The Entire Mountain Is My Hunting Ground

Upon hearing this, Li the Fifth glanced at Ji Lin. Seeing Ji Lin shake his head, he said to Zhao Jun, "Zhao Jun, we appreciate the thought, but we won’t stay for a meal. All this hunting has put us behind on work back home. Besides, planting season is almost here, so we need to go home and get ready."

As they spoke, they heard the front door open. Zhao Jun got up and went to the outer room to find Li Baoyu walking in. He pulled some money from his pocket, counted out two yuan, and offered it to Li Baoyu.

Li Baoyu didn’t take the money, just looked at Zhao Jun.

Zhao Jun walked up to him and whispered, "Baoyu, hurry to the small store and buy them some provisions for the road."

"Just provisions for the road?" Li Baoyu glanced down at the two yuan. That was a lot of money back then. He could buy a ton of pastries, cakes, and cookies with it.

"Yeah." Zhao Jun nodded, gesturing for Li Baoyu to hurry. The two men had to leave on the sleigh soon, and carrying canned goods would be inconvenient. It was better to get them some provisions. If they got hungry on the way, they could have a bite to tide them over.

Li Baoyu took the money and left. The moment he opened the door, Zhao Jun saw Wang Meilan and Jin Xiaomei in the yard, untying the chickens.

Zhao Jun returned to the room and spoke a few more words with Li the Fifth and Ji Lin. When the two men had finished their mugs of water, Zhao Jun stood and grabbed the thermos to offer them a refill, but Ji Lin stopped him.

"Zhao Jun, don’t go to any trouble. We won’t have any more," Ji Lin said as he climbed down from the kang bed. He then turned to Li the Fifth. "Fifth Uncle, shall we head back then?"

"Let’s." Li the Fifth was just as decisive. He hopped off the kang, slid his arms into the cotton-padded jacket draped over his shoulders, and headed for the door.

Zhao Jun wanted to make them stay, but it was impossible to stop them now.

Fortunately, just as they reached the doorway, the door opened. In walked Li Baoyu, carrying a bundle of packages wrapped in Butter Paper in each hand.

The sight of it all stunned Li the Fifth and Ji Lin.

Zhao Jun hurried over, took the four packages from Li Baoyu’s right hand, and holding the string they were tied with, offered them to Li the Fifth. "Fifth Uncle," he said, "you came all this way only to rush off. My brother and I wanted to get you some provisions for your journey."

"This... You shouldn’t have..." Li the Fifth looked at the Butter Paper packages, too embarrassed to accept them.

"Uncle, don’t ’shouldn’t have’ me." Not giving him a chance to refuse, Zhao Jun simply looped the string of the packages onto Li the Fifth’s finger. He continued with a smile, "We asked you and Brother Ji to stay for a meal, but you refused. This is just a small gesture from me and Baoyu. You two should take it. If you get hungry on the road, you’ll have something to tide you over, right?"

"Alright!" Hearing Zhao Jun put it that way, Li the Fifth broke into a grin. "You’re a good kid. Your Fifth Uncle will accept."

Just then, Li Baoyu smilingly handed the provisions he was holding to Ji Lin. He had gotten a ride back on Ji Lin’s sleigh. Even though they couldn’t talk much with Ji Lin driving into the wind, it was easy for young men to get along.

The men then exchanged polite invitations, saying things like "come visit when you’re free," before Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu finally saw Li the Fifth and Ji Lin out the door.

As soon as they stepped outside, they saw Wang Meilan and Jin Xiaomei, each holding a pair of chickens and studying them intently.

When she saw Li Baoyu return with the provisions, Wang Meilan had known the two men wouldn’t be staying for dinner, but she had invited them anyway out of politeness.

After seeing the two men off, Jin Xiaomei picked up two hens and was about to head home with Li Baoyu when Zhao Jun stopped her. "Auntie," he called out, "you’d better keep those two penned up, or Xiaohua might get them."

"Oh, dear!" Jin Xiaomei exclaimed, the realization dawning on her. Her family had never raised chickens before, so she hadn’t considered the issue.

Now that Zhao Jun had brought it up, she realized the hens really needed to be confined. Otherwise, they’d just wander off and end up in a dog’s stomach.

But they didn’t have a proper coop. Jin Xiaomei thought for a moment, then instructed Li Baoyu, "Eldest, go to the storeroom and grab that big wicker basket. We’ll put the chickens in there for now."

