Zhou Cang replaced the light bulb in the flashlight and put it in his pocket.
Although this trip into the mountain was dangerous, successfully obtaining the bear gall meant a considerable income was within reach.
It was already afternoon, and the sun would soon set. Dragging a sled weighing over four hundred jin, he wouldn't be able to go too far before dark.
Bears are solitary animals; during hibernation, there is usually only one bear per cave.
This cave was basically safe now, but Zhou Cang didn't plan to sleep inside because the smell was too strong.
He decided to make do with resting for the night near the entrance of the cave.
Although the moment of life-and-death with the Black Bear just now didn't make him very tired, there was no rush to go down the mountain and home. It was safer to rest well before leaving.
He dragged the sled into the cave, chopped seven or eight small trees, and dragged them to the cave entrance. Zhou Cang lit a bonfire, and the sky darkened.
Zhou Cang filled an aluminum mess tin with clean snow and placed it on the bonfire. The snow melted and soon boiled.
He poured some water into the mess tin lid and handed it to the Little Fox. Watching it drink, Zhou Cang said, "We'll just make do with sleeping in the cave tonight."
He roasted two oil cakes and some meat strips, shared half with the Little Fox, ate them with hot water, and then had a sip of wine.
Zhou Cang patted his stomach contentedly, then used an axe to chop the seven or eight small trees he had just cut into suitable lengths, keeping the branches, and blocked the cave entrance by crossing them horizontally and vertically.
This could prevent wild beasts from suddenly entering, serving as a layer of protection.
He placed all three guns and the flashlight beside him, loaded them, ensuring he could raise the gun and shoot at any time.
His hunting knife was also placed beside him, tip facing outwards, to avoid accidentally touching it and cutting himself while sleeping.
He then took out the wolf skin from the sled, spread it on the ground, unfolded his quilt, smiled at the Little Fox, and said, "Come over!"
The Little Fox, which had been watching him from the side, wagged its tail and zipped into Zhou Cang's quilt.
It licked its mouth, yawned contentedly, and curled up beside Zhou Cang, falling asleep.
One person and one fox slept soundly, while dozens of li away in the Third Team, several educated youths were starving and unable to sleep.
Since escaping from the mountain last time, they had been constantly criticized by Production Team Captain Wu Yuan.
Chen Zhiguo, the educated youth who led the group into the mountain, for to shirk responsibility, reported the matter to the Educated Youth Office in the County.
However, nothing had happened yet, except for managing to get one meal.
Director Liu of the Educated Youth Office had vowed to investigate thoroughly, but many days had passed, and no one had contacted them again.
In the Production Team, Chen Zhiguo clearly felt that Captain Wu Yuan was deliberately targeting them educated youths, whether intentionally or unintentionally.
All the dirty and tiring work was assigned to them. First, they were told to collect farm manure and mix it with plant ash, supposedly to prepare for spring plowing next year.
The few of them ran off after half a morning's work. Zhou Xuemei and Wang Fang were particularly sick to their stomachs.
In desperation, Chen Zhiguo requested different work.
So Wu Yuan told them to go dig irrigation ditches with picks. Chen Zhiguo absolutely hated Wu Yuan; the ground was frozen solid in the dead of winter, and he actually made them use picks to dig!
The few of them didn't even dig a meter in an afternoon. When Wu Yuan went to check, they were sitting on the ground resting.
"Captain Wu, this ground is impossible to dig!" Wang Fang shouted exasperatedly.
Zhou Xuemei also rubbed her wrists and looked at Wu Yuan with a resentful expression.
"Didn't you light a bonfire to warm the frozen ground?" Wu Yuan asked.
"Light a bonfire a distance away from where you want to dig, and you can dig after a while!"
"That's a good idea! What about firewood then?" Wang Fang asked.
"Go cut it in the mountain, what else? Do you want my firewood?" Wu Yuan muttered and turned his head to leave.
Leaving Wang Fang and the others grinding their teeth.
By the time they went to cut firewood and returned, the Production Team had already finished eating, with only some cold thin porridge left.
