Zhao Youcai walked in front and entered the house first. He was startled when he saw the person coming and asked, "Chengguo, why are you here?"
"Are you off work today?" Zhou Chengguo smiled faintly and said: "I met my brother Zhao Jun twice in the past few days. He seemed to be worried about you when he spoke. I happened to have nothing to do today, so I came over to take a look."
"Ah." When Zhao Youcai heard this, his mind changed rapidly and he didn't say much.
At this time, Zhou Jianjun came in carrying a sack of mutton and placed the sack next to the stove. He wanted to call Hu Sanmei and Zhao Chun to come out to handle the lamb, but they heard someone talking in the house, so they came inside first.<
/p>
As soon as Zhou Jianjun entered the house, he heard Zhou Chengguo ask Zhao Youcai: "How have you been these two days? Did you catch any leopard shadows?"
Zhou Jianjun saw his father-in-law wink at him, and then Zhao Youcai said to Zhou Chengguo: "No, I went into the mountain to search for two days and found nothing."
As soon as Zhao Youcai said this, Zhou Chengguo nodded and said, "That's what I said."
"What?"
When people hear Zhou Chengguo's words, they feel that there is something in them.
Zhou Chengguo smiled and said: "I met my brother Zhao Jun yesterday. He said that the leopard went to 42 Lin Class the day before yesterday, and he even watched it."
"This little brat..." Zhao Youcai cursed secretly in his heart, but in front of Zhou Chengguo, he did not show his anger and only said: "That's okay, it's common for local leopards to run dozens of miles in one night. Maybe they'll come back again.
."
Having just seen it two hours ago, he certainly knew that the leopard had returned.
A few people chatted for a while, and Zhou Chengguo stood up to leave. Hu Sanmei took Zhou Jianjun out and sent him out. When he came back, he saw the sack placed next to the stove.
Before my son came back with his in-laws, they didn’t have this sack yet, but they had it after they came back.
Hu Sanmei asked Zhou Jianjun very curiously, "Son, what is installed here?"
"Mutton."
"What?" Hu Sanmei was stunned and hurriedly pulled up the sack. When she opened the mouth of the sack, she saw that there were about ten kilograms of mutton in the sack, but most of them were thin bones, and there was very little meat on the bones.
Hu Sanmei knew at a glance that it was the meat of the little lamb her son had carried away that morning.
"Why did this lamb die?" Hu Sanmei looked at Zhou Jianjun and asked.
When he mentioned this, Zhou Jianjun felt a pain in his heart and wanted to go back to the house to rest, but Hu Sanmei stopped him and refused to let him go. He could only reply: "It was a native leopard that killed him."
"Have you really seduced a local leopard?"
"Yeah."
As soon as Zhou Jianjun nodded in response, he saw Zhao Chun coming out of the west room carrying the child on his back.
When Zhou Chengguo came just now, Zhao Chun only came out to say hello, and then went back to the house to comfort the children. At this time, she heard that Zhou Chengguo had left, and she came out. As soon as she came out, she heard a leopard or something, and Zhao Chun hurriedly stepped forward to ask
Said: "Did you kill that leopard?"
"No." Zhou Jianjun shook his head. Just as he was about to continue, he saw Zhao Youcai coming out of the east room and going back to his own room, leaving Zhou Jianjun alone to deal with his mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.
Hu Sanmei and Zhao Chun looked at each other, and then asked Zhou Jianjun a question that struck straight to the soul: "The leopard was not killed, but why did the sheep die?"
In fact, Zhou Jianjun was already feeling very distressed at this time. He didn't want to say a word, he just wanted to go back to the room, lie down on the kang and take a nap.
But he couldn't afford to offend the two women in front of him, so he could only briefly describe the experience of entering the mountain today.
"Alas!"
"Alas!"
After hearing this, Hu Sanmei and Zhao Chun couldn't help sighing. Hu Sanmei picked up the sack with both hands, held the mouth of the sack to show it to Zhao Chun, and said, "Look, the lamb I bought for ten yuan was not in vain."
?"
