go hunting in the mountains yourself, or pay for it. Don't just eat and freeload with your empty mouth."

Zhao Shuanzhu and Peng Youlian also spoke up at this moment.

They weren't stupid. That bastard Zhou Erdan was clearly trying to incite the villagers to put pressure on them so he could take away their prey.

Even Uncle Zhou and Li Baotian's faces darkened, their gazes turning icy as they stared at Zhou Erdan and the others: "Zhou Erdan, you guys are really something, trying to pull this crazy idea on me? Do you really think I'm a pushover?"

Zhou Erdan felt intimidated by the cold stares of Uncle Zhou and Cai Er, but seeing so many villagers watching, he figured they wouldn't dare do anything to him, so he stubbornly said, "You want to monopolize these deer and sell them? You're clearly trying to speculate."

"You motherfucker, I'm just speculating!"

Li Yunshan went up and unexpectedly kicked Zhou Erdan to the ground, then stepped on his chest, immobilizing him: "Now that we're in a period of reform and opening up, stop putting old labels on us. If you're so capable, try touching our prey. Do you really think my hunting rifle is just for show?"

Upon hearing this, Cai Er, Zhang Sange, and the others threw down their knives used for butchering venison, picked up their hunting rifles, and surrounded Zhou Erdan and the other men who had ulterior motives and wanted to freeload.

"What...what are you doing? I'm warning you...don't do anything reckless, shooting and killing people is illegal..." Zhou Erdan said, summoning the last of his courage.

"Yes, yes, murder is illegal, and you could get shot if things go wrong. Don't do anything reckless."

"Uncle Zhou, calm down, calm down. We were blinded by greed and talked nonsense. You should put down the guns right away. If they accidentally go off, it will be a big problem."

"Uncle Baotian, we didn't mean it. We were just really greedy... Ugh, we're just bad at talking. We originally wanted to spend money to buy half a pound of venison to try, but we didn't expect that Zhou Erdan, that blockhead, would misunderstand us."

The other few unscrupulous individuals, who wanted to freeload, panicked when they saw Li Yunshan and his group holding hunting rifles. They quickly tried to explain and save face.

The villagers who were watching from inside and outside the courtyard, and even those who had listened to Zhou Erdan and his friends and were thinking of taking advantage of the situation, were all taken aback by what they saw.

To everyone's surprise, the village hunters even brought out their hunting rifles for hunting in the mountains at this time.

Although everyone believed that the village hunters wouldn't dare to fire in public, many people started to feel apprehensive looking at the dark muzzles of those hunting rifles.

Although the hunters in the village dared not fire their guns, what if they did?

If someone is really angered by something they said, and they act recklessly, who can guarantee they won't open fire?

Nobody dared to take that risk.

"Uncle Zhou Wu, Zhou Erdan was just confused and acted stupidly. You are an elder, so please forgive him."

"Yes, yes, as the old saying goes, a close neighbor is better than a distant relative."

Several villagers who had gathered to watch the spectacle quickly tried to exonerate Zhou Erdan.

"snort"

Uncle Zhou let out a cold laugh, and Li Yunshan, Cai Er, and the others also smiled coldly upon hearing this.

They wanted to freeload off their prey, but when they saw the hunters come out with their guns, they backed down. Some people in this village are really bullies who prey on the weak.

However, most of the villagers were reasonable. Although they were envious of the many prey that Li Yunshan and his group had hunted, they understood that it was the result of their hard work in the mountains for several days, braving ice and snow, and risking their lives.

Moreover, as Li Yunshan said, when he was looking for help in the village yesterday, many people were afraid of the danger and thought the journey was too far, so even with a reward of three yuan, no one was willing to help.

Now, even if we let them eat and drink for free, they wouldn't do such a thing.

"Get out of here. For the sake of the fact that your father and I both call the same person 'Grandpa,' get as far away from me as possible."

Uncle Zhou said in a cold tone.

Li Yunshan removed his foot from Zhou Erdan's chest. Although Zhou Erdan was full of resentment, he saw that Uncle Wu's group had a large number of people, and they were all carrying hunting rifles. So he got up and staggered out of the crowd.

Seeing this, the other unscrupulous people also quickly left.

