Chapter 94: Hunting in the Mountains
Just two days after we persuaded these educated youth to leave, news came out that the health station needed an accountant who would be responsible for registering patient information and collecting payments.
In order to get this accounting quota, the old educated youth in the Youth House tried all kinds of ways. Some said they wanted to hold an open examination for selection, some secretly went to Wu Yongbing and the old party secretary to get backdoors, some tried to curry favor with other members to help canvass for votes, and a few male educated youth even nearly got into a fight in the Youth House.
However, it was not only the educated youth who wanted to be accountants. There were also many villagers in the village who were interested in this position.
After all, being an accountant is a stable and easy job. One does not have to work hard outside under the scorching sun. One can just sit inside and fill out forms and do the math and you are done for the job. Not only can one earn six fixed work points every day, but one can also receive an extra subsidy of five yuan every month. Many people are scrambling to do such a job.
Therefore, anyone who had been to school and had a little knowledge of math would try their best to get this position.
Ye Qing could see that where there are people, there is struggle. The position of accountant in the health station may seem insignificant, but to the villagers and the old educated youth, it is definitely a popular position and many people are flocking to it.
Fortunately, Ye Qing had become a hands-off manager early on, leaving the accounting work to Wu Yongbing. Otherwise, if those old educated youth came to ask her for help, she would definitely be in a lot of trouble.
Fearing that those people might find her, Ye Qing even specifically announced to the outside world that this matter was not her responsibility and that she was only responsible for treating patients and training apprentices.
Because Ye Qing expressed his stance, the educated youth and villagers from Kaoshantun who wanted to join the group turned their attention to Wu Yongbing and the old party secretary, leaving Ye Qing with a lot of peace of mind.
As the village was arguing over this matter, Wu Yueying, who had been married for more than half a month and had not returned to her parents' home once, unexpectedly returned to Kaoshan Village for the first time.
As soon as she returned to her parents' home, Wu Yueying showed all kinds of courtesy to Wu Yongbing. First, she lowered her posture and cried and apologized to her father for the mess she had done in the past. Then she began to show weakness and complain, saying that since she married Xia Hangyi, she had a very hard life in the family area of the military farm. Xia Hangyi only gave her five yuan a month for living expenses. She could only eat the worst meals in the cafeteria every day. The neighbors around her laughed at her. She had no outstanding education and skills, and couldn't even find a job. What she meant was that she hoped her father would give her the position of accountant.
It's a pity that Wu Yongbing is very principled when it comes to the development of Kaoshantun. No matter how Wu Yueying cries and begs for mercy, Wu Yongbing remains indifferent.
In Wu Yongbing's opinion, this marriage was forced by Wu Yueying, so it was normal for the son-in-law to be unhappy. Moreover, even if he had some resentment, Xia Hangyi did not let his daughter fend for herself. He also gave her five yuan a month as living expenses. In Kaoshantun, if a spendthrift woman was lazy and gluttonous and still could not spend five yuan a month, she would probably be scolded by gossip and unable to raise her head.
So he did not sympathize with Wu Yueying at all. Instead, he taught Wu Yueying to be content with her life and if she felt that the money given by her son-in-law was too little, she should go to the army farm to earn food.
There are many volunteers in the army farm who reclaim wasteland to support construction. These people are different from the troops who come to support the construction. They do not receive subsidies and simply rely on farm work to earn a living.
Wu Yongbing was extremely disappointed with this lady. If Wu Yueying could completely reform herself, calm down, and support herself through hard work, then Wu Yongbing would probably think more highly of her. Maybe she wouldn't even have to cry for him, and Wu Yongbing would take the initiative to make plans for this lady.
It’s a pity that with Wu Yueying’s scheming and intelligence, she couldn’t comprehend this level at all, otherwise she wouldn’t have made so many stupid moves after her rebirth and ruined a good hand of cards.
