pjbooks Chapter 40 Having Both the Deer and the Bear's Paw
Chapter 40 Having Both the Deer and the Bear's Paw
When Shan Yaowen first went back, he only called Uncle Zhang, who was his brother-in-law's father.
After explaining the situation on the mountain to Uncle Zhang in detail, he called on all the able-bodied members of his family to come.
Upon hearing that bears and deer had been hunted, my brother-in-law's brothers all grabbed their weapons and headed up the mountain.
"Brother-in-law?"
When they arrived at the place on the mountain where they were hunting bears, Shan Yaowen didn't see his brother-in-law. His heart sank.
Surely something can't happen so soon?
"It's here."
As soon as Shan Yaowen shouted, a head popped out from behind a rock. It was his brother-in-law, who was holding Xiao Hei's hand.
"What's wrong?" Seeing his brother-in-law hiding behind a rock, Shan Yaowen looked around but didn't see any other animals.
And it could scare my brother-in-law, who has a gun, into hiding. Could it be a bear?
"Damn it, there's a pack of wolves, and they're trying to steal my stuff." Zhang Du cursed as he walked out, throwing the skinned bear skin on the ground. "I was so scared that I quickly skinned the bear and prepared to run away."
"A pack of wolves?" Zhang's father and his brothers looked around. "You scared them away?"
"Yeah, Little Black barked a few times, so I fired a shot and scared them away." Zhang Du rubbed his wrist. "Hurry up, there are still two deer in the ditch next door. Let's pack them up and take them back."
The Zhang brothers immediately began to act.
Zhang Du, however, didn't act immediately. Instead, he looked at Shan Yaowen and asked, "Where's the jar I told you to get?"
Shan Yaowen then remembered this, "I forgot, I was just thinking of calling someone up quickly."
"Forget it, we'll just do it the same way when we get back." Zhang Du waved his hand and grinned. "This time you've really had a good time, Wen. You can marry two wives, not just one."
Before Shan Yaowen could speak, Zhang Du's older brother chuckled on the other side:
"Marry two? You'll probably get arrested. Last time, Huang San'er from next door came to town and glanced at a pretty woman a couple of times, and he got arrested. I heard he'll be locked up for three years."
Shan Yaowen shrugged. "One is enough. I can't handle more than that."
The group brought all their tools. After dealing with the bear and deer on one side, they went to the other side of the ditch to deal with the two deer.
When they arrived, they found wolves eating deer on the ground.
It seems they weren't scared away by Zhang Du, but rather they found a new target.
"I curse your ancestors!"
Seeing his hard-earned prey being devoured by wolves, Zhang Du was furious and immediately fired a shot.
Unfortunately, the wolf pack had given them a warning and ran away as soon as they saw people coming, showing no greed for their prey.
Shan Yaowen also tried firing a shot, but unfortunately it was already dark, and he wasn't so lucky this time. The bullet grazed the wolf's tail and hit a tree nearby.
Watching the wolves leave, Zhang Du led the group, cursing and swearing, to deal with the two deer.
One of them had been gnawed beyond recognition, with internal organs and blood everywhere. Zhang Du's long-awaited deer blood wine was now missing one of the animals.
The other end was alright; it wasn't badly gnawed.
"The alpha wolf must have been eating just now, and the other wolves could only watch, so they only ate one." After checking, Zhang's father breathed a sigh of relief; at least there was still one left.
However, Zhang Du was still angry and insisted on causing trouble for the wolf pack.
If it weren't so late at night, the silly bird would have been completely helpless, and Xiao Hei had been running around all afternoon, chasing deer and biting bears. Zhang Du would probably have really gone to chase the wolf pack.
Anyway, they outnumbered each other and had guns.
Shan Ping and her son waited at home. They hadn't even cooked dinner yet, so she gave Xiao Bai two pancakes.
She only breathed a sigh of relief after her husband and brother returned.
However, upon hearing her husband's cursing and swearing, she was puzzled: "Didn't we hunt our prey? Why are you still angry?"
Shan Yaowen explained the situation with the wolf pack, and Shan Ping breathed a sigh of relief. It was just that a deer had been eaten, and she was alright.
"Sit down for a bit, I'll go cook."
"Don't rush, wife. Take out the 'Knockout Donkey' (a type of strong liquor), and also take out the wine jar I prepared for Awen. We can't waste this stuff." Zhang Du said and went to get the tools.
After Shan Ping took out the wine jar, she took out the wine, placed it on the ground, and lifted the lid. The aroma of the wine immediately filled the air.
Zhang Du went inside, found an axe, dragged the still-intact deer aside, and smashed it hard on several bone areas.
