At the dinner table, when they heard Zhao Jun ask to borrow the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle to take home and "play with" for a few days, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law on either side of him both scowled.
Zhao Chun slammed her chopsticks down on the table and demanded, "Zhao Jun, what do you think you're doing?"
Zhao Jun's expression didn't change as he smiled and said, "I just want to borrow it for a few days to play with. When I'm done, I'll bring it back to Uncle and Auntie." As he spoke, Zhao Jun turned his gaze to Hu Sanmei.
Speaking of the Zhou family, from Zhao Jun's brother-in-law Zhou Jianjun on up, none of them were ordinary people.
Zhou Chunming was a given, of course. And Zhou Jianjun's grandfather was a veteran of the 25,000-li Long March, with an incredibly firm ideology.
Later, by a twist of fate, the old man brought his family to settle down here. For his son, he chose an illiterate farm girl as a wife.
And that farm girl from all those years ago was Hu Sanmei.
In the old man's words, one should marry a virtuous wife.
So, although Hu Sanmei was a woman from the countryside, even Zhao Jun knew that his older sister's mother-in-law was an exceptionally reasonable person.
In his previous life, after Zhao Chun married into the Zhou Family, from the day she walked through their door until the day the old woman passed away, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law never once had a fight.
Not only that, but Hu Sanmei was also forthright in her dealings. She was thrifty and managed the household frugally day-to-day, but whenever guests came to visit, she would let them eat their fill of whatever good food the family had.
Zhao Jun remembered from his last life that no matter if it was him or his two younger sisters, whenever they came to Yongsheng Village to see their big sister, Hu Sanmei never let them go home empty-handed.
So, in Zhao Jun's eyes, the Type 56 semi-automatic was public property. Otherwise, with Hu Sanmei's personality, it wouldn't have been a problem for him to borrow it for three or five years.
But Zhao Jun had forgotten: a gun is a dangerous weapon.
He knew he was a reincarnator, and his Spear Technique was god-like.
But Zhao Chun and Hu Sanmei didn't know that.
'You're an adult now, but what twenty-year-old lad is truly steady and reliable?'
'What if you take the gun and shoot someone?'
'Even if you don't shoot someone else, what if you hurt yourself?'
This wasn't just a worry for Zhao Chun as his older sister; Hu Sanmei was also afraid something would happen if Zhao Jun took the gun.
Putting everything else aside, Zhao Jun was her daughter-in-law's own brother, and the gun was being borrowed from their Zhou Family. If something happened because of that gun, how could the Zhou Family escape blame?
"Eat, eat. Stop talking nonsense." Zhao Chun nudged Zhao Jun's elbow and snapped at him. When Zhao Jun didn't move, Zhao Chun said angrily, "I'm telling you, don't you dare make me angry."
"I'm eating, I'm eating." Zhao Jun knew he wouldn't be able to borrow the gun now, but he couldn't get into a huff with his sister. He was the first to reach out with his chopsticks, picking up a fried lenok and placing it beside Hu Sanmei's bowl.
Zhao Jun smiled. "Auntie's fried fish looks delicious." After speaking, he picked up another one and gave it to Zhao Chun. "Don't be angry, Sis. I won't borrow it, okay?"
Seeing how sensible Zhao Jun was being, Zhao Chun's anger instantly vanished. She put a fish on his plate in return and continued to chide him, "You have a good life, and you're about to start work soon. Why can't you be a little more settled?"
Zhao Jun didn't talk back, simply picking up the fish and taking a bite.
The flesh of the lenok was excellent, and it only had one large spine. Chewing it filled his mouth with a fragrant aroma.
Hu Sanmei took a bite of fish and thought, 'The Zhao family's eldest boy came to bring us meat, and this is the first time he's ever asked to borrow something.'
'There's no way I can lend him that gun, but I absolutely can't let him go back just like this.'
At this thought, Hu Sanmei suddenly remembered the large Qing Gou in the courtyard outside.
In the countryside, nearly every household raised a dog, mainly to guard the house and yard.
There were some who raised dogs specifically for hunting, but not many.
No one in the Zhou family enjoyed hunting; they kept a dog purely to guard the house.
