Reborn in 1985: Starting from Contracting a Ranch

Chapter 44 Thrilling

The days that followed were simple and unpretentious.

The snow on the mountain was getting heavier and heavier, and Shan Yaowen dared not go up the mountain easily.

After all, once he falls into a snowdrift, all he can do is pray for a second chance at life.

However, for experienced hunters, winter is a good time of year. When the snow falls heavily, the animals in the mountains, having nothing to eat, will come down to forage for food.

That's when they should be deployed.

At this moment, a group of people in Baixi Ranch are inviting Shan Yaowen to go hunting in the mountains.

"Shan Er, you're really not going?"

Leading the group was an old hunter from the village, who was currently puffing on a cigarette in front of the cabin.

Shan Yaowen picked up a shovel and started shoveling snow. "You guys go ahead. There's a ton of work to do on the ranch. Who'll do it if I leave?"

The old hunter frowned. "But this is a rare opportunity. Here's what we'll do: if you're not going, lend me your bird."

"Lend it to you?" Shan Yaowen scoffed. "Do you even understand what it means? Can you control it?"

Ever since he and his brother-in-law hunted a bear and three deer, legends about him have filled the area, especially after being spread by some people with ulterior motives, making the silly bird famous.

Now, everyone in the surrounding area knows that Shan Yaowen has successfully trained a hawk, and with his skill in hunting hawks on the mountains, he is invincible.

So every now and then someone would come to his door to invite him to go hunting.

He naturally knew what they were up to.

As for Shan Yaowen, he never agreed.

In this day and age, it's best to go hunting in the mountains with people you know well. Otherwise, not only will they try to scam you, but you could also get yourself killed if something goes wrong.

Aside from safety, Shan Yaowen has now earned his first pot of gold through hunting, and his attention is focused on the ranch. He only goes there occasionally, and even then, he goes with familiar people.

The old hunter gave an awkward smile, and was about to say something when the people around him pulled him back and walked away cursing.

After the group left, Shi Zhang suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"Brother Wen."

"You're here, have a seat." Shan Yaowen brought him a small stool. "How's your dad?"

"Much better."

Shi Zhang is Shi Tingyue's son, the hunter from Team Five whom Shan Yaowen rescued when he went hunting in the mountains.

After things calmed down this winter, Shi Zhang would come over to help Shan Yaowen shovel snow whenever he had free time.

"Are those people coming to ask you to go hunting in the mountains again?" Shi Zhang gestured with his chin towards the backs of the people climbing the mountain along the stream in the distance.

"right."

"A bunch of opportunists." Shi Zhang sat down to warm himself by the fire, then got up to get a shovel to get to work. "Ignore them. After they found out my dad was injured and couldn't get out of bed, they even came to my house to borrow the dog, saying that since my family couldn't use it anyway, it was just sitting around doing nothing."

"Pah! A bunch of dogs who only know how to eat shit."

Hearing Shi Zhang cursing, Shan Yaowen chuckled. It seemed he wasn't the only one who had been harassed by these people.

With someone by his side, Shan Yaowen wasn't so depressed anymore.

After talking to that group of people, the two started working.

"Brother Wen, your sheep pen smells so bad, with poop and pee all mixed together. Won't they get sick?" Shi Zhang glanced at the situation inside the pen while shoveling snow.

He didn't know much about raising sheep, but he knew that something seemed wrong with the situation in the sheep pen.

"It's okay, it's divided into two sections. Didn't you see I separated it into two areas?" Shan Yaowen said while shoveling the poop. "I shovel it every morning. I'll just sprinkle some lime later."

"That's true, but it would have been better if the bottom had been open, so that poop and pee could just leak through."

"It's cold with the openwork design; the sheep pen was originally built to keep them warm."

The two of them worked incredibly fast, and in no time at all, they had shoveled the snow off the sheep pen.

After shoveling the snow, Shan Yaowen checked on the sheep outside. The sheep were indeed all there, but they were all bleating from the cold.

"Aren't you going to give us straw?" Gou Dan glanced at the sheep.

"No need now. I'll go cut some branches later so they can eat some greens, and then I'll give them straw tonight."

It must be said that although there is not much work to do on the pasture in winter, you can't be lazy if you want to take good care of the sheep.

The two of them worked until noon to finish the job.

After finishing the work, Shan Yaowen took Shi Zhang to his home for a meal.

