The Entire Mountain Is My Hunting Ground

Recognizing the two men, Zhao Jun hurried forward and respectfully called out, "Uncle."

He then nodded to the man beside him and said, "Uncle Qi."

"Xiaojun, what are you doing here?" The man Zhao Jun had called "Uncle" was none other than Zhou Chunming, Zhao Chun’s father-in-law and the production manager of the Yong’an Forest Farm.

And the other, whom Zhao Jun had addressed as Uncle Qi, was Qi Shengli, the Village Chief of Yongsheng Village.

"Uncle, I was just on my way to your house. Figured I’d come see you and Auntie." The lie slipped out of Zhao Jun’s mouth without a second thought.

It wasn’t really his fault. He had come today only for the gun and hadn’t planned on visiting his sister’s in-laws. After all, the first month of the lunar new year wasn’t over yet, and showing up unannounced could be an inconvenience.

But now that he’d run into Zhou Chunming, it would have been awkward not to say something of the sort.

"Well, hurry on home, then. Your sister and your auntie are both there."

"Alright." Zhao Jun stepped aside to let Zhou Chunming and Qi Shengli pass.

"Little Zhao," Qi Shengli suddenly spoke up just then, asking, "Why have you come to our village carrying a gun?"

Zhou Chunming had wanted to ask the same thing, but with Qi Shengli there, he had held his tongue. After all, Zhao Jun would be at his house in a moment; it wouldn’t be too late to ask him then.

At Qi Shengli’s question, Zhao Jun briefly explained to the two men how he’d come to return one gun and ended up borrowing Zhou Chengguo’s 16-gauge shotgun.

When Zhou Chunming and Qi Shengli heard this, their first thought was the same: ’This kid is just too decent.’

Although Zhao Jun had taken Zhou Chengguo’s 16-gauge shotgun, both Zhou Chunming and Qi Shengli felt the same way about it as Zhou Chengguo had.

"Xiaojun," Zhou Chunming said, patting Zhao Jun’s shoulder. "Hurry on home and have your auntie whip you up something good to eat."

"I’ll head over then, Uncle."

Zhao Jun kept to the side of the road and walked on, heading straight for Zhou Chunming’s house.

Watching Zhao Jun’s retreating back, Qi Shengli sighed, "That kid really is a decent sort."

"Yeah." Zhou Chunming nodded, but then something occurred to him. "His mention of Chengguo just now reminded me," he said. "If Chengguo hadn’t gotten hurt, there’s no way we’d have let that beast corner the village like this."

"Ain’t that the truth."

The two bigwigs of Yongsheng Village chatted as they headed for the Village Office.

When Zhao Jun arrived at Zhou Chunming’s house, he saw that the Zhou Family really hadn’t gotten a new dog since he’d led Daqing away.

Seeing no one in the yard, he was just about to call out at the gate when he heard a slightly puzzled voice from behind him. "Xiaojun?"

"Brother-in-law."

"It really is you!" Zhou Jianjun strode over from the south, another man at his side. Zhao Jun recognized him, too—it was Wei Lai, whom he’d briefly met the day of the deer hunt.

Zhao Jun recognized Wei Lai because he had known him in his past life, but Wei Lai didn’t recognize Zhao Jun. After all, they had been too far apart that day. Wei Lai found him vaguely familiar but couldn’t quite place who he was.

But hearing Zhao Jun call Zhou Jianjun "Brother-in-law," it clicked for Wei Lai. He quickly asked, "Ah, you’re Zhao Jun, aren’t you?"

"Yeah, that’s me." Zhao Jun smiled and nodded, then turned to Zhou Jianjun, feigning unfamiliarity with Wei Lai.

Zhou Jianjun made the introduction, saying, "Xiaojun, this is our village’s Wei Pao."

"Don’t listen to him," Wei Lai said with a laugh, giving Zhou Jianjun a light shove. He stepped forward and shook Zhao Jun’s hand. "Brother, your brother-in-law is just pulling your leg. With my shoddy skills, I’m no ’Wei Pao.’ My name’s Wei Lai. We really owe you for that day. Ever since I got back from the mountains, I’ve been meaning to..."

Zhao Jun already knew Wei Lai was a chatterbox, so he could only listen patiently.

Zhou Jianjun, being good friends with Wei Lai, was already getting impatient. "Alright, alright," he cut in. "It’s freezing out here. Let’s get inside."

After saying this to Wei Lai, Zhou Jianjun turned to Zhao Jun. "Xiaojun, get in the house."

