Chapter 55: Returning to Huangjia Village and Entering Huangshan Mountain

"Brother Yu, what took you so long?"

"It's nothing. I just gave the public security comrades an idea. Let's just wait and see Lai San and Su Bin get what's coming to them."

Huzi cast a strange look at Su Yu.

"Brother Yu, you haven't really fallen for the educated youth Xu, have you? She's a city girl, after all. Look at what she was wearing when she first came to our village—completely different from the other female educated youths. She has so much class. She's definitely going to look down on us country folk. You should set your sights on someone else."

Damn it, even Huzi could tell that her background was extraordinary. To think that he had actually harbored wild fantasies about her in his past life—he truly had been an idiot.

"Ugh... I'm not helping Xu Xiaoya. I just don't want to see Su Bin get his way. Besides, let me make it clear for the second time: Xu Xiaoya is not my type, so stop lumping her and me together."

If he had still held a decent impression of Xu Xiaoya before, after that incident the other day when she came looking for him, he had seen her completely for who she was. Xu Xiaoya was indeed innocent—innocent like a complete idiot.

If he were to really get involved with her, Su Yu worried that any children they had might suffer intellectually. If it were the twenty-first century, he would definitely be just like Su Bin, sidling up to her and using some scheme to sleep with her—after all, it wasn't a crime. But not now. If you really slept with a girl in this era, you were obligated to marry her and bring her home, so he directly gave up on the idea.

He wasn't an educated youth who could sleep with someone and then pat his backside and leave, making it impossible for anyone to find him. This wasn't the twenty-first century where the public security networks were linked and a single phone call would bring cooperation from the other end. Finding someone in this day and age was extremely difficult unless it was a major matter.

For educated youths to return to the city, there were essentially only two paths: first, take the college entrance examinations; second, join the commune, take charge of supervising the peasants in farming, and then climb the ranks step by step. Once you joined the organization, you could apply for a transfer.

Taking exams was easy, but the latter path was extremely difficult. First, you had to be proactive, win honors, and then apply to join. The organization would deliberate, and then you would slowly be promoted. Once you were admitted to the Party, you were pretty much set.

"Let's hurry up and stop letting your imagination run wild. We're almost at Huangjia Village."

Su Yu called out to Huzi and strode toward Huangjia Village.

As soon as they entered the village, they ran into a few matrons lingering outside.

"Well, if it isn't Su'e's intended? Coming to see Su'e again, are we?"

The matrons burst into teasing laughter, leaving Huzi completely dumbfounded.

"Brother Yu, you know them? And... you've hooked up with Huang Su'e? No wonder you looked down on the educated youth Xu."

Huang Su'e's looks were by no means inferior to Xu Xiaoya's. The crucial point was that both of them were exceptionally well-endowed. One was a classy beauty, and the other was a girl-next-door; each had her own unique charm.

"Don't talk nonsense. I'll explain this to you slowly."

***

Thus, Su Yu explained the current situation to Huzi. However, the more Huzi listened, the stranger the look in his eyes became.

"No way, it hasn't even been a few days since we last saw each other—how did you get so close to the Huang family? You've already come hunting in the capacity of a son-in-law? Not bad at all."

"Still, Huang Su'e is truly gorgeous. If Brother Yu hadn't set his sights on her, I definitely would have gone after her myself."

Su Yu rolled his eyes. It seemed all his explanations had gone in vain.

Su Yu stepped forward and knocked on the door, and it was Huang Su'e herself who opened it.

"Oh, Su Yu, why are you here?"

Huang Su'e's face was full of puzzlement, but she also spotted Huzi standing behind him. She sidestepped slightly to let the two of them enter.

"Huzi, Su Yu, are you here to find my brother for hunting?"

Clearly, Huang Su'e wasn't foolish; she guessed it the moment she saw the bow, arrows, and gun carried by Huzi.

"Hehe, exactly. Brother Yu and I came to find Brother Huang to go hunting in the mountains."

