Chapter 157 156. This time I'm really confused
Spring returns to the earth, nourishing all things.
There are many things to eat in the mountains at this time. Not to mention bamboo shoots, there are also clusters of wild vegetables and flowers that are tender, sweet and crispy. There is no need to plant spring vegetables in the fields.
The fish and shrimp in the river are also fat and hidden under the water plants on the shore. You can catch them with just a touch. However, these small fish and shrimp are very smart. Even if they are caught, they can jump out of the palm of your hand, so you have to close your palms when catching them.
The fried small fish and shrimps are crispy, paired with some wine peanuts, and the night breeze is blowing, it is so beautiful.
"Dad loves to eat this. I used to catch it for him when I went into the mountains. But we don't have much money at home, so we have to save the oil. The oil from frying the small fish has to be saved for next time."
Lei Li skillfully fished for fish and shrimp from under the rocks while talking to Zhou Yi, "If you touch this stonefish, it will run away, but if you use a piece of foxtail grass to fish for it, you can always catch one, it's very stubborn."
"Some old people in the village say that you can't eat too much stone fish. Eating too much will make you stupid and it won't be of any use in critical moments."
"But when we can't even eat, who cares whether it's dead or alive? It's a piece of meat and easy to catch. The children in the village love to catch it. Sometimes I can't catch it because they grab it all."
"There are too many loaches in the fields these past two years, and the mountains are dangerous, so they don't come here to catch them."
"That's enough, I won't catch you anymore."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yi saw that the small fish basket that Lei Li was carrying was already half full with small fish and shrimps jumping around, enough to stir-fry for a whole dish, so he stopped and released the shrimps he had just caught.
There are two large lotus leaves in this fish basket, which can hold water, so the fish and shrimp will not die in a short time.
Lei Li glanced at the sun. It was still early, but it seemed to be around noon, so he thought about walking a little further into the mountains. He had always been wandering around the periphery before and didn't know where the source of Sanli River was. He was a little curious.
"Let's go and see where the source of this river is."
"Didn't you say that the mountains are dangerous, with wild boars, leopards, blind bears, and the like?"
Zhou Yi was not in favor of going too deep, and the riverside was an important gathering place for wild animals, with many coming to drink water. If one was unlucky, one might encounter large carnivores.
"There are also sika deer, yellow musk deer, and forest musk deer in the mountains. Don't you want to see them?"
Lei Li's face showed a hint of longing, and he was calculating in his mind, "I heard that the sika deer's body is the color of gold, with white spots like plum blossoms. It looks cute and tastes good, so it's very expensive."
"Haiwei said he got a sika deer a few years ago for eighty taels of silver, and then resold it for several times the price. If we catch a young deer, we can even harvest its antlers."
Wild sika deer.
It is a national first-class protected animal and one of the famous animals that are often imprisoned. In modern times, deer are caught in the morning and people are put in jail at noon.
This thought flashed through Zhou Yi's mind.
Sika deer are not uncommon in modern times. Although they are endangered in the wild, they can be found in zoos.
He has seen sika deer several times and fed them grass, as well as musk deer, yellow leopards and other various animals, such as civets, red pandas and raccoons. He has even been to the giant panda breeding base several times.
But Lei Li had never seen it.
He just listened to what the old people in the village and outsiders said. Most of those people were at a loss for words and could not describe the specific appearance. They might not even be able to tell the difference between a musk deer and a yellow leopard.
Aren’t people more curious about something the more they haven’t seen it and the less they know about it?
The Five-Colored Deer we learned about in textbooks before was said to be similar in shape to a sika deer but with five colors, kind and upright in nature, and able to bring good luck. At that time, Zhou Yi wanted to see what the Five-Colored Deer looked like and whether it really had five colors.
Zhou Yi tightened the machete in his hand. He had sharpened it to a bright white edge before going up the mountain. If he chopped it with the machete, even jackals and wild boars would have to avoid the sharp edge.
But wolves live in packs.
It's easy to deal with one wolf, but a pack of wolves... you won't even have time to run away.
"Next time."
Zhou Yi thought for a moment and said, "Isn't there a hunter in the next town? Next time he comes to the county town to sell his game, we can ask him if it's convenient for him to take us into the mountains. He has a hunting bow and hunting dogs, which is better than us going in alone."
"I knew you wouldn't agree."
Lei Li curled his lips, but he knew Zhou Yi was thinking about their safety, so he didn't feel angry. "That hunter only relies on luck to catch a wild sheep. Who knows if he can catch a sika deer."
His eyes lit up again. "Why don't we just make a good bow ourselves, raise some hunting dogs, and then let the hunter lead us into the mountains. He has the experience and we have the capital."
"If we run a few more times, we'll definitely catch a sika deer. If we do, we'll cook it ourselves."
Zhou Yi thought about it and nodded, "Then let's go back and ask in the village if anyone has a hunting dog like the Wolf Blue or Black Hound. We can bring a few puppies home to raise, and then we can go into the mountains next year."
“Next year is still quite a long time away.”
Lei Li wished he had a few majestic hunting dogs and two big bows right now, so that he could go into the mountains and catch all the deer, musk deer, yellow leopards and black sheep in one fell swoop.
"If I had known this when I bought that black goat during last year's Sheep Festival, I would have decided to have a bow made for me. Now I can go hunting."
"How could I have known so much earlier?"
Zhou Yi found it a little funny and was about to touch his wife's head to comfort her when he heard a hollow sound coming from the mountains.
