HPDBC Chapter 1771 Zhao Jun, I'm going to tell my mom on you!
Chapter 1771 Zhao Jun, I'm going to tell my mom on you!
Chapter 1771 Zhao Jun, I'm going to tell my mom on you!
"The river flows from the sunny side to the shady side, with stone dragons and wooden dragons swimming on both banks."
When Pang the Blind Man said those words, Zhao Youcai, who was hiding behind the tree, suddenly brightened up.
Zhao Youcai knew that there were many golden sayings, rhymes, and doggerel summarized by predecessors during the mountain climbing trip.
Some of these sayings, upon closer analysis, are of little use. For example, the saying "If you stay in Lao'anzi, you'll eat your fill for life" doesn't affect whether you know it or not.
There are also some common sense sayings, such as "pearls dot the ginseng, this is a characteristic of wild ginseng," which any mountain herder would know.
The words that Blind Pang just said to Pang Gaoming were a summary of knowledge within the Fangshan trade, but they were passed down in secret.
How valuable are stone dragon and wood dragon? Zhao Youcai learned from Zhao Jun that even without a big boss buying them for a hefty sum, a single stone dragon or wood dragon with four leaves could sell for over eight thousand yuan, nearly ten thousand yuan.
Therefore, secret techniques for finding stone dragons and wooden dragons are knowledge that will not be passed on to outsiders no matter how much money is offered; they can only be passed down orally from father to son.
When the Pang family father and son reached the tree where Zhao Youcai was hiding, Zhao Youcai, close to the tree, quietly turned around and avoided the Pang family father and son.
Then, Pang the Blind said to Pang Gaoming, "Gaoming, the path your father has led you through these past few days is a tributary of the Mangniu River. Starting tomorrow, I will lead you along the Lalin River again."
The two major tributaries of the Songhua River, the Mangniu River and the Lalin River, flow through Yong'an. From Pang the Blind Man's words, Zhao Youcai deduced that the mnemonic was related to the two rivers.
At this moment, the Pang family father and son passed by the tree where Zhao Youcai was hiding. Zhao Youcai pressed his back against the tree and moved his feet lightly.
By the time the Pang family father and son had passed by, Zhao Youcai had already turned around and successfully avoided them.
In this desolate wilderness, who would be so kind as to hide behind a tree?
The Pang father and son were caught off guard when Pang Gaoming asked his father, "Dad, the elephant trunk buds haven't even sprouted yet, so it's pointless for us to try to walk along the riverbank."
“No, Gaoming,” Pang the Blind Man said earnestly to Pang Gaoming, “I’ll show you around first, so we can get familiar with the terrain.”
As the old saying goes, "Where there are mountains, there are rivers; where there are rivers, you won't get lost." The rivers in the mountains are very important; you must be familiar with the mountains near our home.
Watching the father and son walk away, Zhao Youcai peeked out from behind the tree and hurried home.
When Zhao Youcai arrived home, Li Dayong was leading Zhao Jun and others out.
Seeing that Zhao Youcai hadn't returned by dinnertime, Li Dayong finally couldn't hold back any longer and insisted on going up the mountain to find his older brother.
"Big Brother!" Seeing Zhao Youcai walk through the gate, Li Dayong nervously ran a few steps to Zhao Youcai's side and said, "Aren't you tired after walking all day?"
Zhao Youcai remained silent, but instead swept his sharp gaze over Zhao Jun and Wang Qiang.
"Dad," Zhao Jun stepped forward and asked with concern, "Where have you been all this time?"
"Where did you go?" Zhao Youcai asked Wang Qiang. Wang Qiang looked miserable and said, "Brother-in-law, I ran into my nephew when I went downstairs. He said my sister was almost attacked by a bear. I was worried about her, so I rushed downstairs to see her and forgot about you."
Wang Qiang was quite clever. He didn't say that he forgot about Zhao Youcai because he was looking for the dog. He only said that he was worried about Wang Meilan and neglected Zhao Youcai.
Hearing Wang Qiang's words, Zhao Youcai's wide eyes narrowed, and he asked quickly, "What happened to your sister?"
