sbdcsierra Chapter 1800: The Second Gang Falls into the Gutter
Chapter 1800: The Second Gang Falls into the Gutter
Chapter 1800 Two Gangs Fall into the Gutter
"Ah...hmm...fu...ah...hmm...fu..."
On this day, the distinctive snoring of the Zhao family father and son from Jinxi echoed in the east room of the Shao family in Lingnan.
Zhao Jun and the others slept until four o'clock, when they were gradually awakened by the sound of snoring.
Li Ruhai sat up, wrapped in a blanket, and looked at Zhao Jinhui, whose upper lip trembled as he exhaled with a "whoosh" sound. He couldn't help but sigh, "My brother Hui'er's snoring is different from others."
“Just like our Uncle Zhao,” Zhao Jun replied, then grabbed his clothes and pants and started putting them on.
Since everyone was unable to sleep, they woke Zhao Jinhui up.
After the seven of them got up and dressed, Zhao Jun opened the door and went out of the house. He saw that Lin Yueying and Lin Youli's wife, the two sisters-in-law, were already rolling out noodles.
The old saying goes that dumplings are eaten before setting off and noodles are eaten upon disembarking. But the Shao family, starting with Shao Yunjin, has had this rule: every time they go out to "do business," they must eat a meal of hand-pulled noodles before leaving.
The Shao family ate noodles before battle, just like they ate noodles on the seventh day of the first lunar month, both expressing the wish for a safe return home.
Zhao Jun came out of the house, greeted Lin Yueying and the others, and saw Shao Yunjin coming out of the north room.
"Hey kid, get up." Shao Yunjin walked towards Zhao Jun and asked with a smile, "How were you guys sleeping?"
"Slept well," Zhao Jun replied with a smile, then asked Shao Tianpeng, "Grandpa, where's my Master Shao?"
"He, your Uncle Shao, and Shao Jun, they've gone to catch sheep." Shao Yunjin raised his hand to Zhao Jun and said, "Thank goodness you mentioned it yesterday, otherwise we would have forgotten about it. If we don't clear the mountain, how can we expect to see anything? We'll just be waiting to wade through the grass!"
The old man with the beard can't speak politely; flirting is perfectly normal for him. He's so old, nobody criticizes him for it.
The terms "opening one's eyes" and "wading through grass" used by Shao Yunjingang are jargon used in the ginseng hunting industry. Finding ginseng while hunting is called "opening one's eyes." However, if one hunts for a whole day and doesn't find a single ginseng root, and all one has waded through is grass, it is called "wading through grass."
The Shao family only goes into the mountains to release animals once a year in Honglangtou City, and it is at this time that they hold the mountain opening and worship ceremony.
This time, because they went into the mountains ahead of time for Shilong, and it wasn't a group activity, and everyone's attention was focused on the vicious tiger, the two elders of the Shao family forgot about the mountain worship ceremony.
However, given Shao Tianpeng's experience, he would surely remember this matter once he entered the mountains. But finding offerings then would waste time.
As soon as Shao Yunjin finished speaking, the bleating of sheep could be heard from outside.
Upon hearing the sound, Shao Yunjin strode towards the outside, and Zhao Jun and his seven men filed out.
When Zhao Jun came out of the house, he saw Shao Tianpeng and Lin Youli walking in front, followed by Shao Zhiqiang and Shao Jun carrying sheep.
"Father!" Seeing Shao Yunjin come out, Shao Tianpeng called out to him, "How about this big sheep?"
If a sheep is used for sacrifice, it must be an adult ram. The ram that the Shao family bought must weigh seventy or eighty catties, so it should be a large breeding ram. Under its tail, there was a pair of rather large testicles.
"Great!" Shao Yunjin nodded in approval, then said to the Shao family gang, "Hurry up and take off the sheep's head and four hooves."
Even if he didn't say anything, Shao Zhiqiang and the others would have to do it.
As it was lifted onto the door panel, the ram struggled. The ram was quite strong, and Shao Zhiqiang, Lin Youli, and Shao Jun struggled to hold it down, while Shao Tianpeng personally took charge and stabbed the ram in the neck.
Sheep's blood flowed down the knife handle into the bucket, and the sheep was still struggling. Seeing this, Jie Chen turned his head and whispered in Zhao Jinhui's ear, "Even slaughtering a pig isn't this difficult."
