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

"Phew, you really know how to pick a spot."

The hospital rooftop was covered with a thin layer of snowflakes. A gust of cold wind blew over and went straight into Li Yunshan's neck, making him involuntarily shrink his neck.

"You were the one who said we should go somewhere with fewer people, but now that we're here, you're not happy. Do you think the county town is as sparsely populated as our village?"

Gao Hongmei rolled her eyes at Li Yunshan, then looked him up and down: "Where did you get this money from this time?"

She remembered that before coming to the county town yesterday, Li Yunshan had given her almost all the money from selling venison and wolves, keeping only some loose change and small bills for himself. She didn't believe that Li Yunshan could get another sum of money after only one night, unless that bastard went to gamble or steal.

bet?

steal?

Thinking of Li Yunshan's mysterious demeanor in the hospital corridor earlier, Gao Hongmei couldn't help but give Li Yunshan a scrutinizing look, only to see him pull out a thick wad of cash from his inner pocket... "Big Ten Dollars?"

When Gao Hongmei saw the wad of money that Li Yunshan pulled out, she thought she was seeing things.

But upon closer inspection, she realized she wasn't seeing things; the money Li Yunshan had taken out was indeed a large sum of money.

And... it was a thick stack of them.

"Where did you get this money?"

Gao Hongmei immediately frowned.

She couldn't understand why Li Yunshan had lent her almost all the money he had just yesterday, and then, just one night later, he had taken out another sum of money.

Moreover, this sum of money was more than the money he had lent him yesterday, and every single bill was brand new, as if it had just been printed from the printing press.

Gao Hongmei could even smell the ink from that stack of ten-yuan bills.

Used banknotes will generally have creases, wear marks, and even frayed edges. Li Yunshan's stack of unpaid bills didn't look like it was obtained through legitimate means.

That bastard has a gun, is he going to rob a bank?

This thought suddenly flashed through Gao Hongmei's mind.

Even if Li Yunshan is skilled at hunting, where could he possibly find such valuable prey?

Moreover, Li Yunshan used to be idle and irresponsible, and he also liked to gamble...

The more Gao Hongmei thought about it, the more likely it seemed that Li Yunshan had gone to rob someone.

Otherwise, why would he have been so secretive and told her to find a quiet place?

And even if he didn't rob anyone, he must have done something else bad, otherwise where would he have gotten such a large sum of money?

"I earned this money, but I won't go into details, lest I scare you."

At this moment, Li Yunshan was unaware of Gao Hongmei's thoughts. He also felt that the idea of ​​going into the mountains alone to hunt tigers was terrifying and frightening. He didn't want Gao Hongmei to know for the time being, so he kept quiet about where the money came from, only giving a vague explanation.

But his vague explanation only strengthened Gao Hongmei's resolve.

"Li Yunshan, Li Yunshan, you've only been learning good ways for a few days and you've already gone off to do bad things, robbing such a large sum of money. If the police catch you, you'll be in serious trouble, do you know that?"

"If you really get shot, what will happen to Xiulan? What will happen to Doudou? Doudou is only three years old. Do you want her to become a girl without a father?"

"Listen to me, go to the police station right now and turn yourself in. Don't wait until it's too late to regret it when things come to light."

Gao Hongmei pointed at Li Yunshan with trembling fingers and said earnestly.

She originally thought that Li Yunshan had changed a lot during this period and had started to learn to be better. After selling the game he hunted in the mountains, he even knew to share the money with her, Su Lihua, and Lin Xiulan.

Yesterday, when she asked him for money, he lent her most of the money he had on him without hesitation, which touched Gao Hongmei.

But then he turned around and did something really bad, stealing so much money.

It seems I was really blind. I thought he had turned over a new leaf, but he's even dared to do illegal things.

Li Yunshan was completely stunned.

What?

Robbery?

Turning himself in?

After regaining his senses, he immediately realized that Gao Hongmei had misunderstood.

"Hongmei, I didn't rob anyone, and I didn't do anything wrong. I earned this money honestly."

"How did you earn it honestly?"

Gao Hongmei's suspicions deepened, and she pressed for more information.

"This money is what I earned yesterday when I went to the Hongxing Forest Farm to hunt a tiger. You may not know, but that tiger ate several people. The Hongxing Forest Farm couldn't do anything about it, so they posted notices in nearby villages offering a huge reward. I came back from the commune yesterday and saw the notice at the village entrance. I was thinking that your father might need money for surgery, so I went home to get my gun and went to the forest farm to hunt the tiger."

Li Yunshan said.

"Li Yunshan, even now you're still lying to me. You went to Hongxing Forest Farm to hunt tigers? Do you really think I'm as easy to fool as before?"

Gao Hongmei looked him up and down, a mocking bitter smile playing on her lips: "Don't lie to me. You think you can catch wild boars, wolves, and that deer because of your skills? You just got lucky. With your courage, I bet your legs would go weak if you encountered a tiger. You want to hunt tigers? I think if you actually run into a tiger, you'd be more likely to die."

Seeing that Gao Hongmei didn't believe him, Li Yunshan rubbed his forehead helplessly. He was telling the truth, so why didn't Gao Hongmei believe him?

