The Entire Mountain Is My Hunting Ground

On the twenty-ninth of the twelfth lunar month, Zhao Jun left home with money in his pocket. Following Wang Meilan’s instructions, he slung a woven basket over his shoulder and headed to the general store to buy peanuts and melon seeds, and to settle their tab from before the New Year.

The tab wasn’t just for the tin of malted milk Zhao Jun had picked up. For the past two months, whenever the Zhao Family bought something from the general store, they had usually put it on their account.

This was a common practice in villages. After all, people back then often found themselves short on cash, perhaps because they hadn’t yet sold their grain or mountain goods and didn’t have any money on hand.

For a family with a good reputation like the Zhao Family, getting credit was certainly not a problem.

Zhao Jun hadn’t gone far when he heard Li Baoyu calling him from behind. He stopped and waited for him for a moment.

Li Baoyu was also on his way to settle a tab. As they walked, Li Baoyu muttered, "Brother, my dad said he and my uncle are going to go kill that Pig God."

"Let them," Zhao Jun said nonchalantly. "Let them go ahead."

"Then what about us?" Li Baoyu asked anxiously. Whenever he went hunting with Zhao Jun, he was mostly a spectator, but at least he got to watch the action.

Zhao Jun just gave a faint smile and shook his head, saying nothing more.

In his past life, Zhao Jun had tried all the methods Zhao Youcai and the others were thinking of. Not one of them had ever succeeded.

An old man is shrewd, an old horse is sly, and an old rabbit is hard to catch.

And an old wild boar was no pushover, either.

When Zhao Jun didn’t say anything, Li Baoyu grew more anxious. He grabbed Zhao Jun’s arm, stopping him from walking forward. "Brother, just say something!"

"Just wait," Zhao Jun said. "Now’s not the right time."

"Then when will the time be right?" Li Baoyu pressed anxiously.

Zhao Jun tilted his head and smiled at him. "Brother, you’re always reading. Don’t you know? To do great things, you need the right time, the right place, and the right people."

"The right...?" Li Baoyu was completely bewildered. To him, hunting was just about brute force. What did "the right place" and "the right people" have to do with it?

The two of them arrived at the general store. It was crowded with people, most of whom were there to buy melon seeds and peanuts.

Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu waited in line for what felt like an eternity. After buying their melon seeds and peanuts and settling their accounts, the morning was nearly over.

As they left with their woven baskets, Li Baoyu said to Zhao Jun, "Brother, I’ve got pine nuts, hazelnuts, and stuff at home. Should I bring them all over for you tomorrow?"

Even though it was already 1987, Yong’an Village only had a single radio, and that was kept locked up in the Village Office.

So, since there was no New Year’s gala to listen to, the Zhao and Li families would get together on New Year’s Eve to play mahjong and make dumplings.

Zhao Jun had been wondering where Li Baoyu got pine nuts and hazelnuts, but then he suddenly remembered the squirrel’s nest he’d raided. He smiled and said, "You’d better keep those for yourself. I’m good with just melon seeds and peanuts."

"So what should we do for fun tomorrow?" Li Baoyu asked, getting excited. "Ruhai has over thirty yuan in his pocket. I need to figure out how to win it from him."

Zhao Jun: "..."

When Zhao Jun arrived home and stepped into the courtyard, he saw a bicycle parked against the courtyard wall.

Zhao Jun paused in surprise. He strode to the front of the house, pulled open the door, and was greeted by the sound of happy voices and laughter from inside.

"Big Sis! Brother-in-law!"

It was Zhao Chun, who had come home for a visit. With her was Zhao Jun’s brother-in-law, Zhou Jianjun.

"Jun! You start work after the New Year," Zhou Jianjun announced as soon as he saw Zhao Jun, delivering the good news straight away.

"Really?!" Although Zhao Jun already had a good idea this was coming, he still feigned a look of pleasant surprise.

Wang Meilan grabbed some melon seeds and peanuts and scattered them on the kang table. She gave a separate handful just for Zhou Jianjun before pulling Zhao Jun down to sit. "Son," she said, "now that you’ll have a proper job, you’d better not cause any trouble for your brother-in-law, you hear?"

