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

I went to the commune market today and returned home with a full load.

Back home, Lin Xiulan first put her things away, then went to deliver face cream and fabric to Gao Hongmei and Su Lihua.

Li Yunshan let Dou Dou play in the house by herself, then busied himself starting a fire to cook.

As he added firewood to the stove, Li Yunshan considered whether he should get a bicycle ticket or some industrial vouchers.

A bicycle was a must-buy; it was one of the "three turns and one sound" in rural areas in the early 1980s.

With a bicycle, getting around is convenient, and more importantly, he can sell his hunted game to more distant places.

The price difference between selling wild boar meat in the village and selling it in the commune is only one cent per pound. What if we took the wild boar meat to the county town to sell?

Li Yunshan, having been through it all, knows that we are now in the early stages of reform and opening up, policies are beginning to change, and the private economy is about to usher in a spring.

Although this spring breeze has not yet reached Xiangyang Commune or Guapigou Village, it has probably already reached the county seat.

Those with a keen sense of opportunity will definitely seize this opportunity to make a big splash.

At that time, industry and commerce will flourish, economic growth will accelerate, and households with tens of thousands of yuan in assets will emerge.

With more wealthy people, more people will eat out and go to restaurants.

At that time, the demand for wild game will probably be huge.

Therefore, Li Yunshan plans to go to the black market in the county town tomorrow to see if he can get bicycle tickets or industrial coupons from there.

Let's check the wind direction in the county town.

If restaurants and eateries in the county town have a high demand for wild game, then the price of wild game will definitely be higher than in the commune.

If that's the case, he plans to take all the game he hunts to the county town to sell and earn more money.

Just then, Lin Xiulan suddenly ran back in a panic: "Yunshan, no... something bad has happened..."

"What's wrong?"

When Li Yunshan walked out of the kitchen and saw Lin Xiulan panting heavily, holding the face cream and fabric he had asked her to give to Gao Hongmei and Su Lihua, he frowned.

"It's...it's my eldest sister's father...Uncle Gao...I heard from the neighbors that Uncle Pang has already driven the horse-drawn cart to take Uncle Gao to the commune clinic."

Lin Xiulan took a deep breath, and her breathing calmed down a bit.

"Why did Hongmei's father go to the health center?"

Li Yunshan was puzzled.

"I heard from the neighbors that he broke his leg, while others say he hit his head... Yunshan, I... I want to go see him..."

The more Lin Xiulan spoke, the redder her eyes became.

In the past, when Li Yunshan bullied her, she had nowhere to complain, so she went to Gao Hongmei's house to complain to Gao Hongmei and Su Lihua. Uncle Gao saw that she was pitiful and made her some of the few cured meats that he usually couldn't bear to eat. He was also very good to Dou Dou.

In Lin Xiulan's heart, Uncle Gao treated her better than her parents.

When she heard the news from Gao Hongmei's neighbor, she almost fainted and then rushed back in a panic.

"Let's go together."

Without hesitation, Li Yunshan told Lin Xiulan to dress Dou Dou in warm clothes first, while he went to extinguish the fire in the stove and then took the newly bought hunting rifle and bullets with him.

Guapigou Village is surrounded by mountains on all sides, and there is only one road from the village to the commune. With mountains on both sides, it was pitch black, and Li Yunshan always felt unsafe without a hunting rifle.

After doing all this, he sent DouDou to his older brother Li Yunshan's house.

"Third brother, what did you do to your sister-in-law?"

Li Yunshan and Lin Xiulan suddenly showed up at the door, and Lin Xiulan's eyes were red, obviously she had just cried. Li Yunshi assumed that Li Yunshan had bullied Lin Xiulan again, and he was so angry that his face turned pale.

"Brother, I didn't bully Xiulan. I heard that Hongmei's father broke his leg or hit his head. Uncle Pang has already driven the cart to the commune clinic, and Xiulan and I are going to go and see him."

"It's so dark and cold outside, it's inconvenient for us to take DouDou with us, so we thought we'd leave DouDou here with you and let your mother take care of her for the night."

Seeing his elder brother's dark face, Li Yunshan quickly explained.

It's no wonder that the older brother misunderstood. He used to be a troublemaker and often bullied Xiulan. Now that Xiulan's eyes were red, it's normal for the older brother to misunderstand.

"Take DouDou to Mother's room, she just went in."

Li Yunshi's expression softened, and he made way for Li Yunshan.

Li Yunshan quickly carried Dou Dou into the house; Huang Zhifang was still awake at this time.

"In the past, our Li family wronged the Gao family. Now that Hongmei's father is hospitalized, you should visit him out of courtesy and reason. If there is anything you can help with, please do so."

"Here's five yuan. Use it to buy some nutritional supplements and send them over. If Gao Zhankui doesn't want them, just say it's a gift from me."

Huang Zhifang had already heard the commotion outside.

After Li Yunshan carried Dou Dou into the house, she gave him some instructions while taking out five yuan from under her pillow and handing it to him.

"Mom, keep the money safe. I have money on me now."

