Zhang Guoqing and his second brother had just finished cleaning the backyard when they saw Zhang's father coming. They smiled and winked at each other. It was rare that his father got up late.

Father Zhang looked around, then curiously glanced towards the pigpen, but still no one was there. "That's strange! Why hasn't your eldest brother gotten up yet?"

Zhang Guoqiang said with a smile: "Brother got up. Seeing that there was nothing to do in the backyard, he went outside. I guess he asked his sister-in-law to prepare breakfast and dry food before going up the mountain."

"If you go to the mountain, can you still make it to the city today?" Father Zhang said after a moment of hesitation. "If you go to the mountain, can you still make it to the city today?" Father Zhang said after a moment of hesitation.

Zhang Guoqiang waved his hand and said helplessly, "We agreed on this a few days ago, so we can't go back on our word. Just wait for us to get acquainted with the route and come back after eight to do some work. We two brothers have finished eating, so we'll just wait for the eldest brother to finish eating, and then we'll go straight to their house early."

"Let's go, everything here has been cleaned up and everything is fine. It's daybreak now, so go early and come back early." After saying this, Father Zhang waved his hand and let them go. He was still worried and went to check on the woodshed, pigpen and chicken coop.

The three brothers, wearing patched old jackets, led Qingshan and several others to Daqingshan. They avoided passersby from a distance and soon arrived at the foot of the mountain.

Zhang Guoqing looked around. A light snow had fallen last night, making the roads difficult to navigate, but also ideal for hunting. After discussing with everyone, he gathered his tools and headed west, a familiar path.

As time passed, the sky brightened. Animal tracks could now be clearly seen on the mountain. Several people split into smaller groups and slowly made their way into the dense forest. The pheasants on the road were too clumsy to fly high. They ignored them and, as agreed, continued towards the stream.

Many of the trees on the outskirts had turned yellow, and the weeds and vegetables along the roadside had aged and withered. The wind blew, and the dead leaves fell from the trees. The closer we got to the dense forest, the more unusual the temperature became. Mushrooms could be seen in some corners. In the dark, damp areas, black fungus clung to dead wood. Wild rabbits and pheasants could be seen darting about in the grass, startled.

Zhang Qingshan looked at what was in front of him and sighed repeatedly, "Xiaowu, you are really good at finding places. This area has never been discovered. Look at the different temperatures here. In the north, you can only see wild rabbits on the mountainside, but here you can see pheasants and rabbits everywhere. There are traps everywhere over there. This place is good. In addition to prey, there are also mountain products to pick. Look at these wild fruits. Brothers, please give them away. Even if you don't get the big ones, these things are enough."

Zhang Guoqing suspected there might be a hot spring nearby. He had no plans to tell anyone else about this, but when he had time, he'd bring Zhou Jiao and the others over to take a look. Perhaps they'd discover the secret.

At this moment, he lay on the ground, listening quietly. He didn't see any large animals appear, then stood up and said, "I think we should go to the stream ahead first. Everyone, keep your voices down. There are always animals drinking water by the stream. Let's sneak over there."

After saying this, he first lifted a large bag of stones and loosened the opening so that he could throw them out at any time. As for the bow and arrows on his back, he had no intention of using them unless he encountered any big prey.

Zhang Qingshan took the lead, taking out his bows and arrows, and asked everyone to prepare. After seeing that everyone was ready, he waved to Zhang Guoqing, indicating that they should wait for his arrangements. He knew that Xiaowu had learned all the skills of his grandfather.

Zhang Guoqing divided everyone into three teams, spreading out from the left, middle and right respectively, and quietly led everyone to a place not far from the stream ahead.

Zhang Qingfeng was at the back, near the eldest brother, Zhang Qingshan. Seeing several wild deer and other animals drinking from the creek not far away, he excitedly started to speak. Zhang Qingshan quickly covered his mouth. He had been keeping an eye on his cousin's behavior and was worried he might act rashly.

