fictionpage Chapter 41 Living off the water
Chapter 41 Living off the water
Just as Hong Ye was out of Chen Tuo's sight, the sky darkened.
Chen Tuo, who had just started cleaning his hunting rifle as instructed by Sun Changkui, could only sigh helplessly.
I intended to test fire a few shots while it was still light out in the river bend, but who would have thought that cleaning the guns would be so tedious.
By the time it was all wiped clean, it was completely dark.
After packing up the sled, I slung my gun holster over my shoulder and took two boxes of forty-round cardboard bullets with me.
On the way to Hetao, Chen Tuo was also stroking the Yakut knife he had just acquired.
If I'm not sleepy tonight, I'll clean the fish in the river.
He attracted a pack of wolves, so it's reasonable for him to fire a few shots, right?
If he could attract a pack of wolves, it would only further prove the necessity of him carrying a gun.
Upon reaching the river bend, we first gathered the pine firewood that had been piled up beside the ice hole the previous two nights and lit several bonfires.
Chen Tuo then began to ponder whether he should dig out the previous ice hole to kill fish and attract wolves, or dig out a new fish nest.
"What? Don't know how to pry it open? Didn't Crippled Sun give you a sieve? Why don't you just keep prying those two ice holes?"
Just as Chen Tuo was hesitating whether to hunt wolves or dig up fish nests, Wu Laowai's slightly drunken words rang out above him.
"Uncle Wu, isn't it a bad idea to drain the pond to catch all the fish?"
The identity of a sent-down youth needs to be verified by witnesses.
A poet's identity also needs to be corroborated by refined manners.
In terms of appearance, Chen Tuo doesn't know if he can be refined and cultured, and he may not be able to speak eloquently either.
But occasionally dropping a pedantic phrase is still quite relaxing and enjoyable for him...
"You really don't know anything! If you don't clean it properly, the fishpond will freeze-dry up, and the fish will rot. Wouldn't that be a waste?"
Chen Tuo started spouting his erudition, and Wu Laowai on the shore didn't back down either, adding a similarly literary suffix.
His father, Wu Wenlin, although he made a living in the underworld, was not a small fry, but a pillar of the family.
The gunners below were called commanders, and the boss at the top was called a clerk. They were scholars who had studied in private schools and were literate.
He just happened to be born at the wrong time. He fled famine all the way from Shandong and had no choice but to join a gang to survive.
It was precisely because his father, Wu Wenlin, was literate and knowledgeable about current affairs, and because of his past connections with the Qingshan gang and his assistance to the Anti-Japanese United Army in Songling, that he was able to die peacefully.
Saving Chen Tuo and then helping him out was a skill Wu Laowai learned from his father, Wu Wenlin.
A timely act of kindness can bring lifelong good fortune.
This was something his father had personally tested...
"I'm thinking of scavenging a few more large ones!"
Chen Tuo's target was a good truck, but not everyone is lucky enough to land a big truck in the river.
Wu Laowai has smashed countless dry pots over the past thirty years, but he can count the number of live fish nests he's encountered on one hand.
Using a stick to beat a roe deer and a ladle to scoop up fish doesn't mean you'll get big catches; you'll only get small, miscellaneous fish.
Moreover, the method of cooking small fish has been tested by countless people, and it can be stewed to a delicious flavor without oil.
Even if you manage to get a large shipment, there aren't many people who actually know how to do it.
"If you don't even know how to eat, who will plant it in the snow if you don't? Of the three flowers, five branches, and eighteen seeds, the most flavorful are the 'Gagazi,' 'Liugenzi,' and 'Niuweibazi.'"
Guessing that Chen Tuo had nearly died in the freezing snow and might have really forgotten everything, Wu Laowai didn't mind giving him a few more pointers.
After all, this young lad has the old leader protecting him. Maybe after he gives him some pointers, the old leader will be pleased and show him some favoritism, and he'll have great luck this winter.
"Kid, what Cripple Sun said isn't entirely wrong. If you have this luck, you should just honestly squat in the river bend and fish. As the old saying goes, 'Those who live by the water live off the water,' right?"
"Uncle Wu, don't you still have someone to rely on, like a mountain to live off?"
"You think making a living by mountain running is easy? It's freezing here, even on a sunny day it's minus 20 or 30 degrees Celsius, and on a snowy day it can drop to minus 40 degrees Celsius!"