As Li Yunshan spoke, he handed Dou Dou to Huang Zhifang: "Dou Dou, be good, sleep with Grandma tonight, Daddy will come pick you up tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay, Daddy, I'll be a good girl and stay with Grandma."

Three-year-old Dou Dou obediently nodded and then snuggled into Huang Zhifang's arms, saying, "Grandma."

"Oh, Grandma's sweet granddaughter."

Huang Zhifang grinned from ear to ear and said, "Go on your way, and be careful on the road."

"Okay, I'm leaving now."

Li Yunshan went out, turned on his flashlight, and walked with Lin Xiulan along the dark road toward the commune health center.

……

Xiangyang Commune, Health Center.

Gao Hongmei paced back and forth outside the examination room, her face filled with anxiety.

"Hongmei, take a break. You're making this old man dizzy from walking around like that."

Pang Mafu puffed on his pipe, frowning involuntarily.

After Gao Zhankui was taken to the commune clinic, it was already dark. Because he was worried about his safety on the way back, Pang Ma stayed behind.

After all, in Northeast China, there are wild beasts such as tigers and bears that can be seen at night.

"Uncle Pang is right, Hongmei, don't worry unnecessarily. Uncle Gao is a lucky man, and we should trust the doctor. Uncle Gao will definitely be alright."

Su Lihua couldn't help but offer her advice.

"Sigh, I'm so anxious..." Gao Hongmei became even more agitated.

However, before she could finish speaking, the examination room door opened, and a doctor in a white coat came out.

"Doctor, how is my dad? Did he break his leg?"

Upon seeing the doctor come out, Gao Hongmei immediately asked.

"He did break his leg; his left femur is fractured. But with medical intervention, a metal plate can be inserted into the leg bone, and he should be able to walk again," the doctor said calmly.

"Doctor, please arrange for my father to have surgery."

Gao Hongmei immediately breathed a sigh of relief and quickly said.

"Miss, I understand how you feel right now, but our commune health center doesn't have the facilities to perform fracture surgery. If the elderly person wants to have surgery, they'll have to go to the county hospital, where there are doctors who can perform this kind of surgery."

The doctor in the white coat said apologetically.

"Then let's go to the county hospital now."

Gao Hongmei immediately said, looking at Pang Ma Fu, "Uncle Pang..."

"Oh dear, Hongmei, please have mercy on me. It's the dead of winter, and it's pitch black outside. My old bones can't take this kind of torment."

Pang Mafu was so frightened that he stopped smoking and quickly waved his hand.

"Comrade, I suggest we go to the county hospital tomorrow. It's dark and cold outside now. It's still twenty li from our commune health center to the county hospital. The road is difficult to travel after the snow. If you send Grandpa to the county now, I'm afraid his body won't be able to take it."

"Um... doctor, I'd like to ask how much it would cost to have this surgery done at a county hospital?"

After listening to the doctor's advice, Gao Hongmei calmed down. Then she thought of a very important question: how much would the surgery cost?

After all, no family is rich these days.

"It's hard to say. It will probably cost anywhere from tens to hundreds of dollars. It depends on the difficulty of the surgery and the medication the patient takes. A simple fracture surgery may only cost tens of dollars, while a more complicated fracture surgery may cost hundreds of dollars."

However, the doctor couldn't give a specific answer either.

"So expensive!"

Gao Hongmei was dumbfounded.

She works tirelessly all year round to earn work points, and in addition to collecting some mountain products to sell at the market, she only earns about sixty or seventy yuan a year.

With that little money, after deducting necessary expenses, there's hardly anything left.

She has saved less than 100 yuan over the years by living frugally.

But... but this surgery costs at least tens of yuan, and sometimes even hundreds of yuan. How could an ordinary family like hers afford that?

"Girl, girl, let's not do the surgery. Let's just go home and apply some herbal medicine."

Gao Zhankui's voice came from the examination room, and Gao Hongmei immediately rushed in.

Seeing the pain on her father's aged face, Gao Hongmei felt a pang of heartache: "Dad, please don't say anymore, this surgery has to be done."

At this moment, Gao Hongmei also understood that if her father didn't have the surgery, it would save the family tens or even hundreds of yuan, but if his injury worsened, her father...

Therefore, this surgery must be performed.

The doctor also said that Dad will recover well after the surgery.

"But this money... I heard everything, it's anywhere from tens to hundreds... Dad can't be a burden to you!"

Gao Zhankui couldn't help but shed tears.

"Dad, even if we have to sell everything we own, this surgery has to be done. If we don't have enough money, I'll borrow it."

A resolute look appeared in Gao Hongmei's eyes.

It was at this moment that...

"Why are you here?"

Outside the inspection room, Su Lihua asked in surprise.

"Xiulan went to deliver something to you, but you weren't home. The neighbors couldn't tell whether Uncle had broken his leg or hit his head, so we rushed over in the dark."

Gao Hongmei knew it was Li Yunshan as soon as she heard the voice.

Sure enough, the next moment, a figure flashed at the door of the examination room, and Li Yunshan walked in carrying a hunting rifle.

Seeing Gao Hongmei's tearful eyes, he frowned: "Hongmei, what's wrong with your uncle?"