Free Web NovelChapter 277: Chapter 236: Waiting for the Snow Crust
With the gifts delivered and the pleasantries exchanged, Tao Dabao stood up to take his leave from Wang Meilan. He helped Tao Fulun toward the door.
Wang Meilan walked them all the way to the courtyard gate. Tao Fulun suddenly turned and said to her, "My girl, make sure you tell Little Zhao to come visit me."
"Yes, Uncle. When he gets back, I’ll definitely tell him," Wang Meilan said. "You need to take care of yourself. At your age, you shouldn’t be running around in the mountains anymore."
Hearing this, Tao Dabao felt a surge of gratitude. ’Listen to her,’ he thought. ’It’s no wonder she raised such an outstanding son.’
But then his father made another request of Wang Meilan. "Could you also tell Little Zhao that when he comes, he should bring that other fellow with him? If they both come, I’ll host them both."
"That other fellow?" Wang Meilan was taken aback. Her first thought was Li Baoyu, since the two of them were always together. But on second thought, Li Baoyu hadn’t been there the day Zhao Jun saved the old man.
Seeing that Wang Meilan hadn’t figured it out, Tao Fulun described him in more detail. "The short one. The one with the real Big Pants."
"Ha!" Zhao Guofeng stepped forward and gestured to Wang Meilan. "He means Zhang Yuanmin!"
"Oh!" Wang Meilan’s face lit up with understanding, and she nodded repeatedly.
Just then, Zhao Guofeng turned back to Elder Tao and said, "I’ve gotta say, Uncle, your way of summing people up is pretty spot-on."
Tao Fulun roared with laughter and said to Wang Meilan, "That guy’s a good hunter, too. Have Little Zhao bring him along."
"What?" Wang Meilan was bewildered again. "Him? A hunter? A *good* one?"
"Alright, Dad, let’s get going. The lady of the house still has work to do." Tao Dabao quickly helped Tao Fulun on his way, waving goodbye to Wang Meilan as they left.
When Zhao Jun got home that evening, he saw his two little sisters sitting on the kang, nibbling on apples. After politely declining his sister’s kind offer of a half-eaten apple core, Zhao Jun noticed a row of canned goods on the windowsill. He quickly called out to Wang Meilan, "Mom, are we going broke or something?"
"What do you mean, going broke?" Wang Meilan came over from Zhao Jun’s room. "These are from someone who came to thank you."
"Huh?"
Zhao Jun wasn’t surprised to hear that the Tao Family father and son had visited. What did surprise him was that Tao Dabao had invited him to the militia’s spring hunt.
’I have to go to this.’
It wasn’t about how much game he could hunt or what rewards he might get. The important thing was that Tao Dabao had extended an olive branch. Refusing it would be a huge loss of face for him.
Just then, Wang Meilan added, "Their old man also said before he left that you should bring your Brother Zhang with you when you go."
"Who?" Zhao Jun couldn’t fathom that Elder Tao would think highly of Zhang Yuanmin. He had assumed it was some other Brother Zhang.
Wang Meilan rolled her eyes at her son. "Zhang Yuanmin, of course. Who else?"
"Huh?"
While Zhao Jun was still reeling in surprise, Wang Meilan mentioned that Zhang Yuanmin had also stopped by the house today.
Zhao Jun froze, then frowned and asked, "Why did he come by?"
’If I remember correctly, it’s only been three days since I took Zhang Yuanmin to the Logging Camp. Why is he already back home?’
"Your big brother killed a Black Bear. He made a special trip to bring us two of the Bear’s Paws and even left the Bear Gall with us."
"Mom, what did you say? He managed to kill a Black Bear? How did he do it?" Zhao Jun could hardly believe his ears. He’d only dropped him off at the Logging Camp a few days ago, and the guy had already conquered the world with his bare hands.
"That I don’t know," Wang Meilan said, shaking her head. "He didn’t even come inside. Just dropped the stuff off and left. He probably went straight home."
Zhao Jun took the can of hawthorn preserves that Zhao Na handed him and twisted it open for her. Zhao Na cupped the jar with both hands, took a sip of the syrup, then turned and passed it to Zhao Hong.
"Mom, I’m going out to check on something." Zhao Jun got up, put on his padded jacket, and headed out.
He’d sent Zhang Yuanmin to the Logging Camp precisely because he was afraid he’d sit around at home, getting into trouble with his half-baked schemes. He never expected this. It turned out the Logging Camp was a vast new world for him to conquer, and he was conquering it with a vengeance.
But Zhao Jun knew what the man was really capable of. All his ’brilliant strategies’ and ’ingenious plans’ were complete nonsense. He’d never heard of anyone hunting like that.
Back in the village, at least he could keep an eye on him. But out in the mountains, if he was poking around a Black Bear’s Den every day and got himself mauled, it would be a huge problem.
Zhao Jun arrived at Zhang Yuanmin’s house. He entered the courtyard, knocked on the door, then pulled it open and went inside. Yang Yufeng came out to greet him.
