Chapter 51: Has He Given Up, or Has He Become Smarter?

"The gun you made is truly fantastic!"

Upon arriving at the educated youth courtyard, Qin Feng exclaimed while keeping busy with his tasks.

Only now did he realize that his brother always thought things through thoroughly before taking any action, no matter what he did!

As everyone knew, regardless of the pelt, only intact ones could fetch a good price.

The air rifles they used boasted high close-range accuracy, sufficient stopping power, and very little noise—all of which were major advantages.

For hunting small animals like weasels, this was simply too convenient and perfectly suited!

Just like right now, they were able to hunt four weasels consecutively in the exact same spot.

If they were using a regular shotgun, the tremendous noise of a single shot would undoubtedly startle every piece of game within a radius of more than a hundred meters.

Furthermore, all four of the slaughtered weasels had been hit with a single headshot, meaning there was zero damage to the pelts.

Qin Feng kept busy while offering praises.

Without Chu Yu's help this time around, Qin Feng still worked quite quickly.

Even so, after skinning, Chu Yu was still needed to handle the weasel meat.

Looking at the twenty-four weasel pelts hanging on the wall to dry in the shade, Qin Jun felt a slight sense of accomplishment.

As for the previously salted and air-dried meat, Qin Jun hadn't laid eyes on it.

Naturally, he didn't care to see it either, because he had no desire to eat it.

After finishing their work and hanging up the pelts, the two brothers left the educated youth courtyard.

On the way home, Qin Jun did not forget to notify Chu Yu, telling him to go over to the courtyard and tie up the loose ends.

"I need to figure out a way to bag a hare; otherwise, I won't have the face to keep asking Chu Yu for help."

Walking along, Qin Jun felt the gun in his hand.

Ever since his rebirth and return, he had never felt so grounded.

This grounded feeling stemmed from the weapon in his hand, giving him the sensation of having returned to decades later.

Qin Feng was also feeling the gun in his hand, a faraway look appearing on his face.

"Hunting hares requires the nighttime, and it depends on the circumstances. If the moonlight is good tonight, we'll sleep early and head out to the southern wheat fields around ten o'clock!"

Qin Jun nodded, knowing full well that hunting was best done at night.

Hares were nocturnal animals, after all. To hunt hares during the day, one absolutely needed hunting dogs.

Otherwise, unless you literally stepped on a hare, there was no way a hare would run around aimlessly in broad daylight.

Without being able to find the hares, how could one hunt during the day?

Yet nighttime hunting had its limitations too—namely, lighting equipment, and once again, hunting dogs.

Fortunately, he had cobbled together a flashlight himself; otherwise, hunting hares at night would have been pure wishful thinking.

"I'll find a way to borrow a miner's lamp. The moment I borrow one, we're going hunting!"

Qin Feng was equally enthusiastic about the hunt.

Of course, he wasn't going to limit himself to nighttime operations either, as he planned to go bird hunting right after breakfast.

Sparrows and turtledoves were money!

Although they couldn't compare to weasels, even a mosquito's leg was meat, no matter how small.

Returning home, his mother and sister-in-law had already prepared breakfast—the usual sweet potato porridge.

"Dad, aren't you guys going a bit too far?"

Qin Jun held his bowl of sweet potato porridge, took a single sip, and grievances immediately welled up inside him.

Qin Zhihe was also drinking his sweet potato porridge. Hearing Qin Jun's complaint, he didn't even bother to lift an eyelid, acting as if he hadn't heard a thing.

Having no other choice, Qin Jun quickly gulped down a few mouthfuls. Once he finished, he didn't run away from home.

Leisurely, Qin Jun returned to his workshop, packed up a few items, and walked into the main room.

"Sister-in-law, take this set of spatulas and kitchen knives back for my uncle and aunt."

"Oh?" Yang Yuanyuan looked at her brother-in-law in surprise. What was this all about? And why were there so many?

"This is a small stir-fry wok, this flat one is a skillet, and these right here are kitchen knives."

Yang Yuanyuan picked up a strangely shaped knife. It wasn't square and regular; instead, it somewhat resembled a heavy cleaver used for chopping meat, though slightly smaller in size.

Yet when she gripped it and tested its weight, it felt exceptionally comfortable, as if it were much lighter and more nimble!

"This one is a bone-chopping knife, and that smaller one is the slicing knife. If you're cutting meat, use that pointed knife."

"Don't let its light weight fool you—that pointed knife is razor-sharp, so you need to be a bit careful when using it."

Qin Jun glanced at old Qin, then began explaining things to his sister-in-law.

Whenever his sister-in-law picked up a knife, Qin Jun would introduce it, and by the time he finished, the entire family was in a daze.

After a long moment, Yang Yuanyuan finally spoke, "How much must all this cost?"

"I'm giving them as a gift to my uncle and aunt, how could I charge money for them?" Qin Jun said with a beaming smile.

