sinovels Chapter 1782 Design Victory at Youlong Ginseng Land
Chapter 1782 Design Victory at Youlong Ginseng Land
Chapter 1782 Design Victory at Youlong Ginseng Land
"What the hell?" Wang Meilan wasn't unaware of what Zhao Youcai said; she just didn't understand why he would do such a thing: "What are you going up the mountain for? Don't you have a place to live? Just stay home."
It wasn't that Wang Meilan was particularly reluctant to part with Zhao Youcai, nor did she insist on sleeping with him. The key issue was that it was the busy farming season, and everyone in the family was constantly occupied.
Although Zhao Youcai doesn't work in the fields, he can at least cook for everyone at home. Besides, with such a big yard and so many valuables, someone has to stay home to look after the house.
If Zhao Youcai wasn't home, someone had to be chosen from among the workers to stay at home. Therefore, there was no way Wang Meilan would let Zhao Youcai go up the mountain.
In front of three tables of people, more than thirty men, women, and children, Zhao Youcai did not argue with Wang Meilan. Instead, he raised his wine glass and smiled at Wang Qiang, saying, "Look how strange your sister is. She won't even let me go up the mountain. How could she let me go with you guys to lasso sheep?"
Zhao Youcai gave himself a good way out; everyone laughed it off, and the matter was over.
After eating and drinking their fill, the women helped Wang Meilan clean up the dishes and leftovers before going home. These busy farming days were exhausting; they worked hard in the fields every day, and after dinner they were sleepy, so they didn't watch TV at the Zhao family's house anymore.
Zhao Youcai escorted Li Dayong and his family of four to the gate, then turned and went to the barn where Han Shengli's five hunting dogs were kept.
As soon as Zhao Youcai reached the gate, he heard Li Ruhai shouting from outside the courtyard: "What are you doing?"
Immediately afterwards, Zhao Youcai heard a familiar voice: "Ruhai, where is my brother Zhao Jun?"
Zhao Youcai frowned slightly, recognizing the speaker as Gu Yang. At that moment, the conversation between Li Ruhai and Gu Yang triggered barking from the dogs in the warehouse.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Youcai turned and walked out of the courtyard. As he reached the gate, he heard Li Ruhai say to Gu Yang, "It's so late, what urgent matter do you have that requires you to see my elder brother?"
"It's important," Gu Yang said. Li Ruhai rolled his eyes at him and said, "Tell me first. If I think it's important, I'll let you know..."
Just as Li Ruhai was sticking his teeth together, Zhao Youcai came out of the yard. Gu Yang saw Zhao Youcai and quickly called out, "Uncle Zhao."
"What's wrong? Gu Yang?" Zhao Youcai asked, "What's the matter? Why do you have to find your brother?"
Zhao Youcai initially thought Gu Yang had spotted wild boars and black bears in the mountains and was reporting to Zhao Jun. However, what Gu Yang said next made Zhao Youcai's expression change.
"Uncle Zhao, Han Shengli from Yongli Village asked me to come to your house to see if your big black dog has returned, and to see if his five dogs are still at your house?"
"Big brother." Li Dayong took two steps to Zhao Youcai's side, reminding the stunned Zhao Youcai to make a decision as soon as possible.
Under the red glow of the large lantern, Zhao Youcai blinked his small eyes twice and sneered, "That old bastard Han Shengli is still as cunning as ever."
After saying this, Zhao Youcai looked Gu Yang up and down and asked, "Why are you playing games with him?"
In order to avoid Zhao Youcai misunderstanding, Gu Yang told him about his experiences throughout the day yesterday.
After listening, Zhao Youcai only asked Gu Yang one question: "Did he take my son Huzi up the mountain to cheat him out of money?"
“This…” Gu Yang hesitated for a moment, but remembering how good Zhao Jun had been to him, he forced himself to say, “He didn’t tell me explicitly, but he muttered something when he was looking for the dog, and it sounded like that to me when I was listening nearby.”
