Chapter 397 - 331: A Finger-Pinching Calculation
A large Ma Lu deer knelt on the ground, most of its face buried in a pit.
It had originally been a small hollow, but the Ma Lu deer had gnawed it into a large pit over the past few days.
Zhao Jun walked up to it and pinched its neck. It hadn’t gone stiff. He slid his hand under its front shoulder and felt a bit of lingering warmth. He couldn’t help but silently praise Zhang Yuanmin.
Back when they set up the deer pit, Zhang Yuanmin had arranged with Zhao Jun to come and cut the Antler Velvet today.
But he wouldn’t be able to make it today.
The poison was fast-acting. The Ma Lu deer had died while still in the middle of gnawing, its head not even tilted to the side.
Zhao Jun drew the Invasion Blade from the small of his back and cut the Antler Velvet first.
He would have to gut the deer in a moment, which meant flipping it over. If he didn’t cut the Antler Velvet now, it could easily get damaged when he moved the Ma Lu deer.
Back then, it wasn’t like it would be ten or twenty years later, when you could still sell broken pieces of Antler Velvet.
But for now, the pharmacies and the Supply and Marketing Cooperative only bought whole Antler Velvet.
After cutting off the Antler Velvet and wrapping it up, Zhao Jun gutted the deer, removing the Deer Heart along with the tissue surrounding it. Finally, he cut off the Deer Penis.
Once everything was stored away, Zhao Jun went to check another deer pit. A large Ma Lu deer was down here as well, but this one seemed to have died a bit earlier.
Zhao Jun followed the same procedure: he cut the velvet, removed the heart, and took the penis. Once everything was packed up, he headed toward No. 77 Logging Camp.
Just as he was approaching the entrance to No. 77 Logging Camp, a Jiefang truck, fully loaded with timber, slowly drove out.
Spotting Zhao Jun from a distance, the driver honked the horn. The truck pulled up beside Zhao Jun and stopped. The passenger door opened, and a man got out, walking quickly toward him.
"Elder Jie!" Seeing it was Jie Zhong, Zhao Jun didn’t think much of it and just gave a casual greeting.
But when Jie Zhong reached Zhao Jun, he said, "Inspector, about that thing you asked me to do last time, I’ve asked around for you."
"Mm," Zhao Jun grunted, waiting for Jie Zhong to continue. ’Even though I have dogs now, he was kind enough to ask around for me. The least I can do is hear him out.’
Jie Zhong said, "As for hunting dogs, there aren’t any good ones left in our village right now."
"Mm." Zhao Jun grunted again, waiting for Jie Zhong to go on.
But Jie Zhong just looked at Zhao Jun without saying anything more.
Zhao Jun found this a bit strange and said to Jie Zhong, "Elder Jie, if you have something to say, just say it."
"Alright, I’ll say it then." Jie Zhong smiled. "I heard that a couple of days ago, Du Chunjiang took his younger brother to our Lingnan to buy dogs. He bought a pack of them from a guy named Zhou in my father-in-law’s village."
When Jie Zhong reached this point and saw no reaction from Zhao Jun, he continued, "I asked around. Everyone says that pack of dogs has gotten soft. When they’re hunting boar, if they see one with tusks, they turn around and run right back."
The person had actually told Jie Zhong a lot more, but since Jie Zhong didn’t know anything about hunting, this was the only detail he remembered.
He had thought the dogs were rather interesting—that they would retreat just from seeing a boar’s tusks.
"What?" Zhao Jun was stunned. To be honest, he found it hard to believe. The impression the four dogs had left on him yesterday was just too good.
But Zhao Jun also knew Jie Zhong’s character. He knew that even if Jie Zhong and Du Chunjiang didn’t get along, he wasn’t the type to make things up or spout nonsense.
Besides, Jie Zhong had only mentioned hearing that Du Chunjiang bought the dogs; he hadn’t said anything about Du Chunjiang giving them to Zhao Jun.
So Zhao Jun could only nod and say to Jie Zhong, "Okay, Elder Jie. I understand."
As Zhao Jun finished speaking, he started to walk into the Logging Camp, while Jie Zhong returned to the truck. When Zhao Jun reached the front of the vehicle, Jie Chen, sitting in the driver’s seat, gave him a friendly wave.
Zhao Jun paused.
