The Entire Mountain Is My Hunting Ground

"How big?" Hearing Zhao Jun mention an eleven-hundred-pound boar, Zhou Jianjun’s first reaction was disbelief. "Eleven hundred pounds? Seriously? Is that for real?"

Although Zhou Jianjun had only hunted wild boar with Zhao Jun twice, he had seen and eaten plenty in his life. The big loner boar that Zhao Jun had killed in their Yongsheng Village after the New Year was already the largest one Zhou Jianjun had ever seen.

A boar of around seven-hundred-seventy pounds was already a rare sight, let alone one exceeding eleven hundred.

At Zhou Jianjun’s questioning, Zhao Jun just laughed. "You’re my brother-in-law. Would I lie to you?"

As he spoke, Zhao Jun, his hands still in his thick mittens, gestured to Zhou Jianjun. "That boar’s hoof prints are *this* big. Before the New Year, it must have been close to thirteen hundred pounds. It’s probably lost some weight by now, but it’s definitely still over eleven hundred."

At this point, Zhao Jun added a twist. "But no matter how much weight it loses, its frame doesn’t shrink. When you look at it, it still looks like a thirteen-hundred-pounder."

Hearing Zhao Jun’s confidence, Zhou Jianjun’s eyes widened. He turned his head slightly, his gaze fixed on empty space.

For just a second.

When Zhou Jianjun looked back at Zhao Jun, his eyes were filled with anticipation. "Jun, how are we gonna hunt this boar?"

"Not ’we’," Zhao Jun said, waving his hand with a smile. "Brother-in-law, you don’t have to do a thing. Just wait for my signal."

"Should I get you a gun, then? Or find you some men?" Zhou Jianjun pressed. This wasn’t just about hunting a boar for meat; this concerned whether his father could advance his career.

"You don’t need to do anything." Zhao Jun glanced around. Seeing no one nearby, he said to Zhou Jianjun, "Brother-in-law, I’ll hunt this boar for you. But you can’t tell anyone about this."

"Huh?"

"You can’t tell a soul," Zhao Jun warned. "Especially not our dad."

"Huh?"

"You don’t know, brother-in-law," Zhao Jun explained. "After the New Year, our dad took our uncle and Uncle Li up the mountain to hunt this very boar. They barely made it back home."

"What?" Zhou Jianjun was shocked. He said urgently, "When did this happen? Why didn’t you tell me?"

"Well, nothing happened in the end, so what was there to tell?" Zhao Jun said. "What I mean is, brother-in-law, don’t tell our dad. Otherwise, I’m afraid he’ll go and do something reckless again."

"Jun," Zhou Jianjun said, grabbing Zhao Jun’s arm. "How about you don’t go either? Just tell me where it is, and I’ll find someone else to hunt it."

"It’s fine, brother-in-law. I have other ways," Zhao Jun said with a smile, pulling a folded piece of paper from his pocket and handing it to Zhou Jianjun. "That Big Claw was tough, wasn’t it? I managed to catch it, so what’s this boar going to do?"

Zhou Jianjun unfolded the paper Zhao Jun gave him. The moment he saw the words "Tiger-Slaying Hero" written on it, even though it was just a simple certificate, Zhou Jianjun felt a sense of pride for Zhao Jun welling up inside him.

"Jun!" Zhou Jianjun held the certificate in one hand and clapped Zhao Jun on the shoulder with the other. "You’ve really made something of yourself."

Zhao Jun just chuckled without saying anything. He had been carrying the certificate around, wanting to show it off to his old man. But ever since Zhao Youcai returned last night and heard the news of Hua Xiao’Er’s death, he’d been in a terrible mood. Fearing a beating, Zhao Jun hadn’t dared to get cocky.

"Put it away safely." Zhou Jianjun folded the certificate and stuffed it back into Zhao Jun’s pocket. Then, he remarked, "Our dad’s getting old. He’s not up to hunting anymore, huh."

Zhou Jianjun didn’t understand hunting; he just listened to Zhao Jun’s words and drew his own conclusions.

Meanwhile, Zhao Jun nodded eagerly beside him. "Brother-in-law, you absolutely can’t tell him about this."

"Yeah, I know," Zhou Jianjun said. "From now on, whenever our logging camp needs a specimen made as a gift, I’ll come to you, not our dad."

"Deal!" Zhao Jun was secretly delighted. ’Making a specimen for the camp’s leadership as a gift means a whole month off! Plus, the leaders will arrange for someone to cover my regular duties. This is even better than paid leave!’

