Chapter 629: Dog Eats Dhole, Tiger Salad

Then there were the exceptional few, the absolute cream of the crop among dogs.

So, Zhao Jun turned back and gave the dhole meat to Black Tiger. Black Tiger looked at the meat before him, wagged his upright tail twice at Zhao Jun, then tilted his head and resumed eating. The other three just kept staring.

This time, however, Zhao Jun ignored them. He simply dragged the other three dholes over, gutting and bleeding them one by one.

Then, one by one, Zhao Jun lifted the four dholes up into a large nearby tree, wedging them between the branches.

Zhao Jun didn’t plan on keeping the first three dholes he had killed, but he intended to come back with a vehicle tomorrow to haul these four away.

After all, he’d never eaten one before. He’d take it back, stew it, and see what it tasted like. He’d heard, though, that dhole meat was similar to dog meat, just a little sour.

By the time Zhao Jun finished, Black Tiger had eaten his fill. Zhao Jun then led the four dogs over the mountain and headed back.

From the spot where he’d split from Jie Chen and Zhang Yuanmin to here, Zhao Jun had walked about fifteen *li*. The way back was a slightly shorter shortcut, but it was still nearly ten *li*.

They crossed the mountains and ridges and left the logging area. The four dogs ran on ahead of Zhao Jun, racing for home.

By the time Zhao Jun arrived home, it was almost seven o’clock.

Zhang Yuanmin had been busy at Zhao Jun’s family home for the better part of the day, so Wang Meilan had specially prepared a whole table of dishes to treat him.

Seeing that Zhao Jun wasn’t back yet, Zhang Yuanmin insisted on waiting for him so they could all eat together. And so, apart from the two little girls, Zhao Hong and Zhao Na, who couldn’t bear the hunger and had already eaten, everyone else—Wang Meilan, Jie Chen, Zhang Yuanmin, and Li Baoyu—was waiting for Zhao Jun’s return.

When the dogs arrived home first, everyone knew Zhao Jun would be back soon.

After entering the house, before he even had a chance to eat, Zhao Jun had Wang Meilan bring out the leftover bones from the wild boar they had butchered yesterday and give them to the dogs outside.

After such a vicious fight today, the dogs all deserved a reward.

Seeing that Big Fatty, White Dragon, and Flower Cat were all injured, Li Baoyu asked Zhao Jun, “Brother, should we go get Doctor Han?”

Zhao Jun glanced at the wall, thought for a moment, and said, “Let’s worry about that tomorrow morning. For now, let’s eat. You all must be hungry, right?”

The three men said they weren’t hungry and gathered with Zhao Jun around the *kang* table. While they waited for Wang Meilan to come back from feeding the dogs, Zhao Jun told them what had happened after he and Li Baoyu had parted ways.

Zhao Jun was in the middle of his story when Wang Meilan rushed into the room, shouting, “Son, something’s wrong! Something happened!”

Her words gave Zhao Jun a start, and he quickly asked, “What’s wrong?”

Wang Meilan said, “Huzi won’t eat.”

“What?” Li Baoyu was stunned when he heard this and hurriedly asked, “Is he hurt somewhere?”

In their experience, if Black Tiger refused to eat, it meant the dog was in serious trouble.

“It’s fine, it’s fine.” Zhao Jun, realizing what was happening, waved his hand dismissively. “He ate his fill on the mountain.”

Then, Zhao Jun explained to the others how all the other dogs had refused the dhole meat, and only Black Tiger had eaten it.

After Zhao Jun finished his story, Wang Meilan returned from feeding the dogs. She reheated the meat dishes, and the five of them sat down at the table, dished out rice, poured drinks, and began to eat and drink.

As they ate and chatted, Zhang Yuanmin said to Zhao Jun, “Brother, you just got back, so you haven’t had a chance to see. After we’re done eating, go take a look in the storehouse. I set up that roe deer, and it looks real proper.”

Zhao Jun smiled at his words. “With you handling it, Big Brother, I don’t even need to look to know it’ll be perfect.”

Zhang Yuanmin let out a hearty laugh, raised his cup, and drained it in one gulp.

Just then, Wang Meilan swallowed her food and said to Zhao Jun, “Your big brother’s skills are so good, it’s a real waste he’s not a carpenter.”

This was a slightly exaggerated compliment, but it was absolutely well-intentioned. Hearing this, Zhang Yuanmin laughed even harder and said to Wang Meilan, “Auntie, if you ever have this kind of work around the house again, just give me a call.”

“Of course,” Wang Meilan nodded. “We consider you family.”

With that, Wang Meilan urged everyone to eat more and drink up.

Suddenly, a dog barked twice outside. Jie Chen put down his chopsticks and said, “Is that Uncle coming back?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Wang Meilan said to Jie Chen. “You just eat, son. Your uncle already ate out.”

