Life wasn’t easy for the mountain folk these days, and it was even harder for the beasts of the mountains.

They had to forage for food, survive, and carefully handle all sorts of unexpected troubles.

They were alert and agile. A wild boar, for example, once startled, would run nonstop until three or four in the afternoon when it was time to feed again before it would stop.

Hunting with dogs was one thing. The dogs were faster than the boar, and as long as they could hold it down, the Hunter would have a chance to shoot.

But what about still-hunting? With no hounds, it was just the Hunter. And two legs couldn’t outrun four, so what could you do?

This required the Hunter to be patient, to slowly sneak up on the prey before taking a shot.

It was manageable in spring and autumn. The problem was winter. With the mountains covered in a vast expanse of white, the Hunter had nowhere to hide or take cover. The moment they got close, the prey was bound to spot them.

Therefore, to still-hunt in the mountains during winter, you had to wear a white overcoat to blend in with the vast snow, which actually made it easier to approach the prey.

Just as the two were talking, Jin Xiaomei came in holding a large iron basin. Inside were several knives—some pointed, some for chopping.

In winter, meat and other things could be frozen solid. If they stored all this meat, the Zhao and Li families would have enough to eat until after the New Year without a problem.

Once everyone had gathered, Wang Meilan led the group to the storeroom to deal with the wild boar first.

While they were skinning it, Zhao Jun suddenly said to Li Baoyu, "Don’t throw away the boar hide this time. Let’s make a pair of skis for each of us."

"Yeah, let’s do it!" Li Baoyu agreed without a second thought.

Hearing this, Jin Xiaomei, who was nearby, asked, "Making skis? What are you two planning now?"

Zhao Jun said, "I want to take Baoyu up the mountain to trap for ’big skins’."

"Oh! That’s a great idea!" Wang Meilan was overjoyed to hear this and voiced her approval.

’Big skins’ was the local name for sables.

Sables lived at the foot of High Mountain Foot. Snow fell on the peaks and frost settled in the hollows. In the sables’ habitat, the snow was chest-deep, making it impossible to just force your way through.

That’s where skis came in.

But these weren’t like the skis you’d find at a ski resort later on. This design was passed down from the Oroqen people—skis made from wild boar hide.

The hairy side of the boar hide faced down, with the grain of the fur pointing forward. A hunter would have one on each foot and use a two-to-three-meter-long Fraxinus mandschurica stick as a ski pole. Only by walking and gliding over the snow like this could they reach the high mountains where the sables lived.

Then, in places where sables passed through, they would set traps beneath the layer of snow.

You have to understand, Sable Fur was no less valuable than Bear Gall.

The key was that trapping for ’big skins’ wasn’t dangerous, unlike hunting, which always made Wang Meilan worry endlessly.

When Jin Xiaomei heard this, she was also very much in favor. "Your Uncle Li has a man named Bai in his group who knows how to make those things. I’ll have your Uncle Li go find him tomorrow."

"Okay!" Zhao Jun said. "What should we give him?"

Jin Xiaomei glanced to the side and said, "Just give him a leg of wild boar."

"That’ll work!"

Wang Meilan was happy to hear this and said, "You two are getting into bigger and bigger things. Now you can even trap for ’big skins’."

"Of course!" Zhao Jun grinned. "Next year, my brother and I will go up the mountain to dig for Ginseng."

"That’s a good plan."

...

The four of them worked while chatting and laughing. They first skinned the wild boar and cut the meat into chunks, then they dealt with the Black Bear they had brought back yesterday.

They were busy until noon, when Li Xiaoqiao came over from next door, whining to Jin Xiaomei that she was hungry.

"Sweetie, hurry inside. Have your Sister Hong get you something to eat." Wang Meilan put an arm around Li Xiaoqiao and walked a few steps into the courtyard, then gently nudged her toward the door of the house.

"Mm-hm."

Li Xiaoqiao went into Zhao Jun’s family’s house to eat. Wang Meilan had known this morning that the adults would be busy until very late.

