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

Seeing the fish that Li Yunshan handed over, Gao Hongmei hesitated for a moment before taking it.

"Yunshan, thank you."

"No need to thank me, just remember to come early tomorrow. Let's go into the mountains early and see if we can still run into that group of wild boars you mentioned."

Li Yunshan said with a smile.

The area around Guapigou Village is characterized by high mountains and dense forests. Even in the snowy winter, when the vegetation is withered and yellow, it is still very difficult to find a group of wild boars.

Furthermore, wild boars won't necessarily stay in the same spot forever, waiting for you to catch them.

If you want to find wild boars in the mountains, besides getting incredibly lucky and having one run right past you, you'll have to find them yourself and rely on your luck.

"OK."

Gao Hongmei responded, took the fish, and left.

After Gao Hongmei left, Li Yunshan took the Mosin-Nagant rifle and the Tiger Head brand hunting rifle down from the wall.

Since we're going into the mountains, we need to be well-prepared.

He picked up the gun and checked it over, then put the bullets and the gun together.

"Did your older sister just arrive?"

Just then, Lin Xiulan came in after taking a shower. As she dried her slightly damp hair, she asked...

She knew Gao Hongmei had come to her house, but she didn't know why Gao Hongmei came.

"Hongmei said that she encountered a group of wild boars when she went to Huangnigou to collect firewood these past two days. She told me to bring a gun tomorrow and see if I could shoot any wild boars."

"Oh, right, I also gave her a carp and a crucian carp."

Li Yunshan said he didn't hide it from anyone.

"It's freezing cold, are these wild boars coming down from the mountain in search of food?"

Lin Xiulan asked.

However, in the dead of winter, not only is food scarce on the mountain, but there is also little food for wild boars to devour, even in the foothills and near the villages.

After all, by late autumn, the potatoes, cabbages, and other vegetables in the fields had long been harvested and stored in each household's cellar.

"Who knows if they're coming down the mountain to find food or what, but it's good that wild boars are coming down the mountain. If we can find that group of wild boars tomorrow, we might make a small fortune."

Li Yunshan didn't know what to say, but since there were wild boars coming down the mountain, it was better than going up the mountain himself and venturing into the deep forest to find them. If he found one, he could just shoot it.

Gao Hongmei arrived early the next morning.

"Take this shotgun, and remember not to point the muzzle at anyone."

Li Yunshan handed her the Tiger Head brand hunting rifle, stuffed a box of bullets into her hand, then slung the Mosin-Nagant over his shoulder, grabbed the wild boar spear, and the two set off as usual into the early morning.

According to Gao Hongmei, she found the group of wild boars in Huangnigou. There were two large and eleven small ones, a total of thirteen wild boars.

The largest wild boar weighed over 250 pounds, and there was another smaller one. The remaining smaller wild boars weighed between 70 and 80 pounds, and some weighed only 40 and 50 pounds.

Li Yunshan only became interested after hearing that she mentioned two large wild boars in the residents' group chat.

If they were all weighing forty or fifty pounds, even though mosquitoes are small, they are still meat, but he wouldn't really be interested in swatting them.

"There are eleven small wild boars. We just need to kill the two big ones."

On the way to Huangnigou, Gao Hongmei's eyes lit up when she talked about wild boars.

According to her estimate, the largest wild boar weighed at least 250 jin (125 kg). Once the boar was hunted and its internal organs and blood were removed, it would weigh at least 200 jin (100 kg).

If you sell it, even if it's only seven cents per pound, you can make a hundred and thirty or forty yuan from this one wild boar.

If we kill the smaller wild boar as well, along with the largest one, we could probably sell it for over two hundred yuan.

Even if she only gets eighty or ninety yuan, it will still be better than her working hard to earn work points and save money to pay off her debts.

With this in mind, Gao Hongmei felt full of energy.

"Listen to my orders later. Don't just fire your gun randomly as soon as you see a wild boar. This shotgun only has a range of 60 meters. We need to get closer to shoot and try to kill the wild boar as much as possible."

But then, Li Yunshan suddenly spoke up and gave some instructions.

"Okay, okay, you're so long-winded."

Gao Hongmei rolled her eyes at him, then suddenly asked, "By the way, is your back better yet?"

Last time, she had pestered Li Yunshan to go into the mountains to learn hunting. Because of her carelessness, Li Yunshan had sprained his back, and she felt a little guilty about it.

"It's been fine for a long time."

Li Yunshan rolled his eyes, thinking that this tiger-woman probably hadn't listened to him at all. He would have to remind her again later, lest she take the gun and do something reckless to wild boars.

Huangnigou is a mountain valley near Guapigou Village, containing a muddy pool.

In summer, the muddy pool is filled with water, and the surrounding area is covered with lush vegetation and shady trees. Wild boars like to roll around in the muddy pool.

But it's winter now, and even if there's water in the muddy pool, it would have frozen over long ago. What would wild boars be doing there at this time?

Although he had doubts, Li Yunshan didn't think much of it.

Upon reaching Huangnigou, he slowed his pace and led Gao Hongmei around the gully, searching for traces of the wild boar herd.

