The whole mountain is my hunting ground.

Chapter 1907 Key Figure – Little Eyeball

"A meeting?" Zhao Jun was taken aback, wondering what these four people were up to.

Zhao Jun and Wang Meilan were ignorant, and because they distrusted Zhao Youcai, Zhao Jun inadvertently brought up the matter of shares in private factories before liberation at the dinner table.

Then, Zhou Chunming said that the private shares no longer existed and would not be refunded, compensated, or restored.

Zhao Jun couldn't possibly disbelieve Zhou Chunming's words. So, if the stock market was completely hopeless, why was the family still holding this meeting?

It was Ma Ling's first time attending such a small, internal family meeting, and she was a little excited. She patted the four-legged stool next to her, gesturing for Zhao Jun to come and sit down.

After Zhao Jun sat down, Wang Meilan coughed lightly, then looked sorrowful and said, "My old man worked hard for most of his life, and all the shares he earned are gone just like that..."

"Mom!" Zhao Jun interrupted Wang Meilan quickly upon hearing this, saying, "It's all in the past, why bring it up again?"

Based on Wang Meilan's opening remarks, Zhao Jun thought she harbored resentment and was about to rebel.

After interrupting Wang Meilan, Zhao Jun quietly explained to Ma Ling, who looked at him with a questioning expression, "Our great-grandmother used to have a lot of shares in factories in the city, but she doesn't have them anymore."

“Ah…” Hearing Zhao Jun say that, Ma Ling remembered that Zhou Chunming had talked about the issue of private factory shares being returned to the public during dinner. So Zhao Jun had a reason for bringing this up.

"Our Grandma is really something." Ma Ling sincerely praised Wang Da Ba Zhang. As Wang Cuihua's daughter, she had heard people talk about Wang Da Ba Zhang's domineering nature since she was a child.

Wang Meilan, who was interrupted by Zhao Jun, sighed and said, "The shares are gone, but I'm wondering if my father might have left something else that we don't know about."

Upon hearing Wang Meilan's words, Zhao Jun and Wang Qiang's eyes lit up, Ma Ling's big eyes were full of curiosity, while Zhao Youcai curled his lip.

“That’s right, sis!” Wang Qiang slapped his thigh and said, “Our old man has been hiding things here and there, there might be other things we haven’t found yet.”

"Then the problem is, where do we even begin to look?" Zhao Jun asked. Wang Meilan replied, "Wang Sanxi came today and said that the old man gave us all those stock certificates, and they've all ended up in someone else's hands. Do you think that person might have any... clues?"

Wang Meilan's question was worth pondering. Zhao Jun, Zhao Youcai, and Wang Qiang frowned, while Ma Ling looked around curiously.

“I have a bad feeling about it.” Zhao Youcai was the first to voice his opinion. He shook his head and said, “If they had a lead, wouldn’t they have gone to look for it? How could it be our turn? If you ask me, it’s just that the stock certificate is useless, otherwise he would have taken it to exchange for money.”

Hearing Zhao Youcai's words, Wang Qiang nodded in agreement.

Wang Meilan glanced at Zhao Youcai, sensing something strange about his behavior. Based on her understanding of him, Zhao Youcai wasn't the type to speak up proactively.

When Wang Meilan looked over, a hint of panic flashed across Zhao Youcai's face. He quickly lowered his head and took out a cigarette from his pocket to cover up his ulterior motive.

Wang Meilan immediately understood that the old man was afraid of her interrogating him again.

Thinking of this, Wang Meilan sneered inwardly, planning to say aloud after returning to the house, "When our old man was alive, his popularity was beyond question. During those difficult years, he saved many people. Surely some people would be grateful and willing to hide things for him."

Upon hearing Wang Meilan's words, Zhao Youcai, who had just pulled two cigarettes from the pack, trembled, and one cigarette fell onto the table and rolled toward Wang Qiang.

Wang Qiang reacted quickly, pressing down on the cigarette with his hand, then smiled at Zhao Youcai and said, "Brother-in-law, you've served me a good cigarette."

After saying this, Wang Qiang noticed that Zhao Youcai's expression was a little off.

At this moment, Zhao Jun and Wang Meilan both looked at Zhao Youcai.

Ma Ling sensed something was off and cast a curious glance at her father-in-law.

"Lan'er." Zhao Youcai said to Wang Meilan, holding a cigarette case in one hand and a cigarette in the other, "I remember our father told me twice that we must find the little eyeball in the future."

"Small eyes?" Wang Qiang was taken aback and blurted out, "Who's that?"

Wang Meilan glanced at Wang Qiang, then asked Zhao Youcai, "Small-eyed Niu?"

“Yes!” Zhao Youcai nodded, and Zhao Jun asked in surprise, “What’s the connection between these small eyes and the big eyes of a cow?”

“He is Niu Dayanzhu’s son,” Zhao Youcai said. “Niu Dayanzhu died, and this little boy and his mother couldn’t get enough to eat. Your great-grandmother asked your grandfather to send him wild boar meat.”

