sbdcsierra Chapter 1924 Brown Bear Raids the Lookout Tower at Night
Chapter 1924 Brown Bear Raids the Lookout Tower at Night
Chapter 1924 Brown Bear Raids the Lookout Tower at Night
With a single shot into its throat, the male brown bear collapsed, its body convulsing.
"Hmph..." The female brown bear, whose left hind leg was crippled, let out an angry roar, then turned and charged toward the watchtower.
"Bang!" A gunshot rang out, and the mother brown bear was shot in the head, fell backward, and died.
"Go! Get down!" Zhao Youcai stood up, picked up his gun, and shouted to Gu Yang to come down from the watchtower.
Gu Yang, trembling all over, followed Zhao Youcai down from the observation platform with a flashlight in hand.
"Follow me, shine the flashlight on Xiong Ba!" Zhao Youcai instructed Gu Yang before quickly walking to the female brown bear. The flashlight beam followed, and Zhao Youcai saw that the female brown bear's head was broken. He then stepped towards the male brown bear.
Gu Yang hurriedly followed, and then the master and apprentice discovered that the male brown bear's neck had been almost severed by a bullet, and it had also died.
Two shots killed two brown bears, and there were no follow-up shots. At this moment, Zhao Youcai felt a surge of pride and excitement.
"Come here, my eldest apprentice," Zhao Youcai called to Gu Yang, "Put the flashlight aside, let's turn this bear over and gut it."
Upon hearing this, Gu Yang quickly did as instructed, and the master and apprentice flipped the male brown bear lying on its back. Zhao Youcai took out a knife and gutted it, removing its gallbladder.
Zhao Youcai came today to hunt bears, so he was well-prepared, carrying thin hemp rope and a small cloth bag in his pocket.
I never expected there to be two bears.
After extracting a bear gallbladder, Zhao Youcai got up and headed towards the mother brown bear. The mother bear had died belly-up; there was no need to turn her over. Zhao Youcai deftly gutted her, removed the gallbladder, tied it securely with a thin rope, and then put it in a bag.
"Go." Zhao Youcai handed the cloth bag containing the bear bile to Gu Yang and said, "Take it to the pillbox, and then take the sack down."
By this time, Gu Yang had recovered. He took the bear gall bladder, grinned, and said to Zhao Youcai, "Master, you're amazing! You killed those two bears with just two shots."
"Hehe..." Zhao Youcai chuckled upon hearing this, and then Gu Yang continued, "I've seen my brother Jun hunt, and he's nowhere near as good as you."
Zhao Youcai was more pleased to hear Gu Yang's way of putting one down while praising another, and immediately laughed and said, "He... he's too young."
"Yes, yes." Gu Yang nodded repeatedly and said, "Who is my master? When it comes to shooting, he is definitely the best."
"Haha, alright." Zhao Youcai waved his hand at Gu Yang and said, "Go, hurry up and bring the sack back, let's carve some meat to take back."
Gu Yang agreed, grabbed a flashlight in one hand and the bear bile in the other, and ran back.
Soon, Gu Yang returned carrying a burlap sack, and the master and apprentice began to butcher the meat.
Zhao Youcai only removed the four legs of the female brown bear along with its paws, then cut off some meat, and had Gu Yang put it in a sack and soak it in the river.
After all, a female brown bear weighing over 500 pounds has four legs with paws that together weigh over 150 pounds. If you trim off some lean and fatty meat, it will weigh close to 200 pounds.
Although large motorcycles have a strong load-bearing capacity, it's not good to carry too much, especially when they're driving on mountain roads.
But Gu Yang couldn't take his eyes off the two brown bear carcasses on the ground.
To Gu Yang, the carcasses of those two bears were money.
If it were winter, Gu Yang would have to move the two brown bears home, bit by bit.
But it wasn't winter, so moving was extremely difficult.
Just as Gu Yang was about to give up, he heard Zhao Youcai say, "Eldest apprentice, let's go back to the shack and sleep. Then we won't have to get up too early tomorrow morning. Around seven o'clock, we'll head to the third work section and then take the forest ranger's commuter cart back."
Zhao Youcai's plan was good. It would take him three hours to ride his motorcycle home, but he could get home in an hour by taking the commuter bus.
At this moment, Gu Yang was exceptionally clear-headed and immediately said to Zhao Youcai, "Master, if I take the commuter bus, can I take some more meat with me?"
"Huh?" Zhao Youcai was taken aback and said, "How am I supposed to scroll down with all that stuff?"
The Zhao family doesn't value bear meat, so Zhao Youcai wouldn't make two trips for him.
