Chapter 360 - 298: Flying Dragon
Today, Du Chunjiang had prepared two dishes for Zhao Jun. The first was a chicken and mushroom stew. The chicken wasn’t a wild pheasant but a stewing hen, and the mushrooms were wild hazel mushrooms.
When the food was served, Du Chunjiang urged Zhao Jun to eat. Zhao Jun didn’t stand on ceremony, picking up his chopsticks and grabbing a piece of chicken.
As for Du Chunjiang, he took an empty bowl, stirred the contents of the soup tureen with a ladle, and first served Zhao Jun half a bowl of broth and meat. Then, he added another ladle of broth, filling the bowl to the brim.
Du Chunlin placed the soup bowl in front of Zhao Jun and said with a smile, "Here, Technician Zhao, try this soup. It’s really something special."
Zhao Jun had just taken a bite of the chicken and immediately thought it wasn’t very good. The meat was tough and bland.
At Du Chunlin’s words, Zhao Jun picked up the soup bowl, blew on the edge to cool it, and took a sip. SLURP. Instantly, a rich, savory flavor spread across his tongue.
It was delicious!
Zhao Jun set the bowl down on the low table and poked around inside with his chopsticks, revealing fine strips of Yuan Mushroom and meat at the bottom.
Zhao Jun picked up a piece of the meat to examine it, then looked up at Du Chunjiang and asked, "Flying Dragon soup?"
Du Chunjiang gave him a thumbs-up, nodding with a smile.
’No wonder the chicken was so tough and bland.’
To make Flying Dragon soup, one must first prepare a chicken broth. You use a stewing hen, and once the broth is ready, you add the Flying Dragon bones and simmer it again.
After simmering for another half hour, the chicken meat and Flying Dragon bones are removed. Then, the deboned, diced, and blanched Flying Dragon meat is added, along with blanched strips of Yuan Mushroom. When it comes to a boil, a little sesame oil is drizzled in.
The result was a clear broth, tender meat, and a rich, savory flavor.
However, things were different back then compared to ten or twenty years later. They couldn’t bear to throw away the chicken used for the broth, so Du Chunjiang had the old camp cook stew it with mushrooms. It was still served as a main dish, but the chicken itself was truly terrible.
Of course, only someone like Zhao Jun would dare to harbor such a thought.
Still, the Flying Dragon soup was genuinely excellent.
Sipping the soup and eating a white-flour steamed bun, Zhao Jun felt, for the first time since his rebirth, that life didn’t get much better than this.
No wonder Du Chunjiang had boasted about it. This was a dish once fit for an Emperor.
"Technician Zhao." Du Chunlin knew Zhao Jun didn’t drink, but he raised his cup to him anyway. "We’ve troubled you quite a bit these last few months. And come this winter, we’ll be counting on you to look out for us again."
"That’s no problem," Zhao Jun said, raising his soup bowl to clink it against Du Chunjiang’s. He then drained the remaining half-bowl of soup in one go.
Seeing this, Du Chunjiang immediately grabbed the ladle to serve him more. As he scooped, he made a point of stirring the tureen a few times, ensuring he ladled plenty of Flying Dragon meat into Zhao Jun’s bowl.
Zhao Jun felt a bit exasperated watching him. ’This Du Chunjiang is a real piece of work,’ he thought. ’He just doesn’t operate like a normal person.’
But regardless of how he felt, Zhao Jun had thoroughly enjoyed the Flying Dragon soup. After the meal, he headed straight for the Log Pile Yard.
The three trucks that had left in the morning were now back. The drivers watched Zhao Jun expectantly, waiting for his nod before they called the workers over to start loading the logs.
As Zhao Jun jotted notes in his notebook, he glanced to the side. Jie Zhong and Jie Chen still hadn’t returned. Their truck was already loaded, which meant he likely had nothing else to do for a while.
So, Zhao Jun returned to the Leader’s shack, slipped off his shoes, climbed onto the kang, and took a nap.
