sbdcsierra Chapter 1933 The Zhao Family Gang's stronghold isn't so easy to steal!
Chapter 1933 The Zhao Family Gang's stronghold isn't so easy to steal!
Chapter 1933 The Zhao Family Gang's stronghold isn't so easy to steal!
"Is this all the money you have in your pocket?" Li Ruhai didn't miss any opportunity to instigate Ma Yang. He lowered his voice and said to Ma Yang, "Ma Er, we've already brought out two ginseng kings, and your family still hasn't given you any money?"
Upon hearing Li Ruhai's words, Ma Yang's face fell.
Who was Li Ruhai? Seeing that Ma Yang's expression was off, he quickly added, "If you don't have money, why don't you ask Ma's mother? Last time when you carried the little white dragon, how much money did my brother bring back for you? My Ma's mother won't even give you ten or eight yuan."
As he spoke, Li Ruhai pulled a wad of cash from his pocket. Although it was impossible to tell at a glance how much it was, there were several large unity bills.
In fact, the dividends from the Zhao family gang and the Zhao family chamber of commerce never reached Li Ruhai's hands; his share went directly to Jin Xiaomei.
Most of the money Li Ruhai received was a reward from Zhao Jun. But now, holding the money, Li Ruhai said to Ma Yang, "I didn't even get as much as you. Look at my mom, she never shortchanges me."
After saying that, Li Ruhai put the money back in his pocket and continued to say to Ma Yang, "We're not like we used to be. We're not students anymore. When we men are out in the world, if we don't have any money in our pockets, we'll blush when we reach into our pockets. Isn't that embarrassing?"
Hearing Li Ruhai's words, Ma Yang blushed.
Seeing this, Li Ruhai pressed his advantage, saying, "Let's go down the mountain and into the city tomorrow, and then head to Fusong. You've never been this far before, have you?"
Upon hearing this, Ma Yang subconsciously nodded.
“Then you’ll have to ask your family for some money tonight,” Li Ruhai said. “And if you see anything nice while you’re out, buy it back home. Wouldn’t my parents be happy then?”
What Li Ruhai didn't know was that the moment Ma Yang heard those words, he immediately thought of Hu Lina.
At this moment, Ma Yang thought, how meaningful it would be if he went out and brought back some gifts for Hu Lina!
“Okay!” Ma Yang nodded heavily and said, “I’ll ask my mom for the money when I get back.”
"That's right," Li Ruhai laughed. "It's not like we don't make money. You make quite a bit, don't you?"
"Hmm, hmm." Ma Yang responded twice. Then he looked down at the small bills in his hand, stuffed them into his pocket, and said to Li Ruhai, "Well... you do this for me first, and I'll pay you later."
"Heh!" Li Ruhai chuckled coldly upon hearing this, then turned and walked into the courtyard.
Li Ruhai didn't care about earning Ma Yang's measly two coins, and he believed that Wang Cuihua wouldn't give Ma Yang any money. If Ma Yang went home asking for money, the best outcome would be a scolding, and he might even get beaten up.
"Ru Hai, Ru Hai." Seeing Li Ru Hai about to leave, Ma Yang stepped forward and grabbed Li Ru Hai's arm, saying, "Can you help me?"
Li Ruhai shrugged his arm forcefully, but failed to break free.
Li Ruhai smirked and asked Ma Yang, "What exactly are you trying to do?"
"Here's the thing." Ma Yang glanced around and, seeing no one was around, asked Li Ruhai, "In my dad's workshop, there's someone named Hu Guanglai, do you know him?"
Upon hearing Ma Yang's words, Li Ruhai's eyes immediately sharpened. When their eyes met, Ma Yang felt a sudden jolt, and his grip on Li Ruhai's arm loosened involuntarily.
Just then, Li Ruhai looked Ma Yang up and down and asked with a smile, "How could I not recognize him? Isn't that...so-and-so's dad from our class?"
"Yes, yes." Ma Yang nodded repeatedly and said, "You know everyone, why don't you go out and ask around about that person?"
