Chapter 608: Youcai Saves a Dog, Black Tiger Ran Away

Once the dog was all wrapped up, Zhao Youcai hoisted it onto his back. He descended the slope and started walking along the Wood Transport Route.

“Brother-in-law, you’re really something else!” Sensing a foul smell coming from Zhao Youcai, Wang Qiang kept his distance, but he still praised him. “First you save the dog, and now you’re even taking it back to its owner.”

“Huh?” Zhao Youcai froze, retorting, “Take it back to who?”

“Ah?” Wang Qiang was a bit stunned by the question. He pointed forward instinctively and said, “Aren’t we heading back to the Logging Camp?”

Hearing this, Zhao Youcai said nonchalantly, “This is the way home for us too, isn’t it?”

Only then did Wang Qiang understand. This black dog was about to become a Zhao.

Seeing Wang Qiang’s silence, Zhao Youcai snorted. “I’ve barely even carried my own son on my back. You think I’m going to carry a dog just to let it run off?”

Wang Qiang was speechless.

For a moment, Wang Qiang found the situation hilarious, but he said, “Brother-in-law, you didn’t tell my sister you were going hunting today, did you?”

“You don’t know?” Zhao Youcai said irritably. “If you know, why ask?”

Wang Qiang said, “You left home this morning saying you were going to work. How are you going to explain to my sister when you show up carrying a dog on your back?”

“Ah!” Zhao Youcai stopped in his tracks. He turned to look at Wang Qiang, blinked, and said, “You’ve got a point. So where should I put this dog?”

After speaking, Zhao Youcai stared intently at Wang Qiang.

Wang Qiang took one look and knew exactly what Zhao Youcai was thinking. He quickly said, “Don’t even think about bringing it to my place. I’m barely home as it is. Zhao Ling has her hands full with two kids. You expect her to help you take care of a dog, too?”

“You’ve got some nerve,” Zhao Youcai shot back. “You don’t do anything productive all day. All you know is gambling.”

“Oh, *you’re* productive,” Wang Qiang retorted, not backing down. “Skipping work to go hunting and lying through your teeth to my sister.”

“Get lost!” Zhao Youcai raised his leg to kick him, but Wang Qiang dodged to the side. Just then, they both saw an old man walking toward them from a short distance behind.

The old man was dressed simply, with patches on his clothes and pants. He had a rifle slung over his shoulder, holding the stock with one hand. Two wild ducks dangled from the barrel.

Seeing someone approach, Zhao Youcai and Wang Qiang stopped their bickering. But as Zhao Youcai looked at the old man, he frowned. He felt like he had seen him somewhere before.

And as the old man passed by Zhao Youcai, he also frowned, because the smell coming from Zhao Youcai was not pleasant.

The moment Zhao Youcai saw the old man frown, his eyes lit up. He asked, “Old brother, is your surname Xing?”

As soon as Zhao Youcai said this, the old man turned his head away, not even glancing at him.

But Zhao Youcai was certain. This old man had to be Xing Zhuyong’s third uncle—and Xing Zhuyong was the son-in-law of his sworn brother, Hu Mantang.

“Old brother!” Zhao Youcai called out again. “You must know Hu Mantang, right? We’re sworn brothers!”

This old man was, in fact, Xing San.

But upon hearing Zhao Youcai, not only did Xing San not stop, he started walking even faster.

People who could be mountain dogs in these mountains were mostly solitary and eccentric.

For the past six months, Xing San had been unwilling to even speak with Xing Zhuyong, let alone Hu Mantang.

Seeing this attitude, Zhao Youcai was no longer so sure.

But just then, Wang Qiang asked Zhao Youcai, “This Xing San you’re talking about, is he the one my nephew buys wine for?”

Unexpectedly, before the words were even out of Wang Qiang’s mouth, the old man stopped dead in his tracks, as if his feet had taken root. He turned his head and asked, “You know Zhao Jun?”

Hearing this, Wang Qiang blurted out, “He’s my nephew!”

“Aiya!” Xing San laughed heartily. He took two steps to stand before Wang Qiang, grabbed his hand, and said, “Brother, I’m Xing the Third! This is the first time we’ve met!”

“Ah,” Wang Qiang smiled and pointed at Zhao Youcai, who was still carrying the dog. “Old brother, this is my brother-in-law.”

At this, seeing no reaction from Xing San, Wang Qiang quickly added, “He’s Zhao Jun’s father!”

“Aiya!” Upon hearing this, Xing San was instantly moved. He quickly let go of Wang Qiang’s hand and rushed toward Zhao Youcai.

Zhao Youcai, still carrying the dog, managed to free one hand. But when he held it out, he saw it was stained black and green—not a good look.

