The whole mountain is my hunting ground

December 5, 1987, Sunday.

Wang Meilan got up early in the morning, rolled out the soybeans from the bowl rack, put them in a basin and went to the tofu shop to exchange for tofu.

As Wang Meilan went out, Zhao Youcai also got up. He went down to the cellar to get a basket of potatoes and prepared a pot of dog food for the family dog.

After skinning the leopards, Zhao Jun had to rest at home for a few days before heading up the mountain to take care of the roe deer and wild boars that had been promised to team leader Xu Baoshan. Then, we started preparing for the New Year.

Knowing that Zhao Jun would not go up the mountain, Zhao Youcai was very happy. He wanted to take his dogs up the mountain to catch wild boars and sell them to pay for the famine.

When Zhao Youcai came up from the cellar carrying a woven basket, the door of the Li family next door was pushed open from the inside, and Li Dayong came out of the house holding toilet paper in his hands.

"Brother." Seeing Zhao Youcai across the wall, Li Dayong didn't even rush to go to the latrine. He called Zhao Youcai, and the two brothers came to the wall separating the two houses.

Across the wall, Li Dayong asked Zhao Youcai, "Brother, are you going up the mountain today?"

"Come on!" Zhao Youcai glanced at the door and said, "Shunzi come with us and let him drive us in Xiao Chen's car."

"That's great!" After hearing Zhao Youcai's words, Li Dayong took a look outside and said with a smile, "I haven't been surrounded by a car yet."

Hearing these words, Zhao Youcai felt a little sad, but he turned around and glanced at the row of dog kennels under the east wall of his house. He suddenly felt heroic and said, "Dayong, let Baoyu go to his house to help the people in a while, and give it to that... "

"Huh?" Li Dayong stared at Zhao Youcai, wondering which one Zhao Youcai was talking about?

"He used that hook to catch pigs." Zhao Youcai said, "Bring it to that thing, not to mention that the old boy is good at poking it with it."

"Yes!" Li Dayong said: "When Baoyu comes back, I will let him go."

"What did Baoyu do?" Zhao Youcai asked.

"I went to Mr. Mao's house to borrow a chain saw." Li Dayong replied.

"Chainsaw?" Zhao Youcai frowned and said in surprise: "What is he doing with the chainsaw?"

"Isn't that right? They are planning to build an army." Li Dayong said: "They say they will fish in the morning and go to the ground in the afternoon."

"Escape from the ground cage?" Zhao Youcai frowned slightly and said, "Is that thing even done in winter? What a bullshit!"

The ground cage is an ancient fishing tool.

In the south, bamboo is used for weaving. In the north, where bamboo is not available, willow sticks are used. Tree branches are prone to rot when soaked in water, so apply beeswax or pine oil.

Whether it's made from bamboo or tree strips, it won't be too long. Later, people woven the net into a long drum shape, with bamboo and tree strips supporting it at intervals in the middle to form a cage, which could be as long as fifty or sixty meters long.

Such a long ground cage, with one end open and one closed, is lowered into the water and sinks into the water. The fish rush in through the opening and are trapped in the ground cage.

One difference between the Northeast and the South is that there are very few places with regular running water in the Northeast, and the water surfaces of lakes and rivers are covered with thick ice.

In this case, it is very difficult to dig a hole in the ice, and it is even more difficult to get down into the underground cage.

It would be a little easier to handle it twenty or thirty years later, when technology would be developed and something called water rats would appear.

This is a remote-controlled electrical appliance that cuts a hole in the ice, lowers the water mouse into the ice hole, and then controls the water mouse to walk in the water under the ice according to the length of the ground cage, and stops when it reaches the position.

Next, the man found the place where the water rat stayed on the ice and dug a hole in the ice.

When the two points are in line, the water rat takes one end of the ground cage into the water, runs under the ice, stretches the ground cage under the water, and reaches another ice cave.

But right now, even the richest man in Yong'an has no other household appliances besides flashlights.

Therefore, if you want to lower the 20-meter ground cage, you have to dig a 20-meter trench on the ice, which is a lot of work.

