The whole mountain is my hunting ground.

Chapter 1912 Squatting in the pillbox at night to kill a deer Ma Ling shows her skills on Dragon Boat Festival

The story of Ma Yang leading Li Ruhai to suppress the mountain with sticks sounds somewhat absurd.

Five minutes later, their voices rang out almost simultaneously: "Fool! Fool!"

"Huh?" Zhao Jun was taken aback. His first thought was that the two of them had discovered the same plant.

"What grade of leaf?" Zhao Jun asked, but Li Ruhai interrupted, "Fourth grade leaf!"

Then came Ma Yang's proud and triumphant voice: "Fifth-grade leaf!"

"Ah!" Zhao Jun realized that both of them had noticed, so he asked, "How many seedlings?"

“They’re all over the mountain!” Ma Yang and Li Ruhai answered in unison.

Wang Qiang was left to continue carrying ginseng, while Zhao Jun, along with Zhang Yuanmin and a few others, hurried over.

Ma Yang and Li Ruhai were only two or three meters apart, and Zhao Jun and the others arrived in front of Li Ruhai first.

At this moment, Li Ruhai stuck the stick in the ground with his rope. Zhao Jun's gaze followed the stick and he saw the four-leaf seedling.

"Big Brother!" Zhao Jun waved to Zhang Yuanmin and said, "Hold him down, lift him up!"

When Zhao Jun said to "press down," he meant to put a heavy iron on the seedling. And when he asked Zhang Yuanmin to lift it, he meant to ask Zhang Yuanmin to lift the fourth-grade leaf seedling.

After Zhao Jun finished speaking, he headed towards Ma Yang. When he got closer, he saw a sapling with five palm-sized leaves.

Zhao Jun hurriedly reached into his pocket to get his tools, but just then, Ma Yang called out "Brother-in-law," then lifted the rope, flicked the stick, and swept away the large leaves of the pheasant's wing next to him, revealing a 'two-year-old' vine and a 'lampstand' vine.

"Oh my!" Zhao Jun, Li Baoyu, Xie Chen, and Zhao Jinhui looked at the saplings with surprise, then turned to look at Ma Yang.

Ma Yang's status within the Zhao family gang rose dramatically in that instant!

Li Baoyu and his friends don't live with Ma Yang, and they don't care how arrogant Ma Yang is. Someone like him, who gains insight as soon as he arrives on the mountain, would be worshipped in any ginseng clan, wouldn't he?

It was a time when one shouldn't speak carelessly, but everyone gave Ma Yang a thumbs up.

Li Ruhai craned his neck to take a look, then pursed his lips and said nothing.

"Come here, Baoyu, Xiaochen." Zhao Jun called to Li Baoyu and Xie Chen, "You two get your tools ready, each of you carry one seedling."

Li Baoyu and Xie Chen responded enthusiastically, and the Zhao family gang worked in the forest until seven o'clock in the evening. It was already dark in the mountains when they finally returned to their hut.

After several hours of effort, Li Baoyu and Xie Chen carried out the two Jiazi (a type of ancient Chinese divination tool) and the lamp stand.

These two wild ginseng seedlings were not very big, probably less than 1.3 qian each, not even enough to be weighed at the pharmacy, but the Zhao family gang still put them into the ginseng buns.

The ginseng with one seedling and five leaves and two seedlings with four leaves were not all carried out. Due to the soil conditions, the wild ginseng from this mountain area has a characteristic: it has a lot of watery tendrils, which increases the workload considerably.

The most troublesome one was the four-leaf sapling between the two trees, whose tendrils were entangled with the tree roots. Wang Qiang used small scissors as frequently as he used a deer antler spoon.

It doesn't matter if we haven't finished carrying it all; Zhao Jun doesn't think anyone will come at this time. We'll leave the wooden mallet locked, cover it with the basket on our backs, and keep wild animals out of it.

When Zhao Jiabang returned to his shack, Xing San, who had been notified in advance by Zhao Jinhui, had already cooked noodles.

These past few days have been busy, so the Zhao family has been eating very simple meals, just hot noodle soup with canned luncheon meat.

