"A more powerful gun? Yes."

The salesperson turned around and took a real gun from the shelf. "Comrade, this is a hunting rifle that can be used to hunt bears, but you need a certificate from the Public Security Bureau or your work unit to buy it."

"Shoot a bear? This gun can shoot bears?"

"Yes, bear hunters on the grasslands all use this gun; it's very powerful."

Lu Fangfang could only watch enviously.

Even with a certificate from the Public Security Bureau, she wouldn't dare buy it, fearing she might hurt herself—it's a firearm.

"Bear hunting..."

Lu Fangfang thought of the grassland hunter the salesperson had mentioned.

She only hunts pikas and rabbits; hunting bears is something she can't even imagine.

"Comrade, are there really people on the grasslands who dare to hunt bears?"

The salesperson immediately became talkative, and he quickly nodded.

"Just last month, Yewa from Xiaxigou Commune killed a brown bear on Daxishan Mountain."

Minle is a small county town with only a few main streets. If something happens in the county, the news will spread throughout the county in less than a day.

“The bear bile was sold to the county’s purchasing station. I heard it sold for three or four hundred yuan. There was also bear skin, which is also valuable. It can feed us for several years.”

The salesperson said, sounding incredibly envious.

His monthly salary is only thirty-odd yuan, while someone else could earn enough to kill a bear for him to work for two years.

However, he was not jealous. Seeing that Lu Fangfang was listening intently, he continued, "But many people lost their lives in the bear hunt. Last year, the Sandaogou Commune sent a person to the county, but they couldn't be saved."

"I heard that he shot a bear and saw the brown bear lying on the ground motionless. He was in a hurry to get the bear's gallbladder, but as soon as he arrived, the bear got up and slapped him with its paw. He died when he was taken to the county."

Lu Fangfang touched the air gun as if she were listening to a story.

When it's time to marvel, marvel; when it's time to sigh, sigh. This really got the salesperson talking, and he started telling her some stories about grassland hunters.

In those days, those who received government-subsidized grain rations were better off, but those who toiled in the fields had it tough.

Some people, unable to make ends meet, set their sights on wild animals in grasslands and forests.

Those who are skilled and capable take up guns and fight big animals. Among them, brown bears are the most valuable, as their bile and fur are not cheap.

If you have no money and no guts, and don't even have any tools, you can go out into the wild and set a trap to catch pikas, groundhogs, or the like.

Lu Fangfang was also learning for the first time that there were people here who specifically caught and ate groundhogs.

This thing is fat and all over, and you can render oil from it, which is similar to lard. The meat is also delicious, but it's hard to chew; it won't get tender even after stewing for several hours.

After eating the meat, the county's fur purchasing station also buys the fur, and you can make a profit by selling it.

Lu Fangfang got goosebumps listening to this.

She rubbed her arms and said with some disgust, "Comrade, those marmots carry germs, how can you eat that?"

“Sigh, the county has been spreading the word that people shouldn’t eat marmots, but it’s still meat.”

Lu Fangfang thought about it and realized it made sense; when you're starving, who cares about germs?

She shook her head, took out the money from her pocket, counted out forty-three yuan, and handed it to the clerk.

Watching the sales clerk accept the money, she felt a little heartache. This was all her hard-earned money from digging for caterpillar fungus. Oh, and Xiaohua's share was also included.

If we don't hunt more pikas, we'll be at a huge loss.

"Comrade, the money is just right. Here is the instruction manual for the air rifle, and here are the lead bullets. I'll give you another half box."

Lu Fangfang was so pleased with the conversation that the sales clerk took an extra box of opened lead bullets and gave it to her.

Unlike steel balls, air gun pellets are cone-shaped, round at the top and thick at the bottom, and a box of these costs several cents.

Lu Fangfang was very happy and quickly thanked her.

She packed the lead bullets into her bag, slung the air rifle over her shoulder, and left.

She chatted with the gun salesperson for quite a while, and seeing that it was almost noon, she went out, took the reins, and hurried to the grocery market.

Unfortunately, the meat stalls in the market had already closed up shop; there wasn't even a scrap of meat left, let alone bones.

Left with no other option, Lu Fangfang led her horse toward the state-run grain store.

On her way to the state-run grain store, she passed a state-run bicycle repair shop.

Some tools and bicycle parts were displayed at the entrance of the shop.

Lu Fangfang stopped and looked closely, finding that there weren't many bicycle parts on display, and most of them were old parts.

She felt a little regretful. If this were in a big city, she could have bought more parts and maybe even built her own bicycle.

"Comrade, do you have a valve core here?"

The mechanic was sitting in front of the door, grinding down the inner tube of a bicycle with a trowel.

Hearing someone ask a question, he looked up and saw that the person asking the question was carrying a gun and wearing a military uniform, so he replied very enthusiastically, "Yes, yes."

He casually opened the repair kit and took out a few yellow valve cores.

Lu Fangfang noticed that the valve core in the master's hand was quite long and could be used by simply bending it in the middle.

"Comrade, could you give me four?"

"Four valve cores? Young man, even if you have a lot of bicycles at home, you won't need that many valve cores. These aren't cheap, so don't waste them."

The mechanic was very considerate of Lu Fangfang.

“I…I’m not doing this for the bicycle, I want to make a slingshot.”

After saying that, Lu Fangfang blushed; she was a little embarrassed.

"Oh, is that so? Your child is asking to play with a slingshot?"

Lu Fangfang: "..."

She nodded slightly.

The mechanic deftly counted out four valve cores.

Among the miscellaneous items nearby was a small piece of pink inner tube from a bicycle. The mechanic picked it up and handed it over along with the valve core.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!