Chapter 4 Chapter 4
In summer, it is eroded by heavy rains, and the big and old trees that have been knocked down by lightning have almost dried up in autumn and winter.
Zhang Fangyuan was so strong, he chopped off the branches of the wood thicker than the waist, collected it and carried it to the edge of the mountain pass to pile it up for chopping firewood.
He picks and chooses. The straight and smooth logs are generally reluctant to be split to make firewood. This kind of wood can be saved as wood for building a house and repairing a barn in the future, and someone will take it to the wood yard. Bad and strong, it can be exchanged for ten to thirty coins.
Although selling the picked wood can make money, it is a kind of luck and a lot of physical exertion. Villagers who don't have Zhang Fangyuan's physique generally don't make this money, because they carry wood for sale every year. Broken waist, crooked feet, injured muscles and bones.
Occasionally, I want to improve my food and buy a catty of meat to eat. However, there are young and strong men who carry two trees from the village to the woodyard to sell.
In half an hour, Zhang Fangyuan found a dozen pieces of wood, and only two of them were of good material, and the others were crooked and unsalable. He took out a hatchet and an ax from the back basket, and chopped the bad wood into small pieces on the spot, or split it directly.
Chopping firewood is tiring, even if you don't wear two pieces specially in winter, you can sweat all over in just a quarter of an hour. There was no one around, so Zhang Fangyuan simply took off his clothes and hung them on a branch beside him, thinking in his heart that when he went to slaughter a few more animals, he would exchange the money for a saw. Too tired to use axes and hatchets.
He was thinking of better tools here, but he didn't know that his own knives and axes were enough to make others envious, and Xu He, who came to collect firewood from the small road and mountain, only had a blunt sickle with a lame blade.
Xu He held the back rope hanging on his shoulders with both hands. The rope as thick as his thumb was fine when the back basket was not loaded. A piece of flesh was strangled by the back rope.
For this reason, when he goes up the mountain, he will deliberately collect layers of soft coats on the palm trees. If there are too many layers, he can take them home and sew them into a back rope half a palm wide, which can reduce a lot of pressure on the load.
However, he had just replaced the back pan he used to use with a new back rope, and his mother took it for use. He had to use a back pan with a thin back rope, so he went up to the mountain to pick up some firewood.
He was in a trance thinking about whether he could collect more palm tree coats today, when he pricked up his ears, he heard the sound of chopping firewood, one after another, as if he had inexhaustible strength, which made him quicken his pace .
Everyone likes to pull firewood to the hillside for chopping or loading. Firstly, it is close to the way down the mountain, so it is easy to go down the mountain; secondly, this side is more open and bright, so you can always pay attention to the time and weather.
Like a stubborn snail, Xu He managed to climb up the hill with a basket that was much bigger than his own body. Before he could catch his breath, a tall man with his upper body swinging an ax suddenly pierced his eyes.
The man stood beside the pile of firewood like a rock that could not be blown by the wind. His exposed back and arms were wheat-colored and bronze-colored. When he exerted his strength, the veins on his arms swelled up. It seemed that he was fully charged. Role.
I don't know how long I have been up the mountain, but the firewood cut at my feet is as high as the hill.
Xu He took a deep breath, averted his eyes belatedly, and almost tripped over a stone in a panic.
Zhang Fangyuan heard a sound behind him, and while wiping his sweat, he turned his head and saw that it was the youngest of the Xu family.
The little brother walked lightly with his face sideways, not wanting to make any noise to disturb others. His appearance was very similar to a little black and thin monkey. He was clearly considered tall among the brothers of the same age in the village, but he was too thin and frail. Not as good as those short chirps.
There are not many men in the village from a good family background, so that they are stunted and are not tall, so the younger brother is too tall, but he is not very popular among men in the village.
Standing next to him is about the same size as me, without the feeling of being a small bird, few men will be good at this, but generally the family likes a big brother, this kind of work is amazing.
Zhang Fangyuan greeted each other friendlyly: Brother He.
The little black thin monkey raised its head when he heard the words, but he was still walking, but when he saw the person's face, his breath was stagnant, and he didn't answer, and trotted into the mountain.
Zhang Fangyuan looked at the younger brother's back, and heard people say that the youngest Xu not only looks very different from his sister, but also has a temper that is not comparable to his sister. He is weird and withdrawn. Most of them don't say a word, just like someone owes money to his family.
The temper is cold and smelly, like this little brother who wants to be colorless and can't speak to be flattering, how will he marry in the future, most likely he will stay at home as an old brother and pay late wedding tax.
He shook his head and looked back, and suddenly saw the cloth lapel hanging on the branch, his arms felt cold, and suddenly realized that he was not wearing any clothes. He touched the tip of his nose resentfully, and greeted the folks out of good intentions, which seemed more like a joke in their eyes.
After chopping firewood, Zhang Fangyuan carried two good logs back home. It was already past noon after the two trips. He ate a pancake and drank some water, and went up the mountain again.
Now there are more branches and firewood on the hillside, as well as the small branches that he shaved from the big tree trunk before, and piled them on the other side of his firewood pile, without even thinking that Xu He picked them up firewood. Now that no one has been seen, Xu went to look for firewood again.
Seeing that the sky was turning cloudy and it was about to rain, Zhang Fangyuan planned to check the traps before returning to collect them. If there was anything, he had to take back his hunting tools. Tools can’t stay overnight on the mountain. There are many people going up the mountain recently. It’s not a big deal if you don’t catch something. Losing the hunting tools is not worth the loss.
He first filled a large basket with chopped firewood, but there was too much firewood to fit in the basket, so he thought he had to chop some banana leaves to cover the pile of firewood, otherwise the firewood would be soaked by the rain. It's not easy to go downhill.