Not to mention that Wu Yongbing and this young lady had already had a rift, even before the relationship between father and daughter broke down, Wu Yongbing would not have given such an important job to Wu Yueying.
The accountant of the health station needs someone who is really good at accounting and has good character, but Wu Yongbing knows his daughter's background better than anyone else. Wu Yueying has been terrible at accounting since she was a child. She is selfish, impetuous and irresponsible. If the health station's accounts are really handed over to her, it will probably become a mess in no time. She may even secretly take advantage of it to fill her own pocket.
If that were to happen, not only would he lose his position as the captain of Kaoshantun, his entire family would be stabbed in the back.
Therefore, Wu Yongbing rejected Wu Yueying's request very decisively, and the reasons he gave made it completely impossible for Wu Yueying to refute.
Because Wu Yueying had already married and was no longer a member of Kaoshantun, she had no right to participate in any affairs of Kaoshantun, otherwise other people in the village would raise objections and raise doubts.
Wu Yueying tried her best to persuade Wu Yongbing for two days but failed. Finally, she left Kaoshantun in a rage and vowed that she would never come back.
But her threats no longer had any effect on the Wu family. Wu Yongbing even hoped that the young lady would never come back. After all, he had already publicly announced in the village that he would sever all ties and contacts with the young lady. If it weren't for Professor Qiao's face, Wu Yueying wouldn't even be able to enter the Wu family.
All parties were vying for the victory, but none of them were satisfied with the outcome. In the end, for some unknown reason, Li Yunbo ended up winning.
According to the unanimous statement of the production team cadres, Li Yunbo's health has not recovered since the last surgery for a ruptured spleen. The hospital asked him to recuperate slowly for half a year. It is estimated that he may not be able to do physical work even by the beginning of next spring.
Moreover, Li Yunbo has a good academic background. In the two major commune examinations last year and this year, his math scores were among the best, so he is the most suitable person to be the accountant of the health station.
Li Yunbo was stunned when he was hit by such a huge pancake.
In order to prepare for the last commune exam, he was discharged from the hospital early and returned to Kaoshantun to review. Unfortunately, due to his poor health, he failed the exam again and only ranked fourth this time.
This made him discouraged and depressed. Even when the people in the village were arguing over the issue of the health station accountant, he was completely out of his mind and had no intention of getting involved. He just regarded himself as an outsider watching the show.
He never expected that this time, without him trying so hard to fight for it, the opportunity fell on him instead. When he heard Wu Yongbing announce that he would be in charge of the accounting registration of the health station, Li Yunbo almost thought he had heard it wrong.
However, only a fool would refuse such a good job. Li Yunbo accepted it without hesitation and soon became proficient in the job.
Of course, the others who didn't get the job were furious and uttered all kinds of sour words, but Li Yunbo turned a deaf ear to them and didn't care at all. Instead, he made those people who were sarcastic behind the scenes very angry.
Just when the Yazi River froze and the children began to plan to make ice sleds and skate on the river, Hang Tingfang came to Kaoshantun again.
This time she didn't bring anyone with her. She came alone. When she arrived at the health station, she saw Ye Qing treating a patient, but she didn't rush to disturb him. Instead, she took out her camera and took a few photos. When Ye Qing looked at her, she nodded slightly and then went to wander around somewhere else.
After Ye Qing finished his work at the health station and Hang Tingfang finished his walk around, the two of them sat down and talked seriously about the Women's Newspaper that they had mentioned last time.
Hang Tingfang directly took out a review document with the official seal and handed it to Ye Qing:
"I have resigned from Jicheng Daily. The application for the Women's Newspaper has come in. I will be the editor-in-chief. In order to get the approval, I signed a military warrant with the higher-ups. Within three years, we will fully promote the Women's Newspaper and make it one of the top ten influential newspapers in the country. If we fail to meet the requirements, our newspaper will have to be discontinued."
Ye Qing was very surprised.
She really didn't expect that Hang Tingfang would be so fast. Less than two months had passed since the last time he came down for an interview, but he had already obtained the approval documents for the newspapers and magazines.