After eating and drinking their fill and taking care of their personal hygiene, the group went to bed on the kang (a heated brick bed).

After a long day, everyone was exhausted. Even Ma Yang, after drinking, didn't linger; he lay down, said a few words, and fell asleep immediately.

The next morning, Xing got up at 4:30 and woke up Zhao Jun and the others.

They took their toiletries and water buckets to the riverbank, and after leaving the woods, they saw the bait that Zhao Jun had laid.

Today the bait was used again; all three piles of potatoes were scattered across the stone embankment.

This was no longer just rats scurrying around; when everyone went over to take a look, they saw that many potatoes had been nibbled on.

And unlike yesterday, when only traces were left on the potato, the potato in front of Zhao Jun had been eaten away by three-quarters, leaving only a stubble.

Look around, there are also potatoes that have been gnawed into pieces in the cracks between the rocks.

There were also many gnawed potatoes around, and Zhao Jun was certain that it wasn't the work of rats.

"Uncle!" Zhao Jun turned to Wang Qiang and said, "Let's camp in the pillbox tonight."

“Okay, nephew.” Wang Qiang agreed readily. No sooner had he spoken than Ma Yang stepped forward and volunteered, “Brother-in-law, I’ll go with you too!”

Ma Yang found this very interesting and got involved.

"Forget it," Zhao Jun waved his hand and said, "You should go to the shack and get some sleep."

Although Ma Yang was arrogant, he didn't argue with Zhao Jun. Seeing that Zhao Jun wouldn't take him, Ma Yang retreated dejectedly.

A group of people went to the river to wash up, and Xing San took out the fishing basket that he had put in the river the day before yesterday.

Open the large head and pour the catch into the water; it weighed about two pounds of fish.

This was already a good harvest, so Xing San picked up two more potatoes and threw them in, then rearranged them in the river.

After everyone washed up, they returned to their hut together. Sharpening the axe before chopping wood was essential, so Zhao Jun decided to go carry the ginseng after breakfast.

Xing Sansheng boiled water to cook porridge, while Zhao Jun and others squeezed fish.

Although sparrows are small, they have all the vital organs. So too are small fish. If the internal organs are not squeezed out, it is both unhygienic and unpalatable.

After they finished cleaning the fish, the bowl of congee was already set up.

Xing San removed the porridge pot and replaced it with an iron pot for frying fish sauce.

Zhao Jun and his men washed vegetables again, and when they left home, they picked a lot of vegetables for dipping in sauce in their yard.

When they left home, the vegetables were wrapped in newspaper. After they got up the mountain, Li Baoyu and Xie Chen dug up a lot of moss nearby to wrap the vegetables in to keep them fresh.

Lettuce, radish, cilantro, and green onions were washed and placed in a bowl. Zhao Jun and his group then used these vegetables to make pancakes with fish sauce.

This tastes so good at home, but it tastes amazing when eaten in the mountains.

After eating and drinking their fill, Zhao Jun left Xing San to clean up the mess, while he led Wang Qiang and the others straight to Anzi.

Upon arrival, those who needed to carry ginseng continued carrying it, while Ma Yang, along with Zhao Jinhui and Li Ruhai, continued to press down the mountain with sticks.

The Zhao family helped with the work until after 4 p.m., and five-leaf seedlings and two four-leaf seedlings emerged from the soil one after another.

The three ginseng roots were of average quality, and during the lifting process, the rootlets of all three ginseng roots broke.

However, these are all unavoidable. Even when Shao Yunjin was young, he couldn't guarantee that all the ginseng he carried would be whole and intact.

Besides these three ginseng seedlings, the three members of the Ma Yang team also discovered a total of one seedling with four leaves, two seedlings of *Gynostemma pentaphyllum*, and one seedling of *Gynostemma pentaphyllum*.

Of these four ginseng seedlings, only the fourth-grade leaf seedling was removed; the other three were carried out. The second-grade seedling wasn't a revival seedling, but simply a common small seedling.

Zhao Jiabang hadn't returned to his hut since morning. After securing and securing the four-leafed plant discovered behind the seedling, Zhao Jun led his men back to the hut to rest.