“Master!” Gu Yang said, “Tomorrow morning, you take the meat we just cleaned downstairs, and I’ll carry about fifty or sixty pounds of meat down there. I’ll leave early and get to the third work section before eight o’clock.”
"What are you after?" Zhao Youcai frowned and said, "If you want them, I'll give you all four legs."
“No, Master,” Gu Yang said. “I think there’s still a lot of fat in that big brown bear’s belly. I’ll cut it off and take it to the market to sell.”
Hearing Gu Yang say this, Zhao Youcai, who was in a good mood, did not try to persuade him. Instead, he accompanied Gu Yang to cut more than 50 kilograms of bear meat.
By the time everything was finished, it was already five o'clock. Zhao Youcai decided not to sleep and instead rode his motorcycle to take Gu Yang and fifty catties of bear meat down the mountain.
After descending the mountain, Zhao Youcai told him to carry the bear meat and walk towards the third work section, while Zhao Youcai rode his motorcycle back to Shitangdai to retrieve the bear legs and meat.
Qingshi Lazi was not far from the Third Work Section. Zhao Youcai caught up with Gu Yang halfway and then went ahead.
When Zhao Youcai arrived at the Third Workshop, his sworn brother Chen Liangyou was not there, but the people at the Third Workshop saw that he was Zhao Youcai's father and treated him very warmly.
Zhao Youcai left his things behind, asked someone to watch them, and then rode his motorcycle back to pick up Gu Yang.
After picking up Gu Yang, the master and apprentice ate a meal at the Third Workshop. The potato and noodle soup with two kinds of steamed buns was barely edible for Zhao Youcai, but Gu Yang ate with great relish.
After finishing their meal, the master and apprentice rested at their work station. At this time, the forest rangers who were off duty that day began to arrive from all directions.
These forest rangers held Zhao Youcai in exceptional respect. When they learned that Zhao Youcai had killed two brown bears with two shots, they praised him to the skies, making Zhao Youcai beam with joy.
Normally, Zhao Youcai would have been happy to give them all the bear meat. But today, he had to consider his apprentice. He knew Gu Yang's family situation, so after riding his motorcycle down the mountain, Zhao Youcai only kept one bear leg with its paw attached, and let Gu Yang take the rest to the market to sell.
Having lived in the same village for so many years, Zhao Youcai knew Huang Caiyu very well. So after he got off the commuter cart with his motorcycle, he had Gu Yang carry his fifty jin of meat back to report, while Zhao Youcai himself rode the motorcycle, carrying four bear legs, bear paws, and bear meat back to the Zhao family compound.
When Zhao Youcai arrived home, the two little girls had already gone to school, and Li Baoyu had accompanied Liu Mei back to her parents' home to help Han Qiuyan with chores. Only Zhao Jun, Wang Meilan, Ma Ling, and Xing San were in the house.
As the motorcycle approached the compound, Zhao Jun and three others were gathered inside discussing Zhao Youcai.
The discussion wasn't about saying bad things about Zhao Youcai, but rather that everyone was quite concerned about him.
Just then, several barks rang out from behind the house. Zhao Jun, who was familiar with the dogs in the house, recognized the one barking the loudest as Erhei.
Zhao Jun guessed that Zhao Youcai had returned. He looked up at the window and saw his father riding a motorcycle into the yard.
Seeing that the motorcycle was carrying things, Wang Meilan quickly went out to meet it.
When Wang Meilan came out of the house, Zhao Youcai had already parked his motorcycle in front of the house.
"You're back?" Looking at the bear paw sticking out of the sack, Wang Meilan stepped forward and asked, "Did you really hit the bear?"
Zhao Youcai didn't say anything, he just got out of the car and walked into the house.
"Dad." Zhao Jun and Zhao Youcai greeted him as they came out, but Zhao Youcai ignored him.
Zhao Jun walked towards Wang Meilan, only to see Wang Meilan staring at the back of Zhao Youcai's head, saying, "This guy is so smug."
Zhao Youcai entered the room while Wang Meilan was speaking.
Upon seeing Zhao Youcai arrive, Ma Ling quickly asked, "Dad, have you eaten yet?"
"Eat it, my dear." Zhao Youcai's attitude towards Ma Ling was as good as ever, but the next second Zhao Youcai took out a cloth bag from his pocket and said, "My dear, boil some water and scald these two bear gallbladders."
"Huh?" Xing San and Ma Ling were both taken aback upon hearing this.
"Dad," Ma Ling stared at Zhao Youcai with wide eyes and asked, "How can a bear have two guts?"
Zhao Youcai: "..."
"Second brother, you're fighting two bears?" Xing San reacted faster than Ma Ling.