Hang Tingfang did not beat around the bush with Ye Qing and directly told him the purpose of her visit:
"The purpose of the Women's Newspaper is to focus on women's physical health and liberate women's thoughts, so I plan to open two columns on the newspaper's supplement. One column will temporarily publish your novel, and the other column will be dedicated to popularizing knowledge about women's health. Let's see how readers react. What do you think?"
Ye Qing certainly had no objection and was even happy to contribute to the newspaper.
However, what Ye Qing was more curious about was the promotion of the "Women's Newspaper". You have to know that this era is not like a few decades later when everyone has a mobile phone, there are no various display screens on the streets, and there are no ubiquitous online promotion channels. Relying solely on a few scattered post offices and word of mouth, the speed of dissemination is relatively slow.
If a new newspaper, especially one aimed specifically at women, is not eye-catching enough, it is likely that it will not make any splash even after three years, let alone another three years.
She couldn't help but ask Hang Tingfang this question.
Hang Tingfang was also troubled by this. In order to produce this women's publication, she resolutely resigned from the Jicheng Daily. She did not leave herself any way out. But when she really started to support such a big stall by herself, she realized how difficult each and every step was.
Ye Qing couldn't help but think of the promotional lecture she had mentioned before to Director Ma from the neighboring military farm. Last time, Director Ma asked her to find a few other people to sit down and talk with her, but since then Ye Qing has been busy with work in the health station and has not bothered to go up to see Director Ma. Now that Hang Tingfang has taken the initiative to come to her, Ye Qing thinks that this may be the best opportunity for promotion.
Ye Qing couldn't help but mention to Hang Tingfang her mention of cooperating with the Women's Federation to hold women's health promotion lectures on the farm.
Hang Tingfang suddenly sat up straight, staring at Ye Qing with wide eyes. After thinking for a while, she couldn't help but give Ye Qing a thumbs up.
"This is a good idea! Most of the content of the Women's Newspaper is closely related to the work of the Women's Federation. If we can use the Women's Federation's publicity channels, it will also be a good promotion for our newspaper!"
It just so happened that during this period of time, Meng Jia had slowly compiled dozens of articles on women's health. Ye Qing had originally planned to find Director Ma to discuss the health lecture, but now that Hang Tingfang had arrived, Ye Qing did not delay and immediately took Hang Tingfang to the farm to find someone.
Hang Tingfang was worthy of being the deputy editor-in-chief of a major newspaper. After meeting Director Ma, she easily took the lead with her full aura.
Director Ma has been working in women's affairs for many years and has extensive experience. She knows all too well the plight of rural women. So when Hang Tingfang said she wanted to promote the Women's Newspaper on the farm, she agreed without hesitation.
According to Hang Tingfang's plan, the first printing of the newspaper is scheduled for the end of January, which will be the Chinese New Year. The reclamation of the barren hills and farmland on the farm will also come to an end, which is a good time for all members of the Construction Corps to rest and recuperate.
By that time, when the lectures were held on the farm, it was estimated that there would be seven or eight thousand free female comrades, which was not a small number. Even if only half of them came, it would be enough to accommodate the entire farm's auditorium.
Hang Tingfang is already eager to see the success of this promotional lecture. After all, Qingshan Farm is only the first pilot site. She needs to try out whether this promotional method can achieve the expected effect before deciding what to do next.
Therefore, Hang Tingfang did not stay in Qingshan Town for too long. After getting the manuscripts from Ye Qing and Meng Jia, she hurried back to Jicheng. She wanted to go back as soon as possible to prepare for the first printing of the "Women's Newspaper".
Ye Qing has completed two-thirds of the main plot of "Beginning of Autumn". After the power supply was connected to Kaoshantun, she would spend two or three hours every night to finish the manuscript. Therefore, not only is "Beginning of Autumn" nearing the final stage, she has even written more than a dozen unit stories for "Adventures of the Smart Family".
