For now, we still have to go to the county town to buy some food. Yesterday, Shen Qing moved all his food to the end of the world, so he really had no bait to hunt wild boars.
But there is a problem: if Shen Qing goes to buy it, whether he uses the identity of a farmer's boy or a rich man's son, it will be quite troublesome. Recently he was reluctant to show up as a boy in the county town, for fear of being recognized: boys of his stature and appearance were rare, and it would be easy for people to look at him more, and there was no guarantee that he would not run into someone he had seen before.
Even if he bought a cart of grain and brought it to the village as a rich young man, it would not work. There are many people in the county town who want to find out his identity. If one of them secretly follows him to the village, his identity will be exposed.
After much deliberation, Shen Qing decided to let Miao buy it.
"What? I'll go to the city to buy it?" Miao rubbed her hands nervously: "I'll go by myself? Can I do it?"
Although Lantang Village is not far from the county town, she has not been to the city for many years. The last time she went to the city was when Shen Zhang was still alive, and it was Shen Zhigao who took her and the whole family there. How could the women and boys in the village have the courage to go into the city alone? It's scary just to listen to it!
"What's there to be afraid of? I always go to the city by myself. I'm a brother." Shen Qing encouraged her, "It's just to buy some food. It's not a big deal. I'll go to the village chief's house and borrow a mule cart. Or I can ask Aunt Lian Er and Aunt Guixiang to come along."
"Who can compare with you?" Miao struggled for a long time, but couldn't think of any other way, so she could only bite the bullet and say, "Then, then I'll give it a try. I'll ask a few more people to accompany me, otherwise I'll be so nervous!"
Miao went to find the woman and brother she was on good terms with, while Shen Qing went to the village chief's house to borrow a car. When Aunt Guixiang heard that Shen Qing's family was going to the county town to buy grain, she was extremely surprised: "Why do we have to go to the county town to buy grain? Didn't your family move away from the old Shen's family and sell pork in exchange for a lot of money?" She vaguely remembered that Miao had exchanged grain and eggs in the village some time ago.
"Aren't we setting up traps? Buy more to lure wild boars. Wild boars come down from the mountains to harm crops because they have nothing to eat. If you don't put out more food, they won't take the bait." Shen Qing laughed. "I originally wanted to exchange some with the villagers, but everyone's food reserves were running low, so I thought I'd just go to the county town and buy some. After all, I can earn back the money after killing the wild boar, so I can't lose money!"
This is true. A wild boar can be sold for two or three taels of silver. How much does grain cost?
Aunt Guixiang didn't know how to catch wild boars, nor how much food was needed to set traps. So she believed what Shen Qing said, and said with emotion: "You are really brave. The wild boar hasn't even appeared yet, but you've already given away some money and food."
But on second thought, you need to be so courageous to make money! As the old saying goes, you can’t catch a wolf without sacrificing a kid!
However, out of concern, she still asked Shen Qing: "Can you really catch a wild boar?" Don't give away food and not catch anything, that would be a loss of both money and pig.
Shen Qing knew that she meant well: "Don't worry, Auntie. Didn't I ask you to help twist the hemp ropes and weave the nets? I'm ready. I guarantee that none of the wild boars will be able to escape!"
Aunt Guixiang was relieved then: "That's fine! Your family doesn't have to rent a car today. I just want to go to the county town to buy some things for the New Year. Just bring your mother and the others along." She glanced at Shen Qing secretly and cleared her throat: "I'll let my old and young ones drive the car for us. With a man around, your mother will feel more at ease." She knew that Miao was timid. It’s strange, what’s the use of bringing a man along? If you encounter robbers or bandits, can you fight them or what? Not necessarily, but having someone following me always makes me feel more at ease!
"Shuanzi, come and harness the car!"
Shen Qing didn't bother to be polite with Aunt Guixiang. The two families had been interacting with each other for some time, so he didn't need to worry about borrowing the car. After killing a wild boar, you can send a portion of meat to the village chief's house, or prepare a generous gift during the New Year.
After a long while, there was some noise in the room. Zhao Shuan came out lazily. He was in a bad mood but dared only to glare at Shen Qing secretly: it was too obvious and he was afraid that Shen Qing and his mother would beat him!
