The whole mountain is my hunting ground.

Chapter 1822 Those who act with gusto die quickly.

Zhao Jun was stunned by Ma Yang's words. He knew the kid was arrogant, but he didn't expect him to be this arrogant.

Why would you spend 100 yuan to buy canned food at a convenience store? With prices these days, 100 yuan could buy almost all the canned food in the store.

Ma Yang's demeanor reminded Zhao Jun of Diao Che Tun from his previous life.

The so-called Diaochetun refers to the area where, after the turn of the millennium, with economic development, some rural houses and land were requisitioned to build high-rise buildings.

Those who lost their land received compensation, some receiving millions or even tens of millions of yuan in demolition compensation. With the money, men bought cars and women bought mink coats, leading to the so-called "Mink Car Village".

In his previous life, when Zhao Jun worked on a construction site, he had a coworker who came from Diaochetun.

While carrying bricks, the man told everyone about his experiences from back then. When his family was relocated, he received more than nine million yuan, nearly ten million yuan, in compensation. But within just a few years, he had squandered all of that money.

He's different from Zhao Jun. Zhao Jun fell into poverty because he was tricked by someone who loved playing cards, but this old guy is a pure menace.

He said that at the height of his arrogance, he would take a taxi even if it was just a 20-meter distance from buying a pack of cigarettes to the supermarket.

Moreover, before getting off the bus, he threw a hundred yuan at the driver and told him not to keep the change.

And so, a former demolition tycoon and a former ginseng boss worked as laborers on a construction site for two months.

Looking at his brother-in-law, Zhao Jun couldn't help but feel a pang of regret. If he had known the boy would turn out this way, he really shouldn't have told him the White Dragon could fetch so much money.

Otherwise, Ma Yang should be sitting in the school daydreaming right now.

Ma Ling and Wang Cuihua were also furious at Ma Yang's words. Wang Cuihua pursed her lips, clenched her fists, and trembled slightly. Ma Ling also stared at Ma Yang with unfriendly eyes.

"Well... that..." Feeling guilty, Zhao Jun decided to help his brother-in-law out and tried to smooth things over.

"Little brother, what kind of canned food do you want to buy?" Zhao Jun said to Ma Yang. "I'm not an outsider. We'll eat whatever we have at home, whatever Mom makes."

"It's alright, Jun." Wang Cuihua wasn't stingy at all. She said to Zhao Jun, "Mom has to buy the canned food, and then Mom will cook a few more dishes for you. Also, take that beef leg. It's too late to boil it now. I'll cut up more meat and stir-fry it with some scallions."

“Okay, Mom,” Zhao Jun said with a smile, “We’re all family here, don’t make things so complicated.”

After Zhao Jun finished speaking, seeing that Ma Yang seemed about to say something, he quickly changed the subject and stopped him.

So, Wang Cuihua and Ma Ling went to the outer room to cook, while Zhao Jun chatted with his brother-in-law in the inner room.

Ma Yang was still somewhat rational; he knew who he relied on to make money. Therefore, in front of Zhao Jun, Ma Yang adopted a very humble attitude and spoke in a way that flattered Zhao Jun.

"Brother-in-law," Ma Yang asked Zhao Jun with a smile, "when are you going to Lingnan again?"

"What would I be doing going to Lingnan?" Zhao Jun asked Ma Yang. Ma Yang replied, "Didn't you say you were going to attend some kind of Ginseng King Conference before you left?"

"Ah, that matter," Zhao Jun said, "We'll leave tomorrow."

As Zhao Jun spoke, he glanced at Ma Yang, wanting to see what the kid would say.

"Hey, brother-in-law!" Ma Yang slammed his hand on the kang table and said, "I'll go with you tomorrow, you show me the world!"

After saying this, Ma Yang saw that Zhao Jun didn't say anything, so he asked, "Is it okay, brother-in-law?"

Zhao Jun smiled, gave Ma Yang a deep look, and then nodded emphatically, saying, "Alright, little brother! If you can get up tomorrow morning, I'll take you there."

