frightfiction Chapter 418 Joining Lao Jiang's Team to Hunt Foxes
Chapter 418 Joining Lao Jiang's Team to Hunt Foxes
Chen Xiangqian scratched his head sheepishly and laughed, "Dad found out I went into the mountains, so my 56-and-a-half was confiscated."
Li Ju'an said, "You little rascal, sneaking into the mountains alone again. Your superiors will definitely be on your guard. If something really happens, it won't be a joke."
Chen Xiangqian had recently developed a strong urge to go into the mountains. Li Ju'an was busy with the breeding farm in town with Song Desheng and the others, so Chen Xiangqian begged Li Guaizi to take him into the mountains. Li Guaizi was also worried about Qin Pao's arrest, so Chen Xiangqian had no choice but to bite the bullet and go into the mountains alone. Now, when the division commander found out, he was furious and confiscated the gun from Chen Xiangqian's hand.
Chen Xiangqian grinned and said smugly, "I still have a gun, what use is it to my old man to take one away from me? You didn't expect that old fox to be so cunning, did you? I'm still one step ahead."
Li Ju'an shook his head, sighing with a wry smile. He said, "Alright, then follow me."
This time, he went into the mountains to kill the red fox in order to fulfill the instructions of the old lady of the Sun family.
He also found it strange. Last time, when Sun Weimin set off explosives in the Sheep Cave, the red fox, which was also a spirit, actually carried the explosives out and into the granary, where it blew up the feeding troughs in the pigsty.
Chen Xiangqian said cheerfully, "Let's go, let's go for a walk around that ranch area."
The two men, their footsteps crunching through the snow, led their hunting dogs into the mountains.
Li Ju'an led the mule, handing the rope to Chen Xiangqian to lead. Two eagles stood on the thin hemp rope on the mule's back, resting with their eyes closed. They didn't move their heads as the rope swayed.
A golden eagle perched on Li Ju'an's right arm, its eagle eyes piercing the distance, staring intently ahead. Nine hunting dogs followed at his feet. Big Tiger, experienced and a reliable companion, stayed close by as long as the scent of prey was absent; every few steps he took, Big Tiger followed.
On the contrary, Little Steel Cannon, the white mastiff, was very lively. It sniffed the ground all the way and barked loudly at the slightest sound, scaring away its prey from a great distance.
Chen Xiangqian wore white sheepskin gloves and chatted incessantly the whole way, which made him anything but boring.
"Brother Li, my uncle told me that the women in Shanghai are especially beautiful, fashionable and sophisticated. Brother Li, would you like to go to the south, visit Shanghai, and see the beautiful women?"
Li Ju'an said, "Why go there? I have a wife at home, and I'll have a baby next year. What's so attractive about women?"
Chen Xiangqian got excited when he heard this, and jumped in front of him excitedly, saying, "Which movie star do you like? They're so beautiful, with such hot figures, posing in swimsuits. What man wouldn't be tempted by that pose?"
As he spoke, he struck a pose, stretching out his arms and placing them beside his head, looking just like a movie star.
Li Ju'an sighed. He suddenly understood why his family had to ask a matchmaker to arrange marriages for their grown children. Their focus was entirely on the women. He said, "Go if you want, but bring me back some local specialties."
Chen Xiangqian thought for a moment, "What local specialties can Shanghai have? White Rabbit milk candy? Or, Brother Li, how about I bring you back a female secretary?"
Li Ju'an was thirsty while traveling. He took out the deer blood wine from his cloth bag, tilted his head back and took a sip, but suddenly spat it out and coughed violently.
He immediately thought of the Shanghai businessman who had come to the guesthouse to do business before the Lunar New Year. He had been contacting him by phone recently, urging him to keep any good goods he had for him to buy. The female secretary accompanying that Shanghai businessman was truly hot, with a curvaceous figure.
He waved his hand and said, "If you make a fortune, you won't be anything good."
Chen Xiangqian laughed and said, "Testing people with money, who can withstand it?"
Along the way, the two saw many fox hunters. Hunters from the same mountain, who marked tree bark year-round, knew each other and had met before.
It's currently the second nine-day period after the winter solstice. Hunters love to go into the mountains to hunt foxes during this time because their fur is the thickest and of the highest quality throughout the year. A single breath can make the soft, fluffy winter pelts swirl, which fetch a good price in the market.
Li Ju'an actually saw a familiar face: Old Chen, the forest ranger, was carrying a hoe and had sneaked out with a few temporary workers from the ranch to hunt foxes.
Lin Yuan Lao Chen was a little embarrassed when he saw Li Ju'an. He tried to avoid him a couple of times but couldn't. So he simply greeted him in a carefree manner and said, "Little Li, I'm on patrol. If you come across anything, just call me. I'll lead a team around the area and we can handle it."
Looking at the hoe in Lin Yuan Lao Chen's hand and the foreign cannons in the hands of the two older men behind him, Li Ju'an understood everything and said with a smile, "Uncle Chen, the mountain road is not easy to travel on this day, the mountains are blocked by heavy snow."
"Of course! The northwest wind will blow again in a couple of days, and all we'll see then is a vast expanse of white. We should hurry up and patrol while we can, so we can have some pine needle tea in the duty room later. Little Li should also come over for a chat."
Lin Yuan Lao Chen truly lived up to his reputation as a master of slacking off. He could boast without batting an eye, and Li Ju'an gave him a thumbs up in his heart. "You're something else, Lao Chen. All the cadres in the system have to call you 'Big Brother' when they see you."
The older men following behind Old Chen looked to be five or six years older than him; one was called Old Jiang, and the other Old Sun.
Chen Xiangqian was very interested in the foreign cannon in Old Jiang's hand. He stared at it for a long time and said, "Uncle Jiang, your old foreign cannon looks quite different."
Old Jiang couldn't stop talking about his family's heirloom cannon. In some areas, it's called a firearm, while in the south it's called a "tongzi" (a type of cannon). He chuckled and said, "This cannon was given to me by my second uncle. Years ago, my third uncle had one, and my second uncle had one, and then it was passed down to me. This gun was really impressive back then. It could shoot thirty or forty meters away, and the muzzle flash was very concentrated."
He fired a shot at the gray dog on the old red pine tree in front of him.
With a deafening bang, the greyhound, also known as the devil squirrel, was so frightened that it quickly scurried behind the giant red pine tree and leaped away, disappearing from sight. The trunk of the giant red pine bore the marks of a gunshot, the sand grains numerous and concentrated—considered quite good for an old-fashioned cannon.
Chen Xiangqian said, "Uncle Jiang, are you using a foreign cannon to hunt a fox? Don't you want the fur?"
The young man spoke bluntly, but Old Jiang wasn't annoyed. Instead, he laughed and said, "This cannon isn't for hunting foxes; it's for hunting wild boars for self-defense. You use this thing to trap foxes."
He pulled out six pre-set traps from his pocket. These medium-sized animal traps were made by him using pliers and wire loops; the spring clips fit perfectly, clearly the work of a professional hunter.
Old Jiang took out two more eggs. He cracked the eggs into his mouth, and the yolks and liquid went in. The remaining eggshells, crushed and still carrying the fishy smell of egg liquid, were perfect bait to attract foxes.
Li Ju'an gave a thumbs up and said, "It has to be Uncle Jiang, you have to admit it."
This compliment made Lao Jiang laugh heartily, saying, "You're a clever kid. You can't catch a fox with only a few people. Join our team, and we'll share the profits with you, giving you an extra share."