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

Do I hate you?

Upon hearing this, Lin Xiulan paused for a moment, then nodded: "I have hated it."

How could she not hate it?

When she fled the famine and arrived here, she was almost starving to death. It was Li Yunshan who gave her a bite to eat, saved her life, and took her home.

Li Yunshan was tall and handsome, with a sweet tongue and a knack for flattery.

She had only been at Li Yunshan's house for a few days when he showered her with sweet words every day. Unable to resist the temptation, she slept with him without fully understanding what was happening, and married him a few days later.

After getting married, Lin Xiulan thought she had finally found her home and could live a peaceful life here, bearing children for Li Yunshan.

However, after spending some time together, she discovered that Li Yunshan was actually a good-for-nothing street urchin who idled away his days and loved to gamble.

At that time, she advised Li Yunshan to stop gambling and instead work in the fields to earn work points, otherwise the family would have nothing to eat or drink.

But Li Yunshan had lost his former gentleness and actually hit her.

After being beaten several times, she became disheartened and contemplated suicide, only to discover that she was pregnant.

During her pregnancy, Li Yunshan became much more well-behaved and gambled less. She thought he had turned over a new leaf. But when she was ten months pregnant and gave birth to Dou Dou, Li Yunshan disliked Dou Dou because she was a girl and not a son.

Several years have passed, and Dou Dou is now three years old. Lin Xiulan still remembers the look of disgust on Li Yunshan's face when he learned that Dou Dou was a girl.

At that moment, her heart was broken.

If it weren't for the concern about what would happen to DouDou after she died, she would have committed suicide long ago.

In the years that followed, Li Yunshan remained unchanged and even showed a tendency to escalate his behavior. She even heard rumors that Li Yunshan wanted to take Dou Dou away and give her away.

But ever since Li Yunshan forced himself on her a few days ago, he seems like a completely different person.

He not only admitted his past mistakes and expressed his desire to reform and start anew, but also took on the responsibility of supporting his family. He had never been into the mountains to hunt before, but he actually picked up the gun that had been hidden at home for several years and ventured into the deep mountains to hunt.

He would sell the game he hunted, and the money would be allocated to her, as well as to his two ex-wives, Gao Hongmei and Su Lihua.

Even when Yu Ergou bullied her, Li Yunshan stood by her side, gave Yu Ergou a severe beating, and even declared that he would sever all ties with Yu Ergou.

Then, today, when he went to the commune to sell the game he had hunted, he actually spent money to buy White Rabbit milk candy to coax DouDou.

This was the first time DouDou had ever received anything from Li Yunshan since she was born.

Do you hate him?

Lin Xiulan was naturally resentful, after all, Li Yunshan had tormented her for years and hadn't let her have a few days of peace.

But in the past few days, seeing Li Yunshan's transformation from the inside out, Lin Xiulan's hatred for Li Yunshan has gradually faded.

I know you hate me.

Li Yunshan chuckled self-deprecatingly, thinking about the absurd things he had done in his past life, how he had tormented Lin Xiulan for so many years, and how Lin Xiulan must hate him.

Not only Lin Xiulan hated him, but Gao Hongmei and Su Lihua also must have hated him in their hearts.

"However, seeing how much you've changed, and how much more caring and loving you are towards me and DouDou, I realize that I don't hate you as much anymore."

Lin Xiulan sniffed, trying to hold back the tears welling up in her eyes.

Over the years, she, with her gentle nature, has always pretended to be strong, because it is a shield to protect herself and DouDou.

But now, she felt like crying.

"From now on... I'll treat you and DouDou even better..."

After a moment of silence, Li Yunshan slowly spoke.

"Please scrub my back."

At this moment, Lin Xiulan spoke softly.

"Huh? Oh, I'll rub it right away, I'll rub it right away... Hehe, I almost forgot if you hadn't mentioned it."

Li Yunshan suddenly came to his senses, and an embarrassed smile appeared on his face. After wetting the towel, he took a deep breath before starting to rub Lin Xiulan's back.

"Ouch... Yunshan... be gentle, it hurts..."

"Yes, scrub a little harder, otherwise I won't get this clean..."

"Hey, what are you doing touching me like that...?"

"Xiulan, I didn't..."

……

A dozen minutes later, Li Yunshan finished rubbing Lin Xiulan's back and ran out of the bathroom, his face flushed.

Lin Xiulan stared blankly at Li Yunshan's retreating figure as he ran away as if fleeing.

Actually, she didn't have her period at all. The reason she said that was just because she had a bad experience and instinctively resisted it.

She later asked Li Yunshan to rub her back because she realized that Li Yunshan was different from before, and she regretted what she had said earlier, so she subconsciously made an effort to make amends to Li Yunshan.

If Li Yunshan could be a little bolder and more reckless when he scrubs her back, then she and he...

She once thought that Li Yunshan would take advantage of her, but in the end, that didn't happen.

After Li Yunshan dutifully finished rubbing her back, he ran out blushing.

"He has really changed."

Lin Xiulan muttered something to herself before standing up from the wooden tub, drying herself, getting dressed, and returning to the main room.

As soon as I entered, I saw Li Yunshan holding the newly bought hunting rifle like a precious treasure, with four unopened boxes of bullets in front of him.

