Today was one of the rare days Zhao Youcai got off work early. As soon as he entered the village, people kept stopping him to say his son, Zhao Jun, had some dog-shit luck and found a dead Black Bear up on the mountain.
The news left Zhao Youcai completely baffled.
Back in the day, he, Zhao Youcai, had been a top-tier Hunter who commanded the forests. Just as Li Baoyu had told Qin Qiang, Zhao Youcai had even hunted a Tiger.
Although he had fired two shots and hadn't hit a single hair on it, just being part of such a hunt was a testament to his skill.
But in his twenty-plus years of hunting, Zhao Youcai had never heard of anyone just stumbling upon a Black Bear while wandering through the mountains.
If it were that easy, why would anyone even bother hunting? You could just take a stroll in the mountains every day.
'Dammit! Those two little bastards must be up to no good again!' At that moment, Zhao Youcai assumed his troublesome son had simply stolen someone else's kill.
The thought made Zhao Youcai's blood boil. The Zhao family, starting with his own father, had been renowned hunters for hundreds of miles around.
By the time it was his generation, he was a well-known figure in all the surrounding villages.
But this bastard son of his... a few days ago, he'd stolen someone's boar snare, and now he was "finding" a Black Bear someone else had shot. Zhao Jun was truly dragging the Zhao Family's name through the mud.
The more Zhao Youcai thought about it, the angrier he became. He stopped exchanging pleasantries with his neighbors and strode toward home, rolling up his sleeves as he went.
Li Baoyu had just stepped out of Zhao Jun's family home when he saw Zhao Youcai storming in his direction.
'Who pissed Uncle off?' Li Baoyu wondered. As Zhao Youcai drew near, he quickly moved out of the doorway and greeted him, "You're back, Uncle."
"Mhm." Zhao Youcai merely nodded and strode into the courtyard. As he passed the storeroom, he decided to go in and grab the large broom.
There was no bamboo in the Northeast, so these large brooms were made of bundled willow branches. Taller than a man, they were used for sweeping courtyards and streets.
Zhao Youcai planned to pull a switch or two from the family's broom. A willow switch left a bloody welt with every lash, a uniquely "refreshing" kind of pain.
'You just wait, you little bastard!' Zhao Youcai swore to himself as he used a pair of pliers to twist the wire binding the broom. 'I'm going to beat you until you're crying for your mommy and daddy.'
Suddenly, his gaze swept past something and stopped. He saw a Bear Gall hanging from the rafters.
Zhao Youcai froze, his hands stopping of their own accord.
His mind raced. 'If Zhao Jun just found a Black Bear someone else killed, there's no way the Bear Gall would still be here.'
Any Hunter would sooner give up the Bear's Paws and meat than leave behind the Bear Gall.
Having been a hunter for many years, Zhao Youcai could naturally tell a good Bear Gall from a bad one. Although the one hanging in his storeroom was a Grass Gall, once it was air-dried and sold at the store down the mountain, it would be worth over six hundred yuan—nearly his entire yearly salary.
'Could that little bastard have really gotten that lucky?' Zhao Youcai put down the pliers and the broom, kicked away Qing Gou as it trotted over wagging its tail, and walked out of the storeroom toward the main house.
The moment Zhao Youcai stepped inside, he saw two large Bear's Paws sitting on the stove. From his experience, one look at their size told him the Black Bear must have weighed close to four hundred pounds.
A Black Bear of this size was far more dangerous than any wild boar.
"Dad, you're back?" Just then, Zhao Jun emerged from an inner room. Seeing Zhao Youcai, he pointed to the pair of Bear's Paws. "Perfect timing. Mom doesn't know how to cook these things."
"Where did you find it?" Zhao Youcai asked.
"In Naoxia Pond, south of Sector 45." Zhao Jun was actually telling the truth. He needed to ask his old man to find someone with a vehicle to haul the Black Bear back tomorrow, so he couldn't lie about the location.
The "Sector 45" Zhao Jun mentioned was a special local designation for a specific area at the time.
Ever since the state established the Forest Farm and its work units here, the mountain range had been divided into zones, and each zone was called a sector.
