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

"Young man, could you give me a little more bone?"

An elderly woman bought a piece of venison. She had already been given a portion of venison bones, but she was a little greedy and asked for more.

"Auntie, there are only so many bones left, one serving per person. If you take another serving, there will be one less serving for the people buying meat later, and that makes things difficult for me!"

Li Yunshan accepted the money while saying something with difficulty.

Seeing this, the old woman didn't want to take any more and left with the venison that had been handed to her.

"Hey buddy, why do you have so much venison here?"

"Hehe, brother, we are hunters from Xiangyang Commune. We just went into the mountains to hunt and stumbled upon a herd of red deer. We were lucky enough to catch a few. To be honest, it's usually difficult to catch even one red deer when we go into the mountains. Red deer are animals with very keen senses of smell and hearing. They run away at the slightest rustling of the grass. We feel like we've hit the jackpot this time."

In fact, many people who come to buy venison have asked this question, and Li Yunshan has explained it many times, but there are always curious newcomers who keep asking questions, so Li Yunshan has no choice but to explain it again and again.

While helping sell meat and maintaining order, Cai Er and the others watched as Li Yunshan explained the process to the meat buyers again, and they couldn't help but marvel at his performance.

How many times has this been asked this question? Cai Er and his group have lost count.

However, every time someone asked the same question, Li Yunshan would always greet them with a smile and patiently explain to each person who asked.

Cai Er and the others thought that if someone asked them the same question repeatedly, they would probably have gotten impatient by now.

"Yunshan is really patient. He explains every time someone asks a question. I couldn't do that."

Cai Er whispered something in Zhang Sange's ear.

"It's all thanks to him, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to argue with those old folks with our words," Zhang Sange muttered under his breath.

Among the people who come to buy meat, some elderly men and women are quite difficult to deal with. One minute they want to bargain for a cheaper price, the next they want an extra portion of deer bones to take home and make soup, and they ask all sorts of questions, such as how to track prey and whether hunting in the mountains is fun.

When they heard these questions, Cai Er and Zhang Sange couldn't help but roll their eyes, thinking to themselves that these city people were really interesting. What was so fun about going into the mountains to hunt?

In summer, going into the mountains means venturing into the undergrowth and trekking through streams; in winter, hunting in the mountains means enduring the biting north wind and the constant struggle of climbing ice and lying in snow.

Searching for prey's tracks, you might be lucky enough to catch them, but if you're unlucky, you might spend several days in the mountains only to find your efforts were in vain.

If you're even more unlucky and run into a tiger or a bear, then things could get really interesting.

So, you're asking if hunting in the mountains is fun?

However, Cai Er and Zhang Sange just rolled their eyes quietly, but didn't say anything.

Just as country folk yearn for the lives of city dwellers, city people are equally curious about the daily lives of hunters who go into the mountains to hunt.

However, despite their words, they were not idle.

Perhaps because the Lunar New Year is approaching, everyone is thinking about stocking up on supplies to have a prosperous year, so there were quite a few people buying venison from their stall.

Although venison is expensive, costing 2.2 yuan per pound, the number of people coming to buy it is not exactly endless, but it has never stopped.

Many people who come to the farmers' market to buy vegetables hear that they can even sell venison brought from the countryside, and they all rush over.

They come alone, in twos and threes, or in groups of three or five.

Some people were shrewd and wanted to bargain, but Li Yunshan and Uncle Zhou were adamant about selling it for 2.2 yuan a pound, not a penny less; others had money in their pockets and didn't bargain, buying whichever piece of venison they liked.

People came and went to buy meat, one group after another.

Meanwhile, the venison in the wicker baskets on the tractor trailer was unloaded one by one and placed on the meat counter for customers to buy. The venison was visibly decreasing.

By noon, more than half of the venison on the tractor's trailer had been sold.

Such rapid sales were like a shot of adrenaline for Cai Er and his team, and their shouts to attract customers were even louder than before.

Uncle Zhou and Li Baotian also smiled, their wrinkles crinkling together, but their hands didn't stop moving at all. They weighed the pieces of venison that were handed over and gave them to the meat buyer.

The bag Li Yunshan carried to carry money was now bulging with cash.

There were large bills, five-yuan and two-yuan bills, one-yuan and small bills, and even cent-yuan bills.

In those days, banknotes with denominations of two cents and five cents still had strong purchasing power.

Two cents can buy a steamed bun, and five cents can buy a meat bun.

A few pounds of pork, in the old days of famine, could have been exchanged for a wife.

In other words, we've weathered the chaotic period, and now the overall environment is better, with economic development starting to pick up. Otherwise, these kinds of things would still happen from time to time.