"They even had my mother send money to their family." These were the words of Wang Meilan.

Zhao Jun wasn't surprised by what Zhao Youcai and Wang Meilan said.

Back then, there were dozens of bandits in Shibadaogangzi, also known as "bearded bandits" by the locals.

Among these dozens of bandit groups, big and small, Widow Wang and Big Eyes were the strongest.

At that time, Widow Wang had Yang the Blind, the number one gunman of the Eighteen Ridges, and Shao Yunjin, the number one mountain hunter.

Under Niu Dayanzi's command were Wei Laodao, the top unorthodox Taoist of the Eighteen Ridges, and a big monkey with profound martial arts skills.

These two groups of bandits were evenly matched, but little did they know that they were both men raised by Wang Dabazhang in the mountains.

Later, both bandit gangs went down the mountain to defend their homeland. Niu Dayanzi and Da Mahou died at the foot of the mountain. Only Wei Laodao escaped back to the mountains, but he went mad from then on.

Zhao Jun had heard about this since he was a child; his grandmother told him it as a story.

But this was the first time Zhao Jun had ever heard of Niu Xiaoyanzhu.

"Sister, brother-in-law," Wang Qiang asked Zhao Youcai and Wang Meilan, "Where is this guy with the small eyes?"

"I don't know." Zhao Youcai shook his head slightly and said, "I think I heard that his mother was going to leave home and he took her with him."

The term "walking down the aisle" used here refers to a woman remarrying.

Hearing Zhao Youcai's words, Wang Meilan shook her head and said, "It shouldn't be. He and his mother must have moved away."

After saying this, Wang Meilan paused for a moment, then said firmly, "His family left a year after my sixth uncle. I remember it clearly. His family left a few days after my sixth uncle moved away."

Hearing Wang Meilan say this, Zhao Jun knew that Niu Xiaoyanzi and her son must have been moved at the behest of their maternal grandfather.

But I don't know if my grandfather gave the Niu family anything before they left.

But Zhao Youcai said that Wang Dabazhang had told him he absolutely had to find Niu Xiaoyanzhu, so there must be a reason for that.

Thinking of this, Zhao Jun said, "So, does that mean they also moved to Lingnan?"

"It should be." Wang Meilan nodded and said, "I'll call your sixth grandfather tomorrow and ask."

“Okay,” Zhao Jun said. “I’ll ask Grandpa Shao tomorrow too.”

"Sister, Jun," Wang Qiang interjected, "Do you think we should talk to Wang Sanxi? Doesn't he know who has the stock certificate? What if that stock certificate is with Xiao Yanzhu?"

"Let's ignore him for now," Zhao Jun said. "Let's find someone to ask around first, and if that doesn't work, we'll see what happens."

“That’s right!” Wang Meilan agreed with Zhao Jun, saying, “We should avoid contacting him if we can avoid it. If we do, he’ll ask us to speak for Wang Yaoguang, which is impossible.”

"That's right!" Wang Qiang exhaled a puff of smoke and said, "Not executing him is already letting him off too easily."

The meeting was coming to an end. Wang Meilan told Wang Qiang to go home and rest early, and told Ma Ling not to get up too early tomorrow morning.

However, due to her long-established biological clock, Ma Ling still got up just after four o'clock the next day.

When she got up, Zhao Jun noticed. He glanced at Ma Ling groggily and heard her say, "Go back to sleep. You don't need to get up too early."

Zhao Jun grunted in agreement and went back to sleep. Ma Ling got dressed, went out of the room, and returned within two minutes.

Hearing the door open, Zhao Jun looked up and saw Ma Ling. He asked, "What's wrong, wife?"

"Look at this." Ma Ling walked quickly to the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), pulled at the gold necklace around her neck, and said to Zhao Jun, "Mom gave all of this to me."

Zhao Jun glanced at it groggily, then laughed and said, "Mom gave it to you, so just keep it."

"What am I keeping?" Ma Ling said as she took some off her clothes. "These are all Mom's favorites. She gave them to me, so what will she wear?"

"Oh, just keep it, honey," Zhao Jun said. "If she likes it, I'll buy it for her when we go to town sometime."

“Then why spend that money?” Ma Ling said, holding the necklace. “Just give it back to her. I work all day and I can’t wear a gold necklace while I’m out working.”

"Wife, just take it," Zhao Jun said with a smile. "From today onwards, I won't be able to use you for farming anymore."

"Huh?" Ma Ling was taken aback, and then she saw Zhao Jun sit up from the kang and say, "Mom gave it to you, so just wear it. She's happy to do this, she's willing to give you anything."

When the young couple came out of the house, they saw Wang Meilan and Zhao Youcai talking quietly about something.

Hearing the noise, the couple turned around and looked at the young couple.

"Mom, Dad, what are you two discussing?" Zhao Jun asked casually, and Wang Meilan replied, "Well, I was saying I'm going to Yongfu's place in a bit."