"Well, you know..." Wang Qiang first shifted the blame to Zhao Youcai before continuing, "When you shot that black bear, there should have been another one nearby. When you fired, it startled the other one."
Then, my sister and my nephew's wife were down there picking vegetables when that big black bear came down...
"Was anyone hurt?" Zhao Youcai interrupted Wang Qiang. Wang Qiang replied, "No, it was all thanks to our Tiger. It rushed up and stopped the bear, saving my sister."
As a result… my older nephew was carried by my sister to the bottom, and when we turned him around to look for Tiger, we couldn't find him. We searched all afternoon, but still couldn't find him.”
"Tiger is lost?" Zhao Youcai looked at Zhao Jun, who nodded and said, "He hasn't been found."
"What a day!" Zhao Youcai muttered to himself, and strode into the house.
When I entered the house, the elderly, women, and children were still eating.
As soon as Zhao Youcai entered, Wang Meilan quickly stood up and asked, "What have you been doing all day?"
Zhao Youcai squinted his small eyes and saw that Wang Meilan didn't seem to be injured, which put his mind at ease.
He didn't say anything, but simply unbuttoned his clothes, took out a white cloth bag from his pocket, and threw it on the stove.
The white cloth was torn from the tank top Zhao Youcai was wearing; it contained the bile from the bear he had hunted.
Seeing that Zhao Youcai didn't speak, Wang Meilan asked again, "We left you some food, can't you eat something?"
"Eat, of course we'll eat!" Zhao Youcai said, and went into the inner room to change his clothes.
Wang Meilan went to the dish rack, took out the food she had left for Zhao Youcai, and then invited Zhao Jun and the others to sit down and eat some more.
In order to go out and find Zhao Youcai, Zhao Jun and the others didn't eat well. They just ate a quick bite before running out.
Everyone sat down again, and Li Baoyu brought out the wine barrel, while Zhang Yuanmin and Xie Chen distributed wine cups. They hadn't drunk any wine earlier, but with such good food today, they had to make up for it.
When Zhao Youcai came out of the inner room, the table was already waiting for him.
When Zhao Youcai got to the table, he saw braised bear meat, braised bear paw, stir-fried bracken with meat, fried prickly ash shoots, and egg sauce with dipping vegetables.
It is said that practice makes perfect. The Zhao family has eaten bear meat more often than pork this year. Wang Meilan and Jin Xiaomei have reached a certain level of expertise in cooking bear meat and bear paws. The bear meat is firm and tender with a rich flavor, and the bear paws are soft and tender when hot and chewy when cold.
But even the most delicious food can become tiresome if eaten too often. Today, the most popular items on the dinner table were the wild vegetables.
The stir-fried bracken with meat is made with salted cured pork, and the bracken is brought down from the mountain wrapped in soil.
Bracken fern is prone to becoming tough; in the short time it takes to get home from the mountain, it looks completely different from when it was freshly picked.
Therefore, after picking a bunch of bracken, Zhang Yuanmin and his colleagues would roll the bracken on the spot to wrap it in soil and lock in the moisture and freshness.
After arriving home, I blanched and dried most of the bracken fern, keeping it as dried vegetables to enjoy later.
Remove the heads and tails from the remaining bracken, wash away the hairs, drain and cut into sections, blanch for two minutes, drain and set aside.
Choose a piece of cured pork with more fat than lean meat, slice it, and heat the oil in a pan.
To make wild mountain vegetables and pickled vegetables taste good, you must add lard.
Melt the lard, add the salted cured pork and stir-fry until the oil is rendered and fragrant. Then sauté the chopped scallions and add the bracken fern. Before serving, add a little minced garlic.
This dish is very flavorful and goes perfectly with rice.
But what the children like best is the fried prickly ash shoots coated in a soft batter, which are fragrant and crispy with every bite.
Having been hungry all day, Zhao Youcai didn't rush to drink. He picked up a piece of dandelion and put it on his rice, then put egg sauce on top of the dandelion.
Finally, he tore off two more scallion leaves and placed them on the egg sauce. Then Zhao Youcai brought the bowl to his mouth and used his chopsticks to shovel the scallion leaves, egg sauce, dandelion greens, and rice into his mouth.