By a little after 5 p.m., it was already getting dark, and the meat on the tractor's trailer was almost sold out. Moreover, there were hardly any people buying vegetables at the farmers' market at this time, and many stalls had closed down or packed up.

"There's still half a basket of meat left."

Li Yunshan glanced at the cart bed, where there were more than a dozen empty wicker baskets. The deer bones had all been delivered, and the venison had been almost sold out.

Besides the half-basket of venison in the truck bed, there were also about ten kilograms of venison on the cutting board. In total, I estimate there are about seventy or eighty kilograms of meat left unsold.

"Uncle Zhou, there's still half a basket of meat left. Shall we stop here?"

Before Li Yunshan could speak, Cai Er spoke first.

Actually, by this time, it's already getting dark, and not many people would come to the farmers' market to buy vegetables at this hour.

In those days, there weren't many entertainment options, and with the freezing weather, it was already this late. Even in the county town, many people were staying at home, waiting to eat their fill and then turn off the lights and go to sleep early.

Therefore, according to Cai Er's idea, although there was still half a basket of meat left in the cart, there was no need to continue guarding it.

Furthermore, they set off from the village shortly after dawn, and once they arrived at the farmers' market, they didn't stop for a moment, setting up stalls and hawking their wares.

After most of the day, everyone was exhausted.

In one day, most of the venison was sold, and everyone was quite satisfied. As for the remaining venison, they decided to take it back and share it with everyone tomorrow.

"Yes, Uncle Zhou, my voice is hoarse from shouting. There's hardly anyone left in the farmers' market. Why don't we go back to the village?"

"We've made enough money, let's go back."

Zhao Shuanzhu, Peng Youlian, and others also spoke up.

This was the first time they had sold so much game. Although Uncle Zhou and Li Baotian were in charge of weighing the game, Li Yunshan was in charge of collecting money, and Cai Er was in charge of hawking and attracting customers, they were also very tired after maintaining order and controlling the scene. After the venison on the cutting board was sold out, they had to unload baskets of meat from the truck bed. After most of the day, they were exhausted.

It's getting late, and there aren't many people left in the farmers' market. I doubt many people will buy the remaining few dozen kilograms of venison.

Moreover, they made a lot of money selling that tiger before, and although they haven't calculated the money from selling the venison yet, the venison in the basket has already sold for this much, so it should be worth at least two thousand yuan.

Thinking of this, Cai Er and Zhao Shuanzhu were satisfied.

In previous years, when they went into the mountains to hunt in winter, the average amount they received in the best year was only a few dozen yuan.

"Alright, let's go back to the village then."

Seeing that everyone had expressed their opinions, Uncle Zhou nodded in agreement.

Actually, at this point in time, Uncle Zhou knew that it was unlikely that they could sell the remaining venison, and everyone was really tired after a long day... no, from going into the mountains to hunt until yesterday when they transported the game out of the mountains, they skinned and butchered the deer overnight, and now they are selling the venison in the county town today, it has been a full six days.

In other words, everyone worked hard for six whole days.

At this point, it's understandable that everyone wants to return to the village as soon as possible.

As Uncle Zhou nodded, everyone began to pack up their things, placing the rattan baskets on the tractor's trailer and then tidying up the door panels, scales, meat cleaver, and bone cleaver on the trailer as well.

After packing up, Li Baotian drove the tractor away from the county's farmers' market.

Li Yunshan and the others rode bicycles, following behind the tractor.

At this time, there were hardly any people on the streets of the county town.

However, that was the situation in those days. Even in county towns, there were very few entertainment activities, let alone in rural areas.

Moreover, although the county town now has electricity and every household has installed electric lights, people generally can't bear to turn them on because they have to pay electricity bills. Everyone eats dinner early before dark and then goes to bed.

Those with wives can cuddle with them and play love games at night, while those without wives can only dream about it.

With the weather so cold now, people are even reluctant to go out for a stroll.

After leaving the county town, we hadn't traveled more than a few miles on the way back when it became completely dark.

The tractor's headlights were turned on, and the cyclists also lit their headlamps, illuminating the way home.

Although it was pitch black all around, Li Yunshan and his men were not afraid. In addition to Li Baotian, who was driving the tractor, and the man on the bicycle, there were five other people carrying hunting rifles.

This is why they dare to travel at night without fear of danger.

They outnumbered the enemy and had hunting rifles, so they weren't afraid of even if they encountered a bear or a tiger. Cai Er even joked that if they encountered another tiger or bear on the way back to the village, they would just fire indiscriminately and kill it. Once back in the village, they would skin and dismember the prey and continue their business in the county town the next day.

This remark made everyone burst into laughter.

But not long after, on their way back, they found their prey.