Chapter 862: Going on a Expedition with Wealth
November 12, 1987.
Wang Meilan really got up at 3 o'clock in the morning. She lit the stove to boil water, washed up and filled the thermos with boiling water. Then she used the gourd ladle to add water to the big pot again. After adding half a pot of water, Wang Meilan poured a basket of small potatoes into the pot.
Wang Meilan added firewood to the stove again. After the potatoes were cooked, Wang Meilan used a big spoon to mash them in the pot, and then added a little cornmeal and salt to make a pot of food for the dogs of the two families.
While the water was not yet boiled, Wang Meilan tied her headscarf and put a triangular bag in her pocket. Then she walked to the bowl rack, opened the bowl rack door, took out a basin of soybeans from it, held the basin around her waist with one hand, and walked out of the house to exchange tofu and get pancakes.
The big pancake shop was next to the tofu shop. Wang Meilan took the pancakes and picked up four large pieces of tofu.
As soon as Wang Meilan left the house, Zhao Youcai woke up. He put on his clothes and reached for his watch, but suddenly found something in the middle of the watchband.
"Humph!" Zhao Youcai snorted and then took the big gold plate with the word "wealth" back to his hand.
When the ring appeared on his hand, Zhao Youcai suddenly realized that a man's family status is earned by his own efforts.
If he had returned empty-handed yesterday, Wang Meilan would have returned the ring to him in the end, but she would have said a lot of nonsense.
Zhao Youcai got off the kang, reached out to the partition of the closet to grab a few pieces of toilet paper, took the dog-skin hat from the wall and put it on his head, then walked out of the room and gently closed the door.
Walking to the stove, Zhao Youcai lifted the lid of the pot and took a look. The water in the pot was just gurgling, and it should be boiling soon, but it would take a while for the potatoes to cook.
So Zhao Youcai covered the pot, opened the door and walked out.
It was still dark, and the moon was hanging in the sky, but Zhao Youcai knew it was still sunny today.
"Hmph!" Zhao Youcai, who was making money, liked to breathe out through his nose these two days. He snorted and walked out of the yard.
When Wang Meilan came back from outside with a bag and a basin, Zhao Youcai was already packing things in the west room.
The things he packed were what Zhao Jun usually brought with him when he went up the mountain.
Bandages, painkillers, and painkiller powder, Zhao Youcai put these things in Zhao Jun's shoulder bag.
There were also bullets, Zhao Youcai took two packs and stuffed them into his pockets, one pack of 25 rounds, and two packs of 50 rounds.
In addition, Zhao Youcai had 20 rounds of bullets in his pockets and trousers.
"Are you up?" Wang Meilan came over and asked. Zhao Youcai did not answer Wang Meilan's question, but said: "Look, where are these things when we went up the mountain?"
Wang Meilan curled her lips slightly, went into the house and put the triangular bag of pancakes on the edge of the kang, and said: "Here, the pancakes are back for you."
"Let Zhao take a look." Zhao Youcai looked at the edge of the bag for his own amusement. The newly spread large pancakes were dusted with water and folded into a rectangular shape. One piece was nearly two taels, and five pieces were one jin.
"Well!" Zhao Youcai looked at Wang Meilan, nodded and said to her: "The task was completed well!"
Wang Meilan smiled faintly, rolled her eyes at him, and turned to walk out of the room. She had to make dumplings later, so how could she care about Zhao Youcai?
But Wang Meilan's indulgence, in Zhao Youcai's view, meant that his "career" was successful and his wife didn't dare to get angry.
Zhao Youcai took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it and took a deep puff. He encouraged himself in his heart and said, "Youcai, Youcai, this trip up the mountain, the guns are good and the dogs are strong. This is the time for my Zhao family hunting gang to rise!"
Zhao Youcai was thinking, when Wang Meilan's voice suddenly came from the outer room: "There is hot water in the thermos, you go wash your face quickly, there is still a blur in the corner of your eyes!"
"Hmm?" Zhao Youcai subconsciously raised his hand to touch his face, and then hurried to the outer room.
Zhao Youcai came out of the west room, Wang Meilan moved the panel in, put the panel on the kang table, and took the dumpling stuffing and dough left over from last night, and began to pinch the dough, roll the dough, and make dumplings.
There were about fifty dumplings in a lid, and after they were wrapped, Wang Meilan carried them outside the house.
Then, Wang Meilan turned back, she opened the pot and scooped the dog food into a large basin.
"You boil some water yourself." Wang Meilan shouted to the inner room, then took the basin out of the room to feed the dog.
It was not yet five o'clock, and the two little girls had not gotten up yet. Wang Meilan could not eat such a breakfast, could she?
So, this curtain of dumplings was prepared for Zhao Youcai.
And Zhao Youcai was not polite, he opened his belly and ate all the 52 dumplings in two plates.