When Hang Tingfang left, she not only took away her "Beginning of Autumn", but also took away "The Adventures of the Wisdom Family", saying that she would find a publishing house for it after returning to Jicheng.
Not long after Hang Tingfang left, the Yazi River was completely frozen. The thick layer of ice made the children very happy. They excitedly pulled their ice sleds onto the river and invited Ye Qing to go ice skating with them, but Ye Qing flatly refused.
After one or two months of desensitization treatment, Ye Qing has basically adapted to the cold winter in the Great Northern Wilderness and is no longer so afraid of and resistant to ice and snow. However, this does not mean that she is very happy and enjoys this world of ice and snow.
So when Meng Jia, Gu Weinan and the others went out to have fun, Ye Qing stayed at home obediently to take care of the kids. She politely declined anyone who tried to persuade her to go out, saying that she had a bad heart and would easily get sick if she did such strenuous exercise in winter.
According to the medical examination report from Shencheng Hospital, Ye Qing has always claimed that she has congenital heart disease, but in fact, after her supernatural power was upgraded to level three, she had already secretly healed the damaged part of her heart.
But it was not convenient to talk about this matter openly, so she found an excuse, saying that she had figured out a prescription for the disease. She started recuperating at the age of sixteen, and by the time she reached adulthood at the age of eighteen, the heart problem would be solved.
When she first came to Kaoshantun, Ye Qing was indeed skinny and pale, looking like a malnourished little whelp. But after staying in Kaoshantun for a few months, not only did her complexion become rosy, but she also started to gain weight. What's more important is that when she first came, this girl was still a dwarf, but unexpectedly, in just three months, she had quietly grown several centimeters taller.
Of course, this is closely related to the fact that Ye Qing would occasionally stab himself with needles.
For most girls, their bone lines start to close when they are fifteen or sixteen years old, and they will stop growing taller.
Ye Qing's body had not been well nourished in the early years and missed several critical growth periods. When Ye Qing traveled through time, he was less than 1.6 meters tall.
But Ye Qing didn't want her height to be fixed for the rest of her life, so every few days she would use flying needles to stimulate the bone line to prevent it from closing prematurely and to extend her growth timeline as much as possible.
After a few months, this method began to show results. At this rate of growth, she estimated that she would be able to grow to 1.68 meters or even 1.7 meters by next year or the year after.
Although in the Great Northern Wilderness, such a height is still not outstanding, but it has already caught up with the average level. Ye Qing is very satisfied with this and will not be overly demanding.
In early January, heavy snow fell again in Changbai Mountain. This time it snowed for three whole days. Not only the inside of the mountain, but also the foot of the mountain was covered in white snow.
It was at this time that the village began to organize its laborers to prepare to go into the mountains to hunt.
It is already the Ramsar month, and every family needs to store some meat for the New Year. This heavy snow came just in time, and many veteran hunters are eager to try, eager to rush to the snowy forest behind the mountain to fire the first shot of winter.
Ye Qing hadn't gone hunting for a long time since she got the hunting rifle given by Gu Weidong. Seeing the village organizing a large army to go into the mountains, she felt itchy and wanted to try her luck.
So she went to find Wu Yongbing and said she wanted to go too.
If other female educated youth asked to go into the mountains with him, Wu Yongbing would probably refuse without even thinking twice.
But when he thought of Ye Qing's heroic feat of hunting down five adult wild boars alone, and her skillful and calm manner in controlling a pack of coyotes in the mountains, Wu Yongbing was about to say no, but swallowed it back.
Not to mention her shooting skills, just looking at this girl's ability in close combat, there are probably not many people in the village who can match her. It is estimated that only the eldest son of the Gu family, Gu Weidong, can fight with this girl, and everyone else can only surrender.
