bookrebus Chapter 38 Wild Boar Forest Encounters Cannonballs, Qian Family's Second Son Attacked
Chapter 38 Wild Boar Forest Encounters Cannonballs, Qian Family's Second Son Attacked
As Li Ju'an followed the hunting party from the forest farm, Uncle Lu finally discovered that Big Yellow was missing.
The old Lu family residence in the village.
When relatives from the Lu family came to visit, the old man sat at the kang table, sipping his liquor and recounting, as always, the hunting legends he had with his dog, Dahuang, in the mountains a few years ago.
"Dahuang was no match for Heixiazi. When Heixiazi caught up, he slapped Lao Biao so hard that he lost his hat and his scalp as well."
"You're probably going to say, 'What kind of lousy dog is Lao Biao's hunting dog? How come it runs faster than its owner when it sees danger?' But I can only tell you that it's because you haven't experienced a real-life confrontation with Black Bear."
"I yelled to my cousin, 'Let's run, run if we can, we can't escape alive anyway.' Just then, Big Yellow came back, and with this good dog came my gun. I almost cried. What kind of dog is this? How is it so smart? It even knew to bring me a gun. Then I shot that damn black bear dead!"
When the old master of the Lu family mentioned Da Huang's bravery in his youth, he spoke with great enthusiasm, spittle flying everywhere, his face turning red and his neck thick with excitement.
The children of the Lu family relatives gathered around the kang table, listening with great interest. On the other hand, the aunts and sisters-in-law were getting tired of listening and were becoming increasingly impatient.
"The old man always praises Da Huang to everyone he meets, repeating the same thing over and over again seven or eight hundred times."
The relatives smiled knowingly, when suddenly a child asked, "Where's Big Yellow?"
Lu Jinyang nervously picked up the thermos and took a sip of water.
Lu Zhiqiang was so frightened that he looked down at his toes and dared not say anything suggestive.
Taking advantage of his drunken state, Old Master Lu went to the courtyard gate and circled around, but he really didn't see Big Yellow. He turned his head and saw the two brats looking guilty. He understood everything, and he stroked his beard, stiffened his neck, and cursed loudly.
"Where has that old rascal been wandering off to all day? Where did he take Big Yellow? If anything happens to Big Yellow, you two should think about it from time to time."
Lu Zhiqiang's eyelids twitched in fright, and he pointed at Lu Jinyang to distance himself from the situation: "Brother lent Dahuang to Sun Weimin to go hunting in the mountains."
The air was eerily quiet.
The old master of the Lu family was furious, his eyes widened, and he grabbed a weapon and started hitting.
The old Lu family mansion was filled with screams, like pigs being slaughtered. The two Lu brothers had been beaten by their grandfather for three days and hadn't been able to get off the bed.
……
In Li Ju'an's team, Da Huang has not yet rejoined.
The hunters also accepted what Sun Weimin said: Dahuang took a shortcut down the mountain and went back to the Lu family.
Old Qin, the foreman, was experienced and followed the old path, finally arriving at the hunter's earthen house, which offered shelter from the wind and rain, before dark.
Beneath the rocky cliffs were the hunters' unspoken overnight huts.
The fire wasn't very big, just enough to heat up the food cooked with lard until it was thoroughly cooked, and also to roast the roe deer meat over the fire.
The roe deer hind leg meat was very fresh. After being skewered on tree branches, it was placed on the fire. As the aroma of the meat wafted out and the oil dripped down, splashing into the fire and igniting a brighter flame, you could then turn the meat halfway around, flip it over, and continue grilling.
The air was filled with the aroma of roasted roe deer meat, its crispy skin a caramelized brown, which, when torn off, revealed tender and juicy meat inside.
Li Ju'an sprinkled a pinch of salt on the roasted meat and tore off large pieces of the roasted roe deer meat to eat.
This roe deer is relatively young, and its meat is neither gamey nor fishy. It has a chewy texture, but isn't dry; the chewiness is just right. One bite fills your mouth with the crispy, fragrant skin and the juicy, delicious meat. Your mouth waters quickly, and the more you chew, the more fragrant it becomes.
Wild game is so damn delicious!
