Chapter 334 - 272: The Pig God’s Whereabouts
"Uncle Zhang, I’m here about the roe deer."
"Huh?" Zhang Lifu froze at Zhao Jun’s words. He frowned at the young man, saying nothing.
Afraid he might get the wrong idea, Zhao Jun quickly said, "Uncle Zhang, did you get into a fight the other day?"
"How’d you know?" he asked, his thick Shandong accent distinctive. "You know that Big Pants fella?"
"Heh heh..." Zhao Jun chuckled. "Uncle Zhang, here’s the thing. That guy, Zhang Yuanmin, he just got a gun a couple days ago and only started hunting. He doesn’t understand the rules. If he did anything wrong, Uncle Zhang, for my sake, please don’t hold it against him."
"Ah, Jun! *Sigh*..." Zhang Lifu sighed and shook his head. "Since you’re here today, I’ll tell you... that kid is a real damn piece of work. I just said a couple of words to him, and the damn guy pulls a gun on me! You tell me, how could I not beat him up?"
"No, no." Zhao Jun quickly explained on Zhang Yuanmin’s behalf, "See, he doesn’t understand our dialect from Inside the Pass. When he heard you say you were going to ’stomp’ him, he thought you meant you were going to stab him with a knife. It scared the hell out of him, so he just reflexively made a motion with his gun."
"Oh? Hah!" Hearing this, Zhang Lifu slapped his thigh. "That explains it. I was wondering why that kid was so prickly."
At this point, Zhang Lifu pointed outside and said to Zhao Jun, "The roe deer’s outside. In a bit, I’ll have your aunt find a burlap sack for you. You take it all back. Keep some for yourself, and give some to him."
"No, no." Zhao Jun quickly waved his hands. "Uncle Zhang, I didn’t come here for anything else. I just wanted to clear the air between you two. That way, the next time you meet, you can get along as you should.
As for the roe deer, let me put it this way: he did chase it into your snare. But since he doesn’t know the rules, you weren’t wrong to hit him."
When Zhao Jun said that last part, both Zhang Lifu and Cai Fang laughed. Then Zhao Jun continued, "So, Uncle Zhang, you keep the roe deer. Whether you eat it or sell it is your business; you don’t have to worry about him. And I don’t need any either. We have all kinds of meat at home. I came here from his house today, or else I would’ve brought you some wild boar meat."
"Then let’s not talk about the meat," Zhang Lifu said. "Jun, you made a special trip here today just for this, and now I understand what happened. The next time I see him, I’ll apologize."
"That won’t do!" Hearing this, Zhao Jun quickly waved his hands again. "Uncle Zhang, how could that be right? You’re the elder, and we’re the younger generation. There’s no way you should be apologizing to him."
At this, Zhao Jun’s voice lowered as he continued, "It’s just... Uncle Zhang, if you see him in the mountains again, please look out for him a little."
"No problem." By now, Zhang Lifu understood. Zhang Yuanmin was Zhao Jun’s friend, so no matter what, he had to give Zhao Jun face.
"Kiddo, don’t just sit there. Drink your water," Cai Fang urged from the side.
"Alright, I will." Zhao Jun opened the lid of his enamel mug and took several big gulps. GULP, GULP. The sight made Zhang Lifu and Cai Fang beam.
Their family was poor, so they didn’t have much to offer when guests came. They were always afraid of seeming inhospitable.
The little bit of white sugar they got for the whole year would be given to the children for a taste on the day it was brought home. The rest was all saved for guests.
To make the mug of sugar water even sweeter, Cai Fang had just poured warm water directly into the sugar jar, rinsing out every last grain left inside.
When Zhao Jun put down the mug, Zhang Lifu pointed at him and laughed. "I remember now! That Big Pants fella set some snares down the ridge from where I set mine.
After we fought that day, I was thinking of tearing down all his snares. But when I went over to take a look, the way he set them was completely wrong. Unless a blind roe deer happened by, he wouldn’t catch a single thing in a year."
"So, you see, he doesn’t know the first thing about hunting." Zhao Jun laughed. "He doesn’t know any of the rules either. Uncle Zhang, you’re the bigger person, so just let it go."
"Alright, I get it."
"Okay then." Zhao Jun drained the rest of the sugar water, placed the mug on the edge of the kang bed, and stood up. "Uncle Zhang, Aunt Zhang, I should be heading back now."