After eating the dumplings, Zhao Youcai drank another bowl of dumpling soup, "Duang" put the bowl on the table, Zhao Youcai took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit one and started smoking.
At this time, Wang Meilan came in to pick up the plates and bowls, and heard Zhao Youcai ask: "Why haven't they come yet?"
It was almost six o'clock now, and Zhao Jun usually had to go up the mountain at seven or eight o'clock. But as Wang Meilan said yesterday, Zhao Jun took a car to go up the mountain, so it was convenient to go anywhere, and there was no need to rush.
But Zhao Youcai didn't have that condition, so he had to leave home early.
"You ask me... How do I know why they don't come?" Wang Meilan looked back at the clock on the wall and asked Zhao Youcai, "What time did you arrange with them?"
"We arranged for half past six!" Zhao Youcai said confidently, "Why do they have to come on time?"
Wang Meilan pulled the corner of her mouth, picked up the plates and bowls, turned around and left.
Zhao Youcai was sitting on the kang smoking a cigarette, while Wang Meilan was making him sugar water in the outer room. This was what Zhao Baotou asked for by name, but Wang Meilan didn't dare to neglect it.
At this moment, the door of the Zhao family was pulled open from the outside, and with a gust of cool air, the third father and son of the Li family came in.
"Sister-in-law!" Li Dayong greeted Wang Meilan when he came in, and then asked: "What is this?"
"Ah..." Wang Meilan said, "Your elder brother said you have to drink a bowl of sugar water before going up the mountain."
"I'll come, I'll come!" Upon hearing this, Li Dayong hurriedly went over to pick up the two large white porcelain bowls, and walked quickly to the west room.
"Brother!" Zhao Youcai was about to greet Li Dayong when he saw Li Dayong take a few steps and present the bowl in front of Zhao Youcai.
Li Dayong looked at Zhao Youcai, handed the bowl and said: "Brother, please drink this cup to the full!"
"Ah? Ah." Zhao Youcai probably understood what Li Dayong meant, and reached out to take the bowl. When he was about to drink, he heard Li Baoyu muttering to Li Ruhai on the side, saying: "Look at what they are doing, as if they were drinking Zhuangxing wine." of……"
Before Li Baoyu finished speaking, he was punched by Li Dayong on the arm. Li Dayong's eyes widened and he glared: "What did you say?"
Seeing his brother being beaten, Li Ruhai chuckled, took a step forward and threw his hands at Zhao Youcai, saying: "Uncle, I wish you success immediately!"
"Huh?" Zhao Youcai was startled after drinking the sugar water. He thought to himself, didn't this child tell Zhao Jun yesterday morning?
Seeing Zhao Youcai stunned, Li Dayong turned to Li Ruhai and shouted: "Noisy! Get back!"
Li Ruhai, who had been guilty recently, quickly stepped aside when he saw that his flattery had landed on the horse's hooves.
At this time, Li Dayong stretched out his hand towards Li Baoyu, and Li Baoyu was stunned.
Li Baoyu then remembered something and hurriedly took off a brand new canvas backpack from his back.
This thing is a rare thing in the forest area these days.
This big backpack is bulging with stuff, so it must be packed with stuff.
"Brother!" Li Dayong put his backpack on the edge of the kang, and he sat sideways. Li Ruhai saw this and pushed Li Baoyu. Li Baoyu understood instantly, and the two brothers went over and stood beside Li Dayong.
Li Dayong was looking at Zhao Youcai at this time. He said to Zhao Youcai: "Brother, this bag is issued by Baoyu and his team. I think it is quite strong. I want to come down and carry it up the mountain for you to decorate it with things."
The large military green canvas backpack looked good, but Zhao Youcai asked in surprise: "Dayong, what's in that bag?"
"I'll give you half a bag of corn noodles..." As soon as Li Dayong started to speak, he was interrupted by Zhao Youcai, saying: "What are you doing with this thing for me?"
"Brother, don't you want to stay in the mountains for a while?" Li Dayong replied: "You can take those pancakes and you guys can eat them. What about the dog? No matter who you put there, don't you have to give the dog something to eat?" "
"Oh..." Zhao Youcai clicked his eyes and praised Li Dayong quickly: "Brother, you are still thoughtful!"
In this mountain farm, there are many old mountain dogs living in shacks. Zhao Youcai knew most of these people.
These days, mountains have rules.
These mountain dogs, rich or poor, all obey the rules.
Not to mention that Zhao Youcai knew him, even if someone he didn't know went there and said that he was away on a trip, he could stay overnight and have a meal if he wanted.
But the premise is that you can enter other people's shacks at will during the day. But at night, you have to call the door outside and get permission from the owner before you can enter. Otherwise, as soon as a person enters the house, it is easy for a gun to be pulled on him.
