The morning sun shone through the snow on the branches, casting light on Zhang Quanfu's face. He squinted, carefully feeling the warmth of the sun.
"It's really good not to have died in the mountains!"
Looking at the Village not far below the mountain, everyone couldn't help but nod when they heard Zhang Quanfu's emotional words, feeling a sense of surviving a disaster.
"Fugui saved my life, and his father saved me once too. I owe them two lives, how can I repay that?" Zhang Quanfu thought silently, lowering his head.
"What can repay two lives! And this wolf meat, if it weren't for Fugui's capability, we would either be wolf food or Tiger food today. We wouldn't even dare to think about eating meat!"
In these terrible years, every family was starving. He and everyone else were pretty much the same; the whole Village was dirt poor, and there was nothing they could give Fugui.
However, he still had some strength left in him, so helping Fugui with some work would be good too.
Thinking of this, Zhang Quanfu seemed to have made up his mind, and strength returned to his legs.
"Everyone, go home first and get some good rest. Come to my house for dinner this afternoon!" Zhao Kaishan said loudly. This trip was fruitful, and the few people he brought were already members of his core circle in the Village; they were not outsiders.
Now there was Fugui as well. This child was simply his lucky star. Since getting involved with Fugui these past few days, he had been having good luck.
Although breaking down feudal superstition was advocated now, in this remote Northeast mountainous area, ordinary people generally still held reverence for many things.
For example, who would dare not respect the household deities, or who would dare try cursing the Earth God in the mountains?
After these past few days, Zhao Kaishan had already come to see Fugui as a young man worth nurturing. Although he didn't know exactly what he could nurture in Fugui, at least he could take over his position as Production Team Captain in the future, right?
Hearing that the Captain was inviting them for dinner, everyone happily agreed.
Zhou Cang hesitated for a moment but also agreed. He hadn't intended to be an otherworldly expert anyway, just wanting to live a peaceful life. Now that there was an opportunity to integrate into the collective, there was no reason to refuse.
After entering the Village, the few people gradually dispersed. Zhou Cang returned home, and Zhang Yue immediately flew out to greet him.
"Fugui Ge! You're back! Are you hungry? Dinner will be ready soon!" Xiao Yatou Zhang Yue was always full of energy, chirping like a little bird.
"I am hungry. It was quite a night of trouble!" Zhou Cang smiled and dragged the wolf carcass behind him to the side of the yard.
"You killed a wolf again? Fugui Ge is too amazing!"
"Xiao Yatou, it wasn't just one wolf. Let me tell you, we encountered a Tiger!" Zhou Cang went to the basin to wash his face, wiping it as he laughed.
Hu Xianglan brought the meal to the heated brick bed table and asked worriedly, "What? A Tiger? Are you all okay?"
"We're fine, Quan Fu was just almost bitten, but I scared it away with a shot," Zhou Cang said calmly.
He suddenly remembered that he had only had the gun for a few days and the slug rounds were almost used up. He needed to go find Old Sun and see if he could get some shotgun shells.
Sitting on the heated brick bed, breakfast on the table consisted of steamed buns and thin porridge, a large bowl of meat sauce, boiled cabbage, and a plate of sliced boiled roe deer meat.
The meat sauce was made by Hu Xianglan mincing the meat picked off the roe deer bones and stir-frying it with fermented bean paste. It could be eaten with rice or steamed buns.
It would of course be even better with dipping vegetables. After transmigrating to this era, it was almost always flatbread and thin porridge, and even when stewing meat, there weren't many seasonings.
Fortunately, there were no fancy chemicals and additives at this time. Even just cooking meat with a little coarse salt was very fragrant!
Zhou Cang picked up a steamed bun and gently tore it into two halves, top and bottom. He spread a layer of meat sauce in the middle, added a piece of boiled cabbage, and then two slices of roe deer meat.
He took a big bite of the first one.
Mmm! Fragrant!
This body seemed to have never experienced such deliciousness. A big bite of this Northeast famine-edition 'roujiamo' made Zhou Cang feel his soul trembling.
Another sip of the hot, watery porridge, and there was an unprecedented sense of satisfaction!
"Poor child, he's probably never been full!"
Zhang Yue was already staring at Zhou Cang beside him, her saliva almost dripping into the bowl. She had never seen anyone eat with such gusto!
Seeing this, Zhou Cang picked up the steamed buns from the plate and made two more 'roujiamo' in the same way, handing them to Zhang Yue and Hu Xianglan.
"Grandma, Xiao Yue, try it!"
They took them and bit into them without hesitation.
"Mmm!" Zhang Yue's eyes instantly lit up.
"Delicious!"
After eating his fill, Zhou Cang lay down on the hot heated brick bed and drowsily fell asleep.
Zhang Yue heated a basin of water and sat on the edge of the heated brick bed to wash Zhou Cang's feet.
Hu Xianglan sat beside her with a smile in her eyes, watching Zhang Yue know how to care for Fugui and take care of Fugui, feeling pleased in her heart.
He slept until noon. After eating a simple meal, Zhou Cang dragged the sled to Old Sun's shop.
"Oh my! You kid, where did you get so many wolves? They're huge!" Old Sun was startled.
He had been collecting mountain goods for many years, and speaking of it, Hunters often brought in wolves in the past few years, but it was always only one at a time.
This was the first time they were brought in by the pile!
"Good heavens, did you bomb the wolf den?" Old Sun asked, raking through the wolf fur.
Zhou Cang chuckled, "Do any of these look like they were bombed?"
"Tsk tsk! Not simple!"
"Bow and arrow, gunshot wounds, this one was killed with a knife at close range!"
"Good boy, this old man dares to say, among the Hunters within ten miles and eight Villages, you are the best!"
The old man gave a thumbs-up, liking the young man more and more as he looked at him. His eyes rolled, and he asked, "How do you want to sell them?"
"You decide the price," Zhou Cang said, looking around the shop. "Also, I need to buy some things."
"Ten jin of bulk white liquor, two jin of peanuts."
Old Sun pointed to a few large jars in the corner of the shop, "There's sweet potato liquor and acorn wine from the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, and tiger bone wine. Pour the tiger bone wine."
"tiger bone wine? Made from Tiger bones?"
"That's right, soaked in Tiger bones. Educated youth give this as a gift!"
Zhou Cang curled his lip, "Isn't it probably dog bones? Is that dog named Tiger?"
Old Sun was a little embarrassed, "But this wine is indeed brewed from grain, unlike sweet potato liquor which is bitter, and acorn wine which gives you a headache after drinking it."
"Oh right, in some places there's also 'Great Northern Wilderness Maotai', which is medicinal alcohol mixed with water. I don't mess with that stuff!"
"I'll pour the wine for you. You can pack the peanuts yourself, they're free!" Old Sun said generously.
"I also need slug rounds, 12 gauge. Do you have them?" Zhou Cang asked in a low voice. Although gun and ammunition control wasn't strict in this era, he always had a feeling of doing something shady.
"Yes, but you'll have to come back in a few days to get them."
Old Sun packed five bottles of white liquor into a small wooden box, extended four fingers, and said to Zhou Cang, "I'll give you this amount for the four wolves. The bullets won't be free then, remember to bring money in three days!"