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

Looking at the various wild animal pelts collected on the walls of the Tao family's house, Li Ju'an knew he had come to the right place.

After retiring from his life of crime, Lao Tao, besides being a dog commander, also collected furs. Ordinary furs, once skinned, didn't fetch a high price at the recycling center; they had to be processed into raw hides and packaged before being sold at the market. To double the price of the furs, they needed to be smoked and tanned, turning the raw hides into finished leather.

He collects freshly skinned pelts and uses his skills to make raw hides or finished leather products, which he then sells in the county town for double the price. This is also a skill.

Old Tao pointed to the bench by the door, not even glancing at his raccoon skin, and asked nothing, simply telling him to leave it there.

After Li Ju'an obediently put the pelt away, Lao Tao began to inspect the complete fur. He had expected to be amazed and praised by Lao Tao, but instead, he was scolded without warning.

"You little bastard, you scraped off the meat and fat as soon as you skinned it? It's a good thing it's the middle of winter, otherwise the fur would have rotted away."

Old Tao cursed and swore as he sat down on the long bench with his legs spread apart, and began scraping off the flesh and fat from the fur with a scraper.

Li Ju'an said with a grin, "It's just that my skills aren't good enough. I was afraid of scratching a hole and getting scolded by you."

Old Tao, his beard bristling and eyes wide, didn't even raise his head: "Who dares to curse you? You're a great hero who not only killed the wolf but also rescued the king of the Changbai Mountains. Such a large group of people couldn't even catch a wildcat. These wild animals just come to you. If these wild animals are with a few pups, I bet you'd still beat them up without hesitation."

The sarcastic remarks made Li Ju'an inwardly feel uneasy. It was probably that big mouth of Li Guaizi who had spread the word, telling Lao Tao about him hitting a nursing she-wolf. This had hit a nerve with Lao Tao, offending his taboo.

Li Ju'an also got a bit angry and argued, "What do you mean? When the mother wolf was causing trouble for people, why didn't you pity the village resident? When the civet killed someone, why didn't you pity the women's federation director? Besides, what era are we living in? Let alone a mother wolf, even a civet or a Siberian tiger with cubs would be killed if it entered human territory! What, do you think wolves are more noble than Siberian tigers?"

Old Tao had a tense face, and the widow of the Chen family was so frightened that she advised Li Ju'an to say less.

Seeing that the atmosphere was not good, the widow of the Chen family put down her chopsticks and came to persuade them.

"Let's keep quiet. Your Uncle Tao is worried that you'll run into a mother wolf and a pack of wolves when you go into the mountains. There's such a big group inside that hasn't come out of the mountains yet. Uncle Tao is very worried about you."

Before Li Ju'an could finish speaking, he continued, "The hunting dogs had already bitten it. A mother wolf is a wolf too. You can't let it get away; it holds grudges and will take revenge. We've already offended it. If we don't kill it, it might do something drastic and ruin things sometime."

Old Tao suddenly stood up, let out a heavy snort, pushed the table aside, and turned to walk into the inner room. The widow of the Chen family was so frightened that she dared not utter another sound. She wanted to persuade Li Ju'an, but the young man's face was as stern as Old Tao's. It was true that like master, like apprentice. She was trembling and did not know who to persuade first.

Old Tao was furious, and Li Ju'an was also seething with anger. One sat by the fire in the inner room, while the other sat at the gate in the courtyard, neither speaking to the other.

Da Hu sat at Li Ju'an's feet, snorting a couple of times with some difficulty. His wet, black nose was almost frozen, which made Li Ju'an feel sorry for him.

“Big Tiger, go inside and warm yourself by the fire. What’s wrong, are you too ashamed to go? It’s not like you’re the one who committed the crime. Besides, when you bit that animal so hard, did anyone tell you that the animal had pups?”

Da Hu glared at him with the whites of his eyes.

Bro, you're so high and mighty, trying to pin all the blame on me, a little dog.

