"Brother Wei, do you agree?" Hu Bazhi asked seriously.
"I agree, how do you want me to help you?"
As Wei Ran spoke, he also picked up a wooden block and sat down by the stove. Taking advantage of the situation, he also stuffed the knife and chopsticks given by the other party into the boots of his pair of Jingtan shoes.
After saying this, Hu Bazhi breathed a sigh of relief and laughed loudly and said, "Brother Wei, I have the answer to what you said! There is no rush to kill the Japanese. Brother Wei, please take a breath first and let me plan!"
"
"Okay" Wei Ran responded nonchalantly and turned to sit on the stove and chat about other topics.
About an hour had passed, and seeing that there were only a few embers left in the fire on the stove, Hu Ba got up and left the cave and walked into the shack.
When he came back, he already had an enamel rice helmet and a small broken gong made of sorghum stalks in his hands.
With the help of Wei Ran, he first shoveled the pancakes stuck on the side of the pot into a basket and filled most of the pot with dog meat. Then the two of them left the cave and returned to the underground den.
At this time, a small square kang table had been placed on top of the kang. In the middle of the table was a large bowl filled with hot water, and a Japanese old-style Zhaowu kettle was soaking in it. No need to ask,
Ninety-nine percent of it was stolen.
"Get on the kang!"
Hu Bazhi greeted him warmly, put the dog meat in his hand on the table, then picked up the slender kettle and filled the only two small porcelain bowls on the table with white wine.
Seeing this, Wei Ran didn't refuse, took off his shoes, took the small gift the other party gave him, and sat on the kang across the table from Hu Bazhi, who also took off his shoes.
Before starting to eat, he took a special look at Hu Bazhi's shoes. He was also wearing jingyang shoes, the only difference was that they had an extra layer of wood soles that were three fingers thick.
"Come! Let's go first!"
As he spoke, Hu Bazhi picked up the wine cup, touched it with Wei Ran, and drank it all.
After a sip of hot wine, the last bit of chill in Wei Ran's body was dispelled.
Before he could put down the small wine bowl, Hu Bazhi had picked up the kettle of hot wine again and enthusiastically helped him pour the second bowl of wine.
"Come on, come on! Eat meat! Don't get angry! Get started!"
Hu Bazhi greeted him warmly. He also rolled up his sleeves, picked up a piece of dog meat with the three remaining fingers of his right hand and took a hard bite.
There was wine, meat, and a common enemy. The conversation between the two quickly turned to the matter that Hu Bazhi wanted to ask him for help.
"It's more than 20 miles away from here."
After Hu Bazhi drank all the wine in the bowl again, he raised his finger and pointed in the direction, "There is a road leading directly to the county. Every time the puppet army captures strong men, they have to go there, and sometimes they bring some Japanese with them."
, Brother Wei, I plan to attack them on that road."
"Is there a good place to do it?" Wei Ran asked while chewing the fragrant dog meat.
"When this road passes Gaoliangtun, it has to cross a river ditch."
Hu Bazhi drew a simple topographic map on the table with his soup-stained hands, "The people in Gaoliangtun have almost fled, and there is only one building left that was built by the rich man Xu Jinsha near Gaoliangtun in the early years.
Time to donate to the Temple of Wealth.
The Temple of Wealth is on the roadside next to the river ditch, and I want to stay there and give them a pot of food."
"When are you leaving?" Wei Ran asked crisply.
"Don't rush this day, let's drink first." Hu Bazhi said, already picking up the small porcelain bowl and clinking it with Wei Ran again.
After finishing the drink, he continued, "Wait for a few more days and wait for the snow to fall heavier before setting off."
"Alright"
Wei Ran looked like he was listening to the other party's arrangement, took the initiative to pick up the kettle soaked in hot water, helped the other party fill up the wine, and asked casually, "Brother Hu is not just a hunter, right?"
"In this day and age, you can't make a living just being a hunter, and every prey in these mountains, valleys and caves has its own owner."
Hu Bazhi picked up the wine bowl and clinked it with Wei Ran, drank it all in one gulp and continued, "When I was alive, I saved the life of the shopkeeper Cao of Bie Liangzi (Jie Dao) from Xiong Xiazi's mouth. Then
At that time, shopkeeper Cao Da was just a driver for the pointed heads (businessmen).
