The Entire Mountain Is My Hunting Ground

Little Lingdang shot her dad an exasperated look and went back to her homework.

Just then, Yang Yufeng came in. She placed a cup of brown sugar water in front of Zhao Jun and said with a smile, "This sugar is from Lingdang’s uncle. He brought it when he came to see your brother the other day. I made you a cup. Have something sweet."

"Thank you, Sister-in-law." Zhao Jun took the cup, took a small sip, and placed it down beside him.

Yang Yufeng smiled and sat down next to Zhang Yuanmin. "What have you been telling our brother now?" she asked.

"Nothing much." Zhang Yuanmin chuckled.

Yang Yufeng shot her husband a look before turning to Zhao Jun. "Brother," she asked, "he was running his mouth again, wasn’t he?"

"No." Under Zhang Yuanmin’s watchful gaze, Zhao Jun could only say to Yang Yufeng, "I was just telling my brother that the big store In the Town raised its price for Black Bear galls again. We still haven’t sold the gall from the one the three of us killed. I start work tomorrow, so I’m not sure when I’ll have free time."

As he spoke, Zhao Jun pulled some money from his pocket. He handed the only five banknotes he had to Yang Yufeng, saying, "Sister-in-law, take this for now. Once we sell the Bear Gall, I’ll give you the rest."

Zhao Jun’s words showed the couple a great deal of respect. Yang Yufeng sniffled, her eyes turning to Zhang Yuanmin.

Zhang Yuanmin met her gaze and laughed. "What are you looking at me for? It’s from our brother, so just take it."

"Exactly," Zhao Jun said, pressing the money into Yang Yufeng’s hand.

Just then, Zhang Yuanmin said to Zhao Jun, "Brother, you just wait and see how I treat you from now on."

"Alright." Zhao Jun agreed with a smile. Then, a thought struck him. "Brother, Sister-in-law, how much land does our family have?"

"Four and a half acres," Yang Yufeng replied. "Why do you ask, Brother?"

"Four and a half acres... That’s a manageable amount of land," Zhao Jun said. "I was thinking I could figure something out for my brother, find him some work up in the logging section."

"Whoa, Brother, are you serious?" Zhang Yuanmin instantly came to life, staring at Zhao Jun in astonishment.

Zhao Jun smiled. "I start work tomorrow, scaling timber at the Forest Farm. I can’t get you a cushy position, but felling trees, trimming branches... you can handle that kind of work, can’t you, Brother? When it’s busy with the fields, you can work on the land. When there’s nothing to do in the fields, you can just go up the mountain."

"That would be perfect!" Zhang Yuanmin said joyfully. "I borrowed a chainsaw from my uncle last time, but the Black Bear showed up before I even had a chance to start felling trees."

"Alright, that’s enough." The moment Zhang Yuanmin brought up the past, Yang Yufeng felt a headache coming on. She immediately cut him off, "Don’t you start bragging about your ’glorious deeds’ again."

Zhao Jun burst out laughing. He chatted a little longer with the couple, but seeing it was almost noon, he got up to take his leave.

When Yang Yufeng returned from seeing Zhao Jun out, she found Zhang Yuanmin gazing out the window, a blissful smile on his face as if lost in a pleasant daydream.

Little Lingdang, meanwhile, pointed to the cup of brown sugar water on the low table. "Mom," she asked Yang Yufeng, "can I drink what Uncle left?"

Before Yang Yufeng could answer, Zhang Yuanmin turned around. He looked at the cup of brown sugar water, sighed, and said, "Go ahead and drink it, my boy. Your uncle left that for you on purpose."

The little girl couldn’t possibly understand the nuance in his words. She only heard that she was allowed to drink it, so she cradled the cup in both hands and began to drink in big gulps.

Yang Yufeng walked over to Zhang Yuanmin. "Yuanmin," she said, "from now on, if our brother ever needs anything, we have to be the first ones to help."

"Of course we do," Zhang Yuanmin said. "As soon as I can walk again, I’ll take our brother up the mountain to earn some real money."

At his words, Yang Yufeng’s eyes flew wide. "What did you just say?" she snapped.

Zhang Yuanmin flinched. ’I let that slip,’ he thought.