My 1978 Hotel

Chapter 123 Going up the mountain to grab wasteland

Li Muchen, Wu Tong and Qin Yue changed their looks. Not to mention Daya, even Erya couldn't recognize them for a while. I think it would be even harder for outsiders to recognize them.

"That's great, let's have breakfast together."

I made a simple breakfast: steamed buns, fried eggplant, and some pickled vegetables. "Hey, why is there no water in the stream in front of the door?"

"It's dry. It hasn't rained in February."

Li Feng is having trouble getting water for washing dishes now, so he has to use it sparingly. "Forget the streams, even the rivers don't have much water right now. I think we'll have trouble getting water in a few days."

"so serious."

Li Muchen, Wu Tong and Qin Yue never expected that the situation here would be so difficult.

"It might get even worse. It's almost autumn."

Li Feng said, "The rainy season is over, and it's even less likely to rain in autumn and winter."

"What about the crops?"

"Reduce production."

Li Feng sighed. The entire Hanjiaba community had been busy irrigating the crops these days, but the results were only average. A reduction in production was certain, but he didn't know by how much.

"Dong dong dong."

"Who?"

"Uncle Li, it's me."

"Are you here to call Daya to school?"

"Uncle Li, we're not going to school anymore," Han Mingliang said. "The waiter from Wangjiazhuang just told me that the teacher told us to stay home and help fight the drought and save the people."

"I know what drought resistance means, but what does famine prevention mean?"

Li Feng was a little confused, and the others were even more confused.

"Go into the mountains to pick wild fruits, dig yams, and hunt rabbits and pheasants."

Han Mingliang wasn't quite sure, his mother had just told him.

"Preparing for famine?"

"Uncle, are you going?"

Han Mingliang had come to inform Daya that she wouldn't have to go to school for a while, but would stay home to help with disaster relief and to go into the mountains to fight against famine. Fighting against famine meant bringing back everything edible and edible from the mountains.

Each family provided people, and except for the large prey which was distributed equally, the rest was up to individuals. This time, in addition to those who had to carry water to irrigate the crops, the entire Hanjiaba, children, the elderly, and women had to go into the mountains, especially the female militia who had to carry guns into the mountains.

"Can we go hunting in the mountains?"

"Ah."

Han Mingliang nodded. "My grandfather said, except for beating people, you can beat anything in the mountains. People are going to starve, so why would we care about animals?"

"Well, tell your grandfather that I'm going into the mountains too."

Li Feng turned around and called out to Daya. "Everyone, go get your guns and all the bullets."

Going into the mountains to hunt was not only fun for Li Feng, but also for Li Muchen and the others. "The little black donkey is just what we need, let's take it along later."

The little black donkey seems to have been transformed by the time-travel hotel. Its IQ has improved significantly, and it's quite obedient. "I'm afraid it might not be back by noon. Bring some dry food, biscuits, canned food, candy, and apples."

"By the way, bring some seasonings too. Maybe we can have some game for lunch."

After they packed up, Wu Tong and Qin Yue eagerly followed. This was the first time they had heard of someone going up the mountain to scavenge wasteland. "Follow us for a while, and don't run around. There are wild boars in the mountains, and there might be other things too."

This forest not only has wild boars, but also black bears, mountain antelopes and other animals. There are quite a lot of them.

"Do not worry."

Wu Tong and Qin Yue are not stupid, they will definitely follow the main force.

Arriving at the village entrance, we were amazed by the number of people entering the mountains. Old and young people were carrying bamboo baskets, bamboo baskets on their backs, and some were carrying loads on their shoulders. It was quite a large group. There were militiamen, both men and women, about ten of them, led by their captain, Han Anbing.

The first one is a semi-automatic rifle, Type 56, in addition, there are also hatchets and so on.

"An Min."

“Are these all going into the mountains?”

Li Feng pointed at the crowd.

“Yes, all of them went into the mountains.”

Han Anmin glanced at Li Muchen, Wu Tong, and Qin Yue behind Li Feng. They looked unfamiliar. It had to be said that without makeup, and with their hair so different, Han Anbing couldn't recognize them.

"My cousin."

Li Feng said, "They heard we're having a drought here, so they were worried and sent me some rice and flour."

"Alas, it seems that word of our drought has spread."

Han Anmin sighed. "Okay, be careful. The wild boars in the mountains have been making quite a fuss lately. They even came down a few days ago and ruined our food."

"There's nothing to eat in the mountains?"

"With such dry weather, I'm afraid the fruits in the mountains won't be as abundant as in previous years."

"That's true."

Li Feng thought about it and realized that it was true. There was a drought, and life in the mountains must be difficult. It was normal for many wild animals to die of thirst. I don’t understand why people keep complaining about hunting wild animals due to the drought. It’s a joke. There was a drought, and the mountains were so dry that animals couldn’t even eat shit. If at most one-third of the people starved to death, there would be a riot. As for the animals, it was normal for them all to starve.

When there is a drought, you don't want to think about anything else. There may be some tree bark left in the mountains, and you won't get any animal bones.

"Then we have to hurry up and not let anyone get there first."

"That's the truth."

The large army marched into the mountains. These hilltops were not specifically allocated, and were probably just divided into which brigade they belonged to. This caused some disputes among the brigade. It was usually fine, but now we are facing a drought.

Although the document hadn't been fully issued, everyone knew that it was time to get more food. That's how the famine relief efforts came about. All the wild fruits in the mountains were picked, and as for the animals, well, just kidding, we'd kill them all and bring them back.

Hawthorn, wild persimmon, and some other wild fruits were dug up, including the kudzu root and its roots, and even some vines with high starch content were not spared. "What is this?" "Polygonatum."

"Medicinal herbs."

