Li Baoyu, at one-meter-ninety, was a full head taller than the one-meter-seventy-five Zhao Jun, making the sight of him trying to dodge behind his friend look absolutely comical.
"Auntie!" At Li Baoyu's fervent urging, Zhao Jun finally stepped forward. Though he couldn't physically shield the much larger Li Baoyu, he used his words to redirect Jin Xiaomei's line of attack.
"Today, my brother and I..."
Zhao Jun had lifted this speech wholesale from Li Baoyu. Who else but Baoyu had such a "way with words," after all?
When Zhao Jun finished speaking, he glanced around and saw both Zhao Youcai and Wang Meilan looking at him with mischievous grins.
Jin Xiaomei, on the other hand, wore a look of utter disbelief.
"Sister-in-law," Zhao Youcai suddenly said.
"Go ahead, Big Brother." Jin Xiaomei had always respected the couple, Zhao Youcai and Wang Meilan. Hearing Zhao Youcai address her, she immediately ceased the silent assault of her glare on Li Baoyu.
Zhao Youcai lifted the pot lid and began ladling broth over the Bear's Paw. As he basted it, he said, "The boys 'found' a whole bear. The Bear Gall is hanging to dry in my storeroom. Once it's ready, we'll sell it and split the money between our two families, fifty-fifty."
"Oh, Big Brother, there's no need to talk about that between our families."
"Alright, we won't then," Zhao Youcai said with a smile. "You should go home and start making dinner. Once this Bear's Paw is ready, I'll have Baoyu bring it over."
It sounded as if Zhao Youcai was trying to shoo her away.
But Jin Xiaomei was a sharp woman; she knew instantly that Zhao Youcai was telling her to drop the matter.
Though she couldn't quite grasp his reasoning, Jin Xiaomei knew her "Big Brother" was not someone to be trifled with. If he said to drop it, he had his reasons.
Zhao Youcai had been supporting the Li Family for over a decade. Their debt of gratitude was as heavy as a mountain. Now that he had spoken, even Li Dayong, were he present, would have to listen.
So, Jin Xiaomei immediately agreed.
Zhao Youcai added, "When my brother gets home tonight, have him come see me, alright?"
"You got it, Big Brother." After replying, Jin Xiaomei shot Li Baoyu one last vicious glare, then grabbed Li Xiaoqiao and left.
"I'm not getting involved," Wang Meilan said, tossing the words over her shoulder as she went back into the house.
Zhao Youcai put the lid back on the pot and turned to Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu. "You two stay home tomorrow. No wandering off. I'll find someone to help me bring that bear back."
Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu hurriedly agreed.
After another twenty minutes of simmering over a low flame, the aroma grew even richer, enough to make one's mouth water.
Zhao Youcai opened the lid again. Seeing that the broth had reduced nicely, he told Zhao Jun to bring out a basin. Using two large spoons, he carefully lifted one of the Bear's Paws and placed it inside.
After placing a second Bear's Paw in the basin, Zhao Youcai waved a hand at Li Baoyu. "Alright, kid. Take it home and eat."
"Thank you, Uncle! Thank you, Uncle!" Li Baoyu took the basin and shouted toward the inner room, "Auntie, I'm heading out!" Then he left the house, set the basin on the wall between their yards, and hopped over it to go home.
The moment Li Baoyu was gone, Zhao Jun suddenly felt a knot of anxiety form in his stomach. Trying to make conversation, he asked, "Dad, what'd you borrow a gun for?"
Zhao Youcai turned to face his son and replied with great solemnity, "It's needed."
Zhao Jun was speechless.
Just then, Wang Meilan came out from the inner room and asked Zhao Youcai, "Where did you get that gun?"
"From the Village Office."
"What for?"
"Our son said there were tiger cubs on either side of the Black Bear. I'm going to see if I can't bag one tomorrow."
"Oh..." Wang Meilan nodded. "Well, you be careful then."
"Don't worry," Zhao Youcai said nonchalantly. "If I really manage to get one, that, plus the money from the Bear Gall, will be enough to find our son a wife."
Upon hearing that, Wang Meilan shot Zhao Jun a glare before turning and heading back into the house without a word.
"Look what you did, you made your mother angry," Zhao Youcai gently chided him.
Zhao Jun forced a smile, but inwardly he was grumbling, 'Find *me* a wife? If I can't keep Mom from leaving, you'll probably use that money to find yourself a *young* wife!'
Father and son were each lost in their own thoughts, but neither voiced them.
It wasn't until after dinner that Li Dayong came hopping over the wall, calling out from the yard, "Brother, I'm here!"
