The Entire Mountain Is My Hunting Ground

Hunters can’t help but admire a good dog.

Ever since arriving at the Logging Camp, Zhao Jun had only taken a single look at the Log Pile Yard. He saw the four crews were hard at work, then left and headed for the cook’s shack, where he got two large flatbreads from the old cook.

Zhao Jun then went to the Logging Camp entrance and began breaking off pieces of the flatbreads to feed the five dogs.

The black dog belonged to Du Chunjiang and was kept at the Logging Camp. Normally, it barely got anything to eat all day.

Now that Zhao Jun was feeding it, the dog was so excited it looked ready to join the hunting pack and follow him out on a hunt.

As for the dogs Du Chunjiang had bought for Zhao Jun, they weren’t shy with strangers at all. When Zhao Jun offered them food, they ate it. Once they finished, they wagged their tails at him, begging for more.

Just as Zhao Jun finished feeding the dogs the two flatbreads, he heard the sound of a truck behind him. It was only then he remembered he’d made plans with Li Baoyu today to go retrieve those two Ginseng plants. They were also supposed to bring back the Big Black Bear he had hunted yesterday.

A truck pulled up and stopped at the Logging Camp entrance, and the five dogs started barking their heads off at the gate. When Li Baoyu opened the door and climbed out, the black dog fell silent, but the other four wouldn’t stop.

Just then, Du Chunjiang came out from inside. Seeing Li Baoyu, he quickly fished a cigarette out of his pocket, stepped forward, and offered it. "Master Li, here, have a smoke."

"I don’t, I don’t." Li Baoyu knew this guy was bad news. After refusing the cigarette, he turned to Zhao Jun and asked, "Brother, ready to go?"

As he spoke, Li Baoyu’s gaze swept over the surrounding dogs. He could tell at a glance that apart from the black one, the others were excellent.

"Not so fast, Baoyu," Zhao Jun said, tilting his head toward Li Baoyu. "See those two Yellow Dogs and these two Hua Gou over here? Du Leader got them for us to take back and see how they work."

"Oh." Li Baoyu could tell there was more to it than that, but since he didn’t know the specifics of what had happened, he didn’t press for details.

"Not at all," Du Chunjiang said with a wave of his hand and a smile. "Technician Zhao, they’re a gift. For you."

"Now, look..." Zhao Jun frowned. "Du Leader, don’t say that. If you insist, I’ll just have to bring you the money for them tomorrow."

"Please, don’t." On hearing this, Du Chunjiang quickly sidled up to Zhao Jun, took his arm, and pulled him aside. "Technician Zhao," he said, "you know some people in the inspection team aren’t too friendly to this old man, Elder Du. I was hoping you could put in a good word with Leader Xu for me. If I’m still in charge of the Bao Leng Field this year, I’d want you to be the one doing my log scaling."

In reality, the inspection team had no say in who got the Bao Leng Field contract. However, who was assigned to scale the logs at the Logging Camp was entirely up to Xu Changlin.

If Xu Changlin decided to assign a new inspector to No. 77 Logging Camp this winter—especially one who didn’t get along with Du Chunlin—then Du Chunlin would be in for a world of hurt.

Previously, when Zhao Jun had decided to put the squeeze on Du Chunlin, he had only been strict about the standards for the Gui Ling workers, but he hadn’t made things difficult for the log haulers.

This was because Zhao Jun had a soft heart. He felt that the haulers, who worked from dawn till dusk, had it tough enough already, and he didn’t take his frustrations out on them.

Otherwise, if Zhao Jun had really wanted to, he could have made every single hauler at No. 77 Logging Camp quit within three days.

What’s more, even if Du Chunjiang went and complained to the director, he wouldn’t be able to find a single thing to fault Zhao Jun for.

The method was simple: all Zhao Jun had to do was be strict about classifying the softwood and hardwood. If he did that, not a single load brought in by the haulers would make it into the Log Pile Yard.