By the time he woke up, it was nearly two in the afternoon.
Zhao Jun got up, put on his padded jacket, and stepped outside. There was no one in sight. He started walking toward the Log Pile Yard and, while still a good distance away, could hear Du Chunjiang and Jie Zhong arguing.
Zhao Jun walked closer, ignoring the cause of their argument, and simply called out, "How are the truck repairs coming?"
The moment he saw Zhao Jun, Jie Zhong shot Du Chunjiang a harsh glare before hurrying over to greet him with a smile. "Inspector, it’s all thanks to you! Our truck is fixed."
"Ah," Zhao Jun said with a smile. "Then you should hurry back. You still have to unload the truck once you get down the mountain."
"Yeah," Jie Zhong said. "We really should get going. I still need to return these tools."
"Don’t worry about it." Zhao Jun held up a hand. "Just give the tools to me." He then asked, "Who lent them to you?"
"Master Lin from the transport team."
"Alright, I got it." Zhao Jun immediately realized that the Master Lin he was talking about was Lin Xiangshun. Now he had a plan; he could just give the tools to Li Baoyu when he got back.
Jie Zhong brought the toolbox over, presented it to Zhao Jun with both hands, and then bid him farewell.
Zhao Jun turned and found a place to sit down.
In the Log Pile Yard stood a large willow tree. Du Chunjiang had driven two wooden pegs into its trunk and nailed a plank across them, creating a makeshift bench.
Seeing that Zhao Jun hadn’t left and was sitting down instead, Du Chunjiang hurried over. "Technician Zhao, what are you doing sitting out here? You should go rest in the shack."
It wasn’t even three o’clock. The trucks could make another trip down the mountain and back for one more load. That meant Zhao Jun wouldn’t be able to get off work until after five.
"Leader Du," Zhao Jun said, getting to his feet. "Harmony brings wealth, you know."
"Huh?" Du Chunjiang froze, understanding the implication behind Zhao Jun’s words. But he was just a strange man.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been the type to swindle Zhao Jun out of his money in their past life.
Seeing him remain silent, Zhao Jun smiled. "Leader Du, that Flying Dragon soup at lunch was fantastic."
"Ah," Du Chunjiang’s face broke into a smile. "Technician Zhao, if you like it..."
But Zhao Jun cut him off before he could finish. His next words seemed to come out of nowhere. "I hear you’ve offended a fair number of people on our inspection team. Leader Du, are you still hoping to run the Bao Leng Field this year?"
With that, Zhao Jun turned and headed back to the Leader’s shack, leaving Du Chunjiang rooted to the spot, his expression shifting uncertainly.
In his years of contracting lumber work, Du Chunjiang had offended far too many people. Hearing Zhao Jun’s words, a series of names flashed through his mind.
As Du Chunjiang saw it, Zhao Jun’s words were a direct warning. He was giving him a tip-off out of consideration for all the "tributes" he had offered. Someone on the inspection team must be planning to make a move against him.
The thought sent a jolt of fear through Du Chunjiang. He used to have a powerful backer, but that person had since retired.
He had acted recklessly when he had that support, but now he was on his own. If an inspector really decided to make trouble for him, whether he could continue to contract the Logging Camp was suddenly an open question.
Du Chunjiang suddenly looked up, his eyes fixed on Zhao Jun’s retreating figure. ’Isn’t he a powerful connection right there in front of me?’ he thought. ’Maybe... maybe I should give the kid a proper gift.’
...
Just past five o’clock, the last truck departed from No. 77 Logging Camp. Zhao Jun declined Du Chunjiang’s invitation to stay for dinner, slung his satchel over his shoulder, and prepared to head home.
Du Chunjiang walked Zhao Jun all the way out of the Logging Camp, insisting on pressing a flashlight into his hands. He said it would be dark soon and that Zhao Jun should take it to light his way.
