Hearing the sound of Yue Feng’s motorcycle returning home, Xiao Tao and the three brothers Xiaowen and Xiaowu came out from the house to greet him.

“Brother! You’re back!” Xiao Tao came over.

“Yeah! Have you guys eaten?” Yue Feng asked after parking his motorcycle.

“We’ve finished eating and are ready! Well, how about I go on night duty with Xiaowen and Xiaowu again tonight?” Xiao Tao asked with a flattering face.

“Hmm? Are you addicted to night duty? Didn’t we agree yesterday that the four of us would take turns on the shift?”

Yue Feng glanced at Xiao Tao and already knew what this guy was planning.

A blind bear escaped last night. Xiao Tao will definitely be upset about this for many days. He will slap his thigh every time he thinks about it.

During lunch, we were inspired by the words of the hunters from the same village sitting at the table, and decided to continue working the ‘night shift’.

“I took a nap at home and now I’m not sleepy at all! Just let me go with you!” Xiao Tao continued to fight.

“If you want to go, then you can follow me! But it’s a bit crowded with three people squatting in the tree hole! Your vision is not good at night, so be careful!”

Yue Feng nodded and agreed to Xiao Tao’s application, and gave a few more instructions.

Xiao Tao said confidently: “Don’t worry about this! It’s not too cold at night, we can handle it!

We took our little stools and climbed up the tree, sitting in a row, waiting for the bears to come, and trying to have a good start in early autumn!!”

“Okay then! Be careful! Are you all ready? Let’s ride two motorcycle tricycles up the mountain. I’ll go around the dens and take a look around. You three will stay on duty at night to guard the tree dens!”

“okay!!”

……

After a quick packing, the four people and two military backpacks left the house and headed straight for the No. 7 tree nest.

When they arrived at the place, Yue Feng checked the situation in the tree den during the day. After confirming that there were no signs of large-scale feeding at the feeding point, he handed his hunting bag to Xiao Tao.

“Here is the handmade mosquito coil we used last night. Go up the tree and light it up! I’ll go to another tree and then go down the mountain. I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning!”

“Okay! Come on, don’t be lazy or distracted tonight. If that blind bear comes again, I will shoot it in the head with one shot!” Xiao Tao became excited and looked forward to it again.

Yue Feng didn’t want to dampen his younger brother’s enthusiasm.

In fact, anyone with a little common sense knows that there are a total of seven tree holes at this moment, and the probability of encountering a bear in the other six tree holes is much greater than that in this tree hole.

After all, bears are stupid, not foolish. They suffered a loss and saw blood last night, so there is a high probability that they will not come again tonight.

Yue Feng gave his three brothers a few more instructions, then rode away along the mountain path on his motorcycle. He then wandered around the tree holes one by one. When he returned to the village along the production road on the back mountain, it was already getting dark.

During the day, wild boars, badgers and other mountain animals are relatively less active. Activities such as going down the mountain to gain weight in the autumn are usually more common at night.

So among the remaining six tree hole feeding points, only one feeding point was suspected to have been visited by wild boars, resulting in the loss of nearly 20 kilograms of dry corn kernels.

Yue Feng had some supplies in the bed of his motorcycle. After replenishing it to the normal amount, he said hello to the hunter who was already on standby in the tree hole and left.

After returning home, the family of four had dinner, and Yue Feng sat on the kang in the west room, turning on the light and busying himself.

What are you busy with? Of course, you are busy with the falcon training equipment that Uncle Zhao promised to deliver the next day.

Yue Feng’s family has no shortage of common falconry equipment such as a two-opening five-foot swivel, but when training falcons from young chicks, the conventional cage sleeves used for falconry training are somewhat unsuitable.

The eagle chick’s claws have great strength. Sometimes, even when it is just playing a game with its owner and just grabbing the palm, it can still make four bloody holes.

Based on this consideration, Yue Feng plans to make a medium-length falconry glove for Uncle Zhao.

Speaking of falconry gloves, they are actually falconry tools introduced from Western countries. They play a role in protecting the falconer when training and hawking.

This thing is somewhat similar to the electrician’s leather gloves of later generations, but also a little different. Extra length is required from the end of the palm to the wrist and arm to ensure that it will not be scratched and injured by birds of prey.

There was still a lot of stock of various leathers used for making falconry at home, and when I gave Li Li a New Year gift before the Chinese New Year, I asked her for some more.

Yue Feng picked and chose from the various leather reserves, and when he had selected enough leather to make gloves, he transformed himself into a leather craftsman and started working on the kang in the west room.

Measure the length, width, thickness and other data of the palm and fingers, and then make a simple sample according to various drawing papers, finalize the version, and then officially cut the leather. After the leather is configured, use an awl to carefully punch holes in the leather where it needs to be sutured, and then sew it stitch by stitch with strong sutures.

These falconry gloves are large in size and require many pieces of leather to be sewn together, so they will naturally take longer.

After dinner, Yue Feng started to work at around 7:30 when it got dark. Before 8 o’clock, Wang Xiaona came to Yue Feng’s house carrying a bag of soft dates.

Although Yue Feng and Wang Xiaona have not yet married, their relationship has already been very harmonious. They are just waiting for the new house to be completely cleaned up and winter to come, so they can get married before the New Year.