Later, when the Japanese came, shopkeeper Cao Da had no choice but to join a gang (join a gang), and within two years he was in the top position.
It was also because of this friendship that our family got a job as a sentinel from Cao Da shopkeeper.
During festivals and festivals, you have to pay a tribute of a coat to the shopkeeper Cao and each of the four beams and eight pillars on the mountain. Otherwise, you really have to hunt wild dogs in the graveyards and make dog-skin hats for food."
"Um...um...some understand it, some don't."
Wei Ran scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. He naturally knew that he would most likely use a few slang words this time, but he deliberately did not learn them.
This thing is just like the Martian literature of later generations. It has the limitations and particularities of the times. No matter how he learns it, if a slang from 1950 pops up in the forest and snowy fields of 1937, it will be a trivial matter.
A word with the wrong meaning or used in the wrong situation or with the wrong gesture may lead to death.
In this case, it is better to be a layman with a blank slate.
Of course, he also admitted that in his heart he was expecting a certain living ancestor to give him a language task. Unfortunately, when this calculation was made, the ancestor had no intention of fulfilling his wish.
"You don't even understand this?"
Hu Bazhi reacted immediately, and muttered something dumbfounded that Wei Ran still couldn't understand but could guess pretty well, "How did a foreigner like you survive without being kidnapped?"
..."
Having said that, Hu Bazhi patiently re-explained it in a way that Wei Ran could understand.
To put it simply, Hu Badzhi’s grandfather saved a man from the bandits in his early years, and later he became a bandit boss. With this kind of kindness, Hu Bazhi became a sentinel from the bandits’ den, which is like running around.
Erba and Babo Erben's mountain patrol work also uses this "official position" to make a living by hunting.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! According to Hu Bazhi, this job is important or not. He is not the only one responsible for guarding the hills around the bandits' den. He has never even been there, let alone
Know the exact location of the bandits' den.
The only thing he knew was that when he saw someone entering the mountain from his usual range of activities, he would place a few marlezi accordingly.
Of course, Wei Ran didn't ask who fired the marlezi, and he believed that the other party would not tell him about it easily.
When Wei Ran deliberately acted stupidly and asked why he didn't ask Shopkeeper Cao to help him kill the Japanese, Hu Bazhi shook his head more helplessly, "I don't have a close relationship with Shopkeeper Cao, and he doesn't want to provoke the Japs."
.
Let's put it this way, if Boss Cao knew that I was planning to attack the Japanese, he might be able to kill me with one shot."
At this point, Hu Bazhi belatedly realized that he had let the matter slip. He simply picked up the wine bowl and drank it all in one gulp. He said straightly, "If Brother Wei is afraid of provoking the gangster, wait until the wine is finished.
Just leave on a donkey in the cave, I'm so stupid..."
“I like this outfit that Brother Hu gave me very much.”
After Wei Ran finished speaking, he also picked up the small porcelain bowl and drank the red sorghum wine in one gulp. Then he picked up the knife that the other party had moved and pulled it out. He slowly cut off the head of a dog's leg and deliberately used
He picked it up with a pair of chopsticks and put it into his mouth, and then continued, "I like this gift too. The meat is delicious and the wine is delicious. If you don't kill a few Japanese, it's really unjustifiable."
"This is so clear!"
Hu Bazhi picked up the kettle and poured wine for Wei Ran, "I'd like to give Brother Wei a drink!"
Once the conversation started, the rest of the chat was naturally without too much verbal probing, and finally turned into a simple snowy wine party.
After a meal of dog meat, the two of them were sweating profusely. When all the wine in the kettle was finished, Hu Ba pointed to the kang and put on his shoes and said, "You can just take a good nap here."
Looking up at the snowflakes floating in through the circular ventilation window above his head, Wei Ran burped and asked, "What about you?"
"I'm going to take a look at the condoms in front of my head." As he spoke, Hu Bazhi had already put on his shoes, picked up the fur coat hanging on the pillar and put it on.
"Do you need my help?"
"No, it's just around here."
Hu Ba pointed out that he had already left the warm shack with the leftovers.
Seeing this, Wei Ran wisely did not follow him, but just helped clean up the kang table, then put on his shoes and walked out of the shack. He grabbed a handful of snow and wiped the grease off the knife and chopsticks, then put it back into the scabbard leisurely.
