Reborn in 80: Starting with hunting in the mountains to get rich

Old Tao, with a Lao Sanwu cigarette dangling from his lips, looked on with obvious enjoyment and didn't want to let go. Then he ran to the yard, where there was a round sieve used for drying grains, with some grains and cereals underneath.

Originally, there was a wooden stick standing upright under the sieve, creating a gap just big enough for a sparrow to slip through. A thin rope was tied to the stick, with one end of the rope extending into the house. As soon as a sparrow entered, the people inside would wait quietly. One sparrow would enter the sieve, then two, then three, then four… until they were sure seven or eight had entered, then the person holding the rope would pull sharply, and the sieve would snap shut.

Old Tao picked up a woven bag containing grain, put it over the sieve, and slowly removed the sieve from one side of the bag, allowing the trapped sparrow to escape into the bag.

The wild, fresh sparrows, neither blanched in water nor roasted on the inside of a blazing stove, were still lively and energetic.

Li Ju'an watched as Lao Tao tied up the woven bag, seemingly already smelling the unique aroma of sparrow meat emanating from the inside of the oven. As the saying goes, "Though the sparrow is small, it has all the vital organs," meaning that only a tiny piece of meat, about the size of a finger, is edible, but that small bite is enough to leave a lingering, unforgettable taste!

Old Tao looked up and saw Li Ju'an staring intently at the sparrows in the woven bag. He laughed angrily and cursed.

"You damn good-for-nothing! Your gun's all wrecked, all you do is eat!"

Li Ju'an was unconvinced.

In his previous life, he had spent several months working with hunters in the southern mountains, so his basic marksmanship and hunting experience were more than sufficient. It could be said that the skills he carried over from his previous life were enough to make him a carefree hunter in the village, with no worries about food or drink.

What's more, he even took down three wolves. If his marksmanship wasn't decent, how could he have single-handedly taken down three wolves, plus a large lone wolf?

Seeing his defiant face, Lao Tao chuckled and hummed.

He opened the woven bag a crack, reached in with his calloused hand, and pulled out a lively sparrow. Then, impatiently, he shouted, "What are you doing? Still standing there? Did you think you were using a double-barreled machine gun if you didn't load it?"

The Mosin-Nagant rifle in Li Ju'an's hand was a single-barreled rifle that could only fire one bullet at a time. He had just pulled the trigger to use one bullet for target practice, and now if he wanted to continue shooting, he needed to reload.

He quickly bent the gun handle down with his right hand, pinched the empty bullet casings with his thumb and forefinger and pulled them out, then stuffed the handful of bullets in his palm into the chamber.

With a crisp snap, Old Tao released the struggling sparrow from his hand and shouted, "Shoot it down!"

In most cases, shotguns are well-suited for shooting moving targets in the air. In later times, shooting ranges would have people practicing shooting discs before moving on to hunting or other types of shooting.

But in the 80s, where could you find so many training grounds? Hunters in the mountains who wanted to hone their marksmanship had to accumulate experience through real shooting practice.

Li Ju'an watched as the sparrow flew out from in front of him, then raised his gun to aim at its trajectory and rotated the gun along its trajectory.

Anticipate, aim.

He aimed at a point in front of the target along the target's trajectory and pulled the trigger.

boom!

After the crisp gunshot, he took a deep breath, engaged the safety, and checked the result of his shot.

The sparrow in the air made a graceful turn and fell straight down.

One hit!

Li Ju'an's eyes were filled with pride, and he was extremely satisfied.

He wanted to show this strange old man what a natural hunting physique was—able to kill with a single shot even without training. He aimed to precisely shoot down a sparrow in flight.

Unexpectedly, Old Tao shook his head, grabbed another sparrow from the woven bag, and called out.

"Why are you so slow? Just get it over with and shoot it in the head, okay? Don't act like an old woman and try to hit that bird in the belly."

"You lost because of your dawdling. It's lucky this thing is small. If it were a big one, what good would hitting its belly do? Watch closely, young man, I'm going to hit its eyeballs."

Li Ju'an was indignant, feeling that the strange old man was just picking a fight.