So when Ye Qing proposed to follow the main force into the mountains, Wu Yongbing really couldn't refuse. And even if he refused, it would be useless because this girl could completely leave them behind and go into the mountains alone. After all, there were a group of coyotes in the mountains serving as her bodyguards. She could form a hunting team by herself without any help from anyone.
In fact, Ye Qing really thought so. If Wu Yongbing didn't take her to play, she really planned to find an opportunity to go into the mountains by herself. However, she was not as experienced in hunting as the old hunters in the village. After entering the mountains, she might encounter some unknown risks and troubles. That's why she wanted to follow the main force and learn from the experience of the old masters first.
On the Gu family's side, Gu Zhenxing and Yang Dazhi were definitely going to go, but when Gu Weinan saw that Ye Qing was going into the mountains, he also clamored to go with him.
Gu Weixi, who was already in the late stage of pregnancy, had a belly that swelled up like a balloon. Yang Dazhi was originally worried about leaving his mother-in-law and daughter-in-law alone at home, but when he saw that Gu Weinan insisted on going into the mountains with Ye Qing, he thought it would be inconvenient if Ye Qing was the only girl in the team, so he might as well let Gu Weinan go to accompany Ye Qing. So he simply gave the opportunity to go into the mountains to Gu Weinan.
There were also two male comrades from the Youth Corps Institute. They were both male educated youth who came to Kaoshantun to work in the countryside with Ye Qing this year. These two men did not have guns, and according to regulations they could only carry backpacks and luggage. After entering the mountains, they had to be responsible for the logistics of the large army, making fires, cooking, standing guard, carrying prey down the mountain, etc. But even so, these two male comrades were still very excited. It was obvious that this was their first year and they had never hunted in the mountains, so they were eager to broaden their horizons.
Before entering the mountains, Wu Yongbing convened a meeting of the troops, mainly to emphasize the safety issues of entering the mountains, how to deal with dangers, and what necessary items need to be prepared when entering the mountains.
Afterwards, most of the troops were ready to go, and amid everyone's eager anticipation, they stepped into the mountains, one step deep and one step shallow, through the accumulated snow.
The road ahead could not be seen clearly after the heavy snow blocked the mountain, so they could only rely on the old hunters to identify the direction. Ye Qing, Gu Weinan and the other two male educated youth followed quietly behind the main force.
As they walked, Gu Weinan told Ye Qing about the hunting scenes she and the villagers had gone into the mountains with in the past two years, such as what kind of prey they had hunted, what kind of dangers they had encountered, and how they had managed to escape danger. She then gloated and mocked Gu Weibei, saying that he had not had his winter vacation this year and could not catch up with the main force to go into the mountains to hunt, and that he would be angry to death when he came back.
Ye Qing listened carelessly, her main attention was on the spiritual energy all over the mountain.
Ever since her last ability upgrade, she had taken the opportunity to go into the mountains to collect herbs and pick wild berries, and had quietly absorbed all the spiritual energy in the mountains near the end of the village. Now was the best time for her to go deep into the mountains to absorb energy.
The benefit of upgrading her superpowers is that she no longer has to touch big trees to absorb these wood-related superpowers. As long as she is in this world, opens her body, and uses her body as a medium, she can quickly and silently gather and absorb these superpowers in a breath.
So although she was hurrying, she was actually also absorbing wood energy. Therefore, Ye Qing walked at a leisurely pace, making sure not to fall behind. Every time she walked a certain distance, she would stop for a while to make sure that wherever she went, she could use the supernatural power in the air.
The advantage of doing this is that she became more and more energetic as she walked, and she even wanted to run around the forest. She would run wherever the spiritual energy was strong. Even though the snow in some places was almost above her thighs, she didn't feel tired at all.
But others could not do it. Even Wu Yongbing and Gu Zhenxing, the experienced farmers who were usually very efficient at their work, were exhausted and panting after walking in the snowy fields deep in the mountains for more than an hour. White steam came out of their nostrils and they had to find a place to stop and rest.