After finishing their meal and cleaning up, just past six o'clock, Zhao Jun called Wang Qiang, and the two of them, uncle and nephew, went to the lookout tower with semi-automatic rifles and large bags.

Upon reaching the lookout tower, the uncle and nephew climbed the ladder and then left their large bags behind.

The so-called "big bag" refers to packed luggage, with a quilt on the outside and cotton-padded jackets and trousers inside.

Zhao Jun and Wang Qiang laid out the mattresses, and they didn't put on their cotton-padded jackets and trousers until dark.

After putting them on, the uncle and nephew lay down on the lookout tower.

There was a semi-automatic rifle on each of their right sides, and Wang Qiang had an extra large flashlight in front of him compared to Zhao Jun.

Old-fashioned flashlights allow you to adjust the number of batteries by changing the length.

The uncle and nephew brought a large flashlight that could hold three batteries. When the switch was turned up to the highest setting and the light was at its brightest, it could just shine on the potato bait that Zhao Jun had scattered.

The uncle and nephew were on the lookout tower, not camping, but hunting.

During the hunt, no one can speak, and Wang Qiang is also not allowed to smoke.

Not only that, the uncle and nephew also had to keep an eye on each other, and whoever fell asleep had to wake the other up.

This job isn't physically demanding, but it's quite tough.

The uncle and nephew stayed up until after 11 o'clock. When they were both getting sleepy and drowsy, they heard a "tap tap" sound.

Upon hearing this noise, Zhao Jun and Wang Qiang immediately perked up!
Zhao Jun gently raised his hand and reached for the semi-automatic rifle beside him.

Zhao Jun gripped the gun and moved it forward slowly and carefully, trying not to make a sound.

At the same time, Zhao Jun pricked up his ears and recognized the "clattering" sound as the sound of some kind of animal's hoof treading on a stone.

Red deer? Roe deer? Wild boar?

In the darkness, Zhao Jun moved the gun in front of him. He propped himself up on his arm, held the gun steadily with the butt firmly against his shoulder, and assumed a firing stance.

It was pitch black outside the woods. The "tap-tap" sound had disappeared, replaced by a creaking sound.

Just then, Wang Qiang turned on his flashlight. When the flashlight beam shone on it, the outline of a giant beast appeared.

That's a red deer!
Male red deer, after molting this season, have short, shiny reddish-brown fur all over their bodies, with antlers forked on their heads.

The sudden flashlight beam startled the sika deer, and just as it reacted and tried to run away, a gunshot rang out.

A shot rang out, and the sika deer, shot in the belly, rolled over and fell to the ground.

"Let's go, Uncle!" Zhao Jun switched off the safety on his gun, got up, and started walking downstairs.

Wang Qiang followed with a flashlight. The uncle and nephew, dressed in thick cotton-padded coats and trousers, moved slowly toward their prey.

When they got close, the great deer was already dead.

Its abdomen was pierced by a bullet, and the filth inside its internal organs flowed out with the blood.

At the same time, it was bleeding from its head, but that wasn't from Zhao Jun hitting it; rather, it was from the deer antler hitting the ground and breaking.

"Uncle, do you want some of these mushrooms?" Zhao Jun asked Wang Qiang. Wang Qiang shook his head and said, "I don't want them. How am I supposed to get them back?"

Even if the deer antlers aren't broken, they're no longer top-grade this season; in a few more days they'll start to calcify.

Then Wang Qiang added, "I'll cut off that deer spear later and take it back to make wine."

“Okay, that’s all settled.” Zhao Jun stepped forward and examined the sika deer by the light of his flashlight. This male sika deer must weigh over 600 jin (300 kg).

"What a waste!" Wang Qiang muttered from the side, "With the intestines ripped out, how can this meat taste good?"

The filth in the intestines flowed out with the blood, so the inside of the abdomen must also be full of filth.

Even if you wash the belly meat and rib meat clean, they still smell of dirt.

“It’s alright, Uncle,” Zhao Jun said. “We’ll take off its four legs, then cut off two tenderloins, and throw the rest here while we continue making our nest.”

