Chapter 442 - 374: Force-feeding
Although he’d heard Zhao Youcai, Zhao Jun paid White Dragon no mind. In his opinion, a dog that could throw a fit wasn’t truly hungry. If it was starving, it would go find food itself.
Besides, the meat was sitting right next to it. It could eat whenever it wanted.
Another reason was that Zhao Jun was exhausted. It was just as he’d told Lin Xiangshun: he hadn’t run in the mountains for this long in ages. After dinner and a hot foot soak, his back and lower back began to ache. Once he lay down on the kang, he didn’t want to get back up.
So, Zhao Jun left White Dragon alone.
The next morning, Zhao Jun didn’t wake up until a little after six.
He had woken up a bit late. The moment he stepped out of his room, he saw Zhao Youcai dishing food onto a plate.
Today, he had made stir-fried cabbage with wood ear mushrooms.
Cultivated wood ear mushrooms were already available by this time.
In their village, a few families made a living cultivating them.
But the ones Zhao Jun’s family was eating had been brought over by his sister, Zhao Chun, when she visited before the New Year. They were a gift to her husband, Zhou Chunming—pure, wild autumn wood ears.
Just then, the door opened, and Wang Meilan came in holding the bowl for mixing dog food. Seeing Zhao Jun was up, she said to him, "You see? You got that dog so riled up it won’t even eat the meat."
"What?" A full night’s sleep had made Zhao Jun almost forget the whole thing. He hadn’t expected White Dragon to still be holding a grudge. The meaty bone he’d given it was untouched.
Zhao Jun pushed open the door and looked outside. He saw Big Fatty, San Pang, and Black Tiger all staring from a distance at where White Dragon was.
Or more precisely, they were all staring at the piece of meat in front of White Dragon.
White Dragon was sitting in front of its doghouse. The meaty bone Zhao Jun had given it yesterday remained untouched, lying about four inches from its paws.
The closest dog, Little Bear, was lying on the ground, staring longingly at the Haraba. Every so often, it would stretch out a paw to tentatively poke at the meat.
But every time Little Bear stretched out its sinful little black paw, White Dragon would snarl and growl threateningly.
At the sound, Little Bear would hastily retract its paw. But as soon as White Dragon stopped growling, it would reach out to try its luck again.
Zhao Jun walked over. As soon as Little Bear saw him, it scampered to his side, standing up to plant its front paws on his legs.
Zhao Jun patted Little Bear’s head. Seeing that White Dragon was looking at him, he pointed to the meaty bone at its paws and asked, "Are you going to eat or not? If you don’t, I’m giving it to Little Bear."
At these words, White Dragon simply twisted its head away, refusing to look at Zhao Jun.
Zhao Jun glanced over and saw that White Dragon’s food bowl still contained the cornmeal mush he’d prepared with boiling water.
Meanwhile, Little Bear’s bowl was empty. ’So White Dragon is on a hunger strike.’
Zhao Jun let go of Little Bear and turned back into the house.
During breakfast, Wang Meilan asked him, "Son, about those two racks of ribs left over, should I wait until after you’ve left to feed them?"
Yesterday, Zhao Jun had left two half-racks of wild boar ribs. Following Lin Xiangshun’s advice, one half-rack was for Big Fatty, and the other was for San Pang.
Holding a steamed bun and chewing on the mushrooms, Zhao Jun replied, "Yeah, wait till I’m gone. Otherwise, Little Bear will see it and get upset again."
Hearing this, Wang Meilan glanced out the window. Her eyes landed on Black Tiger, who was rolling onto its back under the eaves to air out its belly. She turned back to Zhao Jun. "What if Huzi sees it?"
That dog was a real suck-up. It would play with Zhao Hong and Zhao Na, letting the two little girls tug on its ears without a struggle. Wang Meilan was quite fond of it for this reason, which was why she called it Huzi instead of Black Tiger.
"Huh?" Zhao Jun froze. He’d completely forgotten about Black Tiger. ’Even though the dog doesn’t work, I can’t let the others eat meat right in front of it. That would be too cruel.’