At this moment, Zhao Jun and Wang Meilan, who were outside, came in after hearing the commotion.
Despite his exhaustion from not having slept all night, Zhao Youcai recounted his experience of hunting the bear to the four of them.
He had just finished saying it once when Wang Qiang and Zhao Ling arrived, and Zhao Youcai excitedly repeated it again.
Zhao Youcai started practicing the Yangba at home, and his apprentice is quite good too.
On his way home, Gu Yang ran into Zhu Jiang, who had come to collect the electricity bill. The total bill was 62 cents, not even enough for the Zhao family to watch TV for two days, but Huang Caiyu was dragging her feet and unwilling to pay.
Just then, Gu Yang carried the meat into the house. Huang Caiyu exclaimed "Oh dear!" and greeted Gu Yang, saying, "My dear son, what did you hit?"
As she spoke, Huang Caiyu opened the sack. After glancing at the bear meat inside, which contained both fat and lean pieces, she looked at Zhu Jiang and said with a smile, "Electrician Zhu, how about I give you two pieces of meat?"
"Auntie, I don't want it." Zhu Jiang refused decisively, saying, "Just give me the electricity bill right now."
"Brother Zhu, how much is it?" Gu Yang asked. Zhu Jiang said sixty-two cents. Gu Yang immediately took out some small bills from his pocket, counted out seven cents, and handed them to Zhu Jiang.
"Oh my!" Seeing that Gu Yang had paid the electricity bill for her, Huang Caiyu was overjoyed. She patted Gu Yang on the back and said to Zhu Jiang, "Look at my son, how successful he is!"
Zhu Jiang smiled upon hearing this and said, "Aunt Gu, I don't have any change. I'll put those eight cents on your tab and settle it all at once next time."
“That won’t do…” Huang Caiyu objected, but Gu Yang stopped her. After seeing Zhu Jiang off, Gu Yang turned to Huang Caiyu, who was picking bear meat out of a sack, and said, “Mom, if they come to collect the electricity bill again, just pay it. If you don’t pay, what are you going to do with it?”
“Why not?” Huang Caiyu said as she tossed meat into the basin. “That Sun Da Xia Ba’s wife never pays the electricity bill.”
Gu Yang's lips twitched upon hearing this. Jiang Xiaolan used to not pay her electricity bills, and Wang Dalong would help her pay them. Recently, Wang Dalong stopped helping her, so Jiang Xiaolan would call Zhu Jiang into the house for a while every time he came over.
Jiang Xiaolan can do this, but can you, Huang Caiyu, learn it? Even if you were willing, Zhu Jiang wouldn't.
But a son can't say these things to his mother.
Just then, Huang Caiyu asked Gu Yang, "Son, have you eaten yet? If not, Mom will cook you some noodles."
Upon hearing Huang Caiyu's words, Gu Yang stared at her with wide eyes. His older brother and nephew could eat a lot of the family's noodles, but Gu Yang had never eaten them. At most, Huang Caiyu would serve him a bowl of noodle soup.
Gu Yang wasn't stupid; he knew his mother's change was because of that bag of bear meat. Gu Yang felt desolate, but there was nothing he could do.
There's nothing I can do; no matter what, this person in front of me is still my mother.
"Mom, I'm back after I've finished eating," Gu Yang said. Huang Caiyu quickly asked, "Son, what are we going to do with all this meat?"
Gu Yang glanced down. He had originally planned to give all the meat to Huang Caiyu to handle, but he suddenly changed his mind and said, "Mom, there are more than fifty catties of meat here. Keep twenty catties for yourself, and I need to give the rest to my master."
"Huh? Ah, your master wants more?" Huang Caiyu was a little reluctant, but she remembered something more important and hurriedly asked Gu Yang, "Son, what did your master say about the bear bile?"
"I didn't do much, so why would I ask for bear gall?" Gu Yang said. "I'm just lucky to get some meat to eat."
“Those bear gallbladders are worth a thousand or two thousand yuan, we should at least get a share.” Huang Caiyu said to Gu Yang, “It’s okay, son, your master isn’t stingy. If he sells them, he’ll give you some of the money.”
"We'll see if we give it to you or not," Gu Yang replied casually, then said to Huang Caiyu, "Mom, don't just pick out the fatty meat, take out a few pieces of lean meat too. Now, fry the meat and use the lean meat and filling to make a few more pancakes for lunch, and I'll take them."
"Hmm?" Huang Caiyu, who was being ordered around by her youngest son, was a little unaccustomed to it. Then she heard Gu Yang say, "My master led me up the mountain and distributed meat to us. I can't eat his meat every day. I have to get something too."
