Chapter 582 - 443: Youcai Takes the Dogs Hunting

Inside the Zhao family home.

Zhao Youcai lit another cigarette and sat smoking silently on the kang. The three men around him—Liu Jinyong, Hong Yuntao, and Li Dayong—all had their eyes fixed on him.

However, Liu Jinyong and Hong Yuntao watched Zhao Youcai with looks of anticipation, while Li Dayong was simply worried.

Unlike Liu and Hong, who knew nothing about hunting, Li Dayong knew that if Zhao Youcai went into the mountains, he could take the entire yard full of dogs with him. But once they were in the mountains, how the dogs would perform was anyone’s guess.

Li Dayong figured that, aside from his own dog, Da Huang, none of the others would work for Zhao Youcai with any real conviction. As for the four new dogs, he’d be lucky if they didn’t just bolt for home.

Li Dayong knew that Da Huang was purely a helper dog, fine for a straightforward hunt. But if you were counting on it to track prey, it was even less useful than a loudmouth follower like White Dragon.

Of course, Zhao Youcai understood everything Li Dayong did. But Liu Jinyong and Hong Yuntao had come begging at his doorstep; he couldn’t just say no.

At that thought, Zhao Youcai felt a flash of heat between the index and middle fingers holding his cigarette. He glanced down to see it had burned to the filter, scalding his skin. He tossed it into a simple ashtray made from one of the Cans, then looked up and called, "Dayong!"

"Yeah!" Li Dayong had a bad feeling, but he answered anyway. Then he heard Zhao Youcai say, "Go home, change your clothes, wrap your leggings, and come with me to take the dogs up the mountain!"

"Ah! That’s fantastic!" As soon as Zhao Youcai spoke, Liu Jinyong and Hong Yuntao exchanged a delighted glance.

The wild boar had already killed two people, and Zhou Chunming was furious, assigning the task directly to the security team.

In those days, whether it was a production task or a security task, it had to be completed. If anything went wrong, even if the team leader and his deputy didn’t lose their posts, it wouldn’t end well for them.

"Brother!" Li Dayong stood up and looked at Zhao Youcai, his expression troubled. "I can’t go. We still have the three little ones at home."

"Oh!" Hearing this, Zhao Youcai finally remembered.

That’s right, Li Ruhai and the three little girls were still at home. Li Ruhai was a half-grown boy; he could handle missing a meal or two. But it was a different story for the three little girls. Not only did they need to be fed well, but they also needed an adult to watch them.

Thinking of this, Zhao Youcai quickly said to Li Dayong, "In that case, Dayong, you stay home. You can help me by watching the girls."

As he spoke, Zhao Youcai swung his legs off the kang. When Liu Jinyong and Hong Yuntao saw him get down, they quickly followed suit.

While slipping on his shoes at the edge of the kang, Zhao Youcai asked Liu Jinyong and Hong Yuntao, "You all have guns, right?"

"We do!" Liu Jinyong said without hesitation. "All semi-automatics. We have ammo, too. As much as you need."

"Good!" Zhao Youcai nodded, then pointed at Hong Yuntao. "You, hurry over to Shunzi’s house and tell him to bring a vehicle."

"Shunzi?" Hong Yuntao paused for a second but quickly understood. "You mean Captain Lin from the transport team?"

"Yup," Zhao Youcai grunted, then strode quickly toward the door. Liu Jinyong and Hong Yuntao hurried out after him. Li Dayong, trailing behind them, simply shook his head, not optimistic about the trip.

Once outside, Hong Yuntao took off at a jog to find Lin Xiangshun. Liu Jinyong grabbed Zhao Youcai’s arm and asked, "Master Zhao, shouldn’t we find some ropes and leash all the dogs?"

"Not yet," Zhao Youcai said. "Come with me. We need to find someone else."

And so, Zhao Youcai led Liu Jinyong all the way to the general store.

At this time, several groups had gathered inside and outside the store, some playing cards, others watching, and some playing Chinese chess.

Before Zhao Youcai even went in, he saw Wang Qiang under a large willow tree, absorbed in a game of Xiaopai with two old men and an old woman.

Xiaopai cards are made of a material like playing cards but are long and narrow and painted with characters from Water Margin.

The gameplay is similar to mahjong, except mahjong has 136 tiles, while Xiaopai only has 120 cards.

Thus, there’s a saying in the Northeast: one hundred and twenty cards, they cure your ills and nurse your wounds.

In Zhao Jun’s past life, his love for watching card games was something he had picked up from Wang Qiang.

Zhao Youcai came up behind Wang Qiang and grabbed his shoulder. "Qiangzi, stop playing. Come with me."

"Brother-in-law." Wang Qiang turned, saw it was Zhao Youcai, and said, "What is it? I can’t leave now."

"Qiangzi!" Just then, Mrs. Han—the old woman who had told Ma Ling’s fortune and was in the game with him—looked up at Zhao Youcai, gave him a nod, and then said to Wang Qiang, "Your brother-in-law is looking for you. You should go with him."

"Lady Han, you’re a sly one," Wang Qiang said, slapping his hand of cards down with a laugh. "I’m on a winning streak. If I leave now, I’ll have won for nothing, won’t I?"

There are rules to the game.

The wins and losses of each hand are recorded on a tab. Every twelve hands is a "qiang." Every four "qiang" is a "zhang."

So, one "zhang" of cards is forty-eight hands.

During a game, if someone wants to leave early, there’s a rule for that, too: if you’re winning, you can leave at the "qiang"; if you’re losing, you must stay until the "zhang."

A winner who wants to leave must wait for a "qiang" to be completed—that is, after playing twelve, twenty-four, thirty-six, or forty-eight hands.

Otherwise, the losers don’t have to settle the score with the winner.

Right now, Wang Qiang was winning, but they hadn’t reached a "qiang" yet. There was no way he was willing to leave.

But he wouldn’t leave, and Zhao Youcai was getting anxious. He reached out and tugged at Wang Qiang again. "Stop playing. This is important."

"Brother-in-law, wait a minute!" Wang Qiang slowly swung his arm out, shaking off Zhao Youcai’s hand as he went back to focusing on the intense game.