Wild 1979: From Fishing and Hunting to Becoming a Literary Master

Chapter 92 Tiger Bone Wine

Perhaps it was from drawing the bow until exhaustion, or perhaps it was from the fresh venison and deer blood wine.

Or perhaps they have complete confidence in Hai Zi's "Facing the sea, with spring flowers blooming".

Chen Tuo slept soundly and woke up feeling very excited.

Wu Laowai, who also woke up early, was wearing a reindeer skin and smoking a pipe.

"Kid, you'll only feel comfortable sleeping in an Evenki roe deer skin bag or deer skin bag if you take it off, otherwise your whole body will feel tense."

After their adventure the night before, the two men each received sixty-one wolf pelts, while Wu Laowai got thirty.

Thirty Siberian wolf pelts, when they reached the supply and marketing cooperative at the foot of the mountain, were roughly equivalent to a forestry worker's annual salary.

But if it's handed over to Su Dao, and he goes across the river to exchange it for something, it might be worth three to five years' salary.

According to Su Dao, if it were made into a fur coat and then exchanged, it could be equivalent to eight or ten years' worth of wages.

The details of the accounts still need to be discussed with Su Dao, but a forestry worker's salary for three years should be secure.

If he could do this every day, risking his life to earn a year's income in one go, Wu Laowai wouldn't mind taking the risk.

In high spirits, and feeling particularly refreshed after drinking deer blood wine, Wu Laowai began teaching Chen Tuo survival skills in the wild.

I took them off not for comfort, but to keep my clothes dry.

Sleeping in a roe deer skin sleeping bag or deerskin sleeping bag while wearing clothes will inevitably cause you to sweat.

Early morning and late evening are the coldest times in the mountains. The sweat from the night is washed away by the morning wind, and you might easily fall ill.

These survival skills are difficult to teach or explain, but after encountering them a few times, you'll understand and master them.

Chen Tuo glanced at Wu Laowai, whose face was aged but whose body was strong and muscular, and became curious.

"Uncle Wu, you're in great health! What do you usually eat?"

Although I feel that my physical strength has fallen to its peak and my energy is not as good as before.

But Wu Laowai was still quite pleased to receive praise from the young Chen Tuo.

"When I was young, I was just like you, enjoying eating and drinking to my heart's content, but I did much more work than you."

Having said that good health is related to diet, Old Wu added mysteriously:

"When I was in my late thirties or early forties, a few doctors from the capital came to the mountains to look for medicinal herbs. I led them there, and they gave me a prescription."

Speaking of those days, Wu Laowai also recalled his youthful years traversing the Xingan Mountains.

Without the prescriptions given by those old doctors, he probably wouldn't be able to run through the mountains anymore.

"What's the prescription?"

When Chen Tuo asked for a prescription, Wu Laowai did not answer immediately, but instead talked about his occupational hazard from running in the mountains.

"Winter is the season for hunting in the mountains, but going through snowdrifts every day inevitably damages the lungs. My lungs were already a bit weak at that time."

"Those old doctors came in the autumn. I showed them the medicinal herbs in the mountains. Before they left, they took my pulse and gave me a prescription."

"Without this prescription, I would have developed asthma. Western medicine calls it asthma, while traditional Chinese medicine calls it shortness of breath. So, kid, you'd better watch out!"

After explaining the potential occupational hazards of mountain running, Wu Laowai patted his chest and gave a prescription.

"The recipe is simple: tiger bone wine!"

"Tiger bone wine? Uncle Wu, you still have this good stuff? Could I have some?"

Upon hearing that Wu Laowai had tiger bone wine, Chen Tuo's eyes lit up. He had only heard legends about ginseng, deer antler, and tiger bone before.

Now, he has witnessed the medicinal power of ginseng, and last night he ate venison and drank deer blood.

He also wanted to try Wu Laowai's tiger bone wine.

"That thing is ridiculously expensive, go buy it yourself, I paid for mine too."

"Bought with money? Where did you buy it?"

"The pharmacies in Jagdaqi have it, Tongrentang's Li Shizhen Tiger Bone Wine!"

"Tongrentang? Isn't that stuff made by soaking a tiger bone in medicinal herbs?"

"That's a country bumpkin's way of drinking it, a complete waste of good stuff! The real tiger bone wine is made by first brewing medicinal wine, called 'Guogong Wine,' and then making tiger bone glue, which is then dissolved into the medicinal wine."

