The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 652 Setting up an Eight Immortals Table to Welcome Sixteen Guests (Combined Chapter)

The seventh day of the first lunar month in the Renwu year of the Horse.

This day is called "Renri" by the Chinese ancestors, which is the birthday of humankind. According to old traditions, people eat seven-treasure porridge, noodles, etc. on this day to pray for the health and longevity of their families.

However, Hu Biao and others were so busy with various matters that they probably didn't have time to pay attention to such a tradition.

At 11:37 a.m., in a large forest southwest of Lianhua Mountain, an adult Siberian tiger was running wildly in the snow.

But this king of the forest was running so frantically not to hunt, but to escape for his life.

Even upon closer inspection, one can see the terror in its eyes.

There was no other way! It sensed a strong, deadly threat from a group of bipedal creatures chasing it from behind, especially from a female bipedal creature that was even larger than the male.

Driven by its survival instinct, it disregarded its dignity as the king of the forest and turned to flee.

Unfortunately, its speed, which it usually prides itself on, is still somewhat insufficient among the weapons invented by bipeds.

Suddenly, an exceptionally thick and sharp arrow, accompanied by a whistling sound, traced a beautiful parabola in the air before striking the Siberian tiger squarely on the head.

The Siberian tiger's hard skull offers absolutely no resistance to a sharp, armor-piercing arrowhead.

The arrow continued forward after piercing the skull, until it went through the entire tiger's head, with a long section of the shaft protruding before it stopped.

After being struck so hard, the Siberian tiger staggered forward a few steps and collapsed to the ground, still carrying the momentum of its charge.

It convulsed a few times, then died completely.

The two-legged creatures seen by the Siberian tiger were naturally the hunting team led by Zanana in the transmigrator group; apart from that humanoid female tyrannosaurus, the members included Mr. Nanze, Uncle Bo, Lao San, and seven others.

Although they numbered in number, their hunting duties were even more arduous.

After all, Hu Biao had already announced that he would be treating people to drinks and meat at Lianhua Mountain starting from the tenth day of the lunar month; according to their initial estimate, there would be at least six or seven hundred people coming.

So many people are eating meat, and it's not just a one-time meal.

A large quantity of meat will definitely need to be prepared in advance so that it can be supplied at that time.

Fortunately, about a month has passed since Hu Biao and the others traveled through time; after such a long time, they have naturally made considerable progress.

Besides gradually adapting to the winter in Northeast China, that biting cold.

Even members from warmer regions like Guangdong, Fujian, and other provinces such as Shizi, Boshu, and Huang Adi, don't shiver like quails all day long.

The group gradually gained more experience in winter hunting.

Especially Zanana, she was originally an experienced hunter; her poor performance when she first transmigrated was simply due to her not being used to the icy and snowy hunting environment.

Now that they've become more familiar with the game, they immediately demonstrated their impressive hunting skills.

Even though it's harder to find traces of prey in the forests of Northeast China during winter, the hunting team has recently achieved excellent results.

Sure enough! They just located a Siberian tiger weighing nearly 200 kilograms based on some faint clues and successfully killed it.

A little over a minute later, Mr. Nanze dashed up to the Siberian tiger.

Looking at the Siberian tiger, which was now completely dead, his face was filled with ecstatic joy.

For these middle-aged men who enjoy making medicinal wine and rely on it for health, this Siberian tiger is a treasure trove from head to toe.

Tiger skin is used for warmth, and its meat is used for food—these are its conventional uses, so there's no need to elaborate.

Tiger bone soaked in wine can strengthen muscles and bones, invigorate the kidneys and waist, dispel wind and cold, and calm the nerves. Tiger eye soaked in wine can treat epilepsy and eye diseases.

But the most crucial point is that if you soak tiger penis in alcohol, it can treat lymph node tuberculosis and enhance men's sexual ability. You can tell whoever drinks it knows.

He'd wanted to brew a whole tub of it for a while, but in the modern world, who would dare hunt a Siberian tiger? You can't even sell that stuff! Otherwise, there'd only be one outcome: the sewing machine would be slammed shut.

He immediately made a silent decision in his heart: he must bring these tiger bones and tiger penises back to the modern world to make medicinal wine, even if he gets a smaller share of the spoils.

In contrast to the immense joy in Mr. Nanze's heart, the expressions of the other members of the hunting team were much more subdued.

The main reason is that their harvest today was truly amazing.

Behind them, there were mostly simple sleds made from small tree trunks, each carrying a few snow hares, grouse, and roe deer.

And nineteen adult wolves of various sizes, none of them too thin.

They were lucky to encounter this wolf pack, and they were wiped out in one fell swoop. After cleaning them up, the total weight of the wolves was over a thousand pounds, which exceeded the hunting task assigned by Hu Biao.

That's why Zanana isn't particularly excited about the Siberian tigers.

After thinking of something, he greeted Mr. Nanze:
"Gap-toothed guy, take this Siberian tiger back with you; everyone get some rest tonight, and set off early tomorrow. We'll go a little further into Changbai Mountain then."

