sbdcsierra Chapter 1681 Zhao Youcai, Like a Sponge
Chapter 1681 Zhao Youcai, Like a Sponge
Chapter 1681 Zhao Youcai, Like a Sponge
After finishing the flatbread, we drank some porridge to fill the gaps.
As soon as Zhao Jun finished putting down the porridge, Ma Ling started to pick up the table, but Yang Yufeng and Xu Chunyan stopped her.
"Big Brother!" At this moment, Li Ruhai handed Zhao Jun a teacup in a very obsequious manner.
"What about mine?" Li Baoyu tapped the table with his finger, but Li Ruhai ignored him completely.
It was already 9:30, so Zhao Jun didn't linger any longer. He asked Xiao Lingdang to watch over the children inside the house, and then Zhao Jun told the families about the tragedy that had occurred in the shack on the bluestone cliff.
Zhao Jun had promised Sun Xueshan and Chen Weiyi that he wouldn't spread the news of Xu Changming and Song Laowai's deaths for the time being. But ever since Wang Qiang returned and called, all the families already knew.
Furthermore, Zhao Jun used the tragedy to warn the families and raise their awareness, otherwise he feared they wouldn't take it seriously.
As for keeping it a secret, as long as the children at home are kept in the dark and Li Ruhai is kept in check, none of the other adults will gossip.
After hearing Zhao Jun's story, everyone sighed with sorrow for Xu Changming and Song Laowai's fate. Xing San, in particular, who had once been a bandit himself, felt a sense of shared grief at the deaths of the three men.
"Oh dear!" Xing San sighed and said to Zhao Jun, "Kid, it's a good thing you brought the whole mountain down for me, otherwise I would have been in big trouble too."
“No way, Third Uncle.” As soon as Xing San finished speaking, Li Ruhai laughed and said, “Didn’t you hear what my older brother said? That guy only targets those with skin and money. You have nothing…”
"You brat!" Xing San interrupted Li Ruhai angrily before he could finish speaking, saying, "Who the hell do you think you are? I..."
Xing San was halfway through his sentence when he remembered that he couldn't reveal the news about his immortal herb.
Thinking of this, Xing San instantly deflated, lowered his head, and smoked, saying, "I have nothing."
Li Ruhai was about to grin when Li Dayong kicked him hard in the buttocks.
"You little brat, how dare you talk to your third uncle like that?" Li Dayong's kick was quite hard. After kicking, he grabbed Li Ruhai and slapped him twice on the back.
This kid must be crazy, teasing Xie Sunshi and then provoking Xing San.
With things calming down on Li Ruhai's side, Zhao Jun remembered his idea of returning from the mountain and said to Wang Qiang, Li Dazhi, and Lin Xiangshun, "Uncle, Sixth Uncle, Second Brother, take a look. Before you leave, leave two dogs in this yard."
“Jun, my family doesn’t need it.” Lin Xiangshun laughed, “My family has Xiaobai, so we use it.”
As soon as Lin Xiangshun finished speaking, Li Tongyun raised her hand and said, "My family has a flower."
As soon as Li Tongyun finished speaking, Lin Xue slapped her. Huahua was the litter of puppies that Zhao Jun bought from Wang Changyou's house in Changling Village. After returning home, Zhao Jun distributed the litter of puppies to Li Dazhi, Wang Qiang, and a few other families, but those puppies were now only about the size of rabbits and were still being kept indoors.
Zhao Jun wanted two guard dogs for each household. If a bad guy came, the dogs would bark, and the bad guy would know that the people inside were prepared, so he would run away.
"Second Brother, your little white dog..." Zhao Jun thought of the little white dog that followed Hua Niu Niu around, and wanted to complain, but he was too embarrassed to say it. He just said, "Second Brother, you can take it to Bald Tail."
Although that Rakshasa dog seemed a bit clumsy, it knew how to guard the house.
Lin Xiangshun knew that Zhao Jun meant well, so he immediately agreed. At this moment, Zhao Jun said to Xie Chen, "Xiao Chen, you go with Bao Yu and Uncle Li later, and then Da Hua and Hei Niu will take you there."
Before Xie Chen could respond after Zhao Jun finished speaking, Zhao Youcai said to him, "I told you, leave those four dogs here, they'll be so arrogant we'll have to send them away."
Zhao Jun smirked and turned to Wang Meilan, saying, "Mom, prepare 1,200 yuan for tomorrow. If the local police station sends it to Master Xu, I'll give the money to the Xu family."
Two-fifths of the two new bear gallbladders the family acquired belonged to Xu Changming.
Although Xu Changming is gone, Zhao Jun will not swallow his bear bile.
According to Zhao Jun's understanding, Xu Changming's funeral arrangements should be handled by Xu Guangyi's family. If that's the case, then Zhao Jun will convert Xu Changming's two-fifths of his shares into cash and send it to Xu Guangyi.
If Xu Guangyi's family doesn't take responsibility, then the farm should be in charge of distributing the money, and Zhao Jun will hand over the money to the farm then.
Just now, Zhao Jun changed the subject and ignored Zhao Youcai. But judging from what Zhao Jun was saying, Zhao Youcai suddenly remembered something and reached out to tug at Zhao Jun.
