sjar Chapter 127 Semi-automatic Rifle, and a Heavy Ammunition Box
Chapter 127 Semi-automatic Rifle, and a Heavy Ammunition Box
Leader Chen stared at the tiger cub skin on his shoulder and asked, "Where did you get it?"
Li Ju'an didn't elaborate, pointing to the mountain: "Where else can a big claw fight? In this area of the mountains, of course." He was different from Lu Zhiqiang and Sun Weimin; those two were genuine and spoke their minds. If he really said he'd picked up a ready-made woman from a high branch, let's see if Leader Chen would even bother with him anymore.
Forestry leader Chen stared at the tiger skin for a moment, then shook his head and said, "They're so young and they're already fighting tiger cubs. They're pretty tough. But then again, which of them hasn't seen blood in the mountains?"
He made a phone call, and then Assistant Chen led people in, bringing in two large wooden crates. The heavy crates were opened, revealing a Type 56 semi-automatic rifle inside.
The gleaming black barrel, the maroon wooden stock—the brand-new Type 56 semi-automatic rifle made Li Ju'an's eyes light up, and he immediately stood up.
A Type 56 semi-automatic rifle? The two black guns he dug up earlier were old-style Type 56 semi-automatic rifles. But this gun has a serial number on the barrel, so it's a fully compliant Type 56 semi-automatic rifle, which can sell for over 1200 yuan in the hardware section of the supply and marketing cooperative, which is very expensive.
Furthermore, the 7.62mm ammunition in the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle deals significant damage, making it particularly suitable for targeting ranges up to 400 meters, and it remains effective even at 1500 meters. The Type 56 also exhibits minimal barrel recoil and high accuracy during firing. In short, this rifle is highly suitable for mountain hunters in terms of both accuracy and range.
Leader Chen was satisfied with his reaction and ordered his assistant to open another large wooden crate.
When Li Ju'an opened the second large wooden crate, he found it contained a cardboard box resembling a matchbox. A chill ran down his spine; he'd guessed correctly. He'd seen loose bullets at Old Tao's place, packaged in similar cardboard boxes. The bottom box contained 1000 rounds of ammunition, topped with a few loose bullets, making it easy to identify the type of ammunition box. The supply and marketing cooperative sold them for one cent per round, so a box would cost at least 200 yuan.
Bullets are expensive, and now this whole box of precious bullets is placed right in front of him. He crouched down, opened it, and found 1500 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition. The cardboard box containing the bullets weighed a little over 15 kilograms.
Seeing his careful and cherished movements, Leader Chen could tell at a glance that he was very satisfied with the gun. With his hands behind his back, he said, "Brother, take the specimen shooting job if you can, but don't force yourself if you can't. If you're really capable, there will be plenty of bullets."
Li Ju'an lifted a box of bullets and laughed, "This box is quite heavy. What does the leader want me to fire?"
Seeing his eager expression, Assistant Chen couldn't help but chuckle. But he knew in his heart how many hunters had given up here. The gun was good, but the work of shooting specimens was difficult.
He and Leader Chen exchanged a glance, then he quickly pulled out a file bag, handed over a stack of documents, and said to Li Ju'an, "Within one month, we need to deliver one bear, three red deer, and two red foxes. The bigger the bear, the better, with a large pelt, and the red fox pelts must be intact and undamaged."
Upon hearing this, Li Ju'an patted his chest and said no problem, he would take care of it: "Boss, trust me, as long as the warehouse location is set, I will lead my gang to raid the bear warehouse without batting an eye."
Assistant Chen understood the implication in his words and teased him, "We've already set the warehouse locations for you, so why would we need you to fight for them? We'll just have Old Zhang from the security department take some people and clear them out ourselves."
The brown bear, also known as the grizzly bear, is much larger and stronger than the black bear. While black bears in the Greater Khingan Mountains typically stand 1.5 to 2 meters tall at the shoulder, the brown bear can reach 1.8 to 2.8 meters. Male brown bears can weigh around 550 kilograms, and a single swipe of their front paws can deliver a force of 1600 kilograms, enough to shatter the spine of a buffalo. If a hunter were to encounter a brown bear head-on, even with a rifle, they would be in serious trouble.
Li Ju'an knew in his heart that specimen collection was indeed not easy. Even if he was given a Type 56 semi-automatic rifle worth 1,200 yuan and a bullet box worth 200 yuan, he still felt he was being cheated.
Assistant Chen stared at him and continued, "There's one more thing you need to bring."
"What."
"Six yellow leather pieces. They can't be grayish-black, they have to be yellow."
Upon hearing this, Li Ju'an turned to leave the office. He finally understood why the hunter who wanted to collect specimens had been so slow to decide. When a weasel appeared, most mountain herders would turn and run, feeling a chill run down their spines, fearing retribution. Only people like Old Qian, completely unafraid, would hunt down wolf cubs and then turn around and hunt weasels.
Leader Chen called out to him, "Li Pao, here's 120 yuan. If you're going into the forest farm, come and ride with the truck."
In the forest farm, the position of the truck attendant, also called the "hook-upman" or "timber hanger," is very hard work and requires keen observation skills. Besides manual labor, forest farm jobs mainly involve skilled work. In the work team, getting a job at the lumber yard is considered quite good. When the tractor leaves the warehouse to go up the mountain, the excavator has to load the lumber. The chainsaw operator cutting down trees—which job isn't hard?
Assistant Chen glanced at Li Ju'an, thinking to himself that this kid had really struck it lucky to be noticed by a high-ranking leader and even get a job. You see, young people from the nearby villages who wanted a stable, permanent position in the forest farm all had to rely on their families' connections. Even Lu Zhiqiang, who relied on his grandfather's connections, only managed to get a temporary job. But the truck driver position was a permanent one, earning 35.5 yuan a month.
Outside the office, Li Guaizi was also waiting.
Upon hearing the location of the vehicle he was following, Li Guaizi's heart stirred. In those days, hunters worked alone, enduring wind and rain. If he could get into the forest farm, he could support his entire family with his wages, which would be respectable, and he could even find a wife who was equally respectable.
Just as Li Guaizi was feeling envious, he heard Li Ju'an's loud voice from inside the office: "I won't be a ride-on driver."
After a moment of silence, Assistant Chen earnestly advised him, "Li Pao'er is a full-time employee, a legitimate position in a state-owned enterprise. Moreover, you get paid leave for serving the leaders. A month of paid leave, plus annual leave and time off in lieu—so many people would fight tooth and nail for that."
"Besides, what's wrong with beating the weasel? We're going to overthrow the demons and monsters, so we shouldn't believe in this kind of nonsense."
Li Ju'an retorted, "Have you ever seen an old hand who doesn't worship the mountain god before going into the mountains? Why isn't Brother Huang, who used to hunt weasels for the forest farm, doing it anymore? The professional weasel hunters have all bought wooden coffins, and his hunting rifle is buried with Sister-in-law Huang in her grave."
When Brother Huang was mentioned, both Boss Chen and Assistant Chen fell silent, their eyes showing some struggle.
In previous years, Huang Pao had been the one taking on the task of hunting weasels. The reason was simple: the forestry leader, Chen, needed weasel pelts for gifts and favors, as the pelts were excellent for making calligraphy brushes. However, there were too few hunters in the village willing to hunt weasels. The older hunters, especially those who believed in hunting them, were unwilling to hunt them, and the younger hunters lacked the experience to hunt bears in their dens.
Finally, a young Li Pao has emerged, capable of taking on big claws, and with the help of his gang, so he wants to do some more ideological work on Li Ju'an.