With cheeks puffed out, you chew, and the aroma of soy sauce, rice, and the slightly bitter fragrance of dandelion blends with the spiciness of scallions, creating distinct layers in your mouth.
There's a saying around Zhao Jun's area: "In summer, you crave vegetables with dipping sauce; in winter, you crave stewed pork."
This was so delicious that Zhao Youcai finished half a bowl of rice in just one minute.
With this half bowl of rice to fill his stomach, Zhao Youcai picked up his wine glass and drank with everyone.
The food was good today, but the atmosphere at the table was a bit somber, as everyone was worried about the black tiger that had been lost in the mountains.
After eating and drinking their fill and watching the news, the diners went home. Before leaving, Zhang Yuanmin, Li Baoyu, and a few others made an appointment with Zhao Jun to go into the mountains early the next morning to look for the dog.
After all the diners had left, Ma Ling said goodbye to Wang Meilan and Zhao Youcai, and then went back to the west room.
After washing up, Zhao Jun picked up the thermos from the windowsill in the outer room and was about to go back to the room to prepare foot bath water for his wife.
Just then, Zhao Youcai's voice reached Zhao Jun's ears: "Come here!"
"Hmm?" Upon hearing this, Zhao Jun turned around and saw Zhao Youcai standing at the door of the east hut, waving at him.
"Dad, is something wrong?" Zhao Jun asked, only to hear Zhao Youcai reply, "Of course! Why would I call you if there wasn't something wrong?"
"Then wait for me a moment, Dad." Zhao Jun said, then picked up the thermos and went to the west room.
"What a loser," Zhao Youcai muttered, then retreated back into the small east hut.
Two minutes later, Zhao Jun entered the east hut and saw Zhao Youcai mysteriously waving at him, signaling him to close the door.
"What's wrong, Dad?" Zhao Jun asked curiously, but he turned around and closed the door.
When Zhao Jun turned around, he saw Zhao Youcai sitting cross-legged on the kang (a heated brick bed) with a Shilin cigarette in his mouth, putting on quite a show.
"Dad, what's wrong?" Zhao Jun asked, only to see Zhao Youcai pointing to the sofa under the kang (a heated brick bed) against the wall.
Zhao Jun sat on the sofa, two heads shorter than Zhao Youcai, as if listening to Zhao Youcai giving him a lecture.
At this moment, Zhao Youcai exhaled a puff of smoke and then stubbed out the cigarette in his homemade ashtray. After putting on a show, Zhao Youcai looked at Zhao Jun and said calmly, "Son, Dad will teach you some skills."
"Huh?" Zhao Jun was taken aback, then chuckled and asked, "Dad, what are you going to teach me?"
It wasn't that Zhao Jun was arrogant or conceited; he admitted that Zhao Youcai was superior to him in both marksmanship and hunting skills.
Zhao Jun acknowledged this point, but at Zhao Jun's level, further improvement in this area cannot be taught; it requires self-discovery and self-practice.
Of course, Zhao Youcai has been running around in the mountains for many years, so he may know some obscure knowledge that Zhao Jun doesn't, but that doesn't mean he can teach him anything.
Zhao Youcai sensed the disdain in Zhao Jun's tone. He gave a cold laugh, glanced at Zhao Jun, and said, "What, you look down on your old man?"
"No way," Zhao Jun laughed. "Dad, what skills do you have? You should teach your son. Once I've learned them, we can go to sleep. We've been running around all day, and we still have to go up the mountain tomorrow. Just tell me what you're capable of."
Zhao Youcai felt annoyed by what he heard. But thinking that he could scare the kid, Zhao Youcai glanced at Zhao Jun and then said in a serious tone, "Dad will teach you some tricks of the trade today."
"What the hell?" Zhao Jun was startled by Zhao Youcai's words, but at this moment, Zhao Jun did not take Zhao Youcai's words lightly, because he thought of his maternal grandfather.
Zhao Youcai didn't know anything about rafting, but Wang Dabazhang did. In the years before his death, Wang Dabazhang likely entrusted his entire fortune to Zhao Youcai.
Zhao Jun had no way of commenting on Wang Dabazhang's choice. If you were to say Wang Dabazhang had entrusted the wrong person, Zhao Youcai had truly kept the secret.