“Yes!” Zhao Jinhui nodded in deep agreement.
Wang Qiang glanced at the two men, thinking to himself, "Let alone those few herders. Back home, in the entire Yushu Township, across the surrounding villages, apart from professional butchers, who could compare to our group when it came to slaughtering pigs and sheep?"
But these members of the Shao family aren't exactly doing this kind of work.
The ram over there soon breathed its last, unwillingly. Then, Shao Zhiqiang struggled to remove the ram's hooves.
Lin Youli held a knife, intending to dismember the sheep's head, but didn't know where to begin.
"Come on, let me do it." Shao Yunjin stepped forward and reached out to Guan Linyou for the knife. Seeing this, Zhao Jun quickly gave Zhang Yuanmin a wink.
“Grandpa, you rest. I’ll do it.” Zhang Yuanmin said as he stepped forward. He took the knife from Lin Youli, circled it around the sheep’s chin, and then cut the bone with a little force, and the sheep’s head came off.
Then, Zhang Yuanmin began to peel the sheepskin. He first lifted one edge, then held the edge with one hand and placed his other fist between the sheepskin and the mutton.
Immediately afterwards, Zhang Yuanmin used both hands forcefully, pulling the sheepskin with one hand and pushing his clenched fist inward, and with a "whoosh" sound, one side of the sheepskin was torn open.
"This kid is so quick at skinning people!" Shao Tianpeng couldn't help but praise Zhang Yuanmin, while Zhao Jun and the others smiled.
While professional butchers might have an edge over the Zhao family's group in terms of slaughtering livestock, when it comes to skinning and butchering, even the butchers can't compare to the Zhao family's group.
How many wild boars does the Zhao family gang hunt in a year? Add to that roe deer and bears, and they've become incredibly skilled at skinning and butchering them.
However, when it comes to skinning and dismembering, even the Zhao family gang can't compare to Wang Meilan, Jin Xiaomei, Yang Yufeng, and Xu Chunyan. Those four women have reached a level of consummate skill and unparalleled mastery in this regard.
By this time the weather was already hot, so the unloaded mutton was placed in a large basin and first rinsed with cold water.
After Zhao Jun and the others finished washing up, they sat down to eat.
After eating and drinking their fill, Zhao Jun, Wang Qiang, Zhang Yuanmin, Li Baoyu, and Xie Chen took their bundles to the north room of the Shao family's house, took off their outer trousers and put on the thin cotton trousers they had brought from home.
When the five of them came out of the house again, Shao Tianpeng was already waiting in the outer room.
Zhao Jun and the others weren't wearing their light cotton-padded jackets, but Shao Tianpeng, being older and less sensitive to heat, was already wearing one. The old man was carrying a rifle with a slung over his shoulder and a small cloth bag.
The overhand gun was his weapon for self-defense, and his food supplies were in his small cloth bag.
Five years later, Shao Tianpeng went into the mountains again. The old man looked very serious. When he saw Zhao Jun and the others come out, Shao Tianpeng only said "Let's go" and walked towards the door.
Zhao Jun and others followed closely behind, and Zhao Jinhui, Li Ruhai, Shao Zhiqiang, Lin Youli, Shao Jun, and Lin Yueying went out together to see them off.
After leaving the house, Shao Tianpeng, who was walking towards the courtyard, suddenly stopped and turned to look at the window of the east room.
At this moment, Shao Yunjin was inside the house, looking out the window at his son, who was over sixty years old.
Shao Yunjin didn't go out to see him off, and the father and son didn't say anything before Shao Tianpeng left. Shao Tianpeng paused briefly, then continued walking out of the courtyard.
As he stepped out of the courtyard, Xu Shanhe hurriedly led four people to greet him.
These four men were clearly the tough guys from the Shao family gang. They were all over 1.75 meters tall and each carried a semi-automatic rifle.
The five men stepped forward and respectfully addressed him as "Uncle" and "Grandpa," while Shao Tianpeng raised his chin slightly and called to Xu Shanhe, "Shanhe, you drive."
"Yes, Uncle." Xu Shanhe responded, and then Shao Tianpeng turned to Zhao Jun and said, "Zhao, our car will lead the way, you just follow."