Before, their family had raised a yellow female dog.
But just two months ago, that yellow female dog died of old age.
Not long after, Zhao Chun gave birth. From then on, the entire family, young and old, was busy doting on Zhao Chun and the baby. It wasn't until a few days ago that Zhou Jianjun got a large Qing Gou from someone and brought it back.
The very first day the large Qing Gou entered their home, the Zhou Family discovered they had a problem.
Normally, raising a dog wouldn't be an issue.
The problem was, the Zhou Family now had one more person than before.
A guard dog will bark day or night, whenever it hears someone wandering around the house.
And when the dog barked, the baby inside would wake up. When the baby woke up, it would cry. When the baby cried, an adult had to soothe it.
After a few days of this, not only could the baby not take it, but the adults couldn't either.
Just this morning, when Zhou Jianjun was leaving for work, Hu Sanmei had even chided him for having time to go fishing but no time to get rid of the dog.
Now, looking at Zhao Jun, an idea struck Hu Sanmei. 'The Zhao Family has been running dog-pack hunts for generations; a family like that must love dogs.'
'Take my daughter-in-law, for example. When that yellow female dog died, a pregnant Zhao Chun cried her heart out.'
Her crying really scared the Zhou Family.
Hu Sanmei thought, 'If Zhao Jun likes dogs too, why not let him take that large Qing Gou away?'
'Although the Zhao Family already has that Hua Gou, with Zhao Youcai's status and means, it wouldn't be a problem for them to raise a few more dogs.'
'That way, if I give the dog away, my little grandson and the whole family can finally get a good night's sleep every day.'
'Not only that, this would save face for both Zhao Jun and the Zhou Family. He couldn't borrow the gun, but our family gave him a dog.'
'After all, in this day and age, you could sell this Qing Gou for forty or fifty yuan.'
Thinking of this, Hu Sanmei urged Zhao Jun to eat while asking, "Young man, you like dogs, don't you?"
Zhao Jun was slightly taken aback, but inwardly delighted. 'I haven't even said anything, and Auntie has already brought up dogs. I couldn't borrow the gun, but getting a dog would be great too.'
As for whether Hu Sanmei was lending or giving away that large Qing Gou, that was outside the scope of Zhao Jun's considerations.
After all, lending a dog to a Hunter was like lending Jingzhou to Liu Bei—easy to lend, but difficult to get back.
"Auntie, I love dogs."
"It's good that you like dogs!" Hu Sanmei said joyfully. "What do you think of that Qing Gou we have outside?"
"It's a great dog," Zhao Jun said without a second thought, the words of praise tumbling out.
"What do you know? 'Great dog'," Zhao Chun said with a laugh from the side. In her eyes, her younger brother was completely clueless when it came to hunting and judging dogs. She figured he only said the dog was good because it looked plump.
But in fact, Zhao Jun really did know dogs.
In his previous life, he had specialized in large-scale hunts, taking down wild boars, Black Bears, and brown bears.
The reason Zhao Jun had been able to build such a fearsome reputation in the great mountain Forest Farm and the nearby villages wasn't just his excellent Spear Technique; the key was that the hunting dogs he trained were all tougher than the last.
The moment he entered the courtyard that morning, he could tell. If that large Qing Gou could be taken on a hunt, it would absolutely be a first-class hunting dog.
If it were a lead dog, the large Qing Gou could take down a sow under 200 jin all by itself.
If it were a support dog, it would be the toughest of flanking dogs.
But if he borrowed a gun, there was borrowing and returning. If he borrowed a dog, however, it would be a loan with no return. 'Since it's my brother-in-law's family, doing this... seems to be fine.'
However, just as he was getting drowsy, Hu Sanmei handed him a pillow.
With the pillow right in front of him, how could Zhao Jun not take it?
Zhao Jun ignored Zhao Chun's teasing and said only to Hu Sanmei, "Auntie, it would be fine if you could lend me your Qing Gou to play with for a few days."
"Lend it? What's there to lend?" Hu Sanmei laughed. "If you like it, just take it. I'll make the decision—it's a gift to you!"