Chapter 14: Yue Feng's Development Plan

Chapter 14: Yue Feng's Development Plan

"Eighty cents a jin, no coupons needed!"

"Do you have anything fattier?" Yue Feng asked, glancing at the sled beside the vendor.

"This is all that's left. The belly meat and pork belly are all sold out! This one is a sow weighing over two hundred jin; it's delicious!"

"It's all lean meat then. Give me two jin. Can we do one yuan fifty?" Yue Feng asked.

The vendor knew lean meat was hard to sell. Hearing Yue Feng wanted to buy two jin at once, he gritted his teeth. "Fine, it's yours!"

Money exchanged for meat, the transaction was complete. Yue Feng picked up the meat and turned to leave.

After buying the meat, Yue Feng wandered over to another stall selling grain.

In front of this fellow were two small sacks—one filled with cornmeal and the other with white flour. He had been set up here since Yue Feng started his stall, and so far, it seemed he hadn't made a single sale.

"Hey, buddy! How much for a jin of white flour?"

"No coupons needed, twenty-one cents a jin!"

Yue Feng's heart jolted at the price.

No wonder he couldn't sell it. Given the current market, with coupons required, state-run grain stores only charged about seventeen cents. A four-cent difference wasn't small in the eyes of ordinary people.

"Twenty-one cents a jin. Give me ten jin. Can you do a deal?" Yue Feng didn't waste time, making it clear he was a big customer.

"Sure! Since you're buying so much, I'll give it to you for twenty cents!"

After paying, Yue Feng even scored a small sack for the flour for free.

Having finished his shopping, Yue Feng felt no lingering attachment. He slung the flour sack over his shoulder and strode toward home.

He hadn't eaten breakfast, and his stomach had been growling for a long time. However, when he passed the state-run restaurant, he couldn't bring himself to go in for a bun. A meat bun cost thirty cents; he could afford to eat, but with only a few yuan in his pocket, Yue Feng didn't quite have the confidence yet.

Carrying the flour sack, he walked home step by step. By the time he reached the entrance of the village, dawn had just broken, around six o'clock.

Yue Feng had already made arrangements with his family the night before. When he returned home with meat and flour, his father was sitting on a small stool in the middle of the courtyard, helping to train the hawk.

Even if a wild-caught hawk is trained, its daily exercise cannot be skipped, especially in the morning. If the hawk handler gets lazy and wakes up late, the hawk might become unruly. If you take it out to work and let go of the leash, it might soar straight into the clouds, making it impossible to call it back.

"Dad! I'm back!" Yue Feng called out as he pushed open the courtyard gate.

"Did you sell them?"

"Yeah! The Sand-half chickens went for seventy cents each, and the Flying Dragons for one yuan ten. Two people bought them all up! With the money, I bought some meat and ten jin of white flour! Your leg injury hasn't healed yet, so we need to keep up the nutrition to speed up recovery!" Yue Feng said proudly.

"Good! My second son has grown up; he knows how to care for his father!!" His father, Yue Lei, remarked with emotion as he looked at the meat and flour his son had brought back.

"Then I'll head inside!" Yue Feng carried the flour sack into the house.

His mother, Meng Yulan, was cooking corn porridge on the stove. She was equally delighted to see the pork and white flour. Upon learning that yesterday's prey had fetched five yuan and ninety cents, her enthusiasm surged.

"I'll parboil this meat later to save for stir-frying! We can mix the white flour with cornmeal to steam 'two-grain' buns; your little sister loves those!" Mother Meng Yulan took the supplies, already planning the meals.

Yue Feng said, "Mom, since the path of taking the hawk out to hunt is working, we don't have to eat so frugally from now on! I can earn several yuan just by taking the hawk out once. If I catch a Flying Dragon, I might earn even more! We can earn money every day, and our family can eat fine grains every day!"

Hearing her son's "extravagant" talk, Meng Yulan pursed her lips in dissatisfaction. "How can that be? I heard you getting up in the east room at three in the morning. This money isn't easy to come by, and there are many expenses at home! You can't just squander it like that!"

Yue Feng argued, "It's not squandering. If we eat better, Dad's leg will recover faster! Once I save enough to buy a No. 16 shotgun, I'll go up the mountain with Dad to hunt. We could bring back a whole pig and eat for months! Once we have some savings, we can raise a few mountain hunting dogs. Then, even if we run into a brown bear, we can take it down!!"

Listening to her son's grand ambitions, Meng Yulan wiped the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve. After a long silence, she said softly, "I don't ask for our family to be rich and noble; I only wish for everyone to be safe and sound."

"Listen to me, Mom. We'll use half of the meat brought today for stir-frying with oil, and the other half for dumplings tonight! Once I've eaten my fill, I'll head back up the mountain with the hawk. If the harvest is good, I'll go to the ghost market again tomorrow morning!"

"Fine! You earned the money, so we'll do it your way! I'll mince the filling after lunch. We'll have dumplings tonight!"

...

By the time breakfast was finished, it was nearly seven o'clock. Yue Feng slung his bag, took the hawk, and left the village again.

Having walked over forty li of mountain paths in the middle of the night, it would be a lie to say he wasn't tired. But at this moment, Yue Feng was driven forward by a conviction to completely change his family's situation.

The others in the village didn't even have the chance to work hard for money. Taking the hawk out to hunt could earn six yuan a day, which was far more profitable than the five cents earned per work point in the production team.

Since Yue Feng had successfully trained the hawk yesterday, he had much more freedom of choice for today's hunt.

The Great Blue Sparrowhawk had been trained by his father at dawn and was currently very well-behaved in Yue Feng's hands. Once they left the village, its eyes became lively; even when sparrows chirped in the roadside bushes, it strained toward them, full of spirit.

Now that the hawk was steady, Yue Feng certainly wouldn't let it waste its energy on sparrows. He followed the ridge he had descended yesterday, heading straight up from the foot of the mountain.

The Sand-half chickens in the small woods by the river were harder to catch, so Yue Feng focused today's hunting target primarily on the Flying Dragons.

The period from dawn until the sun had just risen was when the Flying Dragons moved in flocks to feed. Not even five hundred meters into the mountains, that familiar *zizizi* chicken cry echoed again.

Using the tree trunks for cover, Yue Feng slowly closed the distance with the hawk. Once he was within twenty meters, he decisively released the bird. The aggressive Great Blue Sparrowhawk flew low across the grass toward the flock.

A direct hit. The piercing scream of a Flying Dragon rang out, and the other birds scattered in panic.

Yue Feng hurried forward. He took out the half-eaten Sand-half chicken from yesterday from his backpack and placed it under the hawk's feet, easily swapping it for this adult male Flying Dragon.

He wrapped the prey in a sock, stuffed it into his backpack, and pocketed the one yuan ten cents.

After letting the Great Blue Sparrowhawk peck at the chicken meat for a few bites, Yue Feng re-mounted the hawk, took out his water flask to give it a sip, and continued the hunt.

In the morning pine forests, the Flying Dragons were scattered in small groups, and there were quite a few of them.

For the next hour or so, Yue Feng climbed along the eastern mountain base and moved along the ridges toward the western rocky outcrops. In total, he caught five Flying Dragons.

(End of Chapter)