When he saw Zhang Guoqing gesturing to the left, he immediately nodded after seeing that they had two deer in the middle. He pointed at his bow and arrow at his brothers, indicating that he would get one deer, and the rest would get one deer each, and the rest would be up to their luck.

They waited quietly for Zhang Qingya and the others on the right to make their arrangements. Everyone suppressed their excitement and drew their bows and arrows. After a while, at the signal, everyone quickly released their arrows.

Suddenly, the animals by the stream screamed, and the fallen wild deer frightened the other animals, causing them to rush around.

The Zhang brothers on the left, middle and right sides shot arrows one after another and moved towards the middle. The wild animals that ran away saw Zhang Guoqing throwing a stone in each hand, and then one of them fell down.

Seven or eight people looked at the wild animals on the ground, hugged each other and cheered happily. No one planned to chase the fleeing animals, because some of them were already killed by Xiaowu's rocks.

Seeing how excited everyone was, Zhang Guoqing quickly made arrangements: "Don't get excited. Let's move these things back first, so that the smell of blood won't bring in something big later. Brother Qingshan, you take care of it. I'll go cut some branches to make a rack and pull it back." After saying that, he ignored them and hurried to cut down trees and wrapped ropes around them to make a rack.

Zhang Qingshan listened and looked at the fallen wild animals. "Everyone, move the ones that are far away here first and pile them together. When Xiaowu comes with the rack, we'll take turns carrying them. Qingya, you take two people and start first. Qingling and Qingyan, take care of the blood on the ground. There are six deer, three spores, and a goat here. That's enough. Let's go back first. If you want to come back, you'll have to wait a few days. I think only one deer ran away. I guess our end is extinct."

Zhang Qingfeng was carrying a wild deer not far away, shouting, "If I had known hunting was so easy, I would have gone hunting with Xiaowu a long time ago. Look how much easier it is. What a loss, what a loss! How could I be so stupid?"

Zhang Qingya rolled his eyes at him in anger. "If hunting is so easy, then there are still wild animals in Daqing Mountain? Xiaowu has already found these. If we hunt like this, it will take at least a month for the wild animals to come. Don't tell anyone about this place. We will hunt here ourselves in the future. It's so great here. Even in the cold weather, you can still see wild fruits in the dense forest. If people find out, we will be in trouble."

"I'm not stupid, Qingya, how about we set up a few traps?"

"No. If we don't set traps, the wild animals will come to drink water, and we will be keeping them. With traps, there will be fewer wild animals. These creatures are not stupider than humans." Zhang Qingya shook his head. Seeing that the smell of blood was less here, he grabbed a few handfuls of herbs and went to the side.

Zhang Guoqing quickly returned carrying two racks. "Brothers, hurry up and put everything on there. You guys can carry it away. I'll carry the rest away myself with a rope."

After helping to load the shelves, everyone hurried off. Zhang Guoqing, carrying a wild deer on his back and clutching a bag of stones, led the charge from behind. He'd occasionally throw a stone at a pheasant he saw. He'd shake his head regretfully when he saw a pheasant egg. He couldn't take it this time, so he'd have to come back next time.

After a while, there were five or six pheasants in the bamboo basket hanging on his shoulder. His daughter Jiaojiao didn't like dried wild animals, so this was specially made for Jiaojiao as a supplement.

When they reached the foot of the outer mountain, Zhang Qingshan and the others hurriedly put down their gear and sat down on the side to rest because they were so tired. They were so happy that they didn't care that the snow on the ground had not melted yet and they would get cold.

Everyone saw Zhang Guoqing carrying the wild deer easily, and there was a bunch of pheasants in the bamboo basket, but not even a wild rabbit.

Zhang Qingfeng opened his mouth wide, pointing at the bamboo basket in amazement. "Xiao Wu, you're not specifically looking for females, are you? What about males? And rabbits?"

Everyone laughed, knowing that Xiaowu was thinking about his young wife, otherwise how could it be such a coincidence that they were all wild hens?