It would be even better if we could find a hibernating black bear.

It is said that bear paws are at their fattest and most delicious in winter.

When the word "black bear" came to his ears, Mr. Nanze couldn't help but think of the various benefits of bear bile, bear paws, and bear bones.

He quickly responded with a cheerful "Okay," his voice filled with joy.

In the following time, each member of the hunting team dragged a sled loaded with prey back to their temporary camp on Lotus Mountain.

Perhaps because of the good harvest, I felt an inexplicable longing for the banquet that would begin on the tenth day of the month.

Even Mr. Nanze, in a high-pitched, shrill female voice, sang a line from the model opera "Shajiabang": "Set up the Eight Immortals Table, entertain guests from all directions..."

At the same time, however, the location changed to the east side of Lianhua Mountain, about 3 kilometers away on Shuangyang Lake.

In the modern timeline, this large lake, covering more than 600 hectares, has been transformed into the Shitoukoumen Reservoir, serving as the second largest water source for the more than 900 million residents of Changchun City.

However, Hu Biao, Annie, the guard, Ji Shouxing, and other time travelers arrived here, not to fetch water.

Specifically, after Hu Biao took out a cigarette, Mina, his sister-in-law, very perceptively came over and opened her military overcoat.

This simple action immediately created an excellent windproof space, making it easy for this guy to light a cigarette.

Undoubtedly, this scene made the single people on the side very jealous; Chaozi immediately complained to Annie: "Boss lady, aren't you going to do anything about this?"

If it were me, I'd have drowned that adulterous couple.

“What’s it to mind? What’s wrong with a sister-in-law helping her brother-in-law light a cigarette?” Annie said magnanimously.

But after saying that, he glared at Mina, his eyes filled with murderous intent, the meaning of which was very clear: You brat! Stay away from my man.

Unfortunately, Mina completely ignored that look.

Who knew that ever since the last break, Hu Biao had gone to Shanghai with Annie to meet his future father-in-law and mother-in-law.

The pressure from family opinions that Annie had been bearing suddenly fell on her own shoulders.

Almost all of Annie's extended family members were saying that even Annie had a boyfriend and was even about to get married.

So Mina, you're all grown up now, when are you going to bring a proper boyfriend home?

In addition, her parents kept nagging her to learn from her cousin Annie, which annoyed her to no end. So whenever she had the chance, she would try to annoy the two of them.

Lighting cigarettes for Hu Biao is just a routine task these days.

After pulling up her coat, she asked in a sweet, coquettish voice, "Brother-in-law! Can we haul in the net now? How many fish do you think we can catch?"

That's right! Hu Biao and his group came to the lake to fish.

In preparation for today's fishing operation, they had even gathered materials for weaving fishing nets along the way from Harbin by train. Upon arriving at Lianhua Mountain yesterday, they immediately began weaving a large fishing net and some related tools.

Today, before dawn, we arrived at Shuangyang Lake, chiseled a hole in the ice, and lowered the fishing net.

We're preparing to imitate the winter fishing at Chagan Lake in a modern-day world, casting a large net and catching a huge number of big fish.

The main reason for such a grand display was that they were worried that the hunting teams alone would not be able to meet the meat needs of so many people after the tenth day of the month.

Fish is meat too!

Otherwise, if a lot of men from Northeast China come over in this freezing weather just because of his words, only to find that they can't even get enough to eat, wouldn't Commander Hu lose face?

When Mina asked him a question, Hu Biao first cursed, "Straighten your tongue and speak properly."

Then he shouted again, "Raise the net!"

Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions shifted between anticipation and tension.

It's fair to say that while a few of them might have some experience in fishing, when it comes to casting large nets, they don't even know where the fish are under the ice.

Whether today's winter fishing will be successful depends entirely on luck.

I don't know if it's because the aquatic products in the lakes in the Northeast are so abundant these days, but you can practically catch roe deer with a stick and scoop up fish with a ladle.

Hu Biao and his buddies are really lucky today.

Anyway, as Dali, the warehouse manager, and Bao Gongtou worked hard to turn a wooden winch and tighten a thick rope, a large net underwater was gradually pulled out of the water.

Just looking at these three men, now incredibly strong and as robust as livestock, struggling so hard to turn the winch was astonishing.

A look of joy spread across everyone's faces, knowing that at least today it wouldn't be an air force attack.

As the fishing net was gradually pulled up, the crowd cheered loudly; because this single haul had caught at least five or six thousand catties of fish.

Among them are at least a dozen kinds of fish, including grass carp, common carp, crucian carp, silver carp, and minnows, with the largest probably weighing forty or fifty kilograms.

Now they have plenty of meat to treat the arriving heroes...

That night, while everyone was enjoying various meat and offal soups, fish head soups, and grilled fish, a meeting to plan for tomorrow's work was also underway.

After spitting out a mouthful of fish bones with a "pui pui" sound, he...

Hu Biao began to instruct Zanana: "From the tenth day of the lunar month until the Lantern Festival, we don't know exactly how many people will come, but we should try to prepare as much meat as possible."

