Chapter 26: Taking Xiao Tao into the City

The afternoon harvest was also quite good. Yue Feng had taken Xiao Tao to a new spot they hadn't visited before. In just half an afternoon, they managed to catch 11 Flying Dragons and five Sand-half Chickens.

Since they had run out of the old socks used for carrying the birds, Yue Feng stuffed two of the lower-priced Sand-half Chickens into a single sock. When they ran out of space toward the end, he simply used wire to bind the wingtips and legs together. To be honest, aside from slightly affecting their appearance, it didn't make much of a difference.

By the time the sun began to tilt in the late afternoon, around four o'clock, the two brothers returned to the village, each carrying a bulging shoulder bag.

The total hawk-hunting harvest for the day: 19 Flying Dragons, 8 Sand-half Chickens (seven in perfect condition, one for feeding the hawks), and one weasel.

By consciously taking a detour, the two avoided the main roads, instead circling through the farmland on the other side to enter the village via a small path. Aside from encountering one villager gathering mountain goods, no one else knew of their whereabouts.

Upon reaching the doorstep of his home, the two didn't rush inside. Instead, they sat under the large elm tree in the courtyard to divide the spoils.

According to the rules of partnering for hunting, the leader takes half, and the rest is split between the working hawks and the assistant responsible for the staff. All things considered, Xiao Tao barely qualified as an assistant, so he was entitled to one-quarter of the day's total earnings.

Yue Feng intended to give Xiao Tao a larger share, but he feared that moving too fast might cause unintended consequences. Thus, he decided to stick to the customary rules for the time being.

As for the weasel meat, which wasn't very tasty, it was perfect for feeding the hawks.

Yue Feng had wanted Xiao Tao to take a few birds home in the evening, but the boy knew that a single live Flying Dragon could sell for 1.1 yuan. He refused to take any home, insisting they be sold together when they went to the city tomorrow.

After agreeing on the time to head to the city the next morning, the two brothers went their separate ways to their respective homes.

When Yue Feng entered his house, he saw two newly woven, three-finger-wide small hawk riding-cage mesh nets hanging on the clothesline in the courtyard. Under the second net, Yue Lei was still finishing up; once the last few knots were tied and the cord was threaded, another small hawk net would be complete!

"Dad! Did you just weave these today?" Yue Feng was greatly surprised to see the nets.

He had originally planned to stay home and weave nets during the day after returning from the city tomorrow, not realizing his father had already made arrangements in advance.

Yue Lei nodded with a smile. "If you're going to catch more hawks, one crappy riding-cage net won't be enough! I've also finished making the three-piece set for tethering small hawks, and I've prepared the decoy rolling cages. They're all in the granary!"

Yue Feng opened the granary door for a look. Inside two finely woven rolling cages, there were five or six sparrows in each. This setup was far superior to the three sparrows Yue Feng had once caught under the eaves of a grass hut in the dark.

"Did you catch these sparrows randomly?" Yue Feng asked curiously.

"I asked your mother to get some medicinal wine from Old Man Zhao at the village entrance to soak wheat grains to catch them!"

Old Man Zhao at the village entrance was also a hunter, though he specialized in medicinal bait. He would catch birds with medicine after the snow fell, and in May or June, he would go into the mountains to dig for deer caches to medicate deer. During normal times, he farmed his land, relying on this skill to support his five children, living a fairly comfortable life.

"Did you tell Xiao Tao about forming a team?"

"Yeah, I did! I mentioned the idea to him, and he agreed without hesitation. He told me to go find the Zhang brothers after dinner! Oh, and today, while I was taking Xiao Tao to catch Sand-half Chickens by the woods near the river, Da Qing Yao caught a weasel!"

As he spoke, Yue Feng pulled the weasel out of his pocket. He hadn't brought a skinning knife up the mountain, so he hadn't dared to skin it. Aside from its eyes being pecked out and some blood around its mouth from internal bleeding, the weasel was otherwise intact.

"Huh! This little goshawk is so fierce, it actually dared to take on a weasel? And it pecked out its eyes?"

After glancing at the weasel's eyes, Yue Lei was completely stunned.

Yue Feng nodded. "Yeah. It used a 'double-clawed tiger head-grab'—both claws went straight for the face, and the large outer talons clamped the weasel's mouth shut tight! Once I stomped on it and left it heavily injured, Da Qing Yao didn't even need my guidance; its first strike went straight for the weasel's eyes!"

Hearing his son's account of the battle, Yue Lei nodded. "The wild pheasant pecked its eyes this time, and the weasel pecked its eyes too. Once might be an accident, but twice is an objective fact! Take good care of this hawk. Once it snows, if we can catch a sable in the mountains, we won't just have a few extra for the winter—if we get three or five, our family will strike it rich!"

Yue Feng wasn't sure if Da Qing Yao could catch a sable before testing it, but a weasel was about the size of a gray dog; using a hawk to catch such a "gray dog" was definitely a sure thing.

Yue Feng had already formed a preliminary plan. Once the hawk-hunting team was established and everyone else went into the mountains to hunt Sand-half Chickens and Flying Dragons, Yue Feng would use the flat-winged hawks to hunt gray dogs. Those were much easier to find than weasels; if you knew the right spots in the red pine forests on the sunny slopes, there were plenty of them.

***

On the other side, after returning home, Xiao Tao recounted everything Yue Feng had mentioned about hawk hunting to Li Wentong in full detail.

Old Li had been neighbors with the Yue family for over twenty years, and both sides understood each other's temperaments very well. On the day Yue Feng first went to the city, Li Wentong had followed him from a distance at the request of his good friend, though Yue Feng's low vigilance meant he hadn't noticed.

Where Yue Feng set up his stall, who he sold to, and even how much money he made—Li Wentong had a general idea of it all.

Now that Yue Feng was bringing Xiao Tao along to help his family earn money, there was no reason to refuse.

One could slowly learn the skill of hawk hunting, and catching even a few birds was better than sitting idle at home. Even if they only caught two Flying Dragons a day, they were worth over two yuan in the city.

In the past, after the snow fell every year, Xiao Tao's father could always get wild boars or roe deer from the mountains. Xiao Tao had been afraid his father was too proud to stoop to the work of driving small game with hawks.

Having received his father's approval, the weight on Xiao Tao's heart was completely lifted.

After dinner, Xiao Tao took a flashlight and went to the Zhang house to mention the matter to the Zhang brothers. Upon learning that Yue Feng was willing to lead them to earn money without requiring any upfront investment, Zhang Xiaowen and Zhang Xiaowu agreed without a moment's hesitation.

Both parties agreed to meet at Yue Feng's house the next morning.

At 3:30 AM the next day, Yue Feng rose early from his quilt and dressed. He couldn't borrow the village secretary's bicycle every day; in these times, the main mode of transport was still one's own two legs.

With the Flying Dragons and Sand-half Chickens from yesterday packed on his back, Yue Feng waited at Xiao Tao's doorstep for a few minutes before the fully equipped Xiao Tao emerged.

"Let's go!"

With a call from Yue Feng, the two brothers set off along the familiar village paths, disappearing into the vast darkness of the night.

With Xiao Tao as company, Yue Feng felt it wasn't as tedious and boring as when he was alone. Along the way, Xiao Tao asked many questions about the city, and Yue Feng answered what he could. After an hour's journey, the two arrived at the Ghost Market without much trouble.

Because they had departed half an hour late today, the sky was already nearing dawn by the time they reached the market.