The Entire Mountain Is My Hunting Ground

Chapter 239: Chapter 207: Differential Treatment (Part 2)

Since that was the case, Du Chunjiang decided to play along with Xu Baoshan. If he could make Zhao Jun look like a complete fool, Xu Baoshan would surely remember him favorably.

"Want a smoke?" At this thought, Du Chunjiang, believing he had everything under control, stopped asking about Zhao Jun. Instead, he pulled over a small basket filled with tobacco leaves and asked Zhao Jun if he smoked.

Hearing this, Zhao Jun waved his hands and said quietly, "No, thanks, Du Leader. I don’t."

Hearing Zhao Jun’s reply, Du Chunjiang turned to Du Chunlin and said, "Elder San, take Technician Zhao over to the Log Pile. Let him give it a try."

And just like that, Zhao Jun followed Du Chunlin out of the shack, heading toward the Log Pile at the north end of the Logging Camp.

As he walked, Zhao Jun recalled the past. ’If I remember correctly, my first meeting with Du Chunjiang in my past life was nothing like this.’

He remembered arriving alone to take up his post at the No. 77 Logging Camp then, too, but that had been two months later.

When he arrived at the Logging Camp and Du Chunjiang asked, Zhao Jun had told him he was the son of Zhao Youcai, the head chef at the Forest Farm’s Cafeteria Number One.

The moment Du Chunjiang heard that, just as Jiang Fu had treated Xu Baoshan the day before, he immediately laid out all the best food for Zhao Jun.

And from then on, Du Chunjiang was more respectful to Zhao Jun than Zhao Jun was to his own father, Zhao Youcai.

Whenever Zhao Jun entered the Logging Camp’s main gate, a cigarette would be lit for him instantly; when Zhao Jun was leaving work, Du Chunlin would offer him another one.

And what they gave Zhao Jun weren’t just hand-rolled cigarettes, but the fancy filtered kind.

Now, comparing Du Chunjiang’s earlier attitude toward him, Zhao Jun laughed to himself.

’That’s right,’ he thought. ’I’m concealing my identity precisely to make Du Chunjiang misunderstand.’

’Otherwise, how could I find an excuse to get back at him?’

Come to think of it, Zhao Jun and Du Chunjiang had gotten along quite well at first in his past life.

Even four years later, when measuring logs at the No. 77 Logging Camp was no longer his responsibility, Zhao Jun still looked out for Du Chunjiang. Du Chunjiang didn’t know how to handle people and couldn’t get along with the other inspectors, so it was always Zhao Jun who stepped in to smooth things over for him.

But what Zhao Jun never expected was that this very same Du Chunjiang would plot against him behind his back.

He remembered it was after his four great hounds—Qing, Hei, Huang, and Hua—had all died in the hunt. Zhao Jun was asking everyone he knew to help him buy new dogs. Du Chunlin had volunteered to help and bought a pack of hunting dogs for him, but he skimmed three hundred yuan off the top.

When Zhao Jun later found out, he had a major falling-out with him on the spot.

Only then did someone secretly tell Zhao Jun that Du Chunjiang had been pulling all sorts of shady moves behind his back for years, taking advantage of him in countless ways.

It was just that Zhao Jun had always seen Du Chunjiang as a good man, so even if others knew, they didn’t dare say anything to him.

Lost in these memories of the past, Zhao Jun had already followed Du Chunlin to the front of the Log Pile.

Du Chunlin pointed forward and said to Zhao Jun, "Technician Zhao, you can give it a try."

"Alright. Thanks, Brother Du." Zhao Jun thanked Du Chunlin politely, then picked up his tools and walked toward the Log Pile.

As for Du Chunlin, he only gave Zhao Jun’s back a single glance before turning and walking away.

When the Gui Ling workers saw a man approaching with a measuring rod and a marking hammer, they all knew the new technician had arrived.

Unlike the Du brothers, these Gui Ling workers didn’t dare to offend Zhao Jun. They all stopped what they were doing to greet him.

Just then, Liu Hanshan also spotted Zhao Jun.

He was slightly taken aback, then quickly jogged over to him. Reaching Zhao Jun, he said, "Zhao Jun, what are you doing here?"

Though he asked the question, Liu Hanshan had already figured out that Zhao Jun was the new technician. They were from the same village, and although he was a generation older than Zhao Jun, he still wanted to cozy up to him and build a connection.

Zhao Jun didn’t embarrass him and smiled. "Uncle Liu, I’m here to measure logs."

"Ah, ah, this kid’s really going places," Liu Hanshan said, sucking up. Then a thought occurred to him, and he quickly asked, "Zhao Jun, have you met Du Leader yet?"

"I have," Zhao Jun chuckled. "I not only met Du Leader, but I also saw that guy who was with you last time, Uncle Liu—the one who drives the sled, Du Chunlin."

