Chapter 562: Chapter 433: Hunting Specimens for the Mid-Autumn Festival
A typical male black bear, at its largest, weighs upward of 450 pounds. After spending an entire autumn fattening up, it might get close to 550 pounds.
But a black bear reaching 550 pounds is already one in a million.
‘800 or 900 pounds? What’s next, is it going to try and steal a monk’s cassock?’
But seeing how certain Gu Yang was, Zhao Jun didn’t say anything more. After seeing Gu Yang off, Zhao Jun got ready to head out. He wanted to go see Ma Ling.
‘She saw me off when I left. Now that I’m back, I should at least go over to her house and let her know.’
But as soon as Zhao Jun stepped out of his house, he saw Zhao Jinshan running toward him.
‘What a day for coincidences!’
“Zhao Jun!” Zhao Jinshan called out, waving at him from a distance. “Quick, come with me!”
Out of courtesy, Zhao Jun jogged over to meet him and asked, “Jinshan, what’s up?”
Zhao Jinshan gestured in the direction he came from and said to Zhao Jun, “There’s a phone call for you. I think it’s from your brother-in-law.”
“Oh!” Hearing the call was from his brother-in-law, Zhao Jun didn’t dare waste a second and hurried toward the Village Office.
When he arrived at the Village Office, Zhao Jun first nodded to Zhao Guofeng. Seeing Zhao Guofeng point at the telephone, Zhao Jun hurried over, picked up the receiver, and said, “Hello?”
Then, Zhou Jianjun’s voice came through the receiver. “Xiaojun! It’s me, your brother-in-law.”
“Brother-in-law!” Zhao Jun responded. On the way over, he had been trying to guess the reason for Zhou Jianjun’s call.
However, with Zhao Guofeng and Zhao Jinshan standing nearby, Zhao Jun didn’t ask any questions and just listened to what Zhou Jianjun had to say.
He heard Zhou Jianjun say, “Xiaojun, I have something I need to talk to you about.”
“Brother-in-law, go ahead,” Zhao Jun said. “It’s me. No need to be so formal. Whatever’s on your mind, just tell me.”
“Alright,” Zhou Jianjun said. “Yesterday morning, Director Chu from the Forestry Bureau came by. He told my dad that when our Forest Farm is collecting specimens this winter, we need to get him two roe deer and two wild boars.”
Hearing this, Zhao Jun relaxed. What Zhou Jianjun was saying didn’t sound like bad news at all. In fact, it seemed like a good thing.
He then heard Zhou Jianjun continue, “I discussed it with my dad last night. You know, this is his first year as the man in charge. He has to manage all his relationships, both with superiors and subordinates, right?”
“Of course!” At this point, Zhao Jun had a good idea why Zhou Jianjun was calling. He immediately said, “The Mid-Autumn Festival is on the 7th of next month, which is exactly one month from now. If you’re going to give gifts, you need to start preparing right away!”
The words were barely out of his mouth when Zhou Jianjun’s admiring voice came over the line. “My brother, you get it. Exactly! The Mid-Autumn Festival is just a month away. I told Uncle Zhou yesterday, why wait until winter? We can send a batch of gifts for the festival first.”
Hearing this, Zhao Jun asked, “Brother-in-law, so you’re saying we should hunt something for them now?”
“Yep,” Zhou Jianjun said. “Meat won’t keep long in this weather, so don’t go overboard. A smaller amount will be fine for now.”
At this point, Zhou Jianjun stopped beating around the bush and got straight to the point. “Xiaojun, I heard from Xu Baoshan that he gave you some time off, right?”
“Yep,” Zhao Jun replied. “Today, plus tomorrow and the day after. Three days off in total.”
The moment Zhao Jun finished speaking, Zhou Jianjun asked, “Uncle Zhou needs four roe deer and four wild boars. How long would that take you?”
“Brother-in-law, you can’t look at it that way,” Zhao Jun said. “This time of year isn’t like winter. In winter, once you hunt something, you can bury it in the snow to keep it frozen. It won’t spoil no matter how long you leave it. But now? If you bring back a mountain beast, where are you supposed to keep it?”
“We’ll deliver them half a month before the festival!” Zhou Jianjun said. “Xiaojun, you can start hunting next week. As soon as you get something, I’ll send a truck to pick it up.”
“Ah…” Zhao Jun thought for a moment before replying, “Brother-in-law, how about this? I’ll take the dogs up the mountain to run them for a few days. Then, starting two weeks before the Mid-Autumn Festival, I’ll begin the hunt. I should be able to get it all done within those two weeks, no problem.”
“Really?” Even through the phone, the surprise in Zhou Jianjun’s voice was audible.
After all, when giving gifts before a holiday, the closer to the actual day, the better. If Zhao Jun could get it all done in the two weeks leading up to the festival, he would be doing the Zhou father and son a massive favor.
Zhou Jianjun said as much, “Xiaojun, if you can do that, you’ll be doing me a huge favor!”
Zhao Jun laughed. “Hey, Brother-in-law, what’s this talk about ‘favors’ between us?”
“You’re a good brother!” Zhou Jianjun couldn’t help but praise, then added, “I was worried you wouldn’t be able to get it done in time, so I was thinking of asking Dad to help share the load.”
“No need,” Zhao Jun laughed. “We don’t need Dad for this. Let him focus on cooking in the cafeteria. With Zhang Zhanshan out of commission, Dad is the only real chef the whole Forest Farm has. He’s indispensable for handling visitors and guests.
“When I hunt the boars, I’ll use the dogs to corner them. For the roe deer, I’ll lead a party to set up an ambush. Don’t worry, it won’t mess up your plans.”
“That’s perfect!” Zhou Jianjun said happily. “In that case, you don’t have to go to work starting today. You can just hunt right up until the Mid-Autumn Festival. I’ll go talk to the inspection team and arrange your leave of absence right away.”
“Sounds good.” ‘This is fantastic,’ Zhao Jun thought.
‘Today is September 7th, and the ’87 Mid-Autumn Festival is on October 7th. My original three-day break has just turned into a month-long vacation.’
“Xiaojun,” Zhou Jianjun added, “you’ll need a gun and ammunition, won’t you? If there’s anything you need, just say the word. I’ll have Baoyu bring it over to you.”
“Ah!” Zhou Jianjun’s mention of a gun and ammunition made Zhao Jun suddenly remember something.
The semi-automatic rifle he was currently using was borrowed from the Yongxing Brigade. When Tao Dabao had given it to him, he’d mentioned that every year before October 1st, the Armed Forces Department would come to their brigade to inspect and take inventory of all equipment.