The young couple sat on the kang in the west room, one in charge of giving orders and feeding snacks, and the other in charge of doing the work. They talked and laughed until about 9:30 in the evening, when the little girl wanted to go home to sleep, and Yue Feng then sent Wang Xiaona home.

There was only about one third of the progress left in making the gloves, and Yue Feng worked until eleven o’clock in the evening before he completed the final finishing work.

Looking at the finished gloves with balanced colors and high appearance, Yue Feng tried them on happily.

The thickness is sufficient and the size is suitable. It is definitely enough to give to Uncle Zhao to train his two white spear chicks.

After finishing the work on the gloves, Yue Feng felt a little sleepy. After all, he did not sleep well last night. It was getting late, so Yue Feng washed his feet and went back to his room to sleep on the kang.

……

On the other side, at the No. 7 tree nest, Xiao Tao and the three brothers Xiaowen and Xiaowu, like night owls squatting on a tree, sat in a row on small stools, staring at the empty space at the feeding point under the tree.

Last night, we shot a cannon egg shortly after it got dark, and a bear came again in the middle of the night. So although Xiao Tao felt it was unbearable to stay up late and slacked off, his attention was still mostly affected and it wasn’t too boring.

But today was different. I hadn’t slept a wink since I climbed up the tree. The area around the tree den was completely quiet for the entire first half of the night, without any movement at all.

Xiao Tao yawned and muttered impatiently, “Damn it, why aren’t there any wild animals here tonight? Besides the stinky meat, there’s also a bunch of offal from a cannonball under the tree!”

Xiaowen was infected and yawned as well. He glanced at the dark forest under the tree and found nothing suspicious. He said slowly, “There are many animals in this mountain, but not to that extent! Now that we are here, we should just guard it steadily!
If you feel sleepy, take a nap. The three of us will keep watch tonight and make arrangements!”

“No, I can’t sleep. I agreed not to sleep at night. What if other beasts come when I fall asleep? I will be at a big loss!”

Xiao Tao was a pretty tough guy. He rubbed his eyes and cheered himself up again.

At this time, Xiaowu, who had been sitting next to him with a gun in his hand, muttered quietly: “In the evening, when I went to deliver an air pump to Uncle Wang’s house opposite, I ran into Zhou Yuanchao! I forgot to tell Brother Feng about it in the evening!”

“Zhou Yuanchao’s home is not in our back street. Where did he come from and where is he going?”

Hearing the name Zhou Yuanchao, Xiaowen frowned slightly and asked with a little caution.

“It seems to have come out from Liu Laosan’s house! Liu Laosan wouldn’t have told Zhou Yuanchao about the time we encountered a bear while on night watch in the tree den?” Xiaowu guessed with some uncertainty in his tone.

Xiaowen paused for a moment, pondered for two seconds, and then said softly, “Liu Laosan and Zhou Yuanchao do have some contact on a daily basis, it’s hard to say!
Zhou Ergudong is a man with a bad temper and a mean heart. This time, Brother Feng had an argument with him about protecting the farmers in the village. Although it didn’t get out of hand, this grandson must be holding a grudge against him!
Now we have encountered a bear again, don’t let anything else happen!”

“Let me tell you, there’s nothing to be afraid of! He’s just Zhou Yuanchao, what’s so great about him! If he dares to show his teeth to us, I’ll break his teeth!!” When Xiao Tao heard this, his eyes widened and he was no longer sleepy.

“Don’t be so cocky. Have you forgotten why Brother Feng scolded you last time? You bastard, do you have a sandman license?” Xiaowen choked Xiaotao.

“Alright, alright, this is really boring! He didn’t provoke me, but if I piss you off, I’ll really dig a hole for him and bury him!”

There was no point in talking if there was no agreement. Xiao Tao shrank his neck and kept silent.

Xiaowu then continued, “Zhou Yuanchao doesn’t have a good leader right now, so even if he knows there’s a bear nearby, he probably won’t be able to do anything!
If I were him, I would spend more money now and find a way to get a better dog!
This guy is a good shooter. As long as he has a good lead dog, even if he leads the dog to track and surround the enemy, it will be better than what he is doing now!
You see, if the situation remains the same after the weather turns cold and the temperature drops, his hunting team will probably have to disband before the New Year!”

What Xiaowu said was not an exaggeration. Regarding the matter of protecting the farmers in the village, Zhou Yuanchao had even put forward conditions to Wang Jianguo. After being rejected by Yue Feng, he simply gave up the matter of protecting the farmers.

Any hunter in the village who is willing to go up the mountain a few times has now been allocated a tree nest and has also earned a certain amount of income. This is definitely a big stimulus for other members of the Zhou family hunting team.

Yes, it is true that the team members stand for their own team at critical moments, but everyone follows you to work together and make a living, not to starve.

Now the Zhou family hunting team has only one barreled rifle and doesn’t even have a decent leader. Moreover, because of their work on protecting the autumn and farmers, they are looked down upon by the young and old men in the village and have lost the support of the people. The gang is not far from being disbanded.

……

During the entire first half of the night, there was no movement at Tree Hole No. 7. To stay awake, the three brothers kept whispering about various big and small things they had seen and heard in the village and outside. It wasn’t that hard to endure.

At about one in the middle of the night, there was a sudden burst of gunfire from the southwest of the No. 7 tree nest. (End of this chapter)