Chapter 53

Sunday, before dawn, Yan Jiecheng and Jia Dongxu rode their bicycles out of the Siheyuan.

"Brother Dongxu, where should we go hunting?" Yan Jiecheng asked deliberately.

"Let's go to Changping, my father-in-law is from Qin Family Village over there."

"You'd better ride the bike, I don't know the way," Yan Jiecheng said, being clever. He would ride the bike while carrying Jia Dongxu; if Jia Dongxu rode the bike carrying him, he wouldn't get tired.

"Alright, but we agreed: I'll ride going there, you ride coming back." Jia Dongxu wasn't stupid either.

"Okay," Yan Jiecheng felt this was fair too; he hadn't thought that he would be full of energy on the way there but definitely not as strong on the way back, as the old saying goes, a seventeen-year-old can never fool an eighteen-year-old.

The two rode for over an hour before reaching Jia Dongxu's father-in-law's home.

"Dongxu, why are you here?" Qin Dahe, father of Qin Huiru, looked at his son-in-law who had come early in the morning and wondered what was up.

"Dad, hasn't the city's ration been reduced? Huiru just gave birth not long ago and is lacking milk; I was thinking that since we're near the mountains, I'll go see if I can hunt some game to supplement her." Jia Dongxu said this sincerely.

"Dongxu, if you'd come earlier it would've been fine, but now it's not allowed; since the disaster started, the brigade has notified that besides villagers, outsiders are strictly forbidden to hunt in the mountains, and there are even militia patrols at the foothills now." Qin Dahe said. Indeed, as Qin Dahe said, many brigades now prohibit outsiders from hunting in the mountains; if we let outsiders freely hunt, what would the villagers eat?

"Dad, I'm not really an outsider, besides, Huiru's household registration is still here." Jia Dongxu hadn't expected such a rule.

"This isn't up to me; I'll go ask the brigade captain." Qin Dahe really didn't dare to promise, for in those days the brigade captain held great authority—assigning work, recording labor points, all were his say.

"Okay."

Qin Dahe returned in less than half an hour.

"Dongxu, no, the captain won't agree; even though Huiru's registration is here, she's her and you're you. The brigade disagrees," Qin Dahe said with a disappointed face.

"Dad, then there's no other way?" Jia Dongxu hadn't expected this outcome.

"Dongxu, if you ride your bikes south for about two or three li, that area isn't under our brigade's jurisdiction, nor can the neighboring village control it; you can sneak into the mountains from there—just remember not to go deep, for deep in the mountains there are wolf packs, which is too dangerous," Qin Dahe whispered.

"Okay, thanks, Dad. Let's go take a look." Upon hearing Qin Dahe's words, Jia Dongxu immediately perked up, and he and Yan Jiecheng rode their bikes south.

"Why is this kid in such a hurry? You haven't brought anything—how are you going to hunt?" Qin Dahe muttered after watching the two rush off.

The two spent over ten minutes reaching a mountain hollow before stopping.

"Jiecheng, let's first hide the bikes."

"Okay, by the way, Brother Dongxu, we've got nothing—how are we going to hunt?" Yan Jiecheng then realized they'd come empty-handed.

"First let's go into the mountains and look; I know the hunters here will set traps, so we can see if we can find the traps they set." Jia Dongxu kept talking, but Yan Jiecheng understood his meaning—he was planning to intercept.

"Okay."

After hiding their bicycles, the two began walking up the mountain.

"Brother Dongxu, let's rest," the two said, being first-timers in the mountains; they hadn't gone far before they were exhausted—let alone finding traps, they hadn't even seen a bit of game fur, and they didn't consider that the outskirts' game had already been mostly caught by the villagers; how could it be so easy?

"Alright, let's smoke a cigarette and rest," Jia Dongxu said, also tired—after all, he had been the one riding the bike on the way here.

After smoking two cigarettes, they finally got up and continued forward. They didn't know how long they had walked; looking at the sun, it was already past noon, and they had no idea where they were.

"Brother Dongxu, do you see that pheasant over there?" Yan Jiecheng pointed to a spot not far away.

"Yes," Jia Dongxu exclaimed excitedly; the two quickly ran to where Yan Jiecheng pointed and discovered a trap with a pheasant's neck caught in a noose.

"Keep looking," after finding their first game, the two's confidence instantly surged.

After another two or three hours, they found two more hares and three more pheasants.

Just as they were feeling pleased, they suddenly noticed someone appearing in the distance heading their way.

"Hurry up, don't let them catch us," Jia Dongxu whispered to Yan Jiecheng.

Yan Jiecheng nodded, picked up the game, and ran down the mountain with Jia Dongxu.

Their movements also alerted the people coming up the mountain.

"Who's there?" a loud voice called out from afar.

Hearing the shout, they ran even faster.

"If you don't stop, I'll shoot," the person behind continued shouting.

Upon hearing that they would be shot at, the two were so frightened their feet felt like they were stepping on fire wheels, they no longer felt tired, and ran even faster.

"Bang"

The person behind really did fire a shot, but not aiming at them—he fired straight into the air; other people on the mountain knew that those who came up here were mostly nearby villagers, so firing was just to scare them, and he really didn't dare aim at them, for if he actually killed or injured someone it would be trouble.

In the past, fights over water sources between neighboring villages often broke out; if he really killed someone, the problem would be huge.

But Yan Jiecheng and Jia Dongxu up ahead didn't know this; hearing the gunshot, they ran even faster.

The two quickly reached the mountain's base, went to where they had hidden their bicycles, but couldn't find them anywhere.

"We're done, the bikes are gone," Yan Jiecheng felt, as if the sky were falling.

"Never mind the bikes, let's run—didn't you hear the people behind firing? What's more important, the bike or our lives?" Jia Dongxu said, pulling Yan Jiecheng along.

"Right, run," Yan Jiecheng replied, now realizing someone behind was still chasing them with a gun.

One could say that when faced with a threat to life, the potential that erupts is limitless.

The two ran nonstop to the roadside, where a bus happened to pass by; they boarded it, and their anxious hearts eased a little—only then did they realize their lungs felt like they might burst from running.

In fact, Yan Jiecheng's bad luck is to blame; they had barely hidden their bikes when a local ruffian showed up—such characters exist in every village. The ruffian had originally intended to sneak into the mountains to check out others' traps, but Yan Jiecheng's bike wasn't hidden well enough; the ruffian spotted it and rode it away.

This might also be one reason why the people chasing them up the mountain didn't aim at them when firing—if someone wounded the ruffian and he ended up clinging to their household, they'd be in real trouble; their own family already didn't have enough food, and taking in a lazy good-for-nothing would make their future unbearable.