"Hey?" Zhao Youcai asked Zhao Jun, "What's left in those two old men's shack?"
“I didn’t go in,” Zhao Jun said. “But I heard from Director Sun that the bad guys searched through all the jars and pots, and there’s definitely nothing left of the money and leather.”
"Where's the equipment?" Zhao Youcai asked, which surprised Zhao Jun.
"Gadgets?" Zhao Jun said, "A clamp? You can't just snatch those things away, can you? Those old, broken clamps aren't worth much."
"What kind of clip?" Zhao Youcai asked. "Old Song has a roll of leopard tendons."
"What kind of gold?" The Wang family couldn't stand hearing about gold and money. When Wang Meilan heard this, her eyes lit up and she asked Zhao Youcai, "What kind of gold is leopard gold? I know about dog head gold."
"I think you look like a gold nugget!" Zhao Youcai glanced at Wang Meilan and retorted, then said irritably, "The tendons of a leopard, the tendons of its legs!"
"What's the use of that thing?" Wang Meilan asked. "Don't we have that thing at home too?"
That's true. Over the past year, Zhao Jun had hunted quite a few Amur leopards. Zhao Youcai kept the leg tendons from every Amur leopard he brought back. At the time, nobody knew what Zhao Youcai was collecting them for; he wouldn't tell anyone who asked.
“Our family has a lot of stuff, right?” Zhao Youcai gestured with his hands and said, “Old Song’s roll is two meters and two inches long, and it’s double-stranded.”
"What's that thing for, Uncle?" Lin Xiangshun asked. Zhao Youcai replied, "He uses that thing when he's using a pole. We don't know how he did it, but he turned the leopard tendon into something like a belt, very elastic and strong. Once it's on the sheep's hoof, it can't run away, no matter how hard it struggles, it can't break free, and no matter how much it flaps around, it won't hurt the sheep's leg."
"That's amazing!" Zhao Jun asked, somewhat puzzled, after hearing Zhao Youcai's words. "Dad, where did he get so many leopard tendons?"
“His master is Master Wei,” Zhao Youcai said. “Judging from his appearance, he was raised by his master, and in the end, his master left him all his things.”
After saying this, Zhao Youcai added, "As for those things, he went to the mountains in the 1970s and never came down again."
Old Master Wei was a Taoist priest, of the same generation as Wang Dabazhang and Zhao Dazhuzi. Somehow, the old Taoist ended up on the mountain as an outlaw, following the bearded man on the big pot-shaped helmet and becoming his strategist.
That bandit leader, nicknamed "Big-Eyed Ox," was the only one among the sixty or seventy bandit gangs in the Eighteen Ridges who could be compared to Widow Wang.
Zhao Jun didn't know before, but now he does: those bearded men were all his maternal grandfather's subordinates. And it seems that all the resources his grandfather left behind are controlled by one person. What's infuriating is that this person is secretive; if you don't ask him, he'll keep all this to himself.
Thinking of this, Zhao Jun couldn't help but glare at Zhao Youcai.
Zhao Youcai was taken aback by Zhao Jun's glare, but then he saw Wang Qiang get up and make arrangements to leave.
It's almost 10 o'clock, the adults aren't sleepy, but the kids are.
The diners took their dogs and went home. As Zhao Jun locked the big iron gate, the Zhao family's day of hustle and bustle came to an end.
Zhao Jun entered the house and turned around to lock the door. The new house was nice; even the outer door had a lock.
Just as Zhao Jun was about to turn around, someone suddenly patted him on the shoulder.
"Holy crap!" Zhao Jun, who was deep in thought, was suddenly startled.
“Dad…” Zhao Jun turned around and saw Zhao Youcai. He was about to speak when Zhao Youcai waved at him.
Following Zhao Youcai's instructions, Zhao Jun followed him into the small east hut. Watching Zhao Youcai close the door, Zhao Jun asked in a low voice, "Dad, what's wrong?"
After closing the door, Zhao Youcai turned around and smacked Zhao Jun with his pestle, saying, "Why were you glaring at me like that?"
"No, no, Dad." Zhao Jun didn't admit it, then Zhao Youcai winked at him and whispered, "Song Laowai is gone. Did the GA confiscate the stuff in his shack, or did they give it to his family?"
“They should all belong to the family members. After they inspect that shack, they should let the family members go up and pack their things. There's still a lot of mess there,” Zhao Jun replied, then asked Zhao Youcai, “Dad, what do you mean?”
Zhao Youcai didn't answer Zhao Jun's question. Instead, he sat down on the solid wood sofa and muttered, "If it's for a family member, then give it to Song Zhuzi, right?"
“Of course,” Zhao Jun said. “They’re brothers, after all. Surely Song Zhuzi can arrange for them to send it, right?”
"Yes!" Zhao Youcai said without hesitation, "The two brothers have a good relationship, and Song Tiemin and his uncle are also fine."
After saying this, Zhao Youcai turned to Zhao Jun and said, "Since you're involved in this, just keep an eye on things. When his family members come up, let me know."