Ma Yang didn't understand the deeper meaning in Zhao Jun's last sentence. When Zhao Jun agreed to take him, Ma Yang chuckled and said, "Brother-in-law, I can get up! I can usually get up around five in the morning."

Hearing this, Zhao Jun simply smiled and nodded, but said nothing.

At this moment, Ma Yang sat cross-legged opposite Zhao Jun, one hand holding the snakeskin bag containing money, the other hand resting on his leg with the palm of his hand against his knee, gently patting his hand up and down, looking quite content.

While Ma Ling and Wang Cuihua were cooking in the outer room, the mother and daughter listened intently to the conversation between the two people inside. Wang Cuihua would occasionally look up and glare at the doorway.

At this moment, Ma Ling thought of her elder brother's family and asked Wang Cuihua, "Mom, aren't you going to call my sister-in-law and my nephew?"

"Forget it, let's not call them anymore." Wang Cuihua glanced at the door of the east room again, and then said to Ma Ling, "I'll cut off a piece of beef and send it to them. Let them eat at home by themselves instead of letting the mother and son come over."

It wasn't that Wang Cuihua didn't love her grandson, but she felt that today wouldn't pass peacefully, and she didn't want her grandson to see Ma Dafu's fierce side.

Wang Cuihua cut a piece of meat from the cow's leg, weighing about two pounds, and carried it in a small basin to her eldest son's house.

When Wang Cuihua arrived at her eldest son's house, Xu Xiaoqing was steaming egg cakes for the child.

According to the custom of Northeasterners, after the pot lid is put on, they habitually wipe the lid with a rag.

But then, Xu Xiaoqing heard the child call out "Grandma" from the kang (heated brick bed) inside the house. She didn't even bother wiping the pot lid before getting up and looking out the door.

"Qing," Wang Cuihua asked casually as she entered the room, "Making food for the child?"

"Okay, Mom," Xu Xiaoqing replied with a smile, "Xiaoyuan is hungry, I'll steam some egg custard for him."

Ma Ling's eldest nephew is named Ma Boyuan, and he is only three years old this year.

Such a young child can't eat at the same time as adults. Xu Xiaoqing stays home to take care of the child, and she only cooks for him whenever he's hungry.

As soon as Xu Xiaoqing finished speaking, Ma Boyuan ran out of the house. The child rushed to Wang Cuihua, calling out "Grandma," which delighted Wang Cuihua.

"Grandma, what are you holding?" Ma Boyuan asked. Wang Cuihua quickly handed the bowl she was carrying to Ma Boyuan and said, "This is beef that your aunt and uncle gave you. Your mom can stir-fry it for you."

Upon hearing Wang Cuihua's words, Ma Boyuan's attention instantly shifted from the beef, and he looked at Wang Cuihua, saying, "My aunt is back? I need to find my aunt!"

Normally, if her eldest grandson said he wanted to come home, Wang Cuihua would pick him up and leave without saying a word.

But today, Wang Cuihua hesitated.

"Xiao Yuan, let's not go today." Seeing this, Xu Xiaoqing quickly pulled Ma Boyuan over and said, "Mom steamed egg cake for you, let's eat egg cake at home."

These days, kids are rarely so willful. Hearing Xu Xiaoqing say this, Ma Boyuan looked at his grandmother, then at the steaming pot, and nodded, saying, "Alright then, I won't go."

"Look how good my grandson is." Wang Cuihua smiled and patted Ma Boyuan's little head, then said to Xu Xiaoqing, "Qing, Mom's leaving now."

"Mom, wait a minute." Xu Xiaoqing called out to Wang Cuihua, "My salted duck eggs and salted chicken eggs are ready. I'll take a few back for you."

This is the time when chickens and ducks lay eggs. Xu Xiaoqing's family has four ducks and eight chickens. They pickle the eggs they lay that they can't eat every day.

Wang Cuihua said "no," but Xu Xiaoqing grabbed her. Xu Xiaoqing then used the small basin that Wang Cuihua used to hold meat to fill with ten salted duck eggs and ten salted chicken eggs.