The two of them murmured for a while longer. Seeing that the commuter train was about to depart, Zhao Jun and Zhou Jianjun quickly went their separate ways and boarded.

Zhao Jun rode the train down the mountain. After getting off, he walked into the village. As he neared his house, he saw Zhang Yuanmin pacing back and forth furtively by his front door.

Zhao Jun whistled. Zhang Yuanmin turned, saw him, and scurried over on his short legs.

As soon as Zhang Yuanmin reached Zhao Jun, he said, "Brother, I saw it!"

Zhao Jun craned his neck to look toward his house. Seeing no one, he asked Zhang Yuanmin, "You saw the Pig Gang?"

"No." To Zhao Jun’s question, Zhang Yuanmin simply shook his head.

"Then what did you see?"

"I saw the tracks," Zhang Yuanmin said. "So many tracks. They’ve flattened the whole gully you mentioned, the one sandwiched between Yingbei Mountain and Ginseng King Mountain."

Hearing this, Zhao Jun didn’t speak. He thought for a moment before saying to Zhang Yuanmin, "Big Brother, don’t go for the next few days. Wait a bit. When I tell you to go, then you go."

"We’re not hunting now?" Zhang Yuanmin was getting a little anxious.

"It’s not time yet." Zhao Jun gave him only that answer and didn’t elaborate.

"Brother," Zhang Yuanmin said to Zhao Jun with great sincerity, "I feel like you’re Zhuge Liang."

Zhao Jun retorted, "Then are you Wei Yan?"

"Yeah!" Zhang Yuanmin slapped his chest. "Brother, you’re Zhuge Liang, so you just give the orders. Your Big Brother here is Wei Yan—I’m brave and resourceful. I’ll charge into the fray for you."

"Oh, give me a break." Zhao Jun was amused. He laughed and said, "Big Brother, you should go back and see if you can find the complete comic book series. From what I’ve heard, that old fellow Wei Yan died a pretty miserable death."

"What? No way..."

In the end, Zhang Yuanmin left, his mind full of questions.

Zhao Jun went home, ate, and slept. For the next few days, he went to work and measured logs as usual—orderly, proper, and keeping a low profile.

This continued until mid-April. On the morning of the fifteenth, Zhao Jun got up and headed for the outhouse. He was in a hurry when Zhao Guofeng rushed over and stopped him.

"Uncle Zhao, what are you doing? I’m in a hurry to take care of business."

Zhao Guofeng grabbed Zhao Jun’s arm and said, "What business? *You* have business? What about your uncle’s business? Why aren’t you taking care of that for me?"

That morning, after talking with Zhao Jun, Zhao Guofeng had gone to find Chen Dalai and Wang Qiang.

Chen Dalai was easy to talk to and agreed on the spot. Wang Qiang, however, wasn’t even home.

Zhao Guofeng didn’t even have to ask. That gossip Bai Xiuyun told him, "Village Chief, Wang Qiang is off gambling again. I saw him yesterday evening and asked him about it. He said he was going to pick up his wife."

Hearing this, Zhao Guofeng couldn’t help but sigh. Having lived in the same village for all these years, how could he not know about Wang Qiang’s family situation?

He knew Wang Qiang would eventually bring his wife back, but as for when, that was anyone’s guess.

Sure enough, Wang Qiang stayed at his father-in-law’s house drinking until April tenth before returning. As soon as he was back, Zhao Guofeng paid him a visit, asked for his help, and also promised him twenty cents for every jin of wild boar.

Wang Qiang readily agreed to this. But in the four days leading up to yesterday, he had only managed to hunt a single yellow-haired boar of just under a hundred pounds for Zhao Guofeng.

And Chen Dalai?

After a week of hunting, he had only caught a single Geng Nianchen of just over one hundred pounds.

Left with no other choice, Zhao Guofeng had gotten up early to corner Zhao Jun.

"Uncle Zhao, don’t worry," Zhao Jun said, trying to push away Zhao Guofeng’s hand. "I’ll get it done for you in the next few days. I guarantee you’ll be satisfied."

"What ’next few days’?" Hearing Zhao Jun still stalling, Zhao Guofeng said anxiously, "How many days are even left? Will we still make it in time?"

There was only half a month left until May Day. Zhao Guofeng was running out of time.

After all, hunting wasn’t as simple as going into the mountains and coming back with a catch. If it were, Chen Dalai and Wang Qiang wouldn’t have only managed to bag two boars between them in all this time.

After finally managing to get rid of Zhao Guofeng, Zhao Jun went to the outhouse to relieve himself. When he came back, instead of going straight into his house, he walked around to the back and entered the vegetable garden.