"A few hundred?" Du Jianshan snorted. "Do you think this is the Kuomintang era? Even the best leather needs a permit and approval before going through the supply and marketing cooperative. If you sell it privately and get caught, you'll be fined at best, and at worst—"
"Send them to a labor camp." Wang Tieniu clicked his tongue. "What a pity."
"Don't be sad. As long as we're alive, the best thing is to keep the clothes and supplies for ourselves."
After traversing mountains and valleys, the two finally arrived at the village entrance around noon.
From afar, people spotted what appeared to be a bear's head under the straw curtain covering the oxcart, and they immediately swarmed around it.
"Tie Niu! Jian Shan! What did you two catch?"
"Don't tell me it's a bear! My dog barked wildly half the night before!"
"Really? There are still bears these days?"
Wang Tieniu smugly lifted a corner of the straw curtain: "Open your eyes wide and watch carefully!"
"Oh my god! What a bear!"
"That leather is incredibly thick!"
"Look at those claws! They're like hammers! They could really kill someone in one swipe, right?"
"Tie Niu, are you alright?"
Wang Tieniu, hands on his hips, smugly declared, "Me? Injured? This little bear isn't even enough to fill my teeth! It's all thanks to Brother Shanzi's good idea; the moment the gun went off, the bear was knocked down!"
Du Jianshan jumped off the car, casually tied the reins to a jujube tree by the roadside, and glanced at the crowd: "Don't crowd around, everyone. We need to get rid of this meat quickly. Anyone who needs meat coupons, register them later."
"Brother Jianshan is right. Our village is short of supplies right now, so the meat can't go bad!"
"My elderly mother has been sick for a few days and just wants some meat soup!"
"I'll join the queue too, my third child is almost weaned."
Wang Tieniu scratched his head and said, "Alright, let's carry it into the kitchen first, and we'll discuss it later."
"Hey, don't rush, we need to get past the commune first!" A middle-aged man in a gray cloth coat squeezed forward; it was Tian Baoguo, the deputy leader of the production brigade. "You two hunted a bear, so you have to register first. Otherwise, if the higher-ups find out and say you're hunting illegally, our whole village will be in trouble!"
"Don't worry, Vice Captain." Du Jianshan said calmly, "We're fighting Xiren's bear. We have the reason, the witnesses, and the evidence. We're got everything we need."
"Hmm." Tian Baoguo nodded, then lowered his voice and said, "But that courage... you know, let's not let too many people see it. Old Zeng from the commune heard that someone killed a bear, and he's coming to investigate this noon."
"Alright." Du Jianshan nodded. "Tie Niu, first take the courage and claws to my earthen house and hide them. Let the hides dry, and cook the meat in a big pot to make soup, then store it in a jar."
"Alright!" Without saying a word, Wang Tieniu squatted down, picked up the bear gall, wrapped it in a rag, and quickly crawled into the mud-brick house behind.
Tian Baoguo leaned closer with a worried look: "You need to be careful with this. I heard that Lao Zeng doesn't get along with Station Chief Niu of the town's supply and marketing cooperative. A few days ago, he reported that Niu used connections to get badger pelts. They're keeping a close eye on things this time."
"Understood." Du Jianshan watched the crowd disperse before whispering, "Even if we send the hide, we won't send it to Station Chief Niu. Who believes he won't kill it? I have another way."
"You have connections?" Tian Baoguo frowned.
“My trip down the mountain wasn’t in vain,” Du Jianshan said with a raised eyebrow and a smile. “I took the Corps’ route.”
Tian Baoguo was startled and quickly pulled him aside: "You...you didn't really use connections in the military corps, did you?"
"We've got it covered, we've got a definite answer, and we're not allowed to leak it out for a month. Don't worry, as long as we don't make a fuss, our village will benefit."
"Thank you so much!" Tian Baoguo breathed a sigh of relief. "If our village really has this road, we can exchange badger pelts, pheasants, monkeys, roe deer... for grain coupons and salt!"
“So keep quiet.” Du Jianshan glanced at him. “Once I figure out a way, we’ll split it 30% for the public and the rest for the hunters. Nobody will have anything to say about that.”
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