Chapter 100 Windfall from Heaven
The dogs wagged their big tails and turned around excitedly by the pit, barking into the pit from time to time.
After everyone waited for half an hour, Zhao Zhuang, Lin Youfeng, Lin Youxing and Yang Song tied ropes around their waists and, with the people above pulling them, slowly descended to the middle of the pit.
Zhao Zhuang poked the black bear on the wooden spike with a long stick. The black bear's hands and feet trembled, but it didn't react much. It looked like it was no longer breathing.
The four men went down to the bottom of the pit. Zhao Zhuang pulled out the knife from his waist and stabbed it into the bear's neck quickly, fiercely and accurately.
After the four men were sure the bear was dead, they tied it up and the people on top worked together to pull the bear up.
The four men reburied the messy wooden splinters below, and used a knife to cut the tip of the wood that had pierced the bear's body.
The bottom of the pit was cleaned up, and the four people were pulled up. The top of the trap will be dealt with tomorrow.
Wooden boards were buried next to the four deep pits, and the edges of the pits were clearly marked. Everyone was repeatedly reminded to prevent people from falling in.
Everyone knows where the pit trap is and what it looks like, but the animals don't know and can't see it! That's why they are trapped.
It was around four in the morning and everyone who could get up got up, except for the kids and the injured.
In the yard, there were three layers of people inside and three layers outside, staring at the dead bear on the ground.
"What a pity! Its body is full of holes. This bear skin is not worth much anymore!" Butcher Zhao said with regret as he looked at the bear's body.
Tao Mingyuan: "It's not that easy for us to get the bear unless we fall into a trap!"
Lin Xianwen: "This is a free gift."
Old Man Lin: "How come it's free? It's easy for everyone to dig the pit!"
Lin Youcai: "Digging pits in the middle of winter is very hard work!"
"That's just good luck... There are bears in the middle of winter?!" Lin Xianwen pinched his face, wondering if this was a dream!
Black bears have broad heads, small eyes, short mouths, and large round ears. They are covered with thick, rough black fur, except for a V-shaped strip of white fur under their necks, like a human V-shaped collar.
The black bear has a stout body, and its limbs are short and strong, which makes it clumsy and powerful when walking and climbing. Its forelimbs are shorter than its hind limbs, and its forelimb claws are sharp, which are suitable for climbing and digging.
Lin Zisu looked at the unlucky bear on the ground, a typical Asian black bear. An adult of this kind of bear weighs only about 200 kilograms, about 400 jin.
Isn't this thing hibernating in winter? How come it appeared near the village in the middle of the night?
In fact, wild animals are quite afraid of humans and will not easily come down the mountain to move around near human settlements.
While in the car, Lin Zisu expected it to be an animal like a tiger, wolf, or wild boar, but never expected it to be a bear.
"Let's deal with it now. He's awake now, so let's get to work!" Butcher Zhao stood up and ordered people to work.
It's too cold outside, and now only the people who are on night watch are warming themselves by the fire in the fire pit room.
Everyone carried the bear into the fire pit room, and Butcher Zhao first skinned the bear.
Even though the appearance is not good, you can still sell it if you patch up the holes. If you make it into a bearskin coat, you can sell it for a lot of money.
Zhao Zhuang helped by peeling off the bear skin. After peeling off the bear skin, he was about to chop off the four bear paws.
Lin Youcai quickly said, "Don't chop, wait a moment."
Lin Zisu brought a basin of warm water, and Lin Xianwen brought a basin of warm water to wash the bear's feet.
If you tell others that you washed a bear’s feet in the early morning, no one would believe it!
Lu brought warm water again and poured out the dirty water. Lin Zisu stood up to give up her seat, and Lin Xianpeng took over and continued washing.
The bear's fur was thick and its paws were dirty, so she changed several basins of water. Shen Xianglan took a linen towel and wiped the water off the four wet bear paws that had been washed.
Lin Youcai took the plastic bag and stood aside: "Uncle Zhao, chop it up and I'll pack it up and sell it later when I have a chance. Tao Mingyuan, please write it down in the account book. The four bear paws are with me."
Butcher Zhao looked at Lin Benshu, who nodded and said, "Let Youcai keep it. Sell it when there's a chance, and it will be an income in the public account." He knew that Lin Youcai had a freezer in his car, and he was reluctant to eat bear paws, so it was very valuable for the restaurant to charge for them.
Butcher Zhao was also thinking about this. It was a waste to let them eat bear paws. Everyone was counting grains to make ends meet. There was no way to eat bear paws, unless they were about to starve to death.
Butcher Zhao no longer hesitated and chopped off four bear paws swiftly. He and his elders had caught a bear once before when he was young.
The bear skin, paws, and gallbladder were sold for a good price, and the meat was also sold to restaurants for cooking. The people who caught the bear divided the money, but they didn't get to taste the meat.
How could the poor afford to eat good food? They would save the money to buy food and supplement their family income.
Lin Youcai separated the four bear paws, wrapped them tightly, and put them in the freezer under the refrigerator in the RV to freeze.
The freezer layer of the refrigerator has long been empty, but the refrigerator can still be used from time to time.
In the fire pit room, Zhao Zhuang and Zhao Wang took turns peeling the fat and fascia from the inner layer of the bear skin.
Getting a good piece of leather is very time-consuming and labor-intensive.
The two brothers were busy working while yawning, while the others would go back to sleep for a while and do their work during the day.
More than a dozen men went to the well to fetch water; it was safer with more people.
The women boiled water, mixed hot and cold water into warm water, and processed the bear's internal organs.
Butcher Zhao cut off the limbs without soles and put them aside. The bear legs without fur and soles were covered with meat.
Lin Youcai returned after putting the bear paw away. Butcher Zhao waved and said, "These four bear paw legs are also good stuff. Put them in your car and keep them! If you come across a restaurant in the future, you can sell them for a good price, or give them away! They are rare things!"
Butcher Zhao also knew that Lin Youcai had a freezer in his car that could store food, so when other families didn't have fresh meat to eat, his family could still take out fresh meat.
Although Old Man Lin didn't say it explicitly, he told him vaguely.
Who doesn’t have some little secrets? It’s normal!
Lin Youcai looked at him in surprise, "Huh?"
Butcher Zhao handed it over impatiently: "Take it away quickly, keep it! The meat on the bear is enough for everyone to satisfy their cravings! We got so much wild boar meat before the New Year, so we can eat a little more!"
Lin Youcai had no choice but to run to the RV to get a bag and return to the fire pit house to pack the bear leg meat.
Butcher Zhao: "Can you still let it go? Otherwise..."
Lin Youcai shook his head: "Forget it, there are so many of us, it's good enough if each of us can have a bite."
Butcher Zhao lowered his head and cut off the bear ribs one by one, stuffing them all into the bag. "That's it... OK, take it away!"
Lin Youcai: "...There aren't many bears left..."
Butcher Zhao: "There is still so much meat on the board! How much meat do we need to eat? If we don't have food, we will die!"
Lin Youcai was speechless as he picked up a bag full of bear meat and walked towards the RV.
Lin Zisu looked at the packed freezer and suddenly remembered, "We seem to have forgotten to weigh the bear. We don't even know how much it weighs."
Lin Youcai: "How much it weighs can be estimated... It's not important. I never thought that a windfall would fall from the sky in the middle of the night!!! Hehehe..."