Chapter 20: Eating Meat Why didn’t he know she was so wild before?
When Yan Xue first heard about the black bear, she was really scared.
The black bear is a very dangerous animal in the forest area. The scar on Mr. Liu's face and the half missing ear were caused by the black bear.
Her mind raced through how she should save herself if she encountered a black bear in the wild, but then she felt something was wrong.
First of all, the temperature in the Changbai Mountain area is low in winter, so the black blind beetles have to hibernate, commonly known as "squatting in the warehouse", and will not come out until spring comes when all things grow.
It is just the beginning of March and the temperature has not yet reached zero degrees. Logically, the black bears should not come out so early.
Secondly, people are afraid of bears, but bears may not be afraid of people. There are many machines in the operation area and the noise is loud, so wild animals will basically choose to take a detour.
Therefore, when foresters go hiking in the mountains, in order to avoid danger, most of them choose forests near their work areas for this reason.
She was no longer in the vicinity of the work area, but in the forest farm's camp on the mountain. Unless the black bear was starving, how could it appear in a place full of human activities?
Yan Xue's body tensed slightly, but she quickly calmed down and turned to look at the source of the sound. She was not panicked, nor did she scream.
This surprised the visitor very much, and he pointed at her and said, "I'm talking to you, didn't you hear? There's a black blind man behind you."
Looking at his posture, especially his face, Yan Xue became even more certain that her guess was correct.
Because she had seen this person before, Yu Yongzhi, who got drunk and caused trouble on the wedding day.
Yu Yongzhi didn't drink too much today, but he was still unreliable. It was working hours, and he was waving a gun around here.
Yan Xue frowned and looked at the other person without saying anything.
But Yu Yongzhi still recognized her, and his expression, which had been a little playful, suddenly turned sour. "Are you the young wife that Qi guy married?"
He thought it was a family member of an employee who came here to scare them, but he didn't expect it to be Yan Xue.
He still remembers how he vomited that day and how he had a headache the next day. This woman must have known that he could drink and was deliberately forcing him to drink.
Yu Yongzhi moved the muzzle of his gun and pointed it at Yan Xue. "You're quite courageous, aren't you? I heard there were black bears and you didn't hide. Aren't you afraid of death?"
This time Yan Xue was really unhappy. "It's working time now, aren't you going to work?"
The words were meant to remind the other party, but she didn't expect Yu Yongzhi to be even more of a jerk than she thought. "Whether I go to work or not is none of your business!"
Not only did he not hold back at all, he even pretended to cock his gun, "I'm telling you, I'm going to fire the gun and shoot the black blind man. If you don't hide, I won't care if I hit you."
He even threatened Yan Xue that he would shoot her.
Yan Xue's eyes turned cold, and she was about to say something when someone moved faster than her and grabbed Yu Yongzhi's hand holding the gun.
"The first day you touched a gun, didn't anyone tell you not to point it at people?"
Qi Fang stood beside Yu Yongzhi at some point, his voice cold and his eyes even colder. Yu Yongzhi struggled hard for a few times, but the gun seemed to be held down by something huge and could not be moved at all.
This made Yu Yongzhi furious, "Let go of me! Believe it or not, I'll shoot you to death!"
"Use this gas/wooden cannon to shoot birds?" Qi Fang glanced at him with disdain.
Gas/wooden cannons are propelled by air, and their power is limited, far inferior to gun/powder/wooden cannons, so they can only be used to shoot birds.
Yu Yongzhi's voice was raised as he was suddenly hit in the sore spot. "What's wrong with Qi Mu Cang? Qi Mu Cang can still kill you! I have plenty of hunting cangs at home, I don't care about taking them!"
"The Qi/Wukang will not be opened on our own people, unless you are not one of us, but an enemy spy."
Qi Fang raised his eyes and pierced Yu Yongzhi with an extremely oppressive look.
He was a cold person who spoke little, and often gave people the impression that he was not very energetic. Yu Yongzhi never took him seriously and had never seen him so aggressive.
What's more, he mentioned enemy spies. Everyone knows how big the anti-spy movement was in the past few years. Even now, the fighting/wooden warehouse games played by children are still about catching spies.
Yu Yongzhi subconsciously took a half step back, and only then realized that his momentum had weakened. He glared at him and charged forward again, "Stop accusing me!"
