Chapter 66 Sixties Chronicle 26

Early in the morning, while it was still dark, Feng Wu was fully armed and carried a bamboo backpack and several sacks provided by the canteen chef.

The weather has warmed up a bit in the past few days and the snow has stopped. The time and place are just right for Fengwu to travel.

After finding out the way to Heihutun, Fengwu skied all the way without stopping, took a shortcut and went into the woods.

Occasionally, when Feng Wu encountered pheasants and rabbits out foraging, he would simply put them in a large hemp bag and throw them into the backpack on his back.

After spending a lot of time and taking some detours, she finally found Heihu Village in a valley at an angle.

As soon as we entered the village, several men wearing thick woolen coats and dog-skin hats surrounded us.

"Girl, why do you come to this desolate mountain alone? There are wolves here. Aren't you afraid?" The burly man opened his mouth and a puff of white air came out.

What's more, there are traps everywhere, and if you are not careful, you will be injured by wild animals.

The mountains were even colder than the farm. Feng Wu took off the scarf around her face, revealing her fair complexion. She smiled sheepishly, "I came here specifically to see Uncle Fu Guoqiang. I made an appointment with him when we were at the market at San San Field."

"Guoqiang? You're looking for him! What a coincidence! His eldest son just got married yesterday. Come on, uncle will take you there."

Feng Wu followed the three fellow villagers all the way, and soon they arrived in front of a two-meter-high courtyard gate made of mud bricks. Such a high courtyard wall couldn't be used to prevent petty theft, but it was probably designed to keep out wild animals from the mountains.

The burly man knocked on the gate, and after a while, someone inside opened the gate.

"Sister-in-law, there are guests at your house. Is my brother Qiang at home?"

Feng Wu politely smiled at the aunt standing inside the door, "Hello, aunt."

It was rare to see such a young and tender girl. Auntie Pang immediately smiled and said, "Oh, you are really pretty. Come inside quickly, it's very cold outside!"

In the room, Fu Guoqiang was still a little dazed. He thought that the girl was just being polite last time, but he didn't expect that she would come in person.

"Girl, it's too dangerous for you to come here alone. The wild animals in the mountains are fierce. If you encounter a wolf, today will be dangerous."

Feng Wu naturally wouldn't say it. It's hard to say who would be in danger if they met her.

"Uncle, don't worry. I have a powder passed down from my ancestors to repel wild animals. Those wild animals will avoid me when they see me." Changing the subject, Feng Wu explained his purpose. "I came here today specifically for the wild animals in the mountains. Uncle Guoqiang, you have a lot of pheasants and rabbits here, and I thought we could trade privately."

Hunters can secretly keep the wild animals they kill for themselves, and no one will watch what you cook in the pot for three meals a day. But if you take the animals out to trade, it is a violation of the rules and you will be held responsible.

This is also the reason why these hunters can hunt prey but still live in such poverty.

Feng Wu believed that as long as the price she offered was high enough, these people were not fools and would not refuse business that came to their doorstep.

As expected, Fu Guoqiang was only slightly surprised for a moment, then nodded in understanding. People outside the mountain were also short of money. "We have a lot of wild animals here, including pheasants, rabbits, and roe deer. Miss, how many do you want to exchange? I'll go into the mountain now while I have time."

There was a wedding at home yesterday, and there was no food left. The girl came from far away, so it was difficult for him to refuse. It was just a few wild animals, which would only take half a day to prepare.

Feng Wu: "...Uncle, I want quite a bit. You can also discuss it with the uncles in the village. I'll take whatever you have!"

"Hiss, really?" Fu Guoqiang still found it a little unconvincing. If all the men in their village went hunting in the mountains, there would probably be hundreds of them killed in a day.

"Of course it's true. I didn't come all this way here just to play a joke on you, did I?"

Fu Guoqiang thought so too. The girl had come all the way here, so there was no need for her to make fun of them. "Then girl, please wait at home for a while. I'll go talk to the village chief."

