At home, Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu tossed the four Bear's Paws into the fire. After the fur was singed clean, they took a large iron basin from inside and placed it under the hand-pump well.
After filling the basin with water, they placed the four Bear's Paws into it one by one. Just then, Zhao Youcai walked in, carrying a gun.
"Dad, what are you going to do with the gun?" Zhao Jun asked.
Zhao Youcai ignored Zhao Jun and said only to Li Baoyu, "Baoyu, I'll braise these four paws in one pot later. Then you can take two home, so your mom doesn't have to cook them."
"Okay, okay." Upon hearing this, Li Baoyu was so happy he nodded repeatedly. "Thank you, Uncle."
Zhao Youcai waved his hand and went into the house with his gun.
Watching Zhao Youcai disappear through the doorway, Li Baoyu whispered to Zhao Jun, "Brother, what do you think your uncle is going to do with that gun?"
"He's probably itching to shoot something," Zhao Jun said. He'd already figured it out. 'Dad must be going after that Lynx.'
In fact, in both of his lives, Zhao Jun had only ever heard that his old man was a great shot. He had seen and eaten the game Zhao Youcai brought back, but he had never personally witnessed his father's impressive hunting style.
And the hunting he did in his past life wasn't learned from Zhao Youcai; he had another master.
They soaked the Bear's Paws in water, using a brush to scrub off the charred blackness from the fire. Zhao Jun went to get firewood to start the fire, while Li Baoyu began to scrub the pot.
Once a pot of water came to a boil, they put the four Bear's Paws in to cook. Zhao Jun grabbed the plastic jug of bulk liquor and poured a little into the pot, while Li Baoyu tossed in whole peeled scallions.
When the Bear's Paws started to boil, there wasn't much scum, which they skimmed off with a large ladle. After the scum was gone, they just added firewood and let it simmer slowly.
During this process, no salt or any other seasonings were added.
The four Bear's Paws simmered in the pot for a good hour and a half, and a unique fragrance gradually filled the room.
Just then, Zhao Youcai, having woken from a nap, got up from the heated brick bed. He walked to the outer room, lifted the pot lid to take a look, and said, "Take them out." With that, he picked up an empty soy sauce bottle from the side and headed outside.
Li Baoyu watched Zhao Youcai leave before turning his gaze back. Licking his lips, he said to Zhao Jun, "I haven't had your uncle's braised Black Bear paws in years."
"Give me a break." Zhao Jun mercilessly exposed his lie. "You haven't had any? Then who ate the paws from the Black Bear that attacked people this spring?"
Hearing this, Li Baoyu was momentarily speechless. He scratched his head and chuckled foolishly.
Although he had only been reborn for a short time, Zhao Jun remembered certain major events very clearly.
In the spring of '86, a Black Bear injured two women who were gathering wild mountain vegetables over a period of four days.
The common folk wouldn't stand for it. In the end, the director of the Yong'an Forest Farm announced that whoever killed the Black Bear that was injuring people would be rewarded with fifty yuan.
Even without the money, those Cannon Shooters were already eager for action.
Once they heard about the fifty yuan reward, Hunters from all the villages for miles around mobilized.
Zhao Youcai, Li Dayong, and Wang Qiang teamed up. With Hua Gou and Yellow Dog, they took three semi-automatic rifles that Zhao Youcai had borrowed from the Village Office and headed into the mountains.
In the end, the three of them split the fifty yuan. It was said that the marauding Black Bear had been shot over a dozen times and died a miserable death.
Just as the two buddies were chatting, Wang Meilan came in from outside. Seeing Li Baoyu, she smiled and said, "Baoyu's here... Oh my, where did these Black Bear paws come from?"
"Auntie, we found them on the mountain," Li Baoyu said with a smile.
The two had already agreed on their story before getting home. If the Zhao Family asked and Li Baoyu was present, he would be the one to answer.
If the Li Family asked and Zhao Jun was there, then Zhao Jun would be the one to answer.
The reason for this was self-evident.
"Found them? You just found four paws?" Wang Meilan was a bit bewildered. She looked suspiciously at the two young men. Although she didn't hunt, ever since marrying into the Zhao Family, she had listened to the menfolk tell their hunting stories.
After listening for so many years, she had never heard of anyone just finding Bear's Paws.
"No," Li Baoyu said with a brilliant smile. "We found a whole one." At this, Li Baoyu took two steps toward the door, pointed at Zhao Jun's family's storeroom, and said, "My brother hung the Bear Gall in the storeroom."
"What? There's a Bear Gall too..." Wang Meilan felt like she was dreaming. She put down the woven basket in her hands and walked out into the yard.
A moment later, Wang Meilan came back in a huff. She stormed into the house and demanded of Zhao Jun, "What have you two been up to?"
Suddenly, Wang Meilan remembered something. Her eyes widened, and she pointed at Zhao Jun, shouting, "You were nowhere to be seen all morning! Tell me, what were you really doing?"