"Could it be that you've never drunk a woman before, and you're unwilling to give in, so you want to take away the /wood warehouse to scare people?"
This time it was Yan Xue who spoke. She had already walked over and looked at him with a raised eyebrow, half-smile on her face. "Brother Yu, you can't stand losing. Does Director Yu know that?"
On one hand, there were enemy spies, and on the other hand, he couldn't afford to lose to a woman. Yu Yongzhi was choked for a moment.
And once Yan Xue mentioned Director Yu, Yu Yongzhi's feverish mind finally sobered up a bit. He hadn't drunk today, so he wasn't so drunk that he wouldn't be afraid of anyone.
Seeing this, Qi Fang used his skill to snatch the gas/wooden gun from his hand, took out the steel balls inside that served as bullets and dumped them on the ground.
After pouring it out, he threw the gun into Yu Yongzhi's arms without looking at him again, "Let's go."
These words were obviously addressed to Yan Xue, and there was still a chill in the tone.
Yan Xue wanted to say something, but seeing his unhappy expression, she swallowed her words for the time being.
It was the first time that Yan Xue saw Qi Fang so emotionally exposed, so she stood up for her and told her that it didn't matter if some things were said a little later.
The two hadn't walked far when they heard a "bang" sound behind them. It sounded like Yu Yongzhi had dropped his gun on the ground and kicked it. "What the hell is he pretending for? He doesn't even have a gun."
Qi Fang didn't even blink, but Yan Xue couldn't help but ask, "Why did he want to play with the gun again?"
"I want to transfer to the Security Department." Qi Fang said in a calm voice.
Yan Xue understood immediately. Yu Yongzhi drank too much and made mistakes, and was caught by his superiors. He would no longer be able to work as a chainsaw operator or tractor driver with better pay.
The only ones left in the logging team who earned more money were left with the hard work of carrying large logs, and they had to do it by lifting a heavy pole.
The head pole is at the front, responsible not only for watching the road but also for calling out commands to tell everyone when to lift and when to put down the pole. This is a job that requires both experience and steady hands. Even the slightest mistake can easily injure the pole bearer, as a single piece of wood weighs over a thousand pounds.
He is a person who is neither stable nor able to endure hardship. Instead of wasting time in the mountains, it would be better for him to transfer to the security department, where he has more flexible time and can make extra money.
Or it would be more accurate to say that it makes it easier for him to drink. Alcoholics usually find it difficult to break the habit, and even if they become sick and bedridden, they will continue drinking even if they risk their lives.
Yan Xue didn't mention Yu Yongzhi again, but she stopped walking.
Seeing Qi Fang looking over, she smiled and said, "Actually, I came up here with Aunt Liu today. She went to ask when you guys stopped to eat."
Qi Fang immediately reacted, "Are you waiting for someone here?"
"Well, I went up the mountain with Grandpa Liu to hunt some roe deer, and Aunt Liu and I came to bring you some food."
"Did you follow Grandpa Liu to the mountains to hunt?" Qi Fang paused again.
"It wasn't really hunting. I just went up the mountain to set a few traps. When I was setting them, I happened to run into a group of roe deer."
Yan Xue said it lightly, but Qi Fang still looked up at her again.
Last time he was away for a few days, she not only lived like a duck in water, but also made her first pot of gold. This time it was even better, she went straight up the mountain to get a condom...
How come he didn't know she was so wild before?
Or is it that she is too adaptable and has adapted to local customs, or is it that she is originally bound by the prosperous and exquisite shell of Yanjing?
At this time, Huang Fengying rushed back and didn't see Yan Xueren. She looked around in confusion.
"Auntie Liu!" Yan Xue waved at her hurriedly.
Huang Fengying then hurried over and said, "I asked, and they will need at least another half an hour."
Then he saw Qi Fang next to him, "Xiao Qi is here too."
"Master Hu's chainsaw is broken, so I'm going to get a curved-handle saw." Qi Fang explained why he was here.
The curved-handle saw is a hand saw from the past, which is purely manual. In the past, when forest farms did not have chainsaws, they relied on it to cut wood.
"Then go quickly and don't delay anything." Huang Fengying urged him.
He didn't leave in a hurry. Instead, he took off his gloves, fished out a bunch of keys from his inner pocket and gave them to Yan Xue. "You and Auntie go to my dormitory and wait."
