Chapter 483 - 403: Borrowing a Dog
Ma Dafu and Wang Cuihua were more than satisfied with their son-in-law, Zhao Jun. The couple couldn’t have been happier.
The young man came from a well-off family, had a good job, earned good money, and his newly completed five-room, tile-roofed house was the grandest in all of Yong’an Village.
Most importantly, from Yong’an Village to Yongsheng Village, and even as far as the Yongxing Brigade, Zhao Jun’s reputation for benevolence and righteousness was widespread.
In the Northeast Mountain Villages, "benevolent and righteous" was the highest praise one could receive for their character. And Zhao Jun’s reputation wasn’t just one person’s opinion—it was a widely held belief. What’s more, it was backed by real deeds.
A son-in-law like him was a one-in-a-million catch.
Feeling it was about time, Zhao Jun, who still had to go to work at the Forest Farm, stood up to leave.
As the nominal head of the household, Ma Dafu certainly wouldn’t get up to see him out, but Wang Cuihua took Ma Ling and walked Zhao Jun to the door. As they walked, Wang Cuihua smiled and said to Zhao Jun, "Jun, why don’t you come over for dumplings tonight? Auntie will make them with an all-meat filling for you!"
Zhao Jun smiled at her words and politely declined. "I can’t, Auntie. I’m not sure what time I’ll get off work tonight."
"Alright then, some other time." Wang Cuihua didn’t press the issue and continued to smile. "Some other day, I..."
Wang Cuihua was mid-sentence when she saw someone enter their yard gate. Recognizing the person, she hurried forward a couple of steps and asked, "Fourth Uncle, what brings you here today?"
The question "what brings you here today" was just a polite way of asking, ’Why have you come to our house?’
An old man appeared, a permanently stained towel draped around his neck. He wore a hole-ridden tank top and shuffled along in cloth shoes spattered with mud.
Zhao Jun recognized him. It was Ma Dafu’s fourth maternal uncle, Zhu Dashan.
"Daifu’s wife." Zhu Dashan looked up and saw Zhao Jun, his eyes lighting up as he laughed heartily. "Zhao Jun is here too! I was just looking for you."
"Hm?"
Zhao Jun was taken aback, and Wang Cuihua and Ma Ling froze in unison.
Zhu Dashan didn’t stand on ceremony. He just pointed a hand toward the house and said, "Come on, let’s talk inside." With that, he came up to Zhao Jun, grabbed his arm, and started leading him into the house.
"Huh?" Wang Cuihua was a bit stunned, but she quickly recovered and called out from behind them, "Fourth Uncle, the boy has to go to work!"
"Work?" Zhu Dashan stopped, glanced at Zhao Jun, then turned back to Wang Cuihua and jutted out his chin. "It won’t take long. Just a few words."
Then, without giving Zhao Jun a chance to object, Zhu Dashan dragged him into the house.
Zhao Jun half-turned and waved at Wang Cuihua and Ma Ling, signaling that it was fine. But the mother and daughter were worried and followed them back into the house.
"Fourth Uncle!" By this time, Ma Dafu had come out to greet them, showing Zhu Dashan to a seat in the east room.
Zhu Dashan climbed onto the kang, sat cross-legged, took the towel from his neck, and wiped his face haphazardly. Then he said to Ma Dafu, "It’s gotten a lot cooler now that autumn’s here, hasn’t it?"
Ma Dafu chuckled, picked up his own enamel mug, and placed it in front of Zhu Dashan. "Cooler? You’re still covered in sweat from your walk."
"That’s because I was in a hurry," Zhu Dashan said, draping the towel back over his shoulder.
Wang Cuihua, standing to the side, was also anxious and shot Ma Dafu a meaningful look.
Ma Dafu, who had heard their earlier conversation from inside the house, immediately asked Zhu Dashan, "Fourth Uncle, did you come here for something?"
𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖
"Of course I did." After taking two sips of water, Zhu Dashan put down the mug, his face clouded with worry. "A Black Bear has been getting into our cornfield."
"That can’t be right!" Ma Dafu said as soon as the words left Zhu Dashan’s mouth. "Our fields are right next to each other. I went out early this morning and didn’t see any large patches of flattened corn in our field."
"No," Zhu Dashan said. "My son—your cousin—didn’t he clear another two mu of land to the south? The Black Bear is getting into that field."