"Auntie, Auntie." Seeing the situation, Li Baoyu groaned inwardly. 'When my parents get back, I have to make Zhao Jun come home with me,' he thought.
"My brother and I originally planned to go dig for badgers today, but as soon as we entered the mountains, we heard the dogs start barking.
We rushed over with our knives and saw our two dogs pinning a Black Bear and biting it. The Black Bear was seriously injured and wasn't making much noise, so we killed it with our knives!"
You had to admit, thanks to years of reading comic books, Li Baoyu's storytelling ability was actually not bad.
But his short speech made Wang Meilan's heart leap into her throat. She raised her hand and gave Li Baoyu a Big Palm. The Big Palm landed on Li Baoyu's forehead. It didn't hurt, but it made him jolt.
"You little rascal, you'll dare to do anything!" Wang Meilan scolded. "That's a Black Bear! What if it had trampled you two?"
"Auntie, see? We're fine, aren't we?" Seeing Wang Meilan was angry, Li Baoyu quickly put on an apologetic smile.
"Not fine!" The more Wang Meilan thought about it, the angrier she got. She pointed at Li Baoyu and said, "You just wait. See if your dad doesn't beat you when he gets back!"
When Li Baoyu heard that, his face tensed up. He remembered the beating he got the day before yesterday and couldn't stop groaning inwardly.
Just then, Zhao Youcai came in with the soy sauce bottle. He placed it on the kitchen counter and said, "What's all the shouting about? I could hear you from outside."
What Northeast woman would be afraid to speak her mind at home?
When Wang Meilan saw her enforcer had returned, her eyebrows shot up in anger. She said to Zhao Youcai, "You, their father, don't even try to control them. These two kids are running wild."
Hearing this, Zhao Youcai didn't get angry but smiled instead. His smile, however, made both Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu's hair stand on end.
There's a line in *Tracks In The Snow Forest* that goes: "Don't fear Zuoshan Diao's shout, fear Zuoshan Diao's smile."
Zhao Jun's family didn't have a Zuoshan Diao, but they did have a Zhao Ergudong.
When Wang Meilan saw Zhao Youcai smile, she couldn't help but shoot a triumphant glare at Zhao Jun, then snorted and went into the inner room.
She had worked in the fields all day, and her work clothes were covered in dirt. Of course she had to change into something clean when she got back.
Zhao Youcai ignored Wang Meilan, and he paid even less attention to Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu. He rolled up his sleeves and told Zhao Jun to scrub the pot.
Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu frantically began to scrub the pot again. Once the pot was heated dry of any remaining water, Zhao Youcai began to braise the Bear's Paws.
A master chef's touch was, naturally, anything but ordinary.
Red-braised Bear's Paws in a soy sauce base—you might not even find this at a state banquet these days!
Before long, the aroma grew stronger and stronger, but Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu's hearts grew more and more apprehensive. They still didn't know if they could escape a beating today.
Just as the two buddies were trembling with anxiety, Jin Xiaomei returned with three little girls.
Zhao Hong, Zhao Na, and Li Xiaoqiao were all elementary school students. Back then, school let out early for children in the mountains.
Because Zhao Jun's family had some work to do in the fields, Wang Meilan wasn't home all day, so Jin Xiaomei had looked after Zhao Hong and Zhao Na.
After bringing Zhao Hong and Zhao Na home, Jin Xiaomei was planning to go inside to say hello to Wang Meilan. But as soon as she entered the yard, she smelled the fragrance of red-braised Bear's Paws.
Because of this, Jin Xiaomei felt a bit awkward about going inside. But the next second, she heard her own son's voice.
Jin Xiaomei was fuming inwardly. 'Those two little girls, Zhao Hong and Zhao Na, know not to impose on another family for a meal. How can my own silly son be so thoughtless?'
Thinking of this, Jin Xiaomei pulled Li Xiaoqiao along and entered the house with Zhao Hong and Zhao Na.
As soon as she entered, Jin Xiaomei first greeted Zhao Youcai. "Big Brother, you're home? You got off work early today."
"Ah, Sister-in-law, you're here," Zhao Youcai replied, then shouted toward the inner room, "Meilan! Sister-in-law is here."
Hearing his voice, Wang Meilan hurried out from the inner room, inviting Jin Xiaomei to come sit on the heated brick bed and chat.
Jin Xiaomei quickly declined, "No, I can't, Sister-in-law. I have to go home and make dinner."
"Make one less dish," Zhao Youcai said suddenly.
"Huh?" Jin Xiaomei was taken aback.
Zhao Youcai tapped the pot lid twice with his ladle and said, "Baoyu will bring two Bear's Paws back with him later."
"Big Brother, what's all this?" Jin Xiaomei demurred even more. "You should keep them for your family to eat."
Zhao Youcai smiled. "Two of them are for your family. Don't say another word. Your son got them on the mountain."
The moment Zhao Youcai said this, Li Baoyu—who had been hiding behind Zhao Jun ever since Jin Xiaomei entered—felt a sudden chill wash over him.