The pitcher that goes often to the well is broken at last; a general can't avoid dying on the battlefield.
A hunting dog doesn't always escape a hunt unscathed. Injuries are inevitable.
Qin the Third had been borrowing the dog from the Zhao family for nearly two years. During that time, Hua Gou had been injured multiple times. Each time the dog returned hurt, Zhao Youcai would have to go to the clinic and ask someone to bandage its wounds and give it an anti-inflammatory shot. Qin Qiang never once bothered to help.
Despite all this, the Zhao Family never received so much as a single scrap of meat from Qin Qiang.
It was only because of the couple, Zhao Youcai and Wang Meilan—one who didn't care and one who was too kind-hearted—that they never made an issue of it with Qin Qiang.
But today, Zhao Jun had laid it all bare to his face, leaving Qin Qiang so ashamed he wished the ground would swallow him whole.
"Brother, enough said. I'll come visit Uncle and Auntie another day." Qin Qiang gave Zhao Jun a cupped-fist salute, then turned and strode out of the courtyard, not daring to mention borrowing the dog again.
The moment Qin Qiang left, Tao Dasheng and Tao Ersheng scurried after him with their tails between their legs.
Watching them go, Li Baoyu and Li Ruhai exchanged a look. To the two of them, something about Zhao Jun seemed off today.
Even though Qin Qiang was clearly in the wrong, the Li Brothers knew Zhao Jun well. With his personality, he would never have said something like that.
They had been following Zhao Jun around since they were kids and knew him to be generous and open-handed.
The Li Family wasn't well-off, but the Zhao Family, on the other hand, never lacked for food since Zhao Youcai was the head chef at the Forest Farm.
After all, even in a famine, the cook is never the one to starve.
Over the years, Zhao Youcai had helped Li Dayong, just as Zhao Jun had helped Li Baoyu.
Back in their school days, whatever Zhao Jun's family was eating, Zhao Jun would bring some for Li Baoyu.
But the memory that stuck with Li Baoyu the most was from eight years ago.
Back then, Zhao Hong, Zhao Na, and Li Xiaoqiao hadn't even been born. It was the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the Forest Farm told the canteen to serve something special for the holiday.
But what was there to serve back then?
All Zhao Youcai could do was fry up a few woks of mantou slices in lard, which was already an incredible treat at the time.
For the occasion, Zhao Youcai had even brought his twelve-year-old son, Zhao Jun, to work with him, figuring the boy could get his fill of the rich food.
But what Zhao Youcai never, ever expected was for his son to steal half a wok of the fried mantou slices, stuff them in a sack, and run home.
But Zhao Jun didn't keep them all for himself. He shared the mantou slices with his older sister, Li Baoyu, and Li Ruhai.
For that stunt, Zhao Jun was beaten so badly by Zhao Youcai that he couldn't get out of bed for three days.
And you have to remember, Zhao Jun was just a kid back then.
That was in the distant past. More recently...
Take that wild boar from the day before yesterday. According to the rules, Big-headed Dog was entitled to a share, meaning Zhao Jun could have taken two-thirds of the total.
But in the end, the two of them split it fifty-fifty. What were rules compared to their bond as brothers?
That's why the Li Brothers couldn't fathom why Zhao Jun would have a falling out with Qin Qiang and the Tao Brothers over a bit of meat.
As the three men vanished from the gate, Zhao Jun kicked the stick at his feet away. He turned to Li Baoyu, who was standing beside him, and said, "Baoyu, remember this from now on: we are never lending our dog to them."
"Okay, Brother, I'll remember." Though he didn't know why, Li Baoyu agreed without a moment's hesitation.
Zhao Jun nodded. He looked over at Hua Gou, who was staring forlornly at the gate with its tail drooping, and his expression grew even darker.
Li Baoyu and Li Ruhai were right. Zhao Jun's falling out with Qin Qiang and the Tao Brothers wasn't because he cared about the meat, nor was it simply because they were dishonorable men. There was another reason entirely.
