Chapter 248 Hunting Rifles and Melon Seedlings

The workers stepped forward one by one, receiving their wages and walking away with beaming smiles. The courtyard was filled with the sound of laughter.

“Thank you, Boss Lin!”

Liu Haigui said with a smile as he received his pay.

“This is what you earned,” Lin Heng replied with a smile. Liu Haigui was the last one on-site; now, among those who had worked for him, only Carpenter Liang was left to be paid.

In his previous life, he had hated nothing more than wage arrears. In this life, he would never withhold what he owed to others.

“Well then, Boss Lin, I’ll be taking my leave now.”

Having received his money, Liu Haigui didn’t want to linger and bid his farewell.

“You’re not staying for dinner?” Lin Heng asked. This man’s work was very meticulous, and Lin Heng was quite satisfied with him.

“No, I’m covered in cement slurry. I need to go back and clean up,” Liu Haigui said, shaking his head with a smile.

“Alright then. I happen to be heading out to deliver the carpenter’s wages anyway, so I’ll give you all a lift down,” Lin Heng added.

Handing the ledger and the remaining eighty-one yuan to Xiulan, Lin Heng stood up and went out to start the car.

The six men squeezed into the vehicle once more, tools in hand. Lin Heng drove them slowly down to Huangtan Town, then turned toward Boss Zheng’s shop.

“Boss Zheng, is the gun I bought in yet?”

Lin Heng walked into the shop and asked openly.

His brother had obtained a hunting license, and the matter had already been registered at the police station. They had even treated people to a meal to smooth things over, so there was no need to be secretive about it.

The pockmarked, fat owner sitting in the shop was surnamed Zheng. If anyone in town wanted to buy a gun, he was the man to see.

“It’s here, it’s here. I’ve just been waiting for you to pick it up. Come to the backyard.”

Boss Zheng stood up and spoke with a smile.

Lin Heng nodded and followed him to the back. After a short wait, Boss Zheng brought out a long wooden box and a cloth bag.

“Here it is. Check the goods,” he said, handing the items to Lin Heng with a grin.

Lin Heng opened the box to inspect it. It had beautiful black barrels and a stock made of red hardwood. When broken open, it could be loaded with two shells.

This was a standard double-barreled shotgun, not the high-end model Grandpa Gao owned that could fire rifle rounds.

“These red shells are birdshot, filled with small lead pellets. The green ones are buckshot, containing larger lead balls. Finally, these with the metal heads are specialized lead slugs; they have the most power.”

While Lin Heng inspected the gun, Boss Zheng introduced the ammunition.

As the names suggested, birdshot was for birds, buckshot was for wild boar and muntjac, and the specialized slugs were for dealing with Asiatic black bears, wolves, or tigers.

Lin Heng nodded and counted them. There were two hundred and fifty rounds of birdshot, one hundred rounds of buckshot, and fifty lead slugs, totaling four hundred rounds. Everything was in order.

“Thanks.”

Once confirmed, Lin Heng put the gun back into the wooden box. He slung the gun box over his shoulder, picked up the bag of ammunition, and walked out.

He had already paid for it. Here, you paid first before the gun was ordered. The gun cost one hundred and twenty yuan, and the ammunition was twenty cents per round. Four hundred rounds came to eighty yuan, making the total exactly two hundred.

Placing the gun in the car, Lin Heng stopped by the place in town where he had rented the mixer. He told them to go up and haul the mixer back and settled that bill as well.

Passing through Baima Village, he delivered Carpenter Liang’s wages. Finally, Lin Heng owed no one any money.

“Another three thousand spent,” Lin Heng sighed. Out of the five thousand five hundred in his bank account, only two thousand five hundred remained.

When he returned home, Father Lin ran down to the road to meet him, asking curiously, “Son, what’s that you’re holding?”

“The gun I bought for Elder Brother.” Lin Heng handed the gun to his father, then stepped on the gas to drive the car back to the house.

In the courtyard, his Third Uncle, Little Uncle-in-law, and the others were chatting. Seeing him return, they asked if he had finished his errands.

Lin Heng parked the car and took out the ammunition to hand to Lin Yue. “Elder Brother, your gun is back. Here’s the ammo. Dad has the gun.”

“You’re back already?” Lin Yue was shocked; the speed was quite impressive.

“Factory-made ammunition? You bought a hunting rifle?” Li Baiquan asked curiously, looking at the shells in the bag.

