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

"Hehe, I made another three hundred yuan from him."

Holding the money he received, Cai Er grinned widely with delight.

"What do you mean you earned three hundred dollars? It was clearly three hundred and four dollars and twenty cents. Did you eat the remaining four dollars and twenty cents?"

Zhao Shuanzhu put the money in his pocket, carefully placed it close to his body, and said with a smile, teasingly.

"Get lost, you're the one who ate it."

Cai Er laughed and scolded.

"Ha ha."

Everyone else couldn't help but burst out laughing.

However, everyone was still quite happy to receive their share of the money.

In the past, they would go hunting in the mountains during the winter off-season, but they had never had such a good harvest.

The money they earned from selling tiger skins and tiger meat before, plus the money they earned from hunting in the mountains this time, totaled more than a thousand yuan in a short period of time, which is equivalent to ten years of farm work and ten years of work points earned by them in the village collective.

"Unfortunately, next spring we'll have to do village collective work to earn work points."

"Earning work points only brings in about a hundred yuan a year, which is less than what we earn from a single trip into the mountains."

"To be honest, I don't want to do farm work for the village collective anymore. I don't earn much money, and I have to work myself to death."

"The main problem is that some people are lazy and shirk their duties, while we honest people put in the hard work."

"I've heard that many places in the south have distributed land to individual households. I wonder when we'll be able to do the same here?"

"Distributing land to individual households? What's that?"

"It means dividing the village's collective land into individuals. For example, if your household has five people, you will get a certain number of acres of land, and if his household has six people, he will get a certain number of acres of land. This is called the household contract responsibility system."

How do you know so much information?

"I've been to the county town twice, so I've seen some of the world. That's what I heard from others."

After the money was divided, the next step was to divide the meat.

During the break between dividing the meat, everyone couldn't help but start complaining.

What everyone is complaining about is the practice of earning work points within the village collective.

Of course, many hands make light work. In the early days of that special era, pooling the resources of the whole village or the entire production team for labor production was quite effective.

Because people at that time had a high level of ideological awareness.

However, as time went on, some people started to have crooked ideas. They often slacked off and cheated when participating in collective labor. They would complain of feeling unwell here or there, or they would not put in any effort when they were supposed to work. It is true that hardworking and honest people are exhausted, while those who cheat and slack off die from laziness.

Later, after the special period ended and several years passed, the village still practiced the system of collective labor, and many villagers had already expressed their opposition, either openly or secretly.

However, that's just how the policy is. If the higher-ups don't give any orders, the lower-ups won't dare to act recklessly, so the villagers' participation in collective labor has continued to exist here.

Over the years, resentment has accumulated, so it's not surprising that people complain about it in their spare time, since the village committee doesn't care anymore anyway.

"According to the newspaper, this household contract responsibility system distributes land to individuals, who then cultivate it themselves. The grain produced is said to be 'enough to pay the state, enough to keep for the collective, and the rest is theirs.' This fully mobilizes the villagers' enthusiasm for labor, and it'll make sure no one dares to slack off or cheat while farming. By harvest time, they won't even be able to harvest a few pounds of grain."

"Many places in the south have already done this, why haven't we done it here yet?"

"How would I know? I'm just an ordinary citizen. You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?"

"I reckon it should be settled before spring planting, otherwise next year it will be us honest people who have to do the hard work while those slackers dawdle. I'm not going to do that."

"Exactly. If there are still people slacking off in the village's spring planting next year, we might as well go on strike and go hunting in the mountains."

"Yes, that's right. If it were really like before, I wouldn't earn those work points no matter what. The hunters in our village would go hunting in the mountains together again. As long as they have money in their pockets, they can afford even free grain."

"..."

Now that everyone has money in their pockets, their minds are more active.

Thinking back to the past, every year the village collective's farming was done by these hardworking and honest people, while those who slacked off and cheated followed them to get work points and reaped the benefits. Cai Er and the others felt resentful.

Listening to Cai Er and the others talking back and forth, Li Yunshan was also puzzled. According to his memories from his previous life, Guapigou Village had already distributed land to individual households before the Lunar New Year. How come after his rebirth, it was almost the Lunar New Year and he hadn't heard a single word about the land distribution?

Could it be that my memories of my past life are wrong, or that my rebirth has caused a butterfly effect, resulting in some changes in time?

"Yunshan, here's some venison for you."

At this moment, Uncle Zhou weighed the meat and handed over Li Yunshan's portion.

"Uncle Zhou, thank you."

Li Yunshan took the meat, thanked him, and then went back with it.

However, when he returned home, he found his second sister, Li Yunmei, was also there.

Since the divorce, the second sister, Li Yunmei, has been living at her mother's house, keeping her company, and also frequently visiting her husband's house.

Therefore, Li Yunshan was not surprised that his second sister, Li Yunmei, appeared at his house. What surprised him was the anxious look on her face.

"Second sister, what's wrong? What happened?"

Seeing this, Li Yunshan placed the venison in his hand on the table in the main room and asked.