In his previous life, this had all happened three or four months from now. Heavy snow had sealed the mountains, and it was the height of hunting season.
One day, Qin Qiang came to borrow the dog.
On that day, Zhao Jun happened to be home alone, so he let him take Hua Gou.
But that night, it was already past 8:00 PM, and Hua Gou still hadn't come back.
In truth, this was quite normal during a hunt. Often, a hunter and his dogs would roam the mountains all day without spotting a single boar, only to run into one on the way home. Naturally, that would make them late.
But then Li Baoyu came over and said that Qin Qiang had been home for a while, apparently having caught nothing.
Hearing this, Zhao Jun instantly grew anxious and rushed straight to Qin Qiang's house.
When he got there, he found Qin Qiang sitting on the kang, drinking with his three brothers-in-law.
The four men were stunned to see Zhao Jun burst in.
As it turned out, Qin Qiang and his three brothers-in-law had taken the dogs up the mountain that day. Not long after they'd gone in, Hua Gou had started to bay, and Qin Qiang's own four dogs had shot off in pursuit.
But before Qin Qiang's group could even reach the scene, his four dogs came running back. Only Hua Gou was missing.
Qin Qiang and his brothers-in-law whistled and even fired their guns to call the dog, but Hua Gou never returned.
So, Qin Qiang and the others figured that since they had just entered the mountains and weren't far from home, Hua Gou had probably just run home by itself.
If it had been one of their own dogs, it never would have run home while its master was still in the mountains. But Hua Gou was borrowed, so who could say for sure?
So they didn't go looking for Hua Gou. The men sat down, had a smoke, and then continued on their way with the other four dogs.
They roamed the mountains until afternoon, but found nothing. So, the four of them simply took a shortcut down the mountain and went home.
Zhao Jun was livid when he heard their story. 'Something clearly happened! You borrow my dog, and when it doesn't come back, you don't even think to look for it?'
Right then and there, Zhao Jun flipped the table.
Because they were in the wrong, and more importantly, because they were wary of the connection between the Zhao Family and Zhou Chunming, neither Qin Qiang nor his brothers-in-law dared to lay a hand on Zhao Jun.
But by then, it was nearly 9:00 PM.
In the dead of winter, the mountains were pitch-black and the temperature was nearing forty below zero. It was impossible to go looking for the dog at night.
Zhao Jun didn't sleep a wink that night.
The next day, he rose at the crack of dawn, got Li Baoyu, and met up with Qin Qiang and his group of three to head up the mountain together.
When they reached the spot where Qin Qiang's party had lost Hua Gou the day before, they all spread out to search.
When Zhao Jun finally found Hua Gou, the dog was already dead.
It turned out Hua Gou had run into a wild boar the day before—and a massive "cannonball" boar at that. The dog had been gored once, its intestines ripped out by a sharp tusk.
In truth, it wasn't a fatal wound. If someone had just stuffed its intestines back in and stitched it up, the dog would have recovered in a few months.
But as Hua Gou tried to head back, its intestines snagged on the low-hanging branch of a pine tree by the path. Every time it tried to move forward, its guts would be pulled, causing immense pain.
Helpless, Hua Gou could only lie down. It couldn't move, no matter how much Qin Qiang called for it.
In reality, if Qin Qiang had just walked up onto the nearby ridge, he would have seen Hua Gou.
If he had just stuffed the dog's intestines back inside and used his own leg wrappings to bind the wound, Hua Gou could have easily walked home on its own.
But he didn't.
When Zhao Jun found Hua Gou, the dog was frozen solid. The snow beneath it had turned to a sheet of ice.
The dog had lain there all the day before, its body heat melting the snow. Then, as its warmth faded, the melted snow had frozen solid around it.
Crying, Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu immediately started a brawl with Qin Qiang and the Tao Brothers right then and there.
From that day forward, the Zhao and Li families cut off all contact with the Qin and Tao families.