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

Li Ju'an was filled with mixed emotions upon hearing this: "And then what? What did Lao Qian say?"

Li Guaizi exhaled another smoke ring, squinted, and smiled, "Old Qian doesn't know anything. He ran away, and nobody knows where he went. But his son-in-law is having a really tough time. I heard he sold his old house and was planning to buy a house in the county town. But the money from the old house sale was stolen along with it, and now his child can't even afford tuition in the county town."

Li Ju'an felt a deep sense of sorrow upon hearing this.

The leather was worth 18,000 yuan, but Old Qian's son-in-law was tricked into buying it for only 9000 yuan. He could have been a millionaire, but now even that money has been stolen.

Li Guaizi chuckled and cursed, then, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, began to gut the skinned mountain weasel. After gutting it, the intestines hung on the tree, while the heart, liver, and lungs were pulled back into the cavity, which was then filled with snow.

He washed his hands with snow, placed the civet on the sled, carefully wrapped the whole civet pelt in a cloth bag, put it in his pocket, and grinned, saying, "Li Pao'er, shall we split the money when we go down the mountain?"

For this trip into the mountains, Li Ju'an brought a dog, which was also the lead dog and could be divided into four groups, while Li Guaizi could be divided into two groups. The two of them discussed it and decided to load all the remaining wolf meat, venison, and civet meat onto the dog-drawn sled. The sled was very heavy, and both of them felt sorry for the dog, so they simply tied two ropes around their shoulders and, together with the dog, pulled the sled, which weighed more than 200 pounds.

The two chatted animatedly as they descended the mountain. When they returned to Lijiatun, they happened to pass by the office of Yang Dezheng, the village's head of the village.

The brigade leader, Yang Dezheng, happened to be entertaining the people from Niubeitun.

It turned out that the hunters from Niubei Village hadn't come down the mountain for two days, and the women in their families were getting worried. In the past, the hunters' wives wouldn't have considered two days in the mountains a big deal, but things had gone wrong. Old Qin, the hunter's leader, had been attacked by a pack of wolves and was the first to be rescued. Those who were seriously injured were admitted to the clinic, and preparations were underway to transfer them to a larger hospital in the county. Even Qin's hunting dogs were all dead.

The nurses at the clinic loved to gossip, and before long, all the women in Niubei Village knew about it. With all this chatter during their leisure time, how could the hunters' wives not be worried? They all cried their hearts out, filling the entire village with the sound of women wailing, giving the men a headache.

The people of Niubei Village were anxious and begged the forestry station to send more teams into the mountains. However, the forestry station said that organizing a team in the heavy snow would take time and couldn't be done immediately. The people of Niubei Village had no choice but to turn to the neighboring Lijia Village, hoping that Captain Yang could mobilize the hunters from Lijia Village to go into the mountains and rescue the people.

Yang Dezheng listened with a serious expression, nodding occasionally as he said, "We will hold a meeting to discuss this matter and seriously look for solutions. I will write a report and submit it later."

The people of Niubei Village were so anxious that the lining of their cotton-padded coats was soaked with sweat. They shouted, "Captain Yang, about ten of us from the village went into the mountains with Qin Pao to hunt wildcats. But we didn't catch the wildcat that killed people, and we also encountered wolves. What should we do? We didn't catch any wildcats, and the wolves are chasing us now."

Just then, Li Ju'an and Li Guaizi happened to pass by the village committee's headman's office.

Yang Dezheng saw the two hunters walk by and took the opportunity to ask them what was going on in the mountains. He called out, "Li Ju'an, Li Deguang, what did you see in the mountains?"

He had expected Li Ju'an to recount the harrowing battle with the wolves, or how the two of them had miraculously escaped from a large pack of wolves. Unexpectedly, Li Ju'an pointed to the skinned lynx on the sled and said, "You see the lynx?"

Everyone fell silent, their eyes fixed on the skinned and gutted raccoon on the sled.

The people of Niubeitun stared at the mountain weasel for a long time, and suddenly realized that this was the very mountain weasel that the forestry farm had organized a hunting team to hunt.

That damned mountain weasel, isn't it the one that killed a cow and a man?

The skinned civet on the sled was quite large; even in its current state, its size was still evident. It was extremely aggressive and very difficult to kill. Now, the civet that everyone in Niubei Village wanted dead was on Li Ju'an's sled.

Yang Dezheng wanted to say something, but seeing Li Ju'an hurrying along, he could only give up. When he came to his senses and looked at the villagers of Niubeitun again, he realized that they were all staring at Li Ju'an.

……

Li Ju'an returned to the Li family's old house and began dividing the meat with Li Guaizi. The wolf, deer, and wildcat all needed processing, and the two of them, along with their mother Song Lanhua, were far from able to manage. Zhang Ge and Li Sao's nephew from next door also came to help.

The villagers had helped with processing the meat, so according to custom, they should get some. Li Ju'an took two jin of venison and distributed it to everyone, saying, "We'll cook a dish to satisfy our cravings when we get back."

He even took some extra fat, which he used to make pancakes and stir-fry with shredded potatoes—it tasted delicious when rolled up in a pan. Brother Zhang and Sister-in-law Li both said he was particular, but in their hearts they kept praising him for learning skills and abilities, for going hunting in the mountains with the old hunter; he seemed like a family-oriented, honest, and reliable person.

Li's wife asked her mother, Song Lanhua, to discuss when to introduce her niece from the next village to Li Ju'an for a blind date.

When Song Lanhua, the mother, heard this, she was naturally delighted.

Upon hearing this, Li Ju'an laughed and said, "I'm just a nobody who wanders around in the mountains. I don't have any special skills. Don't let the girl suffer after marrying into this family."

Li Sao was not happy to hear this. She put her hands on her hips, glared at her, and shouted, "Who said that? I watched you grow up. You are reliable, capable, and caring."

Li Ju'an's kindness in coaxing his mother and sister spread throughout the village. Even matchmakers came to inquire, wondering which family had a son of his age who could hunt to support his family and was also kind, making it a good opportunity to introduce him to potential partners.

With meat on the table, the dishes on the Li family's kang table were neatly arranged, all hearty dishes: braised venison, stewed venison, cucumber salad with venison ears, scrambled eggs with scallions...

After a lively meal with his family, Li Ju'an went into the storeroom and began processing the remaining deer bones.

Deer bone is a valuable resource and shouldn't be wasted. Many people in traditional Chinese medicine use deer bone to make medicinal wine to treat rheumatism. Deer bone wine can also nourish the body, strengthen muscles and bones, and stop diarrhea and dysentery.

The hunters in Lijiatun all liked to soak deer penis and bones in wine, and every household had one or two jars of it. He recalled the recipe for sika deer wine, rummaged through his chests and cabinets, and actually found a few ingredients.

He dragged two jars out from under the stove, washed them clean, and then rinsed them with a little wine. The deer had been dragged back in the snowy weather; the meat had been stewed, leaving some meat, bones, and deer penis.

The deer penis was frozen solid. He tried washing it with water, rubbing it with wine, and then using a knife to cut it open, removing the urinary tract in the middle to stop the discharge. As he processed the deer penis, kneading and rubbing it, he felt something was off, something was amiss.

He poured the goji berries he grew and dried himself, along with the sorghum liquor he brewed, into two small jars. He put the goji berries in, the sorghum liquor in, and then the prepared deer penis in! He tore a piece of cloth from a clean flour sack, folded it a few times, stuffed it into the mouth of the jar, and then put the lid back on. The jar of deer penis wine was now complete.