Ever since Zhao Jun killed the wild boar and saved Li Ruhai, neither Zhao Jun nor Li Baoyu had paid the boy any mind.

That’s right, it was intentional. The kid was just too infuriating.

As for Li Ruhai, the moment the gunshot rang out, his sobs had turned into loud wails.

Li Ruhai only started to quiet down after Zhao Jun had finished gutting the boar and Li Baoyu walked over.

By this point, he wanted to climb down from the tree, but he discovered a... special situation had occurred, making it impossible for him to get down on his own.

Upon hearing Li Ruhai’s words, Li Baoyu simply turned around and stared off at the distant mountains.

Li Baoyu was filled with a mix of anger, resentment, and lingering fear toward Li Ruhai. This was his own little brother. If anything had happened today, forget how Li Dayong and Jin Xiaomei would react—Li Baoyu would never have forgiven himself.

That was why Li Baoyu was so furious now. He was afraid that if he lost control, he might actually beat his little brother senseless.

Seeing this, Zhao Jun shook his head in resignation. He split the boar’s heart in two, giving one piece to Hua Xiao’er and the other to Daqing.

Then Zhao Jun stuck his knife into the snow beside him and walked over to the oak tree. Looking up at Li Ruhai, he said, "Alright, come on. Slide on down."

"Okay, okay," Li Ruhai mumbled obediently. He gripped a branch, swung his inner leg across, then let both legs drop, his body becoming parallel with the tree trunk.

Zhao Jun reached out and grabbed Li Ruhai’s legs. But as his hands touched the boy’s cotton-padded pants, he felt a dampness. A faint smell of piss also wafted from Li Ruhai.

Looking at Li Ruhai after he was on the ground, his walk was unnatural, a bit bow-legged.

Zhao Jun could tell it wasn’t because he’d been perched in the tree too long, nor were his legs weak from fright. It was probably because his crotch was wet, which was making his gait so awkward.

Zhao Jun turned his hands over; they really did smell a bit like piss. He then noticed icicles had formed from the wet patches on Li Ruhai’s cotton shoes.

Zhao Jun sighed, squatting down to grab a handful of snow and scrub his hands furiously. Then he shouted, "Baoyu, build a fire!"

"Huh?" Li Baoyu was taken aback. He strode over to Zhao Jun’s side and asked, "Brother, why are we eating already? It’s not even late, and we’re not hungry from breakfast yet."

"What do you mean, eat?" Zhao Jun said irritably. "Your dear Ruhai pissed his pants in fear! Hurry up and build a fire so he can dry them!"

"Shit!" Li Baoyu shook his head in exasperation and let out a long sigh. At this point, he couldn’t even bring himself to look at Li Ruhai.

It wasn’t for any other reason than the fear that if he saw the kid, he’d lose control and really hurt him.

Li Baoyu gathered and chopped some dry branches from the surrounding area and quickly got a fire going. He had Li Ruhai sit by the fire to dry his shoes and pants.

Whether it was from fear or from drinking too much porridge that morning, Li Ruhai had let out quite a flood. His thick cotton pants were soaked through.

He ended up spending a full hour and a half drying himself by the fire on the mountain before finally heading down with Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu.

On the way down the mountain, Li Baoyu carried the Yellow Dog on his back.

The Yellow Dog was draped across the back of Li Baoyu’s neck, its two front legs resting on his right shoulder and its two hind legs on his left.

Its four legs dangled in front of his chest. Li Baoyu held its front legs with his right hand and its hind legs with his left as he carried it down the mountain.

Along the way, Li Baoyu stopped several times to put the Yellow Dog down and let it walk a few steps on its own.

This was to let the dog move around; otherwise, it would get too cold.

As for Zhao Jun, he was carrying two boar legs. One was for Zhao Jinshan. He had promised it to the man, and a promise had to be kept.

