The Entire Mountain Is My Hunting Ground

This was the vegetable garden where Zhao Jun’s family grew their produce in the summer.

It was mid-April. The temperature during the day would approach freezing, while at night, it would still drop below it.

His family’s front yard faced the sun, so the daytime temperatures were higher. That, combined with the direct sunlight, meant the snow in the front yard had almost completely melted.

But here in the shady vegetable garden, a thick layer of snow remained.

Even so, the surface of this snow had melted and then frozen over again.

Zhao Jun entered the garden and stepped onto the snow.

With a CRUNCH, Zhao Jun’s cotton-padded shoes sank into the snow.

Zhao Jun looked down. The surface of the snow had melted and refrozen into a thin, icy crust, but the snow underneath was still soft and powdery.

Zhao Jun took another step forward with his other foot, but this time, it didn’t sink in.

Zhao Jun walked forward quickly, calculating silently. When he found that, on average, two out of every five steps he took would break through the snow, he turned and went back inside to eat.

After Zhao Jun finished his meal, he said goodbye to Zhao Youcai and Wang Meilan, then left the house with his tools and a ledger tucked under his arm.

After Zhao Jun left, Zhao Youcai peered out the window before turning to Wang Meilan, who was clearing the table. "That boy’s been awfully quiet these last couple of days."

"What a thing to say," Wang Meilan retorted irritably. "He’s your son. Isn’t it a good thing that he’s being quiet?"

Zhao Youcai sat on the edge of the heated brick bed, lost in thought, and didn’t say anything.

After leaving home, Zhao Jun didn’t head out of the village and into the mountains. Instead, he went to Zhang Yuanmin’s house.

Zhang Yuanmin’s family was eating on their heated platform. When Yang Yufeng saw Zhao Jun arrive, she quickly got up and asked, "Brother, have you eaten? If not, come have a bite with us."

"Go ahead and eat, Sister. I’ve already eaten," Zhao Jun replied to Yang Yufeng with a smile. Then he looked at Zhang Yuanmin and said, "Big Brother, could you come outside for a minute? I need to talk to you about something."

"Hey, alright." Hearing this, Zhang Yuanmin quickly put down his chopsticks, turned, and swung his legs off the heated platform.

Zhao Jun nodded at Yang Yufeng and went outside first.

Yang Yufeng found this strange, but it was men’s business. No matter how curious she was, she knew not to pry.

Zhang Yuanmin followed Zhao Jun outside. His first words were, "Brother, is it time to make our move?"

The question made Zhao Jun’s heart skip a beat. It sounded like they were about to do something illegal.

But Zhao Jun couldn’t worry about that now. He just said to Zhang Yuanmin, "Big Brother, after you finish eating, borrow a sled and head up the mountain. Make sure you go early, you hear?"

"I know," Zhang Yuanmin nodded. You had to take a sled into the mountains early at this time of year. Otherwise, by the afternoon, the snow would get slushy, and the sled wouldn’t pull well.

"Big Brother, once you get there, don’t scout too far in. Just circle around the area outside those two mountains and see if that herd of wild boars has left any new tracks," Zhao Jun instructed. Ever since learning that Zhang Yuanmin knew how to read tracks, Zhao Jun felt confident enough to entrust him with simpler tasks.

New tracks were footprints left by prey less than a day ago.

"I’ll remember that, Brother," Zhang Yuanmin said, still nodding. Then he asked, "Anything else I need to know?"

But after asking, Zhang Yuanmin saw Zhao Jun raise a single finger. He immediately understood and blurted out, "Top secret!"

Hearing him say those two words, Zhao Jun smiled and nodded. He lowered his index finger and gave Zhang Yuanmin a thumbs-up.

After seeing Zhao Jun off, Zhang Yuanmin went back inside. He picked up his chopsticks in one hand and a mixed-flour steamed bun in the other, ready to continue his meal.

Just then, Yang Yufeng walked over to him. She tapped him on the shoulder with the back of her hand and asked, "Hey, what did our brother want with you?"