If their timber couldn’t enter the Log Pile Yard, it couldn’t be scaled. The haulers would be working for nothing and earning no money. In less than three days, every last one of them would be gone.

Once the haulers took off, no more timber would enter the Logging Camp. What work would be left for the Gui Ling workers?

That’s why Du Chunlin was sucking up to Zhao Jun. He was hoping that if Xu Changlin tried to transfer Zhao Jun to a different Logging Camp, Zhao Jun would insist on staying at No. 77.

For any other inspector, this might be a difficult request, but for Zhao Jun, it was no problem at all.

However, Du Chunjiang could sense that his tribute today hadn’t been enough to satisfy Zhao Jun.

So, Du Chunjiang pulled Zhao Jun aside and whispered, "Technician Zhao, when I went down the mountain the other day, I was in the big department store in the city and I saw..."

Zhao Jun listened with a smile, nodding along. When Du Chunjiang finished speaking, Zhao Jun said, "Alright, Du Leader, I get it. We’ve only been working together for a few months, but things have been pretty smooth between us, right?"

"Right, right, right!" Du Chunjiang’s face blossomed into a wide grin as he trailed after Zhao Jun, practically beaming.

Zhao Jun walked toward the big Yellow Dog, saying to Du Chunjiang over his shoulder, "I’ll have to come scale your logs again during this winter’s production season."

He paused, then added with a smile, "Besides, I’m still waiting for Du Leader to treat me to that Flying Dragon soup."

"Of course!" A great weight lifted from Du Chunjiang’s shoulders at Zhao Jun’s words. He clapped his hands together and beamed at Zhao Jun. "Technician Zhao! You come every day, and I’ll make you Flying Dragon soup every day!"

While they spoke, Du Chunjiang had already untied the leashes of the two Yellow Dogs and handed them to Zhao Jun.

Du Chunjiang was about to turn back to untie the two Hua Gou, but as he did, he saw Li Baoyu.

A wide smile instantly spread across Du Chunjiang’s face. He said to Li Baoyu, "Master Li, you should come then, too! Come try the Flying Dragon soup our cook makes."

"Yeah, sure, I’ll do that," Li Baoyu replied simply. But when he saw Zhao Jun giving him a look, he followed Du Chunjiang and took the leashes for the two Hua Gou.

With Du Chunjiang seeing them off, the two men led the four dogs out of the Logging Camp. Once they reached the truck, Zhao Jun reached for the leashes in Li Baoyu’s hands. "Baoyu," he said, "you drive on ahead to the spot and wait for me. I’ll walk over with the dogs."

"Why not just ride in the truck?"

"Better not," Zhao Jun said, taking the leashes for the two Hua Gou. "They’ll just get carsick again."

"All right, then." Li Baoyu climbed into the driver’s seat, started the truck, and drove on down the road.

Du Chunjiang waved at the departing truck, shouting, "Master Li, drive safe!"

Zhao Jun shot him a look, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly. "Well, Du Leader, I’m off now."

"Alright, Technician Zhao! Take care!"

Zhao Jun led the dogs away from No. 77 Logging Camp, heading toward the spot where the Ginseng was.

He’d been visiting this one Elder Anzi for several days now. Today, Zhao Jun was determined to finally retrieve the Miao Sixth-grade Leaves and the Fourth-grade leaves, no matter what.

But walking four dogs on leashes all by himself was no easy task. The main problem was that they were constantly pulling on their leashes, darting back and forth.

If these were his own dogs, Zhao Jun would have just let them loose. But he had only just gotten them; the moment he let them off their leashes, they would surely run off and be lost for good.

BARK! BARK!

Suddenly, the big Yellow Dog named Big Fatty started barking.

It wasn’t just barking; it was yanking Zhao Jun and lunging toward the south.

The dog weighed nearly one hundred and twenty pounds, and its lunge sent Zhao Jun staggering. Immediately, all four dogs began to pull and struggle against their leashes.

This time, Zhao Jun couldn’t hold them back!