, stuffed into the boot.
It wasn't until Hu Bazhi's figure not far away was completely blocked by the surrounding trees that he turned around and walked into the cave nearby.
Wei Ran walked to the wine jar like a thief. Wei Ran picked up the wine raisin and filled his water bottle with red sorghum wine. Then he put on the dog fur coat that he had put here before and carried it on.
The two golden hook rifles returned to the warm shack, sat on the bed, and carefully maintained the two rifles.
Before he could finish his work, there was movement outside the shack. He lifted a corner of the curtain and glanced outside. Hu Bazhi was walking back with two pheasant-like prey in one hand.
"Catch a few flying dragons"
Hu Bazhi said, raising the prey in his hands to show it to Wei Ran, "Brother Wei, rest first while I go to tan those leather tubes."
"I'll take the gun to the shack and clean it," Wei Ran said proactively, so as not to cause misunderstanding at this time.
Hu Bazhi nodded without saying anything. He bent down and got into the cave and started working.
Not long after, when Wei Ran walked into the cave with his polished rifle, Hu Bazhi was already busy processing the dozen or twenty dog skins.
Wei Ran couldn't help with this task, so he simply turned around and returned to the shack, took out Robert's camera bag, chose a suitable lens and installed it, then returned to the cave and took a photo of Hu Badhi.
"You are really the young master of a wealthy landowner. Why do you still have this object?"
Hu Bazhi looked curiously at the not-so-big camera in Wei Ran's hand, "Is this for taking pictures?"
"Yes." Wei Ran nodded and handed the camera in his hand to the other party.
"I wish I had met you sooner"
Hu Bazhi looked at the camera in Wei Ran's palm, but did not take it. He just continued to work and said, "If I meet you earlier, I can let you take a picture of my father, mother, and daughter-in-law. I was thinking about it before.
, when our child was born, we sold the tiger skin that my father and I had shot, and took them to a photo studio in the city to take a photo, ugh..."
"Feel sorry..."
Wei Ran took a deep breath, "I...I'm late..."
"What did Brother Wei say?"
Hu Bazhi hurriedly said, "This is not your fault, I...I just...just...Oh! I just miss them."
For a moment, the cave became quiet again. You could hear the sound of the donkey chewing its cud, the sound of leather being processed, and the sound of snow falling outside the cave getting bigger and bigger.
For most of the next day, Hu Bazhi, who had drunk at least half a catty of wine, worked tirelessly. Wei Ran next to him also helped him with what he could do - chopping firewood.
While the two were busy, the sky darkened early, and Hu Bazhi went to the stove in advance and threw two potatoes as big as his fist into the stove.
When the sky completely darkened, the leather tubes had been propped up and hung in the cave. Hu Bazhi also took them at his fingertips and made a pot of Feilong without much seasoning, but with a lot of dried mushrooms.
Soup.
"Drink less at night," Hu Bazhi said, "I have to get up early tomorrow to continue hunting dogs. It's snowed heavily these past two days, and those wild dogs will definitely not be willing to part with the meat from the graves."
"Shall I go with you then?"
Wei Ran took over the job of making drinks and said proactively, "At least I can help you skin the dog or something."
"Follow me if you don't feel too cold." Hu Bazhi, who was busy serving rice, was as talkative as ever.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! After bringing the food and drink into the dark shack, Hu Bazhi dug out a glass can bottle filled with waxy substance from the nook and cranny, and casually used a piece of firewood to ignite the fire from the stove.
I borrowed a fire and lit the wick in the middle of the can.
Before the candle flame was fully lit, the wick crackled and exploded into individual candle flowers and plumes of black smoke were emitted. The black smoke was also mixed with the unique smell of pine oil.
No need to ask, most of them are pine oil lamps made by themselves. Apart from the smoke, they are not much worse than regular candles. And because the raw materials are everywhere, the wicks are much thicker and the brightness is naturally much higher.
Putting a dark glass lampshade on the mouth of the can, Hu Bazhi placed the candle on the side of the kang table, then took off his shoes and got on the kang to pick up the chopsticks.
At the same time, Wei Ran had already served a large bowl of Feilong soup for the other party and himself.