Zhao Jun and Wei Lai followed Zhou Jianjun into the Zhou Family’s house. Being the youngest, Zhao Jun fell back a step and let Wei Lai go in first.

Zhao Chun and her mother-in-law, Hu Sanmei, were on the kang playing with the baby. When she saw Zhou Jianjun come back, she was about to say something but then spotted Wei Lai trailing him.

"Wei Lai, how come you have so much free time today?" Hu Sanmei had barely finished her sentence when she noticed Zhao Jun walking in last.

"Xiaojun!" Zhao Chun exclaimed in delight, scrambling off the kang. She grabbed Zhao Jun’s arm and asked, "Little brother, what brings you here?"

"Just came to see you," Zhao Jun replied, then turned to Hu Sanmei and greeted her, "Auntie."

"Come, sit down, child. I’ll go get you all some water."

"Oh, no need for me, Auntie," Wei Lai quickly interjected. "I can’t stay long."

But Hu Sanmei insisted, "You’re already here, what’s the rush? Get up on the kang."

"Sit," Zhou Jianjun said, pulling Wei Lai to sit on the east side of the kang, while Zhao Chun and Zhao Jun sat on the west.

Zhao Jun climbed onto the kang, took the gun off his back, and placed it along with the triangular pouch he was carrying toward the back of the kang, against the wall.

Just then, Hu Sanmei came in carrying two translucent, light-blue glass cups. She handed one to Wei Lai and the other to Zhao Jun.

The two men thanked her and took the cups.

Because the cups were glass, Hu Sanmei hadn’t poured the water scalding hot. Zhao Jun took a sip and found it perfectly warm.

"Mom, sit." Zhao Chun pulled Hu Sanmei down to sit beside her. Holding her daughter-in-law’s hand, Hu Sanmei asked Wei Lai again, "So, Wei Lai, what brings you here with so much free time today?"

Before Wei Lai could answer, Zhou Jianjun spoke up. "Mom, Wei Lai is going to hunt that cannon egg. Let him take our gun, and give him whatever bullets we have left, too."

"Alright," Hu Sanmei agreed without a second thought. But then she turned to Wei Lai and said, "Wei Lai, you be careful if you’re going after this cannon egg. I heard it gored the Li Family’s young Dong yesterday?"

"Yeah." Wei Lai’s expression grew somber. "Li Dong was tossed twice by it. His leg is broken."

"Oh, dear!" Hu Sanmei winced as if feeling the pain herself. Patting Zhao Chun’s hand, she said, "The poor man must be in agony."

"I know," Zhao Chun said. "Li Dong got gored by that big boar right before the New Year, and it was my brother who saved him. Now, just a few days after the holiday, he gets tossed twice by the Big Cannon Egg."

As he listened to them talk, Zhao Jun had been wondering who this Li Dong was. ’Why does that name sound so familiar?’

Now, after hearing his sister’s words, it clicked. ’Isn’t Li Dong the same person as Li Luo Guozi?’

Hearing Zhao Chun mention Zhao Jun, Hu Sanmei and Zhou Jianjun realized they had been so caught up in the topic that they’d neglected him.

But before they could say anything, Wei Lai spoke to Zhao Chun. "I was just telling Jianjun earlier, we really have to thank our brother Zhao Jun for what he did that day. Otherwise, Elder Li would have been much worse off."

Zhou Jianjun smiled and, picking up on the topic, said to Zhao Jun, "You probably don’t know this, Xiaojun, but a Big Cannon Egg has appeared on Little Gu Mountain, right by the road from our village to the Forest Farm. From the twenty-eighth of the twelfth lunar month until today, it’s injured five people and gored eight dogs to death."

Zhao Jun was astonished. He immediately asked Zhou Jianjun, "Brother-in-law, how big is this boar you’re talking about? And why is it attacking people? Was it from a failed hunt?"

"How big?" Zhou Jianjun was taken aback for a moment, then laughed. "I haven’t seen it myself." He nudged Wei Lai with a grin and asked, "How big is that boar?"

"I haven’t seen it either," Wei Lai admitted. "We didn’t try to surround it at first; it was just hiding up on the mountain. But whenever someone from our village uses the road, it comes down and attacks.

The day before yesterday, Elder Li took his sled to Lingnan to buy wood ear mushrooms. On the way back, he stopped by the side of the road to relieve himself, and the boar appeared. It chased Elder Li down and tossed him twice.

I heard from Elder Li that it must be over six hundred pounds, maybe nearly seven hundred." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Zhao Jun’s brow furrowed. "A big, solitary male."