sbdcsierra Chapter 1936 Zhao Youcai: I said I didn't want to come, but you insisted I come.
Chapter 1936 Zhao Youcai: I said I didn't want to come, but you insisted I come.
Chapter 1936 Zhao Youcai: I said I didn't want to come, but you insisted I come.
Although Zhao Youcai was frightened by the brown bear, his heart still skipped a beat when he heard the words "black bear," and he almost dropped the cigarette between his fingers.
"I'm not going!" When these words came out of Zhao Youcai's mouth, his small eyes widened, and a flash of panic crossed them.
At that moment, everyone looked at Zhao Youcai. Their eyes were filled with incomprehension and astonishment.
Although Zhao Youcai and his wife never made a fuss, everyone knew that Zhao Youcai was always thinking about going up the mountain, but Wang Meilan would always block his way.
The couple didn't argue much, but they still had their share of unpleasantness over this matter.
But now, when Zhao Jun invited Zhao Youcai to go up the mountain to hunt bears, Zhao Youcai refused to go.
This surprised everyone except Li Dayong.
“Dad.” Zhao Jun thought Zhao Youcai was putting on airs, so he immediately said to him, “We have to leave tomorrow. We have to take care of this black bear before we leave. After that, I’m thinking we two can go and squat on the watchtower and bang our heads against it until it dies.”
"I..." Zhao Youcai seemed to want to say something, but Wang Meilan came over and nudged him on the back, saying, "What's wrong? Your son asked you to come along, and you're still going to refuse?"
"I...I didn't do it." Zhao Youcai's voice trailed off as he spoke those few words. At that moment, the thought of going with Zhao Jun to fight the black bear made his heart pound.
Given Zhao Youcai's personality, he would never tell anyone about this situation.
"Qiangzi." At this moment, Li Dayong, the only one who knew the situation, couldn't stand it anymore. He stepped forward and said to Wang Qiang, "Why don't you go with Xiaojun? After that, before you leave tomorrow, let Baoyu and the others drive, and you two can sleep in the car."
Hearing Li Dayong's words, Wang Qiang looked at Zhao Jun and said, "Nephew, why don't I go with you?"
As soon as Wang Qiang finished speaking, Zhao Youcai's small eyes lit up.
Just then, Zhao Jun said, "Uncle, I'm thinking of not bothering you. We'll go down the mountain tomorrow to bring that ginseng back to that old man. You guys need to be in good spirits."
As soon as Zhao Jun said this, Jin Xiaomei quickly grabbed Li Dayong and then gave him a look that said, "Don't get involved."
At this moment, Wang Meilan went over to Zhao Youcai and said, "What are you going to use? Are you not going to go up the mountain anymore?"
Upon hearing this, Zhao Youcai's face darkened. Wang Meilan's words sounded ordinary, but Zhao Youcai sensed a strong threat.
Wang Meilan's words were a warning to him that if he took it again, he would never be allowed to go up the mountain again.
Zhao Youcai's lips trembled slightly. He felt very wronged, but as the Tiger Slayer King and the number one sharpshooter in Yong'an, he couldn't possibly say that he was afraid, could he?
"Okay...okay!" Zhao Youcai gritted his teeth and said, "I'll go, I'll pack up and leave."
After Zhao Youcai finished speaking, he threw the cigarette butt that had burned his finger on the ground, then got up and walked into the inner room.
At this moment, the whispers of the crowd behind him reached Zhao Youcai's ears.
“If my brother-in-law goes, then we don’t need to go.” These were the words of Wang Qiang.
"My second uncle is really tough too," Lin Xiangshun praised Zhao Youcai. "He took down three bears in two days with three shots. Who else can do that?"
“It’s just that my brother will have to suffer again.” Li Baoyu felt sorry for Zhao Jun and said, “My brother won’t be able to sleep well tonight, and he has important things to do tomorrow.”
Hearing Li Baoyu's words, Zhao Youcai gritted his teeth and whispered, "You little brat!"
When Zhao Youcai entered the East House, Li Dayong quickly followed.
