Chapter 358 - 296: Sword, Gun, and Cannon
Zhang Yuanmin listened closely. The sound drifting down from the ridge didn’t seem to be a Black Bear, but more like a person wailing. He immediately grabbed Yang Yufeng.
"What’s wrong?"
"Listen." Zhang Yuanmin pointed upward and said to Yang Yufeng, "That doesn’t sound like a Black Bear."
"Mm." Yang Yufeng listened for a moment, then nodded. "Sounds like people."
"Sounds like someone’s crying."
Since it wasn’t a Black Bear, the couple stopped running. They stood by the side of the path, wondering what was going on.
They were both kind-hearted people and figured they’d lend a hand if they could.
Less than two minutes later, Yang Yufeng pointed up the ridge with one hand while repeatedly hitting Zhang Yuanmin with the other. "Look! Isn’t that Li Erchen?"
"Whoa!" Zhang Yuanmin tucked his chin and craned his neck to look. He saw Li Erchen carrying someone on his back, wailing and sobbing as he made his way down.
At that moment, Li Erchen was making his way down from the ridge. The path was uneven, dotted with ditches and trees. Since he was carrying someone on his back, he had to keep his head down to watch his step and didn’t notice the couple below.
"Who’s that he’s carrying?" Yang Yufeng asked.
"Who else could it be? Minister Li," Zhang Yuanmin said, then pulled Yang Yufeng down into the gully they had just climbed out of.
It wasn’t that Zhang Yuanmin had a heart of stone; those two brothers were just the worst. There was no one quite like them.
Messing up a hunt at a Bear Den wasn’t the main issue. The key was that when people came to save them, they would abandon their rescuers and run off the moment they were safe.
They had done it to Zhang Yuanmin, and they had done it to Zhao Jun.
For the better part of the last six months, Yang Yufeng had often scolded Zhang Yuanmin, saying he was reckless when he hunted Black Bears and didn’t care about her and their child.
Every time, Zhang Yuanmin would act completely unconcerned on the surface, but he truly took her words to heart.
He had hunted at Bear Dens four times. On the last three occasions, whatever danger he encountered had nothing to do with outsiders. Only the first time, hunting a Bear Den with the Li Brothers, was the one that still gnawed at him.
So, he wouldn’t save them.
For his own sake, and for his friend Zhao Jun, Zhang Yuanmin pulled his wife down into the gully.
But the couple didn’t go far. They hid in the shadows, watching as Li Erchen passed by carrying Minister Li. Only after he was gone did the two of them climb back out.
When they came back up, they saw droplets of blood dotting the ground. Yang Yufeng looked in the direction Li Erchen had gone and frowned at Zhang Yuanmin. "Isn’t he an idiot? His brother’s injured, and he didn’t even think to bandage the wound. It might have been nothing serious, but bleeding like this, he’ll bleed to death!"
When Yang Yufeng finished speaking and got no response, she glanced to the side and saw Zhang Yuanmin staring at the mountain Li Erchen had descended, his gaze distant as if lost in thought.
After so many years of marriage, Yang Yufeng knew Zhang Yuanmin too well. Seeing his expression, she knew that old rascal was up to no good again.
Yang Yufeng lifted her leg and kicked him.
It wasn’t a hard kick; she just swiped her lower leg across Zhang Yuanmin’s butt.
"Hey!" Zhang Yuanmin cried out, turning to look at Yang Yufeng. He roared, "You crazy woman, what’d you kick me for?"
Yang Yufeng ignored his question and asked, "What are you thinking about?"
"Look here." Zhang Yuanmin pointed at the mountain. "Look at the state Minister Li was in. He must have run into a Black Bear. So, I’m telling you, there’s definitely a Black Bear on that mountain..."
At this, Zhang Yuanmin saw Yang Yufeng staring at him with a dark expression. He immediately gave a sheepish laugh and said, "Honey, I won’t go hunt it. I’ll let our buddy go."
"Now that’s more like it."
