The next day, before dawn, Ye Hao and the others were woken up by Captain Li.
"Comrade Xiao Ye, pack up, we're leaving, or it might be dark by the time we get back."
The four of them packed up and walked towards the village under the moonlight. Before leaving, Ye Hao took two water bottles and a package.
Today, because they were all in good physical condition, they walked much faster than when they first entered the village. Not long after the sun came out, everyone arrived at the township.
Everyone came to the grain station in the township and received the grain allocated by the higher authorities. There was no rice or 'flour', only cornmeal, sweet potatoes, and potatoes.
It made sense; how could the country have extra refined grain to distribute to those who went to the countryside? As soon as they left the grain station and walked onto the street, they saw a car driving over, and everyone quickly dodged.
The car stopped in front of them, and only then did Ye Hao notice that it was Uncle Ma's car, the one Zuo Lei used.
The person who got out of the car was indeed Uncle Ma. "Uncle Ma, why are you here? Weren't you supposed to have gone back?" Ye Hao asked.
"Xiao Ye, I was just about to look for you. I heard you didn't have rations after going to the countryside, so I brought some from the city for you. Xiao Zhang, bring out the rations for Xiao Ye and the others."
The driver, Xiao Zhang, took out a large bag from the trunk, which looked like a fifty-pound bag. He placed it on the mule cart.
"Xiao Ye, this is fifty pounds of white 'flour'. I know the higher-ups allocated rations to you, but it's all coarse grains like cornmeal. I don't have much extra here, but with this fifty pounds of white 'flour', you can occasionally make dumplings. I don't have more if you want it," Uncle Ma said.
"Then thank you, Uncle Ma." Ye Hao knew this was given because Zuo Lei was with them, so he didn't refuse.
After bidding farewell to Uncle Ma, everyone walked towards the village. On the way there, the cart was empty, so the mule walked fast. On the way back, it was loaded with a cart of grain, and the mule was clearly struggling more, so a few of them took turns pushing from behind.
After walking not far, Captain Li told everyone to rest for a while, mainly to let the mule rest, as most of the way back was uphill.
They fed water and food to the mule.
Everyone also found a tree to sit under and rest. Ye Hao took out a few biscuits from the package he carried and shared them with everyone. Sun Chaoshu never treated Ye Hao as a stranger, and Lu Bingsheng now also didn't treat Ye Hao as a stranger. As for Niu Jianwu, because he wasn't very bright, he didn't even know what it meant to treat someone as a stranger. Finally, Captain Li politely declined a few times before taking a biscuit. After eating the biscuits, Ye Hao handed the water bottle to everyone. Inside was diluted spring water, the effect wasn't very obvious, but after drinking it, they would feel some physical recovery, which was just right at this moment. After eating and recovering their strength, no one would suspect anything.
Thus, they walked and rested intermittently.
Suddenly, they saw a small animal on the road ahead that looked like a deer, a little over a meter long, with a slender neck, large eyes, large ears, gray fur, antlers on its head, a short tail, and a circle of white fur around its rump.
Seeing the little deer in front, Niu Jianwu was the first to rush out and chase it. The little deer watched for a while and then turned and ran away. Niu Jianwu walked back dejectedly when he couldn't catch up.
"Let's wait here for a while." Saying this, Captain Li stopped the mule, then found a wooden stick from the nearby woods.
"Captain Li, what are you doing?" Sun Chaoshu asked curiously.
"It's normal that you haven't seen this thing. The one that just ran away, we call it a 'silly roe deer'. It's very delicious. The reason it's called a 'silly roe deer' is because this thing is really silly. You saw it just now, when Niu Jianwu was chasing it, it was still watching there until it was almost close before it ran. This little guy is especially curious. Just now, it was because I didn't have a tool in my hand; if I had, I would have hit it already," Captain Li explained. Only then did Ye Hao realize that this was the legendary 'silly roe deer'. He had only heard of it before, never seen it.
"Captain Li, but the 'silly roe deer' has already run away, why are you picking up a wooden stick?" Sun Chaoshu was still a bit curious.
