Reborn in 80: Starting with hunting in the mountains to get rich

Chapter 169 The Art of Interpersonal Relationships

Chen Xiangqian showered Li Ju'an with praise, even sticking close to him and asking him to take him along on future trips into the mountains.

Captain Wang was stunned for a moment, then looked at the five tigers and smiled so hard his eyes narrowed. He was finally relieved of a worry. He quickly asked his assistant Huang to call the head of the finance department and have the finance department settle the tiger-hunting fee for Li Ju'an.

The 1100 yuan fee was firmly in Li Ju'an's hands.

Song Desheng's eyes widened in surprise as he stared intently at the thick stack of ten-yuan bills. There were a full 110 ten-yuan bills! He had never seen so many ten-yuan bills in his life.

Li Ju'an was very straightforward. He counted the money, then took out 37 ten-yuan bills and gave them to Song Desheng and Lu Zhiqiang. He kept the remaining money after rounding down.

"Thank you, Captain Wang. We'll leave half a tiger for the canteen to stir-fry at lunchtime and share with everyone. The broth is delicious with rice."

Captain Wang didn't hesitate. He quickly sent his assistant, Huang, to the ranch's shop to bring back five cases of soda, five cases of steamed rice cakes, and eight cases of ginseng wine brewed on-site by the ranch, which Li Ju'an then distributed.

These things aren't cheap; they're all gifts exchanged as favors.

That's how relationships work in the mountains: you give me something, I give you something back; only through give and take can friendships be formed.

Captain Wang shouted, "Stay in our canteen for dinner today. Li Pao'er is really good at hunting. We'll be counting on you for anything else on our ranch in the future."

"Oh my god, boss, you're being too polite with us."

"You can't say that. With your strong hunting skills, you can get by anywhere. In the future, our ranch will be begging you for help."

Li Ju'an didn't hesitate and ran outside to move boxes; he really liked that ginseng wine.

Captain Wang quickly called out, "Xiao Huang, Xiao Zhao, hurry up and help carry the ginseng wine inside. Li Pao'er, come inside and take it with you, it's quite cold outside. Just keep it."

"suffer!"

Li Ju'an collected the full box of soda, ginseng wine, and steamed rice cakes, and also gave a box each to Song Desheng and Lu Zhiqiang.

Captain Wang took a liking to the young man, seeing that he was young yet knew how to navigate social situations. He beckoned to the head chef of the first canteen to prepare stir-fried tiger meat. At noon, he took Li Ju'an into a private room, where they ate and drank together, gradually building a personal relationship.

……

After a hearty meal, Li Ju'an rested in the ranch's dormitory area.

Song Desheng sat on the kang (a heated brick bed) in the dormitory, his feet resting on the edge of the kang, watching the money with longing eyes.

He counted the money, a wide smile spreading across his face, and kissed the ten-yuan note as if in a dream: "Brother Li, I really took it, didn't I?"

Seeing his trembling appearance, Li Ju'an chuckled and said, "It's your own money, take it. It's not like you stole it."

Song Desheng beamed, buried his head in the large denomination bills, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes in bliss, saying, "Oh my, this fragrance is making my heart race. It's the first time I've ever handled so many old coins, it's like a dream."

Lu Zhiqiang and Li Ju'an laughed at him: "You said the same thing last time, and you're saying it again today. Show some backbone!"

"What's wrong? Why are you holding it so tightly? Are you afraid of losing it?"

Song Desheng was genuinely afraid of losing money. He shuddered at the thought of how Old Qian's son-in-law had lost all of Old Qian's hard-earned money from his life, and the house had been burgled. As he tucked the ten-yuan note into his underwear, he said, "Of course, otherwise why would my wife say we're lucky? We have to keep a close eye on things."

It was one thing for him to stuff money into his underwear, but he went to the trouble of stuffing it into his trousers. The two of them couldn't bear to watch, so they gently slapped his head with their big hands.

