The Entire Mountain Is My Hunting Ground

After Zhang Yuanmin woke him by rubbing snow on his face, for a while there, Zhao Jun thought he was already dead.

Yes, he had killed the Black Bear, but the only image his brain could replay was the moment the massive paw came down on his head.

He sat on the large green rock for a long time before he finally came to his senses. He took a bite of a flatbread and said to Zhang Yuanmin and Li Baoyu, "Once we get back, no one says a word about what happened today."

Zhang Yuanmin and Li Baoyu exchanged a look and agreed in unison.

Zhao Jun took another piece of flatbread from Li Baoyu, then accepted the pickled radish Zhang Yuanmin offered. As he ate, he said, "Big Bro, in a bit, you and Baoyu cut off the bear’s paws, nose, and kneecaps."

Zhang Yuanmin was taken aback. "Brother," he asked, "we’re not hauling the whole bear back?"

Zhao Jun shook his head. "Didn’t Li Dagua’s crew leave that Meng Danzi for us? I’ll have my dad get a vehicle tomorrow. We’ll haul this Black Bear and the Meng Danzi back together."

After the three came to an agreement, Zhang Yuanmin and Li Baoyu each carried two bear’s paws on their backs. Zhao Jun, carrying nothing, started down the mountain toward home.

After walking for over a mile, they passed the spot where Li Dagua’s group had hunted the deer. Zhao Jun glanced down into the gully and saw a dead deer lying there.

Zhao Jun said to Zhang Yuanmin and Li Baoyu, "You two go on ahead. I’m going down there for a second."

"Brother, what are you doing? Let me go," Li Baoyu said, putting down the bear’s paws.

"Alright." Whether he was still shaken or for some other reason, Zhao Jun didn’t feel like moving much. He just told Li Baoyu, "Baoyu, don’t worry about the rest. Just cut out the Deer Heart for me, along with the surrounding tissue."

"Okay." Li Baoyu agreed and was about to head down into the gully.

But just then, Zhang Yuanmin stopped him. With a mischievous grin, he said to Li Baoyu, "Baoyu, cut off that... thing... from the deer for me. I’ll take it home to soak in wine."

"What thing?" Li Baoyu wasn’t married yet; he didn’t understand that sort of stuff.

"You know, *that* thing." Zhang Yuanmin made a gesture with his hand. Li Baoyu thought for a moment, then said to Zhang Yuanmin, "Give me your satchel. I’ll put that thing directly into your bag for you."

Hearing this, Zhang Yuanmin pointed to the bag on Li Baoyu’s shoulder and said, "Just put it in yours."

"I still have to put my brother’s Deer Heart in here."

At that, Zhang Yuanmin finally took off his satchel and tossed it to Li Baoyu.

Once Li Baoyu was on his way down into the gully, Zhang Yuanmin sidled up to Zhao Jun. "Brother," he asked, "my wife told me Auntie’s heart isn’t doing too well." 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

It took Zhao Jun a moment to realize that the "Auntie" Zhang Yuanmin was referring to was his own mother, Wang Meilan.

Zhao Jun nodded. "Yeah. I heard that if you dry a Deer Heart with the surrounding tissue, grind it into a powder, and drink it mixed with water, it’s good for the heart."

"Aiya!" Zhang Yuanmin slapped his thigh, seemingly annoyed. "Then we shouldn’t have let them bleed it out! Deer Heart Blood is the best for the heart."

Zhao Jun waved his hand dismissively. "We were too far away just now. I couldn’t be bothered to shout at them."

That’s what Zhao Jun said, but the real reason was that Wang Meilan’s heart problems wouldn’t start until after the New Year. Back then, the family hadn’t taken it seriously, which led to terrible consequences.

Right now, Wang Meilan felt fine. Even if he brought the Deer Heart Blood back, she wouldn’t drink it.

It was better to just take the Deer Heart, dry it, grind it into powder, and keep it ready for his mother.

