Reborn in 80: Starting with hunting in the mountains to get rich

Chapter 180 Ugly Revolver, Lu Zhiqiang is also a shrewd person

The old master of the Lu family was a shrewd man; he really didn't want to give his eldest grandson a new gun. After he retired from the criminal life, he had long since sold off his ordinary guns or given them away as favors. The guns he kept were his loyal brothers who had gone through thick and thin with him, and were keepsakes.

The old man was reluctant to part with the last few guns he had kept as memories, but he also didn't want to be the bad guy in front of his eldest grandson, so he had to steer the conversation toward his eldest son, Lu Zhiqiang's father, Lu Desheng.

The old man, with his droopy eyelids, said casually, "Go ask your father, the guns are all in his hands."

Lu Desheng was serving his wife wolf meat jelly when he heard this and immediately understood what the old man meant. He quickly said, "Ah, this matter needs to be discussed further."

Lu Zhiqiang grew anxious: "Dad, what's there to discuss? Grandpa already agreed. Do you really have a gun? Let me see it. It'll make you look good when your son goes hunting."

Lu Desheng cursed inwardly that the old man was good at playing Tai Chi, and he also started to play Tai Chi with his son. He was just like his father. Otherwise, how could they say they were family?

"Let's take another look, wait a bit, son, let's wait a bit longer, we'll talk about this later."

Lu Zhiqiang snorted twice, looking displeased, and silently buried his head in his rice.

"Let's talk about it later" means the matter has been shelved and there's no follow-up. No way, he has to retrieve the family's heirloom gun, and preferably bring a large animal into the mountains too, so that he can get a bigger share of the profits when he and Li Ju'an go hunting together.

After dinner, Lu Zhiqiang called Lu Jinyang over, and the two of them secretly discussed something.

Do you know where Dad hides his secret stash of money?

"I know nothing. If I had known, I would have taken it."

Mr. Lu was henpecked, though in the village it wasn't exactly strict; it was more about men respecting their wives. Mr. Lu, Lu Desheng, handed over his entire monthly salary to his wife, keeping only a small amount as a secret stash for himself to gamble with his brothers.

As for how much he won or lost each week playing cards, and where he kept his secret stash of money, Lu Zhiqiang always wanted to find out.

Seeing that Lu Jinyang was also clueless, he quietly called Lu Wenqian over and asked her to keep an eye on her father. When her father went out to the snow shed to play cards with Old Zhang again that night, he was to see where her father got his secret stash of money.

Lu Wenqian, despite her young age, spread out her hands and said, "Fruit candy."

Lu Zhiqiang slapped his forehead, sighed, and actually pulled out a lychee-flavored hard candy from his pocket: "At such a young age, you're already learning bad habits, aren't you? You're even trying to scam people now."

Lu Wenqian continued, "One isn't enough."

Lu Zhiqiang sighed in frustration, then pulled out a handful of fruit candies—a dozen or so in various flavors. Lu Wenqian was finally happy and clung to Lu Desheng all night.

That night, after receiving the news from Lu Wenqian, Lu Zhiqiang excitedly and quietly went to the outhouse by the light of a kerosene lamp.

He pretended to untie his pants to relieve himself, glancing up at the few tiles of the outhouse.

The tile did indeed have a problem; a corner of a instant noodle bag was sticking out.

In the 80s, instant noodles were considered a luxury in rural areas. Even the instant noodle bags were not easily thrown away and were used to store other things.

Lu Zhiqiang was delighted when he saw the bag. He used the wooden ladder to pry open the tiles and took out the instant noodle bag. He rummaged around inside and actually found 180 yuan.

"You old man, you were secretly hiding money here, and I found out anyway."

Lu Zhiqiang was secretly pleased. He took out all 180 yuan, picked some more grass from outside the outhouse, filled the instant noodle bag with it, and climbed back up the ladder to press it under the roof tiles.

He deliberately went to the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and made a lot of noise. Mr. and Mrs. Lu had just finished soaking their feet and were about to go to bed when they were annoyed by his noise.

Mr. Lu grabbed a broom and was about to hit him, "You brat, what are you doing making a fuss in the middle of the night? What's so funny? Smile, what are you laughing at?"

Lu Zhiqiang smiled and said, "Dad, this is great news! I found some money. It's exactly 180 yuan."

Upon hearing this, Mr. Lu quickly calculated in his mind and realized he was in trouble. He asked, "Where did you find it? It's exactly 180 yuan?"

"Of course! Dad, why are you so nervous? It couldn't possibly be yours, could it? You give all your salary to Mom, and I figured you don't have that much money, so it's definitely not yours. I used it myself, and I'll just use it to buy a new gun."

Lu Zhiqiang was about to head outside. Lu's father thought for a moment, then slapped his thigh and exclaimed inwardly: "We've fallen for their trap!"

He threatened, "You little bastard, how dare you scheme against your father? You've got some nerve! Just wait until you go out today, and we'll see if your family will even allow you to run around in the mountains with that kid Li Ju'an."

Lu Zhiqiang is not like Lu Jinyang. If it were Lu Jinyang, he might have been scared and obediently returned the money in his hand. But Lu Zhiqiang is the kind of person who responds to gentle persuasion but not to force. The more you try to argue with him, the more defiant he becomes.

He smiled and suddenly shouted, "Mom, I found some money!"

Such a loud noise actually woke up Lu's mother, who was almost asleep on the kang (a heated brick bed).

Mr. Lu was so frightened that he hurriedly covered his son's mouth. Only then did he soften his tone and plead with his father in a low voice, "You little rascal, you should have some love for me, okay? Tell me, how much do you want?"

He snatched the 180 yuan, gritted his teeth, and pulled out two ten-yuan bills to hand over. These were his hard-earned savings from playing cards, and every ten-yuan bill taken from him pained him.

Lu Zhiqiang didn't even look at it, and was about to shout again with his hands around his mouth when his father stopped him, gritting his teeth and saying, "20 yuan isn't enough? The kid's getting bigger and bigger with his appetite. Here's 50, are you satisfied now?"

Lu Zhiqiang closed his eyes, shook his head, and said, "It's not about the money, Dad, can I have the gun that Grandpa left with you?"

Mr. Lu knew his son was up to no good, so he had just refused when Lu Zhiqiang was about to shout again. He hurriedly stopped his son and said in a low voice, "You brat, just this once."

He went back to the outhouse, lifted a tile from another part of the roof, and took out a cloth bag containing a U.S. Type 96 revolver wrapped in oil paper.

The Ugly Revolver is no worse than the Type 54, and it sells for a hefty price. This pistol has a short range and poor accuracy, but its advantage lies in its ability to fire six rounds in rapid succession. The revolver is about the size of a submachine gun, containing eight 6-round cylinders, meaning it has a total of 48 rounds. How can an opponent possibly compete with that?

The Ugly revolver has a large barrel, making it bulky and unsuitable for holding and firing, resulting in poor accuracy. However, its advantages become apparent when it is fixed in one place before firing.

Lu Zhiqiang stared at the ugly revolver, his eyes practically bulging with excitement.

He quickly flattered his father, laughing, "Of course, absolutely! My father treats me the best. He's saving such a good gun for me."

Mr. Lu snorted and quickly stuffed the 180 yuan bills into the instant noodle bag without missing a single one. He then hid the money in another place behind his back and said, "Alright, stop flattering me. You'd better keep your mouth shut about your mother."

"Okay."

Beside the kang (a heated brick bed), Lu's mother was still shouting loudly, "How much money did you find, son?"

Lu Zhiqiang smiled at his father and called out, "Finding 4 cents is just enough to go to the auditorium to see a movie."