"Uncle, come on in!" Zhao Jun hurried out to greet him.
Seeing Zhao Jun, Li Dayong laughed and pointed at him. "You two boys are really something else."
Zhao Jun didn't say anything, just grinned sheepishly.
Li Dayong entered the house, climbed onto the kang, and sat cross-legged opposite Zhao Youcai.
Wang Meilan brought over some tea and set it in front of Li Dayong. "Brother, you two chat. I've got some work to do in the outer room."
"You go ahead, Sister-in-law."
After Wang Meilan left, Zhao Youcai asked Li Dayong, "You didn't hit the boy when you got home, did you?"
"No," said Li Dayong. "Xiaomei told me you said not to."
"Don't," Zhao Youcai said with a smile. "The boy's grown up now. Stop hitting him all the time."
Listening from the side, Zhao Jun was rendered utterly speechless by this exchange.
Li Dayong chuckled. "So, Brother, you wanted to see me about something?"
"Yes! There's a huge bear sitting up on that mountain. The two boys went to a lot of trouble to 'find' it, so we have to bring it back." Zhao Youcai couldn't help but put extra emphasis on the word "find."
Li Dayong nodded. "Alright, I'll find someone to borrow an Elder Niu from tomorrow."
"Good," said Zhao Youcai. "I'm going up early tomorrow. You don't need to go too early. Just wait for me at the Forest Farm."
"Brother, what are you planning to do?"
Zhao Youcai angled his body slightly, glancing back at the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle hanging behind the door. "My trigger finger's itching," he said. "Thought I'd fire a few rounds for fun."
Li Dayong understood immediately. He only cautioned, "Brother, you be careful out there."
"Mm."
Li Dayong seemed lost in thought for a moment before speaking again. "I've felt a Tiger's hide before, but I've never actually touched a cub."
"I've touched both," Zhao Youcai said with a smile.
"By the way, Brother." Having laid the groundwork, Li Dayong finally got to his real question. "Back then... who was it that actually fired those two shots?"
The question seemed to come out of nowhere, but everyone in the room—except for Zhao Hong and Zhao Na, who were doing their homework off to the side—knew exactly what he was asking.
Zhao Jun, in particular, perked up his ears instantly.
This was an unsolved mystery.
One day, twenty-two years ago, a logistics worker at the Forest Farm went to the director and reported that one of their pigs had been killed and eaten by some unknown beast of prey.
The director led some men to the scene and immediately determined that the Mountain King had come.
Now, if a bear injured someone, you could get a Hunter to track it down and put an end to it. But the Mountain King was a whole other level of trouble. Trying to surround one was simply a joke.
Besides, a Tiger coming into the Forest Farm to eat a pig was an event that hadn't happened in over a decade.
Moreover, not long after the founding of the country, the Northeast Tiger had become a protected species.
It was only one pig. What was eaten was eaten.
But eight days later, that same logistics worker came to the director again, reporting that the Tiger had returned the previous night and had eaten Elder Niu, the farm's work ox.
Eating a pig was one thing, but how dare it eat Elder Niu?
You have to understand, in a Northeast Mountain Village back in '64, a work ox was more precious than a person.
Besides, it ate a pig last time and an ox this time. What would it eat next?
At this rate, was it going to start eating people?
The director made a swift decision. This was too big for him to handle; he had to file a report.
And so, a call was made to the town authorities, who then called the county, and the county in turn called the city.
Finally, the city called the Provincial Forestry Department.
A high-level leader personally took interest and gave the official order, commanding the town to provide four semi-automatic rifles and invite the best local Hunters to lie in wait at the Forest Farm.
Four men took part in the hunt, and Zhao Youcai was one of them.
Legend has it the four men laid in wait at the Forest Farm for a full half-month, sleeping by day and keeping watch by night. Then, one day, the Mountain King struck again, and that very night, it met its end at the Yong'an Forest Farm.
It was even rumored that the ensuing battle between the four men and the one Tiger was so fierce it plunged the world into darkness, blotting out the sun and moon.
This wasn't entirely untrue, nor was it an exaggeration.
Think about it. The fight took place in the dead of night. Wasn't that "plunging the world into darkness"?
And if it happened to be an overcast, cloudy night, well, wasn't that "blotting out the sun and moon"?
The only thing was, on that day, the four Hunters fired a total of eight shots.
But upon examination after the battle, the Tiger had only been hit by two of them.
And as for who fired those two shots, the answer remained a mystery, even up to the time of Zhao Jun's rebirth.