The Entire Mountain Is My Hunting Ground

Gray rats—that’s what they called squirrels. Also known as gray doggies.

Winter or summer, they were always active in the morning. By the time the sun hit the ridges, they were back in their nests.

So, to hunt squirrels, you had to get up early and head for the mountains. You’d leave home around five or six in the morning and come back down after nine.

Zhao Jun was a lazy man, but for the sake of a good meal, he did the unheard-of and woke up bright and early. He even put on the white overcoat used for hunting in the snow.

After slinging the rifle over his back, Zhao Jun took an elm slingshot from the heated-bed cabinet. Along with it was a small paper packet filled with lead pellets, each slightly smaller than a peanut.

You couldn’t use a semi-automatic on a squirrel. One shot would blow it to smithereens, making it impossible to eat and ruining the pelt.

Zhao Jun didn’t have a gun suitable for hunting squirrels, but he was a crack shot with a slingshot. He carried the rifle just in case something else happened.

He left his house, hopped the wall into Li Baoyu’s yard, and was just about to push open the door.

Just then, the door was pushed open from the inside. Li Baoyu emerged, head down, stuffing a burlap sack into his shoulder bag as he walked. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

It was only five-thirty. The rest of the Li Family was probably still asleep. Zhao Jun lowered his voice and asked, "What are you doing with such a big sack? How many squirrels do you think the two of us can get? You really think we’ll need a giant sack for them?"

Li Baoyu chuckled. He reached back to close the door, then turned to Zhao Jun with a grin. "Not for that. I was thinking we could raid a few squirrel nests, get some pine nuts and hazelnuts, and roast them for snacks."

"You..." Zhao Jun felt like he’d run out of words to praise Li Baoyu. ’The guy is just too clever.’

As they walked toward the gate, Li Baoyu pulled a slingshot from his pocket. It was a size larger than Zhao Jun’s and also made of old elm wood, but its surface was coated with what looked like a layer of wax.

Zhao Jun knew this was wax finishing—hot beeswax rubbed onto the wood to make it resistant to rot and moisture.

"Well, we’re counting on you today, then," Zhao Jun said, patting Li Baoyu’s shoulder.

The two of them left the village and headed south. To the south was a Preparation Road, built back in the day to defend against the Elder Russians. They followed the Preparation Road for over five li, then cut into the mountains. Over the rise was Pine Tree Ridge.

The ridge was covered in lush vegetation, mostly Pine Trees.

The sky was just beginning to lighten. Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu split up, each picking a Pine Tree to lean against. They concealed themselves and pricked up their ears, listening for any sound.

Before long, Zhao Jun heard a faint rustling to his left. He slowly turned his head and saw a squirrel climbing down from the Pine Tree over there.

Zhao Jun didn’t shoot. Instead, he gently turned his head and watched Li Baoyu.

When Li Baoyu looked his way, Zhao Jun jutted his chin to the left. Li Baoyu got the hint and tiptoed two steps toward him.

By now, the squirrel had reached the snow-covered ground and hopped forward a few steps.

Li Baoyu was moving very quietly, but as his second foot landed, the squirrel’s long ears twitched. It jerked back and darted away.

CRACK!

CRACK!

After the two sharp cracks, the squirrel fell with the sound, landing motionless in the snow.

Li Baoyu rushed over and picked up the twitching squirrel. A single lead pellet was lodged in its belly.

Li Baoyu knew at a glance that Zhao Jun had shot it. His own slingshot was bigger and used larger pellets.

Just then, Zhao Jun walked up from behind him. "Baoyu," he said, "whenever you’re shooting at a live target, you have to lead it. It’s going to run."

"Yeah, yeah." Li Baoyu nodded, humbly accepting the advice. He took a small knife from his pocket, slit the squirrel’s throat, and held it upside down to drain the blood before stuffing it into his shoulder bag.

"Hey, brother," Li Baoyu said suddenly to Zhao Jun, "don’t you think we should figure out a way to make some money?"

Being short on cash when they bought the dog yesterday had put the idea of making money into Li Baoyu’s head.

Zhao Jun heard this and knew immediately that he was thinking about Squirrel Fur. A good squirrel pelt was worth even more than a deer hide, fetching several dozen yuan apiece.

Zhao Jun thought for a moment. "Let’s see how many we can get today before we talk about that."

"Alright!" Li Baoyu nodded and started searching the area.

The two cracks from the slingshots had surely scared off any squirrels within a hundred-meter radius.

But don’t forget, Li Baoyu was also looking for Pine Tree hollows to raid for pine nuts and hazelnuts.

And what do you know, he actually found a tree hollow. Li Baoyu poked his head in, confirmed there were no squirrels inside, and reached in to grab the stash.

But the hollow wasn’t very big. Li Baoyu could get his hand in and out when it was empty.

But once he grabbed a handful of the squirrel’s winter stores, his fist was too big to pull back out.

"Hey, you do it." Li Baoyu let go, pulled his empty hand from the hollow, and called to Zhao Jun. "Your hands are smaller."

Zhao Jun: ...

Squirrels don’t keep all their food in one place, but the little critters sure manage to hoard a lot over the course of an autumn.

From this one hollow, Zhao Jun pulled out nearly a jin of pine nuts, over half a jin of hazelnuts, and seventeen or eighteen hickory nuts.

"Is there any more?" Li Baoyu asked from behind Zhao Jun, holding the burlap sack open.

"Let’s leave some for them," Zhao Jun said, annoyed. "If we take it all, won’t they starve to death?"

"Didn’t you just kill it? What’s it going to eat now?" Li Baoyu retorted, but he didn’t press the issue. He tossed the sack aside and walked off with Zhao Jun.

The two of them wandered through the surrounding woods for a long while. They spotted a few more squirrels, but missed every shot. Zhao Jun was tempted to use his rifle, but he resisted the urge.

However, while they didn’t get any more squirrels, they did manage to raid five nests. The burlap sack was now filled with seven or eight jin of nuts, and Li Baoyu was grinning from ear to ear.

"These squirrels are tough to hit," Zhao Jun said to Li Baoyu, scanning their surroundings.

"Yep," Li Baoyu agreed with a nod. "How about we set some traps?"

"Where would we even get those?" Zhao Jun said. "After the New Year, we both have to be at the Forest Farm. I’ll be working, and you’ll be learning to drive. Who has time to check traps every day?"

"That’s true," Li Baoyu said. "I was just thinking we could hunt some squirrels and save up a little money."

"Save money..." Zhao Jun trailed off, then asked, "That wild boar hide we skinned last time... my aunt found someone to make us skis with it. Any idea when those will be ready...?"

He had barely finished his sentence when Li Baoyu suddenly raised an arm. Zhao Jun followed his gaze and saw a small birch tree standing between two large Da Hong Pine Trees.

Two squirrels were scurrying up the trunk, and they came to a stop side-by-side on a branch.

Li Baoyu glanced back at Zhao Jun, who blinked once. With perfect unspoken understanding, they both raised their arms.

Li Baoyu on the left aimed for the squirrel on the left, while Zhao Jun on the right aimed for the one on the right.

The moment they raised their slingshots, the rubber bands were already drawn taut. Two sharp cracks echoed through the woods!