The old lady has been careful for most of her life. Although she heard that the money she spent was not her own, she still felt distressed.
She felt distressed, and Zhou Jianjun felt even more distressed, so he turned around and went to the West Room.
At this time, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law paid no attention to him. Zhao Chun glanced into the sack, then raised his head and said to Hu Sanmei: "Okay, Mom, this sheep is dead too, let's stew it quickly."
Her natal father bought the sheep, what else could she say to her mother-in-law?
Moreover, the weather is hot at this time, and it is difficult to store meat. If you don’t cook it and eat it, it will be even more distressing if it goes bad.
"Okay." Hu Sanmei put the sack aside and said to Zhao Chun, "I'll do it. My dear, please go back to the house."
In the evening, when Zhou Chunming came back from outside, he was carrying two bottles of wine in his hand. Although he was a leader, he never put on airs in front of the relatives in the village, let alone his own relatives. p>
These days, every day Zhou Chunming comes back, he has to have a drink with Zhao Youcai during dinner. However, Zhao Youcai and Zhou Jianjun have to go up the mountain the next day, so they can't drink too much the first night, so they haven't been able to enjoy themselves to the fullest.
As soon as I got home today, Zhou Chunming smelled the fragrance as soon as I entered the yard and even before entering the house.
"Mutton!" Zhou Chunming was overjoyed at first, thinking that he had killed the leopard and the sheep used as bait was useless, so he stewed it to celebrate.
But thinking of this, Zhou Chunming felt a little regretful. Even if he killed the leopard, he could still bring the sheep back and raise them. Isn't it a waste of time to kill and eat meat at such a young age?
Zhou Chunming opened the door and entered the house. Hu Sanmei, who was stirring egg liquid in front of the stove, casually asked: "I'm back."
Zhou Chunming glanced into the inner room. In his opinion, the sheep was bought by his in-laws with money. If someone wanted to kill it and eat it, he couldn't say anything, especially since it was in his own home.
Therefore, Zhou Chunming raised the wine in his hand and asked Hu Sanmei: "Where are the in-laws? Let's have a drink tonight."
"It's okay to drink a little, but don't drink too much." Hu Sanmei shook her head and said, "My in-laws have to go up the mountain in the morning tomorrow."
"Go up the mountain..." Zhou Chunming didn't think much about it. He knew that Zhao Youcai liked hunting, and he thought he might have seen some traces of prey in the mountains again. But he asked Hu Sanmei: "Hey, Lao Kuai, where is the leopard?"
?"
"What?"
"Local leopard!" Zhou Chunming walked to the east room, looked inside, but found nothing. Then he came out and said to Hu Sanmei: "Where is that leopard? Let me see, I have lived so long, and I can still survive."
I’ve never seen a native leopard.”
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!
Leopards are rare in the Northeast, even rarer than tigers. Many people have only heard of them but have never seen them.
"Don't make any noise." Hu Sanmei winked at Zhou Chunming and frowned: "Why don't you open the pot and pick up which pot? The leopard ran away without being hit. I think the in-laws seem to be a little angry, so just pretend you don't know.
, don’t say anything, don’t ask anything.”
"Ah!" Zhou Chunming was startled when he heard this, but turned to look at the big pot with the aroma, and asked Hu Sanmei: "Why did you kill the sheep when you didn't kill the leopard? You won't have to pay for it tomorrow.
Do you want to fight?"
"This sheep was killed by a leopard, so don't ask so many questions, okay?"
"Sigh." Zhou Chunming sighed after hearing this, shook his head and walked to the back room, muttering in a low voice as he walked: "Tonight, I have to have a drink with Youcai, otherwise he will easily get angry." For dinner, braised mutton, thorn sprouts and eggs, stir-fried cucumbers, tofu stewed with potatoes, four dishes were set up on a kang table.
Because they are all relatives, Hu Sanmei and Zhao Chun are also sitting around the Kang table to eat. It can be seen that Zhou Chunming is afraid that Zhao Youcai will get angry, so he holds a glass to persuade him to drink, but Zhao Youcai seems to be fine, drinking wine normally, and there are many dishes.