"Leaving already?" Zhang Lifu quickly stood to stop him. "It’s your first time visiting, you have to stay for dinner!"
"That’s right!" Cai Fang chimed in. "Stay for dinner! I’ll cook for you!"
"Uncle Zhang, Aunt Zhang, I really can’t stay for dinner," Zhao Jun said quickly. "I have to get up early for work tomorrow, so I need to head back."
Seeing that Zhang Lifu was about to protest again, Zhao Jun quickly added, "I’ll come visit again some day when I’m not so busy."
"Alright then." Zhang Lifu thought for a moment, then said, "Jun, I’m not trying to criticize you, but I heard before the New Year that you’d started hunting. I asked your dad about it, and he said you were chased by a bear, screaming your head off..."
"He said what?" Zhao Jun quickly cut him off. "He... my dad really said that about me?"
"Yeah!" Zhang Lifu nodded. "What I’m trying to say is, you’ve got a good job. You should just focus on that. Don’t go messing with Black Bears and things like that."
The words sounded familiar to Zhao Jun. ’It’s almost exactly what I told Zhang Yuanmin,’ he thought.
"That’s right, kiddo," Cai Fang chimed in, though she didn’t know all the details. "Messing with Black Bears is too dangerous. If you really want to have some fun, just have your uncle take you up the mountain to set some snares or deadfalls."
"Alright!" They meant well, so Zhao Jun couldn’t really argue. He could only accept their advice. "Uncle Zhang, Aunt Zhang, I’ll listen to you."
"Now you’re talking!" Zhang Lifu said with a smile. "Focus on your job, kid. Then find a wife, have a son early to get a head start in life, and don’t be like your uncle here..."
"What kind of nonsense are you telling the boy?" Cai Fang nudged him from the side, cutting him off.
"Heh heh..." Zhao Jun chuckled. "Alright, Uncle Zhang, Aunt Zhang, I’m really leaving now."
"I’ll see you out."
Zhang Lifu walked Zhao Jun out, not just from the house, but all the way out of the courtyard.
Once they were outside the Zhang Family Courtyard, Zhao Jun turned back. "Uncle Zhang, that’s far enough. You should head back in."
"Wait a minute!" Zhang Lifu grabbed Zhao Jun’s arm. "Take a message to your dad for me."
"What is it?" Zhao Jun asked.
Zhang Lifu said, "I was up the mountain yesterday cutting poles for beanstalks, and I saw a huge sounder of wild boars. Guess how big?"
With spring planting just around the corner, villagers would go up the mountains to find long, straight willow branches. After cutting them down and trimming off the smaller twigs, they would haul them home to use as frames for when they planted beans and cucumbers.
"How big a sounder was it?" Zhao Jun asked.
Zhang Lifu looked around from side to side. Seeing that no one was nearby, he whispered to Zhao Jun, "There must have been seventy or eighty of them."
"Where?" Zhao Jun’s heart leaped with joy. ’Talk about a lucky break!’
A sounder of seventy or eighty... there had to be a huge boar among them. ’It could be the Pig God.’
Zhao Jun had been planning to go deep into the mountains to track the Pig God. And now, someone was pointing the way for him!
He heard Zhang Lifu say, "Just behind Yingbei Mountain. I saw them heading down toward the big gully."
"Ah!" Zhao Jun heard this and instantly knew what it meant. Yingbei Mountain wasn’t far from Shennv Peak.
And Shennv Peak was where Zhao Jun had ambushed the Pig God last time.
Zhang Lifu added, "Your dad has told me several times to keep an eye out for large herds of boars in the mountains. You tell him for me, it’ll save me a trip."
"Okay, okay!" Zhao Jun nodded eagerly. "Don’t you worry, Uncle Zhang. I’ll definitely get the message to him. You won’t have to go looking for my dad, you’ve got plenty of chores to do at home."
"Ain’t that the truth," Zhang Lifu nodded. "Soon it’ll be time to forage for wild mountain vegetables. I’ll be swamped with work."
"Alright then, Uncle Zhang, I’ll be heading off now." Zhao Jun said his goodbyes to Zhang Lifu and started walking home. Though the walk wasn’t long, his mind was already far away, deep in the mountains.