Reborn in the Great Northern Wilderness in 1982, I farmed and hunted to support my whole family.

Upon hearing this, Tian Xiaohu was even more stunned.

Upon hearing this, Li Mu was speechless, but he could somewhat understand Tian Xiaohu's thought process. To put it nicely, this kid was simple and honest; to put it bluntly, he was a bit too naive.

"You don't have to worry about this. Just come along tomorrow."

Li Mu didn't intend to say much to Tian Xiaohu, since he couldn't understand it anyway.

Two months later, it was Chinese New Year. In those days, city dwellers didn't lack pork. Although you still needed meat coupons to buy meat, most of the city's residents were workers, and no one was short of meat during the holidays.

But in Northeast China, there are few places to sell fish, especially fresh fish.

Li Mu remembered it quite clearly; later, some outsiders from the west reportedly made their fortunes because of it. After all, fish was always a staple dish at the New Year's Eve dinner during festivals.

With such good fish, I could easily sell it for the price of meat, let alone how much per pound.

"Alright! I'll come over early tomorrow morning."

Tian Xiaohu agreed, picked up the fish, and headed home. Although it was terribly cold, Tian Xiaohu felt very warm inside. The fish were one thing, but Li Mu's attitude towards him was unmatched by anyone else.

At least Brother Mu doesn't consider himself a fool.

Seeing Tian Xiaohu jumping around like he was about to fly, Li Mu felt happy and relieved. At least he didn't intend to let the good deeds he had wronged in the past be tarnished again.

Stomping his foot, Li Mu pushed open the courtyard gate and prepared to go inside.

Unexpectedly, Liang Meifen, the mother, heard the commotion outside and quickly came out. When she saw her second son covered in snow, she was furious: "You brat, where have you been running off to? You spent more than two hours going to the toilet and you're covered in snow. Why didn't you come back tomorrow morning?"

Despite her sharp tongue, Liang Meifen grabbed Li Mu and pulled him into the house. Unexpectedly, as soon as she touched him, she noticed several large, fat fish at Li Mu's feet.

"Five black carp, big crucian carp... Second brother, where did you get these fish?"

However, Li Mu didn't have time to talk about that right now.

He hadn't felt it at first, but as soon as the curtain was lifted, the warmth inside rushed towards him, making him feel even colder: "Alright, Mom, let's go inside and talk, I'm freezing."

"I just caught these fish with Hu Zi. These are ours. Hurry up and close the curtain, I'm freezing." Li Mu said the first half of his sentence while he was still floating outside, but the second half of his sentence came out of the house.

"Well, at least you know it's cold, so it's not all bad."

Liang Meifen was so angry she laughed. She muttered a couple of irritating words and carried the fish into the house, placing it on the stove.

Looking up, I saw my second son completely naked, wrapped in a quilt, squatting on the kang (a heated brick bed). I went up and slapped him.

"What are you doing? Aren't you afraid of getting the blankets on fire? There's hot water in the kettle, go get a basin of it for a foot bath. Who would have thought our second son could catch fish?"

Li Mu chuckled and poured out a basin of hot water.

Liang Meifen casually sliced ​​a few pieces of ginger on the cutting board and threw them in. Only then did Li Mu gradually feel warmer. He turned his head and glanced at the table, then asked, "Mom, where's Dad? My brother isn't back either?"

Upon hearing this, Liang Meifen paused for a moment, but seemed unwilling to say anything more.

"Oh, they went to visit relatives."

Upon hearing this, Li Mu did not ask any further questions.

Why visit relatives so late at night, especially when it's not a holiday? It's probably because Dad is going door-to-door borrowing money to fulfill his boast.

However, Li Mu felt it was unlikely.

The neighbors are all from the same village, and many of them are related by blood. Lending three or five yuan to each household is not a big deal. But the three turns and one ring (referring to a radio, watch, and bicycle) add up to at least several hundred yuan. Even if someone wanted to lend it, they would have to have that kind of spare money.

However, Li Mu didn't think much of it. He quickly ate a bite of food and prepared to go out again.

"You just got back, and you're out having fun again?"

I'm not happy about this.

He raised his hand and blocked Li Mu's way. The old ones are a worry, and the young ones are never home. Do they think home is an inn outside?

"Mom, why are you stopping me? I'm going to Lao Tian's house."

"Tiger and I went fishing today, and we were planning to go again tomorrow. Anyway, we're just killing time, and we can't just stay indoors all the time, or we'll become useless."

Li Mu spoke with such conviction that Liang Meifen looked at him several times in surprise before she could confirm that the Li Mu in front of her, who could speak so sensibly, was indeed her unreliable youngest son.

"Really?"

"Really!"

"Alright, go early and come back early. Don't wander off. If something happens in the dark, I won't be able to save you." Liang Meifen warned him. Li Mu chuckled, gave an OK sign, and quickly came out.

"You little monkey, you've really grown up."

Liang Meifen watched her son's departing figure, a smile playing on her lips.

She planned to clean the fish and make a fish soup for the three troublesome men the next morning to satisfy their cravings.

Since Li Mu had become a monk, he certainly didn't intend to go to Lao Tian's house as he had said. Everything had already been arranged, and there was no need for him to make a wasted trip. His current destination was the mountain.

"I wonder if my rabbit-making skills have deteriorated."

Li Mu thought to himself as he held the wire.

At this time, although the era of valuing poverty had passed, and every household could make dumplings to satisfy their cravings during festivals, they were still seventeen or eighteen-year-old lads with little oil in their stomachs, unlike later years when they would feel nauseous at the sight of fatty meat.

The Li family, who were struggling to make ends meet, relied on the work points earned by Liang Meifen and her husband, as well as their eldest son. If they wanted to improve their meals, they had to cook for themselves.

Li Mu learned his rabbit-catching skills from an old hunter in the mountains. He even formally kowtowed and became an apprentice to this skill.

"I wonder how that old man is doing."

Li Mu was planning to go back into the mountains to take a look, but now was not the time.

It was already dark, but the surroundings were still very bright. In the early 1980s, the Great Northern Wilderness was covered with snow, and as far as the eye could see, there was only the biting mountain wind and a vast expanse of white snow.

Even on moonless nights, the surroundings reflect light.

He crunched through the snow under his feet.

After more than half an hour, they arrived at the foot of the mountain. Li Mu did not dare to go further in, mainly because wild boars roamed the deep forests. A few years later, there were even reports of wild boars injuring people. Li Mu did not have any suitable tools on hand, otherwise he would have really wanted to give it a try.

Bend the wire into a loop, then bend the other end a few times to create an elastic band.

This is a genuine rabbit trap.

It looks easy, but it's actually not simple at all.

These days, any skill that allows you to make a living deserves respect. The teachings of an experienced old hunter are lessons learned through blood and tears.

After half an hour,

Li Mu set up the snares at the various holes where wild rabbits frequented, and then hurried home.

It wasn't that he was afraid to stay any longer; it was just that after spending the whole day outdoors in the bright white snow, getting snow blindness from being outside for too long was no joke.