Lu Zhiqiang originally wanted to check the accounts quickly, but when he saw that Li Ju'an had already divided the money equally and hadn't taken any more shares, he counted out 10 large bills and handed them over, giving Li Ju'an 100 yuan.

Li Ju'an glared at him: "What do you mean?"

Lu Zhiqiang was still a little embarrassed and said, "We don't have any dogs around, and our guns are all Type 54s. Logically speaking, you should have three more dogs and a big animal, a cannon, since you've brought along a dog. We're newbies, or to put it bluntly, we've come to the mountains to be apprentices. There's no reason for an apprentice and a cannon to share the spoils equally."

He put a lot of effort into saying that. Lu Zhiqiang, the stubborn and headstrong son of the Lu family, was a notorious troublemaker in the village; he was a little tyrant just by standing there. This little tyrant never bowed his head, yet he completely submitted to Li Ju'an.

Li Ju'an refused, and Lu Zhiqiang even turned hostile, feeling that Li Ju'an's refusal was disrespectful.

Li Ju'an didn't put on airs anymore. He took the hundred yuan from him and gave him an extra case of ginseng wine, saying, "From now on, when we go into the mountains, we're all brothers, so we can split the money equally. Any extra is mine."

The three of them laughed heartily, and Song Desheng insisted on taking the two of them to the county town so they could have a meal in his courtyard.

"I have to ask my wife to cook. I hope Brother Li will take us both under his wing from now on."

Li Ju'an laughed at him for being cunning, saying that he hadn't learned much skill from him, but he had certainly mastered sweet talk.

The ranch's delivery trucks were picked up at the second section of the Air Force Forward Ranch, which was about two miles away.

Team Leader Wang's idea was to have the truck driver come to this area first, load up the tiger meat and tiger skins, and then send the group directly to the county town.

Li Ju'an stuffed several tiger meats into a snowdrift and stored them away. Then, while he still had some time, he took a stroll around the two-mile stretch of pasture.

This route is the old path they took when they entered the mountains.

The heavy snowfall the day before yesterday covered all their footprints, leaving only the snow-covered, perfectly flat mountain path.

Big Tiger sniffed the snowy road, its nose almost touching the snow.

Lu Zhiqiang laughed and scolded, "Da Hu, weren't you supposed to be incense with your head up? What, after hanging out with Hua Er, you've become incense with your head down?"

Li Ju'an waved the dog leash in his pocket and shouted, "Big Tiger, get him!"

Big Tiger actually stomped his limbs on the ground, barked twice, and pounced on Lu Zhiqiang's leg in one swift motion. He cried out "Ouch!" twice, and was knocked flat on his back with his limbs in the air.

Several people laughed.

Lu Zhiqiang muttered to himself, "The dog doesn't look very big, but it's surprisingly strong."

"Absolutely. Da Hu isn't just any ordinary dog. He fought the tiger cubs to a standstill and even killed a wild boar in a one-on-one fight. Da Hu was just teasing you, playing with you like a child. Otherwise, how could your coat still be intact?"

Big Tiger grunted twice, looking at Lu Zhiqiang with a hint of disdain in his eyes, clearly amused by him.

Big Tiger has indeed made a discovery.

The traps the three had set when they entered the mountains had mostly covered the large red pine tree with snow. But the tiger kept barking at the roots of that big tree.

Li Ju'an stepped forward and saw that the snow was very uneven, with depressions. The slightly collapsed snow looked as if the snow was churning. Song Desheng stuck the ash stick in his hand into the snow pit, lifted it up, and pulled out the trap.

"Oh my God, there's another one!"

The clip, pulled out of the snow, came with a half-meter-long, brownish-red thing.

The small wild animal, about half a meter long, has its tail taking up most of its length. Its entire body is covered in smooth fur, which swirls when you blow on it.

The three men's eyes lit up instantly, and they couldn't help but exclaim, "Big Pi!"