Flip the table and divide the family property! Take his wife and daughter into the mountains and eat

The cold wind howled.

Zhao Shanhe picked up the dead lynx and weighed it in his hand.

"Good heavens, it weighs at least forty pounds."

This was a big guy, with golden fur that gleamed in the snow. What was most remarkable was its perfect coat; apart from one eye being smashed, not a single patch of its skin was scratched.

"Qinglong, well done."

Zhao Shanhe glanced at the Azure Dragon beside him. The impact had been powerful and heavy, and the Azure Dragon had a bump on its forehead, but the guy was tough and didn't utter a sound. It was excitedly circling its prey.

"Let's go down the mountain!"

Zhao Shanhe didn't dare linger. It was getting dark, and if the lynx's carcass froze solid, the skin would be difficult to peel. He had to find a warm place to skin it while the body was still soft.

The snowstorm has just stopped.

Zhao Shanhe carried the heavy lynx, his mood lighter than the wind.

"Let's go down the mountain."

Although Qinglong had a cut on its ear, it was full of energy, its tail held high the whole way. The piece of bloody meat that Zhao Shanhe had fed it earlier made it fully understand the benefits of following this master—fighting and meat to eat.

……

As dusk fell, the lone lamp in the red pine forest came into view.

A dim kerosene lamp shone in Old Sun's little wooden hut.

In the courtyard, the stubborn old man was wearing his rumpled sheepskin coat and sitting on a wooden stump, sorting through several dried rabbit skins.

"Crunch, crunch."

Hearing the sound of footsteps in the snow, Old Sun didn't even lift his eyelids, still puffing on his old pipe.

"You're back?"

He knew it was Zhao Shanhe without even looking.

In these gloomy days when the mountains are blocked by heavy snow, no one would venture into this deep mountain valley except for this hothead who just took the Azure Dragon from him yesterday.

"It's only been one day."

Old Sun tapped his pipe, his tone casual, even a little mocking:

"You're quite the hasty one. You just took the dog away yesterday, and today you couldn't wait to head into the mountains? How about it, the snowstorm forced you back, didn't it?"

In his view, training eagles and dogs requires a long and painstaking process. To take a dog into the deep mountains after only one night is the impetuousness of youth, and nine times out of ten, one will return empty-handed.

Zhao Shanhe didn't say anything, but just smiled and strode into the courtyard.

As he approached, a chilling, snowy atmosphere, mixed with a peculiar smell of blood, drifted on the north wind and into Old Sun's nose.

Old Sun's eyes, which had been squinting, suddenly twitched.

His big nose, yellowed from the tar, twitched twice.

"Um?"

Old Sun's hand, holding the pipe, froze in mid-air.

He smelled something.

It doesn't have the earthy smell of wild boar, nor the gamey smell of roe deer.

The smell was a bit pungent, with a peculiar odor, and even a faint hint of the ferocity that only apex predators possess...

"etc."

Old Sun suddenly raised his head, his once cloudy old eyes now like two hooks, staring intently at the basket on Zhao Shanhe's back, his tone instantly changing:

"A... a leopard?"

Before even seeing the goods, he could identify them just by their smell.

Zhao Shanhe secretly admired the old man; he was indeed a shrewd and cunning individual.

"Uncle Sun, your nose is even more sensitive than my dog's."

Zhao Shanhe didn't hide anything. He put the basket on the ground, picked up the big golden thing, and threw it onto the wooden stump in front of Old Sun.

"Thump!"

The forty-pound lynx carcass crashed onto the wood, kicking up a cloud of snow dust and making Old Sun's heart skip a beat.

This time, he didn't even smoke. He rushed over in two steps, and his bark-like hands first touched the iconic "antenna ears," then stroked the smooth fur all the way down.

No knife cut. No bullet hole.

"It's a male... and the quality is amazing."

Finally, he lifted the lynx's head and saw the dark, bloody hole in its left eye.

Old Sun stared at the "eye-filled" wound for several seconds.

After a long while, he slowly raised his head and looked deeply at Zhao Shanhe.

"Borrowed a dog yesterday, used it to fill eyes today."

Old Sun exhaled a thick cloud of blue smoke, his voice deep and powerful:

"Your hands are a gift from the gods; you were born to do this kind of work."

He knew all too well how difficult this was.

If the man and the dog don't work in sync, they simply can't catch up with this "mountain spirit"; if the marksmanship isn't superb, and the shot misses by even an inch, the leather worth several hundred dollars will be ruined.

Zhao Shanhe simply smiled, rubbed his frozen hands, and didn't take credit for it.

"Grandpa, I was just lucky. Can I borrow your house for a bit? I need to peel these while they're still hot, so I can take them to the county to exchange for rice tomorrow."

"Come inside."

Without saying a word, Old Sun pushed the door open.

……

Inside, the heated walls burned intensely, dispelling the chill that enveloped them.

Watching Zhao Shanhe skillfully hang the lynx upside down from the roof beam and draw his dagger, ready to strike, Old Sun, sitting on the edge of the kang (heated brick bed), suddenly spoke up:

"Are you going to sell them in the county?"

"Ah, my family urgently needs the money." Zhao Shanhe didn't even turn his head, his knife precisely slicing open the lynx's lips, his movements as steady as if he were embroidering.

"To the recycling station?"

"What else? They'll just give you cash."

"That's a waste!"

Old Sun cursed, then suddenly pulled a cloth bundle from under the straw mat on the kang (heated brick bed), unwrapped it layer by layer, and took out a crumpled stack of ten-yuan notes, which he slammed onto the kang table with a "thud."

"The blind bastards at the thrift store will only give you 120 yuan for this hide. If you trust me, leave it with me."

Zhao Shanhe paused in his work and turned to look at the thick wad of cash.

"I have connections."

Old Sun tapped his pipe, lowered his voice, and his eyes gleamed with shrewdness:

"A dealer from the south will be coming to buy fine leather in a couple of days. They'll be fighting over these top-grade snipers without bullet holes. I'll buy them for 250 each; any more is on me, any less is my fault for being blind."

Two hundred and fifty!

Zhao Shanhe's heart skipped a beat.

These days, what does 250 mean? It's equivalent to a half-grown fat pig plus two years' worth of feed! It's hard currency that can directly build three large red brick houses!

"Sir, this..."

"Here you go!" Old Sun pushed the money toward Zhao Shanhe, his eyes frank. "I saw you were a good kid and didn't want you to suffer a loss. Besides, I can also make some money for cigarettes and alcohol, so it won't be a wasted effort."

Having said all that, to refuse would be pretentious.

Zhao Shanhe solemnly put away the money, looking at Old Sun with eager eyes:

"Alright! Sir, I'll show you my skills today. I guarantee I'll peel the most beautiful tube for you, so you can save face in front of that southerner!"

……

For the next half hour, the only sound in the room was the soft slicing of a knife against flesh.

Zhao Shanhe displayed his utmost skill. His knife moved with lightning speed, separating the skin from the flesh.

When the golden lynx pelt, complete even down to the claw tips, was hung on the roof beam, Old Sun smiled with satisfaction.

Late at night.

With the scalding 250 yuan in his pocket, Zhao Shanhe led the well-fed and watered Qinglong into the snowstorm.

The cold wind was still biting, cutting like knives on his face, but he didn't feel cold at all; instead, a fire was burning in his heart.

Two hundred and fifty yuan.

tomorrow.

I'll head back to the village first thing tomorrow morning!

First, pay off the debt owed to the village for famine, and shut up those snobs.

then……

Hoist bricks, buy materials, build a new house!

The days of having a wife, kids, and a warm bed are finally here!