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

Holding the venison and five yuan handed to him by Uncle Zhou, Li Yunshan smiled and said, "Uncle Zhou, thank you on Hongmei's behalf."

The piece of venison that Uncle Zhou handed him weighed six or seven pounds, and he also received a five-yuan reward.

"I should be thanking her. Her willingness to come into the mountains to help has saved us a lot of worries."

Uncle Zhou said with a smile.

They hunted a total of nine deer this time. Li Yunshan led Gao Hongmei and seven others into the mountains. Li Yunshan carried two deer by himself, and the remaining seven deer were carried by two people each. Finally, the task of moving the deer was properly assigned.

Although Gao Hongmei did not help carry the deer, she carried a hunting rifle the whole way, observing the movements along the route with great concentration, guarding against possible attacks from wild animals.

So Uncle Zhou didn't hesitate and took a piece of venison weighing six or seven pounds, along with five yuan, as payment for Gao Hongmei.

However, after Gao Hongmei returned to the village, she immediately said goodbye and went home, so the task of delivering the venison and the reward to Gao Hongmei fell to Li Yunshan.

"You must have worked hard carrying two deer down the mountain by yourself. Go back, have a good meal, and get some rest."

Uncle Zhou patted Li Yunshan on the shoulder, thinking to himself that Li Yunshan was idle and lazy, but he was surprisingly strong. He carried two deer weighing nearly 400 pounds each. Not only could no one in the surrounding area do that, but no one in the entire Qinghe County could do it either.

But Li Yunshan managed to do it.

"I don't know what this kid was thinking. Since he has such strength and stamina, why didn't he study hard before and instead just laze around? But now that he's turned over a new leaf, I'm sure Old Li in heaven will be pleased."

"Alright, Uncle Zhou, I'll be going now."

Li Yunshan smiled, then left Uncle Zhou's house with the piece of venison in his pocket and the five yuan reward in his hand.

By this time, it was completely dark, and the village was pitch black. Many villagers had already turned off their lights and gone to sleep. Only a few kerosene lamps or electric lights were still on along the way.

In the darkness, the occasional barking of dogs could be heard.

Although it was dark, Li Yunshan was not afraid. He had night vision and could walk in the dark almost as if it were daytime.

A dog rushed out of the yard and stood at the gate barking.

Li Yunshan picked up a stone from the ground and threw it, which hit the dog on the back. The dog whimpered in pain, tucked its tail between its legs, and ran into the yard.

"Hongmei, open the door."

When Li Yunshan arrived at Gao Hongmei's house, the lights were already off.

Seeing this, Li Yunshan thought to himself that he would come again tomorrow. Gao Hongmei had followed him into the mountains for a whole day and traveled such a long distance back and forth; she must be tired.

But after thinking about it, he still knocked on Gao Hongmei's door.

"Who could it be so late?"

Inside the room, Gao Hongmei's impatient voice could be heard.

"It's me, Li Yunshan."

Li Yunshan responded from outside the house.

"You bastard, I was already asleep, why are you still looking for me?"

Inside the room, the kerosene lamp was lit.

Through the paper window, you could see that Gao Hongmei had gotten up and put on her coat.

A moment later, the main door opened a crack, and Gao Hongmei poked her head out, frowning as she said, "It's already dark. You've been busy all day, why aren't you home sleeping? What are you doing here?"

Seeing Li Yunshan come to her house so late at night, Gao Hongmei recalled the scene from earlier that day when Li Yunshan carried two deer down the mountain.

The two deer were quite heavy, weighing around 400 pounds each. Others would be panting heavily even if two people carried one deer, but this bastard barely even took a few breaths.

The last time they went into the mountains and hunted a deer, Li Yunshan carried both deer on his shoulders and brought them back without even breaking a sweat, which surprised Gao Hongmei.

"Here, this is what Uncle Zhou asked me to deliver to you: six or seven catties of venison, plus five yuan as payment. Take it."

Li Yunshan handed the piece of venison and the five yuan reward to Gao Hongmei.

"For me?"

Gao Hongmei still had some doubts.

"Uncle Maocai and his fellow villagers went into the mountains to help transport the game. We gave each of them three yuan as a reward, along with four or five catties of venison and a deer head with a piece of its neck attached. There's no reason not to reward you."

"Take it. After all, you helped out in the mountains, so we can't let you work for nothing."

Li Yunshan explained.

"oh."

Gao Hongmei then understood, took the venison and payment from Li Yunshan, and suddenly said, "Oh right, don't forget to reimburse me for my ammunition. I fired a whole box of bullets today, you have to make up for the shortfall."

"Alright, alright, I'll make it up for you, okay? Look at how stingy you are."

Li Yunshan rolled his eyes. Seeing Gao Hongmei's fist coming towards him, he quickly ran away.

"You bastard, who are you calling stingy?"

Seeing Li Yunshan flee as if he were running away, Gao Hongmei stood at the door of the main room and angrily cursed.

"I'm talking to you."

From the darkness came Li Yunshan's triumphant laughter.