Zhao Jun thought for a moment. "We’ll see in a little while. If White Dragon doesn’t eat that Haraba, we’ll give it to Black Tiger."
’A dumb dog has dumb luck. It’s even getting the meatier piece.’
Hearing this, Wang Meilan’s lips quirked into a small smile. "Yesterday, after you left, your father said it: ’Taking two and leaving two... you think the two left behind will be happy about that?’ Now look. One of them won’t even eat."
The plan was to take Little Bear and White Dragon into the mountains today, so Wang Meilan had prepared cornmeal mush for them and Black Tiger. Little Bear and Black Tiger had eaten all of theirs, but White Dragon hadn’t touched a single bite.
"This stubborn mule!" Zhao Jun muttered. He wasn’t in the habit of hitting his dogs, and it wasn’t like White Dragon was actually in the wrong. Its temper was just a real headache.
The dog hadn’t eaten since last night, and they were supposed to go hunting in the mountains soon. It’d be a miracle if it could run on an empty stomach.
"Ahem!" At that moment, someone beside him coughed. It didn’t sound accidental, but rather pointedly deliberate.
Zhao Jun turned to look at Zhao Youcai. An idea sparked, and he quickly asked, "Dad, what would you do in a situation like this?"
"Hmph." Zhao Youcai snorted, stuffed the steamed bun into his mouth, and took a huge bite. "You’re so capable now," he mumbled, his words garbled from the food, "why do you need to ask me?"
’What kind of thing is that to say!’
The words stung Zhao Jun. Wang Meilan frowned from the side and said to Zhao Youcai, "Now what’s that supposed to mean? Your son is asking for your help. If you know the answer, just tell him."
"Exactly," Zhao Jun said, forcing a smile. It was his own father; what could he do? "No matter how capable I get, I’m still your son, right? I wouldn’t even be here without you."
These words clearly pleased Zhao Youcai. He turned to look at Zhao Jun, but then he suddenly froze.
He saw Zhao Jun picking up pickles with the chopsticks in his right hand. His left hand was resting on the table in a fist, and its thumb was rubbing twice against the middle knuckle of the index finger.
’If you rub your thumb and index fingertips together, that’s the sign for counting money!’
’But with Wang Meilan right there, Zhao Jun can’t be too obvious. This must be a secret signal!’
Zhao Youcai understood instantly. He put down his bun, grabbed the hand that had made the signal, and said, "Come with me. I’ll tell you."
"What’s the big secret that I’m not allowed to hear?" Wang Meilan asked, watching them with amusement as she ate her cabbage. Little did she know, the father-son duo had just struck a deal right under her nose.
After breakfast, Zhao Jun did as his father instructed. He went to his room to change, wrapped his leggings, slung his satchel and gun over his shoulder, and then went to the outer room and picked up the dog food ladle.
Zhao Jun took the ladle, which only had half a handle, and walked out of the house, feigning a casual air as he headed out.
Seeing Zhao Jun dressed like this, Little Bear instantly strained its chain taut, letting out eager yelps. Big Fatty and San Pang reacted too, though not as intensely.
As for Black Tiger, it didn’t matter who it saw; as long as they were from the Zhao Family, even the two little girls, it would start frolicking with joy.
Only White Dragon spared him a glance before turning its head away. Two seconds later, it peeked at him again, only to quickly look away once more.
’What a stubborn mule. An absolutely stubborn mule.’
Seeing that the lure wasn’t working, Zhao Jun resorted to his final tactic. He dashed to White Dragon’s side, locked an arm around its neck, and simultaneously gripped its chin, using his hand to pry its mouth open.
White Dragon instinctively opened its mouth. By the time it tried to close it, Zhao Jun had already hooked his thumb over its lower teeth.
White Dragon started to close its mouth, but its upper canines brushed against Zhao Jun’s hand, and it instantly opened its jaw again.
Even angry, it was afraid of biting him.
With his right hand, Zhao Jun used the ladle to scoop up half a serving of the thick cornmeal paste from the food bowl and stuffed it into White Dragon’s mouth.
Then, with the same hand holding the dog’s jaw, he scraped the cornmeal off the ladle and into its mouth.