"Why don't Xiaojun ask Baoyu to go out and borrow a chain saw?" Li Dayong said with a smile: "This kid has a trick. He said he would use the chain saw to cut the ice piece by piece."

"Fuck!" When Zhao Youcai heard this, he immediately said angrily: "Wouldn't that harm people?"

"Brother!" Li Dayong said: "We have established an army, are we still short of blades and chains?"

At this point, Li Dayong sighed, reached out and patted Zhao Youcai's arm, and said, "Okay, big brother, let the children play if they like."

As he said that, Li Dayong glanced at the front of his house and then continued: "Isn't this much better than (pǐ) my little pussy (sēi)?"

After hearing what Li Dayong said, Zhao Youcai clicked twice and said nothing more. Zhao Youcai also thought of one thing. If Zhao Jun took Zhou Jianjun to fish in the morning and took him out of the net in the afternoon, Zhou Jianjun might not be able to leave today.

If he can't leave on his own, he can't blame himself.

Just then, Wang Meilan came back with a basin. As soon as she entered the hospital, she saw Zhao Youcai and Li Dayong chatting across the wall. Based on her understanding of these two people, as long as these two old brothers were whispering, it would definitely be bad.

At this time, Zhou Jianjun got up and came out of the house, preparing to go to the latrine.

"Mom, are you back?" Zhou Jianjun first greeted Wang Meilan, and then called Zhao Youcai and Li Dayong.

Wang Meilan asked Li Dayong to go home to get a basin and divide the tofu into pieces for Li Dayong. Li Dayong was anxious to go to the latrine, so he went to the door and called Jin Xiaomei, and then ran out of the hospital.

"Lan!" Zhao Youcai saw that Jin Xiaomei hadn't come out yet, so he stretched out his hand and said to Wang Meilan: "Put the basin on the wall. When you're done, go into the house. It's so cold outside. Are your hands cold after walking around?"

Wang Meilan glanced at Zhao Youcai deeply, then stepped forward and placed the basin of tofu on the wall.

Watching Wang Meilan return to the house, Zhao Youcai whispered to Zhou Jianjun: "Jianjun, dad has already told you. If you want to go back today, Chun'er will go back with you."

Zhou Jianjun didn't rush to the latrine, he just wanted to ask about this matter. Hearing what Zhao Youcai said at this time, Zhou Jianjun happily gave Zhao Youcai a thumbs up.

"Woof! Woof! Woof..." Suddenly, a burst of dog barking came from behind Zhou Jianjun, which suddenly startled Zhou Jianjun.

Zhou Jianjun ducked towards Zhao Youcai, and when he turned around, he saw an old dog pulling on a chain and growling fiercely at him.

"Go back!" Zhao Youcai shouted, pointing at the green tiger and saying: "I will take you up the mountain today, and I won't hesitate to ignore you! Who are you going to bite? There are no rules at all."

"Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof!" The green tiger's mouth opened and closed continuously, roaring angrily at Zhao Youcai.

"Stop yelling!" Suddenly, the door of Zhao's house opened, and Wang Meilan, who had just entered the house, stepped out. She pointed in the direction of the green tiger and shouted: "Calm down! My grandson is sleeping!"

Strangely enough, Zhao Youcai pointed at Qinghu's nose and scolded him, but Qinghu didn't care at all. Although Wang Meilan was far away, her words were effective. The green tiger turned around, swung its tail and returned to its nest.

"This wicked dog!" Zhao Youcai stared at the green tiger's butt and muttered: "You really need to deal with it!"

"Dad." Zhou Jianjun was in a good mood after receiving his father-in-law's consent. He advised Zhao Youcai, "He is a mute beast. We are not like him."

When Zhao Youcai heard this, he looked at Zhou Jianjun and smiled. Zhou Jianjun smiled and gave Zhao Youcai a thumbs up again.

"Hahaha..." Zhao Youcai laughed and gave Zhou Jianjun a thumbs up.

Just at this time, Jin Xiaomei came out of the house with a basin and a shovel. Seeing this scene, she couldn't help but laugh: "I don't know, I think these two are biological fathers and mothers."

