dognovel Chapter 67 Training the Wolf
Chapter 67 Training the Wolf
Back at the Li family,
Li Xiangdong first buried the ten pheasants he had just caught that night in the snow, and then helped Li Xiangyang select some relatively thick logs from the area where timber was piled up in the yard.
I'm planning to make a wooden cage for the wolf cubs and keep them confined for a few days to see how it goes.
Once the wood was almost ready, the two brothers knocked on the wooden doors of the east and west rooms respectively, and Zhao Lijuan led Li Chunsheng to the west room to sleep with Liu Xiulan and her daughter.
Li Xiangyang and Li Xiangdong went into the east room and began making a wooden cage.
In this era,
It's not easy to buy anything, largely because of a lack of money.
Therefore,
In the homes of herders, if there are any minor repairs or small furniture fixes needed, they usually do them themselves.
Tools and such are usually found in most homes.
They're practically all skilled crafters.
There's a saying from later generations: In the past, when things broke, people only wanted to repair them; now, people only want to replace them.
Actually, there are certain historical reasons behind it.
By the time the Li brothers finished setting up the wooden cage, it was already past 10 p.m., which is considered midnight in the winter on the Inner Mongolian grasslands.
Li Xiangyang carefully opened the sack, took out the wolf cub, put it in the wooden cage, and then asked:
"Brother, do you still have nails and wire at home?"
"Yes, what else do you need? I'll go get it from the storeroom."
"Then go and get some more. We'll seal the door of this wooden cage too. This wolf cub is still wild, so we can't open the cage."
Just to be on the safe side, Li Xiangyang decided to seal the door of the wooden cage as well.
no way,
There are elderly people and young children at home, so safety is definitely the top priority.
After Li Xiangdong brought back the 10-centimeter-long iron nails, he began to nail two long iron nails into the intersection of every two pieces of wood on the wooden cage, and then used thick iron wire to tie them tightly in a cross shape.
After everything was done, Li Xiangyang took a knife and cut the ropes binding the wolf cubs one by one through the cage, then placed some warm water and pieces of meat beside them.
Perhaps startled, or perhaps due to the innate wariness of wolves, the wolf cubs did not rush to eat the food in the cage, but instead kept making low, wary purring sounds.
After an unknown amount of time, the two brothers, Li Xiangyang and Li Xiangdong, could no longer stay awake and unknowingly fell asleep on the kang (a heated brick bed).
By the time Li Xiangyang felt someone pushing him, it was already 5:30 a.m. the next day.
Time to get up and take the fish to Wuzhen to sell.
After waking up, Li Xiangyang immediately went to check the cage and found that the food inside was still untouched. He could only shake his head and leave.
"Ugh."
They loaded up the fish, rabbits, and pheasants and went out.
He needed to first go to the intersection of Liujia Village and the road leading to Wuzhen to pick up Liu Jianguo, and then go to Wuzhen to sell fish.
along the way,
Li Xiangyang suddenly recalled an interesting story that Dangnian Mingyue had told him about his relationship with trees and the Way of Heaven.
As Mingyue said:
"There used to be a tree in his yard, and that tree survived because of his momentary kindness and the tree's own struggle."
Years later, because the tree was growing so wildly that it blocked the sunlight for the second-floor neighbors, it was asked to be cut down.
Throughout the process:
The tree initially thrived thanks to its own efforts and the "luck" bestowed by the bright moon that year, but later it died prematurely because it grew too fast.
And this building is its destiny!
If it knows how to voluntarily stop growing, then it can also win the way of nature.
same,
This young wolf, dragging its wounded body, was able to survive in this icy and snowy landscape thanks to its own tenacity and wildness, as well as the small amount of kindness shown by Li Xiangyang.
Perseverance and ambition saved it!
But if it continues to maintain its perseverance and ambition, refusing to bow down to Li Xiangyang, it will surely die early for this reason.
"This cage is its natural order."
Suddenly remembering this sentence, Li Xiangyang smiled inexplicably.
Two hours later,
By the time the carriage arrived at the state-run restaurant, the sky was already beginning to lighten.
no way,
The snow was falling heavier and heavier, and even with the people responsible for clearing the snow from the roads working overtime, they still couldn't keep up.
The road was getting worse every day. The carriage often had to be pushed by Liu Jianguo after traveling a certain distance, and sometimes Li Xiangyang had to get off his horse and push with him to get it moving.
If they are like this, what about the large trucks transporting supplies from other places to Inner Mongolia?
Li Xiangyang brought 11 rabbit pelts, 5 skinned rabbits, 120 jin of fish, and 8 undplucked pheasants today.
We kept the three pheasants at home for our own consumption.
We've gotten used to having meat in every meal at home lately, so if it's suddenly stopped... we'll really feel uneasy.
It's easy to go from simplicity to luxury, but difficult to go from luxury to frugality.
If other families in the village found out, they would definitely curse them for being corrupt, capitalist, and old landlords.
Such unpleasant words.
The carriage slowly stopped at the gate of the backyard of the state-run hotel. Just like yesterday, Tu Weimin was already squatting behind the gate waiting for Li Xiangyang.
Upon hearing that a carriage was approaching, Tu Weimin hurriedly pushed open the courtyard gate and walked out with a smug look on his face.
"Xiangyang, you've finally arrived." Tu Weimin said, taking out a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes from his pocket and handing one to Li Xiangyang.
After he finished, he even lit a match in his hand to light Li Xiangyang's cigarette.
"Uncle Weimin, what happy event has happened to you? You look radiant."
"Sigh... calling me 'Uncle' is too formal. From now on, just call me Brother Weimin. We're practically family!"
"That won't do, we're from different generations!" Li Xiangyang said, somewhat surprised.
Then he flicked the ash off his cigarette and continued, "Logically, I should call you uncle."
Although Li Xiangyang didn't know Tu Weimin's exact age, he could tell from his appearance that Tu Weimin was at least in his forties, if not 50.
He was only 22 years old, so calling Tu Weimin "Uncle" was the proper way to address him.
In this day and age, seniority is still quite important.
At the same time, he was also a little curious: what was wrong with Tu Weimin today...?
"Don't call me uncle or anything, just call me brother from now on, understand? We're friends."
As Tu Weimin spoke, he suddenly reached out and put his arm around Li Xiangyang's neck: "Come on, let's go sit in my office."
Li Xiangyang's pupils dilated briefly and slightly; he was somewhat flattered.
This was the first time Tu Weimin had invited him to sit in his office.
of course,
He didn't refuse, thinking that Tu Weimin must have something to say to him in private since he suddenly called him to his office.
Pushing open the door, the room was small, probably only 5 or 6 square meters, with an old wooden table and two chairs placed in the middle.
On the table was a rusty tin ticket cabinet, with account books, abacus, and food coupons scattered around.
but,
As soon as Li Xiangyang stepped through the door, Tu Weimin immediately closed it, gripped Li Xiangyang's hand tightly, and said in a trembling voice:
"Thank you, thank you so much, Xiangyang... You're truly my lucky star!"
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