Chapter 294 Overnight
Hearing Uncle Zhao’s question, the brothers all looked towards Yue Feng.

As the captain, Yue Feng has the right to make the decision. Judging from the reactions of his brothers, they definitely don’t want to give up like this, so they all looked at Yue Feng.

In his heart, Yue Feng knew that Uncle Zhao’s judgment was correct, but he still held on to a glimmer of hope.

“Otherwise, let’s get up early tomorrow and come over quietly! Whether we gain anything or not, that’s all!
Anyway, we have to spend the night in the mountains to hunt red dogs. It only takes two hours to go back and forth from the cellar to here, which is not too far!” Yue Feng said.

Uncle Zhao smiled and nodded: “Okay, I’ll listen to you! Two hours round trip is not far, so I can just take a walk in the morning!

Now that it’s decided, let’s not stay here. If the wild boars really come back and smell us, it will have an impact!

Let’s go back, the night is long, let’s get some food and drinks!”

“go!”

After finalizing the follow-up plan, the group left Bojiwaizi and took the shortest route across ditches and mountains to return to Dixuanzi.

When I got home, the sun had not yet set. It was an almost windless day, with a crimson sunset hanging in the sky. It was a unique experience to be in this almost isolated environment.

Yue Feng stood in the yard admiring the scenery for a while, then he stopped moving and felt the cold air starting to rise up, then he went back into the house.

Pine wood sticks were burning in the fire pit, and soon the room became warm.

Yue Feng saw Uncle Zhao take out some dried wild vegetables that were dried in spring and summer and soak them in warm water, and then he melted a piece of fat and lean venison rib meat.

“Uncle, are you preparing to make dumplings?” Yue Feng asked when he saw the dried vegetables and meat prepared by the old man.

“Okay, we haven’t finished the stewed meat from lunch yet! We can serve it after heating it up! Let’s chop some meat filling and add some wild vegetables, and make dumplings?” Uncle Zhao relaxed his brows and looked at Yue Feng with expectant eyes.

For Yue Feng, staying overnight in Uncle Zhao’s cellar on the mountain and having a hot meal were enough to satisfy him. It didn’t really matter what he ate.

However, seeing the hopeful look in the old man’s eyes, Yue Feng understood something.

Dumplings, in the eyes of Chinese people, especially those in Northeast China, actually have a special meaning. Making dumplings in a lively atmosphere and eating dumplings together, this series of actions, there is something called family affection and happiness.

It is obvious that Uncle Zhao is a little sentimental.

I just didn’t have the nerve to say it to his face.

“We can use venison to make dumplings instead of wild vegetables! This time when I went up the mountain, I scooped out a lot of sauerkraut from the sauerkraut jar at home. I see that this piece of venison is fat and lean. How about we make sauerkraut venison dumplings?” Yue Feng suggested.

“Okay, then we’ll use this wild vegetable to make dumpling soup for you tomorrow morning! Where’s the pickled cabbage? We’ll make it into pickled cabbage stuffing!”

Sauerkraut is also something that people in Northeast China cannot live without. Originally, it was because vegetables were difficult to store in winter, but as it has been passed down from generation to generation, it has now become a food with certain regional characteristics.

At Yue Feng’s instruction, the brothers dug out a large bag of sauerkraut from the supplies they brought, took out one and washed it clean in snow water, then arranged the leaves one by one, chopped them up with a slanted knife, squeezed out the water and mixed it with the meat stuffing, then added various seasonings and stirred it all together to make dumpling filling with a reasonable combination of meat and vegetables.

While the filling was being prepared, the brothers Xiaowen and Xiaowu were also busy kneading the dough.

The young man was strong and the dough he kneaded was a bit harder. After kneading it for a while, he cleaned it up and started making dumplings.

They were all children from ordinary families in the village, and were familiar with the task of making dumplings. Several of them started to work and soon became busy.

If one person prepares food for a group of people, it will take a long time, but if a group of people prepare food together, the work will go very fast.

It wasn’t even dark outside yet, but two full sheets of dumplings had already been wrapped.

Among the five people, the dumplings made by the brothers Xiaowen and Xiaowu were the most decent, Yuefeng was also okay, and the dumplings made by Xiaotao and Uncle Zhao looked the worst. But this is not a beauty pageant, as long as the stuffing doesn’t show, it’s fine, and they can be eaten the same way after being cooked.

The water in the pot soon boiled. Xiaowen, the chef, stood up from the bench in front of the stove, holding the lid in his hand and started to put the dumplings in.

Soon, after a few ups and downs, the dumplings floated in the pot. Xiaowen felt that they were cooked enough, so he picked one up and tasted it.

“It’s time to eat, clear the table!”

Soon, the hot dumplings came out of the pot. The five people sat down at the table, each of them was poured a glass of wine, and they started eating!
Uncle Zhao was extremely happy with the dumplings. It had been more than half a month since the last time he ate dumplings here on the Winter Solstice. The old man had always missed the last scene.

