Chapter 383 - 318: The Carsick Dog
Zhang Yuanmin chased it for four or five hundred meters before he saw the truck parked on the side of the road. He ran over, leaning on the back of the truck bed, and bent over, gasping for breath.
Just then, the passenger door opened and Zhao Jun got out. The first thing he said to Zhang Yuanmin was, "Yuanmin, how come you didn’t lead the Black Bear here?"
"Bro... Brother!" Zhang Yuanmin wasn’t angry with Zhao Jun yet. He just said, "Why do you always have to mess with me like this?"
Zhao Jun pursed his lips and said helplessly, "Brother, that plan of yours wasn’t just stupid, it was the gold standard of stupid."
"What’s wrong with it?" If Zhao Jun had criticized anything else, Zhang Yuanmin wouldn’t have argued. But if someone said his idea was bad, Zhang Yuanmin definitely had to have his say.
Zhang Yuanmin continued, "Brother, wasn’t that a brilliant plan I came up with?"
"Yeah, brilliant," Zhao Jun nodded, then jutted his chin at Zhang Yuanmin. "In that case, brother, you can keep running after the truck."
"No, no." Zhang Yuanmin hurried forward and grabbed Zhao Jun’s arm. "My legs feel like jelly. I can’t run anymore."
Sighing, Zhao Jun glanced at Zhang Yuanmin. ’He’s been my brother for two lifetimes,’ he thought helplessly. ’What can I do?’
So, Zhao Jun took his arm and helped him into the passenger seat.
"Heh heh..." Seeing Zhang Yuanmin get in, Li Baoyu couldn’t hold back his laughter.
"You’re still laughing, Baoyu." Zhang Yuanmin turned and pulled the door shut. "You were driving so fast I couldn’t even catch up."
Li Baoyu started the truck and explained on Zhao Jun’s behalf, "Brother, what were you thinking? You wanted me to hit a Black Bear with the truck? If the truck got wrecked, we couldn’t afford to pay for it even if you sold all three of us."
At Li Baoyu’s words, Zhang Yuanmin instantly quieted down.
Zhao Jun glanced at Li Baoyu, then smiled at Zhang Yuanmin. "Yuanmin, when that Sixth-grade Leaves Ginseng showed up today, I knew that in that Elder Anzi, there had to be at least one stalk of Fifth-grade leaves and one of Fourth-grade leaves, or maybe two stalks of Fourth-grade leaves.
Besides those, there are sure to be Lantern Platform, Second-class, Three Blossoms, and Big Palm Ginsengs. With so much Ginseng waiting for us, why would we do something so dangerous? Never mind wrecking the truck—what if something happened to the three of us? Would it be worth it?"
Hearing this, Zhang Yuanmin lowered his head in shame. "Brother, you’re right. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. As soon as I hear there’s a Black Bear somewhere, my brain just can’t stop churning out brilliant plans... uh... I mean, ideas."
Zhao Jun shook his head helplessly. Zhang Yuanmin’s brain, capable of being ranked alongside Li Ruhai’s mouth among the Four Wonders of Yong’an, was no ordinary brain.
The crucial part was that in his past life, this ’wonder’ of Zhang Yuanmin’s had been a posthumous title.
Now that was impressive.
"Go, go," Zhao Jun said, pointing forward helplessly. He told Li Baoyu, "Let’s hurry home."
Li Baoyu stepped on the gas, picking up speed, and asked Zhao Jun, "Brother, what’s the plan for the Sixth-grade Leaves Ginseng?"
"We’re going home to get our guns," Zhao Jun said. "You bring yours, too. If that Black Bear starts making noise again, we’ll shoot it!"
"Brother." At that moment, Zhang Yuanmin leaned over again and said to Zhao Jun, "Should I bring my gun?"
Hearing this, Zhao Jun answered casually, "Bring it if you want."
"Then I’ll—"
"It won’t fire anyway." Zhao Jun shot Zhang Yuanmin a look. "Brother, who gave you that gun? The spring is loose, the firing pin is too short. It’s completely unreliable. Won’t that just cause problems?"
"That bastard, Elder San Qu!" Zhang Yuanmin swore at Zhao Jun’s words. "I went to hell and back for him, and this is the thanks I get."