"What's up?" Li Ruhai looked at Ma Yang warily and asked, "What are you trying to do? Why are you asking about him?"
Li Ruhai asked three questions in a row, and with each question he asked, he took a step forward, forcing Ma Yang to take three steps back.
"I...I'm not doing anything." Ma Yang felt uncomfortable when he met Li Ruhai's sharp gaze. He pulled Li Ruhai closer and said, "Ruhai, here's what happened."
Today, my parents were idly going through the gift-giving records when they came across the name Hu Guanglai. My mom then said, "That person is not sensible."
Upon hearing Ma Yang's words, Li Ruhai subconsciously frowned. Like Ma Yang, Hu Guanglai was also his father-in-law.
"What's wrong?" Li Ruhai asked. Ma Yang replied, "My mom said that whenever his family has an event, my dad always writes a gift of ten yuan. But when my family has an event, he only writes five yuan."
"That's impossible!" Li Ruhai blurted out. "How could that be?"
When Li Ruhai was a gatekeeper at the forest farm, he often wandered around the workshop and deliberately tried to get close to Hu Guanglai.
In Li Ruhai's memory, Hu Guanglai was a very upright person and would never do such a thing.
Besides, these days, forestry workers have a very high status in the forest area.
Who doesn't care about saving face? If Hu Guanglai behaved like that, he wouldn't be able to stay in the forest farm.
In fact, Hu Guanglai was very popular in the workshop, so Li Ruhai simply couldn't believe that he could do such a thing.
“I also think it’s impossible.” Ma Yang clapped his hands and said, “Hu Lina is so good…”
Ma Yang stopped mid-sentence, then changed his words, saying, "My dad said that person is really nice, but no way."
Li Ruhai gritted his teeth, squinted at Ma Yang, and said coldly, "Then what do you want me to find out?"
“What do I think?” Ma Yang said, “I think there must be some misunderstanding here. My dad and my old man, Uncle Hu, have a very good relationship. Let’s not make this situation worse.”
Hearing Ma Yang's words, Li Ruhai remained silent. Based on his experience, he immediately judged that there must be some unknown secret involved. Moreover, the one who was up to something was probably not Hu Guanglai.
Thinking of this, Li Ruhai looked at Ma Yang and smiled, saying, "You mean, you want me to find out for you what's going on?"
"Okay!" Ma Yang nodded, then instructed Li Ruhai, "When you ask about the other day, don't just stare blankly..."
"Let's try to get the information indirectly," Li Ruhai suddenly said, and Ma Yang nodded with a smile, "Yes, yes, let's try to get the information indirectly."
"I understand now." Li Ruhai smiled and said, "Don't worry, leave this to me."
Hearing Li Ruhai agree, Ma Yang was overjoyed. He grabbed Li Ruhai's hand and said, "Ruhai, thank you so much!"
After saying that, Ma Yang immediately added, "Once you find out the truth, I'll give you two yuan."
"Hehe, okay." Li Ruhai didn't mind the small amount and readily agreed.
After Li Ruhai agreed, he saw Ma Yang staring straight at him.
"Huh?" Li Ruhai was taken aback and asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Go ahead," Ma Yang urged, startling Li Ruhai, who replied, "I'll go right now?"
"Ah!" Ma Yang said matter-of-factly, "Then what are you doing here?"
“I’m still in a meeting, and the spirit of that meeting…” Li Ruhai had just started to speak when Ma Yang pushed him out.
"Stop the meeting," Ma Yang said. "I've finished. I'll just relay the key points of the meeting to you."
"Well... alright then." At this moment, Li Ruhai was also interested in seeing his... old classmate, so he immediately agreed.
But when Li Ruhai turned around, he saw his father, Zhang Yuanmin, Xie Chen, and Zhao Jinhui carrying baskets and slings into the yard.
Upon seeing this scene, Li Ruhai knew they had gone to collect goose eggs.
