"Just go ahead and sleep a little longer!"
Lin Heng pulled her down and held her in his arms and continued to sleep.
"You're so annoying! I'm just about to add some firewood to the fireplace!" Xiulan complained but did not move, letting Lin Heng hold her and continue to rest.
It was almost nine o'clock when Lin Heng finally woke up. He glanced at Xiulan in his arms and grinned, "Let's go, let's get up."
"You should have gotten up earlier." Xiulan pinched his face.
Lin Heng first added two new pieces of firewood to the fireplace, and then got dressed. Although there was coal, the temperature was not as high as that of burning firewood.
And because the window was ajar, the temperature was only about ten degrees without adding firewood, and only fifteen or sixteen degrees after adding firewood.
When I got up and got dressed, it was already white outside, but the snow was not thick, only about two or three fingers wide.
"Didn't you say we were going hunting when it snowed? You're not leaving today." Xiulan turned her head and looked at him.
"Let's do it tomorrow. I want to kill a sheep and make soup today." Lin Heng said after thinking for a while.
"Then let's go get some firewood into the house." Xiulan looked at him and said.
The two men first went to the woodshed in the back mountain to get some chopped firewood, and waited until the fireplace in the main room was lit before going out to exercise.
After milking the cows, Xiulan made a milk pancake in the morning. She mixed eggs, flour and milk, put oil in a frying pan, scooped out the mixed batter with a spoon and fried it until both sides were golden brown.
The children like this milk and egg pancake very much. Lin Heng can eat it too, but he doesn’t like it very much.
After breakfast, the snow outside was already very thick, and the children ran out to play in the snow happily.
Lin Heng was going to Hongfeng Mountain to kill a sheep. He had finished eating the mutton he had last time and now he wanted to eat more. He had to eat more mutton in the winter to nourish his body.
With a creak, the gate of the yard slammed open, and Lin Yue walked in from outside with a smile: "Brother, it's snowing, it's a good time to go hunting."
Snow is an excellent time for hunting because prey will be forced to come out to look for food in order to resist the cold, and the footprints will be clear and easier to track.
After a heavy snowfall, all smells disappear, making it easier for hunting dogs to track.
"Indeed, when are you planning to go?" Lin Heng looked at his elder brother and asked. As time went by, hunting became more and more difficult, and one had to cherish the opportunity to hunt.
"Let's see if my uncle and the others will come down today to explain the situation. If they don't, how about we go to Baishigou by ourselves tomorrow?" Lin Yue said.
"Okay." Lin Heng nodded in agreement.
He hasn't caught any big animals while hunting this year, so he will definitely seize the opportunity now that it snows.
"It's settled then. Let's go up the mountain tomorrow morning." Lin Yue said.
"Let's go and help kill the sheep. You can also get some to make mutton soup." Lin Heng looked at him and said.
Lin Yue pressed his shoulder and said, "Why kill it? Tomorrow we go hunting and we must get a big prey. Why do we need to kill our own sheep?"
Lin Heng laughed and said, "Brother, you are really making bold statements. Fine, I won't kill the sheep. I just hope you don't become silent in the middle and talk nonsense later."
It’s the same with hunting and fishing, you may be excited when you go out, but not necessarily when you return home.
Lin Yue waved his hands repeatedly: "That's impossible. This time when it snows, we will definitely be able to catch big prey. I feel like my skills have improved a lot."
After saying a few words, he went home. Lin Heng drank a sip of tea and looked at Xiulan: "We won't kill the sheep, so let's just have a simple meal of rice for lunch."
Xiulan looked at him and said, "It's okay not to kill, but the weather is cold and the roads are slippery. When you go hunting, don't forget your own safety in pursuit of prey. If you can't catch the prey, then you can't catch it. We still have sheep to kill and eat when we get home."
"I understand that." Lin Heng nodded.
Afterwards, he went to Hongfeng Mountain and brought Xiongba with him to deliver some milk to his parents. He also helped pull a cart of silage and a cart of hay to the cattle and sheep breeding pen on the second platform for storage.
After helping, Lin Heng took Xiongba for a stroll in the woods. Looking at the branches covered with snow, Xiongba stepped on the snow to create plum blossoms.
It had yellow fur except for its black back, with its tail curled high. When it was having fun, it would look back every few steps, always wanting to see Lin Heng smile from it.
If Lin Heng called out, it would run back happily, shaking its head. If it was stroked twice, it would rub against his legs affectionately and hold his feet with its two front paws.
Although he cannot speak, he is very psychic.
After strolling in the woods, snow fell on his shoulders and head. Xiongba shook off the snow from time to time, so that there was not a single snow on his body.
