The Entire Mountain Is My Hunting Ground

The moment she heard the money was come by honestly, a smile appeared on Wang Meilan’s face. She wiped her hands on her shirt before taking the money from Zhao Jun.

"Son! How much is this?"

"Two thousand six hundred!"

"Two thousand six hundred..." Wang Meilan wasn’t great with numbers and didn’t register it at first. She just said, "You haven’t given Baoyu his share yet, have you?"

"I have."

"You... you have, and there’s still this much left?" Wang Meilan was stammering a little. This was a huge sum of money.

To the side, Zhao Youcai stealthily placed the broom against the base of the wall.

Zhao Jun held up two fingers and explained, "We got two young tiger pelts. One was whole and sold for three thousand five hundred; the other was a little damaged, but it still sold for two thousand six hundred.

For the two-thousand-six-hundred one, Elder Xu Pao had a share. So Baoyu and I, our families each got two thousand six hundred and seventeen. This two thousand six hundred is for you, Mom. I’m keeping the seventeen."

"Oh... oh." The surprise Wang Meilan felt from suddenly receiving such a large sum was even greater than the joy Zhao Hong and Zhao Na felt at getting to drink soda.

She slowly processed what Zhao Jun had told her. Looking at the money in her hands and recalling the numbers, she murmured, "Three thousand five hundred for one pelt... so expensive..."

At this, she instinctively turned her head and glanced at Zhao Youcai.

The moment his eyes met Wang Meilan’s, Zhao Youcai’s blood ran cold.

Wang Meilan seemed not to have fully registered it yet. She looked away, back at the money in her hands, and finished her thought, "Is it really that expensive?"

The moment she finished the sentence, she whipped her head around again and glared fiercely at Zhao Youcai.

But by then, Zhao Youcai was already heading for the east room.

"Stop right there!" Wang Meilan roared.

Zhao Youcai, who had just been feeling like he had thorns jabbing his back, froze in place. He turned his head to look at Wang Meilan with a pained smile.

Wang Meilan rushed up to Zhao Youcai in two strides, shifted all the money to her left hand, and shoved her right hand into his pockets. She searched his jacket and pants pockets, pulling out all the cash, both bills and coins, and threw it onto the stove. It all added up to less than five yuan.

Wang Meilan looked up, glaring at Zhao Youcai. But Zhao Youcai had already lowered his head, his face a mask of helplessness and misery.

"Go!" Wang Meilan pointed toward the west room, which was Zhao Jun’s room, and ordered, "Go wait in there."

After saying this, Wang Meilan started toward the east room. As she passed Zhao Youcai, she gave him a hard shove toward the west.

Zhao Youcai stumbled, then heard Wang Meilan bellow, "Hurry up!"

Zhao Youcai shuffled into the west room, turning to look back, but Wang Meilan snapped, "Close the door."

Zhao Youcai reluctantly closed the door.

Wang Meilan strode into the east room, tossed the huge sum of money onto the kang-side cabinet, and then started turning the room upside down, rummaging through chests and cupboards.

Seeing this, Zhao Hong and Zhao Na didn’t know what Wang Meilan was doing, so they clamored to help their mom find whatever she was looking for.

Unexpectedly, their good intentions were not rewarded. Wang Meilan, in her fury, snapped harshly at them, and the two girls retreated to the far side of the kang, feeling wronged.

Wang Meilan searched for over an hour. She even found Zhao Jun’s childhood diapers, but she couldn’t find where Zhao Youcai had hidden the money.

"Mom." Zhao Jun sidled up and whispered a suggestion to Wang Meilan, "If one person hides something, a hundred people won’t be able to find it. You should just ask Dad directly."

Wang Meilan had been muddled by her anger. Hearing Zhao Jun’s words, she immediately strode toward the west room.

Zhao Jun quickly stepped aside.

When Wang Meilan reached the door to Zhao Jun’s bedroom, she yanked it open with such force that it slammed against the wall with a dull THUD.

Inside, Zhao Youcai, who was sitting on the edge of the kang lost in thought, jumped in fright and scrambled off the kang.

"Meilan, I was just saving that money for you," Zhao Youcai said. He was indeed clever; hearing the commotion in the other room, he knew his wife was searching for the ill-gotten funds he had squirreled away.

As he spoke, Zhao Youcai started to walk out, hoping to go to the east room and atone for his misdeeds.

But as he passed Wang Meilan, he received a heavy kick to his backside.

The kick made Zhao Youcai jump into the air, and he let out an "Ouch!" as he landed.

Wang Meilan glared at Zhao Youcai and followed him into the east room.