Father Lin locked the gate and said with a smile, “The gun is right here!”

As he spoke, he pulled the gun out for everyone to see.

“This is good stuff. The craftsmanship is excellent, so sleek and shiny.”

Li Baiquan’s eyes went wide as he looked at the double-barreled shotgun. Compared to this, the homemade muzzle-loaders used in the countryside were nothing more than fire-sticks.

“How much did it cost?” Lin Hai asked curiously.

“Two hundred including the ammunition,” Lin Yue replied with a smile.

“Hiss, that’s expensive!” Lin Hai couldn’t help but suck in a breath.

The others also silently abandoned any thoughts of getting one for themselves.

Lin Heng gave the ammunition to his brother and went inside to take a shower. Once he was clean and changed into fresh clothes, he felt completely refreshed.

When he came back out, the group was still in the courtyard looking at the gun, talking excitedly.

“Brother, when you have time, you should take me out to practice,” Lin Yue said with a smile.

“No problem.”

Lin Heng nodded, chatted for a few moments, and then went outside to wait.

Before long, a tractor arrived. Lin Heng walked to the roadside and waved, leading the men to Red Maple Mountain to load the mixer.

The cement at Red Maple Mountain had mostly set, but Lin Heng noticed some bird tracks on it. They looked like they belonged to green-bearded birds, and he silently noted the grudge.

By the time he returned to the house, dinner was ready. Since the construction was finished today, the family had to celebrate. Xiulan had prepared over a dozen dishes. Once the food was on the table, everyone picked up their glasses and began to drink.

Lin Heng preferred yellow wine[1] for its intoxicating rice aroma. Father Lin and the others preferred the stronger Tiangan Liquor[2], drinking with great enthusiasm.

The meal ended around six o’clock, but it wasn’t dark yet. Little Uncle-in-law, Third Uncle, and the others took their leave one after another, and the house grew quiet.

Lin Heng brought out an Official’s Hat Chair and sat in the courtyard to enjoy the breeze. The two puppies, Lai Fu and Feng Shou, were wrestling and playing in the yard. Xiongba was lying on the ground while Jinbao was perched on the stone table, both watching the puppies fight.

After cooling off for a while, Lin Heng walked over to the small greenhouses covering the strawberries and opened both sides, allowing the plants to gradually acclimate to the outside temperature.

The weather had turned warm, so they could be left open now. He did the same for the nearby watermelon seedlings.

After finishing these tasks, Lin Heng sat back down in his Official’s Hat Chair and stared off into space, savoring the leisure of the evening.

“Daddy, play ball with me!”

Xiao Xia walked over holding a ball and spoke in a crisp voice.

“Ha, then you’d better catch it.”

Lin Heng nodded and sat on a chair to play catch with her. He tossed it to her, and she tossed it back. It was a boring game for an adult, but Xiao Xia played with a joyful giggle.

After playing for a while, Lin Heng got tired. He called out to Lin Wei next door, asking him to bring his second and third younger brothers over to play with Xiao Xia.

Since Lin Heng had personally invited them, his sister-in-law Liu Juan had to agree. She warned her sons not to make Xiao Xia cry, or they would get a spanking.

Lin Heng remembered another little girl in the village named Liu Qingqing who also played well with Xiao Xia, but for some reason, she hadn’t come over the past few days.

“Third Uncle!”

Before long, Lin Tao and his brother arrived with wide smiles. They actually really wanted to come over and play, but usually, their mother wouldn’t allow it.

“Go play ball with Xiao Xia!”

Lin Heng said, leaning back against his chair to watch the children playing happily in the yard. He would join in every now and then, making it quite a cheerful scene.

After Xiulan finished cleaning the dishes, she brought out a stool and sat beside Lin Heng to watch the children play. She naturally rested her head on Lin Heng’s lap, her movements practiced and familiar.

Lin Heng glanced at her, then leaned back to enjoy the breeze.

When it got dark, they went inside. Lin Heng lit some charcoal in the ceramic stove. They skipped dinner and just had some milk and biscuits before heading to bed.

Before resting, he found a book to read. At the request of Xiao Xia and Xiulan, he read it aloud so they could listen too.

The next morning, Lin Heng woke up at seven o’clock, but the sky outside was still gray and gloomy.

“Looking at this, even if it doesn’t rain today, it definitely will tomorrow.”

Lin Heng opened the window, and a gust of wind immediately whistled inside. It was so cold that he shut the window instantly and dove back under the covers.