"Can we just keep ours in the storeroom?" Wang Meilan asked Zhao Jun uncertainly. "Cyan Dragon won’t attack them, will he?"

New chickens had to get used to their surroundings first. Once they learned where home was, you could let them wander all over the village without any issue. But not yet. If they were let loose now, they’d surely run away for good.

Back then, people usually left their yard gates open during the day, and the wicker fences were no match for these local chickens.

That’s why Wang Meilan thought of putting her two chickens in the storeroom. But Cyan Dragon was already three months old. The little pup was full of energy, able to run and jump all over, and Wang Meilan was truly worried he might attack the chickens.

Zhao Jun considered the problem carefully. After a moment of thought, he said, "It should be fine for now. He probably won’t be a problem for the first month or two."

"Okay then." Wang Meilan opened the storeroom door and tossed the two chickens inside. The storeroom was quite lively now, with chickens, a goat, and a dog. If they hadn’t sold the bear, Zhao Jun’s family could have opened a small zoo.

"Son, come on inside." After tossing the chickens in, Wang Meilan turned, dusted off her hands, and ushered Zhao Jun toward the house. She hadn’t seen him in days, and her mother’s heart ached with longing. She pulled him by the hand as they walked inside.

As soon as they were through the door, Wang Meilan called out, "Girls, your brother is back!"

Her words had barely faded when Zhao Hong and Zhao Na came running out of Zhao Jun’s room.

The two little girls had been sent to Zhao Jun’s room while the guests were over. Even though they heard Zhao Jun’s voice, they had managed to stay put.

But now that Wang Meilan had called them, the two girls threw open the door and rushed out.

In this family, it seemed the only one who didn’t miss Zhao Jun was Zhao Youcai.

"Brother!" Zhao Hong launched herself forward, wrapping her arms around Zhao Jun’s leg. "I missed you!"

"Brother..." The younger one was even more dramatic—she actually started to cry.

Zhao Jun quickly squatted down, gathering both his little sisters into a hug. Just then, Zhao Hong whispered in his ear, "Big Brother, what delicious treats did you bring back for us this time?"

"I..."

Zhao Jun froze. He remembered that the last few times he’d gone away, he’d always brought snacks back for his sisters. But today, he had been escorted all the way home and truly hadn’t bought a thing.

Zhao Jun gently patted Zhao Hong’s back. "Whatever you want to eat, Sis," he said softly, "I’ll go buy it for you in a little while."

"Stop spoiling her," Wang Meilan said from nearby. "She eats enough as it is."

Zhao Jun just smiled, patting Zhao Hong and Zhao Na on their little heads and gently guiding them toward the inner room.

Just then, Wang Meilan asked, "Son, what do you want for lunch? I’ll make it for you."

Zhao Jun actually gave the question some serious thought. Even though times were tough, he never went hungry. For the past few days at Tao Xiaobao’s home, Li Yunxiang had treated him to lavish feasts of fish and meat.

To say something that would earn him the envy of others in this era, Zhao Jun was actually getting a little sick of meat.

He thought long and hard before finally telling Wang Meilan, "Mom, I’d like some hand-rolled noodles."

"I’ll mix the dough right now!" Wang Meilan said, immediately going to grab a basin. As she pulled a smaller basin out from a larger one, she asked Zhao Jun, "Do you want them in hot broth? Or cold?"

Hot broth noodles were self-explanatory. But what Wang Meilan called "cold," in the Northeast, referred to noodles rinsed in cold water and served with a thick sauce.

"Let’s have the cold-rinsed kind," Zhao Jun said. "I’ve been eating a little too richly the past few days. Something cooling sounds good."

"Alright." Wang Meilan opened the dish cupboard, took out the flour sack, and poured some flour into the basin. She added water, mixed it until a shaggy dough formed, and then began to knead.

While the dough rested, Wang Meilan went out and returned with two pieces of wild boar tenderloin. "I’ll add plenty of meat," she told Zhao Jun, "and we’ll make a meat sauce."

"Alright..." Zhao Jun nodded with a hint of resignation. It couldn’t be helped. Who else had this much wild boar meat lying around?

Wang Meilan placed the meat in a bowl of cold water. It couldn’t be allowed to thaw completely; it had to be cut while still semi-frozen.

"Oh, right!" Suddenly, Wang Meilan turned to Zhao Jun. "I got so busy I forgot to ask. Why didn’t Hua Xiao’Er come back with you?"