The whole mountain is my hunting ground

November 12, 1987.

Wang Meilan really got up at around three o'clock this morning. She lit the stove to boil water, washed herself and poured boiling water into the thermos. Then she used the gourd and gourd to add water to the big pot again. After adding half the pot of water, Wang Meilan poured a basket of small potatoes into the pot.

Wang Meilan added more firewood to the stove pit. When the potatoes were cooked, Wang Meilan would use a large spoon to mash them into the pot, then add a little cornstarch noodles and salt to the pot, and give the dogs of the two families a pot of food. .

Before the water boiled, Wang Meilan tied up her headscarf and put a triangle bag in her pocket. Then she walked to the dish rack, opened the door of the dish rack, took out a basin of soybeans, held the basin around her waist with one hand, and walked out of the house to change the tofu and get pancakes.

The big pancake stall was right next to the tofu shop. Wang Meilan picked up the pancakes and picked up four pieces of tofu along the way.

As soon as Wang Meilan left the house, Zhao Youcai woke up. When he put on his clothes and reached for his watch, he suddenly found something in the center of the watch strap.

"Hmph!" Zhao Youcai snorted lightly, and then took back the big gold coin engraved with the word "cai" in his hand.

The moment the ring was revealed on his hand, Zhao Youcai suddenly realized that a man's family status was earned by his own efforts.

If she had returned empty-handed yesterday, Wang Meilan would have returned the ring to herself in the end, but her words would definitely have been the same.

Zhao Youcai got off the kang, reached for the partition of the standing cabinet and pinched some toilet paper. He took a dog-skin hat from the wall and put it on his head. Then he walked out of the room and closed the door gently.

Walking to the stove, Zhao Youcai opened the lid and took a look. The water in the pot was just beginning to boil. It should be boiling soon, but it would take a while for the potatoes to be cooked.

So, Zhao Youcai put the lid on the pot, opened the door and walked outside.

It was still dark at this time, and the moon was hanging in the sky, but Zhao Youcai knew at a glance that it was still a sunny day.

"Hmph!" Zhao Youcai, who was making money, especially liked to vent his breath through his nostrils these past two days. He snorted softly and walked out of the hospital.

When Wang Meilan came back from outside with a bag and a basin, Zhao Youcai was already packing things in the west room.

The things he packed were the ones Zhao Jun usually brought up the mountain.

Bandages, painkillers, and painkiller powder, Zhao Youcai placed these things in Zhao Jun's shoulder bag.

There were also bullets. Zhao Youcai took two packs and stuffed them into his pocket. One pack had twenty-five rounds, and two packs equaled fifty rounds.

In addition, Zhao Youcai also had twenty rounds of ammunition in his pockets and trouser pockets.

"Are you up?" Wang Meilan came over and asked. Zhao Youcai did not answer Wang Meilan's question, but said, "Look, when we went up the mountain, where could we find these things?"

Wang Meilan curled her lips slightly, entered the room, put the triangular bag containing the big pancakes on the edge of the kang, and said, "Here you go, the pancakes are made for you."

"Let Zhao take a look." Zhao Youcai amused himself by picking up the edge of his pocket and taking a look at the newly spread large pancakes, which had been dusted with water and folded into a rectangular shape. One piece is nearly two taels, and five pieces is one pound.

"Yes!" Zhao Youcai looked at Wang Meilan, nodded and said to her: "The mission was completed well!"

Wang Meilan smiled lightly, rolled her eyes at him, turned around and walked towards the outhouse. She has to make dumplings soon, so how can she have time to talk to Zhao Youcai?

But Wang Meilan's connivance, in Zhao Youcai's view, meant that his "career" was successful and his wife did not dare to make a fuss.

Zhao Youcai took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it and took a puff, secretly cheering himself up in his heart, saying: "If you have wealth, if you have wealth, I will go up the mountain with a good gun and a strong dog. This is me, Zhao." It’s time for the domestic hunting gang to rise!”

Zhao Youcai was thinking about it when suddenly Wang Meilan's voice came from the outer room: "There is hot water in the thermos bottle. Go and wash your face quickly. The corners of your eyes are blurry again!"

"Huh?" Zhao Youcai subconsciously raised his hand to touch his face, and then hurriedly walked to the outhouse.

Zhao Youcai came out of the west room, and Wang Meilan carried the panel in, placed it on the kang table, brought the remaining dumpling fillings and noodles from last night, and quickly started to pick out the ingredients, roll out the skins, and make dumplings.

There were about fifty dumplings per curtain. After they were wrapped, Wang Meilan carried them outside the house.

Then, Wang Meilan turned around and came back. She opened the pot and scooped the dog food into the big basin.

"Boil the water yourself." Wang Meilan shouted into the back room, then took the basin and went out to feed the dog.

It's not yet five o'clock, and the two little girls haven't gotten up. Wang Meilan can't have such a breakfast?

