A grand public criticism meeting of the Production Team was held at the Second Team.
Liu Guixiang was like a frost-bitten eggplant, remaining silent no matter how everyone criticized her.
She didn't dare to sleep; as soon as she fell asleep, she would dream of two corpses wrapped in blankets arching out and blowing bubbles at her.
While blowing bubbles, they would also talk: "Look, I'm a fish! Look, I'm a fish!"
After a few days, Liu Guixiang was so haggard she looked as if she had aged ten years.
However, Zhou Cang didn't see any of this; he couldn't be bothered to get involved in any criticism meetings.
Zhao Kaishan called him several times, but he still felt that quickly selling the fish for money was the real priority.
Zhou Cang was eating peanuts in Old Sun's shop, his hands fiddling with a full box of single-projectile bullets.
"I heard you killed two fugitives?" Old Sun filled a bowl of wine and handed it to Zhou Cang.
The County had been buzzing these past two days, saying that the notorious bandits Erlang had been wiped out by a Forest Ranger from the Production Team.
Old Sun specifically went to inquire and ended up hearing Fugui's name!
"Yeah, I was right there fishing, and those two rascals were hiding in the woods aiming at me," Zhou Cang said.
"Later, they shot but didn't hit me, so I chased after them and killed them!"
"Well, I'll be! How could you be so bold, kid!"
Zhou Cang took a sip of wine and laughed, "Just good luck, hahaha!"
"That's not luck!" Old Sun's eyes lit up. "That's real skill!"
"You're a ruthless one, kid. Hunting and killing wolves is one thing, but you even dare to deal with people!"
"What's the big deal? Our Captain said that fugitives are people who killed others and fled into the mountains. Can you keep such bad people?" Zhou Cang said.
"But that's not the same as killing a wolf, is it?" Old Sun narrowed his eyes.
"I heard the fatal wounds on both of them were knife wounds!"
"Well, I mistook them for roe deer at the time! Hehe!" Zhou Cang gave a shy smile.
Old Sun: !!!
Well, I'll be! You're probably the only one in the entire country who could butcher notorious bandits like roe deer, Fugui?
Old Sun didn't want to ask any more questions; he now felt that Fugui's mind might be a bit different from normal people's.
So he changed the subject and asked,
"For these fish of yours, do you want money or to trade for goods?"
Zhou Cang thought for a moment. It seemed there wasn't much grain at home, and it was only '60; the difficult times were far from over, so stocking up on more grain was always a good idea.
So he said, "Let's trade for some grain and other things. With grain in hand, one's heart doesn't panic!"
"Wait right there!" Hearing this, Old Sun immediately went to the back to carry rice sacks.
Zhou Cang, meanwhile, wandered around the shop, just like people in his previous life would stroll through a shopping mall.
Although Old Sun's shop was outwardly a non-staple food store, in reality, it had all sorts of miscellaneous things.
Zhou Cang picked up a hat made of rabbit fur and asked, "How much is this thing?"
"It's not worth much, just take it and wear it!" Old Sun said generously.
In fact, he had made a lot of money from the mountain goods Zhou Cang brought him, so there was no need to be so precise about the cost of such small items.
"Then I won't stand on ceremony!" Zhou Cang happily stuffed the hat into his embrace.
The greyish-white hat would be perfect for Zhang Yue to wear.
He then picked up a pair of felt boots, which were high-top cotton boots made of wool felt. These boots were extremely warm and very suitable for outdoor activities in winter.
He picked the largest pair and put them on directly, walked a few steps and jumped a bit to try them out, and they didn't affect his movement at all.
He also grabbed a pair each for Grandma and Zhang Yue. These boots were all very large in size; buying a small size meant they couldn't be worn, but a large size could be fitted with insoles.
He also saw a small box labeled "Friendship Brand Snowflake Cream." Zhou Cang remembered that both Grandma and Zhang Yue had chapped cracks on their hands from the cold, so he took a few boxes as well.
He then went to the wine vat himself and filled his water bottle.
He carried the items over to Old Sun and said, "Let's calculate the total for these together!"
Old Sun looked at the items, then lowered his head to look at the several sacks of grain already loaded onto the sled.
"How about this, we'll settle up next time!"
As he spoke, he handed the box of single-projectile bullets from the table to Zhou Cang.
"Keep this safe. Also, there's something else. Since I know you're capable, it won't hurt to tell you."
"Go ahead!" Zhou Cang said, looking at him.
"You should be able to guess, kid, that I, this old man, know some people."
"Nonsense, I know some people too!"
"Don't interrupt. I mean, some important people!"
"I don't know any of those. Everyone I know is poor!"
"If you interrupt me again, I won't say another word!" Old Sun glared.
"Alright, alright, go on!"
"There's an important person who isn't in very good health and needs some rare items as medicinal ingredients," Old Sun said seriously.
"What rare items?"
"Bear gall!" he said, then looked at Zhou Cang with a hopeful expression.
"I've asked all the Hunters within miles around, and truly, nobody dares to get it!"
"How about it? Do you dare to do it?" Old Sun asked with an excited tone.
"How much is the pay?" Zhou Cang countered with the same excited tone.
This choked Old Sun for a moment, and he held up one finger.
"A hundred yuan? Isn't that a bit low?" Zhou Cang pouted.
"Nonsense! It's a thousand yuan!"
"The one needing the medicine is an important person from the Provincial City, understand?"
Well, I'll be!
Zhou Cang looked at Old Sun in surprise and asked, "Since it's an important person from the Provincial City, can they still not get bear gall?"
"Look at what you're saying. That important person definitely didn't just ask me!" Old Sun said, narrowing his eyes.
"Plenty of people are eyeing this job; it just depends on who can get it first!"
"After all, going into the mountains in the dead of winter isn't just a casual matter!"
"If you want to make money, this is a great opportunity!" Old Sun said enticingly. The job he received was actually worth far more than a thousand.
But in these times, wasn't this how he made a living!
"Okay, I'll give it a try!"
Dragging the sled back to the Village, Zhou Cang's mind was busy the whole way, pondering how to hunt a Black Bear.
The current difficulty was that Black Bears were all hibernating and hard to find.
Ordinary Hunters indeed didn't have much confidence against a Black Bear.
In his previous life, he had heard that a Hunter shot a Black Bear in the belly, and its intestines spilled out.
But unexpectedly, the Black Bear stuffed its intestines back in, grabbed a handful of grass to plug the hole in its belly, charged up, bit the Hunter to death, and only then fell down.
Fortunately, Zhou Cang wasn't an ordinary Hunter. With a semi-automatic rifle and a shotgun in hand, Zhou Cang dared to take on either a Black Bear or a Tiger!
He placed the rabbit fur hat on Zhang Yue's head and put the wool felt boots on her feet as well. Xiao Yatou happily twirled around like a butterfly, and the fox Xiao Bai (Little White) also jumped around Zhang Yue.
Handing the snowflake cream to Hu Xianglan, Zhou Cang smiled and said, "Grandma, you all have cracks on your hands, try this!"
Hu Xianglan took it with a smile. Her grandson was filial, so she had no reason to refuse.
Turning around, she picked up a coat and smiled at Zhou Cang, "Grandma has something for you too! Come and try it on!"
Zhou Cang took a look and saw it was actually a roe deer skin coat! No wonder he kept seeing Grandma sewing things lately; she was making him a coat!
Zhou Cang took off his padded jacket and put on the roe deer skin coat; it fit perfectly!
"Grandma, where did my Uncle and the others encounter the Black Bear back then?" Zhou Cang asked while trying on the coat.
