"Uncle Du, can I learn this job too?" Wang Tieniu asked, his eyes gleaming.
Du Jianshan glanced at him, a smirk playing on his lips: "You? Wait until you can steady your hand before you talk. This gunpowder isn't a toy. Too much and it'll explode; too little and it won't fire. You think you can just stuff it in like rice noodles?"
"I can handle it!" Wang Tieniu said urgently. "When I was a kid, I fed chickens, and I could feed a whole basket of eggs without breaking a single one. My hands are very steady!"
"Ha!" Du Jianshan couldn't help but laugh. "Feeding chickens and loading guns are related? You should check how you're going to get here today first."
As he spoke, he looked up at the sky and then at the surrounding terrain. “We are now in this gully east of Laogua Ridge. If we turn north from this gully, we will reach Yangenwa. There is a spring there all year round, and there are many grasses and birds. Let’s try our luck there.”
"Don't wild boars also like to drink water in that area?" Wang Tieniu suddenly remembered.
“You remember correctly.” Du Jianshan nodded. “So be careful on the road. This thing is useless against wild boars. If a big one suddenly appears, climb a tree. Don’t try to be brave with me.”
"Don't worry, Uncle Du, I'm tough as nails and fast!"
"Run fast my ass—you still fell into the mud last time," Du Jianshan laughed and cursed, waving his hand. "Let's go!"
The two walked north along the forest path, the fallen leaves rustling along the way, the chirping of birds overhead, and the occasional rustling of branches in the distance.
After walking for about half an hour, Wang Tieniu suddenly pointed ahead and asked, "Uncle Du, look, what's that?"
Du Jianshan squinted and saw a small tuft of yellow hair swaying slightly beside a clump of low bushes not far ahead.
"Don't make a sound," he whispered, then slowly squatted down, raised the homemade gun with both hands, the cap already on, and aimed at the yellow shadow.
With a crisp "click," the flint cap ignited, and the black powder exploded instantly, sending a plume of white smoke billowing up.
The bushes rustled, and a pheasant flew out of the grass with a flapping sound. Its feathers were torn, and after a few flaps, it couldn't fly far and rolled directly into the grass pile in front of it.
"We hit it!" Wang Tieniu's eyes lit up, and he rushed over in a few steps to pick up the pheasant. "It's still steaming!"
Du Jianshan strolled up slowly, grinning, "Good eye. Today's only enough for the two of us to make a stewed chicken soup."
"Hehe, Uncle Du, your marksmanship is amazing, you can hit anything you aim for."
"Alright, stop flattering me." Du Jianshan took the pheasant, casually plucked a few blades of grass to wipe away the bloodstains, and said, "Let's keep going and see if there are any more nests nearby."
The two continued to explore, and after walking for a short while, they faintly heard a "humming" sound coming from under an old pine tree ahead.
Wang Tieniu stopped in his tracks instinctively: "Uncle Du, what was that sound?"
Du Jianshan immediately squatted down, squinted at that direction, and after a while whispered, "Wild boar cubs, three or four."
"Hey!" Wang Tieniu's eyes lit up. "If we can catch it, we'll make a fortune this time!"
"Don't be impulsive." Du Jianshan stopped him with one hand. "Look at that slope over there, the grass over there is moving strangely, there's some noise... and the sow is there too."
Wang Tieniu shuddered: "Then, what should we do?"
"Don't move yet, let me set a small trigger." Du Jianshan took out two cloth bags from his pocket, which contained detonating explosives. He gently pulled out a fuse and inserted it into the haystack.
He lit the fuse, and the two quickly stepped aside.
With a muffled thud, the wild boar piglets, startled, scattered and fled in all directions, their hooves clattering as they ran away.
Sure enough, the sow suddenly jumped out from behind the bushes, grunting loudly, and pounced on the source of the sound in the blink of an eye.
"Now!" Du Jianshan roared, waving his hand in the opposite direction. "Run! Don't look back!"
The two took off running, passing through a patch of thorns and turning into a narrow path.
When they finally caught their breath, they were already at the stream.
"I thought I was going to be stabbed to death..." Wang Tieniu slumped to the ground.
"If you're really scared out of your wits, it'll become a reality." Du Jianshan wiped the sweat from his forehead, raised his hand and put the cloth bag back on his back. "If we get the pheasant, that's enough. We won't be greedy. Let's go back."
"Hey, Uncle Du, what do you think? If we had two homemade guns, one for each of us, could we still shoot down a sow if we encountered one?"
“You think that thing can stop a fang? You could train for ten years and still not dare to get close.” Du Jianshan glared at him. “I advise you to give up on that idea. If you really want to catch a pig, you’ll have to rely on iron traps and big snares.”
"Then teach me how to set up traps!" Wang Tieniu leaned closer. "I want to learn the proper stuff from you, not just do menial tasks!"
“I’ll remember that,” Du Jianshan grinned. “When you get up earlier than me one day, I’ll teach you how to set traps.”
"Okay!" Wang Tieniu immediately agreed, "I'll get up at the first crow of the rooster tomorrow morning!"
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