"If you plan to go hunting dogs tomorrow, you have to get up early."
After Hu Bazhi sat down cross-legged, he picked up the wine bowl and clinked it with Wei Ran. After drinking the scalded wine, he said, "You have to go out before dawn. If you go late, those wild dogs will smell the smell."
I don’t dare to come.”
"Don't worry, you can get up." Wei Ran also drank the contents of the bowl in one gulp.
"Brother Wei, where are you from?" Hu Ba asked, pointing to the pipe pot.
"Ji Province" Wei Ran also lit up a cigarette and replied while puffing out smoke, "Cangzhou in Ji Province."
Compared with the mutual testing during the lunch meal, the small talk at this time has turned into mutual familiarity and increased understanding.
Of course, Wei Ran had to admit that although the legendary Feilong soup looked clear and watery, with only meat and mushrooms, it tasted really delicious.
After chatting over bowls of broth and glasses of white wine while filling his stomach, Hu Bazhi insisted on giving up the warm kang to Wei Ran. He himself spread several layers of dog-skin mattresses on the floor and, with the help of alcohol, hugged him.
He fell asleep with the iron sand gun, whose lethality at close range was almost equal to that of a shotgun.
After a while, the only thing left in the shack was the stove, which was emitting warmth and gleaming light, and the loud snoring of Hu Bazhi.
Lying on the kang, Wei Ran looked at the occasional snowflakes falling from the ventilation window above his head, and couldn't help but secretly wonder whether he would meet Zhao Jinyu or Zhao Jinge tomorrow.
In the midst of his random thoughts, Wei Ran, hypnotized by the alcohol and the sound of crackling charcoal fire, gradually fell asleep with a trace of vigilance.
This time, he surprisingly slept very soundly.
But when Hu Bazhi woke him up, he was inevitably startled by the knife he had made by his own hand placed on his neck.
"I really thought you were the young master of a wealthy landlord."
In the dim but warm den, Hu Bazhi took a step back to let go of the knife on his neck and said in surprise.
"If I were really the young master of a landlord's family, I would be waiting to feed the dogs in the graveyard by now."
While Wei Ran was speaking, he had already gotten up and put back the knife in his hand that he had held all night long into its sheath.
"I believe you have the guts to kill the Japanese together."
Hu Bazhi breathed a sigh of relief, and while rubbing his neck with his hands, he praised, "It's really a real person without showing his face. That hand just now was so beautiful that the hairs on my body stood on end."
"My hands are so wet that I can't hold the knife every time."
Wei Ran hinted in a joking tone, and at the same time he was busy putting on his cotton coat and trousers.
"Don't worry, next time I'll stay far away and wake you up."
Hu Bazhi grinned and lighted the pine oil lamp in a silly manner. While getting dressed, he said, "Brother Wei, please get a Japanese gun later."
"Okay." Wei Ran responded simply, but didn't ask what he was doing with the gun.
With quick movements and fully dressed, Hu Balzhi filled the clay stove and the kang with a few pieces of firewood, then wrapped two pancakes and a few strips of dried meat in rabbit skin, and handed them over together with a potato that had been roasted all night beside the clay stove.
He gave it to Wei Ran and said, "Eat the roasted potatoes while they're hot. After that, we'll set off."
With that said, Hu Bazhi had already sealed the fire doors of the stove and the kang, and left the den with a baked potato.
Not long after, with the rustling movement, Hu Bazhi swept the snow off the roof of the shack, and then, he covered most of the skylight above his head with a piece of animal skin.
By the time Hu Bazhi bent down and walked in with two pairs of skis, a golden hook rifle, the Berdan II rifle and the iron sand gun, Wei Ran had already finished eating the hot baked potatoes.
"Can you use a fast horse?"
Hu Bazhi said, already handing over a pair of skis, "If you don't know how to use it, I'll teach you."
“Can use it”
Wei Ran also glanced at the hunting bow and quiver hanging on his waist before taking over the skis and golden hook rifle.
There is nothing to say about the rifle. Hu Bazhi has already helped load the bullets. However, this ski is a bit primitive. The wooden body is fixed with several leather ropes one finger wide, and the contact surface with the snow is still firm.
Nailed with a layer of furry animal skin.
Looking at Wei Ran suspiciously, Hu Bazhi turned around and walked out and said, "Since you know how to use it, I won't teach you."