"Brother," Li Dayong said, closing the door and turning to Zhao Youcai with a worried look, "Are you sure you can handle it? Maybe I should ask for leave and go with Xiaojun?"
"Is that even possible?" Zhao Youcai sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) with a worried look on his face. "I'm at home, can I let you go?"
"So what do we do?" Li Dayong asked. Zhao Youcai sighed and said, "Oh well! Fine, we'll just have to camp in the pillbox anyway. I'll shine a flashlight on that brat and let him do it."
The Bai family gang didn't tell Han Shusheng and Zhai Guozhu about their actions of placing Liupinye in the treasonous position and stabbing Heixiazi, so Zhai Guozhu didn't tell Zhao Jun either.
This led both Zhao Jun and Zhao Youcai to believe that the black bear was uninjured and that it was heading towards the rotting flesh in the Shitang area.
So, at this moment, both father and son were thinking about crouching in the pillbox and shooting it.
The two men were crouching in the pillbox, one firing a gun and the other a flashlight.
Normally, no one could argue with Zhao Youcai about firing the gun. If Zhao Jun dared to suggest that Zhao Youcai use the flashlight, Zhao Youcai would definitely give him a thorough dressing-down.
But at this moment, Zhao Youcai was thinking that when Zhao Jun gave him the signal that night, he would turn on his flashlight, close his eyes, and bury his head. He would hand the bear over to Zhao Jun and let him do whatever he wanted with it.
It takes more than three hours to drive to the lookout point. It's already afternoon, so Zhao Jun and Zhao Youcai need to pack up quickly and leave.
Wang Qiang and Zhang Yuanmin went to the warehouse and packed up their old bedding and cotton-padded coats. The women prepared food for the father and son and filled their military water bottles with water.
After they had all packed up, Zhao Jun, dressed in his mountain clothes, carrying a gun and a bag, came out of the west wing.
Seeing this, Wang Meilan shouted into the east corridor, "Dad, aren't you done yet?"
Inside the main house, Zhao Youcai had already tidied up, but he just didn't want to go out.
Hearing Wang Meilan's shout, Zhao Youcai threw his cigarette butt on the ground, then ground it up with the tip of his shoe while muttering, "That woman, she's just asking for a beating!"
"Big brother, big brother," Li Dayong said hurriedly upon hearing this, "Don't be angry, don't be angry."
"Hmph." Zhao Youcai snorted and got up to walk outside.
Seeing Zhao Youcai come out, Wang Meilan said, "Get two sausages for you and your son, two salted geese, two cans of luncheon meat, and five pounds of pancakes. Is there anything else you want?"
Zhao Youcai said nothing, only glanced at Wang Meilan with his eyelids, then slung his gun over his shoulder and walked outside.
Wang Meilan's smile froze, feeling somewhat bewildered.
When Zhao Youcai went out, Li Baoyu had already driven the jeep to the front of the house.
Wang Qiang and Zhang Yuanmin got out of the back row. Wang Qiang smiled and said to Zhao Youcai, "Thank you for your hard work, brother-in-law."
Wang Qiang said this to thank Zhao Youcai for going to the battle on his behalf.
As soon as Wang Qiang finished speaking, Zhang Yuanmin quickly chimed in, "My uncle's skills are undeniable. No need to think twice, it's bound to be another headshot today."
"What else is there to say?" Li Baoyu laughed and chimed in, "If that black bear knew my uncle was coming, he'd be scurrying around the garden and skimming the poles."
"Grandpa." Li Ruhai, who came out of the house with Zhao Jun, said to Zhao Youcai with a grin, "I won't do anything in a while, I'll just go around the village spreading the word about you taking down three black bears with three shots, each one blowing their brains out."
Normally, if the Zhao family were to fawn over Zhao Youcai like this, Zhao Youcai would definitely be happy. But at this moment, Zhao Youcai's heart was pounding, and he couldn't feel happy at all.
Seeing that Zhao Youcai remained silent with a stern face, Xie Chen, who was behind him, gently nudged Zhao Jinhui with his shoulder.
Zhao Jinhui turned his head and saw Jie Chen's ambiguous smile.