Zhao Youcai felt very embarrassed and retracted his hand as if he’d been shocked. Xing San just laughed, and instead of shaking, he brought his outstretched hand down with a pat on Zhao Youcai’s shoulder. “Just like Little Zhao,” he said. “You’re an interesting one too.”

Standing to the side, Wang Qiang couldn’t help but frown to himself when he heard this. ‘All these years,’ he thought, ‘and this is the first time I’ve ever heard someone call my brother-in-law interesting. Looks like this old man has been in the mountains too long. He doesn’t know how wicked people can be.’

Just then, Xing San glanced at the dog on Zhao Youcai’s back and said with emotion, “Brother, I’d really like to invite you to my dugout for a bit, but you’re carrying that dog. You must be in a hurry to get home, right?”

“Not in a hurry!” To Xing San’s surprise, Zhao Youcai took a step forward and said, “Old brother, is your dugout far from here?”

“Ah?” Xing San was taken aback for a second, but he quickly recovered. “Oh, oh, not far, not far at all. It’s just a short walk. Come with me. When we get to my dugout, I’ll stew these ducks and the three of us can have a drink.”

Xing San said this with a look of great delight, then led the way, taking Zhao Youcai and Wang Qiang toward his dugout.

They followed the Wood Transport Route for over ten minutes before Xing San led them left and up a slope. Half an hour later, after crossing mountains and ridges, they arrived in front of Xing San’s dugout.

Behind Xing San’s dugout was a mountain stream. He fetched some water for Zhao Youcai and also brought him a bar of soap to wash his hands.

As he handed the soap to Zhao Youcai, Xing San smiled. “Little Zhao brought me this.”

Hearing this, Zhao Youcai gave a dry laugh and said to Xing San, “Old brother, could I trouble you to boil some water for me? A wild boar gored this dog and its intestines are out. I need to take care of it.”

“Aye, alright.” Xing San got up, took an iron kettle from a nearby wooden rack, and went out the door to fetch water from behind the dugout.

Seeing Xing San leave, Wang Qiang finally said to Zhao Youcai, “Brother-in-law, having a son like that really earns you some major respect.”

Zhao Youcai blinked and didn’t say anything, but the corners of his mouth turned up in a slight smile.

While Zhao Youcai was a guest at Xing San’s dugout, Zhao Jun and his group were already in the truck with the dogs, heading for home.

They had been out for most of the day but hadn’t found anything. Seeing that it was already almost three o’clock, Zhao Jun led the dogs back to the truck and told Jie Chen to drive back.

But half an hour later, just as the truck was about to leave the mountain logging area, Black Tiger, who was lying at Zhao Jun’s feet, suddenly lifted his head.

Immediately after, Little Bear stood up and barked several times toward the southern slope of the road.

A jolt went through Zhao Jun, and he quickly slapped the side of the truck bed with the back of his hand.

Just then, Black Tiger seemed about to bark, but Zhao Jun’s slap on the truck startled him, and he quickly shut his mouth.

The truck stopped. Jie Chen and Zhang Yuanmin hurriedly jumped out of the cab. Zhao Jun pointed to the back, telling Jie Chen to lower the tailgate.

Once the tailgate was down, Zhao Jun released Little Bear, who leaped from the truck bed and charged straight up the southern slope.

One by one, Zhao Jun released White Dragon, Da Huang, Big Fatty, San Pang, Flower Cat, Hua Lang, and Xiaohua, and they all followed Little Bear.

Then, Zhao Jun finally untied Black Tiger. The dog had an injured foreleg. It jumped from the truck and tumbled upon landing. By the time it scrambled back to its feet, Cyan Dragon and Black Dragon had already jumped down one after the other.

“AWOO! AWOO! AWOO…” Strangely enough, the moment Black Tiger barked, Cyan Dragon and Black Dragon started running with it.

But when the three of them took off, Zhao Jun was horrified. They weren’t following the Dog Gang up the southern slope; they were running back the way they had come, along the Wood Transport Route.

“Son of a…” Zhao Jun couldn’t help but curse. At this critical moment, Black Tiger was acting up again.

If Black Tiger hadn’t been leading the two younger dogs, Zhao Jun might have just let it go. But Cyan Dragon and Black Dragon were precious to him; he absolutely couldn’t afford to lose them.

But right now, the Dog Gang was heading up the mountain, and he still didn’t know what Little Bear had found.

“Jie Chen!” Zhao Jun shouted. “You and Zhang Yuanmin take the truck and go after those three dogs. Once you catch them, tie them to the truck, then come up the mountain to find me. If you can’t find me, fire a shot! Listen for the gunshot.”

With that, Zhao Jun took his rifle and ran straight up the southern slope by himself.