When Yan Xue came to the cellar where Qi Fang lived again, her mood was different from last time. She could even recognize which things belonged to Qi Fang at a glance.
Huang Fengying was more familiar with this place than she was. She quickly dug out the dirty clothes that Liu Weiguo and Liu Daniu had piled up together, and went to get a basin. "You sit here, I'll go help them wash their clothes."
He frowned as he spoke, "It's only been a few days since I went up the mountain, and I can already iron my pants."
"I'll go with you." Yan Xue then remembered that she had agreed to take care of all the housework, and went to find Qi Fang's dirty clothes.
After searching for a long time, she couldn't tell which piece of clothing was dirty.
Not only were the things not dirty, but they were also folded very neatly. Huang Fengying laughed when she saw it. "I was just about to say you don't need to wash, Xiao Qi has already washed it himself. He used to be like this when he lived in my house. No matter how tired he was at get off work or how late he got off work, he had to take a shower and wash his clothes. I even doubted whether he could sleep at night."
Yan Xue thought for a moment and said, "He seems to go to bed very late and get up very early every day."
"Isn't it? This is because the days are short now. In the summer when the days are long, I just get up in the morning and his water tank is full."
There is no running water in the forest farm, so we have to fetch water from a nearby river. It takes quite a while to fill a tank.
Yan Xue calculated, "Can he sleep for a full six hours a day?"
"You ask me, who should I ask? I don't sleep in the same bed with him."
Huang Fengying made a joke, but the car sped off so suddenly that Yan Xue was a little slow to react.
However, after get off work at noon, when everyone else in the dormitory came back to get their lunch boxes and go to the cafeteria to eat, Yan Xue finally got to see what real racing was like.
There are only men on the mountain, and most of them have little education. They don’t brag or talk about women. Can they talk about poetry and songs and the philosophy of life?
Several lumberjacks came in from outside, talking and laughing loudly. When they saw Yan Xue, one of them immediately winked at Qi Fang and said, "It's only been a few days since we went up the mountain, and your wife misses you already. Didn't she spend enough time with you during the New Year?"
Those who understand will understand what it means to miss someone and what it means to accompany someone.
Someone immediately laughed and said, "Isn't that nonsense? They are young, how can they afford it during the New Year holidays?"
Someone else teased the person who spoke first, "I don't think so. Do you think everyone is as fierce and vigorous as your wife's age?"
Compared to Qi Fang, a young man who had just arrived and had a cold personality, everyone was obviously more familiar with him. When they heard this, they all burst into laughter.
Qi Fang listened and couldn't help but frowned, and glanced towards Yan Xue.
Liu Weiguo knew his temper and immediately laughed it off. "Aren't you hungry? Why are you standing here talking? My mom brought me some delicious food today."
When they heard there was something delicious, everyone calmed down a lot. "What did your mom bring you? Take it out and have a look."
"Wait for me to heat it up in the cafeteria, it's all cold."
Liu Weiguo picked up the lunch box, and when the others saw it, they also prepared to go to the cafeteria to eat.
Just as they were leaving, the man who started racing turned back to look at Qi Fang and Yan Xue and said, "Do you want us to come back later? Is this enough time for you two to eat?"
The man started laughing before he even finished speaking, and the others also had teasing expressions on their faces.
Yan Xue smiled even sweeter than them. "Then could you please help close the door? Thank you."
The young girl's eyes and eyebrows were curved, and it was impossible to tell whether she was saying anything rude, let alone being embarrassed.
The man's eyes widened, but Liu Weiguo had seen Yan Xue get a grown man drunk without blinking, so he was not surprised at all, but amused instead.
He put his arm around her neck and said, "I told you not to mess with her when you have nothing to do. Don't look at Qi Fang's wife as delicate and petite, she is even harder to mess with than him. Don't disbelieve it."
"No, how old is she?" The other party really didn't believe it, and kept looking back as he walked out.
Then he heard Yan Xue's voice with a smile on her face, seemingly softly but clearly saying to Qi Fang: "Write down who was there just now, and don't give them the food I bring later." He couldn't help but said, "He didn't give us the food you brought before."
God knows Qi Fang was the most miserable and pitiful person in the dormitory before. He had to mend his own clothes, and no one sent him food or drinks. How come he had a new wife when he went home for the New Year?
I heard that he was very handsome, so I brought him a lot of food. Every time it was time for dinner, he would scoop a spoonful of the meat sauce into the lunch box and heat it on the stove. As soon as he opened it, the oily food smelled so delicious.