“Okay,” Wang Qiang said. “Then you take the flashlight, and I’ll pick it out.”

"No need, Uncle," Zhao Jun said. "I'll do it!"

With that, Zhao Jun began to act.

Without gutting or skinning, removing the leg isn't difficult. A sharp knife makes a circular cut, slicing through the flesh and pressing the knife into the bone. Then, you grab the deer's thigh with both hands and twist it off, and the hind leg comes off easily.

This entire thigh must weigh over 60 pounds, and the foreleg must weigh around 40 pounds.

After removing the four deer legs, Zhao Jun used a knife to cut open the deer's spine and remove the two tenderloins.

The two tenderloins weighed less than twenty pounds together. Then, the uncle and nephew took off their thick cotton-padded coats and trousers, and braved the chilly night wind to drag the four deer legs, two tenderloins, and a deer spear to the riverbank and push them into the icy water. They then weighed them down with large stones to prevent them from being swept away by the river.

After finishing their tasks, Zhao Jun and Wang Qiang went straight back to their shack. Even if there were any wild animals nearby, they all ran away after hearing the gunshot.

If there's no prey in the middle of the night, going up to the lookout tower would just be asking for trouble.

The uncle and nephew returned to the shack and slept for half the night. The next morning, a group of people went to the riverbank at around four o'clock.

In just half a night, the deer was covered in flies, and it didn't smell very good.

Zhao Jun endured the pain and stepped forward, using his knife to cut open the deer's neck, cutting off several pieces of meat to take back and feed to Erhei and Bailong.

Next, the group went to the river to wash up, and then used sacks to pack the four deer legs, two tenderloins, and a deer spear back into the hut.

After arriving at the shack, Xing San cut off two jin of pork tenderloin to make a meat sauce to serve with noodles.

In addition, I cut off another seven or eight pounds of leg meat and soaked it in cold water to cook for dinner.

The remaining two hundred catties of meat were given to Li Baoyu and Xie Chen to take down the mountain.

Zhao Jun and Wang Qiang helped Li Baoyu and Xie Chen load the venison into the jeep, and Li Baoyu drove it down the mountain, heading straight for Yong'an.

Meanwhile, in the Zhao family compound, Zhao Youcai was cooking zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) in a large pot in the backyard.

Today is June 18, 1988, the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, which is the Dragon Boat Festival.

Inside the house, Ma Ling distributed two hard-boiled eggs to Wang Meilan, Jin Xiaomei, and Liu Mei.

Wang Meilan, Jin Xiaomei, and Liu Mei took the eggs and looked at each other in confusion. Then they heard Ma Ling say to Wang Meilan, "Mom, what are you looking at? Follow the steps I taught you."

"Ah! Ah!" Upon hearing this, Wang Meilan picked up the still-warm boiled egg with the shell on, pressed it against her forehead, and then rolled the egg down with her hand.

Wang Meilan did as instructed, and Jin Xiaomei and Liu Mei naturally couldn't escape it either.

At this moment, Ma Ling smiled and said to the three of them, "These eggs cooked with mugwort on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, if you feel unwell anywhere, just roll them over and you'll feel better."

After saying this, Ma Ling looked back at the four eggs left in the bowl, then picked one up and said, "Take one to my dad while it's still hot."

As she spoke, Ma Ling walked out, but before leaving, she turned back to Wang Meilan and the other two and said, "Mom, after you've all left, peel and eat those eggs."

"Yes, yes!" Wang Meilan responded twice, and after watching Ma Ling leave, she cracked the eggs onto the table.

Ma Ling was very busy this morning. After boiling eggs for the whole family, she filled a can with boiled water and took it outside to a place where the sun could shine.

Wang Meilan asked her what it was for, and Ma Ling said it was Dragon Boat Festival water, and that drinking it was good for your health.

Wang Meilan didn't believe a word of it. But her daughter-in-law was now the family's "panda," and as long as she wasn't allowed to drink dirty water, let alone the water used for the Dragon Boat Festival, Wang Meilan had no objections.