1942, I lived on hunting

Maodan: "Li Hao, go to bed early, don't let it affect your performance tomorrow night! Old man, you are old, you don't sleep enough, you take the second half of the night, I will take the first half."

Li Lahu: "I'm so old now! I told you not to call me old man, I'm still young! Why do you think it's not enough?"

Li Hao: "Haha, it's better than calling me Old Li, right? I can't sleep, old man, tell me a story!"

Maodan quickly changed the subject: "Yes, yes, tell me a story! Tell me a story!"

Li Lahu: "What should I tell you? What do you want to hear? Let's tell you the story of the flower-hunting bear. That's exciting!"

Li Hao: "No, no, no! Change it! Change it!"

Li Hao thought: If you tell me the story, will I still be the protagonist? Wouldn't that mean it's the end?

Li Lahu: "Then let me tell you a story about the Tibetan brown bear! Anyway, today's story must involve a bear, otherwise I won't tell it!"

Li Hao and Mao Dan: "Okay, okay, okay! Go ahead and tell me, tell me!"

Li Lahu: "That was when I was young and had just joined the horse caravan. That year I had just followed them on a few business trips and did not have much experience. The routes of the Ancient Tea Horse Road are numerous and complex, and there are several ways for horse caravans to do business. Some only run half of the route, for example, only run to Kangding or Qamdo, and the rest of the route is run by others. There are also those who run the whole route, but there are relatively few in Sichuan. The horse caravans in other places can go as far as Nepal, India and other places, which are all out of the border. Some of the horse caravans that run half of the route hand over the tea to other horse caravans in order to transport more trips, and then turn around and return. Some do not hand over the tea to other merchants or horse caravans, but instead disperse into several teams and follow the guide deep into the mountains and wilderness to trade tea directly with the herdsmen for horses and butter. In some places in the local area, butter is almost the same as money and can be directly exchanged for things. Sometimes you can get agate, dog-head gold or something if you are lucky!

The caravan I was in was mainly for trips, and usually stopped after reaching Qamdo. Although it was called a caravan, it was not actually all about transporting tea on horseback. There were also porters who carried tea on their backs. For example, on the steep and slippery mountain roads from Ya'an to Kangding, it was more suitable for people to carry tea on their backs than on horses. The merchant or caravan and the porter head agreed on how much money to carry for a trip, and the porter head paid a deposit as a guarantee. Then the merchant or caravan gave the porter a portion of the money for carrying tea and a bamboo sign. The money for carrying tea was used to buy straw sandals, straw raincoats, dry food, ropes, crutches and other items for the porter to use for accommodation and meals on the road, which meant that the porter had started to accept orders. The bamboo sign had the name of the merchant or caravan and the number of kilograms of tea written on it, and then the porter just had to carry the tea on his back and follow the caravan. When he arrived at the place, the corresponding merchant or caravan would collect the goods and pay the money based on the tea and bamboo sign on his back. If there was not enough tea, it would be over. Not only could he not deliver the goods, but part of the porter head's deposit would also be deducted.

No matter what kind of business method is used, whether it is making more trips or traveling a longer distance, or going deep into the mountains and wilderness, to put it bluntly, people endure the hardships and dangers on the Ancient Tea-Horse Road just to make more money.

Once, before the snow closed the mountain, our caravan went to Qamdo to trade again. However, this time the timing was unfortunate, as we arrived at a critical moment. Two trips were not enough, and one trip was enough. In order to make more money for everyone, Ma Guotou thought that this was the last trip of the year, so he asked the caravan members to divide into several teams and follow the guide into the mountains. Trading directly with herders could make more money than directly handing the tea to the merchants. This time, Ma Guotou only needed to compare the original profit from selling to the merchants, and the rest was ours. In order to make more money, I deliberately chose a remote mountain where even the guide didn't often go. I drove three horses myself, and a brother from the same caravan drove two horses. The guide drove his own three horses carrying salt, brought a Tibetan dog, and walked towards the unfamiliar mountains!

At that time, I was young and fast, but the road was difficult to walk on. In addition, the rain on the plateau came and went at random, and I had to be careful not to break my leg. I walked for a whole day before I reached the edge of the mountain. It was getting dark and it was still drizzling, so I camped in an open space to rest. The open space was not big, about six or seven acres in size, and there were small stones everywhere. On one side was a forest, and on the other side was a cliff. Below the cliff was a turbulent river. The forest was mostly cypress, fir and pine trees. Some of the big trees were fifty or sixty meters high, and several people couldn't hug them.

We first tied the horses to a small tree in the open space, unloaded the goods from the horses' backs and covered them with oilcloth and straw raincoats, and then fed the horses some grass and bean cakes. Then we set up the camp, collected firewood, and took care of our own things.

When it was getting dark, the guide's dog suddenly ran towards the forest, barking as it ran. At this time, I stood up and looked towards the forest. I saw a figure wearing a straw raincoat standing there waving at me. I thought it was my companion who found something and called me to come over to take a look! I didn't think much about it and walked over there.

As I slowly approached the figure, the Tibetan dog stopped beside me and barked at it. He was standing in the shadow of the woods, and it was getting late, so I almost got there before I realized that the figure that looked like it was wearing a straw raincoat was not a person at all, but a Tibetan brown bear standing on its legs and waving at me! When it saw me approaching, it suddenly pounced on me, and in the blink of an eye it was right in front of me. Thanks to the guide's Tibetan dog, which bravely pounced on the Tibetan brown bear and started to bite it, I finally reacted, turned around and ran, ran to the camp, quickly picked up the arrows on my crossbow and prepared to fight back. At this time, the guide also reacted, and he shouted a series of Tibetan words loudly, which I couldn't understand. When he realized that I couldn't understand, he changed to Chinese and shouted: "Bear! Bear! Light the fire, light the fire, light the bonfire quickly!"

After shouting, he drew out his Tibetan knife and rushed over to save his dog. My partner had gone to the corner to take a shit, but when he heard the noise, he ran over, and hurried to light the bonfire without even tying his belt. I saw that the guide had rushed out, and if it hadn't been for the Tibetan dog, I would have been finished, so I also rushed back with a crossbow and followed the guide to save his Tibetan dog!

This Tibetan dog is really smart and lucky. When we arrived, it was still struggling with a Tibetan brown bear! The Tibetan dog was agile. When the Tibetan brown bear pounced on it, it dodged. Sometimes it would go around and bite the Tibetan brown bear's hind legs. The Tibetan brown bear couldn't pounce on it, nor could it escape. Our guide was really fierce. He shouted strangely and raised his Tibetan knife to stab the Tibetan brown bear. I quickly asked him to dodge, raised my crossbow, and shot an arrow at the Tibetan brown bear's chest. The Tibetan brown bear felt the pain and turned around and ran into the woods. I quickly took out the arrow and re-stretched the string.