People are emotional animals. When they are hungry, the only problem is to fill their stomachs. When they can eat their fill, more needs are exposed.

Yue Feng chatted with Uncle Zhao in a proper manner while eating dumplings and taking a sip of wine every now and then. The atmosphere in the room was very good.

“Uncle, on the eighth day of next month, I will be engaged to Wang Xiaona, the daughter of Wang Jianguo from our village!” After taking a few sips of wine, Yue Feng suddenly thought of his personal problem and mentioned it casually.

“Engagement on the eighth day of the first lunar month? That’s a great relationship. The Wang Jianguo’s daughter you are talking about is Wang Hongxi’s granddaughter, right? It’s already the end of the month, and there are only a few days left!” Uncle Zhao became interested as soon as he heard it.

“Yes! Last time when we were having dinner and chatting at her house, I mentioned that my father-in-law still knows you!”

“Okay! The Wang family has always had a good reputation, this is a good marriage.

Xiaofeng’s personal problem has been solved, so you guys should hurry up and take action as soon as you see a girl you like. Nowadays, if you are thin-skinned, you won’t get anything, but if you are thick-skinned, you will get everything!

Our children are all good-looking and capable. Any daughter who marries into our family will be blessed!

Xiaowen, if I remember correctly, you are about the same age as your brother Xiaofeng, right? No one has arranged a marriage for you?”

When asked by Uncle Zhao, Xiaowen scratched his head and said, “There is a rumor, but my mother didn’t like it! There is a girl named Wang Laowai from the village next door called Wangjiazhuangzi. My mother thought her family tradition was not good, so she didn’t respond!”

When he heard the name Wang Laowai, the information in Yue Feng’s ancient memories slowly emerged.

This Wang Laowai is not a good person. He gave birth to three daughters and finally raised a son as the youngest. The couple dotes on him very much.

If it were just this point, it wouldn’t matter. The main thing is that in the previous life, the three sisters were indoctrinated by their parents to be brother-supporting. They found their husbands-in-law not far away and secretly sent whatever they had back to their parents’ home to support their lazy brother. Their lives were a mess.

“It doesn’t matter if a girl is ugly or pretty, but her character must be good! It won’t do if her family tradition is not right.

Now that Xiaofeng is taking you hunting to make money, your lives will definitely get better and better.

When I have more money, I will build a new house and plant some phoenix trees. Then I will have phoenixes coming! Remember what I said last time, if you kids get married, I will definitely go to the wedding!”

“I have money now! The two leopard skins I caught here last time haven’t been sold yet! Just from catching sables this time, each of us got more than two thousand yuan! It’s more than enough to build a house and find a marriage!” Xiaowen said firmly.

“That’s fine! Even if you have money, don’t do harm, especially spending money and having affairs. These two things are the most corrupting. Don’t do them!
Xiaofeng, as the elder brother, you have the final say when we go up the mountain, and you have to keep an eye on your brothers when we go down the mountain to live our daily lives!”

Facing Uncle Zhao’s nagging, Yue Feng grinned: “Uncle, don’t worry, I know what’s going on! I held a meeting with them on the day the money was divided and emphasized all these things!” “In one’s life, it’s enough to have such a few good brothers who know each other well and live a busy life! Uncle is still strong, you all work hard, and I can become a grandfather and have grandchildren in the future!”

“Hey, no problem!”

……

After drinking, the old man became particularly sentimental. Yue Feng and the others chatted with him for a while, then drank some wine. The atmosphere of the dinner was quite nice.

When he is in a good mood, he can drink a lot. After a meal, the old man drank at least more than a pound of high-proof liquor.

Seeing that he was drunk, Yue Feng helped him lie down on the kang, and his brothers assisted him in quickly finishing the remaining chores.

After finishing their meal, Yue Feng and his friends packed up their bedding for the night.

I had saved up a few roe deer skins from the previous few hunts. During this time, my mother Meng Yulan made two leather mattresses for me.

This thing is much lighter than bear skin. You put bear skin on the bottom to keep out the cold, and then put a roe deer skin mattress on top, and then cover it with another layer. Add the sheepskin jacket on your body, and you can keep the stove burning at night, so you won’t feel cold when you sleep.

Yue Feng put the bedding and other things in order, checked the windows to make sure there were vents, and then went to bed early.

We still have to hike up the mountain road tomorrow, so I should take a rest early after drinking some wine and recharge my energy.

The next morning, Yue Feng was once again woken up early by the sound of Uncle Zhao getting up and cooking.

It was arranged yesterday that we would go to remove the wild boars’ urination nests early this morning. We had to set off early in the morning. After Yue Feng woke up, he called everyone else.

