Chen Changyuan's expression changed and became serious.
Seeing his serious expression, the old man put away his smile and asked:
"What's going on? So serious?"
Chen Changyuan lowered his voice and said:
"Old Yuan, do you still remember the swamp in Qingshanling?"
The old man nodded and said:
"Remember, that place is very evil, and everyone in the village avoids it."
"Today I found a black stream by the swamp. The water's color is off, and it has a strange smell..."
Chen Changyuan paused and continued, "I suspect there might be an ancient tomb in the back mountain!"
The old man did not show any surprise, but sighed and said:
Long term, I’ve thought about this a long time ago.”
"You thought of that too?" Chen Changyuan was a little surprised.
"Um,"
The old man nodded.
"During the war years, I saw a group of people sneaking into the mountains. They said they were hunting, but the gear they brought didn't look like hunting at all. They looked more like... grave robbers."
"What happened to that group?"
Chen Changyuan asked.
The old man shook his head and said:
"I don't know. They never came out after entering the mountains. Later, some villagers also wanted to go into the mountains to look for them, but the swamp was too dangerous, and no one who went in came out alive..."
Chen Changyuan was silent for a moment and said:
"So, that group of people was probably looking for the tomb, and... they may have found it."
"Well, even if we find it, what's the use? We can't dig it up."
Old Yuantou sighed and said, "Those are our ancestors' things, we can't touch them."
Chen Changyuan's eyes flashed with a gleam, and he said, "That may not be the case."
Old Yuan looked at him suspiciously and asked, "What do you mean?"
Chen Changyuan smiled and said:
"Old Yuan, think about it, if there really is something valuable in that tomb, instead of leaving it buried underground, why not dig it out and enrich the village and improve everyone's life? Wouldn't that be better?"
The old man was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and said:
"No, no, this is too dangerous! If you anger the mountain god, you will suffer retribution!"
Chen Changyuan knew that Lao Yuantou was conservative and would find it difficult to accept it for a while, so he patiently persuaded him:
"Old Yuan, think about how poor our village is now. The children can't even eat enough or wear warm clothes. How can we continue like this? If we can find some antiques and exchange them for some money, we can let the children live a good life. This is a great thing to do to accumulate virtue and do good deeds!"
The old man stroked his beard, pondered for a moment, and said:
"Changyuan, what you said makes sense, but this mountain behind...it doesn't belong to us either."
Chen Changyuan was stunned for a moment, then he understood what Lao Yuantou meant.
Although this back mountain is behind the village, the ownership belongs to the village collective and is nominally under the management of the village chief.
The village chief is a notorious hypocrite. He looks amiable but is actually a complete parasite.
If any treasure was really dug out from the back mountain, Wang Fugui would definitely make a big profit first and then distribute the rest to the villagers.
"Old Yuan, what you mean is..."
Chen Changyuan asked tentatively.
"In my opinion, if you really want to do something for the village, the first step is to take over this mountain."
Old Yuantou spoke word by word, with a shrewd look in his eyes.
Chen Changyuan took a deep breath and went down the back mountain?
This is not a small amount of money.
He quickly calculated in his mind that all the savings he had now, plus the money he had saved from hunting during this period, totaled only more than 14,000 yuan, which was far from the 100,000 yuan he had hoped to get.
This piece of "fat meat" was right in front of him, but he couldn't put it in his mouth. Chen Changyuan felt as uncomfortable as if he was being scratched by a cat.
He frowned and paced back and forth, thinking hard about what to do.
Old Yuan looked at Chen Changyuan's anxious look, smiled, and said
"It's a long-term plan. Don't be impatient. Take your time. There will always be a way to deal with this money issue."
Chen Changyuan sighed, knowing that what Lao Yuantou said was right, that you can't eat hot tofu in a hurry.
The most important thing now is to find out whether there is an ancient tomb in the back mountain, and then find a way to raise money.
"By the way, Changyuan, the skins of the two tigers, one male and one female, that you killed earlier have been dried in the sun. Do you want to go and take a look?"
Lao Yuantou suddenly changed the subject.
When Chen Changyuan heard this, he immediately became excited.
These two tiger skins are valuable stuff. If we take them to the city and sell them, they will definitely be worth a lot of money.
Thinking of this, he quickly said: "Come on, Old Yuan, let's go and take a look now!"
The two men came to the backyard of Lao Yuantou's house and saw two complete tiger skins lying flat on the ground. Under the sunlight, they emitted an oily luster.
Chen Changyuan reached out and touched it. The tiger skin was soft and smooth, and warm to the touch. He couldn't help feeling happy.
"Good leather! Old Yuan, your craftsmanship is really amazing!" Chen Changyuan exclaimed.
The old man smiled complacently and said:
"Of course! When I was young, I was a famous hunter. My skills in handling leather are no exaggeration!"
Chen Changyuan looked at the two tiger skins carefully and suddenly found a strange scar on the tigress's abdomen, as if it had been scratched by some sharp weapon.
"Old Yuan, look at this scar, it looks like a knife wound."
Chen Changyuan pointed at the scar and said.
Old Yuan took a closer look and also found it a little strange.
He had peeled off the tiger skin with his own hands and did not notice the scar at the time.
"Could it be that someone has hunted this tigress before?" Chen Changyuan guessed.
The old man shook his head and said:
"Impossible! This tigress is extremely ferocious. Most people wouldn't dare approach her. Besides, this wound looks like it was inflicted a long time ago. It couldn't have been caused recently."
Chen Changyuan stared at the scar for a long time but couldn't figure out what it was.
Finally, he shook his head and said:
"Forget it, Old Yuan, you can keep the tigress's skin for now. I'll take the male tiger's skin to the county to sell it tomorrow."
When the old man heard this, he was unhappy and said with a glare:
"What do you mean, kid? Do you think I'm too old to share your money?"
Chen Changyuan quickly explained:
"Old Yuan, what are you thinking? I was thinking that this tigress's skin might have some other use, so I'll leave it with you for safekeeping and we'll see later."
The old man's expression softened and he said:
"You kid, don't think I don't know what you're up to. If you really care about me, an old man, just get me two jugs of good wine. That's better than anything else!"
Chen Changyuan smiled and replied:
"Okay, no problem! I'll bring you two pots of the best Shaodaozi tomorrow!"
"That's more like it!"
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