"Dog, you're pretty familiar with the widows in the villages, huh?" "Wang Cuihua, Widow Wang, is famously fierce in Liujia Village." "Tell me, how did you get to know her?" Liu Tiezhu asked. "Well... that's a long story." Ergouzi grinned and quickly changed the subject. "Brother Tiezhu, let's get back to the wild oxen." "A herd of wild oxen, at least a few dozen, that's tens of thousands of jin of beef." "Can't we figure out a way to get a few thousand jin?" "Is Wang Cuihua's information reliable?" Liu Tiezhu asked. "Absolutely reliable, that woman has no issues with her character." "But Beiyang Gully is Liujia Village's land." "If we go hunting there, it'll cause some trouble." Thinking about the grudge with Liu Yusheng and his crew, Ergouzi grew worried again. "So what if it's Liujia Village's land? The wild oxen aren't raised by the Liujia folks." "But those Liujia villagers are indeed a problem." Liu Tiezhu had no intention of letting these wild oxen go. However, how to avoid trouble from the Liujia villagers was the issue. Now he had a complete feud with them. A deadly feud, the kind that couldn't be resolved. If they fell into the hands of those Liujia villagers, they wouldn't get off easy. Ergouzi thought for a moment and said, "Brother Tiezhu, what if we go to Beiyang Gully at night?" "That way, we can avoid running into the Liujia folks." At night? Liu Tiezhu was taken aback, then his eyes lit up. "Right, why didn't I think of that?" "With the hunting dogs leading the way, night hunting can minimize the danger." "So, are we doing it?" Ergouzi asked. "No brainer, of course we are." Liu Tiezhu said, "With so many wild oxen in Beiyang Gully, are we just going to leave them for Liujia Village?" Just as they were planning how to head to Beiyang Gully, Second Uncle's voice came over. "What are you two whispering about? The beef is roasted, come over quick." By the fire, dozens of skewers of beef sizzled. The aroma of fat whetted everyone's appetite. Second Uncle picked up the roasted beef skewers, sprinkled salt on them, and handed them out. These natural wild oxen had no gamey smell, and a bit of salt brought out their purest flavor. "Wild beef is really the best; we need to get more next time." Ergouzi wiped the grease from his mouth and couldn't help but sigh. Second Uncle scolded with a laugh, "These wild oxen usually stay deep in the mountains. You think you can just get more?" "Getting these few hundred jin of wild beef is already a stroke of luck." Liu Tiezhu picked up two skewers of beef, handed them to Yang Yulan beside him, and chimed in, "Second Uncle, don't you know, we've hit another stroke of luck this time." Hearing this, everyone paused, knowing Liu Tiezhu had more to say. Liu Tiezhu didn't keep them in suspense and told them about Ergouzi's wild ox herd. "A herd of wild oxen? Is that true?" Second Uncle and Big Brother both widened their eyes, faces full of disbelief. It was normal for one or two wild oxen to occasionally wander out of the mountains. But an entire herd migrating out was highly unusual. It seemed something had really changed in the mountains. Otherwise, the herd wouldn't be migrating together. Ergouzi added, "Dad, it's absolutely true." "Today, many people from Liujia Village hunted wild oxen around Beiyang Gully." "That's tens of thousands of jin of beef; we can't just sit back and do nothing, right?" Second Uncle thought for a moment and said, "Dog, Beiyang Gully is Liujia Village's land." "If we go into Beiyang Gully, it'll definitely cause conflict." Liu Tiezhu said, "Second Uncle, of course they won't let us in." "But we can figure out a way, can't we?" "We won't go during the day; at night, there won't be anyone around Beiyang Gully." Second Uncle caught on: "Tiezhu, you mean we go into Beiyang Gully at night?" Liu Tiezhu nodded: "Yeah, we'll avoid the Liujia villagers' timing." "With Taro and the other hunting dogs helping, we can minimize the danger." Second Uncle turned to Liu Tieshan nearby: "Shan, what do you think? Is this feasible?" Liu Tieshan said, "Night hunting is fine, but we need to watch out for those Liujia villagers." "After all, we're hunting across boundaries, which can easily lead to conflict." Ergouzi said, "We're hunting across boundaries, not digging up their ancestors' graves. Why should we be afraid?" "Wild oxen are unowned game; whoever catches them gets them." "Besides, those bastards from Liujia Village often cross into our land to hunt, don't they?" "Dog's right, we're not digging up their ancestors." "If we run into Liujia villagers, we'll just talk to them normally; no need to worry." Second Uncle rarely agreed with Ergouzi. "Tiezhu, when do you plan to go into Beiyang Gully?" Liu Tieshan asked. "Tomorrow night we'll go into Beiyang Gully; everyone rest up tomorrow." "We'll take the mule cart and work through the night," Liu Tiezhu said. The second snowstorm was coming soon, and he couldn't miss the chance to get meat. The climate was changing differently from what he remembered in his past life, so he needed to prepare as early as possible. Second Uncle nodded: "Alright, we'll follow Tiezhu's plan." "Make sure to bring enough fire starters and meat." After the lesson from the white-headed eagle this time, everyone had learned their lesson. With the plan to enter Beiyang Gully set, all the beef was roasted, and everyone happily ate. Liu Tieshan picked up six skewers of beef and handed them to Liu Tiezhu. "Tiezhu, take these to Big Uncle." Second Uncle then handed over a bull kidney. "Take this bull kidney too." Six skewers of roasted beef and a bull kidney, totaling seven or eight jin of meat, were enough for Yang Haitian alone. "Tiezhu, how about I go with you?" Yang Yulan said. She hadn't seen her brother in days and missed him. "Alright, go grab a thicker coat." After instructing her, Liu Tiezhu cut off another twenty jin of fresh beef to bring along. The two drove the mule cart to Yang Haitian's place as dusk fell. Yang Haitian sat in the kitchen sipping wine, occasionally tossing a piece of dried meat into his mouth. Living the good life. "Brother, Tiezhu and I came to see you." Yang Yulan entered the door, carrying the roasted beef inside. Liu Tiezhu tied up the mule and carried the fresh beef in behind her. Yang Haitian was overjoyed and came out to greet them. Seeing the meat in their hands, he immediately scolded them. "What are you doing? Aren't you saving for the future?" "I have more meat here than I can eat; why are you bringing more?" Yang Yulan shoved the meat into Yang Haitian's hands: "Brother, just take it." "Tiezhu just hunted wild oxen; this is roasted beef." "There's still a few hundred jin at home, enough for us for a while." "What? Wild beef?" Yang Haitian's reaction was the same as Second Uncle's earlier—utter disbelief. Yang Yulan nodded and said, "Yeah, it's wild beef." "Tiezhu plans to go to Beiyang Gully again tomorrow night; I heard there's a herd of wild oxen there." Tiezhu is going hunting in Beiyang Gully? Yang Haitian paused, then suddenly became agitated. "You can't go, absolutely can't go to Beiyang Gully."