Chapter 398 - 332: Three Bears
So you're a fortune-teller now?
Zhao Jun chuckled at Zhang Yuanmin's words. He took off his satchel, set it down on the edge of the kang bed-stove, and teased, "Alright then, why don't you divine what's in this bag?"
Zhang Yuanmin, ever the actor, pinched his fingers together and declared with a serious air, "I predict it's the three treasures from two young bucks."
"Whoa!" Zhao Jun was taken aback and quickly asked, "How did you know it was two bucks? Couldn't it have been a doe and a fawn?"
Zhang Yuanmin let out a hearty laugh. "These mountain beasts are all starved for salt. When they find a salt lick in the spring, a doe and her fawn can't out-compete the bucks."
"Fair enough." Zhao Jun opened his satchel. As he pulled out the Antler Velvet and Deer Penis, he said with a smile, "This big fella sure doesn't know how to treat his lady right."
...
After lunch at Zhang Yuanmin's, Zhao Jun slung his satchel and rifle over his shoulder and headed home.
When he arrived home, he found the courtyard gate ajar. He stepped into the yard and saw the front door was open, too.
"Mom!" Zhao Jun called out. When no one answered, he tried again, "Dad, are you home?"
SPLASH...
A basin of dirty water splashed out of the doorway. Zhao Jun leaped back to avoid it, only to see Zhao Youcai standing in the threshold with the washbasin, glaring at him grimly.
'What's gotten into him now?' Zhao Jun sighed to himself. He figured Zhao Youcai must have gotten into financial trouble again, otherwise he wouldn't be so passively accepting his "re-education through labor."
Zhao Jun skirted the puddle and went inside, where he saw Zhao Youcai scooping water out of the large vat. On the floor beside him was a small stool and a large basin. A washboard was laid across the basin, and on top of it sat a wrung-out, wadded-up pile of clothes.
"Oh." Zhao Jun took a closer look and said in surprise, "Dad, you're washing my work clothes? Thanks, I appreciate it."
As an inspector for the Forest Farm, Zhao Jun was issued a uniform. But since he never reported to the Forest Farm office and instead spent his days making the rounds at the various Logging Camps, whether he actually wore it depended entirely on his mood.
The words had barely left Zhao Jun's mouth when Zhao Youcai glared and shot back, "Damn it! What were you doing all day, rolling in filth? These clothes are disgusting!"
Zhao Jun just smiled without a word and went into his room, where he took the Deer Heart out of his satchel.
The best way to prepare it was to roast the heart dry on a roof tile, blood and all, then grind it into a powder for consumption.
As for Zhao Youcai, Zhao Jun knew he was just in a foul mood and looking for someone to vent on.
'What can you do? He's my father, after all. As his son, I can't just openly defy him, can I?'
Zhao Jun had just sat down when Wang Meilan returned with two little girls in tow. Zhao Hong was clutching a package wrapped in Butter Paper, which held half a jin of sweet candy balls.
The little girl, a year older now, was getting more and more clever. That morning, when Wang Meilan had picked her up from Jin Xiaomei's house, she had burst into tears.
Wang Meilan had asked what was wrong, and she'd said she missed her mommy. This made Wang Meilan's heart ache for her. First, she ordered Zhao Youcai to fire up the wok and cook their daughter a delicious meal, then she took her out that afternoon to buy candy.
"Son, you're back," Wang Meilan said as she came into the room. "So, where'd you get the dogs from this time?"
Zhao Jun briefly explained the origins of Big Fatty and San Pang, as well as Flower Cat and Hua Lang, who were being raised at Li Baoyu's house. He didn't, however, ask why Zhao Youcai was undergoing "re-education" again.
Zhao Jun didn't ask, and Wang Meilan didn't elaborate. She simply went out to the main room and barked at the still-washing Zhao Youcai, "Hurry up with that. When you're finished, wipe down the dish rack. It hasn't been cleaned in over a month."
Zhao Youcai froze at her words, thinking, 'I'm pretty sure I was the one who wiped it last time, too.'
