Trading a wild boar leg or a bear leg for bullets—was it a fair trade?

It was!

In this day and age, wild boar and bear meat weren’t worth much, but bullets cost money. Of course, someone with connections like Zhao Youcai didn’t need to spend any money.

But Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu couldn’t do that. So, Zhao Jun took out his savings from over the years—thirteen yuan and eighty-two fen in total—hoping to trade for a few clips of bullets.

The person Li Baoyu went to for the bullets was Zhao Jinshan, the son of the Village Chief, Zhao Guofeng.

As for how Zhao Jinshan got his hands on the bullets, there was no need to ask. In any case, they hadn’t cost him anything.

But Zhao Jinshan was a decent guy. He didn’t ask for Li Baoyu’s money, instead letting him pay for the bullets with meat.

Zhao Jun understood perfectly well that Zhao Jinshan was doing him a personal favor.

Zhao Jun gladly accepted. ’Zhao Jinshan is a decent guy. When we bag something, I’ll just give him a bigger cut.’

Right now, Zhao Jun only cared about two things: hunting and working the dogs.

Half the winter was almost gone. If they didn’t get a move on, spring would arrive.

Fortunately, Zhao Jun now had a gun, dogs, and bullets. He was rubbing his hands in glee and ready for action. He immediately made a plan with Li Baoyu to go hunting in the mountains early the next morning.

Hearing this, Li Baoyu was also extremely excited. Hunting was just like fishing—it was addictive. And the newer you were to it, the stronger the addiction.

As soon as Li Baoyu got home, he started preparing. He found his leg bindings, coiled up the dog leash, and sharpened his Invasion Blade...

Just as Li Baoyu was sharpening the blade, Li Ruhai sidled up to him and said with a smile, "Big brother, want some help?"

"Don’t need it," Li Baoyu replied without looking up.

Li Ruhai had been rebuffed, but he wasn’t annoyed. He just squatted next to Li Baoyu, watching him sharpen the blade.

His staring didn’t seem like a big deal, but it started to make Li Baoyu’s skin crawl. He glanced sideways at Li Ruhai and asked suspiciously, "What are you up to, kid?"

"Hehe," Li Ruhai chuckled placatingly, grabbing Li Baoyu’s arm. "Big brother, you’re going into the mountains tomorrow. Take me with you, okay?"

"Get the hell out!" As soon as Li Baoyu heard this, a surge of anger shot through him, and he exploded at Li Ruhai.

"What’s going on now!" Li Baoyu’s words had barely faded when Jin Xiaomei’s voice came from outside the door. "You’re the older brother, why are you always bullying your little brother?"

Li Baoyu usually never talked back to Jin Xiaomei, but today he shot up from his small stool, yanked the door open, and shouted outside, "Your precious son wants to go hunting in the mountains! You tell me if I should scold him or not!"

"What?" Hearing this, Jin Xiaomei stormed inside, raising her hand to smack Li Ruhai on the head. She berated him as she hit him, "I’ll teach you to go to the mountains! I’ll teach you to go to the mountains!"

With two shouts of "I’ll teach you to go to the mountains," Jin Xiaomei smacked Li Ruhai twice. After the second smack, Li Ruhai scrambled onto the kang.

Jin Xiaomei pointed at Li Ruhai and yelled, "Let me tell you, don’t get cocky with me! Otherwise, when your dad gets back, he’ll break your legs!"

After saying her piece, Jin Xiaomei turned to leave. But as she passed Li Baoyu, she raised her hand and gave him a Big Palm.

That wasn’t all. Jin Xiaomei then pointed at Li Baoyu’s nose and said, "And let me tell *you*, if you dare take him into the mountains, I’ll have your dad break *your* legs."

"I..."

’What did I do to deserve this?’

Li Baoyu was about to say something, but when he saw Jin Xiaomei glare at him, he instantly swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue.

"Fine!" Li Baoyu nodded helplessly. But as if in a fit of pique, he shot a fierce glare at Li Ruhai while actually speaking to Jin Xiaomei behind him, "If your precious son tries to follow me into the mountains, I’ll break his legs first!"