"Hongmei, what I said is true. If you don't believe me, you can call the village officials in the village commune and ask them. I really didn't lie to you. Or you can go to the newsstand at the entrance of the hospital and see if they have today's newspaper. There will definitely be a report about my tiger-hunting in it."

But no sooner had he finished speaking than a crisp "slap" rang out, and Gao Hongmei delivered a solid slap to his right cheek.

He covered his burning face, completely bewildered. He thought Gao Hongmei would be moved when she learned that he had risked his life to hunt tigers in the mountains to earn money for her father's surgery. But instead, he was met with a misunderstanding and a stinging slap across the face.

"Hongmei, why did you hit me? I was telling the truth, I really didn't lie to you."

Li Yunshan almost cried while explaining, "I'm telling the truth, why don't you believe me?"

"Why would I hit you? You ruined me and Lihua, and now you've ruined Xiulan too. Even though Xiulan is divorced from you, Doudou is still young, and they still live with you. You have to support this family. You lied to me about hunting tigers and giving me a thousand yuan reward from the Red Star Forestry Farm. Do you think I'm stupid? That stack of ten-yuan notes was brand new, it didn't look used at all, it looked like it was stolen or robbed."

"Stealing or robbing are both crimes. How dare you? Even if you don't think about Xiulan and Doudou, you should at least think about your mother. Do you want your mother to bury her child? Do you want your brother to have a brother who broke the law and is in jail, so he can never hold his head up in front of others again?"

Gao Hongmei became more and more excited as she spoke, her plump body trembling and her chest heaving, but her eyes were fixed on Li Yunshan.

"Hongmei, it's really not what you think. I really didn't steal or rob anything. What do you want me to say for you to believe me?"

Li Yunshan was in despair, completely numb. What kind of imagination did Gao Hongmei have, to imagine him as a notorious bandit?

"If you want me to believe you, go to the police station right now. Whether you've done anything wrong or not, the police will investigate and find out."

Gao Hongmei gritted her teeth and pointed to the police station, which was only one street away from the county hospital.

"Hongmei, I really didn't steal or rob, I..." Li Yunshan's face changed with anxiety.

"If you don't want to go to the police station, fine, I don't want your money either."

With tears welling up in her eyes, Gao Hongmei turned to leave, but stopped after a few steps. She reached into her clothes and pulled out a wad of cash from her inner pocket—the money Li Yunshan had lent her yesterday, which was the fifty yuan deposit she had already paid for her hospital stay. "I spent fifty yuan on this. I'll pay you back as soon as I get home."

With that, he shoved the money into Li Yunshan's hand and turned to leave.

"Hey, Hongmei, give me the money, how will your father get the surgery?"

"If you really listen to my advice, go to the police station and I'll take this money back to pay for my dad's surgery. If you don't go to the police station, then my dad won't have the surgery."

Gao Hongmei took a deep breath, finished speaking, and turned to leave.

"Why the hell would I go to the Khunpa Police Station?"

Watching Gao Hongmei's departing figure, Li Yunshan stomped his foot angrily on the ground. This silly woman was trying to force him to compromise by using her father's surgery as leverage, but he really hadn't stolen or robbed anyone.

"Ugh."

He squatted on the rooftop, rubbing his head in frustration.

Meanwhile, after leaving the rooftop, Gao Hongmei seemed completely lost.

The reason she returned the money she had borrowed from Li Yunshan was indeed to force him to compromise by using her father's surgery as an excuse.

But what if Li Yunshan doesn't compromise and doesn't go to the police station as she says to clear his name?

She returned the money, but her father was going to have surgery tomorrow, and she didn't have much money left. Was she supposed to go back to Li Yunshan and borrow that money from unknown sources again?

And so, Gao Hongmei returned to her ward with a heavy heart.

"Hey, Hongmei, what's wrong with you?"

Seeing that Gao Hongmei seemed to have lost her soul, Su Lihua quickly got up and helped her up.

"No, it's nothing. I'm just worried about my dad's surgery tomorrow. I don't know what the outcome will be."

Gao Hongmei snapped out of her daze, wiped away the tears in her eyes, and glanced at the sleeping Gao Zhankui.

"Don't lie to me, what really happened?"

Su Lihua wasn't stupid. Even if she was worried about Gao Zhankui's surgery tomorrow, she wouldn't be so worried as to shed tears. There must be another reason.

"I..." Gao Hongmei hesitated, unable to finish her sentence.

Just then, the young man in the next bed, looking at the newspaper, suddenly clicked his tongue and said, "Tsk tsk tsk, this guy is really something, daring to go into the forest alone to fight a man-eating tiger..."

Gao Hongmei was stunned when she heard what the young man in the next bed said.

Forest area, tiger hunting, man-eating tigers...

This...this is exactly what that bastard Li Yunshan said.

Startled and suspicious, she asked the young man, "Young man, who killed the man-eating tiger? Could I see the newspaper?"

"It's in this newspaper, sister. You can take it if you want to read it, just remember to return it to me."

The young man was generous and handed the newspaper to Gao Hongmei.