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

Two hours passed in the blink of an eye.

Li Yunshi, Uncle Zhou, and Brother Zhang were in charge of chiseling holes in the ice, while Li Yunshan was responsible for scooping fish back and forth between each hole.

Before they knew it, more and more fish were being put into the sack, and soon it was more than half full.

We caught a large carp, willow root fish, catfish, grass carp, silver carp, bighead carp, chub, yellow catfish, and even a large pike.

With this half-sack of fish, if divided equally among the four people, each person would get at least twenty-odd pounds of fish.

But Li Yunshan didn't stop; his hands were still gripping the net tightly as he stared intently at the ice hole.

Seeing fish surfacing for fresh air in the ice hole, he cast his net again and caught several more yellow catfish and crucian carp.

When Li Yunshi, Uncle Zhou, and Brother Zhang returned from chiseling an ice hole, they all smiled when they saw that Li Yunshan had scooped up more than half a sack of fish.

They were just bored and thought they'd chisel a few holes in the ice to see if they could scoop up fish from them. They never expected to catch so many fish after only chiseling one hole.

"Is that enough?"

Zhang Sange said.

"That's enough, that's enough! This half-full sack must weigh at least seventy or eighty pounds!" Uncle Zhou grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.

Uncle Zhou had never seen so many fish after drilling six holes in the ice.

The four of them divided the fish equally, and each person received enough fish to feed their family for several days.

"It's more than that, I estimate it weighs over a hundred pounds." Li Yunshi reached out and tried to lift the sack, but he couldn't, so he knew what it was.

"Let's go back and divide these fish among ourselves."

However, before leaving, they used the ice they had retrieved to fill the hole they had made in the ice.

Because, according to their experience, even if the ice holes filled with crushed ice freeze, they won't be as solid as before, and they won't have to spend as much effort to break them open next time they come.

After filling the ice hole, Li Yunshan carried a sack full of fish, while Li Yunshi and the others, carrying ice picks, nets, shovels, and other tools, strode towards the riverbank.

However, before they could even reach the shore, someone behind them shouted, "Stop! All of you, stop right there!"

As soon as Li Yunshan and his group turned around, they saw several people on the other side of the river carrying ice picks, nets, and shovels, chasing after them menacingly.

"He's from Xiao'an Village."

Seeing the menacing aura of the newcomers, Uncle Zhou's gaze darkened.

Li Yunshan and the other two also tensed up.

Xiao'an Village and their Guapigou Village had disputes and even armed conflicts in the past.

The reason for the dispute and fight was not the water source of the Xiaoqing River, but rather the fish in the Xiaoqing River.

Before the reform and opening up, there was a shortage of goods in China. People generally lacked oil and food. If they wanted to buy a pound of pork, they needed meat coupons, not just money.

Many people have neither money nor ransom. What can be done?

They set their sights on the fish in the Xiaoqing River.

The Xiaoqing River passes through several villages in Xiangyang Town. It is said that there are no fixed formations in warfare, just as there are no fixed shapes in water. Fish in the water are the same, swimming around and around.

There has never been a fixed way of defining which section of the river the Xiaoqing River passes through. Sometimes, when people from one village are catching fish in the river, they accidentally end up in the section belonging to another village, which has caused a lot of disputes.

As disputes escalated, the villagers' pent-up anger accumulated, much like a pressure cooker that eventually explodes when the pressure inside doesn't release.

The pent-up anger among the villagers eventually escalated into a violent clash between the two villages.

Five years ago, in the winter, a brawl broke out between Guapigou Village and Xiao'an Village. At that time, Li Yunshan was only ten years old and witnessed more than two hundred people from the two villages fighting over the right to break the ice on the frozen Xiaoqing River.

Because if the river surface is smaller, there will be fewer holes that can be drilled into the ice, and the number of fish underwater will also decrease.

In that brawl, a total of seventy or eighty people from the two villages were injured to varying degrees. In addition, one seriously injured villager from Xiao'an Village died after being taken to the hospital due to the severity of his injuries.

As a result, a feud was formed between the two villages.

"Zhou Laowu, how dare you break the ice on the river in our Xiao'an Village to catch fish? You're asking for trouble, aren't you?"

After the people from Xiao'an Village caught up, the leader, a man with thick eyebrows and a thick sweat, glared at Li Yunshan, glanced at the half-full sack of fish he was carrying on his shoulder, and pointed at Uncle Zhou without any politeness.

"Zeng Guoqiang, with which eye did you see us crossing the line while chiseling ice?"

Uncle Zhou cleared his throat, puffed out his chest, and wasn't about to be outdone.

"Zeng Guoqiang, let's talk this out. Don't point fingers at us."

Li Yunshi's tone turned serious.

"One, two, three, four, five, including Zeng Guoqiang, a total of six people came from Xiao'an Village."

Li Yunshan stood aside, silently counting in his mind.

"I saw with my own eyes that you crossed the boundary line, and you still want to deny it?"

Zeng Guoqiang said loudly.

"We only chiseled six holes in the ice, all within the river boundary on our side of Guapigou Village. You say we chiseled beyond the boundary? We've chiseled beyond the boundary! We'd say you've chiseled beyond the boundary!"

