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

Li Ju'an and Li Guaizi were both making traps for the cat jumper.

On a snowy day, the two men took out a thin wire loop from a sack, lit a match to burn the wire until it was black, and then stretched the wire loop open.

Li Ju'an observed that the cat's footprints all went uphill. This was a good omen; there were no footprints downhill, indicating that the cat had just gone uphill and would soon return along the downhill path, following the same footprints.

Jumping cats have this habit: they keep stepping on footprints. If a jumping cat finds that the footprints have been destroyed, it will simply change its path and never walk that path again, making it difficult to catch it again.

So he used a blackened wire loop, making one about 20 centimeters in diameter, and twisted one end onto a thicker shrub branch. He positioned the wire loop at a right angle to the ground, above the footprints of the leaping cat on the slope, suspending it high off the ground, with the bottom of the wire loop about 17 centimeters off the ground.

This way, the jumping cat's footprints are not disturbed, and the path the jumping cat takes to find food is accurately predicted.

He reached out and broke off a branch, swept it across the snow to erase his and Li Guaizi's footprints, destroyed the dog's footprints, and then used a knife to make a mark on a nearby pine tree.

The trap for the leaping cat was relatively simple. He wandered around the area and saw another leaping cat's footprints going downhill, with no trace of it turning back. He set a similar wire loop trap. After the leaping cat went downhill, it went uphill, so he tilted his blackened wire loop downwards at a 70-degree angle to the horizontal, about 12 centimeters off the ground.

Li Guaizi squatted down to the side, rolled a pipe, and looked at him with a smile as he smoked: "Oh my, Little Li looks like he has a professional technique. He's going to be on par with the King of Looters in Changbai Mountain."

Li Ju'an knew that Li Guaizi was being sarcastic, that those with guns looked down on those who used traps, but he insisted on using traps and snares to catch the mountain weasels so that he could get a complete set of fur.

He began to cut the guillotine, specifically choosing the routes the roe deer would take.

He found a sheltered, sunny valley. There were clumps of willow bushes and tufts of withered grass with yellow tips peeking out from under the snow. These were all valuable food sources for roe deer and other wild animals during the winter.

He cut a piece of wood and made a snare. If a roe deer steps into the snare and drags on the stick, it will eventually get stuck and be caught.

As he set the trap, he said, "Alright, let's do it. We have to do it even if it's freezing cold. What else can we do? We can't shoot a mountain fox even if we point a gun at it."

Li Guaizi squinted, took a puff of his cigarette, and said in a sarcastic tone, "I don't think this lynx is very big, maybe only thirty-odd pounds. If you're going to use explosives to take the lynx, you need to kill it without damaging its pelt. In my opinion, you'll have to calculate precisely. About fifteen grams of explosives should be enough."

He had the utmost contempt for hunters who made explosives and set traps, but now that Li Ju'an had set a whole trail of traps, he finally had a place to catch him and talk.

Li Ju'an stood up and scolded, "Are you the gunner or am I the gunner? If you don't like it, don't glare at me. The livestock we hunt later, wild boar will be sold to you for 3 mao per jin, deer and roe deer for 8 mao, and black bears for 3.5 mao."

Li Guaizi laughed loudly and spat twice, shouting, "You little devil, you're full of tricks. You're not going to split the profits, but instead you're ripping me off!"

Suddenly, the tiger stirred.

Li Ju'an quickly looked at the spot where Da Hu had discovered it, and found that the wire loop he had set earlier had already entered the jumping cat.

What a fat jumping cat! It probably weighs about six pounds. It was kicking its legs and trying to escape, but its neck was tightly strangled by a wire collar.

Luckily, the jumping cat turned back and ran away so quickly.

He strode uphill, caught the unfortunate jumping cat, found a sheltered ravine, and gathered branches to start two fires.

"Not going to be used as bait anymore?"

“No more work. The mountain cat has just eaten its fill, so it might not even look at the leaping cat meat. It’s better to be well-fed than to work. Brother Li, here’s the little pot you just brought; it’ll come in handy.”

Li Guaizi was used to carrying a small pot when he went into the mountains, and this small pot came in handy.

Li Ju'an filled a pot with a thick layer of snow, and then placed the pot on two stones under the bluestone slab.

He sliced ​​the wolf's heart, liver, and lungs, which had been gutted on the sled, into thick pieces, threw them into a pot, and put them in to roast. Then he skewered the skinned and killed rabbit meat on a branch and placed it over the fire to watch the flames lick at it. The rabbit meat was smoked and roasted, and soon the air was filled with a meaty aroma that kept wafting into people's noses.

In those days, as long as there was meat, it tasted delicious no matter how it was cooked. Even if it was just meat boiled in soup, even if the meat still had some blood in it, it still tasted incredibly delicious when you chewed it.

He put the lid on the pot.

Li Guaizi's small pot lid was a small lid made of thin hemp rope.

He added a few thick branches to the fire, and then threw the sticky rice cakes he had brought out that morning, along with the cornbread from Li Guaizi's cloth bag, onto the pot lid to roast.

He opened the cloth bag close to his body, which contained salt. He pinched the salt between his fingers and sprinkled it onto the roasted rabbit meat, then sprinkled it into the pot. The salty aroma, mixed with the meaty fragrance, wafted out, so enticing that it made one stomp their feet and drool.

Li Guaizi took a deep breath over the small pot, savoring the delicious roasted meat. Even without oil or seasoning, just a sprinkle of salt was enough to satisfy the hunters deep in the mountains.

……

At this time, Lao Qin, the cannon fodder, also found the trail of the mountain fox.

More than forty pack dogs, looking menacing, followed the shady slope all the way to the hill where the mountain fox was located.

Bloody paw prints remained on the snow, the marks left by the mountain weasel after it ate the wolf cub. Old Qin, leading the gray wolf cub, slowly swept his sharp gaze across the snow-covered branches ahead.

A rustling sound caused the dogs to bark collectively at a large tree.

More than a dozen hunters simultaneously raised their guns, aimed at the snow-covered high branches, and aligned themselves with the target.

Closer, closer. At most 30 meters!

The lynx had moved into the effective range of the old shotgun; all that remained was to find the cunning lynx and shoot it down with a single shot.

Suddenly, Wang Guochang, an old hunter in the group, shouted, "Qin Pao, if you fire, the mountain fox pelts won't be worth anything!"

This is what every hunter wants to say.

Lynxes are valuable from head to toe. Lynx bones are called "fake tiger bones," and even the lynx shell can be sold for money. The most precious thing is the lynx pelt, which can sell for more than bear bile.

The experienced hunters didn't want to waste such fine raccoon pelts.

Old Qin, the gunner, stared at Gao Zhi with a sinister look in his eyes and shouted in a cold voice, "Fire!"

The lynx had spotted the hunters long ago. It was perched in a tree branch, having already moved silently from the top of a nearby tree to a high branch above the hunters.

The hunters were filled with greed and ambition. They wanted not only the mountain fox, but also its complete pelt and the intact fake tiger bones. After the hunt, they would divide the spoils, with each person receiving at least ten large coins, enough to feed a family.

The tall branches swayed slowly, making a rustling sound. The tense atmosphere was about to erupt.

Qin Pao's face darkened, his eyes sharp and sinister. He quickly aimed his gun at the high branch, ready to pull the trigger at any moment.