Eat.
Zhou Jianjun, on the other hand, seemed even more depressed than Zhao Youcai. He was holding a glass of wine and drinking one mouthful after another. Zhao Chun couldn't stop him.
When he woke up the next morning, although Zhou Jianjun had sobered up, he still felt uncomfortable.
But there was no other way. After breakfast, I had to go out with my father-in-law. First, I went to Lao Sun's house and bought the remaining lamb from their house.
"Look, look." The old man from the Sun family pointed to the departing figures of Weng and his son-in-law, and said to his wife: "My father-in-law is so blessed. I stayed with my in-laws for two days, and my uncle killed sheep to eat every day.
”
"Yeah." Old Mrs. Sun agreed, her eyes full of envy.
When Weng and his son-in-law entered the mountain, Zhou Jianjun was carrying the sheep at first, but halfway through, Zhou Jianjun couldn't carry it anymore.
Zhao Youcai had no choice but to take the sheep and carry it up the mountain.
Finally arriving at the place, Zhao Youcai tied the sheep to a tree, and poured the bean cakes he brought from home in front of the sheep. The sheep could detect the arrival of the leopard earlier than humans, so he couldn't let it bark when it was hungry.
After settling the sheep, Zhao Youcai turned around to see Zhou Jianjun, only to see Zhou Jianjun huddled uncomfortably behind a tree, his eyes slightly closed and drowsy.
Zhao Youcai felt a little distressed when he saw a half-son-in-law, but most fathers in this era could not express their emotions. No matter how much they felt in their hearts, they turned into scolding.
Just listen to Zhao Youcai say: "You said you can't drink, what can you do?"
Zhou Jianjun leaned his shoulder against the tree, without opening his eyes, but murmured: "I feel bad."
"What?" When Zhou Jianjun said this, Zhao Youcai was startled. He crouched down and put his hand on Zhou Jianjun's shoulder and asked, "What's wrong? Jianjun! Is your heart feeling weak?"
"No...I feel sorry for my twenty yuan."
"What the hell..." Zhao Youcai curled his lips, stood up and walked to the side. If Zhou Jianjun hadn't been feeling unwell, he would have wanted to take off his gun and shoot this kid.
After Zhao Youcai stood up, he subconsciously looked forward and saw a roe deer jumping out of the forest in front.
More than ten meters away from Zhao Youcai, the roe deer stopped immediately, glanced at Zhao Youcai, turned around and ran away.
"Jianjun!" Zhao Youcai said: "You watch here, I'll catch a roe deer!" After saying that, Zhao Youcai, who had already taken the gun in his hand, chased the roe deer away.
It has to be said that Zhao Youcai has rich hunting experience. He walked around the area on the first day he came. Even if there were no footprints of wild beasts on the ground, he knew that this post was the most frequented by roe deer.
If there are too many roe deer, they will naturally attract leopards.
This is the reason why Zhao Youcai set up an ambush here.
After Zhao Youcai walked for more than ten minutes, Zhou Jianjun, who was huddled behind the tree, stretched out a hand, supported the tree, struggled to get up, and walked back along the original path.
He didn't want to go home, but wanted to find a place for convenience. Probably because of drinking yesterday, Zhou Jianjun felt very uncomfortable in his stomach at this time.
But I remembered what Zhao Youcai said, no matter if you are smoking or taking a walk, you can't be near here, otherwise if the leopard comes and smells something wrong, it may leave.
Zhou Jianjun endured the pain and walked out for four to five hundred meters, then returned after relieving himself in the woods.
It was not yet half past nine, and neither he nor Zhao Youcai expected that the leopard would come.
When he walked about 20 to 30 meters away from the baiting place, Zhou Jianjun suddenly realized something was wrong.
Although there is food, the sheep will bleat from time to time. They may bleat after chewing two mouthfuls of bean cakes, or bleat when they have nothing to do.
It's just that when you encounter danger, you will scream very quickly.
But at this time, it was quiet and quiet up there, and not a single sheep brayed for a long time.
