The Entire Mountain Is My Hunting Ground

Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu led four dogs up the hillside, tying them to four separate trees. Then, they began to dig up the Ginseng.

Pushing aside the dead branches and rotten leaves, Zhao Jun gazed at the small plant with its six folded leaf stems and gestured to Li Baoyu.

Li Baoyu took a deerskin roll from his satchel, unrolled it, and revealed the Deer Antler Key inside.

Zhao Jun knelt on the ground, bent over, and carefully began to push away the soil with the Deer Antler Key.

The quality of Ginseng is judged by its head, texture, roots, shape, and body.

If even a single root of a Ginseng plant was broken during digging, its price would plummet.

Zhao Jun patiently and slowly pushed away the soil, using the Deer Antler Key to lift out one complete Ginseng Root before moving on to the next.

He had been busy for over half an hour. Li Baoyu, who had gone to gather moss and Pine Tree bark, had long since returned. But he stood to the side, not daring to breathe too loudly, his eyes fixed on Zhao Jun’s every move.

Zhao Jun worked for an hour and a half before finally extracting this Miao Sixth-grade Leaves plant. He stuck the Deer Antler Key into the ground nearby. One hand supported the Ginseng’s Rush Head and main roots, while the other cradled its long Ginseng Roots.

"Whoa!" Li Baoyu leaned in, extended his right hand with four fingers curled, leaving only his index finger out. He used its tip to gently touch the ’pearl knots’ on the Ginseng Roots. Then he stared intently at Zhao Jun and asked, "Brother, this Ginseng is incredible!"

Although Li Baoyu didn’t understand the finer points of Ginseng quality, he had grown up in the Forest Area and had seen others use Ginseng to make medicinal wine.

Right then, Li Baoyu had a feeling that this single plant surpassed every other piece of Ginseng he had ever seen in his life.

"Baoyu," Zhao Jun said with a smile.

"Brother, what is it?"

A grin on his face, Zhao Jun looked at Li Baoyu and whispered with a smile, "We hit the jackpot this time."

"Really?!" Upon hearing this, Li Baoyu grinned so wide it almost reached his ears.

Zhao Jun nodded and quickly said to Li Baoyu, "Hurry, let’s wrap this Ginseng up."

"Right, right." Li Baoyu hurried back to get the moss and Pine Tree bark. The two of them carefully wrapped the Ginseng, handing it to Li Baoyu to put in his satchel. Only then did Zhao Jun go to dig up that Miao Fourth-grade leaves plant.

「It was almost two in the afternoon.」

At the same time, Wang Meilan arrived in Yongsheng Village at Zhou Chunming’s house.

She had woken up early, eaten breakfast with her children, and then started cleaning the house.

After she finished tidying up both inside and outside the courtyard and had fed the dogs and sheep, Wang Meilan took Zhao Hong and Zhao Na next door, entrusting them to Jin Xiaomei’s care.

Then, Wang Meilan carved off about ten jin of bear leg meat, plus one Bear’s Paw, packed them in a bag, and left the house. She went to Zhang Yuanmin’s house and gave them to Yang Yufeng.

This was something Zhao Jun had instructed her to do before he left that morning, saying that Zhang Yuanmin was injured and needed some nourishing food to recover.

After chatting for a while at Zhang Yuanmin’s home, Wang Meilan returned to her own house, carved off another four or five jin of bear leg meat along with another Bear’s Paw, packed them in a burlap sack, and carried it to Yongsheng Village.

Both gifts included a Bear’s Paw, but Wang Meilan had given Zhang Yuanmin’s family ten jin of meat, while only bringing five jin for her daughter’s in-laws.

The reason for this was simple: the road to Yongsheng Village was long, and if she packed too much, Wang Meilan wouldn’t be able to carry it.

The journey to Zhou Chunming’s house had exhausted her. She set the burlap sack down outside the wicker fence and was just about to call out when the door opened. Hu Sanmei came out with a basin and tossed the water onto the ground.

"My dear in-law!" Wang Meilan called out to Hu Sanmei.

"Ah!" Hu Sanmei looked up at the sound of the voice, startled for a moment. Flustered, she glanced left and right, then dropped the basin at the base of the window. Wiping her hands on her clothes, she hurried toward the gate.

When she reached the gate, Hu Sanmei grasped Wang Meilan’s hand with one of her own and gently patted the back of it with the other. "My dear in-law, it’s been too long since I’ve seen you."

With that, Hu Sanmei pulled Wang Meilan into the courtyard.

Wang Meilan quickly pulled back slightly. With one hand held by Hu Sanmei, she used her other to pick up the burlap sack.

