Reborn in the 1980s: I made my fortune hunting wild game in Changbai Mountain

Yue Feng and Zhao Hongbo, carrying the wild boar lamb they had captured alive, and the half-grown, two-year-old sow tied up like a rice dumpling, returned step by step from Gou Niao Quan (Dog Urine Spring) and then went back to the side of Chai Ji Road where they had parked.

First, they threw four live wild boars—one large and three small—into the truck bed next to the motorcycle. Then, Zhao Hongbo sat down in the seat behind Yue Feng.

Yue Feng immediately started the motorcycle and continued towards Shidingzi with his teammates and prey.

With a motorcycle, traveling on the mountain road is much faster than walking. In less than half an hour, the two of them and four pigs arrived at the contracted mountain breeding area in Shidingzi.

Yue Feng stopped his motorcycle and subconsciously found a spot with a slightly better view. He shaded his eyes with his hand and observed the general situation of the contracted mountain breeding area.

Looking around, the forest inside the barbed wire fence seemed no different from the surrounding environment, with lush vegetation and a vibrant atmosphere.

The piglets in the truck bed were still grunting, quickly pulling Yue Feng back to reality.

"Xiaofeng, are you releasing animals here?" Zhao Hongbo asked casually.

"Either way is fine, there's a wire mesh gate here for going in! I have the key with me!" Yue Feng said casually.

"Shall we go take another look inside the stone top? Have you been doing any construction or anything inside lately?" Zhao Hongbo asked again.

Yue Feng shook his head. The artificial cultivation of Solomon's Seal is done in October each year, and it's not time yet.

"It's not the right time yet. We can plant the Solomon's seal rhizomes before the snow in October! Give me a hand, let's carry the piglet down!"

"it is good!"

Zhao Hongbo lent a hand, and the two quickly took the piglet out.

Yue Feng took out the key to the barbed wire gate of the enclosed area on the mountain from his bag, opened the gate, and then untied the piglet's sack right at the door.

Ahead lay the familiar forest, and the little piglet immediately took off running into the woods after being born.

After Yue Feng released the three piglets, he and Zhao Hongbo worked together to lift the two-year-old sow, which was tied up like a rice dumpling, down from the doorway and untied it.

The sow's screams were far louder than those of the piglets back then. After landing, she rolled over and darted into the woods as if fleeing for her life.

In such a rush, the hind hooves even tripped over a bush and nearly fell, but in the blink of an eye, the four wild boar piglets were released.

"Tsk tsk, this whole mountain area has been fenced off. Do you even know how many wild boars are inside now?" Zhao Hongbo continued to ask.

Yue Feng said, "If nothing else goes wrong, there are probably less than twenty wild boars of all sizes left in the mountain area! There used to be more, but in the winter, Qiao Muzhou's men came in to poach them, killing about ten of them! The wild boars in the enclosed mountain area should have naturally multiplied this year as well. I regularly arrange for people to send them here to feed them, and also to put some coarse grains like corn kernels in there!"
The pig herd is too large, and in a completely free-range environment, the damage they're causing is too severe! They can only move around in their designated areas, and when they can't find enough food, they desperately root down into the roots and stems under the Solomon's seal rhizome. I've had someone watching them the whole time!

The two were still talking quietly when they heard a few barks from afar. Then a mountain dweller dressed in his fifties came to greet them.

"Hey, speak of the devil! Uncle Chang heard the motorcycle and came over!" Yue Feng chuckled and waved to Chang Huaishan from afar.

"Uncle Chang!" Yue Feng called out.

Chang Huaishan walked closer and closer, and soon arrived in front of him.

Zhao Hongbo also knew Chang Huai. He was a bachelor in the village who had never married and now lived in a wooden house on the top of the stone. His usual job was to patrol the mountain area to ensure that it was not damaged by poachers!
"Secretary Yue and Hongbo are here! I just heard what sounded like a motorcycle! Today isn't the day for delivering supplies!" Chang Huai greeted them with a smile, then took out a pack of grape-flavored cigarettes from his pocket and offered one to Zhao Hongbo.

Yue Feng said, "We just caught four live wild boar lambs and released them into our breeding base! What's the situation with the wild boars in our enclosure lately?"

Chang Huaishan patted the head of the big yellow dog beside him and said while smoking, as if reciting a familiar story: "There are still two groups of pigs in this pen area. The larger group has 14 pigs now, and the smaller group has 12 pigs. In addition, there are 18 more piglets from this year's pigs in both groups!"
I can see these pigs every few days from up on the stone top!
They've already marked out their respective territories, and I'm using the corn I've brought up the mountain to feed them on both the shady and sunny sides of the slope! So far, everything seems normal!
With the addition of coarse grains to their diet, the pigs are significantly less damaging to the medicinal herbs growing in the forest!

