The Entire Mountain Is My Hunting Ground

"I’m sorry to have worried you, sir." Zhao Jun smiled at Tao Fulun. He could tell the old man was genuinely concerned for him.

Just then, Li Baoyu reached out, took the boar leg from Zhao Jun, and asked, "Brother, is this..."

He trailed off, then continued, "The boar that hurt Daqing?"

"Yeah." Zhao Jun nodded and said to Li Baoyu, "The meat’s a little frozen, which is perfect. Take the Invasion Blade, shave off some slices, and feed the three dogs."

"Okay." Li Baoyu agreed and was about to get the Invasion Blade when Zhao Jun grabbed him. "Don’t feed it all to them," Zhao Jun said. "Leave some meat on the bone for Xiaohua outside."

After agreeing, Li Baoyu took the Invasion Blade, went over to the three dogs, and began shaving off slices of meat, feeding one to each dog in turn.

"So you just killed the boar like that?" Tao Fulun watched Li Baoyu intently as he sliced the leg. He sniffed the air and added, "That smell... it’s a boar in rut."

"Grandpa, that boar was vicious," Tao Fei said to Tao Fulun from the side. "I was up in the tree and saw it gore both Brother Zhao’s and Brother Li’s dogs. Grandpa, you’re always going up the mountain to hunt. What would you do if you ran into a boar like that?"

"You, be quiet." Just then, Li Yunxiang reached the doorway. Hearing this, she hurried inside and scolded Tao Fei, "Honestly, child, why don’t you think before you speak?"

Many boys his age were like that. Tao Fulun wanted to give Tao Fei a piece of his mind, but since his daughter-in-law had already spoken, the old man just shot Tao Fei a glare and said nothing.

"Auntie." Seeing Li Yunxiang come in, Zhao Jun remembered something and quickly said to her, "Did Xiaofei and Baoyu tell you? I didn’t just get a wild boar today, I got a whole Black Bear. This boar leg is from a rutting boar, so the meat’s gamey. We won’t eat it. I already spoke to a militia squad leader. When they go drag back that Black Bear I shot, I told them to bring our family a couple of Bear’s Paws and a leg from the bear."

This was something he had to say.

He was staying in their home, where they had treated him and Li Baoyu with good food and drink, even feeding his dogs with cornmeal every day. Now that he’d brought back a kill, it wouldn’t be right to feed it to the dogs instead of the people who were hosting him.

Hearing Zhao Jun say this, Li Yunxiang smiled. "Alright then. Shall we stew the bear leg for dinner tonight?"

"Sounds good," Zhao Jun replied with a smile.

"Oh, right," Li Yunxiang said quickly. "I came over to ask if you’ve eaten yet. If not, Auntie can make you a bowl of noodles."

"Auntie, yes, please make me some," Zhao Jun said, pointing at Li Baoyu with a smile. "The dumplings you gave us, he ended up with all of them. We split up, so I didn’t get to eat any."

"Those two didn’t eat either," Li Yunxiang laughed. "He and Xiaofei were too busy with the dogs. They brought the dumplings back just as they’d taken them." After speaking, she started to head out. "They’ve both eaten now, so I’ll go cook yours right away."

Zhao Jun quickly unslung his rifle, casually handed it to Tao Fei, and chased after her out the door. He pulled the Bear Gall from his padded jacket pocket and said, "Auntie, we need to process this Bear Gall. Could you please boil a pot of water for me?"

"Of course, of course." Li Yunxiang agreed without a second thought. She was already in the outer room, where she opened the lid of the large wok and began ladling water into it to rinse it out.

As she washed the wok, Li Yunxiang asked Zhao Jun, "For dipping this thing, the wok can’t have any oil in it, right?"

"That’s right." Zhao Jun nodded. After a moment’s thought, he decided to say to Li Yunxiang, "Auntie, according to our hunters’ code, Xiaofei went up the mountain with us. Even though he wasn’t right there when I shot the bear, the rules say that once this Bear Gall is sold, I can’t treat him unfairly."

"Oh, don’t be ridiculous," Li Yunxiang said, making a dismissive pushing gesture toward him. "Our Xiaofei only went because his uncle said a young man needs to be toughened up and insisted he join the spring hunt. My heart was in my throat the whole time he was on that mountain. It’s thanks to you and Baoyu that he was protected. What could that boy possibly do? He was nothing but trouble for you. How could I possibly take a share of your things?"