After strolling around for a while, he returned home to warm himself by the fire. He had a simple lunch of rice, two fried meat dishes and one vegetable, which made him very satisfied.
In the afternoon, Lin Heng played with the children at home. He repeated some of the small experiments he had done before, which still made the children curious and surprised. Painting and making clay sculptures were also very interesting.
Crunch! ! "Lin Heng, it's snowing, let's go hunting tomorrow!"
The door was pushed open and two middle-aged men walked in. They were Lin Heng's eldest uncle and third uncle.
"We're just waiting for you, uncle and third uncle. Once you come down, we'll set off tomorrow morning." Lin Heng said with a smile.
As he spoke, he poured them both a cup of piping hot black tea.
The two sat down in front of the fireplace, and Lu Honghai said, "That's fine. We must at least catch a wild boar this time."
"Get me two little wild boars and roast them to eat." Lin Heng said with a smile. He was not interested in the big wild boars, but the taste of the roasted little wild boars was beyond words.
Lu Honggang took a sip of tea and said with a smile: "Don't tell me, it's really possible this time. Wild boars reproduce very quickly, and the probability of encountering a baby wild boar is high."
Lin Heng nodded. Wild boars usually give birth in April and May. The largest one nowadays will not weigh more than 50 kilograms. After they are slaughtered, whether they are roasted or eaten in other ways, they are more delicious than big wild boars.
After chatting for a while, Lin Heng went to inform his eldest brother. He originally wanted to invite everyone to his house for dinner, but his eldest brother questioned inviting them to eat over, so he had no choice but to agree.
After having dinner at his eldest brother's house, Lin Heng packed up his things when he got home in the evening. It was still snowing lightly outside and it was estimated that it would continue to snow for a while.
They planned to go into the mountains for at least three days and no more than ten days at most, so they had to bring enough dry food.
Lin Heng brought ten kilograms of rice, three kilograms of noodles, five kilograms of sweet potatoes, plus some other things, totaling nearly thirty kilograms.
After resting for a night with Xiulan in my arms, we set off early the next morning after breakfast. The four of us were carrying about the same amount of load, and we brought enough food to be prepared.
They tied hemp ropes on their shoes to prevent them from slipping when walking in the snow that was more than 20 centimeters thick.
"It looks like it's going to snow heavily this time!" Lu Honghai sighed as he looked at the sky filled with floating snowflakes.
Hunting is easier on snowy days, but the danger is also doubled, so not many people dare to go out hunting.
"It seems to be the case. I hope we can gain something." Lin Heng nodded.
This time they brought four dogs, including his Xiongba and his eldest brother Good Luck, there was also the greyhound Fengshou raised in Hongfeng Mountain, and an unnamed yellow dog, which was also the offspring of Xiongba and Lai Fu.
The effect of the dog would be enhanced when it snowed, so they tied the dog to a leash and led it along the path towards Sanchagou.
Even if you don't explore or hunt on the way and just keep walking along the path, it will be three o'clock in the afternoon when you reach the creek upstream of Sanchagou.
"Hurry up and make a fire, my feet are freezing off."
When he arrived at the location, Lin Heng put his things down and quickly swept the snow to make a place to start a fire. He brought pine resin and some dry firewood he picked up on the way, so the fire started very quickly.
"It's so cold, I can't feel my hands and feet anymore!"
Lin Yue also put his things down and gathered around to keep warm.
"How should we build our home?" Lu Honggang asked as he squatted down.
Lu Honghai said: "We should come here every year and build a small wooden house."
Lin Heng thought for a while and said, "We definitely can't build a wooden house this time. Let's just build four small triangular houses together. It might be difficult to build just one."
Lu Honghai shook his head: "I don't think so. The little one is too cramped. It's uncomfortable to turn over. Let's just build a 20-square-meter big house. I don't think it's that difficult with the film paper."
"We still have the tarpaulin, so the four of us should be fine." Lu Honggang also said.
"Okay then, a bigger one will do." Lin Heng nodded. He didn't care. Anything was fine.
After roasting the fire for a while, the four of them began to build. There was originally a platform here, and after digging and leveling it a little, they could erect the pillars.
All materials are locally available. First, four pillars are erected to build a frame, which is then surrounded by various woods. A slope for splashing water is built on the top. First, wooden sticks are placed, then film paper is laid, and finally a layer of leaves and moss is covered.
This wooden house was not easy to build. The four men worked until dark before they finally finished it. They lit a fire in the house and worked for another two hours before they were barely finished.
Fortunately, we had film paper and waterproof tarpaulin, otherwise the wooden house would have been leaking everywhere. In the final analysis, it was because we didn't have enough time and we didn't have a saw.
