The Entire Mountain Is My Hunting Ground

"Money?" Upon hearing this, Zhou Jianjun sobered up instantly. He clapped a hand over the pocket of his cotton-padded jacket and asked Zhao Youcai cautiously, "Dad, what do you need money for?"

"To buy a lamb," Zhao Youcai said. "We’ll use it as bait to lure out that leopard."

"Well..." Zhou Jianjun smacked his lips, looking troubled. "Dad, how big of a lamb are we talking about?"

"It can’t be too small," Zhao Youcai said, gesturing with his hands. "About this big. Probably around twenty pounds."

"Around twenty pounds..." Zhou Jianjun mulled it over. "Alright, I’ll go to the Sun Family’s place tonight and buy one from them." At this, Zhou Jianjun looked at Zhao Youcai expectantly. "Dad, lambs aren’t cheap. You can’t screw this up."

"What kind of talk is that!" Zhao Youcai glared at Zhou Jianjun. "When I was hunting tigers, you were still in diapers!"

"Uh..." Zhou Jianjun was left speechless by Zhao Youcai, but then it hit him. He rushed up to his father-in-law and asked with great curiosity, "Dad, so you were the one who fired the two shots that killed the Tiger all those years ago?"

"Ah, no..."

"Dad!" Zhou Jianjun didn’t give Zhao Youcai a chance to explain. "When we were kids, every family talked about it, wondering which one of you four had the skill. A lot of people said it was Zhou Chengguo who did it. Only today do I find out it was you, Dad!"

"It wasn’t."

Zhao Youcai raised a hand to stop him, but Zhou Jianjun was already getting up and heading for the door. As he opened it, he turned back to Zhao Youcai and said, "Dad, now I can really rest easy. I’ll go get the money and buy you a lamb in a bit."

"No, Jianjun..."

Zhao Youcai tried to say more, but Zhou Jianjun didn’t give him the chance and walked right out the door.

"Well, I..." Zhao Youcai sensed trouble. ’It’s true I went on the tiger hunt twenty years ago, but I didn’t hit anything! I can’t believe my son-in-law completely misunderstood. If he goes around telling everyone this, how will I ever be able to face Zhou Chengguo again?’

"Hon..." Zhou Jianjun returned to their room and was about to call out to Zhao Chun, but he saw her shaking her head at him as she rocked the child to sleep.

Zhou Jianjun immediately clamped his mouth shut. He tiptoed to the edge of the bed, helped Zhao Chun lay their sleeping little boy back on his small mattress, then pulled over a little quilt to cover him.

Zhao Chun tucked in the corners of the quilt for the child, then asked Zhou Jianjun, "What did Dad want with you?"

"Honey, I’ve finally figured it out."

"Figured what out?" Zhao Chun found this amusing. She looked at Zhou Jianjun and asked, "What is it that you’ve suddenly ’figured out’?"

"I know why our Xiaojun is so amazing now," Zhou Jianjun said. "The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree!"

"What are you talking about?" Zhao Chun was completely baffled.

"Honey, did you know all along?" Zhou Jianjun looked at Zhao Chun and said, "The entire Forest Area has been talking about it for twenty years, and I only just found out today. Dad’s the one who shot that Tiger."

"What?"

Zhou Jianjun was still a little drunk, and his words were slurred and disjointed. He rambled on to Zhao Chun, leaving her puzzled. She thought to herself, ’Dad couldn’t have been the one who shot the Tiger. If he had, he would have bragged about it to Mom.’

Just then, Zhou Jianjun spoke up beside her, "Honey, could you give me twenty yuan?"

The moment she heard Zhou Jianjun ask for money, Zhao Chun instantly forgot all about the tiger hunt. She looked at Zhou Jianjun with a wary expression and asked, "Why are you asking for money? What do you need it for now?"

"I need to go to the Sun Family’s place and buy another lamb," Zhou Jianjun replied.

"Another sheep?" Zhao Chun’s eyes narrowed. "You bought a sheep the other day to treat guests. What’s this one for?"

A few days ago, when the leaders from the Forestry Bureau came down to pick up the Pig God, Zhou Jianjun had specially bought a sheep in the village. He had it taken to the canteen to be slaughtered, and had Zhao Youcai cook up a feast.

The large ram he bought that day weighed over 160 pounds. The Sun Family, out of respect for the Zhou Family, only charged Zhou Jianjun one hundred yuan for it, a price that still made Zhao Chun’s heart ache for days.

"It’s Dad, he told me to buy the lamb." Zhou Jianjun knew it was difficult to get money from Zhao Chun, so he brought up Zhao Youcai. He said to her, "Dad said we have to leave the lamb on the mountain to lure out the leopard."

The moment Zhou Jianjun finished speaking, Zhao Chun shot him a glare and snapped out two words: "No way."