Zhao Jinhui knew that Xie Chen was silently criticizing Zhao Youcai for being pretentious. In their eyes, Zhao Youcai was indeed quite pretentious, but no one dared to say it aloud.
Before getting into the car, Zhao Jun said goodbye to everyone, while Zhao Youcai remained silent, sitting quietly in the car.
Actually, Zhao Youcai wasn't just pretending today; his heart was pounding in his throat.
The moment Zhao Jun drove the car out of the Zhao family compound, Zhao Youcai's panic reached its peak. He tried twice to tell Zhao Jun that he was scared and didn't want to go anymore.
Zhao Youcai opened his mouth twice, but he didn't say the words.
The jeep drove out of the village and headed straight for the mountain area.
There were only the father and son in the car; they couldn't both stay silent.
After thinking for a while, Zhao Jun found a topic and said to Zhao Youcai, "Dad, did Uncle Zhao buy you any more Zhonghua cigarettes? This time when I go down the mountain, I'll bring you more..."
Zhao Jun wanted to say, "I'll buy you a few more," and Zhao Youcai wouldn't be unhappy to hear that, would he?
But when Zhao Jun looked at Zhao Youcai, he inadvertently noticed that Zhao Youcai's hand on his lap was trembling slightly.
"Huh?" Zhao Jun was taken aback, but as his gaze moved down, he saw that Zhao Youcai's legs were also trembling.
Zhao Jun smiled and thought to himself, "My dad's getting sicker even in his old age."
Zhao Jun thought Zhao Youcai was shaking his leg. He remembered that when he was twelve or thirteen years old, it was the hottest time of summer and the house was stuffy, so Wang Meilan set up the dining table outside and the family ate in the yard.
Normally, we eat cross-legged on the kang (heated brick bed), but outside we have to sit on a stool.
At the time, Zhao Jun was eating while shaking his leg. After being warned by Zhao Youcai, he controlled it for a while, but then started shaking it again.
This time, Zhao Youcai didn't say a word and slapped Zhao Jun under the table.
From then on, Zhao Jun completely got rid of his leg-shaking habit.
Now, Zhao Jun finds it quite amusing to see Zhao Youcai shaking his leg. But Zhao Jun doesn't say anything; since getting married, he has become increasingly tolerant of his father.
At this moment, Zhao Youcai sensed something was wrong. He looked at Zhao Jun and asked, "What are you laughing at?"
"I wasn't laughing at anything." Zhao Jun smiled at Zhao Youcai and said, "I was thinking, this is the first time it's just the two of us going up the mountain."
In Zhao Jun's memory, when he was a child, Zhao Youcai would take him everywhere he went.
Back then, every family was struggling financially. Whether Zhao Youcai was going out for a banquet or a social gathering, he would always bring Zhao Jun with him.
This situation continued until Zhao Jun even learned to wrap up the fried mantou slices, along with the bowls, that the canteen had prepared as extra meals for the workers.
From then on, Zhao Youcai stopped taking Zhao Jun out for meals and drinks. Later, Zhao Jun grew up and spent his days climbing trees and swimming in rivers with Li Baoyu, catching fish and stealing birds' nests. The father and son had even fewer opportunities to go out alone.
Even after Zhao Jun was reborn, he never went hunting alone with Zhao Youcai in the mountains.
Today was also the first time for the father and son, but at this heartwarming moment for Zhao Jun, Zhao Youcai said irritably, "I said I didn't want to do it, but you insisted that I do it!"
Zhao Jun: "..."
Zhao Jun glanced at Zhao Youcai, and the father and son didn't say a word during the next three-hour drive.
Of course, if Zhao Jun knew that Zhao Youcai was frightened, he certainly wouldn't have done that.
It's common and normal for hunters to be frightened by wild animals. Zhao Jun was frightened, as were Zhang Yuanmin and Li Baoyu. Even if someone knew, they wouldn't laugh at Zhao Youcai.
But Zhao Youcai refused to say anything, which made Zhao Jun feel very disappointed.
When they arrived at the place where they had parked earlier, the father and son got out of the car and took their luggage out of the jeep's rear.