"Do you believe me? This little guy will be back soon," Captain Li said, keeping them in suspense.
"No way. Knowing there's danger here, why would it come back?" Sun Chaoshu had a look of someone looking at an idiot.
"If you don't believe me, just watch." Captain Li didn't explain further.
Just then, the 'silly roe deer' hopped back.
"Oh my, how is that possible? Is this thing really that silly?" Sun Chaoshu looked shocked.
"Now you believe it, right? Stay here, don't move." Captain Li said, then quietly walked towards the 'silly roe deer'. The 'silly roe deer' didn't run when it saw him, just stared at Captain Li curiously.
Captain Li walked up to the 'silly roe deer', and it still didn't run. Then, Captain Li raised the stick in his hand and swung it at the 'silly roe deer''s head. The 'silly roe deer' still didn't know what was about to happen, maintaining a curious expression.
With a thud, the 'silly roe deer' fell to the ground.
This left Ye Hao and the others dumbfounded. This thing truly lived up to its name of 'silly roe deer'.
Captain Li carried the 'silly roe deer' back to the mule cart, and only then did everyone regain their senses.
"Captain Li, why wasn't it afraid of you? It was so easy to hit." Sun Chaoshu was the first to ask.
"The 'silly roe deer' is very curious. Earlier, Niu Jianwu scared it away, and after it ran for a distance and saw nothing chasing it, it became curious about what was chasing it. Out of curiosity, it would return to the place where it was chased. That's why it came back. As for why it didn't run, that's also out of curiosity. If you walk slowly towards it, it won't feel threatened and won't run," Captain Li explained.
"So, this thing must be very easy to catch?" Sun Chaoshu seemed to want to catch a 'silly roe deer' too.
"Yes, this thing is probably one of the easiest animals to catch around here. The hunters in the village used to catch these frequently and sell them in the township a few years ago."
"Alright, let's go back. You'll definitely encounter 'silly roe deer' in the future. You'll know when you try to catch one yourself."
Captain Li seemed very happy to have caught a 'silly roe deer'. The few of them took turns pushing the cart and didn't arrive back at the village until after four o'clock.
After unloading the rations from the mule cart, Captain Li said, "Tonight, everyone come to my house to eat. We'll eat the 'silly roe deer' we caught this afternoon, and let you people from the capital taste the deliciousness of our Changbai Mountain."
Sun Chaoshu was the first to agree.
Watching Captain Li walk away, Zuo Lei curiously asked Sun Chaoshu, "What did you guys catch this afternoon? What's a 'silly roe deer'?"
Sun Chaoshu immediately became animated and chattered away, telling everyone what happened that afternoon.
Zuo Lei was also very curious to hear about an animal like the 'silly roe deer'. "How can there be such a silly animal? Sun Chaoshu, you're not lying to me, are you?"
"How could I lie to you? If you don't believe me, ask Brother Hao and the others; they all saw it today."
"Yes, it's indeed as Sun Chaoshu said. I used to hear that in the Northeast, you could hit a roe deer with a stick, scoop fish with a ladle, and pheasants would fly into your rice pot. I didn't believe it before, but now this is truly hitting a roe deer with a stick." Ye Hao quickly came to Sun Chaoshu's rescue.
"Alright, we've brought the rations back. Zuo Lei, this is the 'flour' that Uncle Ma asked us to bring earlier. You decide what to do with it."
"Let's all eat the white 'flour' together."
"From now on, we'll eat and live together. Let's take a count, who can cook?"
"I can," Huang Su Su was the first to say.
Then no one else spoke, it seemed they were all people who didn't cook at home.
"My brother can. Don't let my brother's slightly unintelligent appearance fool you; he can do all the housework and cooking," Niu Jianwen said somewhat proudly.
"Alright then, from now on, Comrade Huang Su Su and Comrade Niu Jianwu will have to work hard. Of course, you won't be cooking for free. You can do a little less work in the future, and we'll help you. Also, if anyone is free, please help them out." Ye Hao allocated the cooking tasks for the future, otherwise, relying on these young masters and ladies, he was worried they might set the kitchen on fire.