Hurryingly putting on his hat, Fu Guoqiang shouted towards the kitchen, "Wife, I'm going to the village chief's house. Please help me greet the guests."

Aunt Fatty hurried out of the kitchen and saw her husband hurried out of the courtyard. "I wonder what you're busy with all day? Hey, girl! Have some sugar water to sweeten your mouth. We don't have anything good to treat you at home."

Even the wedding candies were given two pieces to each household, and there was none left yesterday.

After taking a sip of the sweet soup, Feng Wu used the backpack as a cover to take out a pair of pillowcases with big red wedding characters on them. "Auntie, last time I heard Uncle Guoqiang say that his family was going to marry a daughter-in-law. I came here at the right time. I'm giving this pair of pillowcases to my eldest brother and his wife as a wedding gift. I wish them a happy marriage and a son soon."

When Aunt Fat heard this, she wanted to refuse. No one's things were blown by the wind. The young man was generous and didn't know how to live. Aunt Fat was not a short-sighted person.

"My daughter, you are too polite. This thing is valuable, and I can't accept it. Stay at my house for dinner today!" The wedding banquet ended yesterday, and the last bit of food in the house was used for the wedding banquet. Later, she would have to go to her sister-in-law's house next door to borrow some rice to get through the day.

Feng Wu smiled and pushed the things into Auntie Pang's arms, "Auntie, if you don't accept it, you are treating me as an outsider. It's just a pair of pillowcases, not food or drink, so don't be polite to me."

"Hey, your girl..." Having said that, Aunt Pang couldn't refuse. She thought that when the girl left, she would ask the head of the family to go into the mountains and hunt some wild animals so that the girl could have more meat.

After sitting by the fire for a while, Fu Guoqiang led an old man into the house.

The old man wore a gray wolfskin hat on his head, an old sheepskin coat on his body, and a pipe on his waist.

There was no trace of ambiguity in the look he gave Chao Fengwu. His two deep-set eyes were deep and bright, and he looked very spirited.

This is a shrewd, wise and weathered old man.

Feng Wu had always wanted to get to know each other, and by the end of the conversation, they had a foundation in each other's hearts.

"...Okay then. I'll go around to each house and ask those who are willing to exchange to prepare. Do you want to live, or..."

"It's better to help kill it." Otherwise, where would she throw away the fur and internal organs?

The old man knocked his pipe to his waist, then quickly stood up and went about his business.

Time is running out, we have to call out the men who are the head of each household to discuss this matter. This matter must not be made public.

Feng Wu stayed in Heihu Village until three or four in the afternoon. He not only collected more than ten sacks of pheasants and rabbits, but also collected mushrooms and black fungus dried by various households in the village.

There were more than ten bags in total, and she spent nearly a thousand yuan. This time, she couldn't produce any food to trade with her fellow villagers.

However, Feng Wu also agreed on the price with them in advance, which was 20% higher than the market price. After all, they worked hard to help process the wild animals, so it didn't matter if they paid a little more.

What surprised Fengwu was that he unexpectedly collected several wild ginsengs that were thirty or forty years old, which he bought back to make chicken soup.

Unfortunately, we came here in a hurry and didn’t encounter any large wild animals such as roe deer and wild boars.

"Grandpa Village Chief, Uncle Guoqiang, there's no need to see me off. A carriage will come to pick me up soon. You've already walked me for several miles..." The villagers in Heihu Village were so enthusiastic that they walked me off for mile after mile.

Under Feng Wu's persuasion, several people got on the horse-drawn sleigh and drove the horses quickly into the vast snowfield.

The next time I come here will be in a month.

Throwing the sacks on the ground into the cave he carried with him, Feng Wu put on his skis, used the ski poles to support himself on the ground, and pushed back hard. The skis then followed the winding snow road and rushed through the forest at lightning speed.