Yang Yufeng knew very well that Zhao Jun wouldn’t have been secretive with her if it was something minor. Since he’d called Zhang Yuanmin outside to talk, it had to be something important.

In truth, Zhao Jun wasn’t trying to hide things from Yang Yufeng; in fact, he knew she was more reliable than Zhang Yuanmin. Even if Yang Yufeng knew he was going after the Pig God, she wouldn’t tell anyone.

The one he was trying to keep it from was Little Lingdang. The child couldn’t keep a secret; the more you told her not to talk about something interesting, the more she’d want to go and spread it around.

To be safe, Zhao Jun had called Zhang Yuanmin outside.

But all Zhang Yuanmin remembered was what Zhao Jun had told him last time—tell no one—and today’s two words: "Top secret."

So, Zhang Yuanmin immediately turned his head, looked up at Yang Yufeng, and barked, "This is men’s business! What’s a woman like you meddling for?"

"I..." Yang Yufeng was so taken aback by his outburst that she was left speechless. She shot Zhang Yuanmin a glare and went to the outer room to clean the stove.

Zhao Jun went into the mountains and spent the day scaling lumber at Logging Camp 79. That evening, just as he returned to the village, he saw Zhang Yuanmin pacing by the side of the road.

He wasn’t even waiting by his own door anymore; he’d come all the way to the village entrance.

"Big Brother," Zhao Jun called out from a distance.

"Brother!" Hearing his voice, Zhang Yuanmin turned and saw it was Zhao Jun. He hurried over excitedly and said, "I saw them! I saw the herd of boars!"

"Huh?" Zhao Jun was taken aback and quickly asked, "Didn’t I tell you not to go too far in?"

"I didn’t go far in!" Zhang Yuanmin explained. "I saw the herd coming down from the ridge. A massive swarm of them, there must have been seventy or eighty!"

Zhao Jun had previously told Zhang Yuanmin not to scout ahead because he was afraid he’d scare the boars away. They had finally found their whereabouts; if the herd was spooked, finding them again would be difficult.

Hearing that Zhang Yuanmin hadn’t acted rashly, Zhao Jun asked, "Where did the boars go?"

"They went behind Yingbei Mountain!"

"Got it." Zhao Jun pulled Zhang Yuanmin closer. "Big Brother, eat early at home tomorrow. Afterward, get the sled and take me up there to have a look."

"Alright."

With the plan set, they both went home. After eating, Zhao Jun went next door to find Li Baoyu.

Once he had called Li Baoyu out of the house, Zhao Jun said to him, "Baoyu, before you get off work tomorrow, talk to your foreman and ask for the next day off. You’re coming up the mountain with me."

"Ah, Brother, what are we going to hunt?" Li Baoyu’s eyes lit up. He knew that Zhao Jun wouldn’t have him take a day off work unless they were going after something big.

Zhao Jun thought for a moment before telling Li Baoyu, "A trapper at the Logging Camp gave me a tip today. Said there’s a hunchbacked Xiong Ba behind the main section of 79. I’m going to go scout the tracks tomorrow. The day after, we’ll go hunt it."

"Okay, okay!" Li Baoyu nodded eagerly at the news. A Big Bear Dominator meant a big Bear Gall, and a big Bear Gall meant money.

After talking to Li Baoyu, Zhao Jun went home and got an early night’s rest.

The next day, Zhao Jun finished his breakfast and headed straight for Zhang Yuanmin’s house. After meeting up with him, they took the sled deep into the mountains.

They traveled all the way to Yingbei Mountain, to the spot where Zhang Yuanmin had seen the boar herd the day before. Zhao Jun got off the sled and walked over to examine the wild boars’ tracks up close.

Meanwhile, Zhang Yuanmin held the horse and waited on the outskirts of the mountain for about half an hour before Zhao Jun returned.

Seeing Zhao Jun come back, Zhang Yuanmin went to meet him and asked, "Brother, how is it?"

"Back!" Zhao Jun gestured toward the way they came, climbing onto the sled. Once settled, he said to Zhang Yuanmin, "Big Brother, get up even earlier tomorrow morning. We’re coming up here to take out this whole herd of boars!"