"Then what do you say?" Zhao Youcai smiled and said, "My aunt has been kind to me."

"My dad is also kind to me." Zhou Jianjun said with a smile.

Jin Xiaomei shoveled away two pieces of tofu, and Zhao Youcai walked towards the front of the house with a basket in his left hand and a basket in his right hand. Zhou Jianjun saw that he was holding something in both hands, so he thoughtfully went over and opened the door for Zhao Youcai.

Then, Zhou Jianjun walked out of the hospital.

When he stepped out of the yard, Zhou Jianjun heard Qinglong and Bailong barking.

Zhou Jianjun looked south and saw Sun coming from that way.

"Auntie!" Zhou Jianjun greeted Xie Sun, who smiled and said, "Chun'er's family, are you up?"

"From Chuner's family..." Zhou Jianjun was speechless. He had been married to Zhao Chun for two years, and Xie Sun was the first to call him that.

But Xie Sun was the elder, so Zhou Jianjun could only smile and respond: "Get up, aunt, I'm going to the hut."

"Go, go." Xie Sun said, "I'll take a big bone and make soup for the little bear."

Needless to say, Mr. Xie Sun was really kind to the little bear. He made bone soup for him every day.

Zhou Jianjun smiled and nodded to Mr. Sun, and went straight to the hut.

After Xie Sun entered the Zhao family's yard, she did not enter the house. Instead, she went to the backyard and picked up the shovel in the corner. After shoveling open a snow bag, she used the shovel head to pull out a big bone.

This is a wild boar thigh bone. It was not cleaned very well when it was picked, and there was still some meat and tendons on it.

Mr. Xie Sun didn't rush to pick up the bones, but used a shovel to pile up the snow and bury the remaining meat and bones.

When Mr. Xie Sun bent down to pick up the bones, Wang Meilan came out of the back room to the backyard and said, "Sister, are you here?"

"Hey, sister." Xie Sun said, "I'll take a bone and make soup for the little bear."

"Sister, I'm sorry to trouble you." Wang Meilan said.

"Sister, we two sisters are still talking about this?" Xie Sun said with a smile: "Your sister has nothing to do all day, just wait and see?"

If Liu Lanying heard this, she would be depressed. In the past, when Ms. Xie Sun was at home, she never worked when she had nothing to do. When she was bored, she would look for something to eat.

"Okay, sister." Wang Meilan smiled and said, "Then you just do it for me."

Indeed, by taking care of the little bear, Mr. Xie Sun relieved Wang Meilan's burden.

"Sister, your job is my job. Whatever job you have, just give it to me." Jie Sun has only been here for a month, and she can speak. She was not as stubborn as she was on the first day. Tragic.

"Okay, sister, I won't be polite to you." Wang Meilan said, walking towards Xie Sun, and then greeted her and said, "Come, I will break the bones for you to save you the trouble of going back."

With that said, Wang Meilan went to the donkey shed and the chicken shed, stretched out her hand and pulled out the eight-pound sledgehammer.

On the back wall of Zhao's house, there are two large bluestones under the wall. The distance between the two large bluestones was more than thirty centimeters. Wang Meilan asked Xie Sun to lay the bones across the two bluestones.

"Sister, let me do it." After Xie Sun put down the bone, she reached out to take the sledgehammer from Wang Meilan's hand.

"You can pull him down." Wang Meilan stepped back with the sledgehammer in her hand and said with a smile: "Last time, you chipped the stone with one hammer."

With that said, Wang Meilan stopped Xie Sun with her free hand and motioned for her to step aside.

When Mr. Sun retreated, Wang Meilan held the hammer pole with both hands. The moment she exerted her strength, the sledgehammer rose in the air.

Lifting the hammer, Wang Meilan slashed Huashan with one blow, and the sledgehammer hit the middle of the bone hard.

There was a muffled sound, stubble burst out from the bones, and the bones trembled on the bluestone.

In the donkey shed behind Wang Meilan, the donkey turned its ears back and stared at Wang Meilan's back with wide eyes. Its hooves kept pounding away from Wang Meilan until the rope that tied the donkey was stretched straight.

