Chapter 564: Chapter 434: 4 Men, 4 Guns, 10 Dogs
The person who arrived was none other than Zhang Yuanmin, Zhao Jun’s good friend.
As Zhang Yuanmin drew near, he asked Zhao Jun, “Brother, where’ve you been with that gun on your back?”
Zhao Jun smiled. “I just picked up a gun from the Village Office. I’m getting up early tomorrow to go hunt a Black Bear.” Then, he teased Zhang Yuanmin, adding, “You wanna come, Big Brother?”
Zhao Jun had assumed that Zhang Yuanmin, who’d been scared out of his wits before, would immediately back out at the mere mention of hunting a Black Bear.
But to his surprise, Zhang Yuanmin’s eyes lit up upon hearing this, and he immediately agreed. “I’m in! I’ll go with you, brother!”
“Huh?” Now it was Zhao Jun’s turn to be stunned. He looked at Zhang Yuanmin in surprise and asked, “Big Brother, you’re not scared anymore?”
“Not anymore!” Zhang Yuanmin shook his head, smiling. “After we got up early that day and you dealt with that Black Bear, I haven’t been afraid since.”
The day Zhang Yuanmin mentioned was when Gu Yang had poisoned a Black Bear. The instant he saw the dead animal lying before him, Zhang Yuanmin found that the fear he held for them had vanished without a trace.
“Alright!” Zhao Jun nodded. “Then come find me at my house at seven tomorrow morning.”
In Zhao Jun’s mind, Li Baoyu, Zhang Yuanmin, and Jie Chen were all his good brothers. Their character was solid, so there would be absolutely no problem hunting with them.
As for their share of the spoils, Zhao Jun had never been concerned about it.
As the two walked shoulder to shoulder toward Zhao Jun’s family home, Zhao Jun asked Zhang Yuanmin, “Big Brother, were you coming to look for me?”
“Yeah!” Zhang Yuanmin chuckled. “I saw Baoyu heading to work with my uncle and the others just now. I heard him say you were off today, so I came over.”
Hearing this, Zhao Jun asked, “So you needed something from me, Big Brother?”
“Mhm.” Zhang Yuanmin nodded, then glanced around subconsciously before telling Zhao Jun, “Brother, yesterday your sister-in-law and I went up to Moda Mountain to pick schisandra berries, and I found a whole group of Fragrant Musk Deer.”
“Wow, Big Brother, that’s some great luck,” Zhao Jun said with a laugh. “So are you planning to set some snares, or what’s the move?”
Fragrant Musk Deer are a species of forest musk deer.
The males of this species have a sachet that produces musk.
It’s as the old saying goes: an innocent man becomes a criminal simply by possessing a treasure.
This musk can be used in medicine or sold for a high price. This made the Fragrant Musk Deer a coveted prize in the eyes of small-time hunters.
Most people hunt Fragrant Musk Deer by setting snares. So, when Zhao Jun heard Zhang Yuanmin had found a group of them, he assumed his friend was planning to do just that. He couldn’t figure out why Zhang Yuanmin was telling him about it, though.
“Brother, you can’t set snares there.” As Zhang Yuanmin spoke, he made a circle with his hands to show Zhao Jun. “That group of Fragrant Musk Deer is in a kind of mountain basin.”
At this, Zhang Yuanmin brought his hands together, holding them parallel with a gap of two fingers between them. “The path at the top of the basin is only this wide, and it’s super slick. A person can’t walk on it, let alone set a snare.”
After a moment’s thought, Zhao Jun nodded at Zhang Yuanmin. “Big Brother, I get what you’re saying. We’re going to ambush them, right?”
“Exactly!” Zhang Yuanmin grinned and gave Zhao Jun a thumbs-up. “You’re the sharp one, brother. That’s exactly why I came to find you.”
“Deal!” Zhao Jun agreed on the spot. “Tomorrow, let’s go up the mountain first and run my and Baoyu’s dogs. The day after, we’ll let them rest at home, and we brothers will go up the mountain and hunt that group of Fragrant Musk Deer!”
“Sounds good!” Zhang Yuanmin nodded. “Brother, I’ll follow your lead.”
With their plan settled, Zhang Yuanmin scampered off happily. He still had to meet Yang Yufeng to continue picking schisandra berries up the mountain.
When Zhao Jun got home, he told Wang Meilan about his month-long vacation. He then added that Jie Chen would be coming to stay for a few days and asked her to prepare a set of bedding for him.
In those days, it was very common for relatives and friends to come over to eat and stay for a while.
Wang Meilan also hoped her son would make good friends, so after hearing what Zhao Jun said, she went to prepare the bedding without a second thought.
As for Zhao Jun, he went out to find Ma Ling and let her know he was back. Then he went to the general store to buy some snacks for his two little sisters, as well as a few cans of food.
‘Jie Chen should be arriving this afternoon,’ he thought. ‘We don’t have any meat at home, so I’ll just get a couple of cans of food to welcome him.’
Sure enough, Jie Chen arrived that afternoon.
But just as he drove into the village, he got into a fight!
You couldn’t entirely blame Jie Chen. He was driving along the village road when he saw someone up ahead walking with a wide, waddling gait, just like a duck.
Without even needing to see his face, just the way the man walked was enough to set Jie Chen off. He stopped his car, jumped out, grabbed Zhang Laibao, and started beating him.
Zhang Laibao fought back fiercely, but was quickly pinned to the ground by Jie Chen, who then gave him a brutal pummeling.
Zhang Laibao screamed his lungs out, and soon, people came running over, ready to attack Jie Chen.
In those days, villagers were a tight-knit community, like one big family.
Even if the Zhang Family was deeply unpopular, the villagers weren’t about to stand by and watch one of their own get bullied by an outsider.
Jie Chen was from a village himself, so he naturally knew this. He scrambled back into his car and sped toward Zhao Jun’s family home.
When he pulled up to the gate of Zhao Jun’s family home, Jie Chen slammed on the horn twice.
The honking stopped, but the dogs kept barking incessantly. Zhao Jun hurried out of the house. Before he could even say a word to Jie Chen, he saw a whole crowd of people rushing toward his home.
The men were at the front, followed by the women who were there for the spectacle—and possibly to get a few cheap shots in.
Seeing the commotion, Zhao Jun quickly asked Jie Chen what had happened.