Zhang Sange sneered.

"Yes, I said you've crossed the boundary, and that's it. So what? What are you going to do about it?"

Zeng Guoqiang glared at Zhang Sange and said shamelessly.

Li Yunshan stared at him coldly, his tone filled with suppressed anger: "Zeng Guoqiang, what do you want? Draw a line in the sand."

Zeng Guoqiang and his group of six couldn't help but glance at the large sack in Li Yunshan's hand, their eyes filled with greed: "Give us half of the fish, and we'll call it even."

Early this morning, Zeng Guoqiang called a few young men from the same village, and they took ice picks, nets, shovels, and other tools to the Xiaoqing River to break the ice and catch fish. Unfortunately, after working for a long time, they only caught a few crucian carp and small carp.

They walked dejectedly towards Xiao'an Village, but on the riverbank, they saw Li Yunshi and others from Guapigou Village also chiseling ice to catch fish on the Xiaoqing River. They saw Li Yunshan holding a net, scooping fish up from the ice one net at a time, and Zeng Guoqiang and the others were envious.

So he discussed it with a few young men from the same village, and they decided that once Li Yunshan and his group caught a lot more fish, they would come and cause trouble, taking a share of the fish they caught.

So, when Li Yunshan had filled most of a sack with fish and everyone thought it was enough to pack up and go home, Zeng Guoqiang and the others came out.

Upon hearing that Zeng Guoqiang wanted to split the fish they had worked so hard to catch, and that he was so shameless as to take half of it, Li Yunshan was immediately enraged. He snatched the ice pick from Zhang Sange's hand and kicked Zeng Guoqiang.

Li Yunshan suddenly erupted, and Zeng Guoqiang had no time to react before being kicked hard and slid several meters across the ice before stopping.

On the other side, before Zeng Guoqiang could even get up, Li Yunshan slid forward and hurled the sharp ice pick at Zeng Guoqiang before the other five youths from Xiao'an Village could react.

Zeng Guoqiang was struggling to get up when he suddenly saw a flash of cold light in front of him. A cone tip appeared no more than five centimeters away from his brow. The cone tip, which had just broken through the ice, emitted a gleaming cold light. He was so frightened that he shrank his neck instantly, and cold sweat poured down his forehead.

He clutched his stomach, staring at Li Yunshan in horror: "Li Yunshan, are you fucking crazy? You dare kick me?"

"So what if I kicked you? I didn't even cross the line when I was chiseling the ice, but you shamelessly insist that we did. You just want a share of our catch, don't you? Go ahead and try to divide it up. Let's see if your hands are faster or my awl is faster."

Li Yunshan stared at him coldly, his tone full of disdain: "These fish were scooped up from the river by me, Li Yunshan. You couldn't catch any fish by breaking the ice yourself, so you're jealous that we caught them and are resorting to shameless tactics, claiming we broke the ice beyond our boundaries and wanting to take some of our fish. How dare you?"

The other five villagers in Xiao'an Village saw that the ice pick in Li Yunshan's hand was only a few centimeters away from Zeng Guoqiang, and they dared not make any rash moves, for fear that Li Yunshan might accidentally poke Zeng Guoqiang's forehead with the ice pick if he lost control of his emotions.

Li Yunshi and the other two were also taken aback by Li Yunshan's direct and brutal actions.

Zeng Guoqiang felt intimidated by Li Yunshan's cold gaze, and his face turned pale and then red after hearing his words.

But even in front of his own villagers, he stubbornly insisted, "You've crossed the boundary, so isn't it only right that we get a share of your fish?"

"Stop trying to sound mysterious and tough here."

Li Yunshan's tone was cold, yet carried a hint of disdain for Zeng Guoqiang and the others: "You want a share of our fish, right? Fine, I'll give you a chance. If any of you from Xiao'an Village can beat me one-on-one, then even if you take all the fish in this sack, I'll accept it, let alone half of our fish."

"Can I beat you one-on-one?"

When Zeng Guoqiang heard Li Yunshan say he wanted to fight one-on-one, a sinister smile immediately appeared on his face.

He was tall and strong, and had trained in Bajiquan for several years under a master. He could easily handle two or three adults. Li Yunshan was shorter than him, and had been idle and unproductive in the past. He didn't seem like a man with martial arts skills. When he proposed a one-on-one fight, it was exactly what Zeng Guoqiang wanted.

If he wins, all the fish in this sack are his; if he loses, he doesn't have to pay anything.

Just as Zeng Guoqiang was having high hopes, Li Yunshan said, "If you lose, first, you mustn't hold a grudge; second, apologize to us; third, admit that we didn't cross the line while breaking the ice. If you don't admit it, you have to compensate us ten yuan as damage to our reputation. How about that?"

When Zeng Guoqiang heard Li Yunshan's three requests, he could accept the first two, but he hesitated for a moment before finally nodding in agreement to the last one.

"Okay, we'll do it your way."

If they lost, they should just admit they didn't break the ice beyond the designated area.

As for the ten dollars, Zeng Guoqiang will not pay it back.

Upon hearing Zeng Guoqiang nod, Li Yunshan put away the ice pick he was holding.

"Let's go to the riverbank and have a drawing contest."