"Holy crap, 18 piglets?" Yue Feng's eyes widened in surprise when he heard the specific number.

"This year is a bumper year; there are significantly more sows and piglets than in previous years!" Chang Huaishan said with great experience.

“Oh, right! This year is a big year!” Yue Feng nodded, no longer dwelling on the detail.

"Apart from the pigs, everything else seems normal, right?"

“Everything is normal!” Chang Huaishan said without hesitation.

"No, there's something I need to tell you!" Chang Huaishan immediately added after saying that.

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"The night before last, a northwest wind blew all night, and I vaguely heard what sounded like wolves howling coming from a distance!"
This year is a bumper year in the mountains, and the territories of many mountain animals will change. Some will be forced to migrate and develop new territories, which may attract other predators!

"Although this forest area we've fenced off is protected by barbed wire, if the wolves recognize these packs of wild boars, they'll always find a way in!"

"Wolves?" Yue Feng frowned slightly upon hearing this.

The secondary forest area surrounding the forest farm has not seen any serious wolf activity for many years. The most recent wolf sighting was of the silver female wolf that was lured back by the Azure Dragon.

After giving birth to cubs for Canglong and having her den raided by Grandpa Zhao, the little female wolf wandered around the perimeter of the breeding farm for a month or so. After that, no one knew where she went, and she hadn't been seen for some time. Zhao Dashan guessed that she had probably left this mountain area and gone to develop elsewhere.

"If there are wolves, you need to be careful! Getting a few pigs killed is a minor matter, but injuring someone would be a serious offense!" Yue Feng warned.

Chang Huaishan took a few deep drags of his cigarette, pulled it down to the filter, and stubbed it out on the sole of his shoe. He then slowly exhaled a smoke ring before saying, "That's true, but if those wolves form a pack and really want to target me, my caution won't help! I only have a spear and my little yellow dog for company; I pose absolutely no threat to the wolf pack!"

Upon hearing this, Yue Feng realized that Chang Huaishan wanted a weapon for self-defense. Without hesitation, he replied, "Okay, I'll remember. Next time I go up the mountain, I'll bring you some firecrackers and a long-barreled gun for self-defense!"

Yue Feng kept Uncle Chang's reminder in mind and nodded.

When Chang Huaishan heard Yue Feng agree, he said, "It would be best to get a few more bullets! I can occasionally hunt some wild game on the mountain!"

A group of roe deer would occasionally appear on the ridge outside the north slope.

A while ago I asked Xiao Tao to bring me a few oilcloth nooses, but I haven't been able to get any. If I had a gun, getting some meat wouldn't be difficult for me!

Upon hearing this, Yue Feng shook his head: "The gun is for self-defense, not for hunting! Bullets will definitely be issued, but there won't be any extras!" Yue Feng didn't explain the reason, only giving a seemingly heartless answer.

Chang Huaishan seemed to understand the meaning behind Yue Feng's words, and scratched his head with a slight chuckle: "That's fine! My marksmanship isn't great either, but the food on the mountain is pretty good!"

"That's settled then. We'll bring the rest of the trips up to you together!" Yue Feng nodded.

"it is good!"

……

After a brief exchange of pleasantries and a short chat, Yue Feng said goodbye, turned his motorcycle around, and prepared to head down the mountain. Zhao Hongbo rarely interrupted during their conversation.

After getting in the car and leaving the Shidingzi area, once they reached a relatively flat mountain road, Zhao Hongbo asked curiously, "Isn't our village office well-stocked with bullets? Uncle Chang wants some, why won't you agree?"

Yue Feng grinned: "He does have plenty of bullets, but they don't match his status!"
He was a mountain guard who paid me a salary to watch over the mountain for me. He was not a hunter, much less a trusted relative or friend!

From the fact that he could accurately describe the size of the pig herd in the mountain area, you can tell that life in the mountains is quite dull and boring!
If he has a gun, he's more likely to have other ideas!

"If someone neglects their duty and goes hunting outside the designated area with a gun, and we can't be on the mountain watching them all the time, things could easily go wrong at Shidingzi!"

This is Yue Feng's stated explanation; in reality, Yue Feng has deeper considerations.

Guns are an important asset that can cause a leap in the status of mountain people. Many mountain people have great skills but cannot continue to develop and accumulate resources because they cannot get a usable gun.