"Dad." Li Ruhai stepped forward, but Li Dayong acted as if he didn't even see him, quickly passing by Li Ruhai and heading straight for the front of the house.
Li Ruhai's smile froze. He turned around and saw Zhao Youcai, who was sitting in front of the house, get up and walk quickly toward Li Dayong.
The two walked towards each other and soon met up.
"Dayong!"
"Big brother!"
At this moment, Li Dayong was holding the basket with both hands, gripping one side of the basket handle, while Zhao Youcai was gripping the other side with both hands.
But when he met Zhao Youcai's expectant gaze, Li Dayong said sadly, "Brother, I'm so sorry."
Upon hearing Li Dayong's words, Zhao Youcai's hopes vanished. He subconsciously loosened his grip on the basket and stumbled back two steps.
"Brother!" Li Dayong stepped forward with one hand carrying the basket and helped Zhao Youcai up.
……
While the two members of the Zhao family's hunting gang were putting on a tearful act, the four members of the Bai family's gang were immersed in joy.
At this moment, the four men arrived at the embankment where the Zhao family had carried the Sea Cucumber King a few days earlier.
Behind them was the Zhao family's shack, and in front of the four of them was a large, six-leafed sapling.
The six-leaf ginseng plant was tied with a ginseng lock, and at this moment, Bai Sanzhi was kneeling there, holding a deer antler spoon and concentrating on digging and lifting the ginseng.
Meanwhile, Bai Sanzhi's younger brother Bai Qingshan, son Bai Zhiping, and nephew Bai Zhijie were all standing behind Bai Sanzhi, watching the movements of his hands.
When the long goose-neck reeds were revealed in front of the four people, the Bai family members silently counted them in their minds.
After counting, Bai Qingshan couldn't help but whisper, "This stick must be 170 or 180 years old."
"Yes, we do!" Bai Zhiping and Bai Zhijie, the two younger members, nodded in unison. Bai Qingshan then whispered, "No wonder everyone says Zhao Jun is unconventional; this kid can even find a good spot."
No sooner had Bai Qingshan finished speaking than his son, Bai Zhiping, laughed and said, "What's so wild about him? If he's so wild, why can't he even get a sixth-grade leaf?"
“Exactly,” Bai Zhijie agreed with a smile. “When it comes to choosing, it has to be my uncle, no one else can compare.”
Two days ago, the Bai family gang came to scavenge in the mountains. They encountered a real bear once and a fake one the other time. But on both trips up and down the mountain, they saw the Zhao family gang's jeep parked on the firewood transport road.
At that time, Bai Sanzhi concluded that the Zhao family gang must be nearby, and that they were in the mountains.
But when they arrived this morning, they found that the jeep was gone.
The fact that the car is gone means that the Zhao family gang has already left.
At that time, Bai Sanzhi began to make arrangements to search for the embankment that the Zhao family had traversed.
Bai Sanzhi said that the fact that the Zhao family gang could stay here for several days meant that there was an embankment nearby.
The Zhao family gang consisted mostly of young people, and they were all newcomers to the business. Bai Sanzhi said that Zhao Jun and his gang would definitely not be able to clean up the mess.
After some searching, the Bai family gang found the shack built by the Zhao family gang.
Then, before the sticks were even laid out, Bai Zhijie saw a seedling with six leaves.
The group shouted and yelled at the mountain, then used ropes and sticks to knock on the trees. Only after confirming it was safe did they begin to lift the ginseng.
At this moment, Bai Sanzhi straightened up. Upon seeing this, Bai Zhiping quickly took out a handkerchief and stepped forward to wipe Bai Sanzhi's sweat.
Bai Zhijie was quite perceptive; he took off the military water bottle slung across his body, unscrewed the cap, and handed it to Bai Sanzhi.
After taking two sips of water, Bai Sanzhi turned to Bai Qingshan and said, "Shanzi, let's have some pancakes to tide us over at noon. If we can't carry this ginseng out tonight, we'll just stay in this shack and not leave."