The adults could endure the hunger, but the children couldn’t. So, that morning, Wang Meilan had flattened some sticky bean buns and pan-fried both sides in oil, making them like fried cakes.

Wang Meilan fried a whole plate of them and left them on the stove to keep warm, so the children could help themselves when they got hungry.

"Sister, you and Baoyu must be hungry too, right?" Wang Meilan asked Jin Xiaomei after returning to the storeroom.

Jin Xiaomei shook her head. "It’s alright, Sister-in-law. We’re fine. We’ll eat after we finish the work."

"Alright," Wang Meilan said with a smile. "I’ll whip up a few extra dishes today. Our two families will have a good meal together."

The four of them worked until after two in the afternoon, and finally finished butchering the Black Bear.

Wang Meilan selected a few pieces of wild boar and some cuts of bear meat, put them all in a basin, and walked into the house, chatting and laughing with Jin Xiaomei.

Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu, meanwhile, divided the meat into two piles: one for Zhao Jun’s family, and the other for Li Baoyu’s.

After dividing the meat, the two brothers also went inside. Wang Meilan and Jin Xiaomei were busy by the stove. Zhao Jun went into the east room and glanced at the three little girls playing doctor, then at the plate of pan-fried sticky bean buns on the kang table.

Wang Meilan had fried a full plate of sticky bean buns that morning, and now only two were left.

The pan-fried food was naturally fragrant, and with the bean filling inside, they were both savory and sweet—very appealing to children.

"Are you guys done with these?" Zhao Jun asked the three little sisters, picking up the plate.

"We’re done," Zhao Hong replied without turning her head.

Zhao Jun turned and held the plate out to Li Baoyu, who took one and bit into it.

Zhao Jun stuck the last one in his mouth and took the empty plate to the outer room.

As he was turning to go back, Zhao Jun suddenly remembered something. He hurried into the east room and asked, "Xiaoqiao, what did your second brother eat at home?"

"He didn’t eat anything," Li Xiaoqiao replied.

’That makes sense,’ Zhao Jun thought. ’If the Li Family had food, why would Li Xiaoqiao have come to the Zhao Family’s house looking for something to eat?’

After saying this, Li Xiaoqiao herself froze, then said timidly, "Oh no, my second brother asked me to come get him something to eat and bring it back."

With that, Li Xiaoqiao turned her gaze to her older brother.

Seeing his little sister look at him, Li Baoyu stuffed the remaining half of the fried sticky bean bun in his hand into his mouth. "Don’t worry about him. A big guy like him won’t starve."

"Oh." Hearing this, Li Xiaoqiao said no more and turned back to play with Zhao Hong and Zhao Na.

That night, the Zhao and Li families gathered for a joyous feast, raising their cups and trading toasts. Because the kang table wasn’t big enough, they set up two tables directly.

There was stir-fried, stewed, and sautéed wild boar; red-braised and pan-fried Black Bear meat. The spread was comparable to a New Year’s feast.

After everyone had eaten their fill, Jin Xiaomei took Li Xiaoqiao home first. Before leaving, she also took three aluminum lunch boxes filled with Li Ruhai’s lunch and dinner for the day.

"Brother, what time are we leaving tomorrow?" Li Baoyu asked Zhao Jun before he left.

"Doesn’t have to be too early. We’ll leave whenever we get up."

Sure enough, Zhao Jun didn’t get up early the next day. It was almost seven o’clock when he finally rose. As he was sitting sluggishly in the east room eating, Li Baoyu burst in.

"Brother, look! I got the bullets!" Li Baoyu said, slapping a fifty-round bandolier onto the table.

"Mm," Zhao Jun glanced at them and said, "Zhao Jinshan is a pretty decent guy."

"It cost a whole bear thigh," Li Baoyu said, growing impatient. "Brother, hurry up and eat. Let’s go as soon as you’re done."

"Alright!" Zhao Jun finished his corn grits porridge in a few quick mouthfuls, then started changing his clothes and gathering his things. When the two recuperating hounds saw him shoulder his hunting rifle, they shot to their feet in unison.