"Don't mention it. Mingjing has helped me a lot too. We should help each other out." Dong Li smiled, packed the leftovers into a plastic bag, and handed it to Sun Yunmei.
"Girl, these dishes haven't been touched. They're all good stuff. You should take them home and eat them. Otherwise, I'll have to throw them away if I can't finish them."
Unable to withstand Dong Li's onslaught, Sun Yunmei took two large bags of leftover food, threw them into the car, buttoned them up, and continued cleaning.
"Mingjing, I heard that your house is under construction?" Dong Li asked while packing his things.
"Yes, it's under construction. I told them to build the receiving station first. This has been dragging on for too long. Once it's built, I can do more business."
Mingjing busied herself wiping the table, her movements clean and efficient.
Just then, a few men came into the shop, looking disheveled, carrying a burlap sack in their hands, and it seemed that something was moving inside.
"Uncle Dong, the goods have arrived."
The man carried the sack and threw it into the store.
Dong Li stopped, untied the sack, and nodded. "It's quite big. Weigh it."
It weighs a total of sixty jin.
"Thirty yuan per jin, that's 1,800 yuan."
Xie Junan turned around, went to the counter, took out his money, counted out 1,800, and gave it to the man.
"What is it?" Mingjing asked curiously.
“Wild game, rabbits, pheasants, wild ducks, and before, wild boar and honey pots, but I haven’t seen them lately,” Xie Junan added.
"These things are hard to catch lately, so having this is already a good thing."
The man interrupted, counting his money.
"There are other things here too?" Mingjing asked curiously.
"It's on the mountain to the west. There are not only a lot of these things there, but also mushrooms, lingzhi, and the like," the man said, eyeing Mingjing with a lewd look.
"Alright, let's go," Xie Jun'an urged the two to leave.
"Ignore them, they're just a bunch of thugs who make a living by selling wild game."
Mingjing turned her head and glanced at the food on the table. She had been curious about it earlier, as the meat was quite tender. She hadn't expected it to be wild game, but the taste was indeed good.
"What is this?" Mingjing asked, pointing to the food that Dong Li had taken away.
"Oh, it's bamboo rat meat. These things are fatty and taste pretty good. We usually get a few every day," Dong Li said with a smile.
Mingjing suddenly felt like vomiting.
She found it hard to accept whether it was a rat or a bamboo rat.
"Big brother."
Dong Li's sister, Xia Wei, and her husband entered from outside.
"The banquet is over and you're only just arriving," Dong Li glanced at him and replied irritably.
"I was late coming back from a business meeting."
After Xia Wei finished speaking, a boy who was over 1.7 meters tall walked up and said, "You must be Sister Mingjing, right? You're so beautiful."
The speaker was Xia Wei's son, Chen Cheng, who was fifteen years old and over 1.7 meters tall, which was considered excellent genetics in the town.
"Mingjing, this is my cousin, Chen Cheng. He's in junior high school this year."
"Sister, I heard you're very lucky. There's no chance of going out to sea today. How about we go hunting in the mountains?" Chen Cheng said with a smile.
"hunt?"
"Hmm, there's everything on that mountain to the west. I've seen wild boars several times. I've heard that wild boar meat is delicious. I'd like to try it. If I can't hunt wild boars, I can try some rabbits instead."
His father, Chen An, tapped him on the head, saying, "You're so young, why are you not studying properly and all you want to do is play?"
“Dad, you know my grades are terrible. I just coast through school. After this semester, I’ll go to a vocational school. I’m going to enter society early and practice my skills.”
Mingjing smiled, thinking, "This kid has a good personality."
"Alright then, I was just thinking of going to take a look."
"Uncle, quickly get the hunting tools out. My sister and I are going up the mountain to take a look."
Mingjing remembered that she still had a few anesthetic needles in the system that she hadn't used yet, which would come in handy if she encountered a bear or a wild boar.
"They're all in the warehouse, go get them yourself," Dong Li said, shaking his head with a hint of helplessness.
"Mom and Dad, you two go back first after you're done packing. I'll go check over there," Mingjing instructed.
