lcionline Chapter 419 Blocking the Battle and Chasing the Stick
Chapter 419 Blocking the Battle and Chasing the Stick
Hunting foxes requires at least eight people; a typical hunting team consists of eight to ten people. Too few people and you won't be able to catch them.
Sun Weimin used to hunt foxes with the Sun family's hunting team, which consisted of about ten men including his uncles and cousins. They hunted both foxes and wild boars. The Sun family's hunters could form a formidable team, which made them very popular with Chen, the leader of the forest farm. Whenever Chen needed to hire a gunner, he would first ask if Sun Pao was available. It was easier to negotiate and avoid disputes over dividing the spoils among their own hunters.
Li Guaizi used to join Qin Pao's team. Qin Pao, Lao Zhang, Li Guaizi, and some old hunters from the forest farm formed a team of about ten people. If they hired more people from outside, the team could grow to more than twenty.
Li Ju'an's team was not stable in terms of manpower. In addition, the Lu brothers and Song Desheng were running a sheep farm this time, so the three of them were constantly running back and forth between the county town and the feed mill, keeping them extremely busy. Lu Jinyang used to walk slowly, but now he was rushing around in a great hurry, catching the forest farm's small train every day, and he didn't even have time to drink water.
Li Ju'an wanted to form a team of eight, so he could only ask Li Guaizi or Old Li, a recipient of the Five Guarantees (a government welfare program for the elderly and disabled). Li Guaizi was having a bad day lately, and Old Li was a slippery fellow. He'd rather take his falcon into the forest and try his luck, hoping to catch a fox with it, than team up with Old Li.
Li Ju'an chuckled and handed him a cigarette, saying, "That's right. Many hands make light work, and we can catch more fox pelts."
Old Chen, the forest ranger, led three temporary workers from the ranch to "block the battle," while Old Jiang, as the foreman, and a few others "rushed the battle." They had to find the fox's footprints and see if they were fresh or old footprints from a few days ago. If they were fresh footprints, they would follow them, a process called "tracking," or in other places, "finding the trail."
As soon as they see a fox, they call upon their men to intercept it and block the prey's usual route.
The four dogs in Lao Jiang's hands barked enthusiastically, barking loudly at Da Hu.
Old Jiang glanced at the big tiger at Li Ju'an's feet, his eyes lighting up as he said, "What a good dog. Let's form a dog gang."
The dogs from both teams need to work together to ensure a seamless hunting partnership. Big Tiger is a well-known name in the Xing'an Mountains, a hunting dog capable of taking on wild boars single-handedly. But Old Jiang's old dog is no slouch either.
Old Jiang spoke of his alpha dog, Ali, with pride in his eyes, saying, "Ali is the alpha dog I won at the card table. Come on, Ali, let's have a drink."
The head dog, Ali, is older than the flower-eared dog.
Hua Er sniffed Ali, and the hunter behind Lao Jiang called out in surprise, "Isn't this Hua Er? What's he doing in Xiao Li's team?"
Everyone on that ranch knew about Flower Ears, the alpha dog of Xiaoling Village. They truly hadn't expected that Li Ju'an possessed both Big Tiger, the alpha dog, and the once-renowned Flower Ears. A young man actually had two alpha dogs.
Li Ju'an said, "Hua'er is very capable. She taught Da Hu about mountain paths and terrain. Without Hua'er, Da Hu wouldn't have grown so quickly."
Big Tiger glanced at him indifferently, looking somewhat disdainful. Flower Ears, on the other hand, wagged its tail, seemingly in a good mood.
Several hunters laughed and said, "What a coincidence! It was Ali who taught you to have 'flower ears'. Big Tiger, look at your ancestor! Quickly follow Ali and call him 'ancestor'."
The hunters teased the tiger, and seeing its aloof and displeased expression, they burst into laughter again. The two groups thus merged together; many of the dogs in the dog gang knew each other, and no fighting or biting occurred.
