"Gu Yang!" Zhao Jun shouted toward the courtyard. "Come on in, and bring your bowl!"
"Yeah!" Gu Yang called back, walking inside with his bowl.
When Jiang Zhou's wife saw that Zhao Jun was the one speaking, she didn't dare to intervene, and even flashed a smile at him.
When Gu Yang reached the table, Zhao Jun motioned for him to sit down, slid the plate of braised Bear's Paw over, and told him, "Eat this."
There had been twelve plates of braised Bear's Paw in total, and only this table and the one where Li Baoyu was sitting had any left.
To others, this Bear's Paw was a delicacy. But for Zhao Jun and his group, they had long since grown tired of it.
But when had Gu Yang ever eaten something like this? He reached out, grabbed a Bear's Paw, and began tearing off the remaining meat and tendons with big bites.
Zhao Jun watched with a smile as Gu Yang finished the Bear's Paw and then polished off all the other leftover food on the table.
"Brother Jun, I'm full. That Black Bear paw was delicious." After he finished eating, Gu Yang stood up, smiled as he praised the braised Bear's Paw to Zhao Jun, and then said, "You stay seated. I'll go help Aunt Jiang clear the tables."
"Mm," Zhao Jun nodded. Just as Gu Yang was about to leave, he said, "I've already spoken with Brother Zhang. You can go directly to his house tomorrow to pick it up."
"Okay, thank you, Brother Jun." Gu Yang was even more pleased to hear this and quickly walked out of the courtyard.
As soon as Gu Yang left, Wang Meilan came out of the inner room. Without saying a word, she simply told Zhao Jun it was time to go home.
Seeing that the mother and son were leaving, Jiang Zhou and his wife hurried over to see them off. But Wang Meilan just gave Jiang Zhou a cold glance, and without a single word, turned and walked away.
Seeing this, Zhao Jun's brow furrowed. He didn't know what had gotten into his mother, so he just exchanged a few polite words with Jiang Zhou before excusing himself to chase after Wang Meilan.
When he caught up with his mother, before Zhao Jun could even ask, Wang Meilan launched into a long tirade. By the time she was finished, Zhao Jun's face was ashen.
When they got home, the mother and son didn't mention the matter to Zhao Youcai. They simply washed up and went to bed.
「The next day」
Zhao Jun went to work as usual. Gu Yang, meanwhile, arrived at Zhang Yuanmin's house.
It was August 15th, a Saturday.
Normally, Little Lingdang would have the day off. But Yong'an Primary School was organizing a major clean-up today, and as the class president, Little Lingdang had to set an example, so she had gone to school early.
Yang Yufeng had gone to the market, leaving Zhang Yuanmin at home by himself.
At that moment, Zhang Yuanmin was reclining against a cabinet on the kang, lost in thought.
Suddenly, someone knocked twice on the door. Zhang Yuanmin had just started to get up when he heard someone ask, "Brother Zhang, you home?"
"Ah, Gu Yang." Zhang Yuanmin recognized Gu Yang's voice and immediately smiled. "I'm home. Come on in."
As soon as Zhang Yuanmin finished speaking, Gu Yang came in from the outer room. Seeing Zhang Yuanmin sitting on the kang, he nodded at him and called out, "Brother Zhang."
Zhang Yuanmin gestured for Gu Yang to sit down, but when he started to get up to pour him some water, Gu Yang stopped him.
"Brother, don't go to the trouble. I'm only staying for a little while."
Men are generally lazy, so when Zhang Yuanmin heard this, he didn't bother going to boil water. Instead, he got up, pointed at the large wardrobe against the wall, and said to Gu Yang, "There's a paper package on top of that wardrobe. Feel for it and get it down for me. Be careful now."
Potassium aluminum cyanide fears water and moisture, so Zhang Yuanmin had placed the Medicinal Beans he brought back in a high spot.
But he was short and usually needed a stool to put it up or take it down. Now that Gu Yang was here, Zhang Yuanmin saved himself the trouble.
Gu Yang felt for the paper package on the wardrobe and handed it to Zhang Yuanmin. Zhang Yuanmin carefully unfolded the paper package, checked it thoroughly, and seeing that the Medicinal Beans weren't damp, he folded the paper package back up. He offered it to Gu Yang, but his hand, still pinching the package, didn't let go.
Zhang Yuanmin looked at Gu Yang solemnly and said, "This stuff is no joke. You have to be careful."
"Yeah." Gu Yang knew Zhang Yuanmin meant well, so he said, "I understand, Brother Zhang."
Hearing Gu Yang's reply, Zhang Yuanmin nodded and gave him the paper package of potassium aluminum cyanide. Then he asked offhandedly, "Where'd you learn to dig for deer dens? I've never heard of anyone in your family doing that."
Not just Zhao Jun and Zhang Yuanmin, but even Li Dayong and Li Baoyu, who had overheard a bit of it yesterday, all thought Gu Yang wanted the Medicinal Beans to go poison deer.
But to Zhang Yuanmin's surprise, after Gu Yang took the Medicinal Beans, he said, "Brother Zhang, I'm not poisoning deer. I'm taking this to go poison a Black Bear."
"What did you say?" The moment Zhang Yuanmin heard the words "Black Bear," his heart skipped a beat and his hands and feet turned to ice.
"A Black Bear!" Gu Yang had no idea that his host was terrified by the animal, so he even repeated himself. As soon as Zhang Yuanmin heard it again, his face instantly turned pale.
"Gu Yang, my brother." Zhang Yuanmin forced himself to calm down and spoke to Gu Yang in the tone of a seasoned veteran. "You can't just mess with a Black Bear like that. Look at Elder Jiang and Tao Dasheng, didn't they both get mauled by one?"
"Brother!" Gu Yang could sense the sincerity in Zhang Yuanmin's tone. His heart warmed, and he immediately said, "I'm already nineteen. I have to earn my own money to get married."
Hearing this, Zhang Yuanmin couldn't help but recall his own past hardships. But on second thought, he still tried to stop him. "Gu Yang, you can't be reckless. If things go wrong with a Black Bear, it'll cost you your life."
"It's fine. Brother Zhang, don't worry." Gu Yang said with a smile, "I have a trick. Let me tell you about it, and you can see if you think it'll work."
'You have a trick…' Zhang Yuanmin thought to himself. 'The way this kid talks… how come it sounds a little like me?'
Gu Yang continued, "Brother, that big fella you guys poison must weigh at least five hundred pounds, right?"
"Mm," Zhang Yuanmin nodded.
Gu Yang went on, "A Black Bear is only about three hundred pounds, four hundred at most. If these Medicinal Beans can kill the big one, you're telling me they can't kill a Black Bear?"
"Whoa!" Zhang Yuanmin exclaimed, startling Gu Yang. Then Gu Yang saw him raise a hand and slap himself on the forehead.
This terrified Gu Yang, who thought, 'If you don't want to give me the Medicinal Beans, just say so. Worst case, I just won't take them. What are you doing this for?'
But how could he have known that what Zhang Yuanmin was actually thinking was, 'What a brilliant plan! This is what you call a bloodless victory! Effortless! Absolutely foolproof!'
Suddenly, Zhang Yuanmin recalled what he had read the previous night after returning from the banquet. While reviewing *Romance of the Three Kingdoms*, he had come across the chapter where Zhuge Kongming recruits Jiang Wei.
In that moment, as Zhang Yuanmin looked at Gu Yang again, a thought suddenly popped into his head. 'If I could take him as my apprentice, then all my skills would finally have a successor!'