Zhao Youcai, Wang Qiang, and Zhang Yuanmin were all residents of Yongan. No matter which shack you go to, even if you don't know those mountain dogs, you will definitely be able to establish connections with your relatives, friends, and old neighbors.
Even if there is nothing good to eat in those mountain dog shacks, you can always give them a hot meal to keep them full.
As for the ten kilogram pancakes prepared by Zhao Youcai, they were used to satisfy hunger in the mountains and forests at noon during the siege.
So now there is another question: what do dogs eat?
Zhao's dog gang consists of about ten dogs. If this dog gang hunts prey, it can eat meat.
But what about the morning?
Why do you have to feed the dog half a full meal in the morning? And just half full, dog owners are willing to give up, but those who live in shacks are not willing to give up.
People can feed people like Zhao Youcai, but they are definitely not willing to feed these dogs.
You must know that those people in the mountains are not like dog owners like Zhao Youcai who prepare potatoes and melons for their dogs at home. It’s hard for those mountain dogs to get food from the mountains. There is only some grain, and I usually have to plan to eat it. How can I be willing to feed the dogs?
Therefore, Li Dayong prepared half a bag for Zhao Youcai, nearly twenty kilograms of corn noodles.
Zhao Youcai was very satisfied that Li Dayong could help him think about this, but after looking at the ten kilograms of large pancakes and twenty kilograms of corn noodles, Zhao Youcai frowned and said to Li Dayong: "Brother, take these things, there are a lot of them." ah."
"It's okay, brother." Li Dayong said with a smile: "These things... you can let your subordinates take them."
As soon as Li Dayong said this, Li Baoyu, Li Ruhai, and Wang Meilan in the outer room all pouted.
"Hey, that's right!" Zhao Youcai patted the table lightly and said, "Let them take it, and I'll leave the dog alone and take action."
As soon as Zhao Youcai finished speaking, the dog outside the house barked. If nothing else happens, it should be Zhao Youcai's "men" who are here.
Sure enough, the door of Zhao's house was opened, and Wang Qiang and Zhang Yuanmin came in from the outside one after another.
Wang Qiang was carrying his pocket and not carrying a gun. It was agreed yesterday that he and Zhao Youcai would each take one of the two semi-automatic rifles in Zhao Jun's house.
As for Zhang Yuanmin, in addition to a shoulder bag, he also carried a long black cloth bundle on his back.
When he saw his men coming, Zhao got off the kang, took two Type 56 semi-automatic rifles, handed one to Wang Qiang, and carried the other on his shoulder.
"What is this?" Wang Qiang glanced at the large and small packages on the kang, and looked at Zhao Youcai in shock.
"This is supplies." Li Dayong answered first. Wang Qiang twitched the corner of his mouth and said to Zhao Youcai: "Brother-in-law, how about we come back at night! After all this trouble, I might as well build a shack for you in the mountains!"
As soon as Wang Qiang finished speaking, Zhao Youcai pointed at the large canvas backpack and said: "Take it on! Let's go!"
This brother-in-law and brother-in-law usually talk and argue, but when Wang Qiang was ten years old, Wang Meilan married Zhao Youcai. Wang Qiang and his eldest brother died early, and Wang Qiang followed Zhao Youcai around since he was ten years old.
At that time, their family was already in dire straits, and only Zhao Youcai was hunting prey so that Wang Qiang could have meat to eat.
Later, Wang Qiang went up the mountain and followed Zhao Youcai.
Therefore, no matter how Wang Qiang usually spoke in an eccentric manner, as long as Zhao Youcai spoke, he would still listen.
In this way, Wang Qiang put the twenty kilograms of corn noodles on his back, and Zhang Yuanmin put the triangle bag containing the big pancakes on his arm.
The two of them went ahead, but the third father and son of the Li family had already gone out ahead of them and let go of all the dogs except Hualong and Little Bear.
Hualong was okay, but the little bear was squealing anxiously.
But this time, Zhao Youcai didn't plan to take it.
Three people were leading twelve dogs, but they couldn't tie them, so they could only lead them loosely up the mountain.
It was almost seven o'clock, the sky was gray, but it was already daylight.
Zhao Youcai was about to step out of the yard when he was stopped by Wang Meilan.
"His dad!" Wang Meilan felt that Zhao Youcai and Li Dayong were not very good this morning, so she advised: "Be careful when going up the mountain."
Zhao Youcai looked back and saw Wang Meilan with a worried look on her face. Zhao Youcai felt warm in his heart and comforted him with kind words: "Lan Na, don't worry, just look at me this time!"
Zhang Yuanmin: "Huh?"
At this time, the black tiger ran out of the yard, trotted all the way to the snowman holding a forked hook outside the yard, raised his hind legs, and sprayed a stream of hot urine on the snowman.