"What are you doing, Mom?" Zhao Jun asked. Wang Meilan replied, "Isn't the market over there today? I'm going to see if there are any river shrimp left to sell."

Zhao Jun immediately understood that his mother was trying to figure out what to cook for his wife.

Yesterday, Ma Ling barely ate any of the dishes on the table. She ate the mutton and fish, but she didn't vomit the fried and stir-fried river shrimp.

"Mom, no need." Ma Ling knew who her mother-in-law wanted to run to Yongfu for, so she immediately stopped her, saying, "We can eat chicken eggs and goose eggs every day, we don't need to eat anything else."

After saying that, Ma Ling added, "Besides, it's hot, and I don't have much of an appetite. I just like eating vegetables with dipping sauce."

What Ma Ling said is true; it's hot, so some vegetables with dipping sauce are refreshing and go well with rice.

But mainly it's because there aren't many other vegetables available this season; the cabbages and radishes we stored in winter are all gone. We've planted quite a few eggplants, cucumbers, green beans, persimmons, and peppers in the field, but they're not ready to be harvested yet.

Now, the garden only has various kinds of vegetables.

Besides that, we also went to the mountains to dig for wild vegetables.

“That stuff with dipping sauce…it’s so cold.” Wang Meilan muttered, then said to Ma Ling, “My dear, you stay inside. I’ll go out and get some tofu, then I’ll stir-fry it with some eggs.”

After speaking with Ma Ling, Wang Meilan turned to Zhao Youcai and said, "Go and collect a few goose eggs from the villagers' homes, the ones that were laid today!"

"Okay." Zhao Youcai agreed readily. After the couple left, Ma Ling approached Zhao Jun, who was washing up, and said, "Think of a way."

"Huh?" Zhao Jun was taken aback and asked, "What plan am I thinking of?"

“Tell Mom I’m not malnourished,” Ma Ling said, frowning. “If you keep doing this, Mom will be killed by that donkey in less than two days.”

"Hehe..." Zhao Jun was amused by Ma Ling's words, but thinking about his mother's personality, Zhao Jun felt that his wife made a good point.

After washing up, Zhao Jun went out to feed the dogs. When he went down into the cellar, he found that there was only one sack of potatoes left.

Actually, this sack of potatoes was bought from Xishan Village. If it weren't for Xishan Village providing potatoes to the Zhao family by eating pickled vegetables and cured meat, the Zhao family would have run out of potatoes before the New Year.

This sack weighs only about 80 pounds, enough to feed the dozen or so big dogs at home, but it won't last until the new potatoes are harvested.

Zhao Jun picked up eight potatoes from the lorry, then suddenly stopped.

Zhao Jun came up from the cellar, went to the warehouse, carried out half a bag of cornmeal, and went to the back of the house to plant food.

Just as Zhao Jun started a fire, Li Baoyu climbed over the wall from next door to help.

"Brother," Li Baoyu looked closer and said, "Not enough potatoes? I'll go!"

"Hey, Baoyu," Zhao Jun called out to Li Baoyu, "we're not putting potatoes in the rice today."

"Huh?" Li Baoyu was taken aback and said, "It's all stored as grain? Don't we still have a bag of potatoes in our cellar?"

"Then I won't feed it," Zhao Jun said. "I'll keep the potatoes; I need them."

"What are you doing, brother?" Li Baoyu asked. Zhao Jun replied, "I'm using it to make a nest."

"What are you doing?" Li Baoyu wasn't that he didn't hear clearly, but rather that he didn't understand what Zhao Jun was going to do.

"Set up a nest," Zhao Jun repeated, "We're going up the mountain today and staying there. We'll graze during the day and hunt at night."

After much deliberation, Zhao Jun decided to try and save the little donkey one more time. Besides, his wife was pregnant and in postpartum confinement, and he couldn't just keep hoping for a donkey every day.

"What? Setting up a hunting ground?" Li Baoyu looked at Zhao Jun in surprise and asked, "How do you set up a hunting ground in this mountain area?"

“You’ll see when we get up the mountain,” Zhao Jun said. Li Baoyu suppressed his curiosity and continued to say to Zhao Jun, “Brother, the old chief’s rule is that we can’t both graze on the mountain and hunt.”

Li Baoyu's previous trip to Fusong broadened his horizons considerably.

There are many rules in the safari business, and some of them seem illogical.

For example, when ginseng hunters go into the mountains, they emphasize clearing paths through mountains and building bridges over rivers. In other words, if they encounter ditches, embankments, or fallen trees blocking their way, the hunters cannot detour; they must overcome the immediate obstacle.

In addition, the guards carrying guns up the mountain are not allowed to participate in activities such as carrying ginseng or shovels. The guns are only for defense, and the guards are not allowed to use them for fighting.

Li Baoyu assumed that Zhao Jun was unaware of these rules, since the two brothers had grown up together since childhood, and Li Baoyu had never seen Zhao Jun learn these things from anyone.

"It's alright," Zhao Jun said with a smile. "I believe the old foreman will understand."

Li Baoyu: "..."