Qin Qiang naively said to Zhao Guofeng, "No need, Uncle Zhao. The other three don’t know how to shoot. One gun for and one for Great Victory will be enough."
Zhao Guofeng nodded. He took out another pack of bullets and handed them, along with the gun, to Tao Dasheng, who was already grinning from ear to ear.
Tao Dasheng took the gun and slung it over his shoulder. The group bid farewell to Zhao Guofeng and Xu Changlin, then left the Village Office, leading their dogs eastward.
Zhao Guofeng stood in the doorway and watched them disappear into the distance before turning to Xu Changlin beside him. "Uncle Xu, I just realized," he said. "If you hadn’t said what you did, they probably wouldn’t have gone."
A faint smile touched Xu Changlin’s lips. "If you’d told them Zhao Youcai’s eldest son was the one who arranged this, not a single one of them would have gone."
"Mm," Zhao Guofeng nodded. But then he suddenly rembered sothing and said to Xu Changlin with a smile, "Uncle Xu, it’s true what they say—the older you get, the wiser you beco. You handled this perfectly, and you’ll even make fifty yuan out of it."
"Hahaha..."
...
「Yongsheng Village, Village Office.」
Qi Shengli waited for Zhao Jun to hang up before asking, "I heard from Farm Director Zhou you’re going to hunt that ’cannon eggs’ boar?"
"That’s right." Zhao Jun had already put Zhang Yuanmin’s matter aside. ’I’ve done all I can. The rest is up to Zhang Big Pants’ own luck.’
He said to Qi Shengli, "I’m going ho to get my rifle, then I’m leaving right away." He then added, "Uncle Qi, do you have any other instructions?"
"No instructions," Qi Shengli said, waving his hand. "Just... all of you be careful out there."
Zhao Jun and the others said their goodbyes to Qi Shengli. They left the Village Office and returned to the Zhou family ho, where they grabbed their rifles and leashed their dogs before heading straight for Little Gu Mountain.
When they reached the village entrance, they saw three n standing up ahead: Wei Lai, Huang Gui, and Jiang Ming.
Wei Lai was there waiting for Zhao Jun and his party. As for Huang Gui and Jiang Ming, they were heading up the mountain to retrieve the bodies of Huang Gui’s two dogs that had been killed.
They ran into Wei Lai and chatted for a bit. When Huang Gui heard that Zhao Jun was taking his dogs into the mountains, he decided he wanted to stay and watch.
Of the four dogs, Zhao Jun handled two and Li Baoyu handled the other two. Zhou Jianjun offered to take a leash, but Zhao Jun refused.
The mont they saw the four dogs, the eyes of Wei Lai, Huang Gui, and Jiang Ming lit up.
But Huang Gui’s expression imdiately shifted to a frown.
"Young man," Huang Gui called out to Zhao Jun when he was still seven or eight ters away. "Your dogs’ legs look a little stiff. Shouldn’t you be testing them out?"
Zhao Jun chuckled. "You have a sharp eye, my friend. Three of these four dogs were injured before the New Year. This is their first ti back on the mountain since they’ve recovered, so their legs are bound to be a little stiff."
Hearing their conversation, it finally dawned on Li Baoyu. The previous night, while feeding the dogs, Zhao Jun had said he wanted to "test the dogs." Baoyu had assud he ant testing the abilities of the newcor, White Dragon.
He never realized Zhao Jun ant testing how well their legs had recovered.
’These three dogs have been resting at ho for over a month. It’s impossible to expect them to be back in their pre-injury condition the mont they set foot on the mountain again.’
’You have to give the hounds a buffer period, let them slowly recover their strength through the hunt itself.’
"These dogs of yours are good," Huang Gui said after a mont, giving a firm nod as he finished.
The n continued into the mountains as they talked, but Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu kept the dogs on their leashes the entire ti.
The four dogs strained at their leashes, leading the group.
Suddenly, Hua Xiao’er stopped in its tracks. It lifted its head, sniffed the air, and then began to pull violently at its leash, struggling to get forward.
Zhao Jun glanced around, then imdiately tugged on the slipknot. The instant the leash ca free, Hua Xiao’er shot off like an arrow from a bow, disappearing down into the gully.
"Baoyu, release the dogs."
At Zhao Jun’s command, both n undid the knots, and the other three dogs sped off after Hua Xiao’er.
At that, Huang Gui once again exclaid in admiration to Zhao Jun, "Young man, that lead dog of yours is incredible."
Jiang Ming, who was standing nearby, laughed. "Fourth Brother-in-law, that Huabiao is the top dog in our Yong’an Forest Farm."
"Mm," Huang Gui nodded gravely. "The dog has a great nose. It’s just getting a little old."
These last few comnts from Huang Gui proved he was a true expert.
’And his attitude today was a complete reversal from yesterday’s. It wasn’t that his pride had been deflated because his own dogs failed the hunt; it was simply that he was grateful to Zhao Jun and his n for helping to save his dog.’
’Zhao Jun liked that kind of character.’
"Brother-in-law," Huang Gui said to Jiang Ming. "Let’s follow the young man and see just what kind of work Yong’an’s top dog can do."
"Alright."
The group headed down. By the ti they reached the bottom of the gully, they could hear barking from the opposite hillside.
The n quickened their pace to head up the slope, but before they could even start climbing, they saw a wild boar running down from the eastern ridge with the four dogs in hot pursuit.
Aside from Li Baoyu and Zhou Jianjun, the other four were all seasoned hunters. Even from a distance, they could visually estimate the wild boar to be around three hundred and fifty pounds—about the sa size as the one Huang Gui had taken down with his knife the day before.
The boar and the four dogs tore down the ridge, kicking up a cloud of powdery snow that billowed like smoke.
Daqing, Da Huang, and White Dragon quickly drew level with the boar. anwhile, Hua Xiao’er attacked from the rear, leaping up toward the boar’s hindquarters and sinking its teeth viciously into the two large testicles hanging there.
Hua Xiao’er latched on and refused to let go. The boar was still charging downhill, and with the dog hanging on, its own montum nearly tore its testicles clean off.
"SQUEALLL..."
Amidst the boar’s agonized squeal, it tried to stop but couldn’t fight its own inertia. Caught between the two opposing forces, its legs tangled and its hooves slipped. It flipped over and tumbled down the slope, rolling all the way to the bottom of the gully.
The boar now lay only about a hundred ters away from Zhao Jun and his group, and they didn’t even have to climb the slope.
All six n stared in disbelief. What a stroke of incredible luck!
The boar had landed in the gully with one of its forelegs clearly snapped, and a hind leg also appeared to be injured.
The four dogs sward it. Daqing and White Dragon latched onto the boar’s ears, tearing at them ferociously while pressing their bodies tight against the boar’s.
This way, even if the boar thrashed its head, its tusks couldn’t gore them.
Da Huang locked its jaws on the boar’s Haraba, while Hua Xiao’er, at the rear, continued to gouge it, making the boar shriek and wail in agony.
With all four dogs piled on top of it, and with injuries to both a front and a hind leg, the boar had no hope of escape.
Zhao Jun didn’t bring the rifle to his cheek. Instead, he held the Type 56 semi-automatic he’d borrowed from Zhou Chunming at the Village Office vertically. With his left hand, he reached toward the muzzle, pressed down on the spring-loaded collar, and flicked the bayonet out.
CLICK!
A sharp, crisp sound rang out.
The bayonet was locked in place!
The bayonet, with its double-sided blood grooves, glinted coldly under the winter sun!
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