Upon arriving at Captain Li's doorstep, the women began to sort the game on the sled.
After the roe deer hides were peeled off, Captain Li had Ye Hao send them to Li Laogui's house. Generally, when Li Laogui hunted, he would keep the hides and distribute the meat to the commune members.
After all, hunting still involved risks. Some fierce beasts in the mountains were not something a single hunter could take on alone.
Ye Hao took the roe deer hides and walked towards Li Laogui's house.
Arriving outside the yard, he saw Li Laogui feeding three large yellow dogs.
"Old Devil Uncle, these are the roe deer hides Captain Li asked me to bring you. Where should I put them?"
"Just put them on the ground for now. I'll deal with them after I finish feeding the dogs. You can go back first."
"Old Devil Uncle, can I stay and watch how you process the hides?"
"Suit yourself."
Ye Hao stood in the yard, watching Li Laogui feed the dogs. These big yellow dogs had quite good food; it was all raw meat. A plump wild rabbit was devoured by the three big yellow dogs in no time.
After the big yellow dogs finished eating, Li Laogui stood up, picked up the three roe deer hides from the ground, and walked towards the village river. The river looked wide, but due to the drought, only a very small stream of water flowed at the bottom.
Li Laogui reached the river, went down to the riverbed, stepped onto a large stone, spread the roe deer hide on the stone, and began to remove the attached muscle tissue with the hunting knife he carried.
It was similar to what Er Gouzi had taught him in the mountains: first scrape the hide clean, then soak it in plant ash.
"Old Devil Uncle, once these hides are processed, are you keeping them for your own use?"
"No, how could I possibly use so many hides? I take them to the City to exchange for things."
"Old Devil Uncle, Captain Li and the others are making stew at the drying ground today. Let's go together. This is the game you hunted this morning," Ye Hao said, seeing that it was already noon.
"No, you go. I'll make my own food at home," Li Laogui said, then went back into the house.
Seeing this, Ye Hao knew that Li Laogui wouldn't go, so he turned and left Li Laogui's house.
Upon arriving at the brigade canteen near the drying ground, he saw a crowd of people gathered in the center.
A woman's voice came from inside: "Don't push, one by one. Everyone gets some today, one scoop each. Don't push anymore, or you'll knock over the pot, and then no one will eat."
Hearing this voice, the people around the circle became a little more orderly.
Ye Hao didn't join the commotion. He went over to Captain Li, who was smoking his pipe.
"Captain Li, I just called Old Devil Uncle to come eat meat, but he didn't seem to want to come at all."
"Ever since that incident, Li Laogui dislikes interacting with others the most. In the brigade, only I can talk to him. He usually either sleeps at home or hunts in the mountains. Before, whenever he hunted, he would have his Erh Huang call me to get the game. Oh, Erh Huang is one of his three hunting dogs; the other two are called Sanhhuang and Erh Huang. You must have seen them today. Those three hunting dogs are formidable. Li Laogui took them into the Changbai Mountain to run since they were pups. Three dogs plus Li Laogui can take down a wild boar. Last winter, Li Laogui went into the Changbai Mountain and hunted a large wild boar to share with everyone."
"You should learn more from Li Laogui; he's very skilled. There's nothing in the Changbai Mountain he doesn't know. Alright, go get your bowl and get a bowl of meat for lunch. You still have to go into the Changbai Mountain this afternoon."
"Alright, I'll try our team's big pot meal too."
Ye Hao took his bowl and chopsticks and lined up behind the crowd. It was soon Ye Hao's turn.
The serving aunt saw that it was Ye Hao and gave him extra meat.
Ye Hao knew this treatment was because of his hunting efforts today.
He found a spot on the ground nearby and squatted down to eat.
The taste wasn't particularly good, but in this era, having meat was already excellent fare.
After lunch, Ye Hao cleaned his bowl and chopsticks and went to Li Laogui's house.
When Li Laogui saw Ye Hao coming, he took his equipment and led the way into the Changbai Mountain.
The three dogs led the way, and Ye Hao followed Li Laogui for over an hour.
Ye Hao didn't know what kind of game the three dogs were tracking. After so long, he hadn't seen any large game. Occasionally, one or two pheasants would fly by, but Li Laogui didn't even glance at them.
They walked quickly without stopping. It was clear that the three dogs had their own target.
Ahead was a pine forest with a lot of weeds on the ground. Ye Hao walked carefully, afraid that a snake might suddenly dart out from the grass and bite him.
However, Li Laogui, who was ahead, seemed unconcerned about anything, always following behind the three dogs with swift strides.
Soon after entering the pine forest, Li Laogui stopped.
The three hunting dogs also pricked up their ears, alert.
"Something's not right. Kid, you should get away," Li Laogui suddenly said.
"What's wrong, Old Devil Uncle?" Ye Hao was a bit confused. What wasn't right?
"I had Erh Huang and the others track wild boars, but now, looking at the three dogs, it seems a bit dangerous. You get away first. If you see danger, you run first."
Ye Hao knew this wasn't the time to argue whether he should run or not. In dangerous moments, it was best to speak less and remain vigilant.
Ye Hao raised his gun and slowly retreated. Li Laogui nodded at the sight. He was afraid Ye Hao would be one of those blockheads who wouldn't listen to anything and would only disrupt his rhythm. Fortunately, Ye Hao was quite obedient and didn't cause him trouble.
Li Laogui also loaded his gun, held it up, and walked forward. The three hunting dogs followed their master, protecting him at all times.
When Ye Hao saw Li Laogui preparing to move forward, he stopped retreating and stood not far away. This distance ensured he would have time to react no matter what danger they encountered.
Li Laogui tiptoed to the dense forest ahead and stopped. Ye Hao also took a few steps forward. Through the gaps in the dense forest, he could see a mud pit ahead with five large wild boars and a group of small wild boars in it.
Two of the large wild boars were exceptionally strong, and just by looking at their tusks, one knew they were not to be trifled with.
Ye Hao gasped at the sight. If he didn't have his space, Ye Hao might not even be able to completely defeat these large wild boars, even with a gun in hand. When wild boars go berserk, they are utterly fearless, fighting with a life-for-life mentality, which most people truly can't handle. If it were just one wild boar, it would be manageable, but here there were five adult wild boars, including two male wild boars with sharp tusks, which made them very difficult to deal with.
Seeing such a large group of wild boars, Li Laogui had already abandoned his plan to hunt wild boars today. If it were one wild boar, he would certainly have gone for it, but so many wild boars were truly not something the two of them plus three dogs could handle.
Just as Li Laogui was about to retreat, the wild boars seemed to have discovered them. The wild boars that had been wallowing in the mud stood up and looked in their direction.
Li Laogui knew this was bad news when he saw it. He raised his gun and aimed at the wild boars in front.
If the wild boars didn't come, it would be fine, but if they charged, it would be a desperate fight.