The Entire Mountain Is My Hunting Ground

The spring hunt lasted seven days, and with two more for travel, Zhao Jun had been away from Logging Camp 79 for a full nine days. A lot of logs had piled up in his absence.

Zhao Jun worked diligently all morning. It wasn’t just his job—it was tied to the hard-earned wages of the contract loggers and the Gui Ling workers. He had to take it seriously.

After lunch in the Leader’s shack, Zhao Jun didn’t even take a break, grabbing his tools and heading straight for the Log Pile Yard.

This moved the Leader, Yin Bing, so much that he insisted on writing a letter of commendation to the Forest Farm. He wanted to praise Zhao Jun for his tireless dedication, forgoing his precious lunch break to serve the workers.

But Zhao Jun stopped him, despite his good intentions.

’Is he kidding?’

’What kind of dedicated worker just takes nine days off?’

Zhao Jun worked straight through until three in the afternoon. Then, tucking his ledger under his arm and grabbing his measuring pole, he left Logging Camp 79 and headed for the inspection team’s station behind the Yongsheng Forest Farm.

He’d been gone for days, and now that he was back, he needed to let Xu Baoshan know.

When Zhao Jun got back to the inspection team’s station and knocked on Xu Baoshan’s office door, Xu Baoshan saw it was him. His first words were, "Well, look who’s back! The tiger-hunting hero!"

Zhao Jun laughed, walked over to Xu Baoshan’s desk, and pulled a carton of Huatuan cigarettes from his satchel. He placed it on the desk and said with a smile, "Uncle Xu, I didn’t get a chance to bring you anything back from my trip, so please, take this carton of cigarettes."

Zhao Jun said it as if his nine-day absence hadn’t been him skipping work, but rather a business trip or vacation, and the cigarettes were a local souvenir he’d brought back.

And it was precisely because he framed it that way that Xu Baoshan accepted the cigarettes with a smile and slipped them into his desk drawer.

Once he saw the cigarettes were put away, Zhao Jun asked, "Uncle Xu, how did you know I caught a Tiger?"

"Hah!" Xu Baoshan replied. "A lot of the folks on our farm are from the Yongxing Team. The story of you catching that tiger has spread all over."

Zhao Jun hadn’t expected that. He exchanged a few more pleasantries with Xu Baoshan, then got up to take his leave.

It was nearly five o’clock by the time he left Xu Baoshan’s office. Zhao Jun decided to catch the commuter shuttle to save himself the walk home.

But when he arrived at the shuttle stop on the farm grounds, he happened to see Zhou Jianjun and Zhou Chengguo heading for a different shuttle.

"Brother-in-law! Brother Zhou!"

At Zhao Jun’s greeting, the two men looked toward him. He raised a hand and pointed at the shuttle, signaling that he had to run but would catch up with them another day.

To Zhao Jun’s surprise, however, Zhou Jianjun clapped Zhou Chengguo on the shoulder and pointed to the shuttle bound for Yongsheng Village, motioning for him to get on first.

Zhou Chengguo saw that the two brothers-in-law had something to discuss, so he just waved to Zhao Jun and boarded the shuttle.

"Jun!" Zhou Jianjun called out, waving for Zhao Jun not to board his shuttle as he walked over to meet him.

Seeing this, Zhao Jun knew his brother-in-law had something to discuss. He quickly walked to meet him, asking, "Brother-in-law, what’s wrong?"

They were still seven or eight meters apart. Zhou Jianjun simply shook his head and waited until he was right in front of Zhao Jun before whispering, "Jun, come with me."

With that, he led Zhao Jun to a deserted spot.

This left Zhao Jun completely baffled. As far as he knew, his brother-in-law, Zhou Jianjun, was always a straightforward man who spoke his mind. He rarely acted so secretive.

"Brother-in-law, what is it?" Zhao Jun asked again, feeling uneasy.

Zhou Jianjun scanned the area before asking, "Do you know where else we can find a Big Claw?"

"Huh?" Zhao Jun frowned at him. "Brother-in-law, why are you asking about that?"

Zhou Jianjun glanced around again. Everyone nearby was rushing for the shuttles. With quitting time upon them, no one was paying them any mind.

Zhou Jianjun said, "I already asked Brother Zhou, but he wouldn’t tell me. He said I should ask you."

Zhao Jun figured Zhou Chengguo had deferred to him because Zhou Jianjun was his brother-in-law.

Zhao Jun didn’t hide anything. "I know where to find a Big Claw, Brother-in-law. What for?" He then added with a grin, "You want to catch one alive, too?"

He was only joking.

But Zhou Jianjun shook his head. "I don’t want it alive. I want it dead."

"What?" Zhao Jun was stunned, staring blankly at his brother-in-law.

Just then, a faint smile crossed Zhou Jianjun’s face. "Jun, it sounds like it’s not possible. Forget I said anything."

Then he pointed toward the shuttle. "Let’s go home."

"Wait, Brother-in-law!" Zhao Jun could tell something was weighing on Zhou Jianjun’s mind. He pressed him, "You’re my family. If something’s going on, just tell me."

"Well, it’s like this," Zhou Jianjun began. "The day before yesterday, an order came down from the Forestry Bureau. They want every Forest Farm to send Hunters into the mountains."

"Huh? The Forest Farm is doing a spring hunt, too?" Zhao Jun asked in disbelief. A forest farm wasn’t the same as a production team. Besides, the production teams weren’t in their busy season yet, so it was normal for them to organize a spring hunt.

But Yong’an Forest Farm was just wrapping up its winter hauling season. How could they possibly spare the manpower right now?

"It’s not a spring hunt. We’re ’collecting specimens’," Zhou Jianjun said. "And this time, I mean *actual* specimens."

The moment Zhou Jianjun said "collecting specimens," Zhao Jun understood. It was a term used by Hunters, and it meant hunting on someone else’s behalf.

Whether it was for a favor or some other reason, once you agreed to "collect a specimen," you were honor-bound to deliver.

Usually, this was done in the winter. You’d kill the animal, gut it, bleed it out, and then freeze the carcass in the deep snow.

The preservation method was similar to preparing an animal for taxidermy, so over time, the term had become common among Hunters.

But reading between the lines, Zhao Jun got the feeling that Zhou Jianjun’s "collecting specimens" was different from the slang term.

Just then, Zhou Jianjun waved to an acquaintance walking by before continuing, "The province is building a new museum. I heard it’s going to be split into two halls: one for history and the other for... natural history. So, the Forestry Bureau is leaning on the forest farms to contribute some specimens for display."

As he said that last word, "specimens," Zhou Jianjun looked around nervously several times before adding, "Secretary Zhang... ran into some trouble a while ago."

"Ah!" With that, Zhao Jun understood. His brother-in-law was trying to arrange something to help Zhou Chunming.

"Brother-in-law," Zhao Jun said with a bitter smile, "a Big Claw isn’t like anything else. Even if we managed to hunt one, the higher-ups would be furious if we just handed it over."

"Yeah." Zhou Jianjun nodded. It was true. Hunting one of those required official approval from the higher-ups. And to get approval, you needed a valid reason.

But the Big Claw’s territory was far from the Forest Farm. It would be impossible to even frame it for causing trouble.

Seeing his brother-in-law’s spirits sink, Zhao Jun grinned. "Brother-in-law, a Big Claw might be out, but what about a thousand-jin Pig God?"