Fishing and Hunting 82, Starting with Three Sisters Who Overprotect Their Brothers

Li Yuejin's home is located in the eastern part of the village.

Following his memory, Zhang Wenshan quickly found the door and knocked.

Who is it?

When Li Yuejin's second wife came out to open the door and saw Zhang Wenshan, her smile vanished instantly, and she turned and called out to him.

"Master, Shanzi is here, get up."

He then stepped aside to let him in.

In the countryside, unless there is a deadly feud, it is rare for people to be stopped from entering.

"What are you doing here?" Li Yuejin slumped on the kang (a heated brick bed), a towel over his head, sighing repeatedly.

"Lend me a flashlight, I need to keep an eye on the toad pond at night." Zhang Wenshan asked knowingly, "Uncle, what's wrong?"

Upon hearing this, Li Yuejin coughed violently.

His wife said indifferently, "He had a few drinks and I don't know where he got upset, but now he's acting like this."

Zhang Wenshan's eyes lit up.

Before coming, I was wondering how to start the conversation, but I didn't expect the words to come to me on their own.

"You should go to the hospital to get it checked out. Modern medicine is so advanced that it can cure any ailment. I had a coworker in the factory who couldn't have children for over ten years, but he got better after taking medicine for two days."

Upon hearing the first half of the sentence, Li Yuejin was filled with rage.

Isn't this like insulting a bald man in front of a monk?

He raised his hand, grabbed a feather duster, and was about to unleash his fury, intending to teach this kid a lesson.

Upon hearing the last sentence, he suddenly froze, the duster he was holding paused in mid-air, and then he swept it twice across the mat.

"There's so much dust in the summer."

His wife ignored everything else and asked directly, "Shanzi, are you serious?"

"Of course it's true!" Zhang Wenshan said without batting an eye. "When I came back, his wife was already several months pregnant, and she was showing off to us all the time."

Upon hearing this, Li Yuejin couldn't help but ask, "Can the hospital really treat it?"

He married two wives but neither of them had any children. Anyone with eyes can see whose fault it was.

I've tried countless folk remedies and unorthodox prescriptions over the years, and I've long since lost all my dignity.

"Let's go to the hospital for a checkup first, to see exactly what's wrong," Zhang Wenshan said, barely suppressing a laugh. "If the town doesn't work, there's always the county. I heard they can do X-rays there."

"This, this is so troublesome?" Li Yuejin's face showed unease and confusion.

"It's no trouble. Just make an appointment and find the right department. How you get treatment after that depends on the situation." Zhang Wenshan's lips curled up slightly.

The squad leader, who was a big shot in the village, spoke of the town hospital as if it were his own older sister.

These days, people from the countryside always feel that towns are high-class and sophisticated, and they feel a sense of awe and unease.

"Then...I..." Li Yuejin opened his mouth several times, but the words got stuck in his throat and he couldn't say them.

Seeing this, Zhang Wenshan didn't insist and said directly, "Well, Uncle, I'll head back first."

Just as I stepped out of the hospital gate, I heard a shout behind me: "Shanzi, slow down, stun gun!"

"Oh, thank you so much, Auntie. You've gone to so much trouble."

"Um, about your uncle's medical treatment..."

"I'll inquire about it tomorrow. If Uncle Li wants to go, I'll go with him."

"Thank you so much."

Li Yuejin's wife returned to the house and said irritably, "I think Shanzi is quite good. He speaks politely and is efficient in his work. He's much better than your nephew."

"Come on, what a little fox," Li Yuejin said as he got off the kang (a heated brick bed) and put on his shoes.

Where are you going?

"Didn't I realize that kid was targeting me? Borrowing the stun gun to watch over the frog pond—who in the village can cause trouble these days?"

Li Yuejin pushed open the door and went out.

We need to make that kid Li Dong quiet down.

It was fine to support my nephew before, but now... I have to think twice.

……

When Zhang Wenshan returned home, the food was still on the table, but no one had touched it.