Li Ju'an used a knife to cut off a piece of meat close to the bone and gave it to Da Hu.
This time, Da Hu didn't hold back either.
The little guy knew it had done its work, so it ate with a clear conscience, finishing its meal in big mouthfuls, its mouth dripping with oil, its belly bulging out. It then lay peacefully on the hill by the campfire, its face serious, its ears perked up as it kept watch.
What a good dog!
The hunter's dinner was both plentiful and simple. It was plentiful because it consisted entirely of wild game, but simple because it mainly consisted of pickled vegetables, flatbread, and meat. Such a "campfire dinner" absolutely couldn't be without alcohol.
Li Guaizi took out his own brewed high-proof corn liquor and "opened the jar" to celebrate.
"We've caught our first catch, guys, we have to celebrate!"
Lao Qin, the foreman, was inevitably pulled aside by Li Guaizi for drinks, though they wouldn't get completely drunk. Firstly, they had arduous work to do the next day, climbing mountains and wading through rivers; secondly, they hadn't brought much alcohol, and if everyone drank to their hearts' content, they'd only be staring at empty bottles for the next few days, smacking their lips in vain.
After Li Ju'an had eaten and drunk his fill and listened to their boasting, it was time for him to go to sleep.
Qin Pao expanded the fire, turning what was originally a small bonfire into something about the size of three tabletops. The plastic sheet that everyone had brought finally came in handy; it was essentially a simple moisture-proof mat.
Using the warmth of the fire, Li Ju'an spread a plastic sheet on the ground, and wearing thermal underwear and his own coat, he could spend the night in the snowy mountains.
As for the cold?
He woke up the next morning and couldn't help but exclaim "Hi!"
Everyone was covered in sweat, so how could they feel cold?
……
On the second day of the hunt, Da Hu, as the lead dog, was very enthusiastic.
In the Xing'an Mountains, there's a saying: "First the wild boar, second the bear, third the tiger," implying that wild boars are more dangerous than black bears and tigers. This doesn't refer to their strength, but rather the harm these three animals cause to crops and farmers.
The black bear eats a variety of things: it picks ants off fallen trees, climbs trees to collect honey, and gathers wild fruits. If it weren't for a famine, the black bear wouldn't come down the mountain. Tigers are even less likely to come down; they only venture down a few times a year. In the mountains, tigers are at the top of the food chain.
In those days when everyone's basic needs for food and clothing had not yet been met, and sparrows were considered one of the four pests, every July and August, as soon as the corn tasseled and began to ripen, wild boars would come down from the mountains in droves to wreak havoc on the crops, and they couldn't be driven away no matter what.
The farmers in the forest farm and their residential villages hated wild boars the most. The corn, in its grain-filling stage, was sweet, but then came the big, chubby wild boars. A group of them could wipe out an entire cornfield in just a few days. Don't even think about banging pots, setting off firecrackers, or using rockets; nothing could scare them away. If the wild boars became familiar with these sounds, they would be even less afraid, and the entire village's cornfields would suffer a complete crop failure!
The villagers had nowhere to turn to for help.
Li Ju'an entered the Wild Boar Forest and whistled at the tiger.
"Go find the cannonballs!"
Big Tiger was extremely intelligent; after glancing at him, it immediately led more than 40 hunting dogs into the wild boar forest. Perhaps due to exceptional luck, Big Tiger soon encountered a herd of wild boars.
"Good heavens! One egg-laying pig, three yellow-haired pigs, and two sows."
A herd of six wild boars, and when they looked up, they saw a large pack of hunting dogs.
The cannonball, weighing three or four hundred pounds, with curved fangs and a back covered in mud and oil, roared fiercely as it pounced on the tiger.
Old Qian's second son was going hunting in the mountains for the first time. He was also a stubborn man who refused to admit defeat. When he saw the boar, which was about the size of a cannonball and was fighting with the hunting dogs, he grabbed his wheel axe without saying a word and was about to rush into the battlefield. He charged headlong into the wild boar.
Old Qian shouted angrily, "Come back, you idiot!"
That's incredibly foolish. Not only do hunting dogs recognize people, but wild animals in the mountains do too. No matter how many hunting dogs there are, as long as a hunter shows up, the wild boar will charge at him!