...

The next morning, after breakfast, Zhao Jun got dressed, stuffed all fifty bullets Li Baoyu had traded for into his pockets, slung his rifle over his back, and left the house with Hua Xiao and Daqing. He went to the gate of Baoyu’s house to wait for him.

After waiting for about five minutes, he heard Li Ruhai’s voice from the courtyard. It sounded like he was begging Li Baoyu for something.

Zhao Jun was getting a little impatient. Just as he stepped into the courtyard, he heard Li Baoyu yell at Li Ruhai, "Get the hell out!"

As he shouted, Li Baoyu lifted his foot and kicked Li Ruhai in the butt, sending him jumping.

Zhao Jun couldn’t help but laugh. "What are you two brothers up to now?"

"Brother Jun!" Seeing Zhao Jun, Li Ruhai scurried over to him like a rabbit, grabbing his arm. "My brother’s bullying me again!"

"What about this time?" Zhao Jun asked casually.

Li Ruhai said pitifully, "I wanted to go hunting in the mountains with you two, and my brother yelled at me."

Hearing this, Zhao Jun glanced sideways and looked at Li Ruhai quietly. Meeting Li Ruhai’s expectant gaze, Zhao Jun softly uttered two words: "Go back!"

"Huh?" Li Ruhai was stunned, staring blankly at Zhao Jun.

"AH!" Suddenly, Li Ruhai let out another cry, but the tone was slightly different from the first.

It turned out that while he was stunned, his butt had met Li Baoyu’s foot again.

"He told you to go back, didn’t you hear? Are you looking for a beating?" Li Baoyu said, looking around for a stick.

Seeing this, Li Ruhai immediately bolted.

Watching Li Ruhai dash into his house, Li Baoyu shook his head helplessly at Zhao Jun. "I don’t know what’s gotten into that kid. He’s been clamoring to go into the mountains with us since yesterday."

"That’s ridiculous, isn’t it?" Zhao Jun also shook his head. If he and Li Baoyu were going to the river to chip holes in the ice to catch fish or frogs, he would’ve been fine with taking Li Ruhai.

But now, they were going into the mountains to hunt. And how old was Li Ruhai? Only thirteen.

He was really just a child.

’If something happened to him, it would be a disaster.’

Zhao Jun glanced at the Li Family home again. Seeing no sign of Li Ruhai, he said to Li Baoyu, "Let’s get going then, before the cannon eggs leave their dens."

"Right, that kid almost made us late." Li Baoyu quickly untied Da Huang, put the hemp rope leash on him, and led him along as he followed Zhao Jun.

The two of them hurried out of the village. There was a reason for their haste.

In those days, pigs were still lazier than people, especially wild boars in winter.

The night before, after they finished foraging near dusk, they would usually rest and sleep at the base of a Pine Tree.

After sleeping all night, the boars would lie there, melting away the snow beneath them. By the next morning, they were even more reluctant to move.

They would stay in their dens like this until nine or ten in the morning.

When the boars finally left their dens, the first thing they did—much like most humans—was relieve themselves.

It wasn’t so bad for the sows, but if a boar was surrounded by hunting dogs before it could leave its den and relieve itself, it was in big trouble.

A boar in that situation, holding in a full bladder while being chased by dogs, couldn’t run fast. And it couldn’t fight well either.

Therefore, Hunters who used dogs to corner their prey usually had to go into the mountains early, before the boars left their dens.

This was Zhao Jun’s first time going into the mountains to hunt with a gun since he’d started training Daqing. His previous few trips had all ended in failure.

Today, with a Type 56 semi-automatic rifle in hand, Zhao Jun was determined to kill any boar and slaughter any bear he came across.

But just four or five minutes after Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu had left, a small head peeked out from the door of Baoyu’s house.

Immediately after, Li Ruhai’s figure darted out. He glanced in the direction Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu had gone, then broke into a run and chased after them.