"Hey!" Wang Meilan swung the hammer again, and the sledgehammer hit the bone again.

The bone failed to withstand Wang Meilan's second hammer and broke from it, rolling off the bluestone and falling to the ground.

"Take it away, sister." Wang Meilan held the hammer in one hand and swung at Sun with the other.

When Mr. Xie Sun bent down to pick up the bones, Wang Meilan turned around with a sledgehammer.

"Uh-huh!" Seeing Wang Meilan turn towards him, the donkey couldn't help but let out a scream.

Wang Meilan glanced sideways at the donkey, then dragged the sledgehammer toward the donkey shed and the chicken shed.

As Wang Meilan walked away, the donkey pounded its hooves, trying to keep itself away from this woman.

After Wang Meilan put down the hammer, she walked to the front yard with Xie Sun. Then Wang Meilan entered the house, and Xie Sun left the Zhao family yard with a bone stick in one hand.

As soon as Mr. Xie Sun came out of the courtyard, he saw a person coming from the west.

The woman was stooped, her legs were bowed, she walked unsteadily, and her arms swung by her sides.

This woman is none other than Liu Tiezui, the number one matchmaker in Yong'an Forest District.

When Xie Sun saw Liu Tiezui, Liu Tiezui also saw Xie Sun.

When Liu Tiezui saw Jie Sun, he was like a frightened old rabbit, struggling with his legs to move himself behind the old elm tree nearby.

Although Liu Tiezui was in poor health, she walked sideways in Yong'an, and few people dared to offend her in so many years.

But after the previous incident, Liu Tiezui was very afraid of Jie Sun, because in her opinion, Jie Sun's family was not in Yong'an, so there was no need for her to be a matchmaker, so this person would have no scruples when facing her.

The Jie Sun family was very powerful in combat, and Liu Tiezui's mouth was quite powerful, but she also felt that she was no match for the Jie Sun family. In terms of fists and kicks, let alone Zhang Laibao, who walked in a similar way to hers, was beaten by Jie Sun. Even that young man was like this, let alone Liu Tiezui.

"Sister Liu!" But what Liu Tiezui didn't expect was that he even hid, but Xie Sun chased her back.

Xie Sun went to the tree and walked around the tree to look for Liu Tiezui, but Liu Tiezui ducked around the tree.

After going around in a circle, Mrs. Xie Sun stopped and said with a smile: "Sister, stop being a cat. I don't have any other intention, so I just want to apologize to you."

"Huh?" Liu Tiezui was startled, and the next second Mrs. Jie Sun appeared in front of her and said with a smile: "Sister, the eldest sister was wrong that day. The eldest sister is no longer a human being. Don't take it to heart."

Saying that, Mr. Jie Sun grinned at Liu Tiezui.

Liu Tiezui looked at Mr. Xie Sun cautiously. Seeing Liu Tiezui's guarded face, Mr. Xie Sun smiled and said, "Sister, I will kill a big goose and send it to you tomorrow."

"No... no need." Liu Tiezui said: "That's not necessary."

"It's okay, sister." Ms. Xie Sun smiled and said, "Sister, I will buy some things someday and come over to see you."

"Ah...then...that's not necessary." Liu Tiezui said stutteringly.

Jie Sun laughed and asked, "Sister, are you here to do it?"

"Um...I'm going to Lao Li's house." Liu Tiezui raised his hand and pointed to Li's house and said, "Well...I'm leaving first."

After saying that, Liu Tiezui quickly walked around Xie Sun's family, grabbed his leg and walked towards Li's house.

She had just taken two steps when she saw Li Dayong coming out with Zhou Jianjun. Liu Tiezui looked the same when he faced Jie Sun just now. Facing Li Dayong at this time, Liu Tiezui changed his face.

"Li Dayong!" Liu Tiezui pointed at Li Dayong and shouted, "Your family is so outrageous!"

This chapter is a make-up of what I wrote yesterday. I just changed my keyboard and it’s not working smoothly. I will write the second chapter right away and post it around 4pm.

Northeast China has a long history of fishing and hunting culture. We have only written about hunting before, but in the past two days we will write about fishing.