The Entire Mountain Is My Hunting Ground

The moment Zhao Youcai entered the house, Wang Meilan froze in shock. For a split second, only one thought flashed through her mind: ’What in the world is this filthy, dark thing?’

"Meilan, I’m back."

Only when she heard his voice did Wang Meilan snap out of it. She rushed over to Zhao Youcai in two strides and started pounding on his body with both fists.

As she pummeled him, she cursed, "You heartless jerk! I told you not to go, I told you! But you had to... look at the sorry state you’re in..."

Zhao Youcai remained silent, his face a mask of profound remorse, letting Wang Meilan hit and curse him as she pleased.

Having been married for over twenty years, Zhao Youcai knew this was no time to talk back, and certainly no time to crack a smile.

At the Li Family’s home next door, Li Dayong was also receiving a stern lecture from Jin Xiaomei.

Just then, Li Baoyu burst into the house like a whirlwind and started pulling things out from behind the dish rack in the outer room.

Jin Xiaomei paid him no mind, continuing to berate Li Dayong. The sound of Li Baoyu rummaging around grew louder, and Li Dayong saw an opportunity to divert her attention.

"Xiaomei, why don’t you go see what our eldest is looking for?"

"I’m not looking!" Jin Xiaomei snapped back, but she still got up and walked toward the outer room.

"Baoyu, what are you digging for?"

Without turning his head, Li Baoyu asked, "Mom, where’s our Net?"

The Net was a type of hand net, and in those days, most families made their own.

It wasn’t hard to make: just bend a piece of iron wire into a loop, thread a net through it, and leave an extra length of wire to attach it to a long pole when needed.

"What do you need that thing for?"

Li Baoyu answered, "I’m going up the mountain with my brother to check the Gall traps, and we’ll grab a few sand grouse on the way back."

The moment Li Baoyu said this, Li Dayong piped up, "The Net? I think it’s in the storage shed, right? Eldest, wait a sec, Dad will go get it for you."

"Get back here!" Seeing Li Dayong trying to slip away, Jin Xiaomei stopped him in his tracks. "Your face is a fright. Go wash it, now."

"Alright, alright, I’m washing." Li Dayong happily went to get the thermos to pour some water. Meanwhile, Jin Xiaomei pulled the Net out from behind the flour vat, handed it to Li Baoyu, and said, "Be careful on the mountain."

"Got it," Li Baoyu replied. He was just about to head out when Li Ruhai called out to him.

"Big Bro."

"Huh?" Li Baoyu glanced at Li Ruhai and grinned. "What is it? You want to come up the mountain with me?"

Li Ruhai vaguely sensed two disapproving glares directed his way and quickly waved his hands. "No, no, I’m not going with you."

"Then what do you want?"

Li Ruhai said, "Big Bro, if you net any sand grouse, can you leave one alive and bring it back for me?"

"We’ll see." Holding a pair of skis in one hand and the Net in the other, Li Baoyu walked out the door.

Not getting the answer he wanted, Li Ruhai was quite displeased. Seeing Li Baoyu walk off into the distance, he sidled up to Jin Xiaomei and complained in a low voice, "Mom, look at Big Bro. He’s been so cocky lately."

Jin Xiaomei tapped Li Ruhai on the head. "If you had half your brother’s skill, you could be cocky too. But you don’t. That one trip up the mountain scared you so bad you wet your pants."

Li Ruhai: "..."

Li Ruhai dejectedly shuffled back to his room. By then, Li Dayong had washed his hair and face and was drying the water from his ears with a towel. He said to Jin Xiaomei, "You know, with this heavy snow, it’s the perfect time to catch sand grouse."

"Mm-hm," Jin Xiaomei said sarcastically. "And this heavy snow almost got you buried on the mountain."

Li Dayong sensed trouble and quickly changed the subject again, asking Jin Xiaomei, "How much did the boys get for selling the Gall yesterday? I heard the price of Gall has gone up quite a bit."

"You bet it has." The mention of money lifted Jin Xiaomei’s spirits. "Yesterday’s Gall came from a mother and child. The boys sold it for seven hundred yuan."

At this, Jin Xiaomei paused for a moment, then added, "And Xiaojun split it fifty-fifty with us again."

"Yeah, that kid is decent," Li Dayong said. "Just let the two of them figure things out themselves."

...

The snow from the previous night was incredibly heavy. Outside the village, the paths were uncleared, making walking a strenuous effort.

With Li Baoyu in the lead and Zhao Jun behind, the two trudged through the snow into the mountain region.

On the outskirts of the mountains, they managed to find a few suitable Fraxinus mandschurica trees. After they each cut two Fraxinus mandschurica Sticks, Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu strapped on their wild-boar-hide skis and headed deeper into the mountains.

After the great snowfall, not a bird or beast could be seen. The mountains were cloaked in silver, a vast and boundless expanse of white.

All morning, they didn’t see so much as a single small animal’s track in the snow.

When they reached High Mountain Foot, where they had previously set their traps, the two used the surrounding trees as landmarks and successfully dug the first trap out of the snow.

Then the second, and the third...

But just as they were about to look for the last trap, Zhao Jun suddenly called out to Li Baoyu.

"Baoyu." Zhao Jun pointed up the slope and asked, "Is that where you saw the Bear’s Paw prints last time?"

"Yeah." Li Baoyu even used his hands to show Zhao Jun the size. "The Bear’s Paw prints were huge, several sizes bigger than my foot."

Hearing this, Zhao Jun took the gun from his shoulder, held it ready, and started skiing up the slope.

Previously, when he went to get Zhao Youcai, Zhao Jun hadn’t brought his gun. But after Zhao Youcai returned, Zhao Jun had made a special trip home to grab it—not for hunting, but purely for self-defense.

With Zhao Jun in front and Li Baoyu behind, the two of them crested the ridge and looked down. The ridge wasn’t high. About four or five hundred meters below them lay a stretch of Jumping Stone Pond.

"Brother, the bear went down to Jumping Stone Pond."

"Yeah, I know."

Jumping Stone Pond was, in other words, a boulder field, scattered with large, strangely shaped rocks.

Although it was covered in heavy snow, looking down from their high vantage point, they could see the bizarre, undulating shapes of the giant boulders.