They carried their own luggage. Zhao Jun carried all the food and drinks, and the father and son walked towards the watchtower one after the other.
They passed the old site of Zhao Jiabang's shack without stopping. They then passed the current site of Zhao Jiabang's shack again, but still didn't stop, and continued walking until they reached the foot of the watchtower.
Unaware that the black bear was seriously injured, the father and son concluded that the bear would definitely come to eat meat that night.
The father and son went up to the watchtower and laid out their own mattresses.
After the mat was laid out, the father and son sat cross-legged on it, staring at each other.
If they didn't speak up at this point, both father and son would feel awkward. Just as Zhao Jun was thinking about what to start a conversation with, Zhao Youcai spoke first.
“Let’s stay here tonight. If that bear doesn’t come, we’ll stroll along the riverbank tomorrow morning. We’re sure we can catch it.” Zhao Youcai said this because he was thinking about the possibility that the bear might get hurt.
Zhao Youcai's judgment was based on evidence. Even though the four members of the Bai family gang suffered heavy losses, they still managed to escape from the clutches of the black bear.
In order to escape, the four of them would definitely have to attack the black bear.
Zhao Youcai had a relationship with Bai Sanzhi, and he knew that the Bai family gang didn't carry guns when they went up the mountain; if they wanted to attack the black bear, they would only use knives and axes.
Zhao Youcai believes that under these circumstances, the black bear would not suffer fatal injuries, at most only superficial wounds.
Of course, the severity of skin and flesh injuries varies. If it's a minor injury, the black bear will still eat it without hesitation.
If it is seriously injured, although the black bear will not eat for the first two days, it will come to the river and use the cold river water to relieve the pain in its wounds.
The Siberian tiger was in the same situation before, which is why Zhao Youcai said that if he couldn't catch the black bear tonight, he would just stroll along the riverbank tomorrow morning.
Zhao Jun was aware of what Zhao Youcai was saying.
Recalling the unpleasantness in the car earlier, Zhao Jun glanced at Zhao Youcai and said irritably, "I know!"
"I'm pretty!" Zhao Youcai cursed without warning, and Zhao Jun, who was being insulted, immediately became obedient. In this desolate wilderness, on the watchtower, no one would come to their rescue if they got beaten up.
"Who...who are you cursing?" Zhao Jun asked in a low voice. Zhao Youcai replied curtly, "Who the hell do you think you are?"
Zhao Jun didn't dare to say a word. Zhao Youcai blinked at him, then reached into his pocket, but stopped.
Since smoking wasn't allowed in the squatting area, Zhao Youcai had no choice but to grab a military water bottle from the side and gulp down two mouthfuls of water.
Just as the father and son were arguing, about 370 or 380 meters away from the rotting carcasses in the Shitang area, the large brown bear that had driven away the black bear that morning was lying there drying its belly.
The big brown bear's belly was round from eating too much, so lying down or on its side was uncomfortable. It could only lie there sprawled out with its belly up.
A mountain breeze swept by, carrying the scent of the large brown bear to the vicinity, startling away wild boars, roe deer, red deer, black bears, and even a mother brown bear with her cubs who were trying to approach.
But the Zhao father and son couldn't smell it. As night fell, the two men, after finishing their dinner, put on their cotton-padded jackets and trousers and prepared to lie down.
As Zhao Jun took out a flashlight from his pocket, Zhao Youcai reached out his hand to him, startling Zhao Jun.
"What are you doing?" Zhao Jun asked, puzzled. Zhao Youcai replied, "Give me the flashlight...are you going to fire the gun?"
"Me, hit him?" Zhao Jun stared blankly at Zhao Youcai, feeling that this was not in line with Zhao Youcai's personality.
"Give it to me!" Zhao Youcai snatched the flashlight away, then lay down on the mattress with it in his arms.
Zhao Jun stared blankly at Zhao Youcai, but the next second Zhao Youcai suddenly sat up again.
As Zhao Youcai lay down, he remembered that he had been lying right here that day, and when he turned on his flashlight, he saw the bear's face.