1983, Northeast China

Chapter 28 Your Dad's Head Chapter 1 Entering Old Nangou

Old Wei pointed to the depths of the forest, "Remember, you're not the only one in the mountains who wants to eat meat. Green weasels want it, yellow weasels want it, night owls want it, and people who are starving want it too."

Ok?

Chen Shi looked up at Lao Wei, wondering what he meant by those words.

Old Wei continued, "The rabbits and fish are covered in blood. If you carry them into the ditch, the wind will carry the blood, and half the animals in the ditch will know that you've brought them food."

Li Cheng's face froze upon hearing this.

Chen Shi listened very attentively.

"People who come to the mountains to collect their goods are all thinking about how to get them back," Old Wei said. "But you two are showing off in front of animals."

After saying this, feeling as if he were scolding himself, Old Wei glared at Li Cheng.

Li Cheng thought he had done something wrong again and quickly glanced at Chen Shi.

Seeing that Chen Shi was listening attentively, he straightened his expression and pretended to be listening carefully. In order to appear to understand, he even nodded.

"Sexy goods shouldn't be left exposed."

"Don't go any deeper without a backup plan."

After saying that, Lao Wei pulled the ice chisel out of the snow. "Go and get the things back."

Li Cheng was taken aback. "It can be retrieved again?"

"Is your grain overflowing?"

Chen Shi walked towards the tree branch, with Li Cheng's muttering behind him...

"I have to be choked by this..."

Old Wei was behind him, carrying an ice chisel, his eyes still fixed on the forest.

Where the weasel scratched, two deep claw marks were left, with scattered dark red spots nearby, I wonder if they were from its mouth...

He slowly lowered the hemp rope.

"Wipe away the blood on the outside first, don't think it's too much trouble."

Old Wei picked a clean spot in the snow, grabbed a handful of snow, rubbed it on the rabbit's fur, and then rubbed it on the fish.

Then it was thrown to Chen Shi, who obediently took it and did as instructed.

The frozen blood clots on the rabbit's body were gradually wiped away by the snow.

"Don't leave the bottom of the basket empty; put some dry straw in it."

Chen Shi grabbed a handful of dry grass from the side, shook off the snow, and spread it at the bottom of the basket.

"Fish are fish, rabbits are rabbits, keep them separate. If the skin touches the fish, the fishy smell will all be trapped inside."

Chen Shi put the rabbit inside, separated by a layer of grass, before putting the fish in.

"Cover the outside with another layer of dry grass, and when you go back, don't stand in the wind all the time; take a detour if you can."

Watching this, Li Cheng couldn't help but say, "A rabbit and a few fish, handled like they're precious treasures."

This time, Lao Wei didn't shut him up. He pointed at him, and Li Cheng shut his mouth and fell silent.

When Chen Shi packed up the basket and carried it on his back, it did look different.

The pungent, fishy smell from before has faded considerably.

Old Wei lifted the lid and looked inside. "A half-grown rabbit, the skin is still relatively intact."

He looked at the two fish again and said, "The fish are small. How can you offer this as a thank you?"

Chen Shi didn't argue, "This is all we have at home that we can be proud of right now."

This time, Lao Wei didn't tease him anymore; he simply covered the withered grass back up.

"Carry it on your back."

Chen Shi nodded. "Mm."

Old Wei turned and walked deeper into the valley. "The first time your father went into Lao Nangou, he carried half a roe deer carcass."

Chen Shi stopped abruptly. "Have you seen my father go into Lao Nangou?"

Old Wei stared intently at the road ahead. "I've seen plenty of these."

Chen Shi stared at his retreating figure, wondering if Chen Mancang would tell him if he asked him about it now.

When he was a child, he didn't dare to ask. Later, when he wanted to ask, there was hardly anyone he could ask anymore; they were either gone or refused to tell him.

Old Wei is desperately trying to find an answer, or even just a related comment.

"My dad back then..."

Old Wei slowly turned his head, his eyes looking at him, yet also as if he were looking at someone else.

"He's braver than you. And he understands fear better than you."

Chen Shi wanted to ask more questions, but Lao Wei had already turned around and continued walking.

"Want to know? You'll have to survive in the mountains first."

Old Wei didn't walk fast; his feet touched the snow, leaving only a series of shallow footprints on the snow crust.

Li Cheng followed behind with his neck hunched. The cold sweat that had broken out from being frightened by the sly hadn't yet dried up, and his legs were still wobbling as he walked, as if he were walking on cotton.

He looked at the footprints left by Lao Wei, then looked back at his own, and lifted his foot to check several times, wondering if it was a problem with the shoe.

"Uncle," Li Cheng finally couldn't hold back his words, "Aren't you afraid at night living so deep in the mountains?"

Without turning his head, Old Wei uttered a single, dry word: "Afraid."

Li Cheng didn't expect Lao Wei to reply so decisively; he thought Lao Wei would call him a coward.

"Are you worried you might still be staying here?"

"Fear is what makes you live longer," Old Wei said as he walked. "Those who aren't afraid would be buried under the snow long ago."

Only the brave dare to go into the mountains, but being brave doesn't guarantee survival. You can't see anything just by being brave; a reckless person going into the mountains is no different from courting death.

Old Wei suddenly stopped.

Chen Shi also stopped.

Li Cheng almost bumped into his back.

Ahead lay a snow-covered slope, a vast expanse of white, looking perfectly normal.

But when Lao Wei poked at it with the ice chisel a couple of times, a grayish-white crack was revealed underneath, with a few clumps of frozen grass beside the crack.

"Don't step on this spot," Old Wei said.

Li Cheng dared not move his feet, and craned his neck to look, "What's wrong?"

"The bottom is the waterline."

"You can tell from that?"

Old Wei glanced back at him and said, "If you can't tell, try it with your leg."

Li Cheng immediately pulled his foot back.

Chen Shi squatted down and took a look.

The crack was very fine, like a cut made in the snow with a knife. The snow next to it was a darker color than the rest of the snow, so it was almost invisible unless you looked closely.

He had been into the mountains in his previous life, mostly relying on luck and memory, but he had never ventured deep into the mountains. He knew a little about where the fish were, where to set traps, and what medicinal herbs grew in which places, but he was far from knowing the life-saving details.

Before he could ask, Lao Wei bypassed the waterline and turned down the slope.

At the end of the snow slope, there is a raised snow mound.

At first glance, it looks like a bulge made of snow piled up by the wind. But upon closer inspection, you can see that half of a dark wooden door frame is exposed under the snow mound, with a straw curtain hanging above it.

Old Wei poked the door frame with an ice pick.

There was no movement inside.

He then lifted the straw curtain, bent down, and crawled inside.

Chen Shi put down the basket and followed him in sideways.

The inside of the dugout was lower than the outside, and there were two steps made of wooden planks at the entrance.

A smell of earth and dampness suddenly rushed in, instantly clearing the nose of someone who had been freezing outside.

After crawling in, Li Cheng let out a long sigh of relief, "Phew, I'm alive again."

Old Wei kicked a wooden stump next to him and said irritably, "Make sure your feet are clean of snow so you don't put out my fire."

Li Cheng quickly retreated to the doorway and stomped his feet frantically.

The dugout was small and very simple.

On one side was a fire pit surrounded by stones. Old Wei poked it with a stick, and the smoke didn't go towards the door, but instead escaped through a crack left in the top.

A row of tools hung on the wall: ropes of varying thicknesses, old, blackened leather, and a hoe with a broken handle. An iron pot sat in the corner.