With his small bag slung over his shoulder, Shao Tianpeng got into character, even his form of address becoming more formal. But since Shao Zhiqiang was now the leader of the Shao family gang, Zhao Jun could only reply, "Alright, sir."
As he spoke, Zhao Jun turned around and winked at Li Baoyu, signaling for Li Baoyu to drive.
Just then, Xie Chen stepped forward and whispered in Zhao Jun's ear, "Brother Jun, I am the manager of the caravan."
Zhao Jun: "..."
Zhao Jun glanced at Xie Chen speechlessly before saying, "Then you can drive."
"Yes!" Xie Chen responded cheerfully. At this moment, Shao Zhiqiang stepped forward and handed the sack containing the sheep's head and hooves to one of the Shao family members. Then, both groups got into the car.
Five members of the Zhao family gang and six members of the Shao family gang got into their jeeps. The Shao family's jeep led the way, pulling Zhao Jun's jeep slowly out of the village.
The small shop in Qiaotou Village is located at the village entrance. When Zhao Jiabang's car arrived in front of the shop, Zhao Jun inadvertently saw the items displayed outside and hurriedly told Jie Chen to stop the car.
Zhao Jun got out of the car and, in less than half a minute, stuffed a sack into the car.
At this moment, the Shao family stopped in front. Xu Shanhe got out of the car to see what had happened, but saw Zhao Jun waving at him.
After the two got into the car, they continued their journey. The atmosphere in the car was heavy with the tension that preceded a major battle. Zhao Jun and the others remained silent; some were fidgeting, while others gazed out the window.
Zhao Jun sensed the unusual atmosphere, but when Zhang Yuanmin tried to ease the tension, Zhao Jun gave him a wink, making Zhang Yuanmin swallow his words.
Today's battle is different from usual. That vicious tiger in Laoyingou is good at ambushes, so everyone must be on high alert. The atmosphere is too tense, which could easily make people careless.
After driving for nearly forty minutes, the jeep in front stopped close to the mountainside, and Jie Chen also stopped his car.
Everyone got out of the car. The Zhao family gang members carried semi-automatic pistols on their shoulders and pistols on their waists. Among them, Li Baoyu and Xie Chen each carried a bulging bag containing some of the things the Zhao family gang used for running around in the mountains.
In addition to medicines and bandages, they also brought the leopard sinew rope used to set up the carrying poles.
Zhang Yuanmin pulled a light sack from the car and carried it in his hand.
The Shao family members were curious about his sack, but Shao Tianpeng looked serious and didn't speak, so they didn't dare to utter a sound.
At this moment, Shao Tianpeng and Zhao Jun exchanged a glance, said "Let's go," and led their team to the front.
The group of eleven went straight up the mountain. The mountain area here is different from that in Yong'an. Yong'an is a logging area, and even if there are no roads in the logging area's large and small workshops that can accommodate trucks and tractors, there will still be sled tracks.
Even ordinary sled tracks can be driven by jeeps.
But this mountain area hasn't been logged; it's all old forest. Even if there are roads, they're just paths worn out by people running through the mountains.
This place is close to Laoyingou, and few people have come here for many years, so the mountain road is even more difficult to travel.
After walking about 100 or 200 meters into the mountain, they came across a pine tree, and Shao Tianpeng stopped and called to Xu Shanhe and the others to prepare for opening the mountain and offering sacrifices to the mountain.
The Shao family's methods differ from the Zhao family's unorthodox approach; the Shao family has a tradition. When the Zhao family performs the mountain worship ceremony, the red cloth used to surround the tree is leftover from Wang Meilan's work. But the Shao family specifically uses a three-foot-three-inch piece of red cloth.
The mansion was covered with a red cloth, and a bonfire was lit nearby. Zhang Yuanmin and others gathered grass to make incense, while Xu Shanhe took offerings out of a bag.
"Master Xu." Seeing Xu Shanhe take a sheep's hoof out of the bag, Zhao Jun stopped him and said, "We can just use the sheep's head as an offering, and then save the sheep's hoof for me."
"Huh?" Xu Shanhe was taken aback. He didn't understand what Zhao Jun meant. What did he mean by leaving it for him?
If this Zhao, the foreman, wanted to eat lamb trotters, why didn't he leave them behind when he was in the village? Why did he go through all that trouble to carry them up the mountain before speaking? What kind of approach is this?