"Ah!" Ma Dafu understood instantly. That plot was right up against the mountain foothills; of course a Black Bear would wander in.
So, Ma Dafu asked Zhu Dashan, "So, Fourth Uncle, what did you come to see me for? You want me to stand guard with you at night?"
Zhu Dashan lived with his son, and his grandson, Zhu Jiang, was the same age as Zhao Jun. His family wasn’t short on manpower for a night watch.
"What would I need you for?" Zhu Dashan sighed. "The three of us men have been trying for several nights. For the first two days, we set off firecrackers, but that didn’t work. The last two days, we’ve been banging on pots. We’ve already broken two of them, and it’s still useless."
At this point, Zhu Dashan pointed at Zhao Jun. "I was thinking, since Zhao Jun knows how to hunt, I could ask him to help me stand watch for a couple of nights. If he could kill that Black Bear, that would be for the best."
This was Zhu Dashan’s real plan. He had been afraid he couldn’t convince Zhao Jun on his own, which was why he had come to Ma Ling’s house, hoping they could put in a good word for him.
But as luck would have it, he ran into Zhao Jun here. ’This is a great opportunity,’ Zhu Dashan thought. ’In front of the Ma Family, Zhao Jun probably won’t refuse.’
What he hadn’t expected, however, was that his nephew wasn’t the one who truly called the shots in this family. Ma Dafu, seeing Wang Cuihua give him a look, tentatively asked Zhao Jun, "Zhao Jun, do you think you’ll have any time at night?"
What a question. Who doesn’t sleep at night?
Hearing this, Zhao Jun frowned slightly. He looked at Zhu Dashan with a troubled expression. "Grand-uncle, my uncle also works at the Forest Farm. He’d know that our inspection team is in training every day right now. If I stand watch with you at night, I won’t be able to work during the day."
Zhu Dashan’s son, Zhu Aiguo, was an electrician at the Forest Farm. The nature of his job meant that as long as nothing was broken, he spent his days just waiting around. He could afford to stand watch at night; Zhao Jun could not.
When Zhu Dashan heard this, he knew Zhao Jun wasn’t lying. But the old man was worried sick about his family’s grain, so he said to Zhao Jun, "Well then, how about you lend me two of your dogs?"
When it came to protecting crops at night, setting off firecrackers and banging gongs and drums were all useless.
The only effective methods were using a gun or setting dogs loose.
But with dogs, the tall grass made it easy for them to get injured.
When wild boars got into Li Baoyu’s own fields, he was too worried about his dogs to take them out. Lending them to someone else was even more out of the question.
But in this situation, Zhao Jun really couldn’t bring himself to refuse.
Especially since he had already refused once.
So, Zhao Jun said to Zhu Dashan, "Alright, Grand-uncle. I’ll bring the dogs over for you tonight."
"No need, no need!" The moment he heard Zhao Jun agree, the old man was so pleased he hopped down from the kang. He said to Zhao Jun, "Aren’t you heading home? I’ll go with you to get them." After speaking, he waved a hand at Ma Dafu. "Daifu, we’re heading out now."
"Uncle, Auntie, I’m leaving now," Zhao Jun said, bidding farewell to Ma Dafu and Wang Cuihua before following Zhu Dashan out.
Ma Dafu didn’t have to see Zhao Jun out, but he couldn’t just ignore his own uncle.
But as they reached the doorway, Zhu Dashan suddenly stopped and asked, "How come I haven’t seen Ma Yang today?"
Zhao Jun, standing nearby, gave a dry laugh. "I made him angry."
The moment he said this, Ma Dafu and Wang Cuihua secretly frowned. They had both heard Ma Yang slam the door when he came home earlier, but they hadn’t known it was Zhao Jun who had upset their younger son.
Just then, Zhu Dashan pointed at Zhao Jun and chuckled. "You, as his big brother-in-law, you should be more lenient with him."
"That’s not it, Grand-uncle," Zhao Jun said, sounding wronged. "Ma Yang wanted to go fishing at East Big Gully. You know how high the water is over there. I was worried he’d be in danger, so I didn’t let him go. Then his sister came out and slapped him twice, and he got mad."
"That’s not good at all!" Hearing this, Zhu Dashan turned back to Ma Dafu and Wang Cuihua. "A beggar drowned in there two years ago, didn’t you know?"