Wang Fang immediately squatted on the ground and burst into tears, "Wuwuwu, I want to go home! If I stay here any longer, I'll die sooner or later!"
But they all knew that returning to the city was very difficult.
At that time, there were several situations for educated youths sent down to the countryside to return to the city, such as suffering from a severe illness and being unable to work in the countryside, requiring a doctor's certificate and approval from the Educated Youth Office to possibly return.
Or if their family situation was special, with parents needing care, they could also explain the situation to the Production Team and the Educated Youth Office and return to the city.
Another way was through factory recruitment, or by joining the army and being assigned back to the city after service.
In their situation, there was no way to justify their return to the city.
If they were allowed to return just because they refused to work, the Educated Youth Office would never dare to agree!
They might even miss out on future opportunities to return to the city!
After the previous incident, the Production Team had already criticized them internally. The few of them were unconvinced and had a very unpleasant falling out with Wu Yuan and the other cadres.
Even within the educated youth group, there were significant rifts due to Wang Qi's matter.
The few people who used to hang out with Chen Zhiguo all day seemed to have gradually become less close.
Early the next morning, Zhou Cang stretched and climbed out of his quilt.
With the bonfire at the cave entrance for warmth, wearing his roe deer skin coat, plus his wolf skin mattress and the Little Fox acting as a warm baby.
The cold night in the mountain forest could not threaten him at all.
He added a few dry branches to make the bonfire burn brighter. Zhou Cang tore up a large flatbread and put it with the meat strips in the snow water to boil.
Although it wasn't particularly delicious, considering the mountain environment, it was quite a good breakfast.
He shared a bit with the Little Fox as usual, and it finished it in a few bites. He organized his gear, loaded it onto the sled, slung the tow rope over his shoulder, and prepared to go down the mountain.
The Little Fox dared not lie on the Black Bear's corpse and could only trot along behind Zhou Cang the whole way.
Fortunately, after walking about ten li, they saw a flock of pheasants wandering not far away.
Just as the Little Fox was about to rush over, Zhou Cang quickly pressed it down with his hand.
The Little Fox twisted its body in dissatisfaction. Zhou Cang picked up his hunting rifle and said with a smile, "Use this!"
He loaded a shotgun shell, and Zhou Cang quietly circled around, finding a better angle.
He raised the gun to aim. Actually, he didn't need to aim too precisely, just fire in the general direction.
However, Zhou Cang still aimed at a few pheasants that were clustered together. They never thought that getting too close would make them the hunter's first target!
Bang!
A shot rang out, and the fine lead pellets kicked up a cloud of chicken feathers.
Five or six unlucky pheasants fluttered a few times and then lay still.
Zhou Cang loaded another shotgun shell, slung his gun, and rushed over, firing another shot at the pheasants that hadn't run far.
Bang!
Another three fell!
He took out some hemp rope, tied the pheasants together, and used the gun barrel to lift them back onto the sled.
"A great haul, Xiao Bai (Little White)!" Zhou Cang happily rubbed the Little Fox's head vigorously.
However, there was a problem with pheasants killed by a shotgun: you had to pick out all the lead pellets, otherwise, they would be hard on your teeth when eating the cooked chicken!
With a sled weighing over four hundred jin, he had to pull hard when going uphill and hold back when going downhill. Zhou Cang tried to take gentle slopes or zigzag paths downhill the whole way.
At this moment, in the County Committee office, Secretary Cai Guangping was listening to old Liu from the Educated Youth Office report on the situation.
"Secretary, it has been investigated. Those educated youths went into the mountain without permission and were saved from a Wolf Pack by people from the Second Team. But later, when descending the mountain, they encountered a Tiger, and one person is missing."
"Second Team? Is it Zhao Kaishan's Second Team?" Cai Guangping asked.
Liu Li replied, "Yes, thanks to them having a Forest Ranger with good marksmanship. I heard he's only 19, and he killed several wolves by himself!"
Slap!
Hearing this, Cai Guangping slammed the table and said, "Good lad! Isn't that the Forest Ranger who killed Erlang?"