The good days always pass quickly. Chen Yang's parents stayed in Anhui Province for three days, occasionally going to the river with Shen Futang to fish.
Although the fish basket's catch never exceeded ten fish a day, the elderly couple enjoyed themselves immensely, fishing with great enthusiasm every day.
Today, Chen Yang even invited Elder Tu, Tu Erwa, and several hunters from the village, bringing along their muzzle-loading guns and bows, to lead his two fathers into the mountains for some fun.
This truly opened up a new world for Chen Liming. He hadn't expected there to be a primeval forest behind Shenjiaba.
"Brother-in-law, Elder Tu is the most experienced hunter in our village."
"With his skills, we'll have something delicious to eat today."
Normally, Elder Tu wouldn't venture into the mountains anymore. After all, he was getting old, and his stamina and reflexes weren't what they used to be. It was too dangerous if they encountered jackals or wolves.
Fortunately, Elder Tu's son, Tu Erwa, had inherited his father's hunting skills and occasionally went into the mountains to hunt for a meal.
Of course, these were done secretly, not openly.
After all, in previous years, the atmosphere had been a bit tense. The wild animals in the mountains didn't belong to anyone privately; they belonged to the collective. How could one hunt and eat them at will?
Recently, the black market in the town had become increasingly active. People were less concerned about such matters. Tu Erwa also often dared to enter the mountains to hunt some wild game to sell in the city, which had become a significant source of income for their family.
With Chen Yang's intervention today, asking him to lead them into the mountains for fun, Tu Erwa naturally wouldn't refuse.
It was also a good opportunity to hunt some wild game to sell in the city. His children had been clamoring for new clothes for a long time. After selling the game, they could buy some cloth coupons from the ticket scalpers to get new clothes for the children.
"Stop."
Everyone was cautiously searching in the primeval forest. In those days, there were wild boars and jackals in the woods. Some people at the foot of the mountain claimed to have heard tiger roars at night, though it was uncertain if they were true.
But there were definitely jackals. If one encountered one alone, there was practically no chance of survival. Although there were many people this time, they were all proceeding with extreme caution.
"Elder Tu, what's wrong?"
Elder Tu suddenly stopped, making Chen Yang a bit nervous.
When he had come to the primeval forest before, he had been reckless, focused on getting meat for the young child and not thinking about the danger. Along the way, Elder Tu had repeatedly spoken of the dangers of the primeval forest, making him tremble with fear.
Fortunately, they hadn't encountered any wild boars or jackals then, or his flimsy bow would have been useless.
"There's excrement here."
Elder Tu squatted down, picked up some black, pearl-like droppings from the ground, rubbed them between his fingers, and examined them closely.
"It should be from a wild goat. It's still fresh, definitely no more than an hour old. We haven't seen mountain goats in this forest for years. This is a rare occurrence."
Seeing Elder Tu casually wipe his dung-stained hand on a nearby blade of grass before continuing to hold his muzzle-loader, Chen Yang immediately abandoned the idea of touching the gun. He decided he would stick to archery.
"Don't move forward yet. I'll check the tracks of the trampled grass ahead. We'll follow this path later."
"Erwa, get the pickaxe and dig a pit. Set up traps on the path the goat passed. If we can't catch it, we'll check back in a few days."
Elder Tu's years of hunting experience were fully displayed at this moment. First, he had Tu Erwa dig a pit on the path the goat had taken.
Then, he placed a trap and made a clearly visible mark nearby, so others wouldn't accidentally step on it and get hurt.
He then grabbed some fallen leaves and dry grass from the side to cover everything up before following the goat's trail.
Wild animals have regular patterns of movement. The paths they've traveled are generally considered safe, and they are likely to return. That's why Elder Tu dug pits and set traps here.
Not many people dared to enter the primeval forest in those days. Setting traps was common, but it wouldn't be allowed in the future. With more people entering the mountains, it would be no joke if someone got injured.
A wild boar's leg could be snapped by a trap, and if a person stepped on it, their bone would be broken.
After setting up the traps, Chen Yang and the others followed Elder Tu along the goat's tracks. Few people entered the primeval forest.
Whether it was people or animals, their tracks were easily preserved.
However, after tracking for more than half an hour, they still didn't see any sign of a mountain goat. Instead, the tracks of other animals had disrupted their pursuit.
"There are many animal tracks here. There must be a water source nearby."
"If we wait by the water source, we should be able to catch some animals coming to drink."
"Where there is water, the grass grows more luxuriantly, making it the best place for hunting."
Elder Tu patiently imparted his hunting experience to everyone. He was old, and he couldn't take these ancestral skills to his grave.
Besides Chen Yang, Chen Liming, and Shen Futang, everyone else who came today was either his son or his disciple, so he held nothing back.
Chen Yang's family wouldn't hunt every day, nor had they undergone extensive training. Elder Tu wasn't afraid of them stealing his techniques.
Others might not know, but Elder Tu had some idea of Chen Yang's wealth. Chen Yang alone had given the production team hundreds of yuan for renting donkey carts daily for selling fish.
Chen Yang's family wouldn't come to the mountains to steal their livelihood. At most, they would come occasionally for fun and leisure, just like today.
"Dad, just watch. I'll show you what I can do today."
Tu Erwa held his muzzle-loader. His father had always looked down on him, thinking he hadn't fully mastered his skills.
Tu Erwa was not convinced.
He had hunted a lot of wild game recently. He felt that he was no worse than his father when he was young, except for lacking a hunting dog.
If he could find a suitable breed of dog, Tu Erwa would even want to raise one. With a dog's keen sense of smell to track prey, the success rate of hunting would be much higher.
"You rascal."
Elder Tu raised his hand to slap his son, but then restrained his temper. His son was over forty years old, and he had to save face for him.
He was old. His youngest son was already a grandfather. He had to control his temper.
Being the son of an exceptionally skilled father was like this. No matter how well you performed, in his eyes, you were still a failure.
In reality, Tu Erwa was already the most outstanding hunter of Shenjiaba of his generation. He had always wanted to prove that he hadn't disgraced his father's reputation.
"There's a wild rabbit."
"Bang."
Just as they were talking, Tu Erwa suddenly fired his gun at the nearby bushes.
Then, he dashed out like a rabbit. Less than two minutes later, he returned, carrying a still-kicking rabbit covered in blood.
Seeing Tu Erwa swagger back with the wild rabbit like a victorious general, Elder Tu maintained a stern expression and said nothing.
He hadn't even noticed the wild rabbit just now. He was old and had to admit it.