“Time to get up. Since it’s not raining yet, let’s go transplant the watermelon seedlings,” Xiulan said to him softly.

“Let me stay warm for a bit longer before I get up.”

Lin Heng pulled her into his arms. They both liked to sleep in just their underwear, and holding his soft, fragrant wife felt wonderful.

“Alright then,” Xiulan said.

She shrugged, unable to do anything about him. Since the weather wasn’t suitable for an outing today anyway, sleeping in a bit longer was fine.

At seven-thirty, the two of them got out of bed. Just as they were about to head out, Xiao Xia woke up and shouted that she needed to use the bathroom. Lin Heng had to dress her and take her there.

After the bathroom trip, while Lin Heng and Xiulan were exercising, she stood by and made a mess of things, trying to learn Tai Chi from her mother by waving her arms around randomly.

“How about we have potato pancakes and milk for breakfast?”

Xiulan asked Lin Heng after she finished her exercise.

“Sure,” Lin Heng nodded.

Xiulan went back inside to get a wooden bucket, while he took Xiao Xia, who was leaning over the railing looking at the fish, to go milk the cow.

The lotuses in the fish pond had already begun to sprout, showing tiny buds. It wouldn’t be long before lotus leaves grew above the water’s surface.

The variety of fish in the pond was quite rich, including yellow catfish, crucian carp, koi, spotted mandarin fish, and Stream Stone Barbel[3], plus the giant salamander that had finished its hibernation, making six types in total.

Now that the weather was warmer, these fish were quite active, swimming around in search of food.

After returning from milking, Xiulan went to heat the milk and make potato pancakes. Xiao Xia wanted to watch the fish in the backyard, so Lin Heng stayed by her side. Even with the railing, he didn’t feel at ease.

As the sun gradually came out, the buzzing of bees grew louder. Many bees had already returned laden with honey, their wings showing spots the size of rice grains, likely nectar from rapeseed flowers[4].

“Let’s see if they’ve made any new honeycombs.”

Lin Heng moved a ladder over, removed the insulation pads and old clothes wrapped around the hives, and opened a hive to check.

Since they hadn’t harvested honey during the winter, the bees had eaten quite a bit of their stores, but they had already built new honeycombs and were working diligently.

After spending some time feeding the fish with Xiao Xia, they went to the front to eat.

The fried potato pancakes were incredibly fragrant. Even though they were burning hot, they couldn’t help but dig in. Washing them down with a glass of milk felt absolutely wonderful.

It filled one with a sense of longing for the new day.

“Come on, let’s go plant the seedlings.”

Xiulan said to Lin Heng after finishing her milk.

“Okay,” Lin Heng agreed with a nod.

The two went out together, first peeling back the plastic sheeting and removing the arched bamboo strips. The strawberry and melon seedlings were all a vibrant green.

“There are so many watermelon and cantaloupe seedlings.”

Xiulan looked them over and did a rough count. There were about sixty or seventy seedlings each for the watermelons and cantaloupes. Even after giving some to his parents and Elder Brother, there would still be far too many.

“Can’t help it if my breeding was so successful,” Lin Heng joked proudly.

He then added, “It doesn’t matter if there are extras, we’ll just plant them. If we get too many melons, we can give them away, take them to the market to sell, or if all else fails, feed them to the pigs.”

Once they were in the ground, they didn’t require much care aside from some fertilizer. In the countryside, summer and autumn fruits and vegetables were always so abundant they couldn’t all be eaten.

“Then planting five watermelons and five cantaloupes in the yard should be enough. We can plant the rest in the fields outside or on the back mountain,” Xiulan suggested after some thought.

“Sounds good!”

Lin Heng nodded and walked over to the plot where he had previously bred Ginseng to dig some holes. Xiulan dug up the seedlings along with their root balls to transplant them.

This two-meter wide and ten-meter long plot was half-filled with five watermelons, five cantaloupes, and ten cucumbers. The other half was entirely planted with green peppers.

“Knock, knock, knock!!”

“Son, open the door.”

Just as they finished planting and were about to head out, Father Lin knocked on the door from outside.

“Dad, I was just about to look for you. Do you want some melon seedlings?”

Lin Heng asked with a smile as he opened the door.

Father Lin saw the lush green seedlings in the distance and nodded. “Of course I do. Have you planted enough for yourselves?”

“Yeah, you and Elder Brother take some to plant, and I’ll put the rest on the back mountain,” Lin Heng said with a nod and a smile.