Hu Sanmei glanced back and chided her gently, "We’re all family. Why did you buy something to bring?"

"I didn’t buy it." Wang Meilan struggled a bit to lift the heavy sack with one hand. She said to Hu Sanmei, "Zhao Jun hunted a bear in the mountains yesterday. I cut off some meat for you and brought a Bear’s Paw."

"That boy, Zhao Jun, has really made something of himself." Hu Sanmei let go of Wang Meilan’s hand, walked to the other side of the sack, and together they each grabbed a corner of the opening and carried it into the house.

Once inside, they set the sack down by the stove. Only then did Hu Sanmei say to Wang Meilan, "This must be thirty-something jin! You..."

Before Hu Sanmei could finish, a cry of "Waaah!" came from the inner room. Hu Sanmei quickly turned and ran inside, with Wang Meilan close behind.

Hu Sanmei entered the room and immediately picked up the baby, rocking him in her arms as she paced.

The baby was easy to soothe and stopped crying as soon as his grandmother held him. Just then, Wang Meilan came over, reached out to gently tap the tip of the baby’s nose, and then took him from Hu Sanmei’s arms, saying, "Here, let me hold him."

In those days, people weren’t so particular. You just picked up a baby and held them, no need to wash or disinfect your hands.

Hu Sanmei handed the baby to Wang Meilan. Holding her little grandson, Wang Meilan’s face was full of smiles. She sat on the edge of the kang bed, making cooing sounds to amuse the child.

Seeing this, Hu Sanmei quickly turned and left the room to pour Wang Meilan a glass of water.

Wang Meilan didn’t say anything as Hu Sanmei went to get water. After the long walk carrying the Bear’s Paw and bear meat, she was indeed thirsty.

But a thought suddenly occurred to her, and Wang Meilan quickly asked, "My dear in-law, where’s Chun’Er?"

"Oh! Chun’Er went out." Hu Sanmei came back in with a cup of water, placed it beside Wang Meilan, and explained, "It’s spring now, you know? A family here saw the weather getting warmer and started making fried dough twists, honey pastries, and chilled rice cakes. Before lunch, I was chatting with Chun’Er and suggested she buy some for us to eat. She just left a little while before you arrived."

At this point, Hu Sanmei pointed to the little boy in Wang Meilan’s arms and said with a laugh, "He sure knows how to dote on his mother. When his mom is home, he doesn’t wet himself. The moment she leaves, he does. I had just finished washing his diaper and went out to toss the water when I saw you arrive."

"A son takes after his maternal uncle!" Wang Meilan said with a laugh, then explained to Hu Sanmei, "This child takes after his uncle. My Zhao Jun always knows how to dote on me."

’Hu Sanmei was just joking. A baby not even a year old wouldn’t know any better; he’d just pee whenever he felt like it.’

But Wang Meilan was simply looking for an excuse to praise her son.

Six months ago, it might have been one thing. But over the past half-year, whenever Wang Meilan started praising her son, everyone had to listen.

It was the same for Hu Sanmei. Zhao Jun had become so successful in the last six months, and her own family had benefited quite a bit from it. Two days before the New Year, Zhao Chun had come back from her family home with a Bear Gall that cured her child’s rash.

A while ago, Zhao Jun had hunted a wild boar weighing around a thousand jin for the Zhou Family, directly helping Zhou Chunming advance another step in his career.

"It would be great if he’s like his uncle!" So, Hu Sanmei could only agree, "Your Zhao Jun is so promising now. The other day, Zhou Chengguo from our village came by, and he was praising Zhao Jun too."

Hearing this, Wang Meilan’s eyes crinkled into a smile. Just then, there was a noise outside, and Zhao Chun returned, carrying several Butter Paper packages.

When she came in and saw Wang Meilan, Zhao Chun was overjoyed. She rushed to her mother’s side, grabbing her hand, and it seemed the two of them had endless things to say to each other.

As they were talking, Wang Meilan once again brought up Zhao Chun’s successful brother. Then she remembered something. Holding the baby with one arm, she pointed toward the outer room with her other hand and said to Hu Sanmei, "My dear in-law, you should soak that Black Bear meat in cold water. The weather’s getting warm, don’t let it spoil."

Hearing this, Hu Sanmei quickly agreed and got up to head for the outer room. As she walked, she said, "My dear in-law, whenever you and my other in-law visit, the quality of our meals goes way up! The other day, he came and slaughtered a sheep and hunted a roe deer for us. And now you come and bring us a Black Bear’s paw."

"Slaughtered a sheep?" At these words, Wang Meilan’s expression changed. She looked at Zhao Chun and asked in a low voice, "Where did your father get a sheep?"