As for the two male educated youth, they were full of enthusiasm when they first entered the mountains. However, after more than an hour's march through the snow, they were now as exhausted as eggplants hit by frost. Especially after hearing that it would take at least several more hours to get into the mountains, they were like struck by lightning and wanted to strike on the spot and go home.
At this moment, the two young men finally realized why the old educated youth in the Youth League Institute remained silent when they heard about going into the mountains to hunt. No one was interested in this large-scale collective activity held once a year, and only a few newcomers were eager to sign up. It turned out that the old educated youth had experienced the pain of going into the mountains to hunt in the dead of winter and were not willing to go through this hardship at all.
The two young men were regretting their decision, but it was too late. They had been in the mountain for more than an hour. Even if they wanted to back out, they dared not go down the mountain alone without someone to lead them. They were afraid of encountering wild beasts on the way, or accidentally stepping on empty air and falling into a ravine. By then, no one would be able to help them. That would be a real desperate situation.
After resting for a while, the group continued on their way. Not long after they walked, they heard a noise coming from the woods. Not long after, seven or eight coyotes appeared in everyone's sight.
No one expected so many wolves to suddenly appear in broad daylight. The group of veteran hunters immediately felt as if they were facing a powerful enemy. They immediately raised their rifles and opened the safety latches.
Ye Qing felt a headache when he saw this. Before these old hunters could open fire, he hurriedly shouted:
"Fellow villagers, please don't shoot. These coyotes have no ill intentions. They are coming for me!"
Wu Yongbing also recognized that these coyotes were the same ones that Ye Qing and Hao Shaofeng's group encountered when they entered the mountains a few months ago. Afraid that the old hunters in the village would not believe it, he quickly followed suit and said:
"Don't shoot! These coyotes are really here to look for Ye Zhiqing. She saved the life of the leader before, so these coyotes recognize her as their leader. They probably smelled her scent and followed her here!"
Wu Yongbing had barely finished speaking when a few coyotes over there howled a few times, then tucked their tails between their legs and came towards Ye Qing. The Mancang couple even circled around Ye Qing's legs several times, sniffing her scent, and looked around the road she came from, their eyes full of expectation and desire.
Ye Qing couldn't help but laugh. He couldn't help but stretch out his hand and pinch the necks of the two coyotes several times, then explained to them:
"No, the two kids are still too young. I'm afraid I won't be able to take care of them if they run into danger. Besides, the snow is too deep in the mountains. With their short legs, they can't even see their heads if they are buried in the snow. It's too inconvenient for them to move."
"But you two don't have to worry. The two cubs are very healthy. They have grown a lot in size after not seeing them for two months. I will bring them into the mountains to find you in the spring. I'm just afraid that by then you won't even recognize your own children."
Maybe they understood what Ye Qing said, or maybe they didn't smell the familiar scent of the two little kids around Ye Qing. After realizing that the two children did not come out with Ye Qing, the Mancang couple showed disappointment in their eyes.
However, after calling out a few times, the couple did not leave in a hurry. They just followed Ye Qing obediently, as if they wanted to be Ye Qing's bodyguards.
Ye Qing originally wanted to meet this group of coyotes when she went into the mountains this time, so she brought the whistle that Gu Weidong gave her with her. However, she was afraid that attracting the wolves all of a sudden would scare the villagers, so she did not rush to blow the whistle.
Her original plan was to wait until later, find a time to act alone, stay farther away, and then blow the whistle to call the Mancang couple. Unexpectedly, before she could take any action, the group of coyotes came to her first.
Ye Qing hasn't seen this group of coyotes for some time since the Mancang couple gave her two wolf cubs. Perhaps because they had a good meal before winter, these guys are much stronger than the last time Ye Qing saw them. It seems that they have stockpiled a lot of fat before winter.
Ye Qing was still worried that Mancang was seriously injured by the black bear last time and had sequelae, so when the black bear approached, he quietly probed the guy's abdomen.
