frightfiction Chapter 276 Encountering Wild Animals While Mountain Hunting
Chapter 276 Encountering Wild Animals While Mountain Hunting
Every May, the villagers would start hiking and gathering berries in the mountains. The melting snow and ice made the ground very muddy. Later generations would ride electric bikes, motorcycles, tricycles, or even drive their cars up the winding mountain roads to the summit.
In these days, transportation is primitive. There are only old trails and sled paths in the mountains, and villagers mainly rely on walking to get around. Li Xiao, the younger sister, wanted to ride a bicycle up the mountain, but Li Ju'an glanced at the winding and difficult old trail, which was covered with branches and twigs, making it very dangerous for a bicycle.
"Let's walk up. We can walk for several dozen miles."
The distances for hiking in the mountains vary, from a few dozen miles to over a hundred miles. You have to eat, drink, and relieve yourself in the mountains, and if you want to spend the night, you have to find a hunter's cabin or a forest ranger's duty room to make do for the night.
Song Desheng happily followed, carrying a cloth bag. He was bored on Saturdays and liked to go up the mountain. He was also carrying wire snares and said to Li Ju'an, "Let's set a few more snares. If we can catch a pheasant or a takin, we can make a nice meal for our wife when we get back."
Lu Zhiqiang and Lu Jinyang followed their father and second aunt into the mountains. They happened to be going the same way as Li Ju'an. Lu Zhiqiang winked at Li Ju'an and said, "Sun Weimin is coming into the mountains too. Be careful later, he might have a problem with us, watch out for him tripping us up."
Li Ju'an laughed and said, "Gathering fodder is not the same as herding. You can't just randomly scout out a spot and then sell it at the market to make a small profit. If the herder runs away while you're herding, I'll fight him."
The mountains are harvested in May and released in September.
In the Xingan Mountains, from the beginning of the fourth month to the White Dew period in the eighth month of the lunar calendar, around September, people can go into the mountains to harvest ginseng.
Li Ju'an remembers that when his grandfather was still alive, he often told him that ginseng hunters would consciously abide by a rule, which was "carrying the big ones and leaving the small ones behind," which was called "Red Hammer Market." They would wait until August or September, when the ginseng seeds turned completely red, and then it would be called Red Hammer Market. After that, the ginseng seeds would be buried in their original place and leveled out, so that they could be harvested continuously for the next year.
If the tender ginseng plants are dug up after being unearthed, they are called "sprouting grass" and must be buried back to let them continue to grow. The process of digging ginseng by experienced ginseng diggers involves many rules, such as kneeling and bowing three times and tying red ropes. When the wild ginseng fruits ripen in August each year, villagers from nearby areas will go to dig ginseng in groups of three or five. Digging ginseng is also called "releasing the mountain," and ginseng is called "club."
The Lu brothers smiled and clung to Li Ju'an, inviting him to go into the mountains to dig for ginseng during the ginseng-digging season.
“Our old man knew a ginseng vendor in the past. That man was very good at selling ginseng and knew a lot of merchants from the south.”
"Ginseng coordinators" are people who specifically manage ginseng diggers going up the mountains. Ginseng digging teams usually consist of three to five people, but some groups have a dozen or even twenty people. Some also work alone. If you work alone, it requires extremely high skills and courage, after all, there are all kinds of ferocious wild animals in the mountains. Even hunters dare not go alone, traveling hundreds of miles into the deep mountains, where danger is everywhere.
Li Ju'an thought about it. In his previous life, Zhang Yingnian went south with him to do business. They were engaged in buying and selling, reselling the products of the Xing'an Mountains to the south at high prices. Wasn't that a more extensive business than selling ginseng?
Zhang Yingnian had a considerable number of clients in the south, and frankly, if he wanted to sell clubs, he would have to go through Zhang Yingnian. But the thought of being betrayed, reported, and imprisoned by Zhang Yingnian in his past life filled him with rage. This Zhang Yingnian, who made his fortune by stepping on him, stabbed his brother in the back—this grudge had to be avenged.
Li Ju'an said, "Don't worry, as long as we can dig up the club, we won't have to worry about finding buyers." Zhang Yingnian's client resources were also his past client resources. Zhang Yingnian knew where those leaders and bosses were, and so did he. Moreover, he knew the information earlier than Zhang Yingnian.
Lu Zhiqiang laughed and said to him, "You're quite capable, Li Ju'an, but I don't believe you. I think you're just being stubborn. How could you possibly know about ginseng? We'll talk about it later."
"Alright, we'll talk about it later. I guarantee you'll make a fortune."
Li Ju'an bought the apple saplings from a familiar shop owner at a low price. The shop owner was quite surprised to see him, feeling as if they had known each other for a long time. This young man was so young, yet they could already talk about things, even sharing the same interests. The shop owner had to admire him and wished he could become close friends with Li Ju'an despite the age difference.
Li Ju'an knew these people very well. In his past life, they had lived a life of extravagance and made a fortune together. He knew exactly what their ulterior motives and schemes were.
Li Xiao and Lu Wenqian both went into the mountains. The two girls heard them talking about hunting with clubs, and they got really excited and full of energy. Lu Wenqian shouted, "Brother, you have to take me with you this year!"
Lu Jinyang smiled and said, "Okay."
Lu Zhiqiang shouted, "Bring you along? With your loud voice, don't scare away the little devil we finally managed to tie up."
Lu Wenqian made a funny face and happily continued climbing the hill with Li Xiao.
Amidst laughter and chatter, the group watched as wild vegetables sprouted from the ground and trees. Li Ju'an plucked fresh, tender leaves and put them into his basket. The ground was covered with fresh, tender wild vegetables. As the saying goes, those who live near the mountains eat from the mountains; naturally, the villagers wouldn't miss this opportunity to roam the mountains, a gift from heaven.
The tiger sniffed the air and suddenly barked softly twice.
Following the location of the incense sticks, Li Ju'an found a group of wild boar tracks. Spring had arrived, and sows giving birth became particularly irritable, making hikers more vulnerable to danger. If they encountered a group of wild boars, especially those with piglets, even if the hiker did nothing, the sows would angrily attack the villagers for their piglets' safety.
If there are wild boars with large tusks walking nearby, it is even more dangerous. Their sharp and long tusks will rush over and attack, and almost no one can safely get down the mountain.
The hunting dogs smelled wild boar, and the hiking team became alert.
Aunt Lu was a little panicked and said, "What should we do? Who would have thought that we would run into wild boars while running in the mountains? Why don't we turn back?"
Both Lu Jinyang and Lu Zhiqiang brought guns with them when they went into the mountains, and Lu Zhiqiang also carried a halberd given to him by their grandfather. He brandished the halberd and shouted excitedly, "The wild boars are here, just in time! Let Second Aunt see our Lu family's great general!"
Several people couldn't bear to look at him. Lu's second aunt glared at him and said, "Stop bragging. Don't think we don't know that last time you stabbed yourself inside that old sow, you almost got knocked flying. If it weren't for Li Pao and Xiao Song saving you, would you have survived that blow?"
Hearing his aunt Lu praise him, Song Desheng immediately perked up. Feeling flattered, he raised his voice and said loudly, "Of course! Don't worry, Aunt Lu, if a wild boar comes, I'll be the first to take it down! You can rest assured."
Suddenly, a rustling sound came out.