"Zhao Jun."

Zhao Jun had just stepped out of the dispatch office when he heard someone call his name from behind. He turned to see Wu Feng hurrying after him.

Zhao Jun stopped and turned to ask, "Leader Wu, is there something else?"

"It’s nothing much," Wu Feng said to Zhao Jun. "I just wanted to tell you that the old man from earlier is from one of our teams. My family is in the Third Team, and his is in the First Team."

"Hmm," Zhao Jun acknowledged, waiting for Wu Feng to continue.

Wu Feng said, "You’ve probably heard of his son. He’s the Director of Security for our Yongxing Brigade, Tao Dabao."

Even though Zhao Jun was somewhat prepared, hearing this name still gave him a jolt.

The Yongxing Brigade was about thirty li from Yong’an Village, where Zhao Jun’s family lived.

Yongxing was made up of ten production teams, from the Yongxing First Team to the Yongxing Tenth Team. None of these production teams were smaller than Yong’an Village.

And these ten production teams, in turn, formed the Yongxing Brigade.

That Elder Tao’s son, Tao Dabao, was the Director of Security and Civilian Militia Squad Leader for the Yongxing Brigade.

His title might have been Squad Leader, but if the militia from all ten production teams were called out, it would be a force of seventeen or eighteen hundred men.

Wu Feng added, "The old man is a bit of a handful. But both of his sons, Tao Dabao and Tao Xiaobao, are very filial. Since you saved him today, they won’t let you go unrewarded."

Zhao Jun smiled at that, simply nodding without saying a word. He had just been helping someone. It didn’t matter who the old man was; if he could help, he would.

Besides, helping someone in danger during a hunt was the unwritten rule.

As for any reward, he would just let nature take its course.

After saying goodbye to Wu Feng, Zhao Jun returned to the inspection office, grabbed Elder Tao’s rifle, and took it back to him.

However, he didn’t go in to see Elder Tao. He just handed the rifle to Li Dayong and turned to catch the commuter train.

When Zhao Jun got back to Yong’an Village, he didn’t go home first. Instead, he headed straight for Zhang Yuanmin’s house.

A week had passed. ’Jiang Jinyou is probably back by now,’ he thought. ’I need to get Zhang Yuanmin sent up there.’

It was already past five o’clock, and Zhang Yuanmin’s family of three were all at home. Little Lingdang was hunched over the table doing her homework, while Yang Yufeng mended clothes for Zhang Yuanmin by the lamplight.

As for Zhang Yuanmin, he was lounging leisurely on the kang, reading a comic book.

Zhao Jun entered and after they exchanged greetings, he said to Zhang Yuanmin, "Brother, pack your things tomorrow—clothes, bedding, and all that. The morning after, you’ll come with me. I’m taking you to the No. 77 Logging Camp myself."

"Ah, Brother, thank you so much." This time, Zhang Yuanmin wasn’t putting on his Lord Guan airs.

"It’s nothing," Zhao Jun laughed. "We’re brothers. Why are you being so formal with me?"

Then, Zhao Jun asked him, "How are you doing with getting your gear ready?"

"Almost there," Zhang Yuanmin said. "I bought a used chainsaw for forty-five. Tomorrow, I’ll go over to the Wei Family’s place and borrow their large axe, and then my tools will be all set."

"Why do you need to borrow an axe?" Zhao Jun asked immediately. "What about the one you used to kill that black bear?"

"That *was* the Wei Family’s axe," Zhang Yuanmin said. "Whenever I need one, I borrow it from them."

"Alright, don’t bother borrowing one then," Zhao Jun said, getting up. "I happen to have two at my place, and we don’t use them. You can take them both tomorrow. Once you’re up on the mountain, you and Jiang Jinyou can team up. After felling a tree, you can both delimb it together. It’ll be faster."

Seeing that Zhang Yuanmin might not understand, Zhao Jun explained, "You only get paid once the timber makes it to the logging camp yard, right, Brother?"

"Right, right, you’re absolutely right, Brother. I’ll listen to you."