"What does that mean?" Li Ruhai asked from the side. Gu Yang replied, "It seems like he's going to take my brother Jun's dog to the 84th Forestry Squad, or somewhere else's shack."
"Damn it!" Zhao Youcai and Li Dayong cursed in unison upon hearing Gu Yang's words. Then, Li Dayong, with his back to Li Ruhai and Gu Yang, gave Zhao Youcai two meaningful glances.
Zhao Youcai understood immediately. After seeing Li Dayong and Gu Yang off, Zhao Youcai returned to the courtyard and the first thing he did was to close and lock the gate tightly.
Then Zhao Youcai, no longer caring about the five dogs in the storeroom, hurriedly went back to the house.
When he entered, he saw Zhao Jun and Wang Meilan, mother and daughter, each carrying a thermos, heading back to their rooms to wash their feet.
"Lan," Zhao Youcai repeated the topic from the dinner table, saying to Wang Meilan, "I still have to go up the mountain tomorrow."
"Are you bored?" Wang Meilan retorted to Zhao Youcai in an annoyed tone, "If you're so bored, you should come work in the fields with us, so you won't be idle all day long."
Zhao Youcai was taken aback, then quickly stepped forward and said to Wang Meilan, "Lan, you don't know, Han Shengli has sent people to keep an eye on us."
"What?" Wang Meilan thought Zhao Youcai's words were simply unbelievable. She immediately frowned and said, "It's not like we're on TV. Why are you tailing us?"
"Mm!" Zhao Youcai told Zhao Jun and Wang Meilan what he had heard from Gu Yang. The mother and daughter both frowned after hearing it.
Zhao Jun and Wang Meilan were both very busy, and the mother and son really didn't have time to deal with Han Shengli.
"Why don't you just take those five dogs back to him?" Wang Meilan said to Zhao Youcai. "We don't want to cause that trouble. If you like dogs, I'll buy you a few."
This was the first time Wang Meilan had offered to buy a dog for Zhao Youcai, but Zhao Youcai said, "No way, he cheated us out of our Tiger, and we've been looking for him for days..."
“He picked it up, he didn’t steal it,” Wang Meilan said, but Zhao Youcai still shook his head: “That won’t do either, I can’t give it to him no matter what.”
"Dad, then you shouldn't live up in the mountain either." Zhao Jun didn't want to listen to Zhao Youcai's nagging anymore, so he stopped Zhao Youcai and said, "Living in the mountains is too much of a hardship. My third uncle has already come down the mountain, why don't you go live up there?"
After saying that, Zhao Jun added, "If you really want those dogs, I'll drive them to the new forest farm tomorrow."
The new forest farm is mostly staffed by their own people. Even if Han Shengli goes to the farm to find the dog, he might not be able to get any advantage from Huang Gui and the others.
“This…” Zhao Youcai hesitated after hearing Zhao Jun’s words: “These dogs are new to me, and I was thinking of getting to know them better.”
“Dad!” Zhao Jun interrupted Zhao Youcai, “If you want to build a relationship, you’ll have to stay in the mountains for two months.”
As he spoke, Zhao Jun gestured towards the window and said, "The grass has all grown up in these mountains, you can't catch any dogs even if you go up the mountain."
At this time of year, the trees on the mountain sprout new leaves, and the grass grows taller and taller, which obstructs a person's view.
When dogs go out to fight their prey, hunters may not even be able to see the prey or the dogs when they get close to the battlefield. Therefore, summer is simply not a suitable time for hunting.
Zhao Youcai had been hunting for many years, so he naturally knew what Zhao Jun was talking about.
At this moment, Zhao Youcai blinked his small eyes and said, "Then you send the dog away and raise it for a few months. Bring it back to me in the fall."
After saying this, Zhao Youcai immediately added, "I'll have Xie Zhong take care of this dog; it can't fall into the hands of that old man."