When it comes to Tongrentang's Li Shizhen Tiger Bone Wine, Wu Laowai knows it like the back of his hand.

Two feedings, nine steamings, eight coolings with yeast additions, and seven distillations constitute one production cycle, which takes a year.

After that, it is aged for three years and then blended and adjusted to harmonize its medicinal properties for one year.

It takes five years just to brew the national liquor.

Before soaking tiger bones in alcohol, they must be processed, soaked in hot water, and boiled. Then, the tiger bone wine is made by blending it with Guogong wine as the base wine, which takes another year.

After further aging, blending, and mixing, it will take another three years.

This set survived for at least eight years, but that doesn't mean they could actually drink it.

"Young man, use ten catties of strong liquor to make one catty of tiger bone wine, then soak it in tiger bone. Take three qian a day. That's the prescription the old doctor gave me."

"If you don't have tiger bones, you can soak leopard bones; if you don't have leopard bones, you can use bear bones; if you don't have bear bones, you can only use dog bones, but you have to use a lot of them."

"Before adding tiger bones, they need to be dried and crushed on a tile. You can also add some ginseng, deer antler, or deer penis, but it's best to have a recipe."

"When we come down the mountain this time, let's bring back some male wolf bones. Having a lot of those will be useful..."

After going around in circles, Wu Laowai still ended up on the male wolf's bones.

It was clearly stated during the distribution the night before that the wolf meat would be split equally between the two families, but the two of them might not be able to bring it down the mountain.

Besides the wolf bones, Wu Laowai also knew that there were tiger bones in the Dobukuer settlement. Since he couldn't get them, he used tiger bone wine to persuade Chen Tuo to come.

"Kid, Bai Long and Su Dao both have tiger bones. Although we don't have tigers here, we have them in the Lesser Khingan Mountains and across the river!"

"Uncle Wu, you mean I should ask them for some, right?"

"Whether you want it or not is your business. Anyway, I have a jar at home. Remember, you need the bones of a male tiger; female bones are not as good as male ones. Tiger penis would be even better!"

Wu Laowai's words were not meant for Chen Tuo, but for Su Dao and Bai Long, who had just entered the tent.

"Chen Zhiqing, you want tiger bones and tiger penis? I have some! I'll go get them for you right away."

Wu Laowai's words had gotten him into trouble again, but Chen Tuo couldn't say anything.

After Bai Long left, Su Dao put down the wooden box he was carrying and said to the two of them:

"Old Wai, Chen Tuo, there's nothing good on the mountain. I brought two cases of water-based bullets with me this time. Here, take one case!"

Su Dao gave him the bullets, which was exactly what Chen Tuo wanted. He was about to accept them when Wu Laowai beat him to it.

"Su Dao, Russian copper bullets aren't cheap. This box must contain a thousand rounds, right? You sell these things for two cents a bullet down the mountain, that's two hundred dollars!"

When Su Dao entered the room, Wu Laowai saw the ammunition box he was carrying.

But bullets are different from tiger bones and tiger penises; those have a price.

Bullets were worthless at the Songling Armed Forces Department, but if you really wanted to buy them, old-fashioned brass rifle bullets were considered cheap at two cents a round.

"I'll cross the river to exchange it; it'll only cost the price of a bottle of wine. Old Wai, without you and Brother Chen Tuo, Morigen and I would probably be dead at the hands of the wolves..."

Wu Laowai was doing the accounting, and Su Dao was also doing the accounting.

This box of bullets was a thank-you gift from him and Morigen to the two of them, and had nothing to do with the Dobkur settlement.

Having not repaid the debt of saving their lives, they were not in a position to haggle with Wu Laowai over the subsequent wolf pelt deal.

"Su Dao, could you include us, father and son, in this cross-river trip?"

Su Dao wanted to settle the debt in one lump sum, but Wu Laowai didn't want to settle the account directly.

The bullets cost only two hundred yuan, but the wolf pelts could cost two thousand yuan or more. How could we let him pay in full at once?

"Uncle Wu, I haven't had time lately..."

Thinking of Su Dao's smiling face last night, Chen Tuo wanted to settle things with him once and for all.

He doesn't even have an identity now. Crossing the river? Isn't that just asking for trouble?