Knowing that the other party was testing him, Wei Ran didn't waste any time. He also put on his dog-skin hat and walked out of the shack with his skis and weapons.
It had only been one night, and the snow on the ground was already almost a foot thick, and there were still finger-sized snowflakes floating overhead.
If you move to other places or go back to your own era, such a snowy day will only remind people of the iron pot relying on the goose and the refined sentence "Auspicious snow heralds a good harvest."
But at this moment, in this era of suffering and this man-eating forest and snowfield, this "snow" is equivalent to hell for the anti-alliance fighters.
Taking a deep breath to clear away his thoughts, he tied the primitive skis to his shoes quite skillfully, then picked up the handbag prepared for him on the ski pole next to him and put it on, gripped the ski pole tightly and followed.
Following Hu Bazhi's footsteps.
After deliberately marching hastily for about ten minutes, Hu Bazhi saw that Wei Ran could really keep up with him, so he slowed down slightly.
Just like when they brought Wei Ran back, the two of them kept silent in tacit agreement, and walked towards the graveyard where they first met, relying on the reflection of the snow.
Climbing over mountain ridges and sliding down quickly again and again, the two of them were like two ghosts running in the snow. In less than an hour, they arrived at the entrance of the cave where Hu Bazhi had locked the donkey.
.
After welcoming Wei Ran into the cave, Hu Bazhi didn't take off his skis at all. He used ski poles to take down a broken basket hanging on the top of the mountain, took out a few marlezi from it and pinned it to his belt.
In line with Hu Bazhi's principle of not asking questions without explanation, Wei Ran changed directions with the other party and continued to move in the direction of the random graveyard.
Not long after, Hu Bazhi led him to a location about a hundred meters away from the mass grave.
"Just stay here and watch."
Hu Bazhi stopped and whispered, "Go and hide in the crooked-neck pine tree nearby. Unless you are unlucky and encounter a tiger, there is no danger."
"What about you?" Wei Ran asked.
"I'll come closer"
Hu Bazhi explained, "I didn't bring the donkey here today so I won't use the condom. I'll just wait and see when Brother Wei stops shooting."
"Then when can I shoot?" Wei Ran asked.
"If I shoot, you shoot again," Hu Bazhi said, "If I don't shoot, you don't shoot either."
"It's up to you"
Wei Ran said cheerfully, this time coming to beat the dog was not so much a help, but more a run-in before the two of them killed the Japanese together, and he could vaguely see that Hu Bazhi wanted to divide the relationship between the two of them.
Come out first and second.
Is this necessary?
Of course it is necessary. The two of them are not familiar with each other. If they continue to play their own roles, it will be a disaster for others and themselves.
Assigning a task to Wei Ran, Hu Bazhi held up his ski poles with both hands and rowed dozens of meters down the mountain ridge, stopping behind a tall and lush pine tree.
Seeing this, Wei Ran took off his skis and leaned against the tree, then climbed up the branches of the crooked-neck pine tree.
As he climbed up, although the light was not good, he noticed that the branches were almost pulpy from being trampled on. Obviously, Hu Bazhi must have climbed this tree frequently.
In particular, when he climbed as high as the roof of a house, he discovered that not only was a rope tied to the tree trunk, but one of the branches, which was as thick as a thigh, was also wrapped in a torn sack.
Riding on the tree branch wrapped in a sack, facing the trunk of the tree, Wei Ran first put the rope through his belt and tied a buckle, then took off the gun he was carrying and placed it on the branch.
Although it is blocked by pine branches and leaves, from this angle, you can clearly see the mass graves a hundred meters away.
Unfortunately, due to the angle, although he could clearly see the mass graves, he could not see Hu Bazhi at all, let alone where he was hiding.
After wrapping the dog fur coat tightly around him, Wei Ran fixed the gun with a gun belt, took off his handbag, took out his camera bag, changed the Robert camera to a telephoto lens, and looked at the mass graves that were almost buried in the snow.
Pressed the shutter.
So will Zhao Jinyu or Zhao Jinge show up later?
As Wei Ran put away the camera, he was secretly looking forward to it, but at the same time he was contradictory and didn't want the other party to appear in the mass grave - in the form of a corpse, or something close to a corpse.