“No, Dad,” Zhao Jun said. “Brother Huang is so busy all day, he doesn’t have time to hunt.”
“That’s not necessarily true…” Zhao Youcai was about to say something when Wang Meilan interrupted him: “Then do whatever you want, nobody cares about your mess.”
Wang Meilan impatiently tossed this sentence to Zhao Youcai, then looked up at Zhao Jun and said, "Son, don't mind him. Go back to your room, tidy up, and go to sleep."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Youcai abruptly turned to look at Zhao Jun. But Zhao Jun smiled at him, picked up the thermos, and left.
……
The next morning, the family did what they always did: some went to the fields, some fed the dogs, and some cooked.
Around 7:30, both families had finished eating and cleaned up.
The two little girls were getting ready for school, Wang Meilan and Ma Ling were getting ready to work in the fields, while Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu had already packed their things for going up the mountain.
Today, the Zhao family gang is going to deal with the hanging sheep on the top of the bluestone, so Zhao Jun brought leopard sinew ropes. Remembering that setting up the poles would require cutting branches and felling wood, he also brought a large axe and a curved-handle saw.
Just then, sporadic barking came from outside; Zhang Yuanmin and his family of three had arrived.
Little Bell took Zhao Hong and Zhao Na to school, while Yang Yufeng and Wang Meilan went to the fields. Zhang Yuanmin, all smiles, took out his improved foot catch from his basket.
Zhang Yuanmin added a wire snare to Zhao Jun's original new foot-grabbing technique. If the ram steps on the foot-grabbing technique, it will immediately lift its hoof and struggle, at which point the wire snare will tighten around the ram's leg.
If the previous foot-holding technique allowed the sheep to break free, then with Zhang Yuanmin's improved foot-holding technique, once the sheep is pinned down, it's practically impossible for it to escape.
Just as the group was discussing how to improve the setup of the poles and the new way to catch the feet, the phone rang.
Today is May 20th, 1988, the day Zhao Jun and Shao Tianpeng had agreed upon. Zhao Jun hadn't left yet; he was waiting for this phone call.
Sure enough. When the call connected, Shao Tianpeng's voice came through: "Zhao Jun, when are you coming?"
“Master Shao,” Zhao Jun thought for a moment and said, “I’ll go to your place on the afternoon of the 22nd, the day after tomorrow. I should arrive by five or six o’clock.”
“Okay!” Shao Tianpeng readily agreed, “Then I’ll prepare the dishes for tonight and treat you all to a good meal.”
After thanking Shao Tianpeng, Zhao Jun hung up the phone. Then he called Li Baoyu and Zhang Yuanmin to take their packed belongings and head out of the compound.
Zhao Youcai followed the others out of the house. He took a rope and prepared to tie up Han Shengli's five hunting dogs so that Zhao Jun could take them to Xinlengchang.
Just then, Wang Qiang led a man into the Zhao family compound.
Upon seeing this person, Zhang Yuanmin frowned and asked, "What brings you here?"
The visitor was none other than his third uncle, Zhang Jimin.
Zhang Jimin glanced at Zhang Yuanmin, completely ignoring him, and instead took two steps to stand in front of Zhao Jun, bowing and scraping as he said with a smile, "Team leader, are you busy with your work?"
"Uh," Zhao Jun mumbled in response, then asked, "Aren't you going to work today?"
Before Zhang Jimin could even reply, Zhao Youcai chuckled behind him and said, "Son, you should leave. He came to see me."
"Huh?" Zhao Jun, Zhang Yuanmin, Li Baoyu, and even Zhang Jimin all looked at Zhao Youcai in surprise.
Seeing Zhao Youcai wink at him twice, Zhang Jimin suddenly remembered that he had said yesterday that he would help Zhao Youcai deal with Han Shengli.