If you say Zhao Youcai lived up to Wang Dabazhang's expectations, then the lives of Wang Meilan and Wang Qiang in Zhao Jun's previous life were not very good.
Zhao Youcai had no idea what Zhao Jun was thinking. Seeing Zhao Jun's surprised expression, Zhao Youcai smiled with satisfaction and said, "Son, didn't you say that some... rich big boss was looking for Mu Long and Shi Long? Today, Dad will teach you where to carry this precious club."
Zhao Jun stared at Zhao Youcai in shock, only to see Zhao Youcai raise his hand and gesture, saying, "Pipa City, Taiji Bay, the Songhua River with its copper banks and iron bottom."
Zhao Jun: "..."
When Zhao Youcai spoke, Zhao Jun, though unable to understand, immediately felt a sense of awe and wonder.
The sentence Zhao Youcai just said was something Li Dayong tutored him on after dinner. Zhao Jun didn't know that and thought it was something Wang Dabazhang had passed down.
Seeing that Zhao Jun's attitude had become more serious, Zhao Youcai smiled and said, "The Songhua River splits into the Mangniu River and the Lalin River, which flow through our forest area. If you follow the flow of the river, and see if the water flows from the sunny slope to the shady slope, then follow the riverbanks on both sides to look for it."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Jun's eyes lit up, waiting for Zhao Youcai to continue.
But then Zhao Youcai stopped. He took out a cigarette case from his pocket, pulled out a cigarette, and put it in his mouth.
Zhao Jun was taken aback, then saw Zhao Youcai wink at him. Zhao Jun followed Zhao Youcai's gaze and saw a matchbox on the kang table.
Zhao Jun smirked, got up, took the matchbox, and lit Zhao Youcai's cigarette with a match.
Zhao Youcai took a deep drag of his cigarette, and after exhaling, he looked at Zhao Jun through the billowing smoke and said, "This is called the river water flowing from the sunny side to the shady side, with stone dragons and wooden dragons swimming on both banks."
“Yangpo River water…” Zhao Jun murmured, chewing on the words. He knew that this was the secret of the Ginseng Gang, passed down only to men and not to women.
This one sentence, just fourteen characters, clearly points out the location of the treasure in the mountains—that's amazing!
In his previous life, Zhao Jun dealt in wild ginseng, and he was a supplier to the top ginseng masters. However, despite befriending so many ginseng masters, he never received a single secret recipe.
To Zhao Jun's surprise, his father knew this.
"Hmm?" Zhao Youcai, who had just exhaled a puff of smoke, suddenly sensed that Zhao Jun's gaze towards him was a little strange.
Zhao Youcai blinked his small eyes and asked, "Why are you staring at me like that? Why aren't you happy?"
"What's there to be happy about?" Zhao Jun thought of the dilapidated house his uncle lived in in his previous life and couldn't help but feel annoyed. He immediately asked Zhao Youcai, "Dad, what else can you do? Teach me everything."
"What?" Zhao Youcai was taken aback, feeling that Zhao Jun's attitude was different from what he had imagined.
Zhao Youcai's reaction was seen by Zhao Jun as feigning ignorance.
"Tell me everything my great-grandmother told you!" Zhao Jun stared at Zhao Youcai and said irritably, "If you had told me this earlier, I would have agreed to Manager Huang's offer from the beginning!"
"I...this..." Zhao Youcai said, "This wasn't told to me by your great-grandmother, I learned it from someone else..."
"You're kidding me!" Zhao Jun interrupted Zhao Youcai, saying, "This is something fathers teach their sons; who else could teach you that?"
After saying this, Zhao Jun urged Zhao Youcai, "Dad, why are you still lying?"
"Go to hell! Why would I lie to you, you little brat!" In a fit of anger, Zhao Youcai raised his hand as if to hit Zhao Jun, who then got up and ran away.
As he opened the door, Zhao Jun turned to Zhao Youcai and said, "You wait, I'm going to tell my mom on you!"
Zhao Youcai: "..."
There will be another chapter later, brothers, go to sleep first and read it when you wake up.
Happy Holidays again, brothers!!
(End of this chapter)