Li Feng usually eats a lot of Polygonatum, but he rarely digs the finished product. "Hey, there are more than ten sections here?"

"That's nothing, there are better ones."

It's only more than ten years old, and it would be considered the top-notch Polygonatum in later generations. But now, no one usually digs this thing up. It's used to feed pigs and cows. It's very bitter, and no normal person would eat it.

"cousin."

Wu Tong tugged at Li Feng's skirt. "I want to buy some Polygonatum."

"Okay, don't mention it, I plan to get some back too."

The quality of this wild fruit that has been grown for more than ten or twenty years is still good, and it is sold at a high price in the future. "Sell it, or you can trade it for wild fruit."

"Okay, I haven't picked many wild fruits yet. Can I trade you some apples?"

"apple?"

What a good thing! There are no apples in the Dabie Mountains. Only cadres get some during festivals throughout the year. Ordinary farmers are reluctant to buy apples. "How many roots do you plan to exchange for one apple?"

"How many?"

Li Feng was a little stunned. For more than ten years, he had been selling wild Polygonatum for a few roots with an apple. How dare you think about it? "Or, you have the final say."

"How about two?"

"alright."

Two Polygonatum sibiricums were not light, weighing about two pounds. Li Feng handed over an apple, but he didn't expect the other person to be so happy.

"Can I trade it for cookies?"

Wu Tong whispered, Li Feng didn't stop him. He would need to take it back after changing it, and Wu Tong would still have to pay for it. Of course it can be cheaper, biscuits, as expected, when he heard that biscuits were such a good thing.

"Change."

Everyone nodded repeatedly. Just kidding, this thing is only eaten as a last resort. Cookies are hundreds or thousands of times better than this. "One bag of cookies for two," Li Feng said. It would be embarrassing to have too much.

"Boss Li, please help me change some more and I'll pay you later."

Wu Tong was a little anxious. This guy's boss even called out. "Okay."

In a short while, the group exchanged twenty or thirty pieces of Polygonatum odoratum that were ten or twenty years old. Fortunately, they brought their little black donkey, otherwise they wouldn't be able to lift them. "Almost done." It's a pity that Li Feng and his friends don't know how to prepare Polygonatum odoratum. Otherwise, they could go back and dry it fresh.

I'm afraid I have to go back early this time, otherwise such good Polygonatum will be wasted.

"Be careful, everyone."

Han Anmin shouted. "Militia, alert! Wild boars are approaching."

Wild boar. Li Feng quickly asked Wu Tong, Qin Yue and the others to hide. He went to a big tree and slung his rifle over his shoulder. "Anmin, which direction is the wild boar?"

"Nine o'clock direction."

Li Feng quickly climbed up the tree and looked towards the nine o'clock direction. "Wow, it's a herd of wild boars, and they're quite large." "Anmin, it's a herd of wild boars. There are six that weigh over 100 kilograms, and seven or eight smaller ones. Tell everyone to be careful."

Li Feng had already started preparing to shoot. Killing one was a win, and of course, it would be best to kill them all. But before he could fire, gunshots were heard from behind the wild boar. "Oh my god, where did the gunshots come from?"

"Quick, shoot."

When Han Anbing heard this, he realized it was bad, it was from the production brigade next door.

"shot?"

Li Feng muttered, but didn't ask and just started shooting. He fired a few shots at the wild boars. Not to mention, Li Feng's shooting skills were really good now. He killed two wild boars weighing hundreds of pounds.

"Well done."

Han Anbing waved his fist, and the wild boars panicked and ran around in all directions. For a while, the gunfire became more intense. After a while, the gunfire stopped, and Han Anbing called the militia team to the place where the wild boars were killed.

A dozen other people came down the hillside, each carrying a gun. Li Feng came down from the tree. "Are you all right?"

"fine."

Li Muchen was a little envious. Hunting wild boars, and with a rifle in China, this was too exciting. It was a pity that he didn't have a gun right now. As he was talking, a quarrel broke out down the slope, and the noise kept getting louder and louder.

"Come on, let's go take a look too."

The two production team leaders were unhappy with the distribution of wild boars. One said he had killed more, the other said he had killed more, and for a moment, a fight almost broke out. "This is our Hanjiaba mountain. Logically, giving you two wild boars is already the most we can do."

"This wild boar ran over from our Wangjiazhuang hilltop. They usually eat and drink here."

"Who knows?"

"We are now in Hanjiaba's territory, so we must follow our Hanjiaba rules."

Han Anbing said, "Dividing you into two is just to give face to your Secretary Wang. Take it or leave it. If you don't, get out."

"Yes."

The other militiamen from Hanjiaba echoed this, and Li Feng thought it made sense. After all, this hill still belonged to Hanjiaba.

"We discovered this group of wild boars first."

"That's right. Besides, this hilltop is yours, but part of the slope below belongs to the Li Family Village. So, according to you, this wild boar also belongs to the Li Family Village."

Good guy, Li Feng thought this made sense. Forget it, forget it, I'd better just stand aside. In the end, there was probably a lot of noise, and sure enough, after more than half an hour, Wangjiazhuang finally took away two big wild boars and two small wild boars.

Hanjiaba had received three large wild boars and three small ones, which was pretty good. As for Lijiazhai, no one mentioned it. "Let's go home." This time, we had a good harvest, but carrying six wild boars was inconvenient, so we had to go back first.

"Cousin, wild boar stomach is a good thing. How about we exchange some?"

"Okay, I'll tell Uncle Fuguo later."

Li Feng remembered that wild boar stomach was sold for more than 2,000 yuan each in the mountains and it was hard to buy. He would get some back and add it to a health banquet, which would be a great dish.

(End of this chapter)