It's just that Qi Fang is too stingy. If you tell him you want to try it, he will give you some, but if you want more, he will refuse to give you anything else.
He would rather spend his food coupons to treat you to a meal in the canteen than let you eat his wife.
Yan Xue hadn't expected this. Although she didn't ask in front of others, she looked at Qi Fang after they left and asked, "You really didn't give them any?"
"We broke up." Qi Fang didn't feel guilty at all. It was still a break even if it was a little break.
Yan Xue said that he didn't seem like a stingy person, and she thought the man was just joking. "Are you going to eat here or in the cafeteria?" He took out two lunch boxes from his backpack.
Qi Fang took it and placed it directly on the stove. "Eat here. I'll get two more dishes."
He couldn't explain why, but he just didn't want to share the things she gave him with others.
Maybe others have gotten too many things, but for him, this is the first time, at least in recent years.
Qi Fang went to the cafeteria to get food and was inevitably teased by others, but he didn't care. After getting his food, he went straight back to the dormitory.
The thinly sliced stir-fry had already begun to ooze with oil, and Yan Xue was fiddling with it with her chopsticks. "Let's eat this first. The braised short ribs need a while to heat through."
When she lowers her eyes, her long eyelashes curve downward at the end of her eyes, giving people a sense of calmness and peace.
She seemed to have always been like this. No matter how difficult the conditions in the forest farm were, she never complained. Instead, she found things to do for herself and was busy every day.
If Yan Xue was not the only one who could come to the forest farm to marry him, he would sometimes doubt whether she was the same person he remembered.
Qi Fang said "hmm" and was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Have you finished signing up for the family team?"
This man rarely initiates conversations. Yan Xue glanced at him and said, "I've already reported it. I reported it on the eighth day of the Lunar New Year. Captain Lin told me to wait for news at home."
Having said that, it seems like there is nothing more to say.
After all, Qi Fang is not a talkative person, and Yan Xue doesn't like to talk for no reason. Their diplomatic skills are purely forced out by life.
Fortunately, the stir-fried pork was ready at this time. Yan Xue picked up a few pieces with chopsticks and put them into Qi's lunch box, then went to look at the braised pork ribs.
The braised short ribs are filled with plenty of ingredients, and the golden color alone makes people very hungry. Once heated, the sauce made of sugar and soy sauce sizzles out, and the aroma of meat wafts everywhere.
Qi Fang took it and picked it up himself, but instead put two chopsticks of meat into her lunch box.
This obviously meant that he wanted her to eat too. Yan Xue didn't argue with him. Just as she lowered her head and took a mouthful of rice, she heard the man say calmly, "Don't go to dangerous places anymore in the future."
Is this because he cares about her, or does he simply not want her to run around?
Yan Xue raised her eyes, but the man didn't look at her, and kept his eyes half closed.
She thought it should be the former, and didn't want to give him a perfunctory response. She thought carefully for a moment and said, "I'll try my best."
In this forest environment, she couldn't tell where was dangerous and where was safe, and it was even more impossible for her not to go up the mountain.
This made the man look up at her. The air was quiet for a moment. At this moment, Huang Fengying came back after washing clothes. "It's really hard to wash clothes here."
Yan Xue immediately stood up and offered her a seat. "We are having dinner. Auntie, please sit down and have something to eat."
"No, I'll eat two meals at home." Huang Fengying waved her hand, and as if she had endless worries, she went to tidy up the beds of the father and son again.
Qi Fang just glanced at Yan Xue and said nothing more.
There was no internal combustion engine to use on the way back, so Yan Xue and Huang Fengying walked back, and it took them two hours to get there.
At this time, Yan Xue was very glad that she had chosen to go up the mountain with Brother Liang. Although Brother Liang was a little difficult to talk to, it was better than running around and still not finding the place.
As soon as I sat down, Aunt Guo came over with a gray rabbit in her hand. "Liu Daniu's father came over just now and asked me to give this to you, saying it was you who set the trap."
"I set the condom?" Yan Xue was really surprised.
She thought that all her condoms were lost, but she didn't expect that the old man would get something when he went up the mountain today.
The Guo family's little grandson followed behind Aunt Guo, his eyes shining with curiosity. Yan Xue couldn't help but tease him, "Tiedan, do you want to eat rabbit meat?"