"What are you doing fiddling with your hunting rifle so late at night?"

"I'm thinking I need to work harder at hunting; the more game I hunt, the more money I can earn."

Li Yunshan grinned.

"You don't need to be carrying a gun in the middle of the night. Go take a shower, you smell like blood."

Lin Xiulan urged him with disdain.

"Okay, I'll go wash up now... Hehe, Xiulan, remember to leave the door open for me."

"Why would I leave the door open for you? Go sleep in the other room."

"Leave the door open for me, so I can hold you while we sleep tonight. It's warmer when we both sleep together."

Li Yunshan said with a shameless grin.

"Pah! You can't expect anything good to come out of a dog's mouth. Who wants to sleep with you for warmth?"

Lin Xiulan spat at him and turned to go inside.

But Li Yunshan, seeing the door not fully closed, felt that he might have a chance to sleep with Lin Xiulan tonight.

"By the way, Xiulan, tomorrow seems to be market day in the commune. I'll take you to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some floral fabric and make new clothes."

……

"Father, Mother, where are we going?"

The next day, after breakfast and locking the door, Li Yunshan carried Dou Dou and, with Lin Xiulan in tow, trudged through a thin layer of snow toward the commune, which was five or six miles away.

This was the first time Li Yunshan had taken Dou Dou out, and Dou Dou found everything very novel.

"Daddy will take you to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy floral fabric and make you new clothes," Li Yunshan teased Dou Dou.

However, when he saw that Dou Dou was wearing clothes with many patches, and that her little face and ears were red from the cold because she didn't have a hat, he felt a pang of guilt.

"Xiulan, when we get to the supply and marketing cooperative, don't be stingy. Buy whatever our family needs. Make sure you have everything you wear and use."

After Li Yunshan finished speaking, he rubbed his nose, which felt sore.

Soon, the two of them brought DouDou to the commune.

At this time, the commune's market had just begun, but many villagers had already gathered on both sides of the street to attend the market, and shouts of vendors rose and fell. Some were selling needles and thread, some were selling food, and others were selling local specialties or mountain products.

Some people even set up temporary stalls on the street to sell wild boar meat.

Li Yunshan went over to take a look. The wild boars being sold at the temporary stall were probably not very big. You could tell from their two hind legs. He estimated that after deducting the wild boar's internal organs, it would weigh only about 120 or 130 jin (60-65 kg).

To Li Yunshan's surprise, the wild boar meat they were selling cost 80 cents a pound.

Moreover, there are many people at the market, and quite a few people are buying meat.

"If I had thought of taking that wild boar to the market to sell back then, I could have earned at least ten dollars more."

On the way to the supply and marketing cooperative, Li Yunshan couldn't help but slap his thigh.

At that time, after the wild boar was gutted, it still weighed nearly 200 pounds, except for what it kept for itself.

At this moment, Li Yunshan realized he had earned more than ten yuan less, and he felt a pang of regret.

"The market isn't always available. If the weather is warm, wild boar meat doesn't keep well. Although we earned less money, at least we sold almost all of that wild boar meat and didn't end up with any unsold meat."

Lin Xiulan comforted her.

公社的集市一般都是三天一集，比方说李云山他们所在的向阳公社，就是逢147一集市，也就是每个月的1号、4号、7号、11号、14号、17号、21号、24号、27号一集市，有的公社就是逢258一集市，有的是369一集市。

The specific market day varied from commune to commune.

"That makes sense, but it feels strange to find that I'm earning so much less money."

Li Yunshan scratched the back of his head, feeling a little regretful.

Soon, they arrived at the supply and marketing cooperative.

At this time, the supply and marketing cooperative was also packed with people.

It was market day, after all, and people from all around came to Xiangyang Commune to attend the market, so it would be strange if there weren't many people.

The sales clerks at the supply and marketing cooperative were also extremely busy.

"Which fabrics have you taken a fancy to?"

Lin Xiulan held Dou Dou in her arms, and Li Yunshan pulled her through the crowd to the fabric counter.

This was Lin Xiulan's first time entering the supply and marketing cooperative with Li Yunshan. She had come with others before, but she didn't have much money in her pocket. At most, she could only buy some needles and thread. She never dared to dream of buying fabric to make new clothes.

So when Li Yunshan asked her which fabric she liked, Lin Xiulan was stumped.

"Hey, are you two going to buy any fabric or not? If not, don't stand here blocking the way. Look at your poor appearance, you don't look like you can afford it."

At this moment, a woman behind Lin Xiulan, whose clothes were not patched, saw Li Yunshan and Lin Xiulan standing there without buying any cloth. She also noticed that Lin Xiulan's clothes were almost entirely patched. She couldn't help but mock her.

"Who the hell said I looked poor and pathetic?"

Li Yunshan turned around, pulled out a few ten-yuan bills from his pocket, and slapped them on the woman's face: "See that? Ten-yuan bills! You're fucking rich, take out a couple and let me see."

The woman was terrified when she saw that Li Yunshan was tall and strong with a fierce look: "I...I won't argue with you. So what if you have money!"

"Pah! You don't even have a penny to your name, yet you have the nerve to call me poor and stingy."