Chapter 301 - 253: Borrowing Dogs
After Zhao Jun and Tao Fei returned with the dogs, they first settled all six of them at Tao Xiaobao’s house. Then they went inside and gave one pig leg to Li Yunxiang, while Tao Fei took the other to Tao Dabao’s house.
Once inside, Zhao Jun couldn’t stop thinking. ’If Huang Gui can’t find his dogs, he must be getting desperate.’ He racked his brain, trying to figure out how to get a message to him.
But here in the production team, the only person Zhao Jun knew besides the Tao Family was Wu Feng—and neither Wu Feng nor the Taos knew Huang Gui.
Just as Zhao Jun was wrestling with the problem, Elder Tao came in and asked him what was on his mind. After Zhao Jun explained, Tao Fulun glanced at the clock and chuckled. "That’s an easy one," he said. "It’s still early. I’ll take you over to the Yongxing Second Team. We’ll find their secretary and ask if any outsiders have shown up, especially for a dog-assisted hunt. He’s bound to know."
In those days, if a single outsider set foot in the village, anyone who saw them—man or woman, young or old—would approach and question them.
Especially during a major event like the spring hunt, which involved firearms, all the production teams were abuzz with activity and on extremely high alert.
What’s more, there were rewards for the spring hunt, which required registration. Forget about outsiders; even the Yongxing Hunter Team had to register to participate.
Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu were no exception; Tao Dabao had simply written their names down for them.
Agreeing that Tao Fulun had a good idea, Zhao Jun followed him to the office of the Yongxing Second Team.
The Yongxing Second Team was one of ten production teams under the Yongxing Brigade. The roles of Party Secretary and Director of Security for the Second Team were both held by the same man.
This man’s name was Chen Xingwang. He was holding down the fort in the team office, and as soon as he heard Tao Fulun had arrived, he hurried out to greet him.
"Uncle Tao, what brings you here today?"
"Ah, haha." Tao Fulun laughed heartily. He followed Chen Xingwang inside, sat down on a stool, and then said, "I’ve come to ask you about someone."
"Who is it?" Chen Xingwang smiled. "Is there anyone in this village you don’t know, Uncle?"
"Not from our village," Tao Fulun said. "A man named Huang Gui. He’s from out of town. Came into your Second Team yesterday, probably to hunt. Could you check for me?"
"You got it," Chen Xingwang replied. He turned to his desk, where a hardcover notebook lay.
Chen Xingwang moved the fountain pen that was on the notebook to the side, then opened it and flipped through a few pages.
Holding the notebook in his left hand, Chen Xingwang placed the index and middle fingers of his right hand together. He ran them up the list of names on the page, sliding past one after another.
When Chen Xingwang’s fingers stopped, they were pointing to a name: Huang Gui.
Chen Xingwang slid his finger to the right, where the name Li Shufeng was written in parentheses after Huang Gui’s.
"Uncle Tao, found him." Chen Xingwang tapped the notebook twice with his finger, then handed it to Tao Fulun.
When Tao Fulun saw Li Shufeng’s name, he stood up. "Thanks for your help," he said to Chen Xingwang. "That’s all I needed, so I’ll be on my way."
"What’s the rush, Uncle Tao? Why don’t you stay a bit longer?" Chen Xingwang said politely, rising to see him out.
"I can’t," Tao Fulun said with a wave of his hand. "You’ve got a mountain of work. Don’t worry about seeing me out."
"Alright then." Hearing Tao Fulun insist, Chen Xingwang didn’t press the issue. "Take care, Uncle Tao," he said.
Tao Fulun went out the door, looked left and right, and waved to Zhao Jun, who was standing by the corner of the house. He then led him through the village, stopping right in front of a particular house.
As luck would have it, before they even reached the door, a crowd of people came bustling toward them.
What’s more, they were carrying a stretcher.
Anyone could tell there had been an accident. Forgetting about knocking on the door, Tao Fulun simply pulled Zhao Jun aside to let them pass.
But at that moment, Zhao Jun saw a familiar face in the crowd.
It wasn’t the man he was looking for, Huang Gui. It was Jiang Ming.
Jiang Ming wasn’t carrying the stretcher but was walking alongside it. The moment his eyes met Zhao Jun’s, he froze for a second.
Yesterday, Huang Gui had told Jiang Ming that he had run into Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu when he arrived at the Yongxing Second Team.
But Jiang Ming never expected Zhao Jun to come looking for them today.
Jiang Ming jogged a few steps out of the crowd and stopped in front of Zhao Jun. "How did you... You heard the news already?"
Jiang Ming assumed Zhao Jun had heard about Huang Gui’s leg being broken by a wild boar and had come specifically to visit him.
"Huh?" Zhao Jun was stunned. He had no idea what Jiang Ming was talking about.
Jiang Ming didn’t recognize Tao Fulun standing to the side. He just grabbed Zhao Jun’s wrist and headed toward the crowd.
Seeing him approach, the crowd made way for them, letting Jiang Ming pull Zhao Jun to the front of the stretcher.
"Brother-in-law," Jiang Ming called out to Huang Gui, who was lying on the stretcher. "Look who’s here!"
At this moment, Huang Gui was on the stretcher, covered with a military-green cotton quilt. His face was deathly pale, and he kept moaning, his expression filled with pain.
After he was injured on the mountain, he was carried down by Jiang Ming and Li Shufeng. They ran into some militiamen on the way, and those men used a sled to take him the rest of the way to the health clinic.
Fortunately, the Yongxing Team was a large one, with better medical resources and more skilled doctors.
Doctor Hu from the health clinic bandaged Huang Gui’s wound, treated his broken leg, and then had people carry him back.
Seeing Zhao Jun now, Huang Gui tremblingly raised his hand.
Zhao Jun quickly grasped his hand, walking along with the stretcher while looking at Jiang Ming beside him. "Brother Jiang," he asked, "what happened to Brother Huang?"