"Then let’s wait till after spring starts," Zhang Yuanmin said from the side. "My wife says you can get your hands on those Medicinal Beans, brother. So in May, let’s go drug some deer. All the deer hearts can go to Auntie. If we get any Antler Velvet or Deer Fetus, we’ll split the money from selling them."

"Sounds like a plan!" Zhao Jun agreed immediately. It was true he could get the medicine, but drugging deer was a technical skill. He only knew the basics and couldn’t do it without an expert to guide him.

Speaking of drugging deer, Zhao Jun remembered something else. "Big Bro," he asked Zhang Yuanmin, "you drug deer all the time. Do you know anyone who can make a Deer Antler Key?"

Hearing Zhao Jun’s question, Zhang Yuanmin answered without a second thought, "Of course I do!"

"Who?"

"Me!" Zhang Yuanmin pointed to himself and grinned at Zhao Jun. "Brother, you can ask around. A lot of the old ginseng hunters in the villages around here use tools made by my dad."

At this point, it dawned on Zhang Yuanmin. "Brother," he asked Zhao Jun, "you’re going to dig for Ginseng too?"

Just as Zhao Jun was about to answer, a satchel was tossed up from the side. Zhao Jun and Zhang Yuanmin rushed over and pulled Li Baoyu up together.

"Brother!" Li Baoyu opened the satchel he was carrying. Inside was the big, bloody Deer Heart.

Just then, Zhang Yuanmin picked up the satchel Li Baoyu had tossed on the ground. He opened it, glanced inside, and couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear.

Seeing this, Zhao Jun could only shake his head in resignation.

The three continued down the mountain. By the time they got home, it was already past four o’clock. Zhao Jun took the Deer Heart and the chainsaw home, and Li Baoyu and Zhang Yuanmin each left him with one Bear’s Paw.

Looking at the Bear Gall, Bear’s Paw, and Deer Heart, Wang Meilan couldn’t help but chide Zhao Jun. "Honestly, you. It would have been enough to just get the chainsaw back. Why did you have to go and hunt a Black Bear? The New Year is right around the corner. What if..."

Lying on the kang bed, Zhao Jun listened to his mother’s nagging as his mind replayed the near-death experience from earlier that day.

’This was even more dangerous than killing that other Black Bear with the Large Axe!’

’I really almost didn’t make it back!’

Suddenly, Zhao Jun felt dizzy. He placed a hand on his forehead and felt a little hot. ’I probably broke out in a cold sweat from the scare and caught a chill,’ he thought.

"Mom!" Zhao Jun said to Wang Meilan, "I think I have a fever."

Wang Meilan reached out and felt his head, then turned her hand over to feel her own forehead. Her expression changed instantly, and she started scolding him, "You silly child. Showing off right before the New Year, and now look, you’ve gone and caught a cold."

With that, Wang Meilan got up and went to the outer room to pour Zhao Jun a mug of hot water. She also grabbed two painkillers, came back, and handed them to him. "Here," she said, "sit up and take your medicine."

In those days, the standard medicines kept in a rural mountain home were, besides oxytetracycline, painkillers. In the eyes of the mountain folk, these were the Miracle Medicine that could cure any ailment.

In reality, after taking the two painkillers, Zhao Jun did feel a lot better at the time. But after a night’s sleep, he felt even worse the next morning.

Seeing his condition, Wang Meilan forbade Zhao Hong and Zhao Na from entering his room.

"Brother, what’s wrong with you?" Hearing Zhao Jun was sick, Li Baoyu burst into his room in a flurry, sat on the edge of the kang bed, and asked, "Is it because of yesterday—"

"Keep your voice down!" Zhao Jun quickly cut him off, giving Li Baoyu a pointed look.

Li Baoyu knew Zhao Jun was afraid of worrying Wang Meilan, so he immediately lowered his voice. "Brother," he asked, "should I go get a kitchen knife and put it under your pillow?"