"Brother, you’re here."
"Uncle."
"Sister-in-law. Oh, is Lingdang doing her homework?" Zhao Jun sat down on the edge of the kang and asked Yang Yufeng, "Has my brother already left?"
"Mhm," Yang Yufeng nodded. "He came home, dropped off two Bear’s Paws, and left without even eating."
"He got a Bear Gall, too. It’s hanging in my family’s shed," Zhao Jun said.
"Sigh!" Yang Yufeng let out a long sigh and said helplessly, "Brother, please, you have to talk to him. I try to, but he won’t listen."
Yang Yufeng had gotten a real scare when Zhang Yuanmin showed up unexpectedly today. He’d been working at the Forest Farm for less than three days, so why was he back?
Just as her head was spinning with questions, Zhang Yuanmin dragged in two huge Bear’s Paws, leaving Yang Yufeng even more bewildered.
Then she heard Zhang Yuanmin say that he had led a group of people to raid a Black Bear’s Den. They’d gotten a Bear Gall, and their family’s share would be around a thousand yuan.
Yang Yufeng found this hard to believe, but as soon as she voiced her doubts, Jiang Jinyou—who had just taken a tea mug and was about to take a drink—immediately objected. With a solemn expression, he told Yang Yufeng that his brother, Elder Zhang, was no ordinary man. He had stabbed the Black Bear to death with just a few thrusts of his knife.
At these words, the color drained from Yang Yufeng’s face. All joy about the thousand yuan from the Bear Gall vanished, replaced by a mixture of terror and rage.
If Jiang Jinyou hadn’t been there, Yang Yufeng would have surely given Zhang Yuanmin a piece of her mind. Zhang Yuanmin must have noticed that something was wrong with her, because he quickly took Jiang Jinyou and left for the Logging Camp.
After hearing Yang Yufeng’s story, Zhao Jun sighed. He was the one who had recommended Zhang Yuanmin for the job at the Logging Camp. If something happened to him, wouldn’t he be held responsible?
"Alright. Tomorrow or the day after, I’ll find some time to go to the Logging Camp and look for him."
"Okay, brother. Thank you for the trouble."
"Don’t mention it, Sister-in-law. I’m heading out now." Zhao Jun waved his hand and turned to leave.
"Wait a moment, brother." Yang Yufeng stopped him. "That Xu Meihua came looking for me today."
"She... what did she want with you?" Zhao Jun asked. "What’s wrong? Does she want to give the bear cub back to me?"
"I don’t think so," Yang Yufeng said, shaking her head. "From the way she was talking, it sounds like her family wants to buy your goat."
"Heh." Zhao Jun chuckled at that. Black Bears are omnivores; they’ll eat anything. But a Little Black Bear this age was truly difficult to feed.
Especially since it was used to goat’s milk. Suddenly switching its food would be as hard as weaning a baby.
Clearly, Zhang Zhanshan’s family was at their wits’ end, which is why they had come to ask Zhang Yuanmin to act as an intermediary. But since Zhang Yuanmin wasn’t home, Xu Meihua had to come to Yang Yufeng instead.
"Sister-in-law, just tell her directly that my goat isn’t for sale," Zhao Jun said. "I still need it to feed my puppies. If I sell it to her, then I’ll be the one with a problem."
Yang Yufeng chuckled. "I know. I heard from your brother that you have two puppies. That’s why I didn’t agree to it in the first place."
"Alright then, Sister-in-law, I’m heading back."
Since Zhang Yuanmin wasn’t home, it wouldn’t have been appropriate for Yang Yufeng to ask Zhao Jun to stay for dinner, so she just walked him to the courtyard gate.
On his way home, Zhao Jun happened to run into Zhao Youcai, Li Dayong, and Li Baoyu, who were just getting back on the commuter bus.
The four of them walked to their homes together. Zhao Jun gave Li Baoyu a subtle tug. Li Baoyu stopped at his door and watched the two older men go inside before asking, "Brother, what’s up?"
Zhao Jun nodded. "On the 30th, at the end of the month, ask your second brother for a day off."
"What for?" Li Baoyu asked, his face full of curiosity. He didn’t care about taking a day off; the important thing was what they would be doing.
Zhao Jun said, "The Yong’an Brigade is having their spring hunt. We’ll take the dogs and go join the fun."
"Deal." Li Baoyu agreed instantly without a second thought. A young man his age loved nothing more than joining in on the excitement.
Just then, Zhao Jun craned his neck to peek into both their courtyards. Seeing that the doors to the houses were all shut tight, he whispered to Li Baoyu, "After we get back from Yongxing, we’re going to go hunt that Pig God."
"For real?!" Li Baoyu’s face grew even more excited. The Pig God was something of a legend. In the hearts of these Hunters, its mystique and power were no less than that of a Northeast Tiger.
"For real," Zhao Jun said. "Didn’t Uncle Li get back those skis he had someone make after the New Year? In about half a month, the snow will have a hard crust, and we can go up on skis."