The ten people began to walk along the riverbank.
Chen Xiangqian followed Li Ju'an, walking at the back of the group. He whispered, "Brother Li, why do you seem so familiar with them? We've only met a few times, how did we end up sneaking into their group to freeload?"
Li Ju'an tapped his forehead and said, "Don't act innocent now that you've gotten a good deal. We'll follow the group, and you'll get your share of the benefits."
Chen Xiangqian grinned and said, "Of course! Many hands make light work. I'm planning to hunt several fox pelts to take back. My mother will be overjoyed if she finds out, and she'll definitely support my hunting trips and get me a good gun."
River ridges, riverbanks, and high hills are common routes for foxes. These areas are open and have plenty of small animals for food, making it easy for foxes to hide from predators and observe their prey.
Big Tiger tilted its head back and twitched its nose, already smelling the fox's scent. Flower Ears barked and led Li Ju'an to the fox footprints that Big Tiger had found.
The snow was thick and heavy. A trail of fox footprints appeared, stretching far along the riverbank. Ice and snow shards could still be seen swirling in the center of the footprints.
Old Jiang was thrilled and said in a low voice, "The fox isn't far away. Old Chen, you and a few others go and intercept it."
Old Chen responded and led the three hunters, guns in hand, trotting off.
Ambushing foxes requires a lot of experience; you need to ambush them in places where foxes are likely to pass. When hunters are ambushing each other, they need to weave in and out of each other, maintaining a distance of at least sixty meters, and neither side can pull the trigger and injure the other.
Old Chen, a seasoned veteran of these ambushes, positioned Xiao Xu at the first point of contact. After Xiao Xu spotted the fox and the first shot was fired, Old Chen anticipated the fox would run uphill, drawing upon his decades of experience. He then arranged for two men to ambush the fox from the higher slope, 60 meters apart. Finally, he positioned himself at the lower angle of the slope, ensuring a better chance of intercepting it.
Chen Xiangqian watched as Old Chen carefully made the arrangements, and suddenly said, "Uncle Chen, what are we going to do?"
Old Chen was still busy with the arrangements and didn't have time to deal with the newbies.
Seeing that Old Chen was ignoring him, Chen Xiangqian got angry and said, "Uncle Chen, if we block the wrong spot and the fox gets away, then we'll have come all this way for nothing."
These words made Old Chen so angry that he glared and puffed out his beard.
This greenhorn dared to embarrass him in front of so many hunters? Old Chen couldn't stand it. Old Chen glanced at Li Ju'an, who touched his nose and shrugged.
What can he do? The division commander's son is so stubborn that even the division commander can't control him. What can he do?
Old Chen sighed and said, "The fox escaped, but you intercepted it. You're standing on this flat slope; if the fox comes this way, you'll..."
Chen Xiangqian was excited, carrying the old cannon in his hand, his eyes wide with excitement, and shouted: "I'm going to fire it and take it down!"
Old Chen's expression was complicated. Looking at his old, worn-out gun, he realized that apart from injuring the fox's fur, the other superficial wounds had healed by the time he ran over.
"You, just shout loudly, shout for Little Li Cannon."
"What?"
Chen Xiangqian's eyes widened, and his mouth gaped open.
Li Ju'an chuckled and said, "Chen Xiangqian, why don't you go to Old Jiang's team and catch up on their woes? You'll be in charge of howling."
Chen Xiangqian's shout was loud and full of energy. Old Chen gave him a thumbs up and said, "That's a good voice. Old Jiang, take this kid in and let him practice his skills."
Once the people blocking the way were arranged, the hunters who were leading the pack had to be arranged as well. Old Jiang was leading the hunters who were leading the pack to form a circle around the area. They could see people from all directions, but they felt that someone was missing in the southeast corner.
Old Jiang readily agreed and called out, "Hey kid, come here. We're short one person for this charioteering business."