Just then, Gu Yang arrived. Zhao Youcai glanced at Zhao Jun, then pointed to the shed where the dogs were kept. He then beckoned to Zhang Jimin and Gu Yang, and led them inside.
After they entered the house and sat down, Zhao Youcai offered cigarettes to the two men, then introduced Zhang Jimin and Gu Yang to each other: "Jimin, this is Gu Yang from our village. Gu Yang, this is that..."
At this point, Zhao Youcai paused slightly before smiling and saying, "The leaders of the forest protection team."
"A...leader?" Zhang Jimin looked at Zhao Youcai in surprise. There was only one leader in the forest protection team, namely the captain, Song Fu'an.
Zhang Jimin had no doubt about Zhao Youcai's words. In his view, although Zhao Youcai wasn't a leader of the forest farm, he was still a powerful figure. His son was his direct superior, his in-law was the secretary of the forest farm, and his son-in-law was the head of the logistics team.
"Hey, Master Zhao!" Zhang Jimin rubbed his hands together and laughed, "You've given me a surprise!"
"Haha..." Zhao Youcai laughed and waved his hand, saying, "That's nothing."
After saying this, Zhao Youcai turned to look at Gu Yang, who was holding the stone tablet but reluctant to smoke it, and said with a smile, "Gu Yang, hurry up and go to Yongli Village and tell Han Shengli. Tell him that you sneaked into my house and didn't leave with Hu Zi and his five dogs."
"Okay, Uncle, I understand." Gu Yang nodded in agreement. Then he heard Zhao Youcai say to Zhang Jimin, "Jimin, what about you? You two will go back to the village with Gu Yang later. You two can discuss it on the way. Han Shengli's dog is missing, isn't it? Gu Yang will go with him to look for the dog today. After that, you two..."
At this point, Zhao Youcai gave Zhang Jimin a wink. Gu Yang didn't understand Zhao Youcai's words, but Zhang Jimin understood instantly and nodded, saying, "Master Zhao, I understand."
Two minutes later, Zhang Jimin pulled a bewildered Gu Yang out of the Zhao family's house.
By this time, the Jiefang truck had already taken the Zhao family gang into the mountain area. Today, they were going to Qingshidingzi to lasso sheep. Since Qingshidingzi is close to the border of two provinces, it took Jie Chen more than three hours to arrive at Qingshidingzi around noon.
Zhao Jun got out of the passenger seat and stood at the spot where Xiong Guizi had encountered the black tiger while crossing the river.
At this moment, Zhao Jun looked in the direction of the bluestone top, but suddenly turned around to look at the bluestone cliff behind him.
If he remembered correctly, the old grotto that nurtured the conjoined ginseng was located beneath this bluestone cliff. Looking at the mountains and rivers that divided Yong'an and Yongxing, Zhao Jun suddenly recalled the secret Zhao Youcai had heard from Blind Pang: "River water flows from the sunny slope to the shady side, stone dragons and wooden dragons swim on both banks."
At this moment, in front of Zhao Jun, the river flows on the sunny slope, but the river branches down, with some flowing directly to Yong'an and others turning into Yongxing territory.
The river flowing directly to Yong'an turns at the Third Work Section, but it doesn't turn towards the shady slope. Instead, it flows through the river within Yongxing's territory. If Zhao Jun remembers correctly, it makes a sharp bend, flows towards Yinpo, and then flows all the way to the ravine where the 1200-jin Xiong Bawang once lived.
Last year, Zhao Jun saw a sheep hanging here, encountered a tiger, and even hunted a large brown bear by car. Therefore, he is very familiar with the terrain here, which is why he can recall the Youlong Ginseng Land where the river flows from the sunny slope to the shady side.
"Let's go!" To confirm, Zhao Jun called to Wang Qiang and the others to walk down the riverbank.
Sorry, everyone, I've finished updating. I'll update two chapters tonight at midnight, posting an extra chapter as an apology.
(End of this chapter)