Hearing this, Liu Hanshan gave an awkward smile and could only force himself to say, "Zhao Jun, your Uncle Liu is just trying to make a living here, and it’s not easy. If it’s convenient for you, please look out for me a little, okay?"

"No problem, Uncle Liu. Don’t worry," Zhao Jun replied with a smile, but in his mind, he had already completely written Liu Hanshan off.

The reason was simple: the incident where Liu Hanshan had dug a dog’s corpse out of the snow had utterly disgusted Zhao Jun. Although he and Li Baoyu had been holding back Xu Changlin that day, if it had been his own dog Liu Hanshan was digging up, Zhao Jun would have fought him to the death.

After sending Liu Hanshan away, Zhao Jun started measuring the logs. The moment he began, he stunned the surrounding Gui Ling workers.

They saw that although this new young technician wasn’t very old, his work was exceptionally quick and skillful. Moreover, for any borderline measurements that could have gone either way, Zhao Jun approved them in their favor.

This gesture immediately made the workers warm up to Zhao Jun. After all, life wasn’t easy for manual laborers. Meeting an easygoing technician made these men, who lived at the bottom of the social ladder, genuinely happy.

After working all morning, just as it was getting to be lunchtime, someone in a shack over yonder shouted, "Time to eat! Time to eat!"

Hearing the cook’s call, the Gui Ling workers all dropped their tools and ran toward the shack.

"Zhao Jun, I’m going to eat now," Liu Hanshan said to Zhao Jun before he left. "Don’t you worry. Du Leader will definitely arrange a good meal for you in a bit."

Liu Hanshan was sure of this, because it was the custom.

Never mind that technicians who came to the Logging Camp to measure logs always got special meals with the Leader. The key thing was that this was Zhao Jun’s first day at the No. 77 Logging Camp. No matter what, Du Chunjiang had to treat him to a proper meal.

The fact that Du Chunlin hadn’t come to get Zhao Jun yet, in Liu Hanshan’s opinion, was probably because Zhao Jun’s arrival was so sudden. Du Chunjiang hadn’t prepared in advance, and cooking a meal from scratch would take some time.

After all, meat was stored frozen, and thawing it out wasn’t something that could be done instantly.

"Alright, Uncle Liu. I get it. You go on and eat," Zhao Jun replied with a smile, then lowered his head and went back to work.

Zhao Jun had eaten a lot for breakfast at home that morning. He’d had ten of the very filling sticky bean buns, so even now, he didn’t feel hungry.

Meanwhile, in the Leader’s shack, the two brothers, Du Chunjiang and Du Chunlin, had already finished their meal.

Du Chunlin felt a little uneasy and asked Du Chunjiang, "Brother, us not arranging a meal for that technician... that’s not going to cause any trouble, is it?"

"Hah!" Du Chunjiang said. "He’s new, what rules would he know? We can save on this meal, and it’ll be much better for the two of us to cook up a couple of dishes and have a drink some other day."

"Well... I guess that works," Du Chunlin said. "But letting him eat with the Gui Ling crew... that’s not right, is it?"

"There’s nothing wrong with it," Du Chunjiang said. "We set the precedent now, and that’s how it’ll be. From now on, he can just eat with that Gui Ling gang."

"Alright then." Seeing he couldn’t persuade his brother, Du Chunlin stood up to grab his dog-fur hat. Like Jiang Jinyou, he drove a sled team, but Jiang Jinyou had left for the smaller work site long ago, while Du Chunlin was only now preparing to set out.

At the Logging Camp, the Gui Ling workers finished their lunch and took a short nap in their shack. When they returned to the log piling area, they saw Zhao Jun still working.

But none of them thought much of it; they just assumed Zhao Jun had finished eating in Du Chunjiang’s shack and had come back to continue measuring logs.

Soon, many of the workers were talking amongst themselves, saying this young technician was so dedicated—much better than the previous one, Elder Li, who had just been coasting along, waiting for retirement.

Zhao Jun worked straight until three in the afternoon. Finally feeling a bit hungry, he headed for the shack where the Gui Ling workers had eaten earlier.

But when he reached the Gui Ling workers’ shack, he found the door locked, so he went to the shack across from it.

This shack belonged to the sled drivers. It was empty at the moment. Zhao Jun went to the stove and saw the fire had long since gone out. He grabbed some corn cobs and a couple of pieces of firewood and got the fire going again.

Then, he picked up the nearby iron kettle, ladled some water out of a large vat, and set the kettle on the stove to boil.

’Once the water boiled,’ he thought, ’I’ll eat the large crackers I bought this morning and wash them down with hot water.’

So, Zhao Jun sat in front of the stove, warming himself by the fire while he waited for the water to boil.

Suddenly, the shack door opened.

A man stormed in from outside, huffing in anger. The moment he saw Zhao Jun, he froze in surprise and asked in astonishment, "Technician Zhao, what are you doing in here?"

This man was none other than Jiang Jinyou, who had briefly met Zhao Jun that morning.