"It’s only right," Zhao Jun said with a smile. "We’re all..."

Before Zhao Jun could finish, the sound of Hua Xiao’Er and Xiaohua barking came from outside. The door was pulled open, and a man strode in, bringing a gust of cold air with him.

"Brother." Li Yunxiang turned, saw the man, and immediately called out. Without a doubt, this was Tao Dabao.

"Keeping busy?" Tao Dabao responded. Before Li Yunxiang could reply, he turned to Zhao Jun and asked, "Zhao Jun, how come you only have two dogs left?"

"We ran into an aggressive boar today. The dogs were injured by it," Zhao Jun answered vaguely. He couldn’t bring himself to tell Tao Dabao about Daqing’s death.

But Li Yunxiang, who was standing nearby, chimed in, "Brother, Zhao Jun even had a dog die. This kid shot a Black Bear and a wild boar in a single afternoon. That dog... don’t you think you all should give him something for it?"

"Well..." Tao Dabao looked troubled. Dogs died during the spring hunt all the time. If the brigade had to compensate for every one, the whole event would have been canceled long ago.

But he had been the one to invite Zhao Jun. For the young man’s dog to die on the mountain and for him to do nothing about it... that wouldn’t be right either.

Zhao Jun felt the timing was right and asked Tao Dabao, "Uncle Tao, how is the Tiger hunt going?"

With this, Zhao Jun changed the subject, relieving Tao Dabao of his awkwardness. He couldn’t just say, ’It’s normal for hunting dogs to die,’ because that would have been a disservice to Li Yunxiang, who had just spoken up for him.

But now Tao Dabao had an out. He pointed at Zhao Jun and said, "You didn’t have to ask—I was about to ask you! That trick you told me about yesterday, are you sure it’ll work?"

Hearing Tao Dabao bring it up, Zhao Jun concocted a story. "I heard from the old-timers that back when our Forest Farm was first established, some researchers came over from the Elder Russians’ side. The elders heard them say that’s how they catch Tigers over in the Far East."

"Ah!" Hearing that it came from the Elder Russians, Tao Dabao was immediately interested. He pressed Zhao Jun, "Tell me again, how exactly does this thing work?"

When Zhao Jun had mentioned it yesterday, everyone had treated it as a joke and paid it no mind.

"Well..." Zhao Jun mentally drafted his explanation before speaking. "Uncle Tao, our mountains here are different from the ones in the Far East. To use their method, the terrain and topography have to meet certain requirements. If they don’t, it definitely won’t work."

"How so?" Tao Dabao asked again.

Just then, Li Yunxiang interjected from the side, "Brother, why don’t you come inside? You can talk to the boy in the inner room. I’ll get you both some water."

Tao Dabao thought that made sense. He gestured toward the inner room, signaling for Zhao Jun to follow him inside.

The two entered the room and sat on the kang bed before Li Yunxiang even had a chance to bring the water. Zhao Jun began to explain to Tao Dabao, "Uncle Tao, like I said yesterday, if we want to catch this Tiger, we need to find a place where it roams that has deep snow on both the left and right sides. On top of that, it has to be a long, gentle slope, without any steep drops or anything."

Tigers and Lynx usually live high up in the mountains, where Pine Trees grow in forests and there are many Jumping Stone Ponds.

Places like that have many steep drops, and it’s hard to find a long, gentle slope.

"I told you yesterday, there really is a place like that." As Tao Dabao spoke, he gestured to Zhao Jun, continuing his thought. "The snow has to be about this deep."

While speaking, Tao Dabao raised his right hand and indicated a height of about a meter from the edge of the kang bed.

Then, Tao Dabao added, "The snow is really thick there. Before June, there’s still snow at the shady base of the mountain, and there are still chunks of ice in the gullies."

Hearing this, Zhao Jun nodded and asked, "Are there many trees on that long, gentle slope?"

"Well..." Tao Dabao frowned in thought before saying, "I don’t think there are many trees left. Your Forest Farm came and clear-cut it a couple of years ago."

"That’ll work," Zhao Jun said. "In that case, Uncle Tao, find some more men tomorrow morning to go up the mountain with me. We’re going to encircle the mountain."