The Entire Mountain Is My Hunting Ground

Hearing that Zhao Jun planned to call for backup in the form of his dogs, Wei Lai froze and opened his mouth to speak.

But before he could get a word out, Zhou Jianjun asked Zhao Jun from the side, "Xiaojun, that Big Cannon Egg has gored plenty of dogs to death. Is your dog really up to the task?"

"Why wouldn’t it be?" Zhao Chun cut in. "You don’t hunt, so you wouldn’t know. Brother Wei is right here. Ask him! Our Hua Xiao’Er is the number one dog in the entire Yong’an Forest Area."

Zhao Chun had been worried sick that Zhao Jun would get hurt by the wild boar. But since her father-in-law had spoken and Zhao Jun had already agreed, she couldn’t say anything more.

However, when she heard Zhao Jun was bringing his dog, Zhao Chun was wholeheartedly in favor of it. She knew what kind of dog Hua Xiao’Er was and believed that as long as Hua Xiao’Er was on its feet, Zhao Jun would be absolutely fine.

"That good?" Zhou Jianjun looked at Wei Lai in surprise. Wei Lai forced a smile, but under the combined stare of the father and son, Zhou Chunming and Zhou Jianjun, he could only nod silently in agreement.

Seeing Wei Lai nod, Zhou Jianjun and Zhou Chunming exchanged a glance. "In that case, I’ll head to the Village Office in a bit and call Yong’an," Zhou Jianjun said. "I’ll have Baoyu bring the dog over."

The group made small talk for a few more minutes. Then, Hu Sanmei gave Wei Lai the family’s semi-automatic rifle and thirty rounds of ammunition.

Wei Lai then took his leave, and Zhou Jianjun saw him out, heading to the Village Office to make the call.

After Wei Lai left, Zhao Jun retrieved a triangular bag he had placed on the kang. He opened the bag and began taking things out one by one, laying them on the low kang table.

Seeing this, Hu Sanmei quickly protested, "My boy, what’s all this? Just visiting is enough, why bring gifts? You haven’t even started your job yet, why are you spending money? We’re all family, this makes us seem like strangers!"

Zhao Jun just smiled at Hu Sanmei’s barrage of questions. "Auntie," he said, "I didn’t spend a dime on any of this."

Zhao Chun had assumed her brother bought everything, and her heart ached for him, but it wasn’t her place to say anything in front of her parents-in-law.

But now, hearing him say he hadn’t spent any money, Zhao Chun grew anxious. She worried he had gotten them on credit from the village store, which would be humiliating.

"Then where did you get all this, little brother?"

Zhao Jun explained how he’d come to Yongsheng Village to return a gun to Zhou Chengguo and where these things had come from. He then added, "Since I happened to have them, I figured I would take the opportunity to offer them to Uncle and Auntie to show my respect."

Zhao Jun’s explanation left both Zhou Chunming and Hu Sanmei feeling quite gratified. ’This kid knows his manners and understands how to treat people,’ they thought. ’Arranging that job for him wasn’t a waste at all.’

Especially the way he treated Zhou Chengguo’s family—that was truly honorable.

After all, who wouldn’t want to be on good terms with such an honorable person?

As for Zhao Chun, she was even more thrilled to hear all this. This was her very own brother, after all! Having such an outstanding younger brother filled her with pride, and she felt her standing in her in-laws’ eyes had risen.

They chatted for a little while longer, and as it was approaching noon, Zhou Chunming told Hu Sanmei to go make lunch. He also had Zhao Chun prepare a room for Zhao Jun.

Zhou Chunming’s family had a four-and-a-half-room house. The old couple lived in the east room, Zhao Chun and Zhou Jianjun lived in the west room with their child, and the north room was reserved for guests.

Zhao Chun carried her child as she led Zhao Jun to the north room. Then she handed the child to him while she got the bedding ready.

Zhao Chun first took a mattress pad from the kang-side cabinet, threaded a needle, and started sewing a cover onto it for Zhao Jun. As she sewed, she asked, "Little brother, are you confident you can handle such a huge boar?"

Zhao Jun knew his sister was just worried, so he smiled to comfort her. "If I’m not confident, I just won’t hunt it. Uncle Zhou himself asked me, so what was I supposed to say? I’ll agree to it for now. He can’t blame me if I fail to get it."

Hearing this, Zhao Chun’s anxious heart finally settled. She laughed. "You sly kid, you’ve learned a thing or two."

Zhao Jun was speechless. ’You and Mom sure have a funny way of complimenting people,’ he thought.

After Zhao Jun and Zhao Chun had left, Zhou Chunming lay on the kang, reading a book. Just then, Hu Sanmei, who should have been in the outer room cooking, came in and stood before him.

Startled, Zhou Chunming quickly closed his book. "What’s wrong?" he asked, looking up.

Hu Sanmei sat down beside Zhou Chunming and lowered her voice. "You’re sending Zhao Chun’s brother to hunt that ’cannon egg.’ What are we supposed to do if the boy gets hurt?"

Zhou Chunming blinked. After a long pause, he finally said, "That won’t happen, will it?"

"Why not? How many people has that boar already hurt?" Hu Sanmei said, raising a hand to point her index finger at Zhou Chunming. "You... honestly. The boy brings you gifts, and you order him to go hunting for the village. If he gets gored by that boar, how will you ever face his parents?"

"Oh, dear." Zhou Chunming felt a pang of regret. He had only been thinking about the boar blocking the road to the Forest Farm. He was so used to giving orders from his time as a leader at the Forest Farm that he’d slipped back into his old habits without even realizing it.

It was only now dawning on him: if something really happened to Zhao Jun, he would have no way of explaining himself to Zhao Youcai and Wang Meilan.

Just as the old couple was speaking, Zhou Jianjun returned from outside. He came right into the room to report to Zhou Chunming. "Dad, I made the call."

Zhou Chunming quickly sat up. "What did your father-in-law say?"

"My father-in-law wasn’t home," Zhou Jianjun said. "I asked their Village Chief to pass along the message."

Hearing this, Zhou Chunming tilted his head and slapped his thigh in frustration.

"Great! A little late for regrets now, isn’t it?" Hu Sanmei snapped, flicking the rag in her hand as she stood up and headed out.

At that moment, Zhou Jianjun glanced around the room. "Mom, where are Chun’Er and Xiaojun?"