"After that, tomorrow morning, you and Zhijie go back to that cliff and retrieve everything you need."
“Okay, brother.” Bai Qingshan replied, then looked at the shack of the Zhao family gang and said, “Zhao Jun and his gang’s shack is really quite nice.”
"What do you mean 'their shack'?" Bai Sanzhi laughed upon hearing this and said, "We're here now, this is our shack."
“That’s right!” Bai Qingshan laughed. “Even if Zhao Jun and the others come back, it won’t make a difference. We’ll leave as soon as we’ve cleaned up this place.”
At this moment, Bai San pointed around and said, "This area might just be the place for a big shipment."
"A big one?" Bai Qingshan was taken aback upon hearing this, and pointed at the sixth-grade leaf in front of Bai Sanzhi, saying, "Brother, isn't this big enough?"
"Shanzi," Bai San pointed and asked, "How did this Grade Six Leaf come about?"
Hearing this, Bai Qingshan blinked. It was certainly possible that birds or beasts had carried the seeds here. But the possibility that ginseng seeds had fallen nearby and sprouted was also not out of the question.
At this moment, Bai Sanzhi was thinking, "What if there is one? Then I can just grab it."
Bai Sanzhi's reminder excited Bai Qingshan and the other two. Meanwhile, a chase was taking place in the Shitan area.
A large black bear weighing over 340 pounds was fleeing in panic.
Logically speaking, a male adult black bear of this weight should be a dominant force in these mountains. Even a Siberian tiger of the same weight would be no match for it.
But at this moment, a gash appeared on the big black bear's nose, and the wound bled profusely.
Behind it, a large brown bear weighing over 600 pounds was chasing after it with all its might.
The big black bear had a round belly, clearly having eaten its fill in the stone pond area.
The brown bear must have arrived later, and once it arrived, it not only wanted to monopolize its prey, but also wanted to kill the black bear.
The large brown bear chased after the bear, past the watchtower, and onto the sled track.
The black bear ran all the way, but it was too full to run anymore.
Sensing that the brown bear was getting closer, the black bear desperately tried to climb the tree.
The moment it stopped in front of the tree, its right paw slipped, and the big black bear slid down the slope.
The black bear vanished in an instant, leaving the brown bear chasing after it stunned.
Just then, the four members of the Bai family gang heard a clattering sound from above.
"What the hell?" Bai Qingshan was startled, and quickly picked up the rope and used the stick to knock on the pine tree next to him, while making noises such as "Ah...ah..."
Bai Qingshan shouted, and Bai Zhiping and Bai Zhijie followed suit.
To protect the ginseng king, Bai Qingshan shouted as he waved his rope and stick, repeatedly striking the tree, and quickly walked uphill.
Bai Qingshan believed that if he shouted from a distance, even the livestock would leave.
Just as Bai Qingshan had predicted, upon hearing the shouts below and smelling the scent of people, the large brown bear above felt uneasy and immediately turned and retreated.
The sounds that a brown bear can hear, a black bear can also hear; the scents that a brown bear can smell, a black bear can also smell.
But at this moment, the big black bear rolled down, and it couldn't control itself at all.
When the big black bear stopped, it was only twenty meters away from Bai Qingshan and his two companions who had been shouting loudly.
When Bai Qingshan and his two companions saw a large black bear appear in front of them, they were instantly stunned.
The big black bear looked up and vaguely saw someone in front of it.
Anyone who runs in the mountains knows that there are three key factors that cause bears to attack people in the forest.
First, the mother bear sensed a threat from the approaching people and attacked to protect her cubs. Second, the humans and bears encountered each other unexpectedly. Third, the bear was injured, and blind bears are at their most vulnerable in such situations.
Now that the big black bear has taken control of two points, how could it possibly tolerate Bai Qingshan and his group?
"Hmph!" The big black bear, which had just been bullied by the big brown bear, roared and charged at Bai Qingshan and his two companions!
There's one more chapter I can't finish writing before midnight, guys go to sleep now, we'll read it tomorrow morning.