"That little rascal!" Wang Cuihua’s face instantly flushed with anger. Ma Yang had fallen into the water there before while trying to catch clams. The water level was even higher now, so it was genuinely dangerous. That was why both Ma Dafu and Wang Cuihua had strictly forbidden Ma Yang from playing there.
’Not only is this child disobedient, he even lied,’ Wang Cuihua now thought. Because when Ma Yang had been about to leave earlier, Wang Cuihua had asked him where he was going, and he’d said he was going to catch butterflies.
’Disobeying his parents and lying to them, too? How could this be tolerated?’
Anger rising in her chest, Wang Cuihua nudged Ma Dafu beside her with her elbow. "You deal with him later!"
BANG!
Just as Wang Cuihua finished speaking, the door to the west room was violently yanked open, startling everyone.
Then, Ma Yang appeared in the doorway and roared, "I wasn’t going to go!" With that, he slammed the door shut again.
The boy felt so wronged!
But his slamming the door made all three members of the Ma Family, plus Zhu Dashan, change their expressions. Zhu Dashan said, "Who is that kid throwing a tantrum at? He’s not even grown, and he has such a temper."
After saying this, the old man clasped his hands behind his back and walked out.
"Fourth Uncle! Fourth Uncle, take care!" Ma Dafu called after Zhu Dashan twice, then turned around, kicked open the door to Ma Yang’s room, and stormed inside.
Seeing Ma Dafu go in empty-handed, Wang Cuihua immediately grabbed a broom leaning in a nearby corner and followed him in.
The couple was clearly about to give Ma Yang a beating, tag-team style.
"You should go." Seeing Zhao Jun craning his neck to look into the room, Ma Ling quickly gave him a gentle push outside. "Hurry and take Grand-uncle to get the dogs. You still have to go to work."
"Alright, I’m leaving then."
Zhao Jun left the Ma Family’s house with a chuckle and caught up to Zhu Dashan.
Since he was asking for a favor, Zhu Dashan naturally wouldn’t give Zhao Jun a hard time. He took Zhao Jun’s arm, and as they walked, he said, "When is your house getting electricity? I’ll have my son take Zhu Jiang over to do a real neat job for you."
Zhu Jiang was Zhu Dashan’s grandson. He had learned the trade from his father, Zhu Aiguo, and worked as an electrician in the village.
"Okay!" Zhao Jun smiled. "Then I’ll thank you in advance, Grand-uncle."
"Nothing to thank me for!" Zhu Dashan waved his hand. "We’re family. No need to be so formal."
The two chatted as they arrived at Zhao Jun’s house. The moment Zhu Dashan stepped into the yard, the five dogs inside began to bark.
Zhao Jun shooed them a couple of times, and Big Fatty, San Pang, Little Bear, and White Dragon were all herded into their dens. Only Black Tiger remained in front of the house, jumping up and down and barking nonstop.
There was nothing Zhao Jun could do about him.
After nearly five months, Black Tiger’s injured leg had healed. Although he still walked and ran with a limp, he was full of energy, and the injured leg didn’t seem to bother him at all.
Zhao Jun pointed to Little Bear and White Dragon and said to Zhu Dashan, "Grand-uncle, these two are good dogs. I’ll leash them up for you in a moment."
But to Zhao Jun’s surprise, the words had barely left his mouth when Zhu Dashan held up a hand to stop him.
Zhu Dashan said, "Zhao Jun, you call me Grand-uncle, and we’re true relatives. You have to give me your good dogs!"
"Huh?" Zhao Jun was stunned, his brows furrowing as he looked at Zhu Dashan. "These dogs... are very good."
Zhao Jun knew this was trouble. If the old man got upset about this and went around bad-mouthing him, even the Ma Family would lose face.
So, Zhao Jun swept his hand across the yard and said to Zhu Dashan, "Grand-uncle, why don’t you tell me which dog you want? I’ll leash whichever one you choose."
"Ayyy..." Zhu Dashan drew out the sound, then smiled at Zhao Jun. "Now that’s more like it. You can’t have a good dog and not let your grand-uncle use it!"
With that, Zhu Dashan pointed at Black Tiger, who had finally quieted down, and said to Zhao Jun, "Leash that one up for me!"
Zhao Jun: "..."