"That bastard..."

Gao Hongmei muttered a curse under her breath, glanced in the direction where Li Yunshan had disappeared, and then turned and went back into the house.

"It's so late, what does he want from you?"

After putting away the venison that Li Yunshan had brought, Gao Hongmei returned to her room with her five yuan reward in her pocket.

As the twilight lamplight flickered, Su Lihua peeked out from under the covers on the earthen kang (a heated brick bed) and asked with some curiosity.

"I went into the mountains with him today, and now he's bringing me my reward."

Gao Hongmei took off her cotton coat and hung it on the wall as she said, "A piece of venison weighing six or seven pounds, plus five yuan as payment."

"You've had quite a fruitful trip to the mountains."

Su Lihua said.

"It's tiring. After walking on mountain paths all day, the soles of my feet are almost blistered."

Although she complained of being tired, Gao Hongmei felt a sweet warmth in her heart when she received the reward from Li Yunshan for her work in the mountains.

In this day and age, when many people still can't even get enough to eat, she used to work in the fields for the village collective to earn work points, which amounted to only eight or nine yuan a month at most.

The five yuan reward, plus a piece of venison, was enough for her to temporarily shield herself from the physical exhaustion.

……

It was quite late when Li Yunshan got home.

However, the lights in the house were still on.

He pushed open the door and went inside, only to find that Lin Xiulan was still awake, sitting in the main room with a needle and thread and a piece of clothing in her hand. She was approaching the kerosene lamp and mending the clothes by its dim light.

Seeing Li Yunshan return, Lin Xiulan put down her needlework and clothes, a relieved smile on her face, and asked, "Yunshan, have you had dinner?"

"Not yet. I brought those red deer back to Uncle Zhou's house from the mountains. I sat for a while and then got busy. I just went to deliver the payment for going into the mountains and the deer meat to Hongmei, so I'll be late."

Li Yunshan hung his gun on the wall inside the house, took off his military overcoat, and shook off the snowflakes.

On the way home, snowflakes started falling, which made Li Yunshan secretly glad that they had hunted deer in the deep mountains and forests at just the right time.

We hunted a sika deer yesterday, and after bringing it back today, it started snowing.

If we had only hunted the red deer today and then tried to bring it out of the mountains tomorrow, the snow would be much thicker, making it much harder to transport the deer out. It certainly wouldn't have been as easy as it was today.

"I don't know when you'll be able to get home, so I made a few steamed buns, a bowl of braised pork, and some leftovers. I've put them in the pot to keep warm. Have some hot water first, and I'll go get the steamed buns and braised pork from the pot."

Lin Xiulan picked up a thermos, poured half a cup of water into an enamel mug, handed it to Li Yunshan, and then turned to go to the kitchen.

Li Yunshan picked up the enamel mug and gulped down a few mouthfuls of water. The warm water dispelled the chill and fatigue from his body.

At this moment, Lin Xiulan also entered the main room carrying steamed buns and braised pork.

Looking at the steamed buns and braised pork belly served on the table, Li Yunshan took the chopsticks handed to him by Lin Xiulan, picked up a piece of braised pork belly and started eating.

After taking a bite of braised pork and then a bite of steamed bun, Li Yunshan felt quite satisfied.

These days, it's good enough to have enough to eat, but now he not only has enough to eat, but also delicious braised pork, which is better than many people.

Besides, Lin Xiulan is by my side; I'm content.

"DouDou must have gone to bed early, right?"

During the meal, Li Yunshan chatted casually with Lin Xiulan.

"This girl went to her older brother's house and played wildly for most of the day. When she got home, she climbed into the kang (a heated brick bed) and went to sleep right after dinner."

"I have to go to the county town with Uncle Zhou and the others early tomorrow morning to sell the venison before I can come back. We caught quite a lot of venison this time, a total of nine, and the meat alone weighs over a thousand catties. I don't know how long it will take to sell them, probably two or three days, maybe three or four days."

Last time, it took him and Gao Hongmei quite a while to sell the two deer they hunted. This time, they hunted nine deer, and the meat alone weighed 1,300 to 1,400 jin.

Although the county town has a larger population and greater consumption potential than Xiangyang Commune, there is still a limit. No one can guarantee that so much venison can be sold out in a single day.

Because venison is expensive, and most people can't afford it.

Although they could lower the price to boost sales, not only would Uncle Zhou and his group be unwilling, but even Li Yunshan himself wouldn't be willing.

Selling at a lower price is tantamount to disrupting market prices. If they hunt deer again and sell them, people will have tasted the benefits of lower prices and will still be willing to spend money to buy them properly.

Moreover, if we lower the price, we'll offend our competitors.

After all, let alone Qinghe County, there are quite a few hunters in the thirty-odd villages under Xiangyang Commune alone.

If they lower the price of venison, they will inadvertently offend many hunters who rely on the mountains for their livelihood.

Therefore, lowering prices to boost sales is not a viable strategy.

"Don't worry, go to the county town. I can take good care of DouDou."

Lin Xiulan said.