Chapter 579: Taking Mom to Lingnan

Chapter 579: Chapter 441: Taking Mom to Lingnan

After finishing their hot noodle soup, Zhao Jun and Jie Chen went back to the west room to take a nap. By the time they woke up, the rain had stopped and the sky was clear.

Zhao Jun, who had gotten up from the kang and was looking out the window, suddenly turned, walked to the door, pulled it open, and strode outside.

“Black Tiger!” Zhao Jun yelled, pointing at the dog as he stepped out of the house.

Black Tiger, who had just caught a small toad, was so startled by Zhao Jun’s sudden shout that his jaw went slack and the toad fell from his mouth to the ground.

Zhao Jun walked over and kicked the toad, which Black Tiger had already bitten to death, to the side.

These days, toads would appear in the yard after a heavy rain. But in this particular month, the toads had worms in their bellies. Some worms were digestible for the toads, but if a dog ate them, the outcome was uncertain.

“You’re always so gluttonous…” Zhao Jun pointed at Black Tiger again, but before he could finish, the dog turned and ran into its doghouse.

That evening, Zhao Jun’s family had braised meat again. Wang Meilan put the few lean cuts from the bear into a large pot to simmer.

She simmered it until a chopstick could pierce through it easily, then took it out, cut it into small pieces, and prepared it like red-braised pork.

Once the bear meat was ready, she stir-fried a dish of cabbage and wood ear mushrooms, completing the dinner for Zhao Jun’s family.

Zhao Youcai’s return was quite timely; he walked through the door just as the food was being served. However, he brought the news that Niu Guoliang had been gored to death by a wild boar.

Poor Niu Guoliang. By the time he reached the Forest Farm’s clinic, it was already too late to save him.

No matter the era, a death was always a major event.

Soon, a crowd had gathered outside the clinic, and the incident had even alarmed Zhou Chunming and several of the farm directors.

As soon as Zhou Chunming heard that a hauler from the New Logging Camp had been gored to death by a wild boar, he hurried over.

Although these haulers were all hired by a Leader, they were ultimately working for the Forest Farm. For minor everyday issues, the Forest Farm could ignore them and push the responsibility onto the Leader.

But now that someone had died, it was impossible for the Forest Farm to wash its hands of the matter.

However, once they were at the scene and asked a few simple questions, the already devastated Zhao Qingzhu confessed everything in detail, from beginning to end. He even revealed their reason for hunting the wild boar in the first place.

After hearing the story, the leaders returned to the office building and held a brief meeting.

With Zhao Qingzhu’s “confession,” the matter became much simpler. If Niu Guoliang had died while hauling logs, the Forest Farm would bear significant responsibility. But he had been killed while hunting.

Furthermore, he had gone off to hunt a wild boar during work hours instead of doing his job. Who could possibly be blamed for that?

Most critically, Zhao Qingzhu, who was with Niu Guoliang, was not only his brother-in-law but also his Leader.

As a result, the Yong’an Forest Farm didn’t have to bear any responsibility. Out of humanitarian concern, they would merely provide Niu Guoliang’s family with some compensation.

The matter should have been suppressed right then and there, but the Forest Management Director, Fan Zhisheng, had a different opinion.

Fan Zhisheng said Niu Guoliang’s death was inextricably linked to Dou Baoguo. No matter how you looked at it, Dou Baoguo was the director of the New Logging Camp. With such a major incident, he, Dou Baoguo, bore responsibility. He had failed to properly manage the camp’s haulers and even had them hunt a wild boar for him as a gift, which ultimately led to Niu Guoliang’s death.

Therefore, Dou Baoguo should bear the primary responsibility.

Such is human nature.

Back when Dou Baoguo proposed increasing production and building new roads, Fan Zhisheng had been there to cheer him on.

But after Dou Baoguo got into trouble and Director Chu came down for an inspection, Fan Zhisheng kicked him while he was down.

And now, Fan Zhisheng was preparing to finish Dou Baoguo off for good.

But the other leaders said nothing in response to Fan Zhisheng’s statement. Instead, with a silent understanding, they quickly and tacitly reached a consensus.

Then, Zhou Chunming personally made a phone call to report to the bureau. The person who answered was none other than the same Director Chu who had visited last time.

Over the phone, Zhou Chunming was very subtle, but Director Chu understood perfectly: the hauler had died hunting a wild boar, and the reason for the hunt was that Dou Baoguo wanted to give him a wild boar leg as a gift.

This infuriated Director Chu. It was one thing for Dou Baoguo to not do his job properly, but now a man was dead, and he was trying to drag him down with him. How outrageous!

And so, Director Chu immediately instructed Zhou Chunming to fire Dou Baoguo, not even letting him remain as the Logging Camp Director.

