Rebirth 1983: The counterattack started from hunting in the mountains

Four hours later, in Qingyang Town, at my second uncle’s house.

It was already dark at this time, and the two men, who had been busy all day, were ready to disturb the old man.

Unexpectedly, at this time the yard was brightly lit and there were intense noises coming from the house.

The two men did not dare to enter the house rashly, so they could only stay outside, waiting for the smell of gunpowder to dissipate before going in.

After a brief argument and their usual observations, the two came to the conclusion that the second uncle's children came to divide the family property.

Now that the children have grown up, it’s time to split up the family. My second uncle has already been mentally prepared.

But now we are stuck on one issue and we still can't reach a consensus, which is about my second uncle's birthday and his future retirement care.

Those children were all talking about their difficulties, the general idea being that they were unable to take on the responsibility of supporting their elderly parents.

Every month, each person gives a maximum of 2 yuan in pension. The total for three sons and one daughter is 8 yuan, which is enough for my second uncle to have enough food and drink.

But there was no way to take him home to be taken care of, so he could only continue to stay alone in this old and dilapidated courtyard.

As for his birthday, my second uncle is already 79 years old, and the date is the third day of next month.

According to the local custom, every ninth day of the ninth lunar month should be a grand celebration. Originally, the children should be the ones to do it, but for various reasons, they clamor that it cannot be done.

From beginning to end, my second uncle just smoked his pipe silently and didn't say a word about the quarrel in the room. It seemed that he could only wait for the result.

Chen Ergou was so angry when he heard what happened outside that he couldn't help but jump out.

"Stop arguing. Second Uncle raised you all, so you should take care of him until he grows old. This 80th birthday party must be held."

As soon as Chen Ergou stepped forward, all the fire instantly fell on his head.

"Oh... it's easy for you to say that. Do you know how much it costs to hold such a grand banquet?"

"You are talking without any pain in your waist. If you have the guts to talk big here, why don't you say you will do one yourself!"

……

Faced with these aggressive words, Chen Ergou was so angry that his face turned red, and he stiffened his neck and shouted: "You are incompetent and you want to push the responsibility to me. Unless you are all dead, how can it be my turn to take care of it!"

"Ah, you heartless person, how dare you curse us to death! We have pitied you since we were young and helped you from time to time, and this is how you repay us?"

"As an outsider, you have no right to get involved in our family affairs. Get out of here!"

"Chen Ergou, you are the incompetent ungrateful bastard. If you can't stand it, you can pay. Who do you think you are to keep complaining here?"

……

Seeing Chen Ergou being scolded but unable to fight back, Zhang Yaoyang couldn't stand it anymore. It was completely unnecessary to argue with such unreasonable people. It was like a scholar meeting a soldier, he couldn't even explain his manners. It was just a waste of breath.

"Okay, shut up, let my second uncle speak and ask him what he thinks."

Zhang Yaoyang's voice was powerful and strong, carrying an authority that should not be underestimated. After being scolded by him, these fierce children finally turned their anger to their second uncle.

"Dad, please give me some advice. What should we do?"

"Yes, we will do whatever you say. You are the boss of this family."

……

The pressure fell on my second uncle, what should he say?

My second uncle's dim old eyes looked at the flickering wick, so silent that he seemed as if he could stay there as a statue for the rest of his life.

After a long time, under the repeated urging of his children, he finally spoke.

"But let's not pass it. Just do as we said just now. If you have more, give more. If you don't have any, don't give any. That's it. It's late. Let's go!"

Naturally, his words made the children very happy. They took out two crumpled dollars, stuffed them into their second uncle's hands, and then quickly left the broken yard, fearing that something unexpected would happen if they walked a step slower.

After the people in the yard left, Chen Ergou sat down next to his second uncle in a depressed mood.

"Second Uncle, this concerns your happiness for the rest of your life, why didn't you stand up a little bit?"

This time, these unfilial guys, considering the presence of the two of them, will still give two dollars this month, but next month they might make all kinds of excuses and simply not give anything.