Xu Xiaoqing led Ma Boyuan and saw Wang Cuihua out of her yard, then the mother and son walked back hand in hand. At this moment, the little boy changed his mind again and said to Xu Xiaoqing, "Mom, I want to go to my grandma's house."

When Ma Boyuan said this, Xu Xiaoqing replied, "Son, let's not go today."

"Why, Mom?" Ma Boyuan was a little unhappy. Xu Xiaoqing said, "I think your uncle is going to get a beating today."

……

The whistle of the little train echoed down from the mountain as forest workers headed home. When Ma Dafu entered his yard, he smelled the aroma of beef wafting from the house.

These days, it's not easy for people in the mountains to have a meal of beef. If a normal person knew that their family was making beef today, they would definitely be very happy.

When Ma Dafu smelled the aroma of beef, his first reaction was, "Oh no, my in-laws have gotten into trouble again."

Ma Dafu's family is quite frugal. They've only eaten beef a few times in the past year, mostly thanks to gifts from the Zhao family.

Most of the beef belonging to the Zhao family was hunted by Zhao Youcai.

It wasn't dark yet. Zhao Jun saw his father-in-law return through the window and hurriedly got off the kang (a heated brick bed) to greet him in the outer room.

As soon as Ma Dafu stepped inside, he heard Zhao Jun call out "Dad." Ma Dafu was taken aback, then smiled and said, "Jun, when did you get back?"

"I came back this morning," Zhao Jun replied with a smile. Then he saw Wang Cuihua wink at Ma Dafu and say, "Xiao Jun brought us the money from selling the clubs. Now your old son is going a little crazy."

Upon hearing this, Ma Dafu's previously cheerful expression instantly darkened, and he immediately strode towards the east room.

When he entered the room, he saw his son lying on the kang (a heated brick bed) with his legs crossed, looking smugly at the ceiling.

Seeing Ma Dafu come in, Ma Yang stood up and said to him, "Dad, look, my brother-in-law gave you a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes."

Upon hearing this, Ma Dafu noticed the cigarettes and alcohol on the kang (a heated brick bed) and quickly turned to Zhao Jun, saying, "You kid, why are you spending this money?"

"Dad," Zhao Jun said with a smile, "I saw some nice things when I went to town, so I wanted to buy some for you as a token of my respect."

To be honest, in his past life, his father-in-law treated Zhao Jun well and worried a lot about his relationship with Ma Ling.

In this life, Zhao Jun has no intention of getting a divorce. He just wants to have children with Ma Ling, be filial to both sets of parents, be close to his siblings, and unite with relatives and friends.

“This child…” Ma Dafu was very pleased with Zhao Jun’s words and intentions. But when he looked at his mentally challenged son, Ma Dafu suddenly felt a tightness in his chest.

But with Zhao Jun around, Ma Dafu couldn't lose his temper easily. He invited Zhao Jun to sit down on the kang (a heated brick bed), and the two chatted about the interesting things that had happened in the forest farm and the village recently.

Having been pulled off the kang (heated brick bed) twice by Ma Dafu before, Ma Yang was quite well-behaved today. Ma Dafu and Zhao Jun chatted, and he listened nearby, occasionally chiming in with a word or two to lighten the mood.

At this moment, Wang Cuihua and Ma Ling began to serve the dishes.

When the girl and her husband returned, Wang Cuihua cooked as many dishes as possible. But at that time, eggplant, green beans, persimmons, and peppers were not yet in season, so Wang Cuihua only made stir-fried beef with scallions, fried dried fish, fried peanuts, canned luncheon meat, stir-fried dried tofu, a platter of salted chicken and duck eggs, stir-fried shredded potatoes, and vegetables with dipping sauce.

Seeing the dishes being placed on the table, Zhao Jun picked up the wine barrel and poured wine for Ma Dafu. When his mother-in-law bought canned luncheon meat, she also thoughtfully bought him two bottles of soda, but Ma Dafu still asked Zhao Jun, "Jun, aren't you going to have a sip?"

