The Entire Mountain Is My Hunting Ground

The second day of the second lunar month, the Dragon Raises Its Head.

Zhao Jun got up early that day. After eating the breakfast Zhao Youcai had made, he moved a stool into his room and waited for his mom to come shave his head.

The more rural the area, the more people followed tradition. You weren’t supposed to get a haircut during the first lunar month—a rule most people followed, unless they had a grudge against their maternal uncle.

While shaving Zhao Jun’s head, Wang Meilan reminded him, "Son, you start work tomorrow. You need to settle down and focus now."

"Mm," Zhao Jun replied. "Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll definitely work hard."

Wang Meilan smiled faintly. For the past half-year, Zhao Jun had been doing very well, making her proud in every respect. Wang Meilan was very satisfied.

Most importantly, the money stashed in the cabinet on Wang Meilan’s kang just kept piling up.

Just as Zhao Jun’s head was almost shaved, Li Baoyu came in from outside and called out, "Auntie."

"Baoyu," Wang Meilan said. "Quick, get on the kang and have a seat. As soon as I’m done with your brother, I’ll do yours."

"Okay." Li Baoyu sat on the edge of the kang to wait. His mother, Jin Xiaomei, didn’t know how to cut hair, so whenever Wang Meilan shaved Zhao Jun’s head, she would usually do his as well.

In the past, Li Ruhai would have been there too, but the present-day Li Ruhai could only lie in bed... er, no, lie on the kang and recuperate.

Therefore, Li Ruhai wouldn’t be getting his "dragon’s head" shaved today.

Once Zhao Jun was done, Wang Meilan took the small broom used for sweeping the kang and brushed the loose hair off his shoulders. Then she whipped off the cape and called Li Baoyu forward.

Zhao Jun stood up and gave the small stool to Li Baoyu. After shaking the clippings from his collar, he took his cotton-padded jacket from the wall and said, "Mom, Baoyu, I’m heading out for a bit."

"Brother, where are you going?" Li Baoyu asked before Wang Meilan even had the chance. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Zhao Jun opened the kang cabinet, took out a stack of money, and answered, "I still have Master Xu’s share of the money. I’m going to take it to him."

"Oh." When Li Baoyu heard it wasn’t anything interesting, he just said "oh" and nothing more.

But Wang Meilan said, "Well then, son, you should hurry and take it to them. That Mrs. Elder Xu is quite frugal."

Hearing this, Zhao Jun had some doubts. ’The old lady might be frugal, but that old man sure isn’t.’

’He gave up a whole Lynx Fur for just a lynx head! That thing was worth thirty-five hundred yuan!’

’And you have to understand, Elder Xu wanting the lynx head wasn’t the same as Yang Mantang wanting the Black Bear head. Yang Mantang wanted it to commemorate Hu Guangmin.’

’But there’s no way Xu Changlin would spend thirty-five hundred yuan on a lynx head just to commemorate his hunting dog.’

Then, Zhao Jun recalled Yang Mantang saying that the old man was probably planning some kind of hocus-pocus.

Tucking the money away, Zhao Jun left his house and headed straight for Xu Changlin’s.

When he got to Xu Changlin’s house, Zhao Jun called out a couple of times from outside, but no one appeared.

Ever since selling his four dogs, Xu Changlin hadn’t kept any new ones. It was common for a man his age to be hard of hearing, and since Zhao Jun’s voice wasn’t as loud as a dog’s bark, it was no surprise he wasn’t heard.

So, Zhao Jun pushed open the wicker gate, walked right into the yard, and went straight to the front door.

Zhao Jun stopped at the door and raised his hand to knock, but through the door, he faintly overheard the conversation of the two elders inside.

Houses were simply built in those days. And since the old folks were hard of hearing, they couldn’t help but speak loudly.

The old lady said, "I told you not to get it, but you insisted. What was the point of trading for that head? It’s still buried out in the snow."

"But didn’t our son ask for it?" That was Xu Changlin’s voice.

The old lady immediately snapped back, "Our son told you to get a Tiger Mother, not a tiger cub!"

"I figured since I couldn’t get a Tiger, a tiger cub would have to do, wouldn’t it?" Xu Changlin said in his defense.

"You don’t know anything," the old lady said. "I heard from one of the sent-down youth who came here years ago. That thing isn’t a tiger cub. What did they call it? A... what was it... a li?"

"What ’li’?" Xu Changlin scoffed. "You actually listen to him? That kid was all bluster. Zhao Youcai nearly starved him to death."

’This is awkward,’ Zhao Jun thought, listening from outside. ’I can’t let them keep talking. What am I supposed to do if they start badmouthing Zhao Youcai even more?’

’He’s my father, after all. If they say something, I can’t go in and confront them, but I can’t just pretend I didn’t hear it, either.’

Zhao Jun raised his hand and knocked twice on the door. From inside, the old man’s voice called out, "Who is it?"

"Master Xu, it’s me, Zhao Jun." After speaking, Zhao Jun pulled the door open and entered the room.

"Zhao Xiao, come quickly!" The old lady grinned from ear to ear when she saw Zhao Jun, waving him over with an outstretched arm.

Zhao Jun walked over to the kang and called out, "Granny Xu," before sitting on the edge.

"The boy’s grown so big." The old lady reached out and grabbed Zhao Jun’s hand, then said to Xu Changlin, "Hurry and get Zhao Xiao a cup of warm water."

Hearing this, the old man was about to get up and go to the outer room to pour water, but Zhao Jun stopped him.

"Master Xu," Zhao Jun said, "don’t trouble yourself. I’m only staying for a little while."