"Oh, third brother, you're finally back. Something happened at Yuanchao's house. They even had to call the village office. It was the village office that notified Yunlan. Yunlan is in a hurry to go back. If you don't have anything else to do, take Yunlan to the county town to catch a bus."

Li Yunmei hurriedly said.

"Something happened? What happened?"

Li Yunshan asked in confusion.

In my memory, my fourth sister, Li Yunlan, did not have a good life in her previous life after marrying into the Wang family. Although her husband, Wang Yuanchao, was an honest man, he was also a mama's boy. The person in charge of the Wang family was Wang Yuanchao's mother, Feng Cuilan.

In her previous life, the fourth sister, Li Yunlan, gave birth to three daughters for Wang Yuanchao, but because she did not give the Wang family a son, she and Feng Cuilan divorced due to Feng Cuilan's meddling.

After the divorce, the fourth sister returned to her parents' home with her three daughters. Later, she started a business and raised her three daughters on her own.

"The village office came to inform us that Yuanchao's mother is sick and bedridden, and since Yuanchao has to go to work, Yunlan should hurry back to take care of her."

Li Yunmei said.

"Sick and bedridden?"

Li Yunshan was even more puzzled.

In his memory, his brother-in-law Wang Yuanchao's mother, Feng Cuilan, was very healthy. Li Yunshan remembered that in his previous life, he and his elder brother once visited Wang Yuanchao's family in a neighboring county and found Feng Cuilan arguing with the neighbors. She stood with her hands on her hips, jumping up and down, and with her eloquent tongue, she scolded several people in the neighboring family until they were completely bewildered.

So, Feng Cuilan fell ill and was bedridden?

Li Yunshan was skeptical.

Although the fourth sister, Li Yunlan, and Wang Yuanchao divorced in their previous life, she is now Wang Yuanchao's daughter-in-law. With Wang Yuanchao still having to go to work, the responsibility of taking care of her mother-in-law, Feng Cuilan, naturally falls on the shoulders of the fourth sister, Li Yunlan.

Moreover, Li Yunshan wondered if the Wang family had made up a reason to send her back to her husband's family since the fourth sister, Li Yunlan, had gone back to her parents' home to celebrate her mother's birthday and had stayed there for quite some time.

"Yes, she said she was sick and bedridden, but I think it was most likely her mother-in-law's trick. She lied about being sick and bedridden, but actually she just wanted Fourth Sister to go back and do the laundry and cook, and take care of them and their children for three meals a day."

Li Yunmei said.

She and Li Yunlan are biological sisters. Li Yunmei knows the things that Li Yunlan doesn't feel comfortable saying to her mother, as well as to her two older brothers, Li Yunshi and Li Yunshan.

From her fourth sister Li Yunlan's words, Li Yunmei also knew that Li Yunlan was not actually living a very good life in her husband's family.

Because Wang Yuanchao is indecisive and always goes along with his mother, while Li Yunlan has to take care of the children, serve Wang Yuanchao and her mother-in-law Feng Cuilan at her husband's home, and do odd jobs to earn money whenever she has time.

Because Wang Yuanchao handed over all his monthly salary to Feng Cuilan, not a single penny of it ended up in Li Yunlan's hands.

Anyway, during the time that her fourth sister Li Yunlan stayed at her parents' home, she and Li Yunlan often whispered to each other after the lights were turned off at night.

She knew almost everything about the grievances and hardships that her fourth sister, Li Yunlan, suffered in her husband's family.

"Yuanchao's mother is not an easy person to get along with. She likes to put on airs and act like she is an empress dowager. Once, my eldest brother and I went to visit our fourth sister in a neighboring county and saw Yuanchao's mother arguing with a neighbor. She was so fierce and powerful that she could make several people in the neighbor's house lock their doors and shut their mouths."

"Alright, second sister, I'll take fourth sister to the county town later. But the hunters in our village are having dinner together today, so if I'm not there, you'll have to go and help out Uncle Zhou and the others."

Li Yunshan said.

When the hunters in the village gather together for a meal, it means that every household has to contribute someone to help.

If he were to escort his fourth sister, Li Yunlan, to the county town, then Lin Xiulan would have to help out.

Lin Xiulan is currently pregnant. When she went to the commune health center for a check-up, the doctor told her to take care of her pregnancy.

"Don't worry, I know the rules."

Li Yunmei said.

Li Yunshan glanced at the venison on the table, took a knife and cut out two pieces, each weighing about five or six pounds.

"One piece is for Mother, and this one is for Fourth Sister to take back."

Li Yunshan smiled.

"You're so thoughtful."

Li Yunmei smiled.

Li Yunshan pushed out his bicycle, let Li Yunmei sit on the back seat, and then the two of them headed towards his elder brother Li Yunshi's house.

Before long, they arrived at the eldest brother Li Yunshi's house and found that the fourth sister Li Yunlan had already packed her luggage. A small, slightly worn canvas bag was stuffed full of clothes.

"Third Brother, I'm troubling you again."

When Li Yunshan arrived on his bicycle, Li Yunlan felt a little embarrassed.

"What's the trouble or not? You're my little sister, after all."

Li Yunshan waved his hand, indicating that there was no need for such formalities.