As the leader of the coyote tribe, this guy is a bit arrogant. He felt a little embarrassed when Ye Qing touched his belly. However, his wife was watching him closely, as if she would show her claws if he didn't cooperate. He dared not say anything and could only let Ye Qing "act like a hooligan" on him.
Ye Qing felt around for a long time and confirmed that the guy was in good health before she felt relieved and continued to catch up with the main group. Seeing this, several coyotes followed her closely in front and behind.
The old hunters who were frightened by the coyotes in front and almost opened fire on the spot were all paying close attention to Ye Qing's movements. When they saw that Ye Qing got along very harmoniously with the coyotes and that the coyotes did not show any aggressiveness towards people, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"Ye Zhiqing, are the two wolf cubs you raised at home the children of this pair of coyotes?"
Immediately, a villager thought of the two coyotes in Ye Qing's house and couldn't help asking out of curiosity.
Ye Qing nodded and said, "Yes, this coyote couple gave birth to five children, three of which were male wolves. It happened that our village was building a health station at that time, so I asked them for two cubs to come back to guard the house."
Originally, the villagers in the village were worried that the two coyotes in Ye Qing's yard would be a hidden danger, but they didn't expect that in the past few months, the children's favorite thing to do was to go to Ye Qing's small yard to pet the wolves.
The two coyote cubs were also very smart. No matter how the children teased and played with them, they would not bite anyone. They got along well with the children in the village. However, after the health station opened, whenever someone from outside came to the end of the village to see a doctor, the two cubs would be more alert than anyone else and stare at them with their black eyes. If anyone dared to move, they would immediately rush forward to warn the other party. Even though their claws were not sharp enough and their fangs were not sharp enough, their bared teeth looked quite intimidating.
Previously, several villagers had been very dissatisfied with Ye Qing for raising wolves and had secretly gone to Wu Yongbing to complain about it. However, after seeing the performance of the coyotes at the health station during this period, no one raised any objections anymore.
No one is stupid. Ye Qing did not spend any food from the production team to raise the coyotes. She paid for it all out of her own pocket. But the two coyote cubs she raised and the property used to protect the health station are the common property of the entire Kaoshan Village. So everyone knows who is suffering the loss.
A group of veteran hunters couldn't help but admire and marvel at Ye Qing's intimate interaction with the coyote. No one had expected that someone could actually tame the wild and unruly coyotes in the mountains. They had lived at the foot of Mount Changbai for most of their lives, but this was the first time they had seen such an incredible thing.
Perhaps because they had never seen a coyote so docile, some veteran hunters were itching to touch it. When the coyotes passed by them, they would tentatively touch them.
As soon as the man stretched out his hand, the coyote seemed to have eyes on its back. It suddenly turned around and bit the man who stretched out his claws. If the man had not reacted quickly and retracted his hand in time, the bite would have bitten off half of his palm.
If Ye Qing hadn't been quick to stop the coyote from taking any further action, the coyote would have pounced towards the old hunter.
But the experience just now was enough to scare the old hunter into a cold sweat. Other old hunters who had the same idea also felt a chill in their hearts and immediately gave up their little thoughts.
At this moment, the group of people finally came to their senses and realized that the coyotes in front of them were not dogs. No matter how well-behaved and docile they were in front of Ye Qing, it was all a misleading illusion. They were still a group of brutal, irritable and powerful beasts, but they only retracted their ferocious fangs in front of Ye Qing.
The two male educated youth following behind were now trembling with fear, not daring to make a sound. Obviously, if the experienced hunter had not taken action earlier, they would have been the ones to be bitten.
After walking for more than three hours in the deep mountains, we finally arrived at the ranger's cabin.
The cabin was exactly where Ye Qing and his companions had taken a short rest when Mancang was seriously injured. After arriving at the cabin, a group of old hunters skillfully began to tidy up and repair the house. They cleared the thick snow on the roof, chopped down a lot of wood, reinforced the house, and started a fire inside.