When he picked up the sickle and was about to look for banana leaves, he saw Xu He, who was wearing a palm coat and holding firewood in his arms, looking at him not far away, as if hesitating to talk to him.
Zhang Fangyuan thought that the youngest Xu was looking at the sky about to rain, and wanted him to pack the remaining dry firewood, and it was pitiful to see the little brother, so he said: It's raining, you need to chop firewood and put it in a basket. Some time later, the mountain road will be soaked and it will not be easy to go down the mountain, and I will pretend that the rest is enough for you to pick up a basket.
Xu He saw that the butcher looked a little gentler than before when he was fully dressed, and was a little surprised that Zhang Fangyuan would give him firewood, but he didn't go up to ask for it, but he used his blunt sickle to chop the firewood with great effort. , seemingly unconcerned: Did you dig the trap over the wild chestnut tree?
Zhang Fangyuan heard the hoarse voice he heard at Xu's house yesterday, and raised his eyebrows: Well, is it in stock?
Xu He continued to chop his firewood, but said, I saw someone over there who seemed to be digging a trap.
Zhang Fangyuan paused when he heard the words, and realized that something was wrong, and quickly rushed into the deep mountain with his sickle.
Xu He raised his eyebrows when he saw the person running like the wind, and decided to follow after a while.
Just now, he went to a place deeper in the mountains to collect palm tree coats, and saw a man digging the weeds and leaves covering the trap from a long distance away.
It's not surprising to see hunters in the mountains, and he didn't want to speak out to control others, but the man's behavior was sneaky, digging for a while and then looking around vigilantly, just like a thief, he felt that something was wrong, but I can't go forward and scold others.
Those who are deep in the mountains and old forests are lucky to be bitten back. If they meet someone who has no conscience, they may have any evil intentions. He carefully retreated to the Shanping side, and seeing Zhang Fangyuan came back, he was hesitating whether to take the initiative to talk to him and ask if he set up the trap, even an ordinary man would not want to talk to anyone if he had nothing to do, let alone It was a man of Zhang Fangyuan's reputation.
But when he was hesitating, Zhang Fangyuan opened his mouth first, meaning to give him firewood, so he enthusiastically meddled in his own business for once.
Zhang Fangyuan is a fast runner, and when he entered the deep mountain and approached his trap, he took a light step. There is really a thief poking his butt and trying to use a tree branch to fork the iron nails in the trap. It's a coincidence.
With a bang, Zhang Fangyuan kicked the thief, and he was immediately kicked to the ground by the sudden kick. He stared at the butcher who was tall and strong with a fierce face, and immediately hugged the kicked stomach They didn't dare to howl: Forgive me, butcher Zhang, please forgive me!
Zhang Fangyuan hated these unclean hands and feet the most. He was short and pulled the slightly pudgy man by his back collar and picked him up: Knowing that it belongs to me and stealing from me! The most shameless It’s just you bastards, this trap mark is not made for you to spot the thief! If the hunters are scared by you and don’t set up a mark, the villagers who go up the mountain and fall into it will blame you for your dirty hands and feet!”
I don't think you should keep those good hands and feet who don't do serious things.
After saying that, Zhang Fangyuan threw the man on the ground, stepped on the man's wrist, and swung the hatchet at the man's hand to cut it off.
There was only a sharp scream resounding through the forest, and the frightened forest was full of mountain birds flying away.
Ah, ah, my hand, my hand!
Zhang Fangyuan looked at the man on the ground wet all over, and stared in horror at the hatchet that had been chopped into his hand by a few centimeters, crying and howling in fright.
Xu Hexin, who was hiding far behind, also raised his throat. Zhang Fangyuan's iron-blooded wrist not to mention frightened the thief, even he was so shocked that his back was covered in cold sweat. It is said that the butcher is fierce. Before, he only thought that slaughtering animals was decisive, but after thinking about it, if he slaughtered too many animals, who knows if he will kill people if he is provoked.
He didn't finish the follow-up, and his legs went back to Shanping with some weakness.
Next time you dare to do such a sneaky thing, you won't be lucky this time. Zhang Fangyuan kicked the thief in disgust: Hurry up and get out.
The man didn't dare to show his anger, he got up from the ground with lingering fear, his body was dripping with cold sweat, and repeatedly kowtowed to Zhang Fangyuan for mercy: I, I dare not again, I will never go up the mountain again!
After saying that, Zhang Fangyuan was afraid that he would go back on giving him two fists, so he ran away in a hurry.
Zhang Fangyuan spat. Some days, some hunters always said that they lost their prey and hunting tools. They thought it was a blind bear in the deep mountains. For a while, people were so panicked that they dared not go up the mountain to hunt casually. It's this dog who is doing bad things.
He counted his hunting tools. Fortunately, he arrived in time and did not lose them, but he didn’t catch a thin pheasant. There are many people hunting in winter, even professional hunters, who half-heartedly want to go up the mountain to improve their food. Anyway, with less prey and greater competition, it is naturally more difficult to get things.
Zhang Fangyuan was not disappointed, he packed up his things and went back. Seeing Xu He was still cutting firewood in the mountain, the trees were lush in the mountains, but when the trees were sparse in the mountains, it was obvious that there was a drizzle.
The rain in winter is not impatient, but cold, the rain falling on the neck is cold, and the wind blowing is even colder.
The broken hair between Xu He's forehead was wet and stuck to his face, and there was a layer of hoarfrost on the top of his head.
He stopped his movements when he heard the movement behind him, and saw Zhang Fangyuan raised his eyebrows and glanced at him, as if he was a little angry, he suddenly strode towards this side.
The slender figure brought the cold wind and cold rain, and the moment Xu He was stunned, the man stretched his arms and walked along the pannier at his feet.