After Zhou Erdan and the others left, Uncle Zhou shouted loudly, "Fellow villagers, these few deer were hunted by us after several days of hard work in the deep mountains and forests. If you want to try them, you can pay for them. I can sell the deer meat to you at the market price in Xiangyang Commune."

"However, if someone tries to freeload like Zhou Erdan, I won't allow it, and neither will Li Baotian and Cai Er."

Upon hearing this, the surrounding villagers instantly fell silent. Everyone couldn't help but glance at the hunting rifles in Li Yunshan and the others' hands, feeling a bit apprehensive.

"How much does venison cost per pound in Xiangyang Commune?"

A villager asked the person next to him.

"How would I know? Anyway, it's not cheap; it's more expensive than pork."

"When I went to the market in Xiangyang Commune before, I saw someone bring a big piece of venison to sell, it was about 1.8 yuan per catty."

"One dollar and eighty cents? That's too expensive. Eating venison won't make you immortal or immune to all diseases."

"With this dollar and eighty cents, I can go buy pork. I can pick out the fatty parts and render lard to use for stir-frying. The cracklings can be braised with chives, ginger, scallions, and a little soy sauce. It's so delicious with rice."

"This sika deer meat isn't fatty at all, yet it's so expensive. It's more cost-effective to save the money and buy a couple of pounds of pork when the Lunar New Year is approaching."

"..."

When the surrounding villagers heard that sika deer meat was selling for 1.8 yuan per jin at the Xiangyang Commune market, they immediately started talking about it. Some people who originally wanted to buy sika deer meat gave up the idea.

As darkness fell, many villagers gradually left.

However, some villagers did not leave; they either stood in the courtyard or peered over the wall.

"Are you looking to buy venison?"

Uncle Friday asked.

"No, no, Uncle Zhou, we're just here to join in the fun."

Seeing this, Uncle Zhou ignored them and lit two fires in the yard for lighting and warmth. They then took knives and began to butcher the deer.

Pieces of venison were cut up, and deer bones were thrown into wicker baskets.

The two bonfires that were lit also dispelled the cold of deep winter and illuminated the entire courtyard.

Several children from Uncle Zhou's family, along with some children from the neighbors, squatted beside the chopping board, watching them butcher the venison.

"We're running out of wicker baskets."

At this moment, Cai Er put down the knife he was using to cut meat and said...

"Is it all full?"

Uncle Zhou went over to take a look and found that the five wicker baskets containing venison and bones were already full, but there were still six red deer that had not been butchered.

"It's almost full."

"I'll go back and get a few wicker baskets."

Li Baotian said that his home is close to Uncle Zhou's home, and it's quick to go back and forth.

"I'll go back and get a few baskets too," Zhang Sange said, adding that his house was closer to Zhou Wushu's house than Li Baotian's.

After Li Baotian and Zhang Sange left, Li Yunshan and the others were able to relax for a while, which was a rare treat.

Taking advantage of this free time, everyone gathered together. After Uncle Zhou distributed cigarettes to everyone, they all started smoking.

But before they could even finish their cigarettes, Brother Zhang San arrived carrying two wicker baskets in each hand.

After a while, Li Baotian also arrived, carrying four rattan baskets in his hands.

"Alright, let's get to work. Once we've finished dividing the road, we'll put in a little more effort tomorrow morning and get it to the county town to sell as soon as possible."

Uncle Zhou tossed a cigarette butt, exhaled a puff of smoke, clapped his hands, and said.

Li Yunshan and his men also threw away some cigarette butts, picked up their knives again, and continued to butcher the deer.

This busy period lasted until around 8 p.m.

"Uncle Zhou, we're heading back now."

"Okay, be careful on the road. Come early tomorrow so we can enter the city first thing in the morning."

After finishing their work, Cai Er, Li Baotian, and the others all looked exhausted, some even massaging their shoulders and backs, clearly having overworked themselves and suffering from back pain.

"Uncle Zhou Wu, I'm going back too." Li Yunshan was the last to leave, but Uncle Zhou Wu called him back.

"Yunshan, wait a minute."

Uncle Zhou called out, but the man turned around and went back into the house.

When he came out of the house, he was holding a piece of meat: "Give this piece of venison to Gao Hongmei."

After handing the venison to Li Yunshan, Uncle Zhou took out five yuan from his pocket and stuffed it into Li Yunshan's hand as well: "This five yuan is her reward for helping in the mountains."