"Don’t worry, Mom," Zhou Jianjun said. "He’s my brother. When he comes to the Forest Farm, I’ll definitely look out for him."

Zhao Jun smiled and nodded at Zhou Jianjun. He knew his brother-in-law was speaking from the heart and was a man of his word.

In his previous life, when he had returned to the village down on his luck, he had stayed at his older sister’s home. Many people had praised the deep bond between the siblings, but any discerning person knew that the one who truly valued relationships and loyalty was his brother-in-law.

Otherwise, if his brother-in-law had been unwilling to let him stay, there was no way Zhao Jun could have lived there in peace.

"Big Sis?" A thought suddenly struck Zhao Jun, and he turned to ask Zhao Chun, "How come you’re back today?"

In the Northeast, married daughters typically visit their parents on the second day of the Lunar New Year.

Zhou Jianjun had previously told Zhao Youcai at the Forest Farm that they would be back on the second day of the New Year. Wang Meilan had even saved a Bear’s Paw for their visit.

"Ugh, don’t get me started." Though Zhao Chun said that, it was just a phrase she used. She immediately followed up with, "I’ve come to ask you for a favor, of course."

Zhao Chun smiled as she said it, her tone holding none of the awkwardness of someone asking for a favor, but rather a hint of teasing.

"Come on, Big Sis," Zhao Jun laughed. "Whatever it is, just tell me."

"Your little nephew has broken out in a rash..."

"Alright, I get it." Zhao Jun cut Zhao Chun off before she could say more. He turned to Zhao Youcai and Wang Meilan. "Dad, Mom, we still have three Bear Galls, right? Give the Copper Gall to Big Sis.

As for the other two, give one to Uncle Li’s family. For the last one, give two-thirds to Uncle Li and one-third to Brother Zhang."

Bear Gall was used not only to treat eye diseases but also to cure rashes.

For a child with a rash, it was a surefire remedy.

It was just that using it for a rash was an incredible luxury that few could afford.

But what was impossible for others was possible for the Zhao Family.

Three Bear Galls were currently hanging in the Zhao Family’s storeroom. One was a Copper Gall, which had come from the large bear hunted with Xing Zhuyong and Li San.

The other two were Grass Galls, and both were connected to Zhang Yuanmin.

However, Zhang Yuanmin was only entitled to a share of one of them: the gall from the Black Bear found by the blasted tree.

Of the three Bear Galls, the Copper Gall was the most valuable and had the best medicinal properties.

Since Zhao Jun was giving this one to his sister, he couldn’t take a cut from the other two for himself.

"Done!" As the head of the family, Zhao Youcai had no objections and settled the matter. "When our girl leaves later, she can just get it from the outbuilding."

"Thanks, Dad," Zhou Jianjun said to Zhao Youcai. Even though he wasn’t a hunter, he knew how much a Copper Gall was worth.

"Don’t be silly," Zhao Youcai said with a friendly pat on Zhou Jianjun’s arm. "There’s no need for such talk between us."

Both the father-in-law and son-in-law worked at the Forest Farm. Every day at noon, Zhou Jianjun would go to Cafeteria Number One, where Zhao Youcai worked, to get his meal. Since they saw each other daily, their relationship was exceptionally close.

"That’s right," Zhao Chun said, putting an arm around Zhao Jun. She looked at Zhou Jianjun. "No need to be so polite with my little brother."

"Oh, right!" Zhou Jianjun suddenly remembered something. He got up, patted Zhao Jun’s shoulder, and said, "I heard you saved Li Luo Guozi the other day."

"They told you about that?"

Zhou Jianjun replied, "He and Wei Lai came to our place. They even brought a deer leg."

The family chatted and laughed together. As it neared noon, Zhao Youcai got up to cook lunch himself.

There were plenty of leftovers from the day before, but his daughter only came home once or twice a year. How could he possibly serve her leftovers?

Besides, the family wasn’t short on meat, so Zhao Youcai got busy cooking in the outer room.

Zhou Jianjun started to get up to help his father-in-law, but Wang Meilan stopped him.

Wang Meilan said, "Let your dad handle it. This will keep him from spending his day brooding over nothing."