The Entire Mountain Is My Hunting Ground

At Zhang Yuanmin’s house.

Zhang Yuanmin sat on the heated brick bed, flanked by Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu at the low table. Yang Yufeng stood opposite him.

As the three of them looked on, Zhang Yuanmin held court, talking a mile a minute.

When Zhang Yuanmin finished, Zhao Jun looked at Li Baoyu, who in turn looked at Zhao Jun. Neither said a word.

Then, Li Baoyu nodded first. "Brother," he said to Zhao Jun, "I think this plan will work. We can pull off something big."

Zhao Jun: "..."

Even though the two of them could be pretty flaky, Zhao Jun felt that Zhang Yuanmin’s plan was actually feasible this time. He nodded, gave the table a light tap, and said, "Alright, it’s settled!"

The moment Zhao Jun agreed, Yang Yufeng’s face lit up. With one hand, she bundled the money he’d just given her into her apron, while giving Zhang Yuanmin a thumbs-up with the other. "Yuanmin, you’re really something! Our brother here said I should buy you a nice treat, so I’ll head to the market in a bit to get something for you."

At this point, she looked at Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu and said, "Brothers, why don’t you come over for dinner tonight after work? I’ll make you something delicious."

In truth, buying a treat for Zhang Yuanmin was just an excuse; she really wanted to treat Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu to a meal.

"We won’t be able to, Sister-in-law," Zhao Jun said with a smile. "Tomorrow’s May Day, and the Forestry Bureau is sending people for an inspection today. There’s no telling what time we’ll be back tonight."

"Yeah." As soon as Zhao Jun finished, Li Baoyu chimed in from across the table. "See? My brother’s already in his work uniform."

This was, in fact, the reason why Zhao Youcai had said he was too busy lately when Wang Meilan suggested going to Ma Ling’s house for the marriage talks the other day.

The four of them chatted for a little while longer. When they felt it was time to go, Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu stood up to leave, and Zhang Yuanmin and Yang Yufeng saw them to the door.

At the doorway, Zhao Jun told the couple not to see them any further. He and Li Baoyu walked out of the courtyard on their own, hearing Yang Yufeng call out from behind them, "Take care, Brother! Baoyu, drive safe!"

"Alright, Sister-in-law! Go on back inside."

Once they were out of Zhang Yuanmin’s courtyard, Li Baoyu called to Zhao Jun, "Brother, hop in! I’ll give you a ride to Forest Class 48 and drop you off."

The route from the East of the Village led into the mountains. At Forest Class 48, the road forked. Li Baoyu would take the left path toward Yong’an Forest Farm, while Zhao Jun’s path to the right led to No. 77 Logging Camp. They would part ways at the fork.

"You’re heading to work just like that?" Zhao Jun asked. "With the inspection happening, is it okay for you not to be in uniform?"

Li Baoyu waved him toward the car. "My uniform’s at work. I’ll just throw it on when I get there."

Reassured, Zhao Jun climbed into the passenger seat. He pushed aside the things he’d brought for Lin Xiangshun and said to Li Baoyu, "Take these to Second Brother at work for me."

"Sure," Li Baoyu agreed. But as his gaze shifted from the items to Zhao Jun, he paused. Reaching out, he pinched the sleeve of Zhao Jun’s shirt and chuckled. "Brother, looks like Auntie didn’t quite get this stain out."

Zhao Jun glanced down at his sleeve and sighed inwardly, but on the outside, he just smiled and said nothing.

’This wasn’t washed by Wang Meilan. Zhao Youcai washed it for me the day he got back from Yongsheng Village.’

But he couldn’t tell Li Baoyu that. Instead, Zhao Jun just pointed forward and said, "Let’s get going. I’m in a hurry for work."

"You got it!" Li Baoyu, not giving it a second thought, started the car and they were off.

As they drove into the mountains, Li Baoyu noticed Zhao Jun was unusually quiet in the passenger seat, looking preoccupied. "What’s wrong, Brother?" he asked. "What’s on your mind?"

"Oh," Zhao Jun replied. "I was just thinking about Zhang Laibao’s two Little Black Bears. If we don’t get rid of them, he’ll use them to come after us once they’re grown."

In his past life, Zhao Jun had had plenty of dealings with Zhang Laibao. He knew exactly what kind of man he was.

"Yeah." Li Baoyu nodded, his eyes lighting up. "Brother, what about that plan Brother Zhang suggested? Wasn’t it a good one?"

"Heh." Zhao Jun gave a dry laugh. "When are his plans ever not good?"

Li Baoyu froze, blinking silently. It was true. Some of Zhang Yuanmin’s past plans had been even more outrageous than this one.

"But on second thought," Li Baoyu added, "he didn’t have guns or dogs back then, so how much trouble could he really stir up? Now we’ve got both. And like Brother Zhang said, between now and autumn, Zhang Laibao’s two Black Bears won’t get that big—seventy or eighty pounds at most. We have eight dogs, not even counting Black Tiger, plus two guns."

"That’s true." The more Zhao Jun considered it, the more viable Zhang Yuanmin’s plan seemed. He said to Li Baoyu, "Baoyu, after May Day, we’ll take the dogs out. Once autumn comes and the undergrowth thins, we’ll do exactly as Brother Zhang suggested."

"Deal!"

As they were talking, the car pulled up at the base of Forest Class 48. The moment Zhao Jun stepped out, he spotted a sounder of wild boars on the opposite ridge, scrambling down the slope.

They had likely been spooked by the car’s engine. Zhao Jun did a quick count: about seven or eight boars in total. There were no Big Cannon Eggs, just two old sows leading a trail of piglets.

"Brother!" Li Baoyu got out of the car and came to stand beside Zhao Jun. Gazing at the spot where the boars had vanished, he said, "How about we test our skills on that bunch in a few days?"

"Deal!" Zhao Jun agreed. "You go on to work. I’m heading out."

"Take care!"

No. 77 Logging Camp was close by, and it only took Zhao Jun just over ten minutes to walk there. Upon entering the camp, he went directly to supervise the timber transport.