Each sector was then subdivided into smaller plots.
Over time, whenever the mountain folk talked about a certain peak or location, they would refer to it by its sector number, and any local would instantly know where they meant.
Zhao Youcai nodded. "Go start a fire outside and singe the paws clean."
"Okay, I'll get Baoyu to help." Zhao Jun picked up a Bear's Paw in each hand and started to head outside.
"Wait a minute," Zhao Youcai said suddenly, stopping him. "Does Baoyu get a share of that Bear Gall?"
"Yeah! We're splitting it fifty-fifty between our families."
"Good. That's the way it should be. Go on." Apparently satisfied with the answer, Zhao Youcai walked into the inner room, crossed his legs, and lay down on the *kang*.
Zhao Jun carried the Bear's Paws out of the house and called for Li Baoyu over the wall.
The Bear's Paws were covered in fur that had to be removed before they could be eaten.
But their method for removing the fur was different from the one used for scalding pigs or plucking chickens.
Instead of using boiling water, they used fire, singeing the fur down to the roots. Afterward, they would soak the paws in water and scrub the charred surface clean with a brush.
This process not only removed the fur but also eliminated any oily, gamey taste.
Their own two paws needed singeing, and so did the two Li Baoyu had taken.
So, the two boys decided to do it together. One fire would be enough for all four paws, which they tossed right in.
The smell of burning bear fur was unbelievably foul, more acrid than burning rubber.
Before long, the smell wafted into the house and choked Zhao Youcai awake just as he was drifting off.
Shuffling in his slippers, Zhao Youcai came out of the house. He saw Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu huddled by the wall, covering their noses. He went over to them and grumbled, "Couldn't you do this outside the courtyard..."
As he spoke, his eyes fell on the other side of the wall. He saw Li Baoyu's family dog, Da Huang, with a legging wrapped around its neck, blood seeping through the fabric. He couldn't help but frown.
For a moment, Zhao Youcai began to question the story of how they got the Black Bear. But looking at the blood on the bandage, Da Huang's wound didn't seem like something a Black Bear would inflict.
After studying it for a few moments, he turned to Zhao Jun. "How did Da Huang get hurt?"
"Dad, there's a Lynx in Naoxia Pond."
Zhao Youcai nodded and murmured, "No wonder."
With that, Zhao Youcai covered his nose and walked out of the courtyard.
"Dad, where are you going?"
Zhao Youcai didn't answer. He simply left the courtyard and headed west, his hands clasped behind his back.
He walked all the way to the Village Office. Without any ceremony, he pushed the door open and went right in.
"Youcai, what brings you here? Do you have the day off?"
"No, just got off early," Zhao Youcai said. "Village Chief, can I borrow a rifle?"
"Of course!" The Yong'an Village Chief, Zhao Guofeng, agreed without a second thought when he heard Zhao Youcai wanted a gun. "Have a seat, I'll go get it for you."
"Mhm." Zhao Youcai didn't stand on ceremony, simply pulling out a stool and sitting down.
Zhao Guofeng stood up. Behind him was an inner room.
A moment later, Zhao Guofeng emerged carrying a Type 56 semi-automatic rifle.
Zhao Guofeng set the rifle down on the table in front of Zhao Youcai. He then opened a desk drawer, pulled out three clips of ammunition, and asked, "Is this enough?"
Zhao Youcai, who was already sighting down the barrel, glanced at the clips. "I won't need that many."
"Just take them all." Zhao Guofeng pushed the thirty rounds across the table. "Haven't heard about any Black Bears injuring people lately. Why are you heading into the mountains?"
"Not for a Black Bear." Zhao Youcai lowered the rifle, grabbing it in one hand and the clips in the other. "I'm hunting a tiger cub!"
"A tiger cub..." Zhao Guofeng nodded slowly. After a moment, a look of curiosity crossed his face. "Say, Youcai, that year you all went after that Tiger... who was it that actually fired those two shots?"
Zhao Youcai paused for a second, then chuckled. "That was years ago. Can't remember. I'm off!" With that, he hefted the rifle in one hand, grabbed the ammo with the other, and shuffled out the door.