So fishing can stop tomorrow, but hunting cannot.

"Zanana! You'll continue leading the hunt tomorrow. Before the tenth of the month, the more game you hunt, the better—there's no limit."

Zanana, who was fighting a stewed fish head, nodded, indicating that there was no problem.

Then, Hu Biao asked Annie, "Boss lady, besides going to the city to gather information tomorrow, you also need to figure out a way to get some wine back, and the quantity should be as large as possible."

In addition, we also need to get a batch of chili powder, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and various spices.

Your mission is quite challenging. Have you finalized the people who will accompany you into the city? Make sure you choose reliable individuals.

Upon hearing this, Annie replied, "Besides the three female members, Mina, Xiaocui, and Xiaobai, the other members haven't been decided yet."

As soon as the sound faded, Frost, the novice, raised his right hand.

He shouted, "Boss lady! I request to go to town with you tomorrow."

Even if Changchun City is a mountain of knives and a sea of ​​fire, I will definitely protect you. Also, just let me know if you need any dirty or hard work.

Upon hearing this volunteer, apart from Hu Biao, whose face turned ashen as he took the goods, and Annie, who was somewhat amused and exasperated, everyone else present was equally speechless.

Everyone else, without exception, became even more excited, eager to see a good show.

The main problem is that Han Shuang, who knows about Hu Biao and Annie's relationship, still tries to get close to Annie whenever she has free time; it's obvious to anyone what she's up to.

Aside from that one thing, Frost was quite proactive in both fighting and working, and he didn't do anything outrageous in his pursuit of Annie.

Hu Biao is indeed the team leader, and under such circumstances, it's not easy for him to do anything.

Fortunately, Annie's subsequent words eased Hu Biao's embarrassment.

She said to Han Shuang, "Although everyone can disguise themselves when entering the city, your skinny figure is too conspicuous. I guess the Japanese will find you and come to check you right away."

Tomorrow's task is quite important; we still need to find people with suitable physiques, looks, and appearances.

After saying that, Annie directly named some people: "Crippled guy, silent guy, warehouse manager, and third brother, you guys fit the requirements, so come with us to the city tomorrow."

At first, Lao Yu and the others were quite happy when Annie called on them, happy that they were qualified to carry out such a task, and immediately agreed.

But they quickly realized that Annie was cursing at them, and it seemed to be quite vulgar.

What does it mean to have a suitable image? Doesn't that mean they all have generic faces?

Immediately, Lao Yu also started shouting:
"No way! I can't go to Changchun tomorrow. My nickname is Xuzhou Yanzu. Even if I make up and look ugly, my outstanding temperament will still be as outstanding as a firefly in the dark."

"That would attract the attention of the Japanese, wouldn't that be giving us away?"

“Yes! Everyone calls me Xiao Zhan from Lianyungang. That unique temperament can’t be hidden by makeup.” Mo Shui added, emphasizing the point.

Just as the warehouse manager and the third brother were about to say something, Xiao Cui spoke up:

"Hey! Are you guys serious?"

Before the aforementioned individuals could say anything more, everyone else burst into laughter, creating a truly joyful atmosphere. The frustration of failing to save General Zhao vanished completely.
No one expected that this would be the last relaxing night of their journey.

******
The eighth day of the Lunar New Year is called "Grain Day" by the Chinese ancestors. It is a day to celebrate the birthday of millet and pray for a bountiful harvest in the new year.

On this day, after disguising themselves, Annie and her group of eight split up and headed to Changchun City in twos and threes.

Besides the four girls, there were also four guys: Lao Yu, the warehouse manager, AT, and Lao San; these four guys who refused to go to Changchun City last night still joined the operation.

The way the four of them behaved showed that while the members of the time-traveling team joked around normally, they were anything but serious when it came to business.

As they traveled closer to Changchun City, the group became increasingly aware that something was amiss.

What do you mean? On the surface, everything seems normal, as if nothing is wrong.

However, after Annie and others improved their physical abilities multiple times, their mental strength and attention far exceeded those of ordinary people, as well as their intuition developed through multiple journeys.

It was discovered that there were many people disguised as vendors, passersby, villagers working, and even beggars on the roadside. They were probably Japanese soldiers or traitors in disguise.

They used discreet eyes to scrutinize every passerby who walked in front of them.

Fortunately, Annie and the others disguised themselves well and did not reveal any clues.

However, the most important thing is that Changchun originally had city walls; it was only after the Japanese occupied the city and renamed it Xinjing that the walls were removed.

In order to build this city, which they believed would forever belong to them in the future, they completely demolished all the city walls.

In this way, there are more roads into the city, instead of just a few city gates.

Even though Annie and her group didn't have "good citizen certificates," which were the same kind of identification documents that the Japanese gave to people from Northeast China.

They successfully bypassed the Japanese soldiers and the checkpoints set up by the Black Dogs at various intersections, and entered Changchun City; then, they encountered some different things...

(End of this chapter)