The bedding was simply tidied up and loaded onto the sled, and the dog food was forked into a small pot. Once breakfast was ready, the other work was almost done.

After eating and drinking, the group, fully armed and carrying guns, went to the wild boar den they found yesterday.

Although we had high expectations, we were still disappointed when we arrived after walking for more than an hour.

The wild boar den was deserted and the pigs did not come back to spend the night. Uncle Zhao walked up to it and looked at the marks left behind yesterday, then shook his head at them.

“The marks I left yesterday haven’t moved, which means the wild boars didn’t come back last night! Let’s not waste time here, let’s go back to the cellar, pull the sled, and go find Red Dog!”

At this point, the guys gave up completely and returned the same way they came.

When I returned to the cellar, it was already past eight in the morning. The red dogs in Uncle Zhao’s kennel had not been fed yet. When they heard someone coming back, they started to whine and call out.

Uncle Zhao didn’t waste any time. He dug out several large pieces of wild boar meat from the snow pile behind the house. Without even thawing the snow, he opened the wooden door of the doghouse and threw the whole pieces of meat into the doghouse.

“Have you packed all the things for spending the night in the wild that I told you about last night? If so, we have to set off!” Uncle Zhao confirmed one last time before leaving.

“I’ve brought them all! I packed them myself!”

“Then let’s go, take the dogs and set off!”

A group of five people, dragging a sled loaded with a lot of supplies, and the others also carrying hunting bags, left the house in a mighty procession.

Uncle Zhao said it very clearly yesterday that the place where he knew red dogs were active was downstream of Luming Valley.

Yue Feng thought that the old man was going to take them along the same route to Luming Valley, but the old man didn’t go that way at all. Instead, he took a new route.

It was a completely unfamiliar road. Several people followed Uncle Zhao obediently. They basically walked on the mountain ridges along the way, which was relatively flat. Along the way were completely unfamiliar and deserted forests. These places were completely blank in Yue Feng’s mind.

Needless to say, everyone knows that Yue Feng had never been to these areas in his previous life.

I left home at around 8:30 and the journey took me five and a half hours.

When everyone felt their stomachs growling with hunger and their calves began to feel sore, Uncle Zhao, who was leading the group, finally stopped.

“Uncle, have we arrived yet?” Yue Feng asked, looking up.

“Almost there! This is a meadow, with a mountain stream and a breezy valley nearby, perfect for us to spend the night! Let’s clean up the place to spend the night before it gets dark!”

Have you guys ever spent a night in the wild on the mountain?”

Yue Feng shook his head: “No!”

“If you have no experience, then you should learn carefully from me while I am doing it! This skill will be useful to you when you go into the mountains in the future!

Going into the mountains to hunt means you have to make a living with your head hanging on your belt. If you can make yourself comfortable with your skills, don’t be afraid of trouble! Otherwise, when you are my age, you will be sick!”

“Hey!” Yue Feng responded, and immediately started to learn with his eyes wide open!

……

Most people think that camping in the wild on Changbai Mountain in winter might involve finding a sheltered place to build a fire, and then everyone taking turns on duty while others lie on the ground by the fire to get some sleep.

But the real situation is much more serious than most people think.

How can you fall asleep in the open air without any shelter? The temperature is over 40 degrees below zero, and your hands and feet can be frozen off!
The heat from a fire alone is simply not enough to meet the needs of an ordinary person to spend the night. The chest is hot and the back is cold, and it won’t take long for a person to be frozen to the point of losing consciousness.

What should we do then?
To survive the winter in this kind of weather, the favorite thing for old hunters in Northeast China is to dig snow nests.

Find a sheltered valley covered with thick snow, dig a snow cave with a shovel or a knife, expand the space inside to accommodate your body, then spread out the animal skins or cotton-padded clothes and other cold-resistant bedding, build a fire near the door of the snow cave, and use snow to build walls to reflect heat, so that you can spend the night in places dozens of degrees below zero.

Uncle Zhao led everyone to choose a place for camping, which was a place like this. On one side near the foot of the mountain, the snow at the bottom of the ditch was at least seven or eight meters thick. They dug a hole along the bottom, dug out the snow inside bit by bit, and compacted it, expanding it to create enough space for five people and four dogs.

This is a slow and delicate job, and most of the work is done by Uncle Zhao. Yue Feng and the others just help deal with the snow that has been dug out.

The old man spent several hours expanding and reinforcing the snow cave bit by bit. The others scattered around, collecting some dead wood and chopping it into small pieces with their axes to use as fuel for heating at night.

When everyone had arranged the bear skins and other bedding they had brought up the mountain and started a fire outside the cave to boil hot water, the sky gradually darkened.

During the whole day, I did almost nothing meaningful except traveling. I walked so far but didn’t even see the shadow of Red Dog.

I don’t know if the group of red dogs that Uncle Zhao mentioned are still there.

(End of this chapter)