"Dad, I won't drink anymore," Zhao Jun replied with a smile. But as soon as he finished speaking, Ma Yang said, "Dad, I'll drink with you."

"Little brother," Zhao Jun knew what kind of drinker Ma Yang was, so he quickly stopped him and said, "Mom made these dishes today, why don't you eat more of the food and not drink?"

“No, brother-in-law,” Ma Yang shook his head and said, “I’m happy today, I have to have a couple of drinks.”

After saying that, Ma Yang snatched the wine barrel and poured himself a drink, which Zhao Jun couldn't stop. Watching Ma Yang pour the wine to the rim of the cup, the young man lowered his head and took a small sip from the edge of the cup.

There were no outsiders present today, and Wang Cuihua and Ma Ling didn't eat in the outer room. The five of them sat on the kang (a heated brick bed), chatting and laughing as they ate and drank.

Ma Dafu chose not to react to Ma Yang's problem for the time being. After all, you can't hit a dog while it's eating, let alone a person.

Pure grain liquor doesn't give you a headache. But after downing more than half a jin (250ml) of liquor, it's inevitable that the kid will get a little tipsy.

"There are no outsiders today, just drink up." At this moment, Ma Dafu, who had also drunk two glasses of wine, was about to serve himself some rice, but Ma Yang pulled over the wine barrel and said to Ma Dafu, "Dad, let's have another drink, just the two of us."

"Little brother, that's enough," Ma Ling, who had already finished eating, advised from the side. "That's enough, don't drink so much."

"Sister, don't worry about it." Ma Yang waved his hand at Ma Ling and said, "My brother-in-law is here today, I'm happy, I have to drink."

Upon hearing this, Ma Ling asked in confusion, "Your brother-in-law doesn't drink, and he doesn't need you to keep him company. What are you doing?"

While Ma Ling was speaking, Ma Yang poured himself a drink. After pouring one for himself, Ma Yang went to pour one for Ma Dafu. At this point, Ma Dafu refused, saying, "Alright, you drink it yourself, I'm not drinking anymore."

"Dad, you drink it." Ma Yang said, taking the cup from Ma Dafu and starting to pour the wine into it, saying as he poured, "Wine is the essence of grain, the more you drink, the younger you get."

The glass contained about two and a half ounces of liquor. Seeing that Ma Yang was pouring nearly two ounces, Ma Dafu quickly stopped him. His son-in-law only came home for meals a few times a year, so Ma Dafu didn't want to punish Ma Yang at this moment.

After a couple of sips of wine, Ma Yang's face turned red instantly. Zhao Jun knew from this that Ma Yang had drunk too much.

Zhao Jun doesn't drink alcohol. After he, Ma Ling, and Wang Cuihua finished eating, Wang Cuihua opened the canned peaches she had bought and poured some for Zhao Jun to eat.

At this moment, Zhao Jun quickly picked up a small bowl containing a piece of canned peach and some canned soup, and handed it to Ma Yang, saying, "Little brother, have a bite of this canned food to calm your nerves."

“I don’t want to.” Ma Yang shook his head and waved his hand, saying, “Brother-in-law, I’m not drunk, you don’t need to worry about me.”

"Oh dear!" Zhao Jun sighed softly. He didn't have any deep-seated grudges with his brother-in-law. In his previous life, the two had some minor frictions in the later stages, but it couldn't be called hatred or resentment.

Now, because of 45,000 yuan, his brother-in-law was going astray. Zhao Jun felt guilty and remorseful, and at this moment, he still wanted to help Ma Yang. So he asked Ma Dafu and Wang Cuihua, "Mom and Dad, will my little brother still be able to go to school?"

Hearing Zhao Jun raise this question, Ma Dafu, Wang Cuihua, and Ma Ling were all taken aback. Then Zhao Jun continued, "Our family's situation is better now. Either let my younger brother continue his schooling and finish junior high, or we can get him on the field now. He's too young to sign a contract."