Seeing that there was still no response from the inner room, Li Ju'an continued chatting with Da Hu: "Da Hu did a good job. That beast bit you first. Our Da Hu shouldn't be wronged like that. He should talk back. And your future wife, Tie Chui, is watching. You can't lose face in front of your future wife. You have to show your power. Right, Tie Chui?"

Hammer was still wandering around the yard when he was suddenly called out, and he was a little confused. Hammer barked in bewilderment, as if in response.

Da Hu continued to glare at him with the whites of his eyes.

Well, one little dog isn't enough for you to make up stories about, why are you dragging the fat girl into it too?

Sure enough, there was movement inside. Although Old Tao was still angry, he had already tried to smooth things over. There were so many special circumstances when going into the mountains, the young man lacked experience, and Zhang San was indeed no good, so this incident was understandable.

Old Tao couldn't bring himself to do it, so he could only call the widow of the Chen family into the house and shout loudly.

"Women should use a scraper, but you have to be careful. You have to scrape off the flesh and fat from the fur, but you can't make a hole in it. Try it here."

Li Ju'an looked into the inner room and smiled knowingly. Old Tao was teaching him how to make leather through the door. Old Tao was too embarrassed to teach him himself, so he had the widow of the Chen family come and teach him instead.

Following the method taught by Lao Tao in the inner room, he began to use a scraper to remove the fat and flesh from the fur. After finishing, he stretched the fur on the frame to make it more resilient.

Then he took the basin that the widow of the Chen family brought, put the skin in the basin water that Lao Tao had prepared, and soaked it until the skin was thoroughly soaked and softened. Then he propped it up on the frame and placed it on the side of the kang (a heated brick bed) to dry completely.

The wait was very long. He didn't check until a day later to see if it was dry, and then he could shave off the hair on the skin.

The process wasn't difficult, but it was extremely time-consuming. He brought an ordinary scraper, which the widow of the Chen family took into the inner room to show Old Tao. She said it wouldn't work, so she handed him a scraper that he had made himself.

The knife had a handle made of deer antlers and a very sharp steel blade; it was truly a fine knife. He was shaving it by himself when the widow of the Chen family told him that it would take too long for one person, and that it would take at least 30 cuts to remove the hair from such a piece of hide. He was astonished.

$30! No wonder there's such a big price difference between raw hides and fresh hides on the market. They really are hard to handle, and you get what you pay for.

He and the widow of the Chen family worked together to scrape the fur off the hide. They scraped for a whole day, until their eyes ached from rubbing, before they finally obtained a complete piece of raw hide.

Beautiful raw hides, clean fur, and extremely resilient; they can be sold directly after packaging.

The sense of accomplishment from completing a raw hide made him beam with joy, his heart overflowing with a feeling of fulfillment.

He shouted, "Brother Tao! I've learned it! Brother Tao's skills are truly amazing!"

Finally, Old Tao's voice, puffing on a cigarette, came from the inner room: "Who taught you? I taught my wife, and you went to learn it secretly?"

Li Ju'an wasn't annoyed. He went inside and grinned at him, showing him the raw hide in his hand: "Master taught well. I'll serve you tea later and make all the hunters in the Xing'an Mountains envious of our master's amazing skills."

Old Tao, smoking a cigarette, chuckled in exasperation: "You brat, you always say nice things to make this old man happy. We all suspect you're just trying to save money on the raw hide."

Originally, when villagers asked Lao Tao to make raw hides, they had to consider whether Lao Tao was available and how much work he was doing. There was always a waiting list, and the cost of handmade hides was not low. Now, with Li Ju'an's guidance, it's as if he makes the raw hides himself, and he doesn't have to pay.

Li Ju'an grinned even more slyly: "Brother Tao, since we're saving money either way, why don't you teach me how to smoke-tannify leather to make finished products? We can sell them for double the price, and I can give you more money as a token of my respect."

Old Tao laughed and kicked him, saying, "Get lost, you little bastard, you're pushing your luck."