Once inside, Zhao Youcai took down the cotton-padded jacket hanging behind the door.

Zhao Youcai had two padded jackets: a thick one for going out, and a thin one for wearing at home.

The one hanging on the wall was the thick one. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Seeing Zhao Youcai take down this jacket, Wang Meilan frowned slightly. ’It was hanging right behind the door, in plain sight. How could I not have checked it?’

She had already searched the outer left and right pockets and the inner pocket. There had been a little over two yuan and a few meal tickets, but nothing else.

Zhao Youcai glanced cautiously at Wang Meilan, then picked up a pair of iron scissors from the sewing basket on the windowsill.

Not daring to sit down, Zhao Youcai stood before Wang Meilan. He held up the back hem of the jacket with one hand and, with the other, opened the scissors and used the tip of one blade to pick at the stitches.

After picking open about four inches of thread, Zhao Youcai, all the while carefully watching Wang Meilan’s expression, put the scissors back in the sewing basket.

Then, he slipped the hand that had held the scissors into the opening he’d made in the jacket and pulled a roll of money out from the cotton padding.

Ten large banknotes, rolled up and stuffed into the cotton.

’Impressive!’ Zhao Jun, watching from the side, was filled with admiration. ’Hiding money like that really takes skill.

If he’d laid the money flat, it would have taken up too much space and shifted around inside the jacket, making it easy to discover.

But rolled up and stuck in the middle of the cotton padding like that? If Zhao Youcai hadn’t exposed himself, no one would have ever found it.’

One roll, two rolls...

One roll was ten bills, which was one hundred yuan.

In total, Zhao Youcai pulled out eleven rolls from the jacket—a full one thousand one hundred yuan!

Looking at Zhao Youcai’s greasy, grimy jacket, who would have thought that such a large sum of money was hidden inside this filthy thing!

As Zhao Youcai pulled out the money, he kept observing Wang Meilan’s expression, but she just watched him quietly, her face betraying no emotion.

Once Zhao Youcai stopped pulling rolls of money from the jacket, Wang Meilan snatched it from him, felt around inside the cotton padding, and then flung the jacket, letting it land over Zhao Youcai’s head.

As Zhao Youcai pulled the jacket off his head, Wang Meilan’s sharp command reached his ears, "Go back to that room and wait!"

Zhao Youcai had just turned around, clutching the jacket, when he heard Wang Meilan say irritably, "Hold on!"

When Zhao Youcai turned back, Wang Meilan shoved the sewing basket into his arms and said, "Sew the jacket up yourself."

Clutching the jacket and the sewing basket, Zhao Youcai returned to the west room and closed the door to sew.

"Mom." Zhao Jun pulled Wang Meilan over and whispered in her ear, "You need to ask Dad if this is all the money he hid. Is there more? He skimmed this much off of one young tiger pelt; he used to sell all that Bear Gall, too.

Besides, this was in his jacket, but what about his padded pants? This was hidden in the back lining, but what about in the cuffs?"

"I know," Wang Meilan said. "We’ll leave it for now. I’m going to make dinner for you three first. After I’m done cooking, I’ll interrogate him."

The "you three" Wang Meilan mentioned was clearly Zhao Jun, Zhao Hong, and Zhao Na. There was no portion for Zhao Youcai.

With that, Wang Meilan went to the outer room to continue chopping the pickled cabbage.

After so many years as mother and son, Zhao Jun knew Wang Meilan’s habits like the back of his hand. He knew his mother didn’t usually chop pickled cabbage with so much force.

But today, all he could hear was "CLANG, CLANG..." Every chop that sliced through the cabbage and hit the cutting board sounded exceptionally loud.

Zhao Jun gave a knowing smile. He was just about to go out and stir the pot some more when he heard someone outside the door calling, "Sister-in-law, Sister-in-law!"

It was Jin Xiaomei!

’Looks like Li Baoyu didn’t let his old man off easy, either,’ Zhao Jun thought.

Wang Meilan put down her kitchen knife and opened the door. "Sister-in-law, you’re here. Why don’t you come in?"

"You come out, Sister-in-law," Jin Xiaomei said bluntly. "I need to talk to you about something."

"Alright!" Just as Wang Meilan was about to step outside, Zhao Jun draped a padded jacket over her shoulders. For a moment, a thought flashed through her mind: ’My son is the best!’

Just as Wang Meilan stepped out, the door to the west room opened with a CREAK. Zhao Jun saw Zhao Youcai beckoning to him.

Zhao Jun said loudly, "Dad, you need something?"

SLAM! The door shut heavily.