The whole mountain is my hunting ground

After the two brothers, Minister Li and Li Erchen, entered the mountain, they first chopped a thick wooden stick and held it in their hands.

If this thing is used for self-defense, it will definitely not be able to defend against bears. But when you meet a bear and the two are far apart, you can use this stick to knock on the tree. The bear will hear the sound but not see the person, and will usually leave on its own initiative.

Minister Li led the way and led Li Erchen over the mountains and hills. After walking for about an hour, they arrived at a sunny slope.

There is a forest on the sunny slope, and there are many needle sticks growing on the edge of the forest.

These short needles are more than one meter tall, with light yellow branches and leaves, and sharp thorns on the trunk and branches.

This is the thorn old bud stem.

The old thorn buds are the young buds arched out from the top of the stem.

Break off the sprouts and take them home. If possible, spread them with eggs and eat them. If not, blanch them in water and dip them in sauce.

The old shoots of the thorns go dormant in winter, and wake up in the warm spring of the second year to bloom and sprout. Therefore, the old thorn buds on the sunny slope wake up early and germinate earlier due to the sunlight.

"How are you doing?" Minister Li raised his hand and made a circle in front of him, and said to Li Erchen as if he was pointing the way: "We brothers can carry a basket today!"

Li Erchen grinned. The radishes, cabbages, and potatoes that his family had stored in the cellar last autumn had all been eaten long ago. These days, I just eat pickles and strips every day, and my life is really difficult.

Now that they saw such a large area of ​​old thorn buds, the two brothers went straight to work.

But before pricking the old buds, there is still preparation work, which is to poke out a tree branch.

You must know that the old thorn shoots can grow up to three or four meters high, and they are definitely out of reach of people.

Moreover, the old thorn stem is covered with thorns, so there is no way to bend it down directly with your hands.

Therefore, when pricking old buds, mountain collectors will stick out a branch nearby.

There should be a hook in front of the branch, like a sickle.

When you want to pick the old thorn buds on the tall pole, use this tree branch to hook the old thorn bud pole, and then pull it over, pulling the old thorn bud pole halfway down, and the young buds on it will appear in front of the mountain picker. in front of me.

The young shoots have no thorns. Just pinch them with your hands and break them off, and the old thorny shoots will fall out.

Finally, let go of the old thorn bud rod and hook the next one.

The two brothers have been harvesting mountains for many years, and they are still very skilled at pricking old buds. In this way, the two brothers separated, one in the east and the other in the west, and met from both ends to the middle.

Li Erchen was in the east, bending down the stems of old thorn buds, breaking off the old thorn buds one by one and throwing them into the basket on his back.

After a while, the old thorn buds were piled up at the bottom of the basket.

The more Li Erchen picked it up, the happier he became. Not to mention how good this thing was, but at least there was food to eat.

At this time, the sun came out.

Although the spring temperature in the Northeast is not very high, when you are exposed to the sun on a sunny slope, you can't help but feel a little sweaty on your forehead.

The moment Li Erchen straightened up and wiped his sweat, he saw that nothing was running past in the forest in front of him.

"What is this?" Li Erchen was stunned. He glanced at it just now. Although he didn't see it clearly, he knew from the size that it was not big, but not small either.

"It's not a black blind man." Li Erchen first made up his mind, and then thought: "Can it be a big badger? There doesn't seem to be such a big badger."

No matter what it was, as long as he was sure it wasn't a black bear, Li Erchen dared to go over and take a look. If nothing else, no matter how good the wild vegetables are, they still don’t have the flavor of meat.

The Li brothers haven't seen any meat in almost half a year.

Li Erchen carried the basket on his back into the forest and walked towards the place where the guy disappeared, carefully lifting and landing his feet along the way, trying not to make any noise.

Li Erchen had good eyesight. He didn't go far when he saw a black, furry animal, about 20 to 30 kilograms, behind a catalpa tree in front of him.

This makes it hidden, with half of its buttocks exposed.

When Li Erchen walked further, the animal jumped out. The little guy didn't run very fast and went straight to the west.

"Brother, big brother!" Li Erchen shouted at the top of his lungs: "Hurry into the woods, there are dogs!"

"Huh?" Minister Li, who was stabbing old buds in the west, vaguely heard his brother shouting, but he was a bit far away, so he couldn't quite hear what Li Erchen shouted.

But it didn't feel like his brother had encountered any danger, but rather like he had encountered something good.

But no matter what it is, Minister Li has to take a look at Lin Zi.

After Minister Li entered the forest, Li Erchen had already pushed the animal up the tree. At this time, Li Erchen didn't realize what it was. He just shouted: "Brother, come here quickly, the dog is up the tree!"

At this time, the two brothers were very close. When Minister Li heard this, he strode over to this side.

Seeing Minister Li running from the west, Li Erchen pointed one finger at Minister Li and the other at the guy in the tree, and said, "Brother, look, whose dog is that?"

"Fuck your mother..." Minister Li looked up and couldn't help but curse. But halfway through, he suddenly remembered that he and Li Erchen were born from the same mother, and he suppressed the rest of his words.

At this time, Li Erchen was still immersed in the joy of having meat to eat. He only said to Minister Li: "Brother, this is someone's dog that was lost on the mountain. We don't care whose family it belongs to, just kill it." If you peel it off and carry it back, no one will know."

"Go away!" Minister Li changed his sentence and finally used the foul language.

His words made Li Erchen stunned, and his eyes were fixed there. Li Erchen couldn't understand why his elder brother scolded him. He didn't miss anything.

Seeing his brother's dull look, Minister Li became very angry. He pointed at the tree and said to Li Erchen: "Where is that dog? That's a black blind man!"

"Ah!" Li Erchen was so frightened that he took two steps back and looked at the little guy on the tree in horror.

It's not that Li Erchen is stupid, it's just that there are no black bears in Shandong and he has never seen such a thing since he was a child.

Before last winter, the black blind man chased him away twice, but that also left an illusion in Li Erchen's subconscious, that is, the black blind man must be fierce, vicious and hateful.

And this little thing on the tree looked pretty cute just now.

"Brother, let's go quickly." At this moment, he understood that this was a black bear. Li Erchen's heart suddenly trembled, and the thought of eating meat disappeared instantly.

"Why are you leaving?" Minister Li became anxious again and yelled at Li Erchen: "Are you a tiger? Isn't this just money?"

"Brother! Don't be fooled. This is a blind man!" When Li Erchen spoke, he hid behind Minister Li.

"What are you afraid of, the blind man?" Minister Li pointed to the tree and said, "Are you still afraid of such a small gadget? Cut it off, stab it to death with a knife, and let's sell bear bile!"

As he said that, Minister Li looked around and saw no big bear around. He said, "Look, there is no big black blind man here. What are you afraid of? Just do it!"