“Yo~~~~”
Lei Li saw him raise his head and then stop, and tilted his head in confusion, then took the initiative to put it in his palm, "What are you thinking about? Why are you suddenly in a daze?"
"deer."
"What road?"
"A deer is calling."
“?!”
Lei Li quickly looked around, only to see green trees, lush vines, chirping insects and birdsong, but no deer. "Why can't I hear anything? What are deer calling?"
"The deer calls, eating the apples in the wild."
Zhou Yi said, "That 'yo' sound just now was the sound of a deer. It sounded not very far away from us. I wonder if it was a fawn running to the outskirts."
"Is that a deer's cry?"
Lei Li looked surprised and disillusioned. "I've heard that sound before. I thought it was some bird that was calling so loudly and unpleasantly. Turns out it's a deer."
It was completely different from the deer cry he had imagined.
He became excited again. "Since you said it's not far, let's go take a look. If there are wolves, they will definitely catch the deer first. The deer will cry when they are caught. If we hear something wrong, we will run."
Zhou Yi hesitated for a moment before nodding, "Okay, the deer is smart and runs fast. You can't just chase it into the mountains when you see it. I... I don't want to be a widower at such a young age."
"Little Jiang probably doesn't want a stepfather either."
"stepfather?"
Lei Li spoke each word clearly, his eyes narrowed dangerously. He was just about to tease Zhou Yi about calling him "little widower", but now he was thinking about finding a stepfather for little Jiang?
He laughed, but there was a dagger hidden in his smile. "Don't worry, I will definitely drag you down with me before I die. Even in the underworld, you have to be my mortal enemy."
“…”
Zhou Yi paused and whispered, "...Mandarin ducks are promiscuous and change partners every year."
"Be the right goose."
Lei Li immediately changed his words, "Wild geese are monogamous and will even commit suicide for love. When I die, you will also commit suicide for me. After you die, you can wait for me in the underworld for a few years."
Zhou Yi: “……???”
You're not thinking of becoming a widower and finding a stepfather for little Jiang, are you???
—
Zhou Yi was a little sulky.
But he still followed Lei Li obediently to find the deer. The deer would call out from time to time. It was not known whether it was calling its teammates because it couldn't find the main group, or it was shaking its head to eat when it came across a place with abundant water and grass.
Anyway, with the help of sound positioning, it was quite easy for Lei Li and Zhou Yi to find the place. It was just that the mountain was overgrown with weeds, the road was uneven, and it was slippery and difficult to walk on due to the water.
It was a young sika deer.
It has slender limbs, a well-proportioned torso, and fur that is golden with a reddish hue. There are many irregular white spots along both sides of its back, which look like scattered plum blossoms from a distance.
The antlers are short, like twigs, and the tail is also short and twitchy.
It lowered its head to eat the tender grass, and from time to time raised its head to look around vigilantly and innocently, chewing in its mouth, and after chewing, it lowered its head to eat two mouthfuls of grass, and then called out.
“Yo~~~~”
Ethereal and noisy.
It seemed that its companions heard it, and a distant echo came from the deep mountains.
“Yo~~~~”
"Yo~~"
The little sika deer excitedly stamped its hooves, raised its head and gave a long response to its companion. It didn't run away. It must have been told by its companion to stay where it was and not run around, so it continued to eat grass.
Lei Li narrowed his eyes.
Because they were afraid of disturbing the little sika deer, he and Zhou Yi did not get too close. They used the dense weeds and branches as a cover to keep an eye on the movements of the little deer.
He wanted to catch the sika deer.
But he knew the probability was very small. It was far away and there were many obstacles. The deer was alert and good at jumping. If there was any disturbance, the deer would definitely run away.
Try it.
Whether it can be accomplished or not is irrelevant.
“Yo~~~~”
The little sika deer chewed the tender grass and called out again, turning its butt towards Lei Li and wagging its tail happily without noticing anything, like a child waiting for its parents to pick it up.
But Lei Li is not his parent.
Lei Li's heart was as cold as a fish that had been killed ten years ago at RT-Mart. He slowly raised his grass knife, carefully moved the position, aimed at the sika deer, and used force -
"call out--"
The sound of breaking wind.
The frightened little sika deer immediately kicked its hooves and ran away, calling "yo yo" in its mouth, and jumped into the grass and disappeared. Only the deer's calls in the deep mountains were heard in panic.
“Yoyo——”
Lei Li subconsciously wanted to chase after him, but Zhou Yi grabbed his arm. He turned back anxiously and met Zhou Yi's eyes. Thinking of the promise he had just made to him, he relaxed his competitive spirit.
"Okay, okay, I won't chase it. I'll go get the grass knife. It's a pity I missed it. Otherwise, the fawn wouldn't have gotten far if it was injured."
He muttered as he went to pick up the grass knife. Still not giving up, he glanced in the direction the little sika deer had run. He turned to Zhou Yi and asked, "Do you think it's possible that I scared it to death? I heard deer are very timid."
“How could that be possible…”
Zhou Yi was just about to say that although wild sika deer could be frightened to death, it was a low-probability event after all, and they were not likely to be so lucky as to encounter one, when he suddenly heard several unusual noises.
"bump!"
"bump!"
“Crack—”
“Yo-yo-yo!”
It sounded like a branch was broken by something, or something fell down, followed by the deer's tender and miserable wail, as if it was extremely panicked.
Zhou Yi and Lei Li looked at each other.
Lei Li grinned, showing his big white teeth, and it was obvious that he was proud of his good luck today. He hurriedly chased after him with a grass knife in his hand.
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