He remembered his past life. When he was making his way in Rakshasa Country, it was always Jie Chen who drove him to the edge of the mountain hunting grounds.
They would agree that one month later, Jie Chen would come back to this exact spot to pick Zhao Jun up. On that day, no matter what, there could be no delays.
Zhao Jun remembered that every time he came out of the mountains, Jie Chen would be sitting in the truck and would wave at him, just like he did now.
In all those years in the Far East, Jie Chen had picked Zhao Jun up if not a hundred times, then at least eighty. And he was never late.
It was Zhao Jun, in fact, who often made Jie Chen wait, due to the frequent unexpected incidents in the mountains.
Zhao Jun smiled, stretched out his arm, and made a gesture to stop the truck. Jie Chen, who had just started the engine, stopped again.
Jie Zhong quickly got out of the passenger seat and asked Zhao Jun, "Inspector, is something the matter?"
Zhao Jun smiled and said, "I have a favor to ask you."
"What is it?" Jie Zhong said. "Just say the word, and I’ll get it done for you."
Jie Zhong wasn’t saying this to suck up to Zhao Jun; he was just a genuinely forthright person.
Zhao Jun didn’t answer, instead asking, "You guys can’t go back to Lingnan every night, can you?"
Of course they couldn’t. It was almost thirty miles from here to Lingnan; there was no way they could make the round trip every day.
Jie Zhong’s crew was mostly from the surrounding villages. A few were from Lingnan, but they had relatives here and would stay with them.
This was very common in those days. A relative would come to visit and end up staying for a month or two.
"Ah!" Jie Zhong replied. "My brother and I are staying in Yongfu Village."
"That’s not far from my family’s place," Zhao Jun said with a laugh. "A few days ago, I dug some deer pits and poisoned a couple of big ones. I went to check on them this morning."
As he spoke, Zhao Jun hefted his bulging satchel and continued, "I’ve already taken the Antler Velvet, Deer Heart, and Deer Penis. The meat is still up on the mountain. I was thinking, if you guys have time after work tonight, you could go up there and bring the two big ones down. Keep one for yourselves and bring the other one to my place."
"That’s easy enough," Jie Zhong said with a smile when he heard what it was. "This afternoon, I’ll bring both of them to your house."
"No need." Zhao Jun waved his hand, smiling. "Meat won’t keep in this weather. Who could eat all that? You take one and split it with your crew."
’A big one weighs over five hundred pounds and yields about three hundred pounds of meat. It would spoil before anyone could eat it all in this weather.’
Besides, Zhao Jun’s family wasn’t short on meat lately.
"Alright then! We’re much obliged." Jie Zhong had a very straightforward personality. Seeing that Zhao Jun’s offer was sincere, he didn’t stand on ceremony. ’Anyway,’ he thought, ’I’ll just bring an extra gift when I go to Zhao Jun’s family’s place.’
Then Zhao Jun said to Jie Zhong, "Elder Jie, you’re not from around here, so I don’t know if you’re familiar with the area. If not, just ask someone. On the sled path heading from Forest Class 68 toward 52, there are two connected ridges. I dug two deer pits there. You’ll see them as soon as you get there."
"Okay, I’ll ask someone when the time comes."
After parting ways with Jie Zhong, Zhao Jun took a quick walk around the Logging Camp, then headed down the mountain for home.
The Deer Penis and Antler Velvet wrapped in his satchel were still fresh. They belonged to Zhang Yuanmin, so he had to deliver them.
So, upon entering the village, Zhao Jun went straight to Zhang Yuanmin’s house.
He pulled open the door and saw Yang Yufeng in the outer room, stewing a Bear’s Paw.
Seeing Zhao Jun come in, Yang Yufeng looked up at him and smiled. "Brother, come on in. The Bear’s Paw is just about ready."
Zhao Jun was taken aback. "What? Sister-in-law, you knew I was coming?" he asked, surprised.
"Yep!" Yang Yufeng laughed. "Your big brother said you’d definitely be here today."
Zhao Jun smiled too and walked into the inner room, carrying his satchel.
In the inner room, he found Zhang Yuanmin lying on the kang bed, reading a comic book.
"Big Brother, how are you doing?"
Zhang Yuanmin closed the book, pointed at Zhao Jun, and laughed. "I did a little calculation and just knew you’d be here by noon!"