He took out the oil pancake Zhang Yue had prepared for him, picked it up with a tree branch to warm it over the fire, and then laid it on his leg.
He picked up his knife, cut a few slices of meat from the rabbit, and rolled them all into the pancake.
Taking a big bite, his mouth was filled with oil; the slightly spicy roasted rabbit meat and the oil pancake were simply a perfect match!
He unscrewed the lid of his flask, which contained the tiger bone wine he had bought from Old Sun, and Zhou Cang took a large gulp.
“Ha! Refreshing!”
With a bite of the rolled pancake and a gulp of wine, he ate with great relish.
It wasn't until three pancakes were down that Zhou Cang let out a satisfied burp.
He patted his stomach and threw all the remaining rabbit meat to the Little Fox on the sled.
The little guy's eyes narrowed into two crescent shapes, gnawing on the bones with a crunching sound.
“Good heavens, you eat rabbits without spitting out the bones? Doesn't that hurt your teeth?” Zhou Cang asked with a smile.
Xiao Bai (Little White): “Crunch, crunch!”
“Alright, you keep eating, we're setting off!” Zhou Cang buried the fire with snow, pulled the tow rope of the sled, checked his direction, and continued walking.
Along the way, he would occasionally set a few traps, marking each trap location on a conspicuous tree.
This also served as a marker for his return journey.
Although the target was Black Bear Valley, it didn't mean he wouldn't encounter one earlier.
No matter what, danger in the mountains was always present.
Even when he was eating the pancake and drinking wine just now, his rifle had remained on his leg.
Caution is the parent of safety!
Zhou Cang never thought that being a transmigrator would give him some innate halo.
He had long confirmed that apart from this young, strong body, he had no other superpowers.
In other words, he could also die!
The Little Fox's alertness was extremely high, which was the main reason Zhou Cang brought it into the mountains.
If a fierce beast approached, Xiao Bai (Little White) would surely detect it before him.
Of course, when it was eating roasted rabbit, that was hard to say!
This trip was very worthwhile for Zhou Cang; his family of three could practically be said to be dirt poor at the moment.
It was only thanks to the harvests from a few trips into the mountains that they had enough grain to get through the winter.
In this era, there was a term called “low quotas”.
Starting two years ago, large areas of farmland across the country suffered continuous natural disasters, and grain production plummeted.
The Soviet Union also turned hostile and forced us to pay off debts.
Coupled with the rapidly expanding urban scale at the time, the pressure on grain supply grew increasingly large.
Starting from this summer, the higher-ups required all regions to lower their grain rations standards; whether in rural or urban areas, whether in harvest zones or disaster zones, everyone had to eat less.
The grain ration standard in rural areas was basically below 300 jin per person per year.
The Northeast, being a severely cold region, could have a bit more, but it still wasn't enough to eat until full.
Because if people only ate grain without any oil or fat in their stomachs, they would get hungry very easily.
There was also a term at that time called “melon and vegetable substitutes”; besides eating common melons and vegetables, people would also wash and steam elm leaves, locust tree leaves, and the like to eat.
Corn stalks and corn cobs were ground up to make steamed buns.
Fortunately, Zhou Cang was in the Greater Khingan Mountains, where there were roe deer and wild boars to eat, and although wolf meat tasted a bit worse, it was still meat after all!
In this situation, the best way for Zhou Cang to live well was to hunt in the mountains.
Now that a distinguished person needed bear gall, he had no reason not to try his luck.
“Brother Bear, Brother Bear, I was going into the mountains to hunt anyway, and now someone is willing to pay for it. I think, let's not wait any longer!”
Zhou Cang muttered to himself, his eyes constantly scanning the surroundings vigilantly.
The Little Fox lay on the sled, seemingly asleep, but its upright little ears twitched occasionally.
In the winter in the Northeast, Black Bears usually hibernate.
Black Bears are warm-blooded animals; in winter, food is scarce and the temperature drops significantly, so Black Bears will find a tree hollow or cave to hibernate.
Before entering hibernation, they eat large amounts of food to accumulate fat, relying on this fat to sustain themselves during hibernation.
When Black Bears hibernate, their body temperature drops, metabolism slows down, and heart rate and breathing decrease, resulting in very low energy consumption.
However, Black Bears don't just become completely motionless when they enter hibernation.
They will also wake up if they encounter people or get hungry.
Zhou Cang's goal was to find a hibernating Black Bear, sneak up quietly, and shoot it in the head!
As he crossed another ridge, the Little Fox suddenly jumped off the sled.
It came to Zhou Cang's side, looking up alertly and twitching its nose.
Zhou Cang stopped and asked, “What's wrong?”
As he spoke, he had already reached for his gun: “Did you find something?”
“Chirp, chirp!”
The Little Fox circled Zhou Cang a few times, then nervously bared its teeth towards one direction, looked at Zhou Cang, and ran forward.
“Is there something over there?”
Zhou Cang looked at the surrounding environment, dragged the sled, and followed.
It wasn't until they reached a narrow cave entrance that the Little Fox stopped and looked up at Zhou Cang.
“This is...” Zhou Cang looked at the cave, “Is there a Black Bear inside?”
Zhou Cang held his rifle, hesitating whether to go in.
He looked up at the sun, which was gradually setting in the west.
The Little Fox suddenly darted out with a whoosh, instantly disappearing into the cave.
“Huh?” Zhou Cang was startled.
He had originally planned to set a trap and bury a mine at the cave entrance, then start a fire to smoke out whatever was inside.
No matter what came out, he could shoot it down with one shot.
He didn't expect Xiao Bai (Little White) to suddenly rush in.
“Are you that reckless, you little guy?”
Zhou Cang said helplessly, putting down the sled, slinging the loaded shotgun over his back, and holding the rifle in his hand.
He took a strip of cloth from his pocket, wrapped the flashlight under the gun barrel, and adjusted the beam to its farthest setting.
Holding the gun, he slowly walked into the cave, going deeper and deeper, getting darker and darker.
Gradually, without the flashlight, it was impossible to see the situation inside the cave.
“Xiao Bai (Little White)!” Zhou Cang called out softly, feeling nervous.
The Little Fox's sudden action had disrupted his plan.
“Xiao Bai (Little White)!”
“If you don't come out now, I'm leaving!” Zhou Cang said in a low voice.
Although he had developed feelings for the Little Fox, Zhou Cang felt he shouldn't take risks.
He gritted his teeth and continued walking in, already mentally hanging the Little Fox up and giving it a beating.
“You little rascal! Just wait till I find you!” Zhou Cang cursed.
He occasionally used his hand to shield the flashlight's beam, allowing his eyes to gradually adapt to the darkness and avoid not being able to see things in the dark.
“Xiao Bai (Little White)!” Zhou Cang continued forward; the cave wasn't straight, it made a slight turn, and the light from the entrance almost completely disappeared.
The cave was filled with the smell of animal droppings, and the temperature was much warmer than outside.
Zhou Cang was now certain that something was living inside.
“Chirp, chirp!”
A familiar sound rang out beside him, only this time it was very soft. Zhou Cang looked down, and the Little Fox was by his leg.
“Why are you running around? Hurry up and come out with me!” Zhou Cang whispered.
As soon as he moved his foot, the flashlight beam swept across a patch of darkness, where there seemed to be a black area different from the surroundings.
Zhou Cang stopped abruptly. Only then did he hear a heavy breathing sound, coming from not far from his ear.