Zhao Jun said he didn’t need it, as he’d be home in just over half an hour, but Du Chunjiang wouldn’t hear of it, insisting he take the flashlight.
Unable to refuse any longer, Zhao Jun took the flashlight and smiled. "Alright, then. When I get home and my mom asks where this came from, I’ll tell her it was a gift from Leader Du."
"Ha!" Du Chunjiang laughed heartily. "You can’t call this a gift! Technician Zhao, just wait a couple of days. I’m heading down the mountain, and I’ll bring you back something really nice."
"Something nice?" Zhao Jun asked with a grin. "More Flying Dragon meat?"
Zhao Jun was genuinely surprised. Flying Dragons were much harder to catch than hazel grouse, not to mention rarer. They were extremely difficult to come by.
"That’s nothing! If you want more, Technician Zhao, I’ll have the kitchen make it for you again in a couple of days." Then, Du Chunjiang lowered his voice mysteriously. "Just wait a little while longer. I’m going to give you a big gift, one I guarantee you’ll like."
"Alright, then." Zhao Jun affected an air of indifference, replying flatly, "I’ll be waiting."
Leaving No. 77 Logging Camp, Zhao Jun arrived home to find Wang Meilan making dumplings.
Zhao Jun glanced at the filling bowl and was delighted to see it was a mix of daylily and wild boar meat. "Mom," he asked, "where did you get daylilies?"
"Your Brother Zhang brought them over," Wang Meilan said as she placed the last dumpling on a mat woven from sorghum stalks. She then lifted the entire tray. "He has something he needs to talk to you about, and he seemed pretty anxious. You should hurry over to his place now. And take these dumplings to him."
"Alright." Zhao Jun took the tray of dumplings and went out. He walked over to Zhang Yuanmin’s house and, upon entering, set the tray down on the kitchen stove.
"Oh my, Auntie made dumplings and sent some over," said a grateful Yang Yufeng, who was in the middle of cooking cracked corn porridge.
Just then, Zhang Yuanmin walked out from the inner room and said to Yang Yufeng, "That’s enough. Once we hunt down that Black Bear and sell its Bear Gall, we’ll buy Auntie plenty of nice things."
"Brother Zhang, what are you talking about?" Zhao Jun asked, stunned.
"Come on, brother, let’s talk in the other room."
Zhang Yuanmin pulled Zhao Jun into the other room. Yang Yufeng, too worried to even mind the pot on the stove, followed them right in.
Perhaps because he’d been reading a lot of books lately, Zhang Yuanmin recounted the events with great flair.
When he heard that Minister Li had been mauled by a Black Bear, Zhao Jun tried to ask for more details. But Zhang Yuanmin gave him no chance, gesticulating wildly and shouting, "Brother, there are at least two of them! Two Big Black Bears! We have to go hunt them!"
Hearing this, Yang Yufeng remained silent. She would never have allowed Zhang Yuanmin to go alone, but with Zhao Jun involved, she was actually quite supportive of the idea.
"Well..." Zhao Jun thought for a moment before saying, "Brother Zhang, let me go home and check on Little Bear first, see if he’s up for a trip to the mountains. A Black Bear isn’t like a wild boar. It’ll lie down somewhere and then just get up and maul you. It’s much safer to take dogs."
Hearing this, Zhang Yuanmin turned to his wife, who was standing beside him, and jerked his head, motioning for her to leave the room.
But Yang Yufeng simply turned her head and ignored him.
Zhao Jun found the couple’s interaction amusing, but he also worried Zhang Yuanmin was about to pull some stunt. So, right in front of Yang Yufeng, he said, "Brother Zhang, what could we possibly have to discuss that we’d need to hide from my sister-in-law? If you have something to say, just say it."
"Brother," Zhang Yuanmin said, leaning across the low table. He raised a single finger and declared with utmost seriousness, "You don’t need to bring the dogs. I have a plan to take down the Black Bear."