At this moment, Shao Tianpeng also looked at Zhao Jun, and heard Zhao Jun say to him, "Old man, when I came out of the village, I bought some gold barley. When we get to Shadagou, we'll pay our respects there."
Upon hearing Zhao Jun's words, Shao Tianpeng's white eyebrows relaxed, and a look of shock appeared on his face.
But Shao Tianpeng had no objection to what Zhao Jun said, and turned to Xu Shanhe and said, "I'll listen to Chief Zhao."
When Shao Tianpeng spoke, Xu Shanhe quickly put away the sheep's hooves and placed the sheep's head, which had died with its eyes wide open, under the pine tree.
The ritual of the Shao family's mountain worship was not much different from that of the Zhao family's, and even the words spoken by Shao Tianpeng were the same as those spoken by Zhao Jun.
The two leaders, Shao Tianpeng with his Shao family gang and Zhao Jun with his Zhao family gang, knelt down together, clearly separated from each other.
After the prayers were finished, Shao Tianpeng and Zhao Jun took turns making supplications, and the ceremony of opening the mountain and worshipping the mountain came to an end.
The two groups got up, slung their guns over their shoulders, packed their belongings, and continued on their way.
As Zhao Jun walked, he kept looking up to observe the terrain. The ridge wasn't large, but it was very steep. They walked southeast along the ridge, and they didn't feel cold along the way. Zhao Jun and the others were wearing thin cotton trousers, and their trouser pockets were all sweaty.
These days, there are no thermal underwear or long johns. When you sweat, your cotton pants stick directly to your legs and feel heavy, making it difficult to walk.
Compared to these young people, the older Shao Tianpeng was in better shape, leading the way at the very front of the group.
But after walking about a mile, Shao Tianpeng started to back away.
It wasn't that he couldn't walk anymore, but that he was afraid the big claws would attack him.
The eleven men climbed over the hills and came to a shady slope. A gust of cold wind swept up from the bottom of the slope, and Zhao Jun and the others felt a sudden chill run through their bodies.
"Chief Zhao," Shao Tianpeng called to Zhao Jun, pointing down the slope and saying, "That's the old ditch down there."
Zhao Jun nodded, and then Shao Tianpeng continued, "There's a gentle slope down there. The Japanese used to kill our people there, and then they'd just throw them into the ditch."
Later, they drove them away, and very few people remained in the surrounding villages. The people organized themselves together to collect the remains.
At this point, Shao Tianpeng pointed to the opposite mountain and said, "Back then, people would build graves based on their skulls and bury them on that opposite mountain. The whole hillside was covered with graves."
Zhao Jun remained silent. He knew that such things had happened far too often back then, and that the Great Killing Ridge in the Yong'an Forest Area was formed in the same way.
Zhao Jun remained silent for more than ten seconds. After Shao Tianpeng finished speaking, he said, "Grandpa, when we get there, let's burn the gold barley."
"Okay!" Shao Tianpeng responded, and the two walked down about 180 meters to a gentle platform.
This gentle slope is about 60 or 70 square meters in size and is covered with lush vegetation.
The two groups stopped there. Zhao Jun ordered Wang Qiang, Li Baoyu, and a few others to stand guard outside with guns, and had Xu Shanhe take out four sheep trotters, stacked on top of each other.
Then Zhao Jun used a wooden stick to draw a circle on the ground next to him to leave a door, and poured the gold barley he had bought into the circle.
Shao Tianpeng turned his back to shield himself from the wind, struck a match, and lit the golden barley; flames instantly shot up.
At this moment, Zhao Jun held three burning straw sticks in his hand, bowed to the opposite hillside and said, "Dear ancestors, we, the younger generation, are here today to hunt in the mountains. We hope that our ancestors will bless us with peace and safety!"
As he spoke, Zhao Jun lowered his head and raised the three straw sticks.
The opposite hillside is lush and green, with towering trees. The graves where the mountain people once gathered the remains of their compatriots are no longer visible.
But as soon as Zhao Jun finished speaking, several exclamations were heard. When Zhao Jun turned around, he saw sparks shooting into the sky like a tornado.
Seeing this, the Shao family members all bowed down, and Wang Qiang and the others also knelt down. In the blink of an eye, only Zhao Jun remained standing.
(End of this chapter)