When Zhao Youcai didn't respond, Wang Meilan continued, "And you get yourself to work first thing tomorrow morning. As for hunting, you can forget about it from now on."
Zhao Youcai kept his head down, sullenly silent, and scrubbed the clothes with renewed vigor.
Wang Meilan glared at the back of Zhao Youcai's head, her anger mounting. She had been too embarrassed to press him at their daughter's in-laws' home, but ever since they left the Zhou Family's place, she had been interrogating him nonstop. Still, Zhao Youcai refused to confess, which infuriated her.
Back home, Zhao Youcai was completely obedient, doing any chore she assigned without complaint. But he still wouldn't tell her where he'd hidden his private stash of money.
"Hmph! You just wait! I'd like to see where you try to hide tonight when you have no one to drink with!" Wang Meilan spat out the threat before turning and going back into the room.
As he wrung out the clothes, Zhao Youcai thought, 'How am I going to find an excuse to have a drink tonight?'
At this, he actually started to resent Zhao Jun, blaming his son for not being a drinker.
...
Zhao Jun took a nap and woke up around three o'clock. He climbed off the kang, slipped on his shoes, and came out of his room. Seeing Zhao Youcai wiping the dish rack with a cloth, he called toward the east room, "Hey Mom, what's for dinner?"
Wang Meilan, who was in her room sewing a cotton-padded jacket for Zhao Youcai, called back, "Son, what do you feel like eating?"
While Zhao Jun had been sleeping, Wang Meilan had taken apart one of Zhao Youcai's thinner jackets, but her search had turned up nothing.
Remembering that Zhao Youcai had to go to work the next day, she was now frantically sewing it back together for him.
Zhao Jun glanced at the two large basins by the stove, where cuts of wild boar and Black Bear meat were soaking in well water. "We've got all kinds of meat," he said. "Why not cook a little of each?"
Just then, from the inner room, Zhao Hong suddenly said something to Wang Meilan. Distracted, Wang Meilan didn't quite catch what Zhao Jun had said.
Zhao Youcai, however, seized the opportunity to lay into Zhao Jun. "Oh, so now that you're not the one cooking, you want this and you want that? Since when did you get so picky?"
Zhao Jun blinked, then smiled. "Dad, a friend of mine is coming over tonight. You know, the long-haired guy who brought you that liquor at the cafeteria? He's coming to help us haul the big one."
"Oh?" At this, a smile instantly spread across Zhao Youcai's face. "Well, why didn't you say so sooner? If a friend is coming over, we have to make some good food, don't we?"
"Haha... forget it," Zhao Jun chuckled. "We'll just make some corn porridge and slice up some pickles. That'll be good enough. We can't be asking for this and that all day, especially since I'm not the one cooking."
"Get outta here!" Having endured Wang Meilan's passive-aggressive sniping all morning, Zhao Youcai's temper flared at his son's sarcasm. "Go do whatever it is you need to do, and stop hanging around in my face!" he snapped.
Zhao Jun just laughed, then went out to the storeroom to let out Cyan Dragon and Black Dragon, watching over them as they ambled around the yard.
...
Around five that evening, Zhao Jun was inside helping Zhao Youcai cut up meat when he suddenly heard a commotion outside. Figuring it was probably Jie Zhong and Jie Chen, he went out to take a look.
He stepped outside the gate and saw it was indeed Jie Zhong and Jie Chen, but the brothers both looked pale.
Zhao Jun glanced at the bed of their cart and saw only a single large Ma Lu. He didn't think much of it, just assuming that Jie Zhong and the others had already divided up the second one.
Just then, Jie Chen stepped in front of Zhao Jun and said, "Inspector, we ran into a Black Bear when we went to haul the carcass."
"I see." Zhao Jun nodded. The gamy scent of a deer is incredibly strong, and a dead one is a magnet for bears.
So, running into a bear near the deer cache was perfectly normal.
But what Zhao Jun hadn't expected was for Jie Chen to tremblingly raise a hand, hold up three fingers, and stammer, "Th-three of them!"