Next, Wu Yongbing began to divide the work. This time, he organized more than 20 hunters to go into the mountains and divided them into four groups. Everyone hunted separately and then gathered at the cabin at night.
Ye Qing and Gu Weinan were assigned to Gu Zhenxing's group. There were two other uncles in their forties as well, who were obviously veterans who had been hunting in the mountains for many years.
At noon, everyone ate some dry food with hot water, and then prepared to set off.
The group split up and Gu Zhenxing led Ye Qing and a few others into the woods. The experienced hunters could tell what kind of animal it was by looking at some very shallow traces left on the snow. They were basically accurate in catching every one of them, and in less than half an hour, they had caught several rabbits and pheasants.
However, the veteran hunters had come into the mountains with great difficulty, of course, for large prey. No matter how many small prey they killed, the ones they brought back would not be enough to fill the gaps in the village’s food supply.
Just when a few people were preparing to move to another place to look for more, the group of coyotes that had been following Ye Qing's feet suddenly scattered.
Ye Qing was wondering in his heart, thinking that these coyotes were preparing to go back, but he heard a long howl in the forest. Not long after, a huge sika deer escaped from the forest not far away and ran straight towards the direction where Ye Qing and the others were.
Perhaps it didn't expect that there were hunters waiting in the direction of its escape, so the sika deer suddenly stepped on the brakes, slid forward in the snow for a long distance, and then turned around and ran back.
But it was too late now. Behind it, the majestic coyote king, with a group of younger brothers, was chasing and blocking it, and had already welded all its escape routes.
More than four hours later, it was getting dark, and the separated old hunters returned to the cabin one after another with their prey as agreed.
After a few hours, some groups had a rich harvest while some groups only caught a few preys sporadically. But since it was the first day, no matter how much or how little they caught, everyone was very happy after returning. They gathered in the cabin to make a fire and cook. They picked out a few preys to kill and prepared to cook a pot of meat for a good meal in the evening.
Wu Yongbing and the old branch secretary were just counting the prey they had brought back when Gu Weinan came running back from outside. As soon as he entered the room, he anxiously shouted at them:
"Uncle Wu, old Party Secretary, please quickly call a few people to follow me!"
Wu Yongbing was a little puzzled: "Where are you going? Where are your father and the others? It's already dark outside. If you stay outside any longer, you might get into danger!"
Gu Weinan scratched his head, not knowing how to explain:
"Well, you should take a few people to have a look."
Wu Yongbing and the old branch secretary looked at each other and decided to go over and take a look. They called seven or eight people to follow Gu Weinan, and the group went through many twists and turns and came to a forest. They saw Gu Zhenxing and his group waiting not far away, and the mountain of prey at their feet.
Everyone was dumbfounded.
Because there were six adult wild boars, several gazelles and a sturdy sika deer lying on the snow. In comparison, the remaining rabbits and pheasants nearby could be completely ignored.
Wu Yongbing's eyes were about to pop out of his head:
"Did you guys make these this afternoon?"
Who would dare to believe this? You have to know that the harvest of the other three groups combined is less than one-fifth of that of these people! The key point is that it was less than five hours. Are they here to hunt or to purchase goods?
Gu Zhenxing laughed so hard that he felt that this was somewhat magical:
"It didn't take much effort. We were mainly responsible for restocking our guns. Finding prey depended entirely on the coyotes led by Ye Zhiqing. These coyotes had a keen sense of smell. They not only helped us chase and intercept a sika deer and several gazelles, but they even found a wild boar den and drove out several wild boars from the den."
Wu Yongbing: ...
Everyone was stunned by Gu Zhenxing's words, and they all looked towards the group of coyotes behind Ye Qing, their gazes unconsciously becoming eager.
At this moment, everyone had only one idea.
Wow guys, coyotes can be used in this way! With such a group of helpers on the front line, are you worried about not being able to catch enough prey? I'm afraid you can catch a lot even with your eyes closed, right?
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