Yue Feng didn't know Chang Huaishan's character well enough. If he provided him with weapons and the man made his "first pot of gold," he might not be satisfied with his current identity as the mountain guard.

If something goes wrong while hunting with a gun, Yue Feng, the employer, will only face risks and will not receive any additional benefits.

Having lived two lives, Yue Feng gained a significant understanding: people should be treated according to their abilities. Support that exceeds the appropriate level can sometimes backfire.

Controlling the supply of bullets was the simplest and most direct restriction Yue Feng could think of. This way, even if Chang Huaishan had a gun, he would have to think carefully about hunting.

Zhao Hongbo understood Yue Feng's answer quite well.

Guns are weapons of mass destruction; the desire to kill arises from the possession of a weapon. This is an old saying. Zhao Hongbo received his grandfather's teachings from a young age and knew how dangerous this thing was.

Zhao Hongbo nodded: "Your consideration is correct! Uncle Chang's reputation in the village is only so-so. He's fine as long as he's free and well-fed and cared for while watching the mountains. But if he had weapons and plenty of bullets, who knows what he might do!"

"Hehe, that's exactly what I mean! Hold on tight, I need to speed up!"

Yue Feng twisted the accelerator, and the speed increased considerably. The two of them kept weaving through the forest and soon descended the mountain along the wood-fired road.

On the other side, just after Yue Feng rode his motorcycle down the mountain and went far away, Chang Huaishan, holding his little yellow dog, stared thoughtfully in the direction of Chaiji Road as he walked down the mountain.

It's common knowledge in the village that Yue Feng has contracted a large area of ​​forest on the mountain and fenced it off with barbed wire.

However, the vast majority of villagers had no idea what he was up to.

Chang Huaishan couldn't understand why he was given a "high salary" of over 300 yuan a year to cover his food, drink and other expenses while he was in charge of the mountain area.

It wasn't until Zhang Junhong secretly came up a few days ago that Chang Huaishan slowly began to understand the true meaning of the situation.

The medicinal herb cultivation was just a pretext; what Yue Feng truly valued were the wild boars raised in these mountain areas.

A few days ago, Chang Huaishan used a rope to catch a young piglet that had been raised for many years, cleaned it, and cooked it.

The results showed that the wild boars, which were raised on medicinal herbs such as Polygonatum, had a very delicious flavor. Combined with the information provided by Zhang Junhong, Chang Huaishan had already guessed part of the secret of the free-range wild boars on Yuefeng Mountain.

Of course, even though he had guessed it, Chang Huaishan did not dare to act rashly in the short term.

He is currently quite satisfied with the treatment Yue Feng is giving him. Even if he wants to cause trouble, he needs to find the right opportunity first.

As for what he just mentioned about hearing wolf howls in the distance, that is indeed true.

According to Chang Huaishan's plan, when it gets colder and snows, the meat will be easier to preserve, or when the wolf pack has the opportunity to move around the area they have claimed, they can take advantage of the situation to launch a surprise attack.

When the time comes, Zhang Junhong will bring these precious wild boar meats down the mountain, and I will be able to get a very good return.

From an outsider's perspective, Yue Feng's wariness of Chang Huaishan is not unreasonable.

He wasn't as sincere and pure as Zhao Dashan was towards Yue Feng; instead, he carried the cunning and petty calculations inherent in the mountain people.

Yue Feng was unaware of these filthy, behind-the-scenes affairs.

……

The following day, Yue Feng and Zhao Hongbo went to check the traps again and caught four more live wild boar lambs from that year.

Having learned from yesterday's experience of releasing animals, Yue Feng repeated his trick, releasing the wild boar lambs back into the enclosure at Shidingzi.

The autumn harvest protection campaign on the north slope outside the village is still ongoing. Yue Feng makes two trips, one in the morning and one in the evening, to personally inspect the implementation of the autumn harvest protection efforts by the frontline personnel.

The scattered wild boar herd did not reappear in the area, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief for the time being.

When the three days were up, at midnight, Yue Feng and Zhao Hongbo each rode a motorcycle to the police station.

At the police station, Xiao Tao and the Zhang brothers, who had been undergoing training for three days, came out of the detention room ahead of time, looking quite energetic, and waited for their older brother to come and pick them up as if nothing had happened.

These guys, in just three days, became familiar with the officers at the police station without any trouble, and even ate the special meals provided by the canteen.

Yue Feng arrived on time and, as soon as he entered the house, saw Xiao Tao and the Zhang brothers acting as if nothing had happened. (End of Chapter)