Free Web NovelChapter 276: Chapter 235: Militia Spring Hunt (Part 3)
This was no small gift. Wang Meilan had no idea what they were doing, but after Tao Dabao explained their reason for visiting, she realized her son had been out doing good deeds again.
This made Wang Meilan incredibly proud and she beamed from ear to ear.
"My girl," Elder Tao, who had been silent since entering the house, finally spoke. "Your Little Zhao knows how to hunt?"
"Ah, yes he does!" The moment the topic came up, Wang Meilan couldn’t stop talking. She immediately began showering Zhao Jun with praise, so much so that the expressions on the faces of the Tao father and son changed.
Tao Fulun’s expression was eager, with a hint of anticipation. For some reason, he’d never cared for hunting in his youth but had developed a passion for roaming the mountains in his old age. It was one thing for him to use his shotgun to hunt small game near their home for the past couple of years, but who would have thought he’d now be dreaming of big game hunts.
This scared Tao Dabao as he listened from the side. ’He and his brother, Tao Xiaobao, are always busy, and my sister-in-law has her own chores at home,’ he thought. ’How can any of us possibly keep an eye on this old man all the time?’
’What if he runs off one day, thinking he can take on a Black Bear or a wild boar? That would be a huge problem.’
At this thought, Tao Dabao decided he had to find a chance to meet Zhao Jun. But he managed ten production teams, which meant several thousand people and their daily disputes, all of which he had to resolve. He had only made this trip in person today to express his gratitude. Once spring arrived in a few more days, he would be even busier.
But then Tao Dabao remembered something. He said to Wang Meilan, "Sister, our Yongxing Brigade will be holding the Civilian Militia’s spring hunt soon. Your boy is a skilled hunter, so you should have him come. For one, our family can thank him properly. For another, if he can bag some big game, our brigade offers a reward—both money and food tickets."
Back in those days, there was no concept of protecting animals. To the people living in the mountains, those beasts were nothing but a menace.
Everything from large animals like wild boars and Black Bears, down to smaller ones like pheasants and rabbits, destroyed crops and grain.
This was especially true in July. When the corn began to tassel, wild boars and Black Bears would descend from the mountains and wreak havoc right up until the autumn harvest.
But July was summer. The weather was hot and muggy, and the undergrowth was too thick, making hunting impossible.
That was why the higher-ups ordered the production teams to organize a spring hunt for the militia. The hunt was scheduled for late March or early April. Around that time, Black Bears would have just emerged from hibernation. Their fat reserves would be depleted from the winter, and their paws would be thin and tender, making it painful to walk on the mountain trails. As a result, they weren’t as formidable as usual.
As for wild boars, they began to herd up and mate around the time of Xiaoxue. This meant that by spring, the sows were either giving birth or about to. It was the perfect opportunity to clear out both the adults and the young at once.
This wasn’t considered cruel. At the time, aside from their meat and hides, these animals offered no benefits to people.
Some people might say that hunters should be merciful, that the beasts should be allowed to reproduce, and that therefore one shouldn’t hunt the young or the pregnant.
Frankly, that was complete bullshit.
When hunting with hounds, once you let them loose, do they care if their prey is pregnant, old, or young? You can’t very well run over and pull your dogs off just because you see they’ve cornered a piglet, can you?
Or are you supposed to tell the dogs beforehand, ’Hey, don’t go after the pregnant ones or the little ones’?
As for stalking, who could tell if an animal was male or female from eighty or a hundred meters away?
Setting traps was even more indiscriminate. You had to understand, even a man like Xing San, who lived off the mountains year-round, couldn’t check his traps every day.
After setting traps all over the mountains, it might be ten days or even half a month before they could go back to check them. By then, whatever was caught—male, female, old, or young—would have long since died in the trap.
As the leader of the Yongxing Brigade’s Civilian Militia Squad, Tao Dabao had to lead his men into the mountains every year to clear out as many of the local Black Bears and wild boars as possible. This year would be no exception.
A quick calculation showed that this year’s Longtaitou Festival fell on March 1st. Zhao Jun had reported for work the following day, March 2nd, which made today March 22nd.
In a few more days, on March 30th, the Yongxing Brigade’s week-long spring hunt would begin.
After the spring hunt, the villagers of the brigade would start gathering wild mountain vegetables or preparing for spring planting.
Therefore, Tao Dabao specifically asked Wang Meilan to tell Zhao Jun that if he could get time off work, he should come to Yongxing Brigade for those few days. He added that Zhao Jun could stay at his house so he could participate in the spring hunt.
Since Zhao Jun had to work, Wang Meilan couldn’t give Tao Dabao a definite answer, saying only that they would have to see when the time came.
Tao Dabao, however, had his own ideas about it. ’As long as the men of the Zhao Family are reasonable,’ he thought, ’they won’t refuse such a kind offer.’
