Chapter 374 - 309: Lost Another Sheep
"My ten yuan!" Zhou Jianjun staggered over to the goat’s head. He saw the remaining half-pile of soybean cakes nearby, now stained red with blood.
At this moment, Zhou Jianjun was devastated, suffering a blow to both his body and his spirit.
"Jianjun! Jianjun!" Just then, Zhao Youcai’s voice came from the south. He was dragging a roe deer up the slope.
By now, there was no snow on the mountain. The ground was all grass, dirt, sand, and stone, creating a lot of friction and making it very difficult to drag the roe deer.
But from down below, Zhao Youcai had already sensed something was wrong for the same reason as Zhou Jianjun earlier: he couldn’t hear any bleating.
Zhao Youcai yanked the roe deer up to the top, took one look, and exploded with fury.
Zhao Youcai dropped the roe deer, went up to the goat’s head that died with its eyes open, and asked, "What the hell happened here?"
"I don’t know either!" Zhou Jianjun said. "I just went to take a crap, and when I came back, the goat’s body was gone."
Hearing this, Zhao Youcai roared, "I told you to watch it! What do you mean you went to take a crap?"
"My stomach hurt! What was I supposed to do, shit my pants?" Zhou Jianjun said, feeling wronged. "Even if I’d stayed, when the leopard came, I couldn’t have done anything without a gun."
"You don’t have a gun... You don’t have a gun, but you could’ve made some noise to scare the leopard away! The goat would’ve been saved, wouldn’t it?"
"I..." Hearing that, Zhou Jianjun realized he was right, and his heart ached even more. ’If I’d known the leopard was coming, I would have kept the goat on a leash while I went to relieve myself.’
"Sigh! Alright, don’t get worked up. I didn’t think the leopard would come this early either." Zhao Youcai sighed and said to Zhou Jianjun, "I bagged a roe deer. Go on, skin it."
"I can’t," Zhou Jianjun said miserably. "I feel sick."
Zhao Youcai pursed his lips helplessly, took out his own Invasion Blade, went over and skinned the roe deer directly, then cut the meat into pieces and stuffed them into a burlap sack.
It was just after ten o’clock when the father-in-law and son-in-law started down the mountain for home. And the half-full burlap sack of roe deer meat could only be carried by Zhao Youcai.
The sack weighed a good forty pounds, and Zhao Youcai struggled to carry it, stopping frequently to rest.
As it happened, Zhou Jianjun wasn’t feeling well either, so the pair walked and rested in intervals. They didn’t see their village until noon.
The father-in-law and son-in-law found another spot to rest, figuring they would walk the rest of the way back in one go after their break.
While they were resting, Zhao Youcai said to Zhou Jianjun, "Jianjun, I’m heading back tomorrow."
This time, Zhou Jianjun didn’t ask him to stay, replying directly, "Alright, you should head back then, Dad."
"That’s not it!" Hearing Zhou Jianjun’s words, Zhao Youcai became a bit anxious and quickly asked, "So we’re not going to hunt the leopard?"
"What’s the point of hunting it now?" The more Zhou Jianjun thought about it, the more his heart ached. He said, "They’re the only family in the village that raises sheep. I already bought both their lambs. Now all they have left is the big ewe. Even if they sold it to us as a favor, it would still cost seventy or eighty yuan. Where am I supposed to get that kind of money? If I ask Chun’Er for money, she’s not going to give it to me."
Zhao Youcai took a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and took a drag. Then he asked Zhou Jianjun, "How much money do you have on you?"
Hearing this, Zhou Jianjun reached into his cotton-padded jacket pocket, pulled out a wad of cash, and showed it to Zhao Youcai. "Just over three yuan. Probably enough to buy a couple of goat legs..."
Before Zhou Jianjun could finish, Zhao Youcai clamped the cigarette between his teeth, reached out with both hands, and grabbed the hand holding the money.
"Hey, Dad, what are you doing?" Zhou Jianjun started to resist, but Zhao Youcai snatched the money from his hand. Without even counting it, Zhao Youcai stuffed it into his own pocket and said, "We’re going tomorrow morning. That big ewe of theirs—I’m buying it!"
Zhou Jianjun was speechless.