It’s all because of this annoying guy. If he hadn’t come, I wouldn’t have been ordered around the county with a group of old ladies. But Aunt Guixiang dragged him to Shen Qing and said, "Our boy has made a lot of progress these days. Although he is not as promising as you, he is tall and strong. He can look impressive when walking on the street, and he is more methodical in doing things than before."
Apart from anything else, the village chief's family is well-off, they live a good life and have good food, and the children in the family are all tall and strong.
Shen Qing and Zhao Shuan were both a little puzzled, especially Zhao Shuan: How long has it been since his mother praised him? Don't you dislike him so much every day and want to scold him to death? Why did he suddenly start praising himself in front of Shen Qing!
Shen Qing just thought that Aunt Guixiang was showing off her own boy. In front of the boy's mother, Shen Qing couldn't say that I was defeated by him. I could only follow Aunt Guixiang's tone and politely say, "Yes, you have grown taller and look stronger than before."
"Yeah, I just hope someone can help me train him. This man needs to be taught by someone in the house, and he will become a useful person slowly." Aunt Guixiang blinked: "Just like your uncle Zhao, even though he is still good at doing things and talking now, I have spent so much effort to teach him behind the scenes!"
If it were another girl or boy, they would be able to understand a little bit of the meaning behind Aunt Guixiang's words. But Shen Qing never thought about this: he didn't know whether he didn't regard himself as a boy waiting to be married, or he never regarded Zhao Shuan as a man. He thought Aunt Guixiang was just chatting with him, so he could only say, "Aunt is right."
Seeing that Shen Qing was not getting his way, Aunt Guixiang was not discouraged: she was just afraid that her son would be beaten by Shen Qing! But now it seems that Qing Ge'er has changed his mind about his younger son. Maybe he won't... beat him less gently in the future? Let’s wait and see! Let’s wait and see!
Zhao Shuan, on the other hand, somewhat understood what his mother meant, and his face turned green with fright.
Just like that, Miao called Aunt Lian Er, Aunt Yan Zi and Uncle Li, and brought the boy from Aunt Yan Zi's family along, and the group went to the county town in a mule cart in a lively manner. With two tall and strong guys accompanying her in the car, Miao felt much more relaxed and less nervous.
Shen Qing was at home, connecting together the hemp rope nets that several aunts had made.
Shen Qing really learned a lot from the old hunter back then. For example, when setting a trap, one usually observes footprints first, then digs a big hole on the path that the prey must pass, inserts sharpened bamboos into the pit, covers it with thin branches, leaves, and a little soil, and then puts some food on top. In this way, when the prey passes by or comes forward to eat, it will fall into the pit, and if it is not killed by the bamboo sticks, it will be seriously injured and will have no way to escape the trap.
But such traps are more suitable for catching single prey. Shen Qing planned to catch a group of wild boars at one time, so he had to make some improvements to the original trap.
In addition, now that he has a powerful weapon, Shen Qing still feels very confident that he will win.
He had observed the wild boar's footprints before and determined that the wild boar had been wandering near the village recently, waiting for an opportunity to come down the mountain for a meal. Not only in Lantang Village, but also in places near Shiqu Village and Xiahe Village, there are signs of wild boars visiting.
Shen Qing planned to choose a location where wild boars often passed by, and wrap the hemp rope net around several trees to make a circular encirclement, leaving only one entrance.
Then spread food throughout the encirclement and set up traps at the entrance.
In this way, after the wild boar enters the trap, you can block the small hole and catch the turtle in the jar. This is because the materials on hand are not good enough: although the hemp ropes made by the aunts are extremely strong, they are made of wild boar after all. If they really get ruthless, even a blind bear might not be their match, let alone a group of them?
This net can probably only hold up for a short time. Shen Qing needs to kill all the wild boars before they break through the net and rush out. If there was a net woven with wire: Shen Qing thought of some barbed wire nets arranged in the safe area near the base.
If we had a net like that, we probably wouldn't need a gun, a crossbow or a spear at all. We could kill all the wild boars slowly.
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