When talking about the harsh living conditions in the Xingan Mountains, Wu Laowai started to talk a lot.
"During the 1964 battle, Sun the Cripple led his team up the mountain. That year, the temperature in the mountains dropped to minus forty degrees Celsius, and even the wolves searching for food were frozen solid!"
"Those people who came back then didn't know how serious it was. They got off the train wearing only thin cotton-padded coats, and before they could even set up their tents, many of them suffered from frostbite!"
"That year, I hunted a litter of pigs, and they gave me a Type 53 rifle, but it wasn't very good; the bolt would freeze easily!"
Wu Laowai started talking at Sun Changkui's request to persuade Chen Tuo to give up.
But to be honest, running in the Xingan Mountains is indeed much more difficult than in the Changbai Mountains and Zhangguangcai Mountains.
Heavy snow and cold weather present a formidable obstacle for mountain runners.
The snow in the mountains is so thick that you can't go far. If you want to stay in the mountains, it's too cold. If you're not careful, you'll freeze to death in the mountains.
Therefore, unless forced by life's circumstances, no one would willingly become a mountain runner in the Xing'an Mountains during winter.
Chen Tuo, an unregistered resident of Songling, is forced by circumstances to rack his brains to find ways to get food.
"Uncle Wu, why don't you use food to set a trap?"
"How dare you say that? That's grain! If there were any spare grain, only a bastard would be hiding in a mountain ravine in the dead of winter!"
After complaining about the hardships of life, Old Wu pointed to a higher area in the river bend and said:
"There are five or six paddy fields there that were cleared by the educated youth. If you plant some rice there, it will be enough for you to eat."
After pointing out the rice paddies in the Hetao region that the educated youth from the Production and Construction Corps had helped Xiao Yangqi, Wu Laowai pointed to the North Mountain behind the educated youth settlement.
"Behind the educated youth settlement, there were seven or eight mu of seedling cultivation fields. Now, the seedling cultivation has been moved to the Forestry Bureau. Can you also cultivate that land?"
"Further north was the site of the Japanese settlers' settlement, which was initially a timber yard with thirty or forty acres of flat land. Later, the Forestry Bureau converted it into a firewood yard."
"The pine branches on top have been rotten for at least ten years, plus the bark that was rotten on top before. Once that land is raked, it's top-quality farmland."
"I heard that the villages down the mountain have started redistributing and leasing land again. Who can compete with you for all this land surrounding the educated youth settlement?"
"Fifty mu of dry land, five or six mu of paddy fields, and the forestry bureau also has a farm machinery team. Farm for two years, and you'll be a landlord..."
Wu Laowai's saying about living off the water is not just a casual remark.
These words contained both Sun Changkui's suggestion and Wu Laowai's own insights.
Hunting in the mountains isn't something you can do by just staying in your small plot of land.
His hunting grounds started from Songling and extended all the way to the edge of the Lesser Khingan Mountains.
Sometimes, Wu Laowai would go into the mountains to find the hunters from Sudao and go hunting together across the river.
Compared to relying on the water source for a living and staying in one's hometown, relying on the mountains for a living within a range of hundreds of kilometers requires a lot of running around...
"Then let's rely on the water for our livelihood!"
Upon hearing about the Xiaoyangqi educated youth settlement and its numerous assets, Chen Tuo also considered taking over the contract.
The forest area and reclamation area are different from the villages and towns below, but they are similar to the grasslands next to them. The amount of land that one person can contract is much more than elsewhere.
He actually looked into this before making the wilderness survival show.
In places like the Great Northern Wilderness, the Greater Khingan Mountains, and Hulunbuir, contracting a few thousand acres of grassland and forest land is considered small-scale.
"That's right! Listen to advice and you'll eat your fill. Go ahead and be stingy. You've been enjoying the stewed fish these past few days, so you better beg me to give you some more..."
Having completed the task given to him by Sun the Cripple, and with someone now helping him catch fish, Wu Laowai was in a good mood.
But Chen Tuo's next words made him stop laughing.
"Uncle Wu, I don't know anything about farming. How about I hire you to manage these lands?"
Thinking of the unfinished manuscript in the gatehouse.
Chen Tuo, who felt that making money would not be difficult in the future, wanted to hire Wu Laowai as his master to help him farm and teach him fishing and hunting.
"Get the hell out of here! You really think I'm a farmhand..."