Chapter 466 - 394: Baoyu Opens Fire
Thinking of Li Baoyu, who was already engaged to Liu Mei, there was no way Zhang Laibao could stomach it. But since he couldn’t beat Li Baoyu, his hatred could only be directed at Zhang Yuanmin.
After all, if he hadn’t believed Zhang Yuanmin’s bullshit back then, he never would have bought those two little black bears.
Back then, Zhang Laibao had still thought Zhang Yuanmin was a good person, respectfully calling him Brother Zhang. But now, it was clear that Zhang Yuanmin had just been helping Zhao Jun screw him over.
So, Zhang Laibao went to settle the score with Zhang Yuanmin. But don’t let Zhang Yuanmin’s short stature fool you—the man was incredibly strong.
The two brothers, Zhang Laibao and Zhang Laifa, took on Zhang Yuanmin together, but he knocked them both to the ground. What infuriated the brothers the most was that after beating them, Zhang Yuanmin spat on the ground and added with contempt, "I can stab a Black Bear to death. The two of you ain’t shit."
Zhang Laibao couldn’t seem to win a fight against anyone. But life at home had to go on, and the two little black bears still had to be raised.
But the fifty-pound little black bears now had quite an appetite.
As it happened, when Zhang Zhanshan got off work and returned to the village today, he ran into Liu Hanshan. After hearing that a Black Bear had gotten into Liu Hanshan’s cornfield, an idea suddenly flashed through Zhang Zhanshan’s mind.
’If the Black Bears in the mountains can go into the fields to steal corn, then our little black bears can too. The only thing is, little black bears aren’t like dogs. Dogs know how to come home on their own, but the little bears don’t.’
’If those two critters eat their fill and then run off into the mountains, that’ll be a problem. But having someone follow them isn’t safe. If there are other adult Black Bears around, our own little ones will be goners.’
’Besides, letting the little black bears out would require someone to watch them. It would be better just to go and pick the corn ourselves.’
But they certainly couldn’t pick corn from their own field. If they were going to do it, they had to do it in an enemy’s field. And Zhang Zhanshan’s enemy was, of course, Zhao Youcai.
But he was exhausted from a long day at the Forest Farm and had to get up early for work the next day. This heavy burden could only fall on his two sons.
But unlike Zhang Zhanshan, Zhang Laibao’s sworn enemy wasn’t the Zhao Family, but Li Baoyu.
"Dad!" Zhang Laibao said to Zhang Zhanshan, "When the two of us go to the fields to pick corn, it’s not like with a Black Bear. The stalks won’t be knocked down. Unless you go deep into the field and look closely, you can’t tell any cobs are missing. The Li Family is busy building their house right now, so who has the energy to watch their field? Laifa and I will go over at night and steal... no, I mean, *pick* for a few days until there’s not a single cob left. After that, we’ll go hit Er Gudong’s place."
Zhang Zhanshan heard this and thought it made sense. A Black Bear would flatten a whole section of the field, but people wouldn’t. With his own sons picking inside, no one would ever know the corn was stolen unless they went deep into the rows to check.
And so, the Zhang Family had an early dinner that evening, and the brothers, Zhang Laibao and Zhang Laifa, went to bed early. At midnight, Xu Meihua came from the room across the hall and nudged them awake.
Zhang Laibao and Zhang Laifa got up, got dressed in all-black outfits, and came out of the inner room.
Zhang Zhanshan was waiting in the outer room, his clothes draped over his shoulders. Xu Meihua came out of the east room with two flashlights and handed one to each of the brothers.
"Mom," Zhang Laifa said as he took the flashlight, asking curiously, "Since when did we have two flashlights?" He flipped the switch as he spoke and was momentarily blinded by the small bulb, forcing his eyes shut. He quickly flicked it off again before saying to Xu Meihua, "And they’re new, too."
Xu Meihua smiled and nodded. "I stole... no, I mean, I *took* them from Wang Meilan."
Zhang Laibao gave a thumbs-up. "Nice one!" he praised.
"Alright, that’s enough!" Zhang Zhanshan cut in. "Stop your yapping. Don’t turn on those flashlights unless you have to. Don’t let anyone see the light."
A sudden flash of light in the pitch-black darkness would definitely draw attention.
Zhang Laibao and Zhang Laifa both grunted in agreement. Then, under the cover of the vast night, the two of them slipped out of the house and headed straight for the South Land.
In the dead of night, there wasn’t a soul on the village paths. Thankfully, the moon was out. Zhang Laibao and Zhang Laifa walked by its light for over twenty minutes before finally arriving at the South Land.
Once there, Zhang Laibao switched on his flashlight to help Zhang Laifa find the Li Family’s field.
"This plot is the Tian Family’s, this one is the Xu Family’s. And that one... I think it’s that bastard Big Pants’s!" Zhang Laibao growled. "Just you wait. After I’m done with Zhao Jun’s family, I’m coming for you."
The two brothers followed the path between the fields southward, keeping count as they went. Finally, they stopped in front of a certain plot. Zhang Laibao pointed ahead, then pulled a pair of work gloves from his pocket and handed them to Zhang Laifa. "Let’s go in," he said. "We’ll feel for the big cobs and pick those."
"Okay," Zhang Laifa said, taking the gloves. "But Bro, I can’t carry that much."
Zhang Laifa was the same age as Li Ruhai; he wasn’t an adult yet. While Zhang Laibao could haul a full sack in one trip, Laifa could only manage half a sack at most.
"Don’t worry about it!" Zhang Laibao said, switching off the flashlight. "Just grab what you can carry. We can always come back tomorrow."
"Okay!"
They got right to work, heading into the field with their sacks and using one hand to part the corn leaves in front of them.
The corn leaves were tough. A scrape across the neck would leave a red welt that stung like fire. This was no easy task.
When the brothers reached the middle of the Li Family’s field, they split up. One headed south and the other north, and they began picking cobs and stuffing them into their sacks.
Meanwhile, at the far northern edge of the farmland stood two thatched huts. They had been built years ago, when the Village Office had organized the villagers and paid them in work points to put them up. They were specifically for the crop guards to use as a resting spot at night.
In one of the huts, Wang Qiang leaned on his gun with one hand while waving a cattail fan with the other to keep the mosquitoes at bay.
To his left, Zhao Jun, Li Baoyu, and Wang Dalong were whispering to one another.