Therefore, these curtain dumplings were all prepared for Zhao Youcai.

And Zhao Youcai was not polite. He opened his belly and ate a total of fifty-two dumplings from two plates.

After eating the dumplings, Zhao Youcai made another bowl of dumpling soup and put the bowl down on the table with a "duang" sound. Zhao Youcai took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit one and started smoking.

At this time, Wang Meilan came in to pick up the plates and bowls, and Zhao Youcai asked: "Why haven't they come yet?"

It's almost six o'clock now, and Zhao Jun usually has to go up the mountain at seven or eight o'clock. But as Wang Meilan said yesterday, Zhao Jun took a car all the way up the mountain, so it was convenient to go wherever he wanted and there was no need to be in a hurry.

But Zhao Youcai didn't have that condition, so he had to leave home early.

"You ask me...how do I know why they didn't come?" Wang Meilan looked back at the clock on the wall and asked Zhao Youcai, "What time did you set with them?"

"It's set at half past six!" Zhao Youcai said quite confidently, "Then we still have to step in a little bit?"

Wang Meilan twitched the corner of her mouth, took the plate and bowl, turned around and left.

Zhao Youcai was sitting on the kang smoking a cigarette, while Wang Meilan was making him sugar water in the outer room. This was what Zhao Baotou asked for by name, but Wang Meilan didn't dare to neglect it.

At this moment, the door of the Zhao family was pulled open from the outside, and with a gust of cool air, the third father and son of the Li family came in.

"Sister-in-law!" Li Dayong greeted Wang Meilan when he came in, and then asked: "What is this?"

"Ah..." Wang Meilan said, "Your elder brother said you have to drink a bowl of sugar water before going up the mountain."

"I'll come, I'll come!" Upon hearing this, Li Dayong hurriedly went over to pick up the two large white porcelain bowls, and walked quickly to the west room.

"Brother!" Zhao Youcai was about to greet Li Dayong when he saw Li Dayong take a few steps and present the bowl in front of Zhao Youcai.

Li Dayong looked at Zhao Youcai, handed the bowl and said: "Brother, please drink this cup to the full!"

"Ah? Ah." Zhao Youcai probably understood what Li Dayong meant, and reached out to take the bowl. When he was about to drink, he heard Li Baoyu muttering to Li Ruhai on the side, saying: "Look at what they are doing, as if they were drinking Zhuangxing wine." of……"

Before Li Baoyu finished speaking, Li Dayong was punched on the arm. Li Dayong's eyes widened and he glared: "What did you say?"

Seeing his brother being beaten, Li Ruhai chuckled, took a step forward and threw his hands at Zhao Youcai, saying: "Uncle, I wish you success immediately!"

"Huh?" Zhao Youcai was startled after drinking the sugar water. He thought to himself, didn't this child tell Zhao Jun yesterday morning?

Seeing Zhao Youcai stunned, Li Dayong turned to Li Ruhai and shouted: "Noisy! Get back!"

Li Ruhai, who had been guilty recently, saw that the horse's hooves were slapped on his flattery, and quickly stepped aside.

At this time, Li Dayong stretched out his hand towards Li Baoyu, and Li Baoyu was stunned.

Li Baoyu then remembered something and hurriedly took off a brand new canvas backpack from his back.

This thing is a rare thing in the forest area these days.

This big backpack is bulging with stuff, so it must be packed with stuff.

"Brother!" Li Dayong put his backpack on the edge of the kang, and he sat sideways. Li Ruhai saw this and pushed Li Baoyu. Li Baoyu understood instantly, and the two brothers went over and stood beside Li Dayong.

Li Dayong was looking at Zhao Youcai at this time. He said to Zhao Youcai: "Brother, this bag is issued by Baoyu and his team. I think it is quite strong. I want to come down and carry it up the mountain for you to decorate it with things."

The large military green canvas backpack looked good, but Zhao Youcai asked in surprise: "Dayong, what's in that bag?"

"I'll give you half a bag of corn noodles..." As soon as Li Dayong started to speak, he was interrupted by Zhao Youcai, saying: "What are you doing with this thing for me?"

"Brother, don't you want to stay in the mountains for a while?" Li Dayong replied: "You can take those pancakes and you guys can eat them. What about the dog? No matter who you put there, don't you have to give the dog something to eat?"

"Oh..." Zhao Youcai clicked his eyes and praised Li Dayong quickly: "Brother, you are still thoughtful!"

In this mountain farm, there are many old mountain dogs living in shacks. Zhao Youcai knew most of these people.

These days, mountains have rules.

These mountain dogs, rich or poor, all obey the rules.

Not to mention that Zhao Youcai knew him, even if someone he didn't know went there and said that he was on a road trip, it would be fine if he wanted to stay for a night and have a meal.

But the premise is that you can enter other people's shacks at will during the day. But at night, you have to call the door outside and get permission from the owner before you can enter. Otherwise, as soon as a person enters the house, a gun will be pulled on him easily.