"Dad, do you want that leopard tendon?" Zhao Jun asked. Zhao Youcai nodded and said, "Yes, if the leopard tendon is in Song Zhuzi's hands, I'll have your Uncle Li go and buy it for you."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Jun squeezed in next to Zhao Youcai and asked with a grin, "Dad, what do you need that for?"
"What's it to you?" Zhao Youcai said, turning to the side to get as far away from Zhao Jun as possible. Then, Zhao Youcai reached into his pocket to take out a cigarette, but Zhao Jun grabbed his hand.
"What are you doing?" Zhao Youcai glared at Zhao Jun. Zhao Jun said, "Dad, we've tried to catch the hanging sheep several times but haven't succeeded. You say you know how, but you haven't said a word."
"Why should I say anything?" Zhao Youcai glanced at Zhao Jun and said, "How capable are you? Do you need me to say anything?"
As he spoke, Zhao Youcai shook off Zhao Jun's hand, then took out a pack of Shilin cigarettes from his pocket, took one out, and put it in his mouth.
"Dad, what are you saying?" Zhao Jun smiled and snatched the matchbox from Zhao Youcai's hand, striking a match to light Zhao Youcai's cigarette.
Zhao Youcai took a puff of his cigarette, glanced at Zhao Jun, and said, "That kid surnamed Qin from Yongxing said you taught him how to use his footwork."
"Ah..." Zhao Jun blinked, remembering who Zhao Youcai was talking about, and said, "He used the old method himself, using that wooden foot catch."
After saying this, Zhao Jun tilted his head and said, "But don't be surprised, he almost got caught by the hanging sheep."
“He almost couldn’t catch it.” Zhao Youcai said, “The legs of the ram are really strong. Even if you catch it, it can kick you off.”
"Hmm, it seems so." Hearing Zhao Youcai say that, Zhao Jun nodded and said, "That time when I was with Baoyu, neither of us could use that thing."
“Setting traps and catching feet are all useless,” Zhao Youcai said. “The older generation always said that a hanging sheep has spiritual energy, and you have to use tricks from a distance to catch it.”
"Yes, yes." Zhao Jun felt that Zhao Youcai was talking nonsense, but he wanted to get some useful information from Zhao Youcai, so he had to go along with Zhao Youcai's words.
At this moment, Zhao Youcai placed the cigarette case on the wooden tea table and said to Zhao Jun, "This is the river branch between Qing Shi La Zi and Qing Shi Ding Zi. This side is us, and that side is Yong Xing, right?"
Zhao Jun nodded upon hearing this. Before the New Year, Tao Dabao led his men to chase Xiong Guizi, and they crossed that river branch to get here.
"Go over to Yongxing and follow the river branch all the way down." Zhao Youcai gestured with his hand on the coffee table and said, "When you get to the bottom of Qingshiding, there is a small grove of yellow pine trees. Follow that grove south and you will find a large fan-shaped valley with three mountains in the middle."
The hanging sheep in the Qing Shi Ding Zi area, they all gather on that mountain in the southwest corner every autumn.
"Ah!" Zhao Jun glanced at Zhao Youcai with a strange look and said, "Dad, I won't say it anymore. Last year I saw the branch of the hanging sheep horn mill, it's on that mountain."
Zhao Jun's words weren't barbed, but they were undoubtedly saying that Zhao Youcai was talking nonsense.
But the next second, Zhao Youcai said, "This side of the river, this end of the way, you follow the path down to the bottom of the bluestone cliff, towards the earliest pine forest we planted in 1965... the pine forest of fish scales. After passing through the big forest, it's a blind forest, didn't you know that?"
To Zhao Youcai's surprise, Zhao Jun nodded and said after hearing what he said.
Zhao Youcai looked at Zhao Jun in surprise and said, "You little brat, you know everything?"
Zhao Jun pursed his lips and didn't respond to Zhao Youcai's words. If he hadn't been reborn, he would never have been to that blind forest.
The so-called "blind forest" refers to the saplings that some lazy workers secretly threw into ditches or onto slopes when the forestry organization was planting trees by hand.
At that time, the properly planted saplings in that area had already grown into a forest, while most of the saplings that had been carelessly thrown out had died, but a very small number had stubbornly survived.
However, these saplings grew crookedly and in disarray, with several of them growing together in a messy, chaotic manner, which led people to call it a "blind forest."
Zhao Jun had been there in his previous life, but only once, because the area was covered with messy, fish-scale pine trees, making it impossible to see out and providing no view for shooting.
If you can't get a gun to shoot, what's the point of going?
"There's an old village in that corner," Zhao Youcai suddenly said, startling Zhao Jun.
"What the hell?" Zhao Jun asked Zhao Youcai, "Dad, what are you talking about?"
“I’m talking about that old, remote place!” Zhao Youcai repeated what he had just said, then asked Zhao Jun, “Do you know what a Great Immortal Child is?”
Zhao Jun: "..."
I missed a chapter yesterday, so I'm making up for it with this one. My cervical spondylosis flared up yesterday, which caused my blood pressure to rise, and then my vision became blurry.
That day, I felt like my body couldn't take it anymore.
(End of this chapter)