Under the dim yellow oil lamp, his family was waiting for him.

He suddenly felt a pang of sadness and felt somewhat dazed.

In the past, you had to fight for food at the orphanage. Later, when you were financially independent, you had someone to accompany you when you ate. But in the end, you were still all alone.

"What are you standing there for? Eat!"

Xu Xiulian waved her hand, and her little nephew clapped his hands.

"Dinner's ready, Uncle, dinner's ready!"

Zhang Wenshan smiled, washed his hands, and sat down at the table.

Dinner was the same old thing: shredded mustard greens, cornbread, and congee, plus a bowl of eggplant and potato salad with sauce.

The process involves washing and steaming eggplants and potatoes, mashing them in a large, coarse porcelain bowl until they become a paste, and then mixing them with homemade soybean paste.

What does it taste like?

It's certainly not good.

My mother's skill in making sauces is just as good as her cooking skills, and perhaps even better.

But Zhang Wenshan ate with great relish today.

"Are you really going to get the licenses to start a business?"

Suddenly, the third sister, Zhang Wenhui, spoke up.

"Um."

"Don't worry, my teacher, Ms. Sun, is the finance officer of the local industrial and commercial bureau."

"Um?"

Zhang Wenshan suddenly raised his head, his face full of surprise.

Does your family have such connections?

But judging from the other people's expressions, they didn't seem surprised.

He couldn't help but wonder, "You all knew?"

The family members all nodded in agreement.

Zhang Wenshan was annoyed. What was the original owner of this body thinking?

……

We've eaten.

Zhang Wenshan returned to the west room and lay on the kang (a heated brick bed) pondering his next steps.

Fishing in underground rivers is not always a sure thing; you have to think about what to do if you don't catch anything, how many fish you catch, and how many small-scaled fish are left.

Afterwards, depending on the amount of funds obtained, the purchase of items must be carefully calculated.

Oh, and the tomatoes at home too.

Now the family should be able to accept our homemade potassium fertilizer.

We also need to consider what to do if intelligence cannot be immediately converted into cash for several consecutive days, or if the prey cannot be captured temporarily.

In the end, it all comes down to poverty.

Many things cannot be accomplished without capital.

……

The next morning.

At Zhang Wenshan's instruction, his mother woke him up just as dawn was breaking.

After washing my face with cold water, I felt completely refreshed.

He then realized that his older sister was fully armed.

"Bring two bottles, don't drink the water from the mountains, there are cornbreads in the lunchbox, make sure your cuffs are tied tightly, don't be reckless, come back if you can't make it."

The elderly mother gave repeated instructions, her eyes filled with worry.

The old man silently handed over a sharpened wood-chopping knife without saying a word.

"Don't lose it." The third sister took out an old but well-preserved scarf and wrapped it around his neck without saying a word.

As he stepped outside, Zhang Wenshan couldn't help but shake his head.

This doesn't look like going up the mountain to catch fish; it looks more like a picnic.

"The road is difficult to walk on, so stay close, I'll chop ahead." After entering the mountain, the older sister reached out to grab a machete.

Zhang Wenshan took it immediately: "I'll do it."

The mountain path in 1982 was indeed difficult to walk on. The wild path was covered with waist-high thorns and weeds on both sides, with thorny branches that would sweep over you when the wind blew.

He turned sideways and swung his knife to clear a path, but branches still occasionally whipped his body, causing a burning pain.

After finally getting through, we encountered a scree slope.

The 70-80 degree incline made it almost impossible to walk normally; the person could only lie on the ground and move upwards using the surrounding vines.

One wrong step and you'll fall.

Before long, his hands were rubbed raw and red, with blood seeping out.

"That was really tough!"

Zhang Wenshan gritted his teeth, a sense of respect welling up within him.

He had no professional mountaineering equipment on him, and the yellow rubber boots he was wearing were the ones he received when he was working at the factory; ordinary farmers simply couldn't get them.

That's how they are, making a living in the Northeast with nothing.

Generation after generation, we've come this far.