By that time, my second uncle will be so old that he will have difficulty eating coarse food.

The second uncle did not respond to Chen Ergou's nagging, but turned his head to look at Zhang Yaoyang and motioned him to take out a basket behind the door.

"These are the bullets made from your two kilograms of gunpowder. There are 78 of them in total. Use them sparingly."

Zhang Yaoyang naturally accepted the bullet happily. After thinking for a while, he took out ten yuan and handed it to his second uncle.

"Second uncle, you are a craftsman. I will have to trouble you for help in this matter. I can't let you help for nothing. You must accept this salary."

If Zhang Yaoyang was not afraid that the old man would refuse to accept it if he gave too much, he would even be willing to give 100 yuan.

The other party was so old, but he helped him day and night and made so many bullets in just two days and one night, solving his urgent problem.

He was truly grateful.

Sure enough, just as Zhang Yaoyang expected, his second uncle refused on the spot.

"You youngsters, your uncle has plenty of time. I'm charging you for making little things for you. If this gets out, do you want to get stabbed in the back by others?"

Chen Ergou became anxious and quickly joined in.

"Second uncle, you can't say that. You must accept this money. Otherwise, we won't dare to ask you to make bullets again in the future."

Zhang Yaoyang was also very sincere and forcefully stuffed the money into his hands.

"Yes, Second Uncle, you have helped us. We have made money, so we should give back to you. If you don't accept it, you are treating us as outsiders."

After repeated persuasion from the two, the stubborn second uncle finally had no choice but to accept the money. However, he still felt that it was too much and insisted on giving him back five yuan.

After Zhang Yaoyang bargained with him, he finally accepted 7 yuan as a reward for his hard work, and the remaining three yuan was returned to Zhang Yaoyang.

Seeing this, Zhang Yaoyang took some of the daily necessities he had secretly purchased from the tricycle.

All the rice, flour, grain, oil and other things were moved to my second uncle's house for free.

The second uncle silently calculated that the things Zhang Yaoyang had given him were more than the three dollars he returned.

The money could be returned, but it was hard to refuse the gifts given by the younger generation to the elders, so I had no choice but to accept them.

That night, the two slept at his home as usual. Chen Ergou had been busy all day and should have fallen asleep as soon as he lay down, but he tossed and turned in bed as if there were nails on his bed, which made Zhang Yaoyang unable to sleep either.

Chen Ergou is an orphan. He has been raised by an extremely old grandfather since he was young and his life is very hard.

At that time, my second uncle was still in good health. He would go up the mountain to hunt from time to time. Whenever he had something delicious, he would help this poor child.

Therefore, he had already regarded his second uncle as his closest relative. Now seeing that the old man was not living well, he felt very tormented.

"Ergou, if you are worried, take your second uncle to the village. It is convenient to live there and take care of him. The most important thing is that he can keep your grandfather company, so he won't be lonely."

"Well... it's not impossible, I'm just afraid that Lihua will have an opinion. After all, this is not something that can be done in a day or two..."

Before the new bride gets married, there is already an old man to take care of, which is somewhat of a burden. Not every woman is willing to serve the elderly, let alone an old relative from a distant family.

Chen Ergou is now worried about everything. He is afraid of making Lihua unhappy, and also afraid that his second uncle will not have a good home. It would be bad to let anyone down.

Zhang Yaoyang smiled and said, "A large part of the troubles in this world are caused by lack of money."

"Men, as long as you have money in your hands, you will have the right to speak. Make more money! There is no problem that money can't solve."

Chen Ergou's eyes lit up, as if he was enlightened by Zhang Yaoyang.

After the incident with Hunter Zhang, he had already developed a resistance to mountain climbing. At most, he would continue to run one or two more trips to cover his daily expenses, and then he would quit.

But now it seems that the money he earns is not enough to support his second uncle and maintain a status in the family.

Going up the mountain is his only way out!