"The house has been built, but sleeping space is also a problem." Lin Yue said while roasting a fire.
"We'll just have to make do with it tonight and try it out tomorrow." Lin Heng looked at some hay piled up in the room. This was what they had collected on the road, but it wasn't enough to make the bed.
In other words, you should bring some extra film paper to spread on the ground to isolate the moisture, otherwise you will have to sleep leaning against it tonight.
Going up the mountain on a snowy day is very difficult and troublesome.
"Just go to sleep." Lu Honghai also said.
The stove wasn't properly fixed, and now the smoke was so intense that it made it hard for people to open their eyes.
"Eat first. I'll get the saw later and turn this place into a real hunter's lodge." Lin Heng handed the warm baked steamed buns to everyone and took out some moldy tofu and chili peppers.
I just eat a little at night, then make the bed and go to sleep.
There were four dogs huddled together, but they were not all particularly cold, except that they were woken by the cold three or four times during the night.
As the wind blew in, some places felt cold.
The next morning at 6:30, everyone got up. None of them slept well, and some were coughing and some had runny noses.
"After suffering so much, don't let people down this time." Lu Honghai said with emotion.
Lin Heng went out to pee, and came back to boil a pot of hot water. Everyone ate their dry food, fed the dogs a little, and then set out hunting.
It snowed some more last night, and the snow in the mountains is more than 30 centimeters thick.
"First, go around Sanchagou to see if there are any signs of prey. If there are none, then go to the forests of kiwifruit and kudzu vines. There is a lot of hope in places like this."
Lu Honghai took the lead and everyone set off along the road.
While searching near the swamp wetland of Sanchagou, Lin Heng took out all his traps again.
Clear out a piece of soil, tie the prepared fish hooks to the branches, and sprinkle a handful of wheat.
It doesn’t matter what kind of bird takes the bait, it can be eaten anyway. Even if people don’t like to eat it, there are still dogs.
The mountain wind was howling, and even those wearing thick cotton coats and hats were still cowering from the cold. Only the dogs were very active.
"It seems there are no prey around here."
After looking around, Lin Yue sighed.
"It may also be covered by snow." Lin Heng said. Air force attacks are common and he is used to it.
"Go to the kiwi fruit forest over there." Lu Honghai said again.
Everyone followed him, and after walking for a while in the woods, Lu Honggang suddenly shouted, "Come on, there are wild boar footprints, there is more than one wild boar."
When everyone heard the sound, they rushed over and saw that there were indeed a lot of wild boar footprints on the ground, as well as traces of the wild boar digging in the snow for food.
"There are more than one!" Lin Yue said excitedly. Even if wild boars are not delicious, it is still good to kill them.
"It looks like two adults and four children are heading up the mountain. They may have fallen over the beam. Let's give chase."
After a quick assessment, Lin Heng said.
The four men led the dog and chased up the mountain. Along the way, they could see wild boar's footprints digging the ground, which were undoubtedly fresh footprints.
The four men caught up to the ridge and then went down the mountain, walking another three or four kilometers along the ravine, from being cold to feeling hot.
"This thing can really run!" Lu Honggang shook his head.
Lin Yue also laughed and said, "My hands and feet are numb from the cold, and my chest and back are sweating."
Lin Heng was about to speak when he suddenly saw Xiongba prick up his ears and look ahead, and hurriedly said, "Quiet, the wild boar should be just ahead."
Everyone was silent. Lin Heng signaled them not to move and he took Xiongba to investigate the situation.
He walked more than 500 meters and suddenly stopped and crouched down.
Looking quietly, I saw six wild boars with brown and black hair under the woods on the right side in front of me. They were foraging, digging the ground and looking up from time to time.
After reading it, he quietly retreated, walked back quickly and said, "The wild boar is under the tree on the right hand side ahead. Let's split into two groups and surround it. First shoot with guns, then release the dogs, and try to kill them all."
The reason he said this was because they were well-equipped now. Not only did he bring a compound bow today, he also brought a double-barreled shotgun. Together with his eldest brother and uncle's, there were three in total. He was confident that he could wipe them all out.
"Okay, if we can hit it, we'll be awesome!" Lu Honghai said with a smile.
Although it is very dangerous on snowy days, once there is a reward, it is often extraordinary.
"Then I will be in a group with Lin Heng, and Lin Yue, you will be in a group with your uncle." Lu Honggang said after thinking for a while.
"No problem!" Lin Yue nodded, loaded the Shikamaru bullet into the chamber, and carried the gun to the right side.
Once the wild boar is frightened, it will definitely run towards the woods on the right, and their two double-barreled shotguns will be more effective.
(End of this chapter)
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