His mother smiled as well, chiming in, "That's right! How could we ever take money for things going to your maternal family?"

His eldest brother, Qin Li, then spoke up, "Well then, I'll have to thank our third brother!"

Meanwhile, Qin Jun was still looking at old Qin. "Dad, don't you have any thoughts on this?"

Old Qin's facial muscles twitched slightly. "What kind of thoughts should I have?"

"Such wonderful items, didn't your old self think about getting a set?" Qin Jun asked with a grin.

Qin Zhihe rolled his eyes directly. "Talking so nice, are we? Want a set? If you give them to me for free, of course I'll take them, but if I have to buy them, I can't afford it!"

Qin Jun looked at his father in astonishment. What was going on here? Had he given up and gone passive? Or had he grown smarter?

"My eldest and second brothers are going to split the household and separate eventually, right? Aren't you going to prepare some things for them? Or do you plan to make them leave with empty hands?"

Seeing Qin Jun's punchable expression, Qin Zhihe felt an itch of annoyance.

"You're definitely going to leave with empty hands in the future!"

Qin Jun was taken aback. Had he really grown smarter?

"Dad, you're truly not buying? I'm not making any more after this. If you don't buy now, you won't have another chance!"

Qin Zhihe rolled his eyes again, completely unmoved.

Helplessly, Qin Jun muttered, "Since there's only one set of cookware left, it looks like I'll just have to use it myself."

Qin Zhihe merely waved his hand dismissively, the gesture clearly meaning: *do whatever you want!*

Finishing the last drop of his porridge, Qin Zhihe stood up, placed his hands behind his back, and strolled out leisurely.

Qin Jun was left somewhat dumbfounded. He actually just left?

The veteran comrade Qin Zhihe really did just leave, successfully resisting the temptation of a set of cookware.

Once he was out of earshot, the rest of the family burst into laughter.

His mother patted her third son's head and smiled. "Stop picking on your father!"

Eldest brother Qin Li also chimed in, "Third brother, you went a bit too far!"

Second brother Qin Feng spoke up then, "Our dad stopped managing household affairs ages ago. As for the grain at home, he basically said you can waste it however you want!"

Qin Jun froze. "He surrendered that long ago?"

"Is that any way to talk about your father?" Their eldest sister, Qin Yingchun, said with a smile.

Qin Jun felt helpless. Had the entire family figured it out while he was the only one amusing himself?

Second sister Qin Fengchun curled her lips and said, "Our dad isn't stupid. Fooling him once was enough, you really thought you could pull it off a second time?"

Thinking about it, Qin Jun realized she was right.

The atmosphere in their family was simply too good—so good that Qin Jun would always believe later on that all his nephews and nieces were probably advanced-level replicas of their parents.

They treated you with genuine kindness, the kind that made you inevitably want to pour your heart and soul out to them in return.

Sigh, thinking about it brought tears to his eyes!

Was it easy for him to earn a little money in the future? Why did he still have to buy good treats for his nephews and nieces?

He was still an unmarried baby himself! He still needed to save up his own retirement fund!

Not wanting to say another word, Qin Jun dropped the set of cookware and walked away.

Old Qin was a man of great clarity; he had firmly grasped the truth that whatever Qin Jun had, his two older brothers would certainly have as well.

However, whether the fourth brother, Qin Mao, would get any was another story entirely!

Failing to spot Qin Mao yet again, Qin Jun suddenly realized that the kid hadn't started his break yet—he had gone off to school bright and early that morning. What a miserable student life!

Arriving at the workshop, he packed up all his tools.

Next, he gathered a complete set of cookware, which was meant to be taken over to the lime kiln.

When Qin Han arrived, the two of them stacked the large and small boiling pots, steamers, woks, and skillets together and carried them off.

As for Qin Jun, he carried various cutting tools, topped off with an axe.

Right as he was about to step out the door, Qin Jun suddenly caught sight of some square hammer heads he had cast!

"Qin Han, wait up. Grab a few more hammer heads!"

With a quick turn of his thoughts, Qin Jun came up with a way to shear some wool off the kiln factory's sheep.

His wages were fixed at that meager amount and couldn't be increased.

However, his income could be supplemented. These cookware sets and hammer heads of his could all be sold to the factory.

That way, he would earn money while also winning the gratitude of Qin Zheng and the others, because these items were not easy to buy and required industrial ration coupons.

Still, wouldn't selling too many at once be a bit conspicuous?

Realizing this, Qin Jun quickly told Qin Han to put the hammer heads back down.

There was no need to rush this; take it slow. The money he deserved to make wasn't going anywhere!

Carrying a huge pile of items, the two of them walked leisurely toward the kiln.

As soon as they stepped inside, a crowd swarmed around them.

Among them were not only fellow villagers from their own village, but also people from other production teams who had come to haul lime.

By now, it wasn't just the Eleventh Team coming over to burn lime; other teams had also started coming to ask for help with burning their own, and of course, even more people wanted to line up to buy some.