12dz Chapter 401 Hunting, Fishing, and Mushroom Picking
Chapter 401 Hunting, Fishing, and Mushroom Picking
But Scarface leaned against the doorframe, which had no door, and didn't sleep well all night. There were many mosquitoes on the mountain, and he was used to sleeping on a fox fur wooden bed. He hadn't suffered like this in a long time.
Perhaps his brain has really been spoiled rotten by the little girl.
A powerful and authoritarian bandit leader was actually being bossed around by a little girl.
The next day, Scarface, whose back ached, woke up early and stretched his muscles in the open space in front of the bamboo house. The bearded man under him, whom Lin Xiaotang called "the bushy-bearded man," brought over a meal.
It's more like a thin porridge and wild vegetables than a proper meal!
If even the boss is eating thin porridge and wild vegetables, then the brothers under his command are even worse off, drinking only watery wild vegetable soup.
The bearded man was somewhat afraid of his boss, but he had no choice but to bite the bullet and tell him the truth.
“Brother, we’ve really run out of food on the mountain. This morning I was able to cook you some thin porridge, but the brothers are drinking wild vegetable soup. I’m afraid you’ll have to drink vegetable soup with the brothers at noon too.”
Scarface frowned, understanding dawning on him. He had gone down the mountain yesterday evening to find food, but unexpectedly encountered the Lin family of five. Instead of solving the food problem, they had brought the defenseless Lin Xiaotang back up the mountain.
It's not surprising that the brothers are drinking wild vegetable soup.
However, the issue of food security has become an urgent matter.
If we follow Lin Xiaotang's advice and plant medicinal herbs as soon as possible, then we must not continue our robbery, lest we invite the government's efforts to suppress bandits to be in vain.
But what will these hundred or so brothers eat to survive?
He scratched his head vigorously, feeling irritated, and gave a look, signaling the bearded man to go inside and wake Lin Xiaotang up.
The bearded man ran into the room, where Lin Xiaotang was already rubbing her eyes and getting up.
She remained calm and showed no surprise at seeing the bearded man.
“You people on this mountain neither farm nor make a living, yet you get up so early. You have a truly admirable work schedule.”
The bearded man said irritably, "You slept well, but my brother guarded the door for you all night. Have you come up with a way to solve the food shortage on the mountain? Little girl, let me tell you, my brother values you, but I'm different. If you dare to delay and play tricks on us, I will definitely not let you off the hook."
Lin Xiaotang nodded, her face serious, and said, "I've come all the way up the mountain with you guys, what good would come of it if I played you for a fool?"
"Alright, hurry up and get me something to eat. I'll be able to think of a solution after I eat."
The bearded man's eyes lit up, and he said in disbelief, "What? You can come up with this right after you finish eating? You're not kidding us!"
"Believe it or not, it's up to you." Lin Xiaotang said and walked out. She saw Scarface in the yard and greeted him with a smile, but she didn't know Scarface's name, so she could only wave and say good morning.
Scarface ordered the bearded man to bring Lin Xiaotang a bowl of wild vegetable soup. It was thin and watery, and breakfast was over in no time.
After breakfast, many bandits came over and questioned Lin Xiaotang about how she planned to solve everyone's food problem.
"You said last night that you had a way to feed everyone and a way to make money. Don't just talk the talk, walk the walk. You can wait, but we brothers have so many mouths to feed, we can't."
"That's right. If you can't do it, don't drag it out any longer. The outcome will be the same sooner or later. Let the brothers have some fun sooner, and it'll give you a quick end."
"That's right, hurry up and tell me the truth..."
"Tell me the truth..."
"..."
Faced with everyone's questioning, Lin Xiaotang couldn't help but frown.
This group of bandits varied greatly in character; a very few had swollen eyes, unsteady steps, and an undisguised lust in their eyes that was nauseating.
Even if you lead these lustful, good-for-nothing scoundrels to reform, they will hardly repent and change their ways. Keeping these few bad apples around will only incite others to disobey.
She needed to find a way to get Scarface to drive out these incorrigible bandits and also screen the remaining bandits.
This matter needs a pretext, and we need to proceed gradually; it can't be rushed in just a few days.
She suppressed her disgust and said, "I'm sure everyone already knows what this morning's meal was like. Since we can drink the wild vegetable soup, we can certainly eat the grains that I can lead you to find."
She walked up to Scarface and earnestly explained her plan.
Scarface's eyes lit up after hearing this, and he thought it was feasible.
He immediately gave the order, "Chen Wu, Zhang Dian, Liu Yuan... you guys are good at fighting, come with me to the back mountain to hunt. Big Beard, pick a few strong guys to find a stream and go fishing. The older and weaker ones go with Lin Xiaotang to pick mushrooms. The rest of you go chop firewood..."
"Wait... Big Beard, stop fishing! Follow Lin Xiaotang, help her carry things, and most importantly, protect her. If anyone dares to make a move on her, kill them on sight!"
Big Beard is a bit slow-witted. Hunting is too dangerous for him, and he can't catch fish in the water either. He'll definitely be laughed at by everyone when he comes back. It's just right for him to go mushroom picking with Lin Xiaotang. There are plenty of mushrooms on the mountain, and it's easy to join the group of the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled.
He immediately beamed and nodded in agreement, quite willing.
So, Scarface and a young man named Qu Xiao each led a team and left with their tools; one team went hunting and the other went fishing, while Lin Xiaotang and Big Beard took the old, weak, sick and disabled to pick mushrooms.
Because the official road passes through several nearby mountains, and the surrounding fields are open and close to the capital and county towns, there are few farmers on the mountains. Most of them live at the foot of the mountains on both sides. This group of bandits is in one of the middle mountains. As long as they do not go down the mountain, they will not be easily discovered.
Footprints are rare on the mountain, indicating that few farmers and hunters come here, so there must be many treasures on this mountain.
Lin Xiaotang and Big Beard each carried a bamboo basket on their backs. The two walked in front, followed by some old, weak, sick and disabled people. Compared to those burly and strong men, they were considered old, weak and sick, but compared to Lin Xiaotang, they were quite agile and quick.
Many hands make light work. Along the way, they collected quite a few mushrooms. Because Lin Xiaotang liked to eat mushrooms, and because she had watched some videos online in her previous life and learned to distinguish whether some mushrooms were poisonous, everyone collected mushrooms very smoothly under her guidance.
The bearded man was tall and strong. When he saw a bamboo forest in the distance, he was so excited that he immediately called out to Lin Xiaotang.
"Girl, girl, I see a bamboo grove. Shall we go see if there are any bamboo shoots?"
An older man sighed, "It's probably hard to find fresh bamboo shoots at this time of year, but since we've come across them, let's try our luck."
Most of them were honest people. The reason they committed crimes was that they were severely oppressed and could no longer bear it, so they got into arguments or fights with others. Because they had no money or power, even if it was an unintentional mistake or because they fought back after being taken advantage of, they were eventually framed.