Although Shi Zhang volunteered to help and didn't ask for payment, he still needed a meal and a pack of cigarettes.

"This child is a bit too honest."

Watching Shi Zhang leave, Mother Shan sighed, "How many times have I come to help?"

Shan Yaowen didn't say anything, tidied up and went out.

After finishing his meal, Mr. Shan helped himself up from the chair to the kang (a heated brick bed), skillfully turned on the radio, and as soon as the sound of opera came on, he immediately lay down with a big smile on his face, humming something under his breath.

Upon seeing this, the mother threw a shoe insole at him.

"You certainly know how to manage your life; you don't think about anything at all."

Upon hearing this, Mr. Shan sat up helplessly. "What do you want me to do in my current state?"

"The water's gone from the house, and I don't know how to fix it. I've been lying in bed for so many days, unable to work, has my brain all messed up?"

"If there's no water, there's no water. We can just go to the team's well. The two kids aren't home, so let them come back at night to fetch some."

Hearing her parents arguing, Shi Fang immediately advised, "Mom and Dad, stop arguing, I'll go and call them."

"Don't go, I'll go. You're pregnant, and it's freezing cold. You could slip and fall." Mother Shan quickly grabbed her eldest daughter-in-law and prepared to go get the bucket herself.

Then Shi Fang insisted on going with her to fetch water.

When Shan Yaowen went out for a walk with Lin Nian, he saw his mother and sister-in-law carrying buckets to draw water from the well. He was suddenly jolted awake, and all the bad memories from his past life flooded back to him.

"Mom, sister-in-law, let me do it."

Shi Fang was helping to stabilize the water bucket when she heard her brother-in-law's shout. She instinctively turned around, but her foot slipped and she fell backward into the well.

The woman standing nearby was so frightened that she froze and didn't know what to do. When she came to her senses and tried to pull Shi Fang away, fortunately, her second son ran fast and pulled her away before she could.

Shi Fang plopped down on the edge of the well, still in shock, her face pale with fright.

"This..." The mother next to her finally reacted, and then pulled Shi Fang and asked with concern, especially whether her stomach was uncomfortable.

"Mom, sister-in-law, you stay here, I'll take over." Shan Yaowen was also terrified.

Damn it!

I thought that after my older brother and father were safe, I could change the original tragedy of my family, but I didn't expect that my sister-in-law would almost get into trouble.

Lin Nian, who was standing nearby, also came over and helped Shi Fang walk away from the well.

Although she saw her sway just now, she was still scared when she thought about the consequences if she had fallen.

"Ah Wen, be careful too." Mother Shan is still shaken.

If something goes wrong, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Shan Yaowen nodded, then put the bucket down and scooped out two buckets of water, which he then carried himself. "Come on, I'll take you back; the road is slippery."

When he got back, Shan Yaowen realized that there was no water in his house because the water pipes were frozen.

"This weather is really strange. In previous years, it would never be this frozen at this time. Even the Three Lakes are completely frozen over. You could drive a big truck on it."

After returning home, the mother took care of the frightened Shi Fang while muttering to herself.

Shan Yaowen naturally knew why this year, but after hearing that Sandao Lake was frozen, he thought for a moment, "Hey Dad, I remember we have a fishing net, where did we put it?"

"Fishing nets? Ask your older brother. He cast two nets with you in the fall, and then he hauled them in." After hearing this, Mr. Shan thought for a moment and shook his head, then looked at Shan Yaowen with suspicion. "It's the dead of winter, didn't you hear your mother say that the three lakes are frozen over? Where did you go fishing?"

"It's only good for fishing when the well is frozen." Shan Yaowen yawned, then looked at Shi Fang, "Sister-in-law, let's not go to the well. Mom, you too, wait for me or my brother to come and fetch water."

"Okay." Shi Fang nodded.

She was still shaken. If she had fallen into the well that day, even if she had been rescued in time, she would have suffered a lot, and she might not have been able to save the baby in her womb.

Shan Yaowen found the fishing net where his older brother often left his things. Just then, his younger sister ran back, and he took the opportunity to remind her not to wander off.

Then, carrying nets and tools, they drove a horse-drawn sled to Sandao Lake. In this heavy snow, they didn't want to use a horse-drawn carriage, as the wheels would definitely get stuck in the snow and wouldn't move. A sled was much better.

As for what he was going to do, it was fishing, of course; he loved fishing in the winter.

Every time they catch someone, they succeed.