The Entire Mountain Is My Hunting Ground

Wang Meilan had spent half her life with Zhao Youcai. She knew what he was capable of; when he set his mind to something, bagging one roe deer was nothing—he could get ten without a problem.

But where did that sheep come from?

Meeting Wang Meilan’s gaze, Zhao Chun’s heart skipped a beat. She quickly looked around for a distraction.

She suddenly spotted the Butter Paper package she had brought back and hurriedly said to Wang Meilan, "Mom, look at me. I was so busy talking to you when I got back that I completely forgot to get you something to eat."

As she spoke, Zhao Chun got up and opened the Butter Paper package, revealing stacks of chilled rice cakes inside.

Then, Zhao Chun turned and called out to the outer room, "Ma, stop working on that meat for a second! Come in and have a rice cake. Don’t you love these?"

"Ah, I’m not in a hurry. You and the child’s grandma go ahead and eat first," Hu Sanmei called back from the outer room. "This meat looks pretty good. I’ll cut it up, and we can stir-fry it with dried tofu tonight."

Then, Hu Sanmei added, calling out to Wang Meilan, "My dear in-law, we haven’t seen each other in over half a year! You absolutely can’t leave today, you hear?"

After saying her piece, Hu Sanmei went outside to dump the water without waiting for Wang Meilan’s reply. Soaking the bear leg in cold water had drawn out a lot of blood.

Inside, Wang Meilan didn’t respond at all. She just stared coldly at Zhao Chun.

Zhao Chun immediately panicked. She had called Hu Sanmei in to eat, thinking, ’With my mother-in-law here, Mom will have to restrain herself a bit.’

Just then, the sound of Hu Sanmei ladling water into a basin came from the outer room. Wang Meilan stood up, shoved the baby into Zhao Chun’s arms, and shot her a glare. Zhao Chun obediently sat on the edge of the kang, not daring to speak.

Of the four children in the Zhao family, only Zhao Jun had inherited Wang Meilan’s eyes. The other three girls all had small eyes.

Zhao Chun watched Wang Meilan’s retreating back, recalling her mother’s fierce glare from a moment ago. She sighed to herself. ’Dad, your daughter can’t save you now.’

Hu Sanmei was in the outer room cutting meat. When she saw Wang Meilan come out, she said hurriedly, "My dear in-law, you should go back inside and rest. You don’t need to help with a small chore like this."

Wang Meilan gave a faint smile and said, "I’m not here to help you work. I came to chat with you."

"That works," Hu Sanmei said with a smile. "We haven’t seen each other in over half a year. I’ve actually missed you."

The last time they had seen each other was when Zhao Chun gave birth.

"Hey," Wang Meilan asked, "where did my Youcai buy that sheep?" At this point, she thought to herself, ’Can’t air our dirty laundry in public,’ so she quickly added, "We have two sheep at home, you know. I think that big ewe is a good one. Once she’s done nursing those two pups, I’ll have Zhao Jun bring her over to you. You can milk her for my dear grandson."

This wasn’t a lie; it was genuinely what Wang Meilan was thinking. Once Cyan Dragon and Black Dragon were a little bigger, she would have the ewe brought over. The milk could be filtered twice through cheesecloth, boiled, and then it would be ready to drink.

"Huh?" Hu Sanmei was taken aback. "You have two sheep at home? Then why would my in-law spend money to buy another one? That big ewe cost eighty yuan."

Wang Meilan was shocked and blurted out, "How much?"

"Eighty," Hu Sanmei said, shaking her head. "And that’s because we know people in the village. Otherwise, it would have been at least a hundred."

Smoke was practically fuming from Wang Meilan’s ears, but she couldn’t show her anger in front of her in-law.

Besides, she considered the possibility that Zhao Youcai, doting on his daughter and grandson, had the same idea as her. Perhaps he’d bought a lactating ewe to provide extra nutrition for his grandson, who would soon be weaned.

But on second thought, she hadn’t seen any sheep in the yard when she arrived.

Thinking of this, Wang Meilan asked Hu Sanmei, "My dear in-law, where is the sheep Youcai bought?"

"He carried it up the mountain," Hu Sanmei answered matter-of-factly, wondering why Wang Meilan was asking.

"COUGH! COUGH!" Just then, the sound of Zhao Chun coughing came from the inner room.

The sound gave Hu Sanmei a start. If Zhao Chun caught a cold, her little grandson wouldn’t be able to breastfeed.

"Chun’Er!" Before Hu Sanmei could go inside, Wang Meilan’s voice rang out, "What are you coughing for?"

No sooner had Wang Meilan spoken than Zhao Chun’s voice came from the inner room. She sounded flustered as she replied, "Ah... ah, Mom, I’m fine. My throat just tickled for a second. It’s fine now."

Wang Meilan rolled her eyes toward the inner room and said loudly, "If you’re fine, then be quiet. Don’t go coughing all of a sudden and scare my dear grandson."

Wang Meilan said it in such a way that Hu Sanmei didn’t detect any hidden meaning.

Then, Wang Meilan asked Hu Sanmei again, "My dear in-law, what did Youcai carry the sheep up the mountain for?"

"Oh, how can you be so forgetful?" Hu Sanmei tapped Wang Meilan’s arm and laughed. "Didn’t a leopard show up out of nowhere a while back? My in-law bought a sheep specifically to bait it so he could hunt it."

Wang Meilan took a deep breath, but instead of exhaling, she held it in, the anger simmering inside her.

After a pause of several seconds, Wang Meilan said irritably, "He was willing to drag a big ewe up the mountain? Couldn’t he have kept it for my grandson to drink the milk? He should have just bought a lamb!"

"He did!" Hu Sanmei said. "He bought a lamb at first, but didn’t the leopard go and kill it?"

"What was that?" Wang Meilan instantly caught the implication in Hu Sanmei’s words and pressed her, "What do you mean, ’it’? How many did he buy?"

"Three! Two lambs and one big ewe!" Hu Sanmei held up three fingers to show Wang Meilan. "The leopard killed the first lamb. My in-law and Jianjun, the two of them, skinned it right there on the mountain, carried it back, and we had lamb for dinner that night."

At these words, Wang Meilan’s brow furrowed deeply.

Hu Sanmei continued, "The leopard ate the second lamb, leaving only its head, so they didn’t bother bringing it back. But my in-law shot a roe deer that day, so we’ve been eating nothing but roe deer meat these past few days."

Hearing this, Wang Meilan’s eyelids drooped, a cold light glinting from between them.

「An hour and a half later.」

Zhao Youcai was carrying a gun and leading the sheep, with Zhou Jianjun by his side. As the father- and son-in-law saw they were almost home, Zhou Jianjun asked Zhao Youcai, "Dad, are we still going to lie in wait tomorrow?"

The two of them had been lying in wait for that Far East Leopard for over a week.

In other words, neither of them had gone to work for over a week.

It wasn’t a big deal for Zhao Youcai. He was just a cook—a head chef, granted—but if he didn’t show up, there were plenty of other employees in the cafeteria.

But if Zhou Jianjun, who managed logistics, didn’t go to work, it would have an impact on the operation.

"That leopard..." Zhao Youcai muttered. "It’s probably gone somewhere else."

"Where could it have gone?" Zhou Jianjun asked, frustrated.

Zhao Youcai shook his head. Holding the sheep’s rope in one hand, he pushed open the gate to the Zhou Family’s yard and walked in. But the moment he stepped inside, he froze. His hands, gripping the hemp rope, began to twist nervously.

At this time of year, the spring chill was still sharp.

But sweat was already beading on Zhao Youcai’s forehead.