Zhao Jun had been at the Lower Logging Camp for three and a half days and home resting for three days—a full week, all told.

But in just that one week, Dou Baoguo had gone from being the second-in-command of the Yong’an Forest Farm—the respectable Production Director—to being demoted to Logging Camp Director, and now he had been fired outright.

However, Dou Baoguo was a resilient man. While Zhao Qingzhu was driving the horse-drawn cart to escort Niu Guoliang’s body home, Dou Baoguo took over Zhao Qingzhu’s duties and became a Leader at the Logging Camp.

The next day, it was drizzling again in the morning, so Zhao Jun didn’t go to Lingnan. He waited until after ten o’clock when the sky cleared up, then he took Jie Chen for a stroll around the village to get to know the locals.

On September 11th, Zhao Jun still didn’t go to Lingnan. Instead, he took Zhang Yuanmin, Li Baoyu, and Jie Chen into the mountains. They went to the Elder Anzi where they had found ginseng two days prior, and the four of them spread out to search the mountainside.

Just as the old saying goes: stick around an Elder Anzi, and you’ll never have to worry about food.

Today, the four of them found two Miao Erjiazi, two Miao Lantern Platform, and one Miao Fourth-grade leaves at the Elder Anzi.

During their search, they also found quite a few smaller plants, like Three Blossoms and five-leafers, but these were all too small. Zhao Jun left them, planning to come back for them in the future.

After two in the afternoon, Zhao Jun and the others headed home. Although they hadn’t found any major prizes today, there was still a good half of the mountainside they hadn’t searched carefully.

Zhao Jun planned to come back again tomorrow. The day after, September 13th, was a Sunday, and the Forest Farm would be closed. He could have Zhao Youcai stay home and watch the two little girls, allowing him to take his mother to Lingnan for a check-up.

So, on the 12th, Zhao Jun led the men into the mountains again. They worked at the Elder Anzi all morning but only found a single stalk of Fifth-grade leaves.

After carefully wrapping up this Miao Bangchui, Zhao Jun and the others drove home to rest and eat.

The next morning, when Zhao Jun got up from the kang, Wang Meilan was already washed and dressed.

To ensure the two little girls would stay quietly at home with Zhao Youcai, the news that Zhao Jun and Wang Meilan were going to Lingnan had been kept a secret.

After breakfast, Wang Meilan slung a basket over her arm, said she was going to the fields to pick corn, and then left the house with Zhao Jun and Jie Chen.

The two little girls didn’t think much of it and just planned to go next door to play with Li Xiaoqiao in a little while.

When Zhao Jun stepped outside the yard, Jin Xiaomei and her son, Li Baoyu, were already waiting by the vehicle.

Since both Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu were getting married, it was a perfect opportunity. Jin Xiaomei wanted to tag along to see about buying a few things for Li Baoyu as well.

Wang Meilan happily agreed. The two women climbed into the truck together, squeezing into the passenger seat. Each held a sheet of calendar paper, the back of which was covered in a densely written shopping list for their trip.

From needles and thread to bedsheets and duvet covers, the papers listed everything imaginable.

Seeing the two women so intensely focused on their plans before they had even reached Lingnan, Jie Chen opened his door, got out, and walked over to the back of the truck to ask Zhao Jun, “Brother Jun, are we going to the hospital first?”

“Yeah.” Zhao Jun paused for a second, then said, “Didn’t we already agree on that yesterday?”

At this, seeing Jie Chen’s strange expression, Zhao Jun waved his hand dismissively. “It’s fine. They don’t know the way anyway. We’ll just go to the hospital first.”

Wang Meilan and Jin Xiaomei’s trip to the city was kept secret from the three little girls and one Li Ruhai of their two families. But Zhao Jun was also keeping a secret from Wang Meilan: he hadn’t told her that their first stop today would be the hospital for a check-up.

After all, in those days, most people had a certain fear of hospitals. Some even believed that if they didn’t go to the hospital, no illness could be found, and therefore they would be fine.

Besides that, they were afraid of the cost and hassle. If they felt unwell, they would rather go to the local health clinic for some painkillers than visit a major hospital.

And as for Wang Meilan, she had always been in good health, with no aches or pains. That winter, Zhao Jun had brought back two portions of Deer Heart Blood, dried them, and told Wang Meilan to mix it with water and drink it, but she refused.

As Wang Meilan herself had said, ‘I’m perfectly healthy. Why would I drink that stuff? It has a horribly gamey smell and tastes awful.’

So, Zhao Jun had no choice but to pull a fast one on her—get her to the hospital first and figure out the rest later.

As Jie Chen drove the Jiefang truck out of Yong’an Village, a “big-butt” jeep slowly entered Yongsheng Village and pulled up right in front of Zhao Jun’s family home.