The mother bear shook off General Black and Erlang Shen, and pounced on Sheng Xiping at lightning speed.

At this moment, Sheng Xiping calmly held his gun, aimed at the mother bear, and pulled the trigger.

The shot hit the mother bear squarely in the head. Her running momentum faltered, her massive body lurched forward, twitched twice, and then she lay still.

The bear cub that had been shot struggled to break free from the leopard and Wangfu after its mother was also shot.

Unexpectedly, the three dogs that were originally dealing with the mother bear turned around and pounced on the cub.

The six dogs were all quite large, and with Erlang Shen and the leopard possessing the unique skill of attacking from behind, the little bear, weighing only about a hundred pounds, was no match for the six dogs in the long run.

Sheng Xiping carefully approached the mother bear with his gun, fired two more shots into her head, and once he was sure she was dead, he immediately whistled at the dogs.

The dogs had followed Sheng Xiping up the mountain for so long that they were perfectly in sync; they could tell at a glance that their owner wanted them to step back.

So, all six dogs released their grip and retreated, and Sheng Xiping took the opportunity to fire two shots at the bear.

The bear cub fell to the ground with a thud, and the dogs pounced on it again to tear it apart, but the bear cub remained motionless.

"Second brother, third brother, come and help."

Sheng Xiping called out, then drew the short knife from his leg wrappings, turned the mother bear over, cut open her belly, removed the gallbladder, and hung the entrails on a nearby tree.

Dogs don't eat the internal organs of black bears, and some dogs don't even eat the meat of black bears, so Sheng Xiping kept the internal organs to offer to the mountain god.

After extracting the mother bear's gallbladder, Sheng Xiping walked towards the cub.

When the dogs saw Sheng Xiping, they automatically moved aside. Sheng Xiping went forward, turned the bear over, and gutted it to remove the gallbladder.

Afterwards, Sheng Xiping checked the dogs' injuries one by one. They were alright; most of them were superficial wounds and did not require bandaging.

"Second brother, cut some flesh from that mother bear and feed it to the dogs."

The dogs had a fierce battle with the two bears and were quite exhausted, so they needed to be well-fed.

There are two bears in front of us, and a deer over there. It's hot now, and we can't keep so much meat. Giving more to the dog is better than wasting it.

Sheng Xi'an responded and took out a short knife to start cutting meat to feed the dog.

After a fierce battle, the dogs were all exhausted. They lay on the ground, mouths agape, tongues lolling out, panting heavily.

While Sheng Xi'an was feeding the dogs, Sheng Xiping was cutting down some trees to make a makeshift sled.

After Sheng Xi'an had fed the dog, the three brothers worked together to lift the deer and two bears onto the sled and tied them up with ropes.

"Let's eat something and rest for a bit. It's still more than 20 miles to go back, and we can't go without food."

Although it wasn't noon yet, the three brothers had been busy all morning and had eaten breakfast early, so they were all tired and hungry.

If I don't eat something before heading back, I'll probably be so hungry my legs will give way and my heart will race before I even get home.

Sheng Xiping and his friends brought pancakes, pickled vegetables, and scallions. Since the weather was warm, they didn't need to build a fire. They just sat on the ground, each took out a pancake, rolled it up with scallions and pickled vegetables, and took a big bite to chew slowly.

Young people have good teeth, so the more they chew the pancakes, the more fragrant they become.

After the three brothers had eaten their fill and rested enough, they got up and dragged their sleds back home.

As he walked, Sheng Xiping suddenly remembered that there wasn't much food at home, so he might as well pick up some celery leaves to take back with him. Since there was meat, he could make some steamed buns.

There are plenty of wild vegetables in the mountains, and they can be seen everywhere in clumps.

By May 20th, the celery stalks were already over half a foot tall, just the right time.

The three brothers didn't care much, they just grabbed a few handfuls of celery leaves from around them, grabbed some tree bark, bundled it up, threw it into a sack, and continued dragging the sled back home.

Unlike winter, the ground is covered in ice and snow at this time of year, making it easier to drag the sled.

At this time of year, it's very difficult to drag away the withered branches, weeds, stones, and tree roots on the ground.

By the time the three brothers came out of the back mountain, it was almost two o'clock. As soon as the dogs saw that they had entered the forest farm, they didn't wait for Sheng Xiping and the others, and ran home as fast as they could.

When the weather is nice, many people are drying cow hair in their yards or by the roadside.

Seeing Sheng Xiping and his two brothers dragging something over, several old women surrounded them.

"Oh my, what's this? A black bear, and a deer?"

Wow, it has to be the Sheng family's child, they're really capable.

Throughout the year, putting everything else aside, I ate plenty of meat and earned a good amount of money.

The crowd started talking all at once, their tone filled with envy, and perhaps a little bit of sourness.

"Hey? Second brother, do you have a girlfriend yet? How about your aunt introduces you to someone?"

Suddenly, an old woman reached out and nudged Sheng Xi'an, asking a question.

Sheng Xi'an was born in 1958 and is 20 years old this year (by Chinese reckoning). Logically speaking, she should be at the age where she should be looking for a partner.

However, this child is a bit introverted. He is quiet and doesn't like to talk outside, and I haven't seen him get close to any of the girls in the forest farm.

Hearing someone ask that question, Sheng Xi'an blushed immediately. "What are you talking about? I, how old am I? No, I'm not in a hurry to find a partner."

This guy was so embarrassed that he started to stutter a little.

Sheng Xi'an's behavior made the group of wives and mothers laugh.

"Look at what you're saying, you're already twenty and still not looking for a partner, when are you going to find one?"

Your older brother was already engaged when he was twenty! There are so many good girls in our forest farm, what's wrong? There wasn't one you liked?

If you find one you like, tell me, and I'll act as a matchmaker for you. If our forest farm doesn't have one, I'll look elsewhere for you."

The old woman who was speaking was surnamed Wu, and she was a well-known matchmaker in Qianchuan Forest Farm.

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