Ming Dahai didn't stop them, and rode his tricycle home with Sun Yunmei and her son.
If Mingliang hadn't needed to go back to study, he definitely would have gone with him.
Chen Cheng brought out a lot of trap tools from the warehouse, including shovels, daggers, animal traps, large nets, and a whole bunch of various broadswords.
"Is that all? Is it okay to use?"
Mingjing looked at the rusty broadsword and curled the corners of her mouth.
"These are all from the past. I haven't touched them for many years. I used to have that hunting rifle, but I've donated those too. The only thing I don't know is whether the animal trap I bought before the new year is new or not."
Dong Li carried the bowls and plates into the house.
"Jun'an, take me to the farm tool shop and get some new gadgets."
She could actually buy tools from a fishing tackle shop, but most of those tools are for fishing and are not very effective on land.
"Okay, I'll take you there."
Mingjing rode in Xie Jun'an's pickup truck to the farm implement shop.
"Mingjing, do you know how to hunt? Follow me and I'll protect you. Land fish and sea fish are not the same."
Mingjing remained silent, wondering if her luck was still at zero and whether she would encounter any big creatures while hunting.
"Mingjing, look, that's the mountain over there."
Xie Junan pointed to the mountains that were faintly visible in the clouds outside the window as he drove.
I've walked this route many times, but I've never come in this direction before. The mountains aren't high, but they stretch endlessly, almost encircling the entire town in a crescent shape.
After driving for more than ten minutes, Mingjing got out of the car and went to the farm tool shop.
The shop mainly sold farm tools, but there were also quite a few hunting items. Mingjing picked out five wooden baskets, three burlap sacks, and three shovels.
She took two bundles of nylon rope, and before leaving, Mingjing also took two boxes of matches.
When they got home, Chen An and his wife didn't go with their son. Instead, they let him go with Mingjing and Xie Jun'an to take a look.
The group arrived at the foot of the mountain by car.
"It's quite high," Mingjing said, looking up.
"Yes, it's over a hundred meters. Be careful going up the mountain; there might be vipers there," Xie Jun'an warned.
Vipers are the most venomous snakes in the world; a single drop of their venom can kill thousands of cattle, and a bite from one usually offers little chance of survival.
Upon hearing that there was a snake, Mingjing paused in her steps.
"Sister, don't be afraid, I brought realgar powder, it'll be fine." Chen Cheng patted his waist bag, which was bulging.
Mingjing nodded blankly.
It's not dead.
The group carried their tools and walked forward. The narrow path was a trail that people had made at the foot of the mountain. Wild grass grew lushly on both sides of the path, and various wildflowers bloomed along the way.
"Poachers and loggers often come here, and some people also come to pick mushrooms. Anyway, there are no snakes here."
Xie Junan walked ahead, signaling to Mingjing to relax.
The group stopped halfway up the mountain, surrounded by dense weeds.
"Just set a trap here, and we'll see something soon," Mingjing said, pointing to the area under the tree.
Next to it is a paper mulberry tree covered with red berries, and the fallen berries are paper mulberry seeds.
This thing looks like a virus, but it tastes sweet. It's a traditional Chinese medicine that cools the blood and removes blood stasis. It's very nourishing for people with weak blood and qi.
In addition, this fruit is attractive to rabbits, hedgehogs, and even wild boars, so there's no fear of not reaping a harvest if you leave it here.
Chen Cheng broke open the animal trap, placed it empty on the ground, and waited for his prey to take the bait.
The serrations on both sides of the animal trap are very sharp. As long as the prey triggers the mechanism, it will be firmly clamped. The force is so strong that it can even pierce a person's leg bone.
This is the most popular thing right now, and there's no policy regulation, so many people like to use it for hunting.
Mingjing felt that the chances of success were slim, so he picked up a shovel and walked a little further, intending to dig a trap to catch the wild boar, but unexpectedly saw the bushes moving.
"Could it be a snake?" Chen Cheng gripped the realgar powder at his waist and swallowed hard.
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