"Huh?"

"Huh what?" Zhao Chun said irritably. "Does money grow on trees? Using a whole sheep to feed some mountain beast? What were you thinking?"

"Honey, don’t get mad at me. Dad’s the one who said it, right?"

Zhou Jianjun tried to use Zhao Youcai as a shield, but it was completely useless against Zhao Chun. She retorted, "So you’ll do whatever Dad tells you to do? If he told you to stop living, would you go jump in a river?"

"I..."

Zhou Jianjun was retorted into silence. Zhao Chun continued, "You got a whole sheep the other day and didn’t even think to bring a piece of meat back for me, Dad, or Mom. And now you want me to spend money to buy a sheep to feed a leopard? Are you crazy?"

"That sheep... that sheep, there was some meat left over. I had Zhao Jun take it back to Mom."

"You’re the son-in-law, so what if you bought your mother-in-law a little meat? Is that my point? If Dad can’t handle the hunt, we might as well send Xiaojun! And you’re still talking about getting a sheep, I swear..."

Having failed to get the money and getting an earful instead, Zhou Jianjun quickly begged for mercy, then obediently climbed onto the bed to sleep off the alcohol.

Around four in the afternoon, after Zhou Jianjun had sobered up, he got out of bed, put on his shoes, and went out.

He went to the Sun Family’s home in the village; it was the same place he’d bought the last sheep from.

The Sun Family originally had two large sheep, a ram and a ewe. Before the new year, they had two little lambs. When Zhou Jianjun came to buy a sheep a few days ago, the Sun Family sold him the large ram.

It had only been a few days, so when Zhou Jianjun showed up to buy another sheep, the Sun Family was quite puzzled, thinking he was planning to get into sheep farming.

The half-grown lamb, weighing a bit over twenty pounds, cost Zhou Jianjun ten yuan. This was a friendly price; if not for a favor Zhou Chunming had done for the Sun Family years ago, they wouldn’t have sold it at all.

This ten yuan came from Zhou Jianjun’s secret savings. Since he’d used his secret savings, he couldn’t take the sheep home. He arranged with the Sun Family to leave the sheep with them for the night and pick it up the next morning.

When Zhou Jianjun got home, after dinner that evening, Zhao Youcai called him into his room to ask about it. In a low voice, Zhou Jianjun recounted the ordeal of buying the sheep. Zhao Youcai sighed and shook his head without a word.

Zhou Jianjun, who had been hoping his father-in-law might reimburse him for some of the cost, completely gave up on the idea when he saw this. He told Zhao Youcai to get some rest and went back to his room to sleep.

Early the next morning, after breakfast, the father- and son-in-law left the house. They first went to the Sun Family’s to pick up the sheep, then headed straight for the mountains.

They weren’t herding the sheep; they couldn’t just let it walk on its own, or they’d be lucky to arrive by nightfall.

They had no choice. Zhou Jianjun had to carry the sheep on his back. When they reached the spot, they tied the sheep to a tree.

The sheep kept bleating, "BAA, BAA." Zhou Jianjun asked Zhao Youcai with some concern, "Dad, is it okay for the sheep to keep making so much noise?"

"This is something you don’t understand," Zhao Youcai explained. "Those Wild Leopards are incredibly cunning. But when the sheep bleats, not only does it attract the leopard, it also lets us know if it’s coming."

"Dad, how does that work? Tell me."

Zhao Youcai continued, "Before we can even see the leopard coming, the sheep will know first. When it gets scared, its bleating will change. Once we hear that, we’ll be ready."

"Oh!" It dawned on Zhou Jianjun.

Then, with a wave of his hand from Zhao Youcai, the father- and son-in-law split up, each hiding themselves behind a tree, waiting for the leopard to take the bait.

The two of them had arrived a little after nine in the morning. They waited, and kept waiting, until after one in the afternoon. The sheep bleated from time to time, but its cries were calm and steady.

It wasn’t until around two in the afternoon that the sheep lifted its head and let out two urgent bleats.

By this point, both Zhao Youcai and Zhou Jianjun were dozing behind their trees. The sound jolted them awake. They looked left and right, searching for seven or eight minutes, but saw no sign of a leopard.

Zhao Youcai emerged from behind his tree. He crept forward, back hunched and body low, but still saw no leopard. ’Logically,’ he thought, ’if the leopard had sensed something was wrong and left, the sheep shouldn’t be bleating like this anymore.’

But the sheep’s cries were still sharp and shrill.

Zhao Youcai searched for a long while longer but saw no sign of the leopard. He stood up and walked straight toward the lamb.

Seeing Zhao Youcai stand up, Zhou Jianjun quickly came out from behind his tree as well. The two of them went over to the sheep, took one look, and Zhao Youcai cursed out loud.

"Fuck, the damn sheep is hungry!"