"What kind of talk is that?" Zhao Jun couldn’t help but laugh. "Alright, that gun is still worth a hundred or eighty yuan. One of these days, I’ll buy a big padlock, swap out the spring for you, and file down a firing pin. Then you’ll be able to use it."
"Deal, deal!"
With Li Baoyu driving, they quickly returned to Yong’an Village. The truck headed straight for Zhao Jun’s family home.
When they arrived at Zhao Jun’s house, Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu got out to retrieve their guns from their respective homes, leaving Zhang Yuanmin to wait in the truck.
A moment later, Li Baoyu came out of his house, opened the truck door, and got into the driver’s seat.
Two minutes after that, Zhao Jun came out of his house, a semi-automatic rifle slung over his back, holding Little Bear’s leash in one hand and Da Huang’s in the other.
Li Baoyu, who had been chatting with Zhang Yuanmin, saw this and quickly pushed his door open. He got out and hurried over to ask, "Brother, why’d you bring these two out?"
"I don’t feel safe without a dog," Zhao Jun said. "Da Huang’s injuries are mostly healed, and both he and Little Bear know how to work. We should be fine."
As he spoke, Zhao Jun started to get Little Bear and Da Huang into the truck bed.
Before the New Year, he had gone up the mountain with Zhang Yuanmin and Li Baoyu to hunt a Black Bear, and that time, they had nearly gotten into serious trouble.
Since then, Zhao Jun never went after a Black Bear without a dog.
When being pushed into the truck bed, Da Huang was very cooperative, but Little Bear was not. Zhao Jun had to climb into the bed first and pull Little Bear up from above.
Then, Zhao Jun sat in the truck bed with the two dogs.
But they had just left the village when Little Bear threw up.
The dog was carsick!
Even though the truck bed was open-air, the smell was still unpleasant.
Zhao Jun, in the back, quickly banged on the cab to tell Li Baoyu to stop.
After Li Baoyu stopped, he took the shovel from the truck bed and scraped up two shovel-fulls of dry dirt from the ground to clean up Little Bear’s vomit.
Looking at Little Bear lying by his feet, Zhao Jun gave a helpless smile. ’This dog didn’t see much of the world with Huang Gui; he’s never even been in a truck. Look at Da Huang, he’s perfectly fine.’
By the time the three of them got back up the mountain, it was already past one in the afternoon.
As soon as he was out of the truck, Little Bear could barely stand. He leaned against Zhao Jun’s calf, whining softly.
How could they go hunting like this?
Anyway, it was time to eat. The three men led the two dogs further up the mountain. To the east of the North-facing Slope where they had dug up the Ginseng, there was a fork in a small creek.
When they got there, they let Little Bear drink some water, and he seemed to perk up a bit.
With the dogs around, they didn’t have to worry about a sneak attack from the Black Bear.
The three men found a place to sit down. Li Baoyu took out three lunch boxes from his satchel. Each box was packed with four steamed corn cakes and two strips of pickled radish.
Li Baoyu handed two of the lunch boxes to Zhao Jun and Zhang Yuanmin, who took them and started eating.
The steamed cakes were made from cornmeal and white flour, and they had a hint of sweetness.
And since their living conditions were getting better, Jin Xiaomei had even sprinkled some red beans on top when she steamed the cakes.
As Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu ate, they didn’t forget to give a little to Little Bear and Da Huang. This was the difference between a dog owner and someone who wasn’t one. Zhang Yuanmin didn’t think to feed the dogs; he just focused on stuffing his own face.
After lunch, Little Bear seemed to have mostly recovered. Zhao Jun and the others rested where they were for a while longer.
When it was almost two o’clock, Zhao Jun felt it was getting late. He said to Li Baoyu and Zhang Yuanmin, "When we head up in a bit, keep the dogs on their leashes. Don’t let them go. Let’s try to get the Ginseng first and not provoke the bear."
"Okay, Brother. I’ll listen to you."
"Right, right." Zhang Yuanmin had calmed down as well. "Whatever you say, brother."
Having agreed on a plan, the three men led the two dogs westward. They had just reached the spot where they had dug up the Ginseng when Little Bear, now recovered from his carsickness, started barking.