“Alright, I’ll pull some up in a bit.”

Father Lin nodded, then took out thirty yuan and handed it to him. “Here, take this money back. You and your brother can settle your accounts together, there’s no need to settle things with me. If you run out of money, let me know, I can still scrape some together.”

Lin Heng looked at the money and realized his father was worried he had spent everything on building the pond.

Repairing the pond had cost over five thousand last year and another three thousand this year. Eight thousand was gone already, and that didn’t even count other expenses. Combined with the purchase of the motorcycle, he should have been out of money under normal circumstances.

Lin Heng leaned in and whispered into his ear, “Dad, I’ll tell you the truth. Last year during the heavy snow, I had some good luck when I went into the mountains. I dug up a wild ginseng, a Centennial Wild Ginseng[5].”

“A Centennial Wild Ginseng???”

Father Lin’s voice was thin and sharp. He was clearly shocked but didn’t dare to speak loudly.

His eyes widened like copper bells, and he remained in disbelief for a long time.

“Dad, as long as you know. That thing sold for a lot of money. The money I have left is more than enough for doing business,” Lin Heng said with a low chuckle.

“Whew!”

“That time the jeep came, was that because you were selling the ginseng?” Father Lin took a deep breath and asked in a low voice.

Lin Heng didn’t say anything, simply nodding with a smile.

“Whew!!”

Father Lin took another deep breath, his heart unable to settle for a long time. A Centennial Wild Ginseng… that was the stuff of legends.

He couldn’t calm his emotions, but everything made sense now. He had been wondering how Lin Heng could suddenly afford a motorcycle.

Then, he pulled Lin Heng over and stuffed the thirty yuan back into his hand, saying with a smile, “You should still keep this money. Use it to take care of me when I’m old[6].”

As for exactly how much Lin Heng had sold it for, he didn’t care. It was enough to know that his son had money to spend.

Lin Heng felt helpless, but looking at the money in his hand, he could only accept it.

“These seedlings are good. They already have seven or eight leaves.”

Father Lin walked over to look at the seedlings and spoke with a smile.

After saying that, he found a basket and began digging out the seedlings along with the soil.

He took twenty watermelon and cantaloupe seedlings each, thirty cucumber seedlings, and forty-three chili pepper seedlings.

“You can plant the rest on the back mountain. These are enough for me and your brother,” Father Lin said with a smile. The sky was covered with dark clouds today, and it was clearly about to rain, making it the perfect time to transplant the seedlings.

“Alright.” Lin Heng nodded. After closing the door, he walked over and gave the thirty yuan to Xiulan.

“Keep it yourself. I’ve already saved up over three hundred yuan in change,” Xiulan said, looking at him. Lin Heng always stuffed small change like this into her hands whenever he had it.

“Then you keep it anyway. Just consider it a gift for you,” Lin Heng said with a smile, placing it in her hand.

(End of Chapter)

[1] yellow wine: Known as huangjiu, this is one of the world’s oldest wines, brewed from water and cereal grains like rice or millet. Unlike clear baijiu, it is non-distilled, lower in alcohol, and prized for its complex, nutty, and sweet aromatic profile.

[2] Tiangan Liquor: A strong, distilled spirit (baijiu) made from sweet sorghum stalks. It is a traditional rural liquor known for its high alcohol content and sharp, sweet kick, often preferred by older generations in farming communities.

[3] Stream Stone Barbel: A small, freshwater fish (xishiban) typically found in clear, fast-flowing mountain streams. It is highly valued in Chinese cuisine for its tender meat and is often kept in private ponds as both a food source and an ornamental fish.

[4] rapeseed flowers: The bright yellow flowers of the canola plant (youcaihua), which bloom extensively in early spring across rural China. They are a primary source of nectar for honeybees and are also harvested for cooking oil.

[5] Centennial Wild Ginseng: A wild ginseng root (野山参, yeshanshen) that has grown for over a hundred years. In Chinese culture and traditional medicine, age is the primary determinant of a ginseng’s value and perceived medicinal potency; a hundred-year specimen is considered an extremely rare, ‘legendary’ treasure worth a fortune.

[6] take care of me when I’m old: Refers to the concept of filial piety (孝, xiao) and the traditional expectation of ‘elderly support’ (养老, yanglao). By returning the money for this purpose, the father is both acknowledging his son’s wealth and reinforcing the social contract where children provide for their parents in their twilight years.