However, after searching for a while, they couldn't find any trace of the wild boars, but they did find a few wild rabbits.

Upon seeing the rabbits, Gao Hongmei picked up her hunting rifle to shoot, but Li Yunshan quickly stopped her: "Are you stupid? There are only a few rabbits. If you shoot, you might hit a rabbit, but you'll also alert the herd of wild boars and scare them away."

"There's no sign of wild boars here, so what's there to be afraid of?"

Gao Hongmei pouted, unconvinced.

Li Yunshan couldn't help but roll his eyes and said irritably, "If you're willing to risk everything by hunting wild rabbits, let's just turn back and go home. We're not going to look for this wild boar anymore."

"You're going to shoot a wild rabbit? What if there's a herd of wild boars nearby? Do you think a shot will make no sound, like stepping on cotton? The sound of a gunshot might scare those animals away."

Seeing that Li Yunshan was getting angrier and angrier, and didn't seem to be joking, Gao Hongmei stammered, "This... I... This is the first time I've ever gone hunting in the mountains. Why are you talking so loudly? You just know how to bully me because I'm a woman."

"I'm not bullying you, I'm just stating the facts. Before we went into the mountains, I told you to obey my orders, but you didn't take it seriously and just wouldn't listen."

"You think going into the mountains to hunt is child's play, without any danger? Let me tell you, the day I went to Hongxing Forest Farm to hunt tigers, I personally witnessed four hunters who went into the mountains with me being bitten to death by tigers one by one."

"We're looking for wild boars now, and hunting wild boars is just as dangerous. You're ignoring what I'm saying and won't listen. Have you thought about the consequences?"

"If anything happens to you, how am I supposed to explain it to your father?"

Li Yunshan grew angrier and angrier as he spoke, his voice growing louder and louder until he was practically roaring.

Gao Hongmei was stunned when she saw him speak so angrily, but her eyes couldn't help but redden and tears welled up in them.

"Why are you yelling at me? I don't really understand what you're saying either. Why can't we talk things out?"

Gao Hongmei sniffed, then turned her face away after speaking.

Seeing Gao Hongmei turn her face away and shrug her shoulders, Li Yunshan was stunned. He remembered how Gao Hongmei had taken meticulous care of him when he was hospitalized with a terminal illness in his previous life. Thinking about how he owed Gao Hongmei in his previous life, Li Yunshan regretted why he had spoken to her so harshly just now.

"Hongmei, I...I'm sorry."

Li Yunshan hesitated for a moment, then patted Gao Hongmei's shrugging shoulders, feeling a pang of guilt.

He knew that at this moment, no matter what he said, it would be wrong; a simple "I'm sorry" would be more effective than any other words.

"Don't think that an 'I'm sorry' will get you an 'It's okay.' Do you think I'm a three-year-old?"

Gao Hongmei brushed his hand aside, but she was still indignant.

Li Yunshan was stunned for a moment.

"Grunting, grunting!"

Just then, a cacophony of animal cries echoed through the snow-covered mountains and forests.

Upon hearing this voice, Li Yunshan and Gao Hongmei froze on the spot.

Immediately afterwards, Li Yunshan pulled Gao Hongmei down, and the two of them squatted down, hiding in a sheltered spot.

After a while, Li Yunshan cautiously poked his head out and looked around.

Looking over there, Li Yunshan immediately spotted a group of wild boars about two or three hundred meters away.

He observed them carefully and found that there were two large and eleven small wild boars, a total of thirteen.

Gao Hongmei stood behind Li Yunshan and took a deep look at his back, her heart filled with hatred.

That bastard! It's bad enough that he divorced her, but he even dared to scold her like that just now. When we get back, she'll definitely make him pay.

However, seeing Li Yunshan peek out for so long, Gao Hongmei also became curious about what animal had made that noisy cry, so she also secretly peeked out.

Upon closer inspection, she also spotted a herd of wild boars two or three hundred meters away.

Her eyes were fixed on the herd of wild boars. She silently counted them in her mind: two large and eleven small ones, a total of thirteen wild boars. They were undoubtedly the same herd she had encountered while gathering firewood here a couple of days ago.

Upon seeing the wild boar herd appear, Gao Hongmei felt excited, but remembering Li Yunshan's words, she suppressed her excitement and reluctantly asked, "Li Yunshan, they're so far away, should we sneak over there?"

Li Yunshan glanced at her and saw that her eyes were red and there were two obvious tear tracks on her cheeks. He couldn't help but feel a little touched.

"Don't rush. Wild boars are at their most alert right now. If we sneak over there now, they'll probably spot us. Let's wait here for a bit and see if they'll start rooting around and eating the grass or other plants in the ground."

"If the wild boar lowers its head to nibble on the grass, lowering its guard, then we'll quietly approach. Remember, your hunting rifle only has a range of sixty meters. Aim carefully when you get close, and only fire when I give the order."

Li Yunshan gave one last reminder.

Surprisingly, Gao Hongmei remained silent this time, which can be seen as tacit agreement with what Li Yunshan said.