Zhang Qingshan laughed until he was done. Then he asked Zhang Guoqing, "Xiaowu, are the deer herd over here? Otherwise there wouldn't be so many. Look, there are three bucks among them. Do you know where the wild boar herd is?"

Seeing everyone staring at him eagerly, Zhang Guoqing said with amusement, "There's a herd of wild boars halfway up the mountain, but there's a pack of wolves right next to them. And before we get deep into the mountains, there's a monkey herd, and there's a black bear among them. There are plenty of wild fruits in the area with the monkeys, but to the left is a pack of wolves, and there's a black bear among them, so I didn't dare go there. This area is farther away from there, so it's safer. If you want to have a bite, come here. Don't go anywhere else except when there's a hunting party in the village; it's too dangerous."

Zhang Qingfeng said regretfully, "I thought if I went up the mountain with you a few more times, I could catch some wild boars. What a pity! Why don't you guys leave?"

"Animals in the mountains follow natural laws. Big fish eat small fish, and everyone has their own territory. Look, wild boars dare to stay close to wolves because there are monkeys and black bears above them. They don't go deep into the mountains because there are more big wild animals there. This time, the strong men from the three villages go up the mountain, and we just need to target wild boars and black bears. Wolves and monkeys run away quickly, and they will definitely go deep into the mountains when they see so many people, but wild boars won't do that. Black bears have honey stored, and their senses are dulled in the winter, so they can't run away." Zhang Guoqing said with a smile.

"Okay, it's time for us to go. What should we do with so many things?" Zhang Qingyan said, looking at the pile of wild animals on the ground.

Zhang Qingshan looked at the game on the ground and said, "Xiaowu took us there. I only shot one, Qingya also shot one, and the others were caught by Xiaowu. Let's do this, each of our family will get one wild deer, and the others will be sent to my second uncle's house." After saying this, everyone except Zhang Guoqing and his two brothers nodded in agreement.

Zhang Guoqing said with a sullen face, "Brothers, do you look down on me, or what? Six deer are just enough for three families, two each, so the number of males and females is easy to divide. There are also three spores, one for each family. Don't object, the rest of the goats are for me. I have extra goats, okay, that's it. Let's carry them all back and tell Uncle and the others whether to sell them. It's best to sell them all, because everyone will go up the mountain tomorrow, and who's worried about lacking meat?"

After that, he put the deer on his back and led everyone to the north foot of the mountain. He often walked this path, and he could enter directly from the back door of his house, avoiding attracting attention.

After returning to Zhang Guoqing's house, he asked everyone to put the food in the backyard first, and he hurried to the main house.

Seeing Zhang Guoqing come in, Zhang's father asked in surprise: "You're back so soon? What did you catch? Where are your eldest brother and the others?"

"They're all back now, all in the backyard. We were lucky today; there were a lot of wild animals near the creek, so we went hunting. One family got two deer, one scorpion, and we got an extra goat. Can you ask Mom to see if we should sell them?"

After saying that, he saw Xizi about to run to the backyard, so he hurriedly shouted, "Xizi, don't run yet. Go get Grandpa and Little Grandpa to come over. Tell them you've killed prey and wait for them to come. Keep your voice down."

"I understand, don't worry, uncle." Xizi nodded and took his brothers to go outside to look for someone.

Zhang Guoqing thought about it and said to his father, "Dad, don't sell the goats. Save them for washing pots in the winter. You and my eldest brother will take care of it. My second brother and I will go to the county to do some work first."

"You go and take care of your business first. Leave the house to me and your eldest brother. Your father-in-law and others have already gone to the county town. You can discuss anything with him." Father Zhang said as he walked towards the backyard.

Zhang Guoqing quickly followed and whispered, "Dad, I'm not going to the backyard. Just signal my second brother to come out. I'll go wash up first." Seeing his father nodded, he watched his father enter the backyard before turning around and walking towards the inner room of the west wing.