Chapter 56: The Opportunity Has Arrived

Listening to his son boast with wild enthusiasm, Zhao Guixiang was both exasperated and amused. She gently tapped the back of Lin Yang’s head and scolded with a smile, "Just keep bragging! As the saying goes, those who drown are always the good swimmers. I think you'd better stop going into the mountains altogether."

"With just a slingshot, you could catch sparrows every day and stockpile quite a bit. I heard the commune collects sparrows—ten of them can be traded for a catty of white flour!"

"It's too wasteful to give them to your father for his drinks; we might as well trade them for white flour to improve our family's meals."

Hearing this, a flash of hesitation crossed Lin Dahai's eyes.

Why would it be a waste for me to eat them?

This is out of my son's filial piety, specially caught for his old man to enjoy with drinks!

Hearing that, Lin Yang's heart skipped a beat. Terrified that his mother might actually change her mind and confiscate his Mosin-Nagant, his entire plan would be ruined.

Quickly turning his thoughts, inspiration struck, and he immediately said, "Mother, let me ask you just one thing: do you still want to hold a grandson sooner?"

This single sentence hit Zhao Guixiang like a heavy bomb, striking straight at her heart.

Hearing this, Zhao Guixiang indeed began to hesitate.

She knew her son too well—his stubbornness was like that of a mule, and once he made up his mind, not even eight horses could pull him back.

"What are you trying to do?"

Zhao Guixiang stared at Lin Yang, her eyes filled with vigilance.

Lin Yang chuckled, a cunning expression appearing on his face as he said, "Mom, don't worry, I promise I'll only wander around the outer edges of the mountain range. If I'm lucky enough to bag a grouse, a single one can sell for seventy or eighty yuan!"

"If I hunt a dozen or so grouse, won't we have enough money saved to bring a daughter-in-law home in grand style?"

"Besides, rabbits in the mountains reproduce so fast—snow hares, mountain jumpers, all kinds of them. As long as I'm careful, nothing will happen."

Zhao Guixiang finally understood her son's intentions. She rolled her eyes at him in exasperation and said, "Stop chattering away here. If I find out you little rascal ventured deep into the mountains, see if I don't give you a good hiding! Scram, scram, scram, seeing you just irritates me, always bringing me trouble."

Taking the hint while she was ahead, Lin Yang hurriedly scampered back to his room with a cheeky grin.

At dinner that night, the table featured a plate of fragrant stir-fried sparrows, along with six sparrows roasted until their skin was golden brown and sizzling with oil.

Lin Yang ate only one roasted sparrow, leaving the rest for his old man to enjoy with his drinks.

The cornmeal porridge was a bit coarse and scratchy on the throat. Since his mother usually couldn't bear to eat white flour, Lin Yang ate two iron-flatbreads with the side dishes and went back to his room to sleep.

Although they had eaten some meat over the past couple of days, the family's bodies were still lacking in oil and fat. After all, times were hard, and his mother still pinched pennies wherever she could.

Lin Yang pondered to himself that with the help of the system's auto-aim, once he entered the mountain tomorrow, he could hunt whatever game he wanted to eat.

He was particularly craving squirrel meat; roasted, it carried a unique pine aroma, and when sprinkled with a bit of seasoning and paired with a couple of roasted flatbreads, the taste alone made his mouth water.

However, early the next morning, just as Lin Yang woke up and pushed the door open, a bone-chilling cold wind hit him squarely in the face.

He couldn't help shivering, and when he looked up, he saw snowflakes fluttering thickly across the sky, a blizzard of goose-feather flakes dancing everywhere.

Fortune did not smile upon him—it was actually snowing.

He sighed helplessly, turned back into the room, picked up the Mosin-Nagant, and carefully wiped the rifle down, applying a coat of gun oil.

He thought to himself that if he could use bear fat to wipe it, the effect would definitely be much better than the machine oil he was using now.

At the same time, that black bear surfaced in his mind once more.

"Don't go into the mountains today!" Lin Dahai sat inside the house, weaving a wicker basket. He raised his head and shouted toward Lin Yang:

"The snow is probably going to keep falling all day. Going into the mountains is too dangerous; visibility is poor, and it's easy for accidents to happen. Those wild beasts might even head down the mountain looking for food in the snow, so you mustn't take the risk."

By this time, Lin Yang had already firmly strapped his hunting knife to his waist, slung the Mosin-Nagant securely across his back, held his slingshot in his hand, and stuffed a small pouch of steel ball bearings into his pocket. Fully armed, he was all set to head into the mountains.

He smiled and replied, "Dad, I really have to go into the mountains today. All those materials I spent a dozen yuan on the last couple of days have been turned into traps; who knows, some game might have already taken the bait by now."

"If I don't go bring those things back, they'll surely end up benefiting someone else. By then, my heart would ache to death."

Hearing this, Lin Dahai glared at Lin Yang and snapped crossly, "Go my foot! If they're lost, let them be lost. Snow days are the most dangerous; not to mention how visibility is affected, those fierce beasts might just wander down the mountain to forage."

"Besides, I heard that Sun Daqiang took two hunting dogs and a dozen people up the mountain early this morning."

Lin Yang narrowed his eyes slightly, a meaningful smile curving the corners of his lips as he said, "It's even better that they went up! They can just blaze a trail for me! Who knows, they might even help drive the beasts right toward me, and I can reap the profits from behind, hehe!"

Based on his memories from his past life, Lin Yang knew very well that the current snowfall wasn't enough to pose a major threat yet.

The truly fatal time was when the mountains were sealed by heavy snow, when the accumulation was thick enough to swallow one's knees, leaving nowhere to run if one encountered large predators.

But right now, the snow on the ground barely covered his ankles, and its impact on his movements was still quite limited.

What's more, that fellow Sun Daqiang had already gone up the mountain.

Lin Yang clearly remembered that today Sun Daqiang would cross paths with the forestry crew on the mountain. And those forestry crew members would be completely hoodwinked by Sun Daqiang's glib tongue.

Sun Daqiang hadn't succeeded in seizing the opportunity with the old village chief, but today's opportunity was one Lin Yang would definitely not let him steal.