But Zhao Jun just chuckled. "That Dou Baoguo, with all his talk of increasing production and building roads... isn’t he just trying to bring in those poachers to make trouble for our inspection team?"
Hearing this, Xu Baoshan gave Zhao Jun a long, hard look, but he didn’t respond.
Zhao Jun continued, "He wants to use those poachers to catch us for violations. He wants to fight us by the book, so we’ll fight him by the book, too."
"Hmm?" Xu Baoshan paused, as if a thought had just struck him.
Zhao Jun smiled and said to Xu Baoshan, "The inspection guidelines don’t just have rules for us inspectors, do they? There are rules for the logging teams, too."
At Zhao Jun’s words, Xu Baoshan’s eyes lit up. When he turned to Zhao Jun, his face was already beaming. He clapped him on the arm and praised, "Attaboy! You kid, no wonder you’re... Master Zhao’s son!"
"Heh heh..." Zhao Jun felt there was something odd about Xu Baoshan’s praise, but he didn’t have time to worry about it. He just said, "Uncle Xu, Master Chen and Master Qiao are back, right? So next time you send a technician, send me. You’ll see how I handle them!"
"Oh, that’s right!" Xu Baoshan slapped Zhao Jun on the shoulder again and laughed. "You’re the one who knows those regulations inside and out!"
"You know it!" Zhao Jun accepted the praise without a hint of modesty, a smug smile on his face. A plan had already formed in his mind.
’So Dou Baoguo is new here and thinks he can use a bunch of poachers to create a breach in the inspection team and build his own power base? He’s got another thing coming!’
"Oh, right!" All the gloom lifted from Xu Baoshan’s heart. He looked at Zhao Jun. "I should assign someone to go with you, shouldn’t I?"
"Definitely!" Zhao Jun said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I can’t handle it all on my own."
Xu Baoshan said, "Should I pick someone for you, then?"
"No need." Zhao Jun thought of the perfect person and smiled faintly. "Have Zhang Xuefeng go with me."
"Him?" Xu Baoshan stared intently at Zhao Jun. "He’s one hell of a fighter."
"Exactly," Zhao Jun grinned. "I’m going to get some payback for Brother Liang and Master Chen."
"Don’t you go starting trouble!" Xu Baoshan’s expression changed instantly. He frowned. "The two of you, no matter how tough you are, you think you can take on that many guys? I’ll say it again: go there and play by the book. Just focus on sorting them out. If a fight is going to break out, you come back and get us."
"We won’t need to." Zhao Jun leaned in close to Xu Baoshan with a mischievous grin. "The Gui Ling team leader at the New Logging Camp... he’s from our village."
"Huh?"
Xu Baoshan froze for a second, then heard Zhao Jun add, "He’s also my Uncle Li’s apprentice."
"Oh!" Xu Baoshan instantly remembered that Li Dayong had been a Gui Ling worker before moving to the dispatch office. At this thought, he pointed at Zhao Jun, unable to suppress a laugh. "You’d better take it easy. There are over eighty men on the Gui Ling crew at the New Logging Camp."
After saying this, Xu Baoshan’s smile vanished. "But listen," he said to Zhao Jun, "you have to remember: no matter what, you can’t cross the line. Otherwise, that guy Dou will try to bury you."
"Mhm, don’t you worry, Uncle Xu!" Zhao Jun replied, looking the picture of obedience.
Looking at Zhao Jun, Xu Baoshan felt reassured. Ever since joining the inspection team, Zhao Jun had never caused him any trouble. His work was always steady and error-free. In fact, Zhao Jun’s performance over the past few months wasn’t like a rookie’s at all; he was more like a veteran technician with over a decade of experience.
"Zhao Jun," Xu Baoshan said earnestly, "once you’re over there, if anything comes up, come back and tell me immediately. Let’s see if we can get rid of these poachers for good."
"Alright, Uncle Xu. I’ll listen to you," Zhao Jun said, still with that well-behaved expression. But what he was really thinking was, ’I’m not just going to get rid of these poachers. I’m going to take that guy Dou down with them, all in one fell swoop!’
Xu Baoshan had no idea what was going through Zhao Jun’s mind. He just said, "It’s already noon, you might as well head home. Go pack your bedroll, come to the inspection team office tomorrow morning, and I’ll personally take the two of you over."
"No rush." Zhao Jun shook his head with a smile. "Uncle Xu, we’ve gone through three batches of inspectors in less than half a month. Shouldn’t you go to the main office and give Farm Director Dou a work report?"
Xu Baoshan stared blankly at Zhao Jun, wondering what this kid was up to now.
But Zhao Jun just grinned. "How about this, Uncle Xu? Why don’t you take me and Zhang Xuefeng to the main office to ask Farm Director Dou for some instructions."
"Heh heh heh..." Xu Baoshan suddenly burst out laughing. He raised his hand, pointing at Zhao Jun again and again. After a long moment, all he could say was, "A chip off the old block, truly!"