The four men approaching were all from his village. Zhao Jun wasn’t very familiar with the other three, but he knew their leader, Wang Dalong, quite well.

He had seen those two dogs before, too—they were the white dog and Qing Gou, from Wang Dalong’s pack of five.

But on the day Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu had gone hunting for roe deer, Wang Dalong had five hounds that formed a Dog Gang.

That day, Zhao Jun had watched the Yellow Dog get gored to death by a wild boar. Another one, a black dog, had been shot clean through by Wang Dalong’s rifle after being injured in the same hunt.

By all rights, the Wang Family’s Dog Gang should have had three dogs left.

But now, only the white dog and Qing Gou remained.

At Li Baoyu’s question, Wang Dalong’s face fell. He sighed and shook his head without a word.

Zhao Jun reached out and gave Li Baoyu a tug, signaling him to drop it. He then stepped forward and looked at the two remaining dogs.

He saw both of them had claw marks on their bodies. Zhao Jun looked up and asked, "Run into a Black Bear?"

"Yep." Wang Dalong was in a foul mood and only gave a simple reply to Zhao Jun’s question.

Wei Jin from the Wei Family, who was standing nearby, spoke up. "Went up the mountain today. The dogs picked up a boar’s trail, but we didn’t get the boar. Instead, we ran into a wandering Black Bear. Couldn’t take it down, and it killed one of the dogs."

"Damn," Zhao Jun said, speechless.

That was hunting for you. Once you were in the mountains, anything could happen.

It wasn’t a matter of hunting whatever you pleased. Who would’ve thought that dogs following a boar’s tracks would run into a passing Black Bear?

At first, when the men heard the dogs barking, they assumed they had cornered the wild boar and didn’t rush.

But by the time they heard the Black Bear’s roars and tried to rush over, it was already too late.

After killing the black dog, the Black Bear broke through the encirclement of Qing Gou and the white dog and swaggered off.

On this trip, they hadn’t caught a thing and had lost a dog to boot.

Wang Dalong was in a bad mood and didn’t want to talk, and Zhao Jun had no intention of trying to warm up to his cold shoulder. He offered a few polite words and was about to help Li Baoyu home.

But just then, Wang Dalong suddenly spoke up, stopping Zhao Jun. "Xiaojun, you do drive hunts too. You need dogs, don’t you?"

Hearing this, Zhao Jun’s eyes lit up, but when he turned his head, his expression was perfectly calm.

Zhao Jun asked, "Brother, what do you mean by that?"

Wang Dalong pointed to the two dogs at his feet. "If you want them, these two dogs are yours."

The moment Wang Dalong said this, everyone was stunned. The three men who had been hunting with him all looked like they wanted to say something, but held their tongues.

But Wang Dalong and Zhao Jun were relatives, and the dogs belonged to Wang Dalong himself. Who he gave them to was none of their business.

But Zhao Jun remained unmoved. ’In my past life, I hunted with Wang Dalong as a partner. I know exactly what kind of man he is. I know that if I take these dogs home, Wang Dalong will be knocking on my door in less than two weeks. And he wouldn’t ask for the dogs back directly. He’d just talk about how hard things are for his family, and then ask to "borrow" the hounds. We’re relatives, so what could I do? I’d have to let him take them back. But once he borrowed them, they’d be gone for good. What could I do then? Nothing. The dogs were a gift from Wang Dalong. If he borrows them back, no matter how long he keeps them, I could never go to his house and demand them back. The crucial thing is, he might "borrow" them for life. In that case, I’d just be raising his dogs for him for free. How could I do something so stupid?’

However, Zhao Jun really liked the white dog. So he first asked Wang Dalong, "Brother Dalong, why are you giving up hunting?"

"I’m done." Wang Dalong said, sounding dejected. "Both my lead dogs are dead, and my best fighter is dead too. What am I supposed to hunt with now?"

"You’re really done?" Zhao Jun asked again.

"I’m really done."

Only after Wang Dalong confirmed it again with his own mouth did Zhao Jun say, "In that case, Brother Dalong, even close brothers should keep clear accounts. I can’t just take your dog for free."

"How about this? Just sell me the white dog."

"Huh?"

Zhao Jun’s words stunned Wang Dalong. He looked at Zhao Jun and thought, ’Why isn’t this kid playing along?’

Zhao Jun met his gaze and smiled. "Brother Dalong, just name your price. I’ll go home and get the money for you."

"Well..." Wang Dalong was at a loss. He looked at Zhao Jun, then at the dog at his feet, and a wave of reluctance washed over him.

But he had already said it in front of so many people, vowing that he was done with hunting. It wouldn’t be easy to take it back now.

"Why are you talking about money between us?" Wang Dalong said with feigned anger. "If I sold you a dog and took your money, people would laugh me to death."

"Xiaojun, if you want them, just take the dogs. If I ever need to use them in the future, I’ll just borrow them from you."

’That’s exactly what I’m afraid of,’ Zhao Jun thought. Then he said aloud, "Let’s not do that. You paid good money for this dog, Brother. How could I take it for free?"

At this, Zhao Jun pointed a finger at the white dog. "Brother, you said the other day you paid forty yuan for this dog. You’ve had him for more than half a year, right? I’ll add another ten yuan, making it an even fifty. I’ll bring the money to your house first thing tomorrow morning."

As he spoke, Zhao Jun reached into the canvas bag slung across Li Baoyu’s chest, pulled out a rope, and before the big white dog could react, slipped a loop over its head.

Startled at being leashed, the white dog began to struggle, but Zhao Jun gave the rope a sharp tug. The dog stumbled forward and instantly became docile, pressing up against Zhao Jun’s side.

Regardless of what he’d said earlier, seeing his dog about to be led away, Wang Dalong suddenly felt a pang in his heart.

He wanted to say something, but he heard Zhao Jun say, "Brother, you guys have had a long day. Hurry on back and get some rest."

"Don’t you worry, I’ll bring you the money first thing in the morning."

"Well, uh..." Wang Dalong regretted his decision. He wanted to stop Zhao Jun but didn’t know what to say. The only words that came out were, "What about Qing Gou? You don’t want him?"

Zhao Jun smiled. "I don’t have that much money. The white dog is enough for me."

Wang Dalong: "..."

"Let’s go!" With a tug of the rope in his left hand and a pull on Li Baoyu with his right, Zhao Jun strode off toward home.

As he was led away, the white dog kept looking back at its master.

Wang Dalong watched Zhao Jun’s retreating back as he led the dog away, his heart filled with bitter regret.

"Brother, we got the dog just like that?" Li Baoyu asked, overjoyed.

Anyone who loved hunting with dogs couldn’t help but love a good hound, and this was a great one.

"Yep, yep." Zhao Jun glanced down at the white dog, whose tail was drooping, and smiled. "Better to be lucky than to be early, huh?"

"Do you have that much money on you?" Li Baoyu suddenly thought of a very serious problem. "If you’re short, I can chip in."

"How much do you have?" Zhao Jun asked curiously.

Li Baoyu blinked a few times. Even though he was drunk, he remembered his private stash perfectly. "A little over thirteen yuan... I guess that’s not enough."

He knew Zhao Jun was better off than he was, but his entire net worth couldn’t be more than thirty yuan. Even combined, they couldn’t come up with fifty.

But drunk as he was, he hadn’t forgotten that he had a younger brother. So he said, "Ruhai has a few yuan stashed under the cabinet. If we have to, we can use that for now."