The sky collapsed, and in the blink of an eye, I found myself transported to Nanluoguxiang.

The next day arrived in the blink of an eye.

Before dawn, the knocking on the door began.

"Brother Li! Brother Li! Time to get up!" Zhao Laosi's voice came through the door.

Li Kaixin opened her eyes. The room was still dark, with only a little light shining through the window paper.

"Coming, coming," he replied quickly, turning over and sitting up.

Zhou Zhiming, who was sleeping on one side, rolled over and muttered, "Master, what time is it?"

"Didn't you say you wanted to go up the mountain yesterday? Get up now."

Li Kaixin gently patted his apprentice's blanket.

Zhou Zhiming rubbed his eyes groggily, but finally managed to get up.

Wu Tian, ​​Qian Dazhuang, and Du Ziteng, who were on the opposite kang (heated brick bed), were also woken up by the noise and sat up with yawns.

After the five men got dressed, they opened the door and saw Zhao Laosi standing there waiting.

"Brother Li, breakfast is ready. Let's eat and head into the mountains."

After saying that, he turned around and immediately walked towards the main room.

Breakfast was already laid out in the main room: cornmeal porridge, steamed buns made from a mixture of cornmeal and water, plus a dish of pickled vegetables.

Li Kaixin and the others didn't stand on ceremony. They picked up their bowls and drank heartily, finishing their food in no time.

By the time they had gathered all their equipment, it was already getting light outside.

As soon as Zhao Laosi led Li Kaixin and the others out of the village, they saw a hunting team of more than ten people, led by Tiezhu, standing at the foot of the back mountain.

Tie Zhu spotted them from afar and waved vigorously:

"Fourth brother, Comrade Li, we've been waiting for you!"

Li Kaixin was a little confused and turned to look at Zhao Laosi, who was leading the way.

Zhao Laosi was also taken aback, then shook his head.

He strode towards Tiezhu and asked in confusion, "Brother Tiezhu, what's going on here?"

"Let's go up the mountain together today. It's better to have more people to look after each other," Tie Zhu said, revealing a set of big white teeth.

"Brother Tiezhu, we can't accept this!"

Li Kaixin, who followed behind, quickly said, "You guys should go about your business. We can take care of each other on the mountain."

"No, no!"

Tie Zhu shook his head vigorously, then his tone became serious.

"Comrade Li, the village chief personally instructed us repeatedly to follow you up the mountain today to ensure your safety."

Upon hearing this, Li Kaixin understood the village chief's good intentions and couldn't refuse.

When Tie Zhu saw him nod, a smile returned to his face.

Last night, the village chief specially called all the members of the hunting team to his house and made things very clear.

Because this Comrade Li in front of us will have a lot more relief grain this winter, plus the wolves he sent last year and the pig-slaughtering feast last night.

For these reasons alone, their hunting team was willing to go into the mountains to act as his bodyguard.

With Tiezhu and the others leading the way, things were definitely different; the ascent up the mountain became much easier.

Zhou Zhiming chatted casually with the hunting team members and soon learned some news.

Whatever they get on the mountain today, no matter how much, belongs to them.

This made him extremely happy, and he wanted to search the entire forest.

It wasn't until 5 p.m. that Tie Zhu and his group led Li Kaixin and the other four down the mountain.

Although I didn't encounter any more ginseng, I still gained quite a bit.

Two roe deer, four wild boars, one sika deer, seven or eight pheasants, plus two or three hundred catties of mountain produce.

Zhou Zhiming, Wu Tian, ​​Qian Dazhuang, and Du Ziteng never closed their mouths.

Village chief Zhang Youfu and his men were already waiting at the foot of the back mountain, and they could see the procession coming down in a grand procession from afar.

"Good heavens! Tiezhu, have you guys stumbled upon a den of prey?" Zhang Youfu went up to them, his eyes wide with surprise.

Tie Zhu put down the roe deer he was carrying, wiped his sweat, and chuckled:

"Village chief, you have no idea."

"Comrade Li is better at finding prey in the woods than we are, and his marksmanship is also impeccable. He hunts most of the prey here."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Youfu smiled and gave Li Kaixin a thumbs up: "Comrade Li, you really are something else! I don't even know what to say."

"Village Chief, you flatter me. It was just good luck," Li Kaixin replied with a smile.

Zhang Youfu knew he was just being modest again, so he didn't continue the conversation.

"By the way, Comrade Li, I see there's quite a lot of game here. Why don't you stay another night? I'll have a few people help you organize these things properly so they won't be difficult to transport on the road."

"No need, village chief."

Li Kaixin shook his head. "It's been almost two days since I've been back to the guesthouse. If I don't go back soon, our Captain Wang will start to worry."

As he spoke, he glanced at the prey piled on the ground:

"As for these prey, I have an idea. What do you think?"

"Comrade Li, please speak freely."

Li Kaixin didn't beat around the bush and got straight to the point:

"Village chief, I'd like to trade my game for some mushrooms, wood ear fungus, pine nuts, and walnuts from the village. One pound for two pounds, what do you think?"

Upon hearing this, not only Zhang Youfu was stunned, but even the members of the hunting team next to him widened their eyes.

"This won't do!"

Zhang Youfu realized what was happening and said, "Aren't we taking advantage of you again? Those things aren't even worth much!"

"The village chief is right!"

Zhao Laosi quickly chimed in, "If you want mountain produce, we can just give it to you directly. There's no need to trade game for it!"

"Village chief, Brother Zhao, you don't need to worry about us suffering losses!"

Li Kaixin smiled and explained:

"Walnuts might not be worth much here, but it's a different story in Beijing. They're worth much more than these game animals when you calculate the price."

Seeing this, Zhou Zhiming and the others nodded in agreement.

They had discussed it before they came down the mountain.

Not only are mountain products easier to bring back, but you also don't have to worry about them spoiling on the way.

After hearing what Li Kaixin said, Zhang Youfu lowered his head and pondered for a while, then exchanged glances with Tiezhu and the others.

"Alright! We'll do as Comrade Li says." He finally nodded.

Upon hearing this, the villagers present immediately became overjoyed.

This is meat! Even if you trade one pound for two pounds, or even three or four pounds for one pound, it's still a good deal.

Nowadays, prey has all gone deep into the mountains, making them much harder to hunt than before.

But mountain products are different; you can still find them in the surrounding areas.

Afterwards, Tie Zhu led a few people to carry the prey to the threshing ground at the entrance of the village and began to weigh it on the spot.

Another group of people ran home and brought out the mushrooms and wood ear fungus they had stored there.

After a little over half an hour of fussing, the game and mountain goods were finally exchanged, piling up to over a thousand pounds.