"Ah." Xu Changlin sat back down on the kang and chuckled. "Alright then, lad. I won’t get you any, then."

Zhao Jun smiled and reached into his pocket, but he saw the old man’s expression suddenly change as he gave him a slight shake of his head.

Zhao Jun understood but pretended not to see. He pulled the money from his pocket and said to Xu Changlin, "Master Xu, I sold the pelt from that tiger cub we hunted the other day. This is your share."

"Oh my!" Xu Changlin feigned surprise, first glancing at the money, then looking up at Zhao Jun. In an equally astonished tone, he asked, "This... how much is this?"

"Eight hundred and seventy," Zhao Jun said. "The pelt sold for twenty-six hundred at the big store In the Town. You, me, and Baoyu—one share each comes to eight hundred and sixty-six point six yuan. I rounded it up to an even eight seventy for you."

"Well..." Xu Changlin looked at Zhao Jun, his hand hovering in mid-air, unsure whether he should take the money or not.

Zhao Jun shoved the money directly into Xu Changlin’s hand and laughed. "Master Xu, we hunted it together. What’s there to be polite about?"

"Heh heh..." Xu Changlin chuckled, then got up, walked over to sit beside his wife, and placed the money in her hand. Pointing at Zhao Jun, he said to her, "See? I told you this kid is honorable. I already told him I didn’t want the money for that tiger cub’s pelt, but he brought it over anyway."

As he spoke, with his back to his wife, Xu Changlin frantically signaled to Zhao Jun with his eyes.

As for the old lady, she took the money with a huge smile, sat up straight, and stuffed the bills into her padded jacket pocket, grinning with her gap-toothed mouth the whole time.

In those days, a rural old lady would stop in her tracks for a two-fen coin, to say nothing of more than eight hundred yuan.

Once the money was safely tucked away, the old lady politely told Zhao Jun, "Zhao Xiao, don’t leave today. Stay for dinner. Granny Xu will slaughter a chicken for you."

"No need, Granny Xu," Zhao Jun said with a smile. "It’s a festival today, and my mom’s preparing things at home. I’ll just sit for a bit longer and then go."

"Oh, that’s right! It’s the second of the second month today." The old lady’s train of thought was quite jumpy. She suddenly slapped Xu Changlin and said, "About that tiger cub you hunted... Xing the Third didn’t help, but you two are old buddies. You should take something over to him."

"He’s an Elder Mountain Dog, he’s got nothing to eat up in the mountains. If you just toss him twenty yuan, where’s he supposed to spend it?"

As soon as the old lady said this, Zhao Jun slowly turned his head toward Xu Changlin, a look of pure astonishment on his face.

’When we went that day, Xu Changlin said he’d cover all the expenses for food, for both us and the dogs,’ Zhao Jun thought.

’But once we got to the mountains and met Xing San, he was very warm toward me and Li Baoyu because of his connection to Xing Zhuyong.’

’Seeing that, Elder Xu never mentioned the food expenses again. And now, hearing what his wife said, it seems like there was some embezzlement going on.’

But then Zhao Jun had another thought. He and Li Baoyu had left first. Perhaps Xu Changlin only left the money for Xing San after they were gone.

However, when Zhao Jun looked over at Xu Changlin, he saw the old man frantically grimacing at him.

’Yep. That’s it!’

’This old man is guilty of the same crime as Zhao Youcai!’

Meanwhile, the old lady was still muttering, "While it’s still cold enough to keep things frozen outside, you should take him some frozen tofu and dried tofu sheets one of these days. Otherwise, what does he eat up there in the mountains all day?"

"Alright, alright, I know. I’ll take care of it in a couple of days." Xu Changlin hurriedly tried to stop his wife, but fearing he couldn’t, he quickly changed the subject, saying to Zhao Jun, "Say, lad, aren’t you about to start your job?"

"That’s right," Zhao Jun smiled. "I’m reporting in tomorrow."

"Oh!" Happy to have something else to talk about, Xu Changlin quickly asked, "At the Forest Farm, which department were you assigned to?"

"The inspection team. I’ll be a scaler."

Hearing this, Xu Changlin’s eyes lit up. He clapped his hands and said to his wife, "He’s in the same unit as Baoshan!"

When the old lady heard this, she quickly said to Zhao Jun, "Xiao, your team leader is your Master Xu’s nephew."

"Oh, really? What a coincidence!" In truth, Zhao Jun already knew Xu Baoshan was related to Xu Changlin, but he still feigned surprise.

"That’s right." The old lady smiled and coached Zhao Jun, "When you see him tomorrow, just tell him your Granny Xu said he should come home for some pickled cabbage buns. He’ll know you’re one of us then."

"That’s wonderful!"

"You bet," the old lady added. "If anything comes up, just go to him. As long as it’s within reason, he can’t refuse to help."

At this point, the old lady’s tone shifted. "And if he won’t help you, you come back and find your Master Xu."

Who knows what Xu Changlin had told his wife when he got home, but she now believed that the eight hundred and seventy yuan was something Zhao Jun had given them out of the kindness of his heart.

All of a sudden, in the old lady’s eyes, Zhao Jun was a fine young man.

Hearing this, Xu Changlin just nodded and smiled from the side.

He couldn’t afford not to smile. The kid had something on him now.

Zhao Jun smiled too. Just as he was about to speak, he heard the old lady say, "Xiao, your job as a scaler will have you running all over the mountains. If you happen to hear word of a Big Claw anywhere, you come back and tell your Master Xu, you hear?"

"Big Claw?" Hearing this, Zhao Jun looked at the old lady in astonishment.

Big Claw was the name the old-timers in the mountains used for a certain animal.

And that animal’s proper name was Tiger.