Old Tao grabbed a pump-action shotgun that was propped up against the corner of the wall, released the sparrows, set up the old-fashioned homemade gun, pointed the muzzle at the sky, and fired a shot.

boom!

Pump-action shotguns are very loud; the bullets go in through a small hole and come out through a large hole.

After the sparrow fell haphazardly, the other side was a bloody mess.

Li Ju'an scrambled his feet on the ground a couple of times before realizing that one of the holes had indeed hit the sparrow's eyeball.

He gasped, a shiver running through him. He was utterly impressed! Truly impressed!

The old man really has some skills; it seems that when he talked about his youth, he wasn't just bragging.

Old Tao leisurely puffed on his cigarette, gloated a couple of times, and finally got to hear those words from the young man.

"Brother Tao, your aim is really steady. Can you teach me? I'll bring you some cigarettes later."

Old Tao's expression remained unchanged, his face still cold and sullen, but only the wide grin and exposed yellow teeth revealed that he was in a very good mood.

That night, sparrows flew out of the woven bag one after another, and Li Ju'an's special marksmanship training began.

……

Li Ju'an returned to the Li family's earthen house under the dim morning light.

Yesterday, Song Lanhua, the mother, learned from the widow of the Chen family that her son was at Old Tao's house. She was a little worried because Old Tao didn't have a good reputation in the village. Now that she saw her son finally come home, she felt a huge weight lifted off her shoulders.

She stood at the gate of the courtyard and called out, "Why haven't you been home all night? You must be starving. Come in and eat, I'll make you a couple of dishes."

Li Ju'an practiced his marksmanship all night and hunted sparrows under the moonlight in the mountains. Far from being sleepy, he felt refreshed and in excellent spirits.

He went from only being able to burrow sparrows to being able to accurately headshot them. After receiving guidance from Lao Tao and honing his own skills, he was able to predict the location of a sparrow's eyeballs and shoot it in the eye, just like Lao Tao!

The rapid pace of progress even made Old Tao frown, and he had to admit in his heart that the younger generation learns things faster. He was old and could not learn anything as quickly as the young people.

But Lao Tao would admit it in his heart, but not out loud. He would just say it with a cold, hard face: "It's still not quite there. Practice some more."

After going back and forth like this, Li Ju'an practiced until early in the morning, and the gun barrel was scorching hot.

Fortunately, Old Tao was a straightforward man. He didn't ask for anything in return, just replaced the bullets and taught him some simple techniques for reloading empty cartridges. Hunters in the village all made their own ammunition this way; it was cheap and effective.

Li Ju'an responded to his mother and sat down at the kang table. His younger sister, Li Xiao, had already finished eating. Breakfast consisted of cornbread buns, a very salty pickled vegetable, and a bowl of cornbread soup.

After he returned, his mother, Song Lanhua, cut another piece of braised venison. It was chewy and had a unique aroma and flavor, making it crunchy and delicious when chewed.

He devoured cornbread buns, nibbled on pickled vegetables, chewed on braised venison, and gulped down mouthfuls of hot cornmeal soup. His breakfast was hearty and satisfying, very comforting.

Today is the day the forest farm organizes a trip up the mountain to reinforce the forest.

The heavy smoke and fire had just passed, and the blizzard had stopped.

Old Qin, the foreman, busied himself gathering people and notifying the forestry station's security department and the hunters in the family village to prepare to set traps early in the morning. Qin Pao was a well-known hunter in the area; every winter, he would lead his companions into the mountains to set traps and hunt. This year, he had just been invited by the forestry station leaders.

Li Ju'an had finished breakfast, changed into his boots, stuffed warm straw inside, tied a hemp rope around his waist, hung his knife and water bottle on his back, slung his Mosin-Nagant rifle over his shoulder, and carried five full-size 7.62mm ammunition boxes in his pocket. He called to Qingchuan Dog Da Hu, and they were about to head into the mountains.

Li Xiao, the younger sister, swung her legs and got off the kang table to play with Da Hu in the yard. After a while, she heard voices coming from the yard gate.

Li Xiao shouted into the inner room, "Brother, come out quickly, come on!"