She sounded very confident when she said this. If Zhao Youcai was coming home at this hour, it must have been because there was a special dinner at the canteen. As the head cook, he would have had to stay behind to cook for a private party.

Usually, in such situations, Zhao Youcai would eat at the canteen before coming home.

The words had barely left her mouth when Zhao Youcai walked in.

Seeing Zhao Youcai enter, Zhao Jun and the others all greeted him. Zhao Youcai nodded and swept his gaze over the table: scrambled eggs, red-braised wild boar, roe deer leg in soy paste with garlic dip, Tiger Salad, smashed cucumber salad, sliced tomatoes with sugar, canned hairtail fish, and canned luncheon meat.

Zhao Youcai licked his lips before saying to everyone, “So, you’re all eating?”

With that, Zhao Youcai swiftly took off his coat and shoes, climbing onto the *kang* as he said, “It’s rare to have so many people here. I’ll have a drink with you all.”

Hearing this, Zhao Jun and Zhang Yuanmin, who were sitting further in, quickly shifted to either side, making room for Zhao Youcai in the spot of honor.

Meanwhile, Li Baoyu, who was sitting on the edge of the *kang*, got up and went to the outer room to get a bowl, chopsticks, and a cup for Zhao Youcai.

At the table, Zhao Youcai said to Zhang Yuanmin, “Haven’t seen you in a while. What have you been busy with lately?”

It was purely small talk, but Zhang Yuanmin answered patiently, “I’ve been going into the mountains with my brother lately, hunting and all that.”

“Ah.” Zhao Youcai reached out, took the bowl and chopsticks passed to him by Zhao Jun, and set the bowl on the table. He immediately used the chopsticks to pick up a piece of the red-braised wild boar, holding it up to inspect it for a moment before looking at Wang Meilan. “Did you make this?”

“What kind of question is that?” Wang Meilan laughed. “You weren’t home. If I didn’t make it, who else would have?”

“Let me have a taste then.” As he spoke, Zhao Youcai popped the piece of meat into his mouth, barely chewed twice, and swallowed.

Wang Meilan watched him and asked, “So you’ve tasted it. How is it?”

“Hmm…” Zhao Youcai said with a thoughtful air. “Seems a little salty, doesn’t it?”

“It can’t be,” Wang Meilan said. “The boys have been eating it and no one said it was salty.”

“Hm?” Zhao Youcai, feigning confusion, picked up another piece. “Maybe the salt didn’t dissolve properly? Let me try again.”

With that, another piece of meat went into his mouth.

Wang Meilan blinked, looking at Zhao Youcai. “Did you go drinking at the worksite? Are you talking nonsense? This is a braised dish. How could the salt not dissolve?”

The red-braised meat of the Northeast, also known as *hong shao rou*, is a stewed dish, not a stir-fry or a salad. How could there possibly be a case of undissolved salt?

As soon as Wang Meilan said that, Zhao Youcai seized the opportunity. “I did have a few drinks, yeah. But it was all drinking, I didn’t get a chance to eat. My stomach’s feeling a bit upset now. Um… Baoyu.”

“Yes!” Hearing his name, Li Baoyu quickly put down his chopsticks and responded, “Uncle.”

Zhao Youcai picked up his bowl and handed it to Li Baoyu. “Go see if there’s any dry rations or rice in the pot.”

“There’s white rice,” Li Baoyu said, taking the bowl. “I’ll get you a scoop, Uncle.”

What Zhao Youcai said was perfectly reasonable. It was common for people to drink without eating.

The key thing was, he didn’t smell of alcohol at all.

‘Maybe he didn’t drink much?’ Zhao Jun racked his brain but could only come up with that one reason for his father.

Just then, Li Baoyu came back in with the rice bowl, filled more than halfway with white rice.

When Zhao Youcai took the bowl, Zhao Jun thoughtfully grabbed the plate of Tiger Salad from the side and said, “Dad, here, let me put some in your bowl for you to mix with your rice.”

Tiger Salad is a cold dish from the Northeast. To put it simply, it’s shredded green peppers, cucumbers, and scallions, mixed with cilantro and seasonings.

The dish is refreshing and goes well with rice.

Zhao Youcai, who had been staring intently at the red-braised meat, turned his head at the words, and his face instantly fell.

“No, no,” Zhao Youcai said, shaking his head. “Put it back, you guys eat it.”

“You eat it.” Zhao Jun held one side of the plate and tipped the other over Zhao Youcai’s rice bowl. Then, with his other hand, he used his chopsticks to scoop half the plate of Tiger Salad into his father’s bowl.

Then Zhao Jun said, “Don’t you always look for Tiger Salad after you’ve been drinking?”