"Ah..." Hearing Gu Yang's words, Huang Caiyu was a little unhappy, but thinking that Zhao Youcai was generous, she thought that if she made him happy, she might be able to get a bigger share of the bear bile after he sold it.
Thinking of this, Huang Caiyu smiled and said, "Okay, son, Mom will listen to you."
Gu Yang asked Huang Caiyu to leave behind 20 jin of meat, but Huang Caiyu insisted on leaving behind more than 30 jin.
Gu Yang didn't say anything about it and carried the rest of the bear meat away.
When he arrived at the Zhao family's house, Zhao Youcai was already asleep. Zhao Jun rode his motorcycle and took the three bear legs with paws and Gu Yang to the market.
After arriving at the market, Gu Yang began to sell bear leg meat while using a knife.
Hunting is less common this season, so bear meat sells very well at the market. Gu Yang sold all the meat by the end of the morning.
When he returned home with the sack, Huang Caiyu was making stuffed pancakes; there were about twenty of them stacked on a large enamel plate.
Seeing this, Gu Yang didn't say a word, went to the dish rack, took a bowl and chopsticks, and started eating.
After finishing his meal, Gu Yang grabbed a lunchbox and filled it up, leaving only one for his nephew and taking the rest with him.
Huang Caiyu wanted to say something, but she held back.
And so, Gu Yang carried two lunchboxes, each with a lid that was difficult to close, to the Zhao family compound.
Zhao Youcai, who had finished lunch and was dressed neatly, pushed his motorcycle out when he saw Gu Yang arrive.
Wang Meilan followed him out and saw that Gu Yang's lunchbox couldn't hold all the pancakes, so she asked Zhao Jun to go back inside and get two new plastic bags.
Since they had plastic bags, Zhao Youcai had Gu Yang empty all the pancakes from the lunchbox into the plastic bags. The lunchbox was left at Zhao's house, and the plastic bags containing the pancakes were hung on the handlebars of the motorcycle. Then, Zhao Youcai rode the motorcycle, taking Gu Yang out of the village and towards the mountain area.
Upon arrival, neither the master nor his apprentice went to the shack. Zhao Youcai rode his motorcycle all the way to the lookout tower.
When they left in the morning, they hadn't even taken away their cotton-padded coats and quilts. The master and apprentice climbed up, sat cross-legged on the watchtower, and began to eat the pies that Gu Yang had brought from home.
The pancakes made by Xiong Youlao don't harden even when they're cold, and they taste better than regular pancakes. But these pancakes are very oily, and Zhao Youcai can't eat more than two.
Gu Yang ate four bills, leaving ten. Gu Yang tied the plastic bag to the right side of the first support of the ladder, the side closest to Zhao Youcai.
Then, Gu Yang said to Zhao Youcai, "Master, if you get hungry tonight, just take some to eat."
Zhao Youcai didn't feel hungry, but he appreciated his apprentice's thoughtfulness, so he nodded in agreement.
Then, the master and apprentice began guarding the nest.
They weren't as excited as the first day, plus the master and apprentice hadn't slept all night. Zhao Youcai slept all morning, but he hadn't recovered at all.
Gu Yang, on the other hand, didn't sleep for a whole day and night. He couldn't hold on any longer when he lay down on the shack.
Seeing that Gu Yang had fallen asleep, Zhao Youcai reached out and pulled out the flashlight that Gu Yang had pressed down with his arm.
Zhao Youcai knew Gu Yang had a tough time, so he didn't call him. Zhao Youcai was confident that with his marksmanship, he could kill the prey by first pushing the flashlight and then firing the gun.
Around 10 p.m., Zhao Youcai yawned and then untied the plastic bag that was tied to the ladder.
He ate a pie, and instead of tying the plastic bag to the ladder like Gu Yang did, he simply put it aside.
Then, not long after, Zhao Youcai also fell asleep...
At 12:40 a.m., a large brown bear came from south to north. It was heading towards Shitang area along the sled trail, and needed to pass the lookout tower first.
As the brown bear passed by the watchtower, it keenly detected a distinctive fragrance amidst the pervasive stench in the air.
The brown bear walked over to the ladder and turned to look at the watchtower.
The brown bear's eyesight was too poor; even at such close range, it couldn't see the two people lying on it, only smelling a distinctive odor and fragrance.
At this moment, the brown bear was more concerned about the aroma. It smelled wonderful, unlike anything it had ever smelled in its life.
If it weren't for this fragrance, Big Bear would have gone straight to Shitang, but at this moment, Big Brown Bear stood up.
The brown bear weighs 670-680 pounds and stands nearly 2.7 meters tall.
The watchtower is 3.1 meters high. When the brown bear raised its front leg, its paw touched the watchtower.