Chapter 67: Inquiring about the Hunchbacked Traveler

Zhang Yang had thought things through very clearly.

Given the family structure of Granny Lu's household, Lu Mingli was inevitably the main pillar of support. Once the pillar collapsed, more trouble would inevitably follow in the future. Granny Lu was growing older, Huang Cuilan could barely take care of herself, and Big Ming and Little Ming were not growing up fast enough. The only person they could possibly count on was Zhao Dong, but his mind was entirely set on patrolling the mountains and hunting, single-mindedly aspiring to become the Hunter King.

Therefore, on the surface, Lu Mingli's family still appeared strong, but in reality, it was already precarious, battered by wind and rain. To solve the problem at its root, Lu Mingli had to be helped back onto his feet.

In Zhang Yang's mind, a to-do list seemed to be gradually taking shape. Originally, this list only contained one major item: getting his eldest sister Zhang Yan to divorce Wang Jie and escape the Wang family's control as soon as possible. But as time went on, and his connections with the people around him grew stronger, he found himself wanting to do many more things.

Of course, the most pressing matter right now was to gather a set of powerful bear-hunting tools and first help Old Man Jiang bag that large bear in the mountains near his home.

The game in those mountains did not fall under the jurisdiction of the local production brigade. Whatever was hunted belonged entirely to the individual. It was effectively a private job Zhang Yang had taken on.

Old Man Jiang was a straightforward and honest man who had traded a precious wild ginseng root for a single bottle of yellow wine. Once the bear was hunted, he certainly wouldn't demand a large share of it. A bear would mean at least half of it belonged to Zhang Yang and his companions. Assuming the large bear weighed four hundred catties, after the division, he would have at least a hundred catties to drag to the black market and sell.

Just thinking about it made Zhang Yang feel as though he had pried open a small vault. He could hardly wait to drag that small vault home.

To ensure this hunting operation would be a complete success, Zhang Yang instructed Zhao Dong on what supplies needed to be prepared while taking some wild boar meat and sugar from home to visit Zhang Ming德.

"What are you bringing so much stuff over for again, boy? The meat you gave me last time was smoked into bacon, and I haven't even finished eating it yet!" Zhang Mingde was leaning against the heated brick bed with two cloth bundles covering his knees.

Seeing this, Zhang Yang couldn't help asking with curiosity, "Uncle De, what are you doing with those?"

"An old ailment, rheumatic bone pain." Zhang Mingde lifted the cloth bundle to reveal the heated tiles underneath. "A folk remedy, just roast it and it'll feel better! It's no big deal!"

Zhang Yang felt a twinge of discomfort in his heart. In his mind, Zhang Ming德 was practically half a mentor. If Zhang Ming德 hadn't agreed to lend him a gun in exchange for meat, he wouldn't have been able to expand his horizons and open up his path so quickly.

"Your chronic cold legs need some medicinal wine," Zhang Yang said.

Zhang Ming德 laughed heartily. "You young rascal, you even know about this kind of thing?"

"Oh, when I was at the hospital in the city, I heard them mention it a bit," Zhang Yang glossed over it with a vague excuse.

As for the medicinal wine recipe for treating rheumatism, he actually did know it—and he remembered it very clearly. Back in his past life, the coach of their shooting team frequently suffered from old injuries and aches. Later, he and a junior fellow apprentice tracked down a formidable veteran traditional Chinese medicine practitioner and paid a hefty sum for the medicinal wine formula, though the old doctor refused to let them take the paper away and only allowed them to look at it. Relying on his extraordinary memory, Zhang Yang had committed it to heart.

He hadn't expected that the formula not only cured his teacher back then, but could also come in handy now.

It was just that the ingredients in this formula were truly difficult to find. Many of the raw materials would be strictly prohibited contraband in later generations. Acquiring them in this era should be manageable; the only obstacle was a lack of money.

Zhang Yang silently noted this matter in his heart, and then brought up the purpose of his visit to Zhang Ming德.

"Uncle De, have you folks ever hunted bears in the mountains around here?"

"Oh, my!" Zhang Ming德 looked at him with newfound respect. "Your ambitions aren't small, boy! You've only been holding a gun for a few days, and you're already daring to set your sights on a bear?"

Zhang Yang scratched the back of his head and smiled with embarrassment, "Well, a person has to have dreams, right?"

Zhang Ming德 rubbed the cloth bundles on his knees, smiled, and waved his hand. "There are no bears in the mountains around our parts."

Zhang Yang said frankly, "There may not be any in our mountains, but when I took Zhang Siluan to the hospital in Zhenhai City, I saw bear tracks along the way."

"Oh?" Zhang Ming德's interest was piqued.

Zhang Yang continued, "I asked around, and there are no mountain patrollers in those hills near the city outskirts! Think about it, if that bear wanders into the city and hurts people, wouldn't that become a huge problem? So, driven by the spirit of serving the people, I plan to go there and hunt the bear!"

Zhang Ming德 revealed an appreciative smile.

"Yangzi, you really do have some luck on your side! Your uncle here has never hunted a blind bear in all his life! But my father's generation managed to bag one, and I vaguely heard them talk about some experiences."

"Most bears will choose to hibernate when winter arrives because of the cold weather and the scarcity of food, conserving their physical energy."

"But there are also those that don't hibernate. We call these bears 'walking camels'! Even in the freezing cold, they wander haphazardly through the snow-covered forests, and their aggressiveness toward humans is extremely high!"

"Moreover, if it's a mature old bear, it's very likely to have already experienced eating humans, making it even more dangerous than ordinary bears."

"Tell me, how big was the bear paw you saw? Based on the size of the bear paw, you can roughly estimate the size of the bear!"

Drawing on the description Old Man Jiang had given him, Zhang Yang answered truthfully, "A single bear paw was a size larger than both of my feet put together."

Zhang Ming德 was startled. "Then it weighs at least three to four hundred catties!"

"Walking camels have tough hides and thick flesh. When you actually run into it, don't charge it head-on! In critical moments, don't be stingy with bullets—fire a few more shots!"

Mentioning being stingy with bullets, Zhang Ming德 couldn't help laughing again. "You stingy little rascal! I gave you so many bullets, how many have you actually used?"

"It was one thing when you were hunting wolves and killing wild boars before, but this time you're going to deal with a walking camel. That's a big fellow!"

"If you're really going, don't hold back those few bullets! Kill the bear and save your life; only then can you consider the job properly done!"

"Also, you need to go scout the terrain in the mountains during daylight. First, to set traps, and second, to find a place to hide."

"In the stretches of birch forests in the city outskirts, finding a larger tree isn't easy. Unlike our mountains where old trees are plentiful, allowing you to climb up and lie low for several hours without a problem."

"If you aren't familiar with that place, wander around a bit more during the day and find a decent spot to hide. Otherwise, the cold at night will be tough to endure, and you could freeze to death!"

"And another thing, you must prepare food before you go. If you want that walking camel to show up sooner, prepare some fragrant meat, or a rabbit..."

At this point, Zhang Ming德 couldn't help swallowing his saliva. "Talking about it makes my mouth water!"

Zhang Yang promised boldly, "As long as we bag a blind bear this time, your family won't have to worry about meat for the New Year!"

He had already envisioned it: the Spring Festival was just a few days away, and he couldn't possibly let everyone's New Year iron-pot stews consist solely of corn, radishes, and Chinese cabbage. His own family wouldn't have to worry about grain from now on anyway. Once he got the meat, wouldn't every household have to bring grain to trade with him?

When that time came, he would trade meat for fine flour with everyone at a neighborly price. Not a single family in Zhangjiatun Village would have to go without a taste of meat!