"I don't want to." The little guy actually shook his head seriously, "The rabbit belongs to my sister, and I'll eat it." His expression was very serious.
Their generational hierarchy is quite confusing. Yan Xue calls the child grandma "Auntie" and the child's father "Brother", but the child insists on calling her "Sister".
Aunt Guo was very satisfied with her grandson's understanding. She patted his head and took out a letter. "I sent it this morning. You weren't at home, so I kept it for you."
Yan Xue guessed that it must have been sent from her hometown, so she hurriedly thanked the other party. When she received it, she saw that it was indeed the case.
Looking at the surface of the letter, one couldn't tell anything. One could only feel that the handwriting was very neat, not very pretty, but very neat. When Yan Xue saw the content inside, she couldn't help but laugh.
It turned out to be Yan Jigang's own handwriting, with several mistakes in it, and for some he simply used the pinyin she taught him instead because he really couldn't write. To be honest, it looked a bit laborious, but Yan Xue was relieved that at least Jigang hadn't neglected the lessons she taught him and had used them to write to her.
She went to the drawer to find a pen, circled the typos, and wrote the correct ones next to them.
She wrote the pinyin and added the corresponding characters, and decided to send this letter back when she got a reply, as if it were marking Jigang's homework.
After she had made all the revisions, she read it again carefully.
The letter said that the hundred yuan had been used to pay off the team's debt, that everything was fine at home, and that he and his grandmother were both doing well. He told her to live well here and not to worry or be anxious.
She didn't know if he and grandma were really close. They were so far away that she couldn't reach them.
Yan Xue picked up her pen to write a reply, but after thinking for a moment, she went outside to get a piece of frozen roe deer meat.
The food in my hometown in the countryside is still too bad, especially for Jigang and his grandmother, one is younger and the other is older. Although fresh meat is not available, maybe it can be made into dried meat.
Yan Xue remembered that in her previous life, there was a kind of particularly dry beef jerky that had almost no moisture in it and would not go bad even if left outside.
But she was not very clear about how to make it specifically, so she could only try various methods to see whether it was fried in oil, baked in a pan, or roasted over fire.
She picked out a larger piece of roe deer meat, cut it into long strips as thick as her little finger, and marinated them with seasoning. The next morning after breakfast, she began to try them one by one.
Although deep-frying can make it crispy, it is too greasy, especially after it cools down.
It is difficult to control the temperature when baking with fire, and the food may become burnt before it is dried.
If you bake it in a wok, as long as you control the heat not to be too high, it will turn out just right, just like roasting peanuts.
Yan Xue took a bite and found that the roe deer meat was already a bit crispy. She couldn’t taste much at first because it was too dry, but the more she chewed, the more fragrant it became.
She took one of each and went out to find Tiedaner who was playing in the yard, "Help your sister taste which one is more delicious."
When she heard that he was helping her taste it, Tiedaner didn't refuse like last time. Her eyes lit up almost as soon as she took the first bite, "Delicious!"
I tasted the second one and it was another bright flash, “Delicious!”
After tasting the third one, his eyes lit up like light bulbs, "This one is delicious too!"
After much hesitation, the little hand finally pointed to the third one and said, "This one, grandma said there's not enough oil, so don't put more."
These days, people still have too little food in their stomachs. Sometimes when cooking something, they only dip the tip of their chopsticks in it.
"Then the third one," Yan Xue gave him all three pieces of jerky, "thank you for your help."
Tiedan'er smiled brightly, holding the dried meat and wanting to put it in his pocket. After gesturing for a few times, he remembered something and ran back to the house, "Grandma, I'll give you something delicious to try!"
Yan Xue made about two kilograms of dried roe deer meat, and then put the reply letter into the mailbox. The package had to wait for the postman to come and take it to the town to be mailed.
After delivering the letter, I was about to walk back when two middle-aged women wrapped in scarves came to mail a letter, talking as they walked.
"What's going on this year? The family members are starting to go up the mountain so early?"
"Who knew? Spring has long necks this year. I thought it would be late, but he came to inform me the day before yesterday. My daughter-in-law is still at her parents' home and hasn't come back yet."
"Then you better hurry up. This delay will cost you a lot of money..."
Yan Xue walked over, then turned back and said, "Hello, Auntie. Are you talking about the seasonal workers in the family team?"
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