Zhao Youcai, Wang Qiang, and Zhang Yuanmin were all residents of Yongan. No matter which shack you go to, even if you don't know the mountain dogs, you will definitely be able to connect with them when talking about relatives, friends, and old neighbors.

Even if there is nothing good to eat in those mountain dog shacks, you can always give them a hot meal to keep them full.

As for the ten kilogram pancakes prepared by Zhao Youcai, they were used to satisfy hunger in the mountains and forests at noon during the siege.

So now there is another question: what do dogs eat?

Zhao's dog gang consists of more than ten dogs. If this dog gang hunts prey, it can eat meat.

But what about the morning?

Why do you have to feed the dog half a full meal in the morning? And just half full, the dog owners are willing to give up, but the people who live in the shack are not willing to give up.

People can feed people like Zhao Youcai, but they are definitely not willing to feed these dogs.

You must know that those people in the mountains are not like dog owners like Zhao Youcai who prepare potatoes and melons for their dogs at home. It’s so difficult for those mountain dogs to get food from the mountains. There is only some grain, and I usually have to plan to eat it. How can I be willing to feed the dogs?

Therefore, Li Dayong prepared half a bag for Zhao Youcai, containing nearly twenty kilograms of corn noodles.

Zhao Youcai was very satisfied that Li Dayong could help him think about this, but after looking at the ten kilograms of large pancakes and twenty kilograms of corn noodles, Zhao Youcai frowned and said to Li Dayong: "Brother, take these things, there are a lot of them." ah."

"It's okay, brother." Li Dayong said with a smile: "These things... you can let your subordinates take them."

As soon as Li Dayong said this, Li Baoyu, Li Ruhai, and Wang Meilan in the outer room all pouted.

"Hey, that's right!" Zhao Youcai patted the table lightly and said, "Let them take it, and I'll leave the dog alone and take action."

As soon as Zhao Youcai finished speaking, the dog outside the house started barking. If nothing else happens, it should be Zhao Youcai's "men" who are here.

Sure enough, the door of Zhao's house was opened, and Wang Qiang and Zhang Yuanmin came in from the outside one after another.

Wang Qiang was carrying his pocket and not carrying a gun. It was agreed yesterday that he and Zhao Youcai would each take one of the two semi-automatic rifles in Zhao Jun's house.

As for Zhang Yuanmin, in addition to a shoulder bag, he also carried a long black cloth bundle on his back.

When he saw his men coming, Zhao got off the kang, took two Type 56 semi-automatic rifles, handed one to Wang Qiang, and carried the other on his shoulder.

"What is this?" Wang Qiang glanced at the large and small packages on the kang, and looked at Zhao Youcai in shock.

"This is supplies." Li Dayong answered first. Wang Qiang twitched the corner of his mouth and said to Zhao Youcai: "Brother-in-law, how about we come back at night! After all this trouble, I might as well build a shack for you in the mountains!"

As soon as Wang Qiang finished speaking, Zhao Youcai pointed at the large canvas backpack and said, "Take it on your back! Let's go!"

This brother-in-law and brother-in-law usually talk and argue, but Wang Meilan married Zhao Youcai when Wang Qiang was ten years old. Wang Qiang and his eldest brother died early, and Wang Qiang followed Zhao Youcai around since he was ten years old.

At that time, their family was already in dire straits, and only Zhao Youcai was hunting prey so that Wang Qiang could have meat to eat.

Later, Wang Qiang went up the mountain and followed Zhao Youcai.

Therefore, no matter how Wang Qiang usually spoke in an eccentric manner, as long as Zhao Youcai spoke, he would still listen.

In this way, Wang Qiang put the twenty kilograms of corn noodles on his back, and Zhang Yuanmin put the triangle bag containing the big pancakes on his arm.

The two of them went ahead, but the third father and son of the Li family had already gone out ahead of them and let go of all the dogs except Hualong and Little Bear.

Hualong was okay, but the little bear was squealing anxiously.

But this time, Zhao Youcai didn't plan to take it.

Three people were leading twelve dogs, but they couldn't tie them, so they could only lead them loosely up the mountain.

It was almost seven o'clock, the sky was gray, but it was already daylight.

Zhao Youcai was about to step out of the yard when he was stopped by Wang Meilan.

"His dad!" Wang Meilan felt that Zhao Youcai and Li Dayong were not very good this morning, so she advised: "Be careful when going up the mountain."

Zhao Youcai looked back and saw Wang Meilan with a worried look on her face. Zhao Youcai felt warm in his heart and comforted him with kind words: "Lan Na, don't worry, just look at me this time!"

Zhang Yuanmin: "Huh?"

At this time, the black tiger ran out of the yard, trotted all the way to the snowman holding a forked hook outside the yard, raised his hind legs, and sprayed a stream of hot urine on the snowman.