The other leg was for Han Shang, the doctor at the village clinic. Asking a doctor to do a veterinarian’s job—wasn’t that just insulting?

But what kind of insult couldn’t be smoothed over with a wild boar leg?

As for Li Ruhai, he was having enough trouble just getting down the mountain himself, so naturally, he carried nothing.

The three people and three dogs returned home. As they neared their houses, Zhao Jun handed both boar legs to Li Baoyu.

The deal to trade a boar leg for bullets had been arranged by Li Baoyu and Zhao Jinshan, so it was up to him to deliver it.

As for fetching the doctor, that was for the Yellow Dog’s treatment, which would happen at Baoyu’s house anyway. It made sense to have Li Baoyu handle that as well.

When Wang Meilan saw Zhao Jun walk in empty-handed, she was surprised. It was strange for him to be back after only one morning out.

"Son, nothing again?" Wang Meilan asked, suppressing a smile. In her eyes, a few more failures might finally break him of this hunting notion.

Zhao Jun was just about to speak when he heard the faint sound of Li Ruhai’s screams coming from outside.

"What’s all that about?" Wang Meilan was puzzled. Wiping her hands on her apron, she started to head outside.

Zhao Jun stopped her and explained, "Ruhai secretly followed us up the mountain today. My aunt is probably giving him a beating right now."

Hearing this, Wang Meilan reached out to twist Zhao Jun’s ear, but he deftly dodged it.

"Mom!" Zhao Jun knew she had misunderstood and quickly clarified, "We didn’t take him with us! He snuck out and followed us from behind."

"That poor kid," Wang Meilan muttered, before turning on Zhao Jun. "And you and Baoyu, you’re not setting a good example. Now a little kid like that wants to follow you up the mountain."

Zhao Jun: ...

Over at Li Baoyu’s house, it was utter chaos.

Li Baoyu leaned against the doorframe, holding a white porcelain bowl of white sugar in one hand and a sticky bean bun in the other, which he dipped in the sugar before taking a bite. All the while, he watched with great relish as Jin Xiaomei whipped Li Ruhai.

"Alright, alright." After finishing his sticky bean bun, Li Baoyu set the sugar bowl on a nearby table and stepped forward to pull Jin Xiaomei away. "Mom, our Da Huang was gored by a boar while saving this Little Calf. I need to go get Doctor Han to come give him a shot."

"What?" Jin Xiaomei was surprised. "Doctor Han is pretty stubborn. Will he really come to give a dog a shot?"

"He will," Li Baoyu said. "My brother said if I give him a boar’s leg, he’ll come with me."

"Oh. Well, go and ask him then."

Li Baoyu buttoned up his cotton jacket, one button at a time. As he did, he said to Jin Xiaomei, "Someone will be here soon, so you should stop hitting him. We don’t want Doctor Han to show up and laugh at our family, do we?"

At his words, Jin Xiaomei stopped, but she continued to glare at Li Ruhai, fuming. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Li Ruhai, for his part, shot Li Baoyu a grateful look.

Meeting Li Ruhai’s gaze, Li Baoyu grinned. "My brother’s a big boy now. Your hits don’t even hurt him. Just wait for Dad to get home and beat him. You can save your strength."

Li Ruhai: ...

Jin Xiaomei, however, laughed and said, "Now that’s a good idea!"

A short while later, Li Baoyu returned with a man in a white coat carrying a medical kit.

Since the Yellow Dog was injured, it couldn’t stay in its doghouse outside anymore. Li Baoyu had settled it in the outer room, not far from the stove where it could stay warm by the fire.

Meanwhile, Zhao Jun, who had been busy all morning, had just fallen asleep after lunch when Li Baoyu woke him up.

"What’s wrong?" Zhao Jun groggily opened his eyes. Seeing it was Li Baoyu, he asked drowsily.

Li Baoyu looked troubled. "I brought Doctor Han back," he said, "but Da Huang won’t let him stitch up the wound."