These days, even formal workers like Zhao Jun have to sign contracts. If Ma Yang were to join the forestry farm at his age, even if he were to take over, he wouldn't be able to do the manual labor. He'd only be able to look after the mailroom and hot water room, like Li Ruhai and Zhang Laifa before him.

Zhao Jun felt that the job was not very interesting, so he said to the Ma family, "After he graduates from junior high school, we'll find him a decent job in the forest farm. What do you think, Mom and Dad?"

Ma Dafu, Wang Cuihua, and Ma Ling all agreed with Zhao Jun's words. Just as Zhao Jun said, the family's financial situation had improved, and with the 45,000 yuan Zhao Jun had given them, Ma Yang didn't have to worry about getting married or finding a job.

In that case, instead of letting him stay home waiting for work, it's better to let him hang out at school for now. At least at school, he has teachers to supervise him, isn't that better than him running wild in the village?

"Jun," Ma Dafu said with deep emotion, raising his glass to express his gratitude to his son-in-law. These days, it's believed that a married daughter is like water spilled from a cup, and sons-in-law rarely concern themselves with their fathers-in-law's affairs. A son-in-law like Zhao Jun is truly a rare find.

Before Ma Dafu could speak, Ma Yang called out to Zhao Jun, "Brother-in-law, you know who I went to school for before, right? Otherwise, why would I have gone to that bastard?"

After saying this, Ma Yang slapped his thigh hard, making a loud slapping sound, and said, "Brother-in-law, now that I have money, I'm going all out."

"What are you going to do that you're willing to risk?" Ma Ling asked from the side. Ma Yang replied, "I'm going to pay to marry her."

"Who are you going to marry?" This was the question Wang Cuihua asked. She hadn't expected her youngest son to be so secretive. She hoped Ma Yang would get married so they could have a child soon.

"Mom, don't worry about who I marry." Ma Yang waved his hand at Wang Cuihua and said, "Just prepare the betrothal gifts for me, and then find Liu Tiezui to propose marriage for me."

After saying this, Ma Yang slapped his thigh hard and said, "Give me ten thousand yuan first."

"Ten thousand yuan?" Wang Cuihua frowned and asked, "What do you want it for?"

“I’ll give a bride price,” Ma Yang said. Wang Cuihua pressed, “What do you mean? Nobody in our village gives a bride price of ten thousand yuan!”

"What's wrong with ten thousand yuan?" Ma Yang said, blushing. "I'd be happy to give her any amount of money."

"Little brother, you've had too much to drink," Ma Ling said from the side. Ma Yang waved his hand and said, "Sister, someone like you, my brother-in-law still gave you a thousand yuan as a bride price. What does she lack?"

"Bang!" Ma Ling slammed the teacup she was holding onto the table. Wang Cuihua, who was standing next to her, was also unhappy and said directly to Ma Yang, "Xiao Yang, what are you saying? How dare you talk to your sister like that?"

"What? What did I say?" Ma Yang started getting worked up at this point. Seeing this, Zhao Jun quickly grabbed Ma Ling, but Ma Yang was out of control.

The days are long and the nights are long this month.

At this moment, at the door of Sun Yongrong's house in the southeast corner of the Ma family compound, Li Ruhai, Sun Yongrong, along with several old women, old ladies, young girls, and young wives, were chatting together.

Suddenly, a scream came from the Ma family's house, shattering the laughter and chatter of Li Ruhai and his companions.

Upon hearing the cries, Li Ruhai took the lead and ran towards the Ma family's courtyard, right in front of the women.

When Li Ruhai ran to the entrance of the Ma family compound, he saw Zhao Jun running out of the house.

"Big...Big Brother." Li Ruhai was feeling embarrassed when he heard Zhao Jun shout urgently, "Ruhai, hurry home and have Aunt Liu bring the first-aid kit!"

　I owed you a chapter from the day before yesterday, I'll make it up tomorrow. I'm going to the Ginseng King Conference tomorrow!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)