sjar Chapter 261 The Li Family Builds a New House
Chapter 261 The Li Family Builds a New House
News spread that Sun Weimin had been sent to the county hospital.
The old master of the Lu family had quite a bit to say at the dinner table. Holding his chopsticks, he spoke eloquently to the younger generation, shouting, "Awesome! You little brat, back in the day we also encountered Wolf Eyes. That wretched thing scurried away for almost thirty miles, but I was determined to shoot it out of its skin! That thing is no good!"
"Afterwards, I crouched down and finally found this thing's lair. I handed it the gun and went up to pluck out the wolf's eye socket. And guess what? Three black bears rushed out of the lair, scaring the group of hunters behind me so much that they ran away in a flash."
Lu Jinyang listened intently and asked the old man what happened next.
After taking a couple of swigs of liquor, the old man from the Lu family started talking, his face flushed with excitement. He shouted, still slightly drunk, "What else could we do? We had to deal with it! We couldn't let those guys keep targeting us and bullying us. When I shouted, it snapped those hunters out of their daze, and they quickly lit their firecrackers. That's how we escaped with our lives."
The term "wolf eyes" refers to wolf cubs that were found by adult bears when they were young and grew up together with the bear cubs. Such wolves, able to hunt alongside bears, are shrouded in mystery in the Xing'an Mountains, inspiring awe and reverence akin to the legendary Weasel spirit, making people want to avoid them.
As the old patriarch of the Lu family recounted his youthful days, he talked nonstop, exclaiming:
"What's a black bear? Even if we encounter a black bear that doesn't hide in the granary, we won't even blink. Our time was different from yours. You guys are lucky to have the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle and the Type 54. When we were kids, we used hunting bows. We didn't often encounter leopards or have the chance to hunt deer. Trying to shoot an arrow through a deer's neck was like slashing a person."
Decades ago, hunters didn't have many hunting rifles; they mostly used homemade, old-fashioned, blunt-handled guns, which were inaccurate and weak. Many hunters used bows and arrows. The hunting methods passed down in the Sun family were the same, so the younger generation of hunters in the Sun family would fire one shot, then without even glancing at the prey, swoop down, pull back the bolt, and fire a second, then a third shot.
This is also because in the old days, the spear was weak and could not kill the prey in a few shots, which is a hunting habit passed down in hunting families.
Suddenly, the old master of the Lu family asked Lu Jinyang seriously, "Jinyang, how did you get your shares when you went into the mountains with Li Ju'an?"
Upon hearing this, Lu Zhiqiang was about to say, "We and Li Ju'an will split it equally."
Lu Jinyang quickly said, "Lu Zhiqiang is splitting it equally, I'll take one share next to him."
The old man's expression softened a bit, and he said, "Jinyang, you're learning a craft now, so you can't take as much as Li Ju'an. You know how it's unreasonable for an apprentice to take the same amount as their master. Otherwise, you're being ignorant and shameless. People from the Lu family can't act like that."
Lu Jinyang blushed and nodded. Lu Zhiqiang continued nonchalantly, "What's the big deal? It's just splitting it equally. Li Ju'an doesn't care; they're family."
He fell silent after being glared at by the old man of the Lu family. The old man of the Lu family said seriously, "The Sun family's young lad has gotten into trouble. You two have to be careful too. From now on, you can't go alone when you run into the mountains, understand? Like your second uncle of the Chen family, didn't he argue with us in his younger days, insisting on taking the one-way road, and as a result, he ran into a bully who suddenly rushed out from the side."
He had barely finished speaking when his wife glared at him, and he shut up and said no more.
Lu Jinyang quickly asked, "What happened to Uncle Chen's second uncle later? Did he run into a cannonball all by himself?"
The old man of the Lu family then stammered and said that the second uncle of the Chen family had survived by a hair's breadth and had risked his life to kill the cannonball, but one of the eggs was lost under the cannonball's fangs, making him a lone egg hero.
The two Lu brothers felt a chill in their groin, and only after touching it did they feel relieved and at ease. Thank goodness it was intact.
Lu's second aunt was still trying to find a spouse for Lu Zhiqiang, who was getting impatient. Lu's second aunt was also puzzled and asked him, "You're such a grown man, why aren't you in a hurry at all? Only your mother is so anxious for you. Look at the young man from the Song family who came into the mountains with you, he's about the same age, and he's been married for a year and can already hold a child."
Lu Zhiqiang, impatient, shouted, "Li Ju'an doesn't have a girlfriend either. Why am I in such a hurry?"
Lu Jinyang smiled but remained silent. Lu's second aunt continued muttering, "How can you compare yourself to Li Ju'an? Everyone knows Li Ju'an is dating Lin Mei. Lin's youngest son comes to our house every day, showing off his comic books, which Li Ju'an gave him. This time, Li Ju'an also sent a carp to the Lin family. His intentions are obvious; he's dating Lin Mei."
“You two grew up together, and Li Ju’an is almost married to Lin Mei, but you still haven’t brought a girlfriend home. We don’t care about that, you have to bring a girl home by the end of this year.”
Zhang's niece is the child of Zhang's second brother, about the same age as Li Xiao, and loves comic books. When I visited the Lin family, I saw Lin Jiadong engrossed in reading a comic book. He doesn't seem to like reading; he gets sleepy as soon as he starts reading a book and falls asleep after only a couple of pages. But when he's reading a comic book, he's completely absorbed and never gets sleepy.
Lu Jinyang glanced at Lu Zhiqiang and chuckled. Lu Zhiqiang lowered his head and remained silent, saying, "Let's wait a little longer."
Upon hearing the implication in his words, the second aunt immediately woke up and grabbed Lu Zhiqiang to ask if he had found a girlfriend, as it sounded promising.
……
Li Ju'an hung the bear gallbladders on the roof beams to dry in the shade. After the New Year, merchants from the south came to the county town one after another. Pang Duo's partner also came to the county town and traded with Li Ju'an. The bear gallbladders were exchanged for nearly 2000 yuan, and with the bear teeth, bear skin, bear bones, and bear meat, the total was 2500 yuan. He and the hunter who came with him split the profits and then started planning to build a new house.
The two families were unaware that Li Ju'an was going to build a new house. The two families were allocated 3 mu of irrigated land, while Li Ju'an was allocated 5 mu of dry land.
He and Engineer Zhang had calculated the dates, and the end of the month would be an auspicious time to break ground.
On the first day of work at the end of the month, Li Ju'an found some helpers from the village. Most of them were relatives and friends. Li Guaizi, Lao Zhang, Lao Qin, the Lu brothers and Lu's second aunt, Lin Jiadong, and Aunt Zhang and her nephew also came to help. Sun Hao, the chubby boy, also brought his two cousins to help.
In those days, it was a common practice in the village to help with house construction. Everyone in the village would lend a hand to anyone building a house. Neighborly assistance fostered goodwill, and no one talked about wages or compensation. Life in the village was simple. Relationships were more important than money. Helping others wasn't just about physical labor; it was also a way to strengthen bonds.
Just two days ago, Li Ju'an helped the Zhang family build the main beam of their house and repair the roof of the Sun family, busy as a bee with a hoe. This kind of mutual help is the foundation of the village's social relationships.
The host family would cook a lunch for the villagers who were helping out, inviting everyone to eat a hot meal. They would also prepare a gift for the craftsmen, such as a bag of grain or a chicken, to show their respect for the craftsmen's skills.
Mother Song Lanhua carried the ingredients and prepared a meal with Aunt Zhang. The most important part of building a house was the meal; the food had to be good and varied.