Then, he cut open the blood vessel with a knife, and the deer blood, which was not yet fully coagulated, gushed out and fell into the basin.
After all the deer blood has been added and cooled completely, mix it with white wine in a 1:1 ratio and pour it into a wine jar.
If you put it directly in the hot container, it will easily spoil.
"Tsk tsk, this jar of wine is definitely very nourishing." Uncle Zhang watched his son busy at work and smiled. "If you put that stuff in, it'll be even more nourishing."
"What the hell?" Shan Yaowen didn't react for a moment.
But when he saw the malicious smiles on the faces of the people around him, and even when some of them glanced between the hind legs of the male deer in the yard, he understood completely.
Shan Yaowen never expected that Uncle Zhang, who was already a grandfather, would say such a thing.
Zhang Du ignored all that and mixed the deer blood and white wine together. In the blink of an eye, the liquid in the jar turned into a murky dark red, somewhat like the color of wine in later generations.
"Come and see."
Seeing his brother-in-law waving at him, Shan Yaowen went over and leaned over to smell the jar. A fishy smell hit him right in the head, making him cough.
"Ha ha!"
Seeing Shan Yaowen like this, Zhang Du, like a child who had just pulled off a prank, took the kraft paper, covered it up, and then wrapped it with hemp rope again and again.
"After you take it back, put it in a cool, shady place. After a month or two, the wine will be ready." Zhang Du smiled. "Hey guys, let's get started. Tonight, each of you take ten pounds of meat home to eat."
Hearing this, Zhang Du's brothers smiled, turned around and went back to their own homes to get their tools, and then began to help divide the meat.
Although they were envious of Zhang Du's large hunt, they all knew that after the division of the family, what Zhang Du hunted belonged to him. At most, they would help share some meat, or buy some from each other at a low price or exchange some other things. It was impossible for them to get it for free.
Shan Yaowen didn't go to divide the meat, but Zhang Du pulled him aside. "Awen, let's split the food in half. Tomorrow, we'll keep the food and take it to town to sell, then split the money. Of course, you can keep some meat too."
"Split in half? Brother-in-law, you..."
Before Shan Yaowen could say anything more, Zhang Du waved his hand to interrupt him, "You also contributed, and you're no younger than me, so it's fair. Besides, you're getting married soon, and your sister and I can't really help you much, so consider the bear skin as a token of our appreciation."
"Brother-in-law." It would be a lie to say that Shan Yaowen wasn't moved. His brother-in-law had always been incredibly kind to him, both in his past life and now.
"Alright, let's not talk about that anymore. Take some meat back with you, give some to your parents and Yaowu, and keep the money for yourself." Zhang Du patted Shan Yaowen on the shoulder.
After saying that, before Shan Yaowen could say anything, he got up and went to tell Shan Ping to make dinner.
We've brought back so much game today, not to mention others, my brothers and I are definitely going to have a feast, and there will be plenty of meat.
Danping couldn't handle it all by herself, so her sisters-in-law all came to help.
Shan Yaowen also helped out, some cutting meat, some stir-frying vegetables. Anyway, the Zhang family's dog had a big meal today, and all the useless offal and scraps were given to the dog.
Even the silly bird got to eat a lot of meat, and its belly was so swollen that it could hardly fly anymore.
"Sigh, I always eat delicious food when I come to my sister's house. Next time, come to my place for mutton hotpot." After a hearty meal, Shan Yaowen lay half-reclined on the kang (a heated brick bed) and said to his sister.
Dan Ping was clearing the table when she heard this. She pointed at her younger brother and said, "All you ever think about is food. The sheep have only been raised for a short time, and you're already thinking about eating them. Let me tell you, after you get married, you won't be alone anymore. You'll have to take care of the family, you know?"
"I know." Shan Yaowen turned to his side, looking at his sleeping nephew beside him. "Xiao Bai is almost of school age, right?"
"Soon, it will be sent to school in the second half of next year."
"How can someone who can't even speak clearly understand anything?"
"Whatever, just consider it paying the teacher to watch the kids." Shan Ping finished tidying the table, poured her younger brother a cup of tea, and then sat on the kang (heated brick bed). "Your brother-in-law said it really will snow heavily this year?"
"real."
Seeing her younger brother's confident expression, Shan Ping became worried. She turned to Zhang Du, who had just finished urinating and entered the house, and said, "Since you're selling meat tomorrow, why don't you buy some rice and noodles too?"
"I know, I was just about to tell you about it."
Because of Shan Yaowen's warning about the snow disaster, my brother-in-law's family also took it seriously and prepared to stock up on supplies.
Anyway, for them, stocking up on more things makes them feel less anxious. Even without the snow disaster, they can save the food for later. It's just a matter of buying it sooner or later.