"Wait, I'll go get them for you."

Huang Su'e didn't invite them into the house; she went straight to call her two older brothers.

Before long, Huang Shan and Huang Hai emerged.

"Xiaoyu, Huzi, you're here? Come on in, sit down and have some water. I heard from Su'e that you're looking for me to go hunting? Is Huzi heading into the mountains too?"

"Hehe, didn't I hear that you guys and Brother Yu made a fortune? I got envious, so I dragged Brother Yu along to find the two brothers."

Huzi was quite the smooth talker, and with just a few words, he buttered up the Huang brothers immensely.

"Hahaha, we only had my uncle with us last time, and with our good luck and tacit cooperation, we had a bountiful harvest. But since you're here, Huzi, the two of us will definitely grant your wish. No rush though—have you eaten? If not, I'll have Su'e whip up something for you?"

Naturally, the two of them nodded repeatedly, saying they had already eaten.

Both Huang brothers were very happy. Why? Others might not know, but how could the Huang brothers not know? Su Yu's archery skills were formidable indeed; with him around, did they need to worry about not catching any game? Of course they were happy that he was willing to come and play with them.

***

"Alright, since we're heading into the mountains, we should set the rules beforehand to avoid any unpleasantness afterward."

Huzi quickly agreed. It wasn't that the Huang brothers were being distant; this was just standard procedure. After all, nobody was willing to work for nothing. The Huang family's repayment of a favor was done once; they couldn't be expected to sweat all day and risk their lives just to help two benefactors get rich every single time.

How the game was distributed needed to be stated clearly in advance to avoid bickering at the end. Su Yu and Huzi had both done favors for the Huang family, but accommodations could be made once or twice, not every single day.

The Huang brothers also had families to feed, and they were professional hunters. The two brothers took turns; if you went hunting today, I would go to work in the fields, and there were rarely times when both went to work together. If hunting couldn't yield enough food, what were they supposed to eat?

"Right, it's only right to make it clear beforehand how the hunted game will be divided. Brother Huang, how do you propose we split it?"

Su Yu had no intention of a long-term partnership. It was just that today he had gone to town, and on the way back, he had taken a slight detour that brought him to Huangjia Village—which was faster than going all the way home just to head back into the mountains—so he had come this way. Frankly speaking, entering the back mountains of the Huang family without a guide could potentially get you chased off by local hunters from Huangjia Village if you had bad luck.

It was much like foreign fishing boats trespassing into our country's territorial waters to fish. You might claim you were chasing game, but the locals certainly wouldn't be overly polite about it. However, having someone from Huangjia Village lead the way made all the difference.

"How about this: I know Xiaoyu has great skills, and I won't take advantage of you. What you discover and what you kill belongs to you. What we discover together and successfully hunt, we split evenly. That way, nobody has to fight over the kills and cause unpleasantness. Both of you are great benefactors of our Huang family; if we fell out over fighting for kills, it wouldn't do anyone any good."

Huzi hurriedly chimed in, "You two just split it evenly. I'm just here to tag along for the fun. As long as whatever game we catch gets stewed and I get a bite to eat, that's enough for me."

Huang Shan and Su Yu exchanged a glance and burst out laughing.

"How about this: Su Yu and I will split things evenly, and you can just act as a helper. If we catch little game, we'll bring it back and stew it all together. If we catch a lot, we'll definitely let you take one home to stew and satisfy your cravings."

"Xiaohai isn't coming with us today. It's spring, so the fields need tending; I'll just accompany the two of you."

And so, Huang Dashan, Su Yu, and Huzi gathered their gear and headed into the mountains.

Dashan carried an old-style muzzleloader, a scattergun that treated all beings equally within fifty meters. Aside from large prey like wild boars, targets like hares and pheasants were one shot per kill.

"Hey, Huzi, are you carrying a rifle?"

At that moment, Huzi handed his bow and arrows over to Su Yu and pulled out his rifle. Only then did Huang Shan realize that Huzi was carrying a gun.