After running into signs of Black Bears one after another, the couple gave up on gathering wild vegetables and headed straight down the mountain for home. Once they arrived, Yang Yufeng packed more than half of the cucumber-scented ferns they had gathered into a triangular bag and had Zhang Yuanmin take it all to Wang Meilan.
...
At No. 77 Logging Camp, dozens of workers were bustling with activity in the Log Pile Yard. Four green Jiefang trucks were parked nearby.
"Technician Zhao." Du Chunjiang obsequiously offered Zhao Jun a cigarette from the side. But when he saw Zhao Jun shake his head, he stuffed the cigarette back into the pack and said, "I heard you took down a wild boar over a thousand pounds on the mountain a couple of days ago."
"Mm." Zhao Jun didn’t say anything more, just grunting in acknowledgment. He gazed at the bustling crowd in the yard, his eyes fixed on the four men who were directing the work.
These four were the bosses in charge of the timber transport contract. The workers were hired by them, and the trucks were theirs as well.
The crucial part was that Zhao Jun knew all four of them. In fact, one of them had been a close buddy of his in his past life.
Just then, a truck was fully loaded, and one of the men walked over to Zhao Jun. Reaching him, he nodded and said, "Inspector, my truck’s loaded. I’m gonna head back now."
Zhao Jun nodded without a word. The man pulled two packs of cigarettes from his pocket and said with a smile, "They’re not the best smokes, but take ’em anyway."
With that, he held the cigarettes out to Zhao Jun.
The man didn’t even ask if he smoked; he just offered them straight out.
Zhao Jun glanced at him, reached out to take the cigarettes, and said, "Drive safe on the way down."
"Alright, see you, Inspector."
Watching the man leave, Du Chunlin smacked his lips from the side, but he didn’t dare say anything in front of Zhao Jun.
And so it went. Each time a truck was fully loaded, the boss in charge would come over and stuff two packs of cigarettes into Zhao Jun’s hands.
Although Zhao Jun didn’t really smoke, he didn’t refuse the cigarettes. It was an unwritten rule at the Logging Camp, and it wasn’t as if these guys gave them out every single time. After all, this was the first day of transport for the year.
Three trucks were loaded and left. When the last boss came over, he also stuffed two packs of cigarettes into Zhao Jun’s hands.
This man was about thirty-six or thirty-seven, dressed well, and had a very distinctive hairstyle.
It was indeed rare for a man to have long hair in this era, especially in the Forest Area.
After Zhao Jun accepted his cigarettes, the man smiled and said, "Inspector, my name is Jie Zhong. I’m from Qianjin in Lingnan. If you’re ever over there, just mention my name; everyone knows me. If you come by in the future, look me up. I’ll take good care of you."
"Alright." Zhao Jun gave a rare smile and nodded at Jie Zhong.
Jie Zhong waved at Zhao Jun, then turned and left.
Seeing Jie Zhong walk off into the distance, Du Chunjiang sidled a step closer to Zhao Jun and whispered, "Technician Zhao, look at his long, messy hair. He doesn’t look like a good guy."
Zhao Jun glanced at Du Chunjiang without a word, but thought to himself, ’You’re the one who doesn’t look like a good person.’
Just then, a loud noise came from not too far away. Jie Zhong’s Jiefang truck had stopped in its tracks, and smoke was billowing from under the hood.
The passenger door was shoved open, and Jie Zhong jumped out. He ran to the front, took one look, and pointed at the driver’s cabin, yelling, "What the fuck are you still staring at? Get down here!"
In those days, drivers doubled as mechanics.
The driver got out of the truck, popped open the hood to take a look, then turned and got back in.
The driver was back in the cab for less than two seconds before he got out again.
But after getting out this time, he didn’t dare walk forward.
Jie Zhong waved him over, roaring, "What the fuck are you dawdling for? Fix the truck! Fix it so we can get going!"
The driver must have said something, because Jie Zhong froze for a moment. Then he charged straight at him, and when he got close, he lifted his leg and kicked him.
"Technician Zhao, look at that," Du Chunjiang said from a short distance away, pointing ahead. "One look and you can tell he’s a real Sword, Gun, and Cannon."
Zhao Jun chuckled, stood up, and started walking toward the truck.