"It's broken!" Zhou Jianjun's heart suddenly suddenly became full of energy, and he ran up high. But when he looked up, he saw a rope, one end of which was tied to the tree, and there was only a rope buckle on the other end.<
/p>
There is a sheep's head with a neck on the ground next to it, but the sheep's neck is back and missing.
"My ten dollars!" Zhou Jianjun stumbled and rushed to the sheep's head. He saw that the half pile of bean cakes left next to him was stained red with blood.
At this time, Zhou Jianjun was on the verge of crying, suffering a double blow to his body and mind.
"Jianjun, Jianjun!" At this time, Zhao Youcai's voice came from the south. At this time, he was dragging a roe deer up the slope.
At this time, there was no snow on the mountain, and the ground was covered with grass, sand, and gravel. The friction was great, so it was very difficult to pull the roe deer.
But down below, Zhao Youcai noticed something was wrong. The reason was the same as Zhou Jianjun's just now, he couldn't hear the sheep braying.
Zhao Youcai pulled the roe deer up with all his strength and took a look. He was so angry that one Buddha was born and two Buddhas ascended to heaven.
Zhao Youcai left the roe deer behind, looked at the dead sheep's head and asked, "What's going on?"
"I don't know either!" Zhou Jianjun said, "I'll just help you, and when I get back, this sheep's body will be gone."
Zhao Youcai heard this and said angrily: "I asked you to watch here, what are you doing?"
"Then I have a stomachache, can I still put it in my pants pocket?" Zhou Jianjun said aggrievedly: "I just won't leave. If the leopard comes, I can't fight it without a gun."
"You don't have a gun... You don't have a gun. If you make any noise to scare the leopard away, won't the sheep be saved?"
"I..." When Zhou Jianjun heard this, he thought it was right, and now he felt even more distressed. If he had known that the leopard would come, he would have to hold the sheep while relieving himself.
"Oh! Okay, don't get angry. I didn't expect that leopard to come so early." Zhao Youcai sighed and said to Zhou Jianjun: "I'm still hunting a roe deer. Go and kill it."<
/p>
"I can't lift it." Zhou Jianjun said painfully: "I feel uncomfortable."
Zhao Youcai curled his lips helplessly, took out his knife, went over and skinned the roe deer, then divided the meat into pieces and put them into a sack.
It was just after ten o'clock when Weng and his son-in-law went down the mountain to go home. The half-sack of roe deer meat could only be carried by Zhao Youcai.
It weighed more than forty kilograms, and Zhao Youcai had a hard time carrying it on his back as he walked and stopped all the way.
It happened that Zhou Jianjun was not feeling well either, so the two of them walked and rested until they reached the village at 12 noon.
Weng and son-in-law found a place to rest again, and after thinking about their rest, they walked back in one breath.
During the break, Zhao Youcai said to Zhou Jianjun: "Jianjun, I will go back tomorrow."
Zhou Jianjun didn't stay today and directly replied: "Then you go back, Dad."
"No!" Upon hearing Zhou Jianjun's words, Zhao Youcai became a little anxious and asked hurriedly: "Then the leopard won't be beaten?"
"Then what's the point?" The more Zhou Jianjun thought about it, the more distressed he became, and said: "The only family in our village that raises sheep has asked me to buy two lambs. Now they only have one big ewe left, so it's up to us.
I have to spend 70 to 80 yuan to save face. How can I still have money? I asked Chun'er for money, but she couldn't give it to me."
Zhao Youcai took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, took a puff, and then asked Zhou Jianjun: "How much money do you have left in your pocket?"
After hearing this, Zhou Jianjun reached into his cotton-padded jacket pocket, took out a handful of money, showed it to Zhao Youcai, and then said: "This is more than three yuan, and I can probably buy two legs of mutton..."
Before Zhou Jianjun finished speaking, he saw Zhao Youcai put the cigarette in his mouth, stretched out his hands and grasped his money hand.
"No, dad, what are you going to do?" Zhou Jianjun was about to resist, but Zhao Youcai took the money away from his hand. But seeing that Zhao Youcai didn't count, he stuffed the money into his pocket and said: "Tomorrow morning