"Good," Zhao Jun said. "Come by my place tomorrow to get them."

"Alright, will do! Hey, Brother, don’t leave! Stay for dinner!"

Zhao Jun declined the couple’s invitation to stay for dinner, went home to eat, and then went to bed.

The next day was his day off. He had originally planned to take the dogs up the mountain for a walk. But he’d been so busy since starting his job that now that he finally had a day off, he really didn’t feel like moving.

After finishing breakfast, he lazed about on the kang for a while before heading to the storage shed to check on Cyan Dragon, Black Dragon, and the two little bear cubs.

All four little ones were quite lively.

But their appetites were growing by the day. Even after feeding the ewe extra soybean cakes, she was struggling to keep up.

The two bear cubs in particular would nestle against the ewe and nurse from morning till night.

’If it comes down to it, I’ll just have to steam some potatoes to feed them,’ Zhao Jun was thinking worriedly when he heard someone shout from the gate, "Is my brother home?"

It was Zhang Yuanmin.

Zhao Jun led Zhang Yuanmin into the storage shed. From a corner, he lifted a tarp and pulled out two Mirror-Like Large Axes, which he handed to Zhang Yuanmin.

These two large axes had originally belonged to Minister Li and Li Erchen.

Zhang Yuanmin walked curiously over to the sheep pen to look at the little bears. He turned back to Zhao Jun and said, "These two cubs are growing up nicely."

"Yeah," Zhao Jun nodded, then gave a wry smile. "They just eat so damn much. I can barely afford to feed them."

Zhang Yuanmin didn’t say anything to that. He just chatted idly with Zhao Jun for a few more moments before heading home.

When he got home, Zhang Yuanmin placed the large axes on the floor of the outer room, then went into the inner room and sat silently on the kang.

Lately, he’d been inseparable from his comic books, but now he wasn’t even looking at them.

Seeing him like this, Yang Yufeng’s heart skipped a beat. She hurried to his side and asked, "What are you planning now? I’m telling you, don’t you even think about going after a black bear, or I won’t stand for it."

"What are you talking about, woman?" Zhang Yuanmin said irritably. "I’m just mulling over how to help our brother out with something."

His words left Yang Yufeng baffled. She asked, "How could you possibly help our brother? Do you have the means?"

It wasn’t that Yang Yufeng looked down on her husband; it was simply the reality of their situation.

Zhao Jun’s family, for instance, had both money and status.

As for their own family, they had nothing. The money they had was a loan from Zhao Jun. The job had also been arranged by him.

Even Zhang Yuanmin’s very life had been saved by Zhao Jun.

Given all this, Yang Yufeng couldn’t imagine what her family could possibly do to help Zhao Jun.

"You, woman, all you know how to do is boss me around all day," Zhang Yuanmin said. Now that he had a plan, he felt a sense of superiority and took the chance to lecture her. "What did I tell you before? I’m going to help our brother sell those two bear cubs."

"What?" Yang Yufeng was stunned. "What makes you think you can do that? *You’re* going to help him sell bear cubs?"

It wasn’t illegal to buy or sell black bears in those days, but to sell something like that, you needed connections.

And not just any ordinary connections, either.

The key was, if the black bear was full-grown, you could harvest and sell its bile. Or you could sell the bear to a zoo or a circus.

But these were just cubs, only a few months old. You couldn’t harvest their bile, and no zoo or circus would want them.

"Hah!" Zhang Yuanmin sneered, shooting Yang Yufeng a glance before tilting his head back. "You really underestimate your husband." As he spoke, he patted his own head and asked, "You know what this is?"

"A big squash." Yang Yufeng knew what he was getting at and deliberately refused to play along. "Did our brother ask you to sell them? Are you just going to meddle—"

"You woman, you don’t understand anything, do you?" Zhang Yuanmin pointed at Yang Yufeng, lecturing her. "Is this the kind of thing we have to wait for our brother to ask us about? You’re a grown woman! Even if he doesn’t say a word, can’t you use your own eyes and see what needs to be done?"

Yang Yufeng: "What the hell—"