Chapter 631: Filial Son, Cyan Dragon Speaks

Regardless, Xue Baojun had to escort his nephew back home and let his brother and sister-in-law arrange the funeral for Xue Liwei.

After seeing Xue Baojun off, Zhao Youcai and Wang Qiang headed for home. On the way, Wang Qiang asked Zhao Youcai why he hadn’t let Zhao Jun bring his dog.

An uncle should look out for his family. In Wang Qiang’s eyes, business should be kept in the family. He would have been fine with the money going to his cousin, even if he didn’t get a share himself.

But Zhao Youcai explained that he had taken two days off from work, something he was keeping secret from Wang Meilan.

If he let Zhao Jun come now, wouldn’t the fact that he was skipping work be exposed?

Besides, now that they knew why the wild boar was so alert, all they needed to do before coming back tomorrow was take a shower and change into fresh clothes at home.

Wang Qiang heard this and thought it made sense. Once he and Zhao Youcai got back to the village, they parted ways and went home.

Zhao Youcai had only eaten two flatbreads for lunch and was nowhere near full. After all the running and scurrying around in the afternoon, he was already starving.

By the time he got back to the village, he was so hungry his calves were cramping.

But when he got home and walked inside, he saw a table laden with a sumptuous feast, especially a dish of red-braised pork that looked incredibly tempting.

So, Zhao Youcai decided to stir up a little trouble as a cover. Seeing Li Baoyu scoop a bowl of rice for him, he got the idea to douse it with the red-braised pork and its gravy.

But to Zhao Youcai’s surprise, his son was just too “filial.”

It was half a plate of Tiger Salad—green chili peppers, shredded cucumber, slivered scallions, and chopped cilantro. In the Northeast dialect, you’d call it a “wet and crunchy” sort of dish.

Staring at the Tiger Salad piled on his rice and listening to Zhao Jun’s words, Zhao Youcai shot him a look. But seeing his son’s utterly innocent expression, Zhao Youcai fiercely shoveled a mouthful of the salad into his mouth.

The dish was crisp, spicy, savory, and refreshing. But if you asked Zhao Youcai, it was nothing compared to that red-braised pork.

Zhao Youcai reached out with his chopsticks, picked up a slice of luncheon meat, and chewed it down in two bites. Still, he thought, the red-braised pork was better.

“Slow down,” Wang Meilan chided, seeing his poor table manners. “If you like that Tiger Salad so much, I can whip up another batch for you!”

“I…” Zhao Youcai didn’t know how to respond, so he just shoveled his rice in faster.

Zhao Youcai was truly famished, and the Tiger Salad really did go well with rice.

Soon, more than half the bowl of rice was gone. Zhao Youcai slapped his chopsticks down, held up his bowl, and said, “Baoyu, get me another one.”

“Right away!” Li Baoyu replied obediently, getting up and taking the bowl to the outer room to refill it. Just then, Zhao Youcai stretched out his chopsticks, snatched a piece of red-braised pork, and said while chewing, “Meilan, this pork you made… it seems like it’s missing something.”

“Missing what?” Wang Meilan immediately asked.

Zhao Youcai smacked his lips. “Can’t quite put my finger on it…”

‘He had it all planned out. He’d just have to keep “tasting” this red-braised pork until he was full.’

He was going to all this trouble because someone who had already been drinking out was not supposed to come home and feast on rich, heavy meat.

‘If you wanted to eat meat, you had to get creative.’

Just then, Li Baoyu returned with the refilled rice bowl. Zhao Youcai reached out to take it, his plan already formed: the second he had the bowl, he’d grab the plate of red-braised pork and dump a generous amount of meat and gravy over his rice.

But, to Zhao Youcai’s dismay, Zhao Jun intercepted the bowl before he could.

Zhao Jun grinned at Zhao Youcai. “Dad, Mom’s red-braised pork is great, but you’ve been drinking, so you can’t really taste it. Let’s stick with the Tiger Salad. Now *that* has flavor.”

As he spoke, Zhao Jun picked up the remaining half-plate of Tiger Salad and moved to dump it all into Zhao Youcai’s bowl.

“Whoa, whoa,” Zhao Youcai said, quickly stopping him. “What’s wrong with you? Yuanmin and Jie Chen are still here. If you give it all to me, what are they supposed to eat?”

“It’s fine, Uncle!” Jie Chen piped up as soon as Zhao Youcai finished speaking. “We can eat whatever. You’re our elder, you should eat first.”

After saying that, Jie Chen even picked up a piece of the red-braised pork and chewed on it. Then, he turned to Wang Meilan and said, “Auntie, you made this red-braised pork perfectly. The flavor is spot on.”

A smile spread across Wang Meilan’s face at his words. Noticing Zhao Youcai looking at her, she said, “Your son is just looking out for you, so go on and eat. If you don’t eat it now, you won’t get any in the winter, and you’ll just start craving it again.”

Wang Meilan wasn’t exaggerating in the slightest.

In those days, once winter set in, you couldn’t find any fresh vegetables in the mountain Forest Area. There were no cucumbers or green peppers, so where would you even find the ingredients for Tiger Salad?

Just this past New Year’s, when the Zhao and Li families were having their reunion dinner, Zhao Youcai had mentioned in passing that he was craving Tiger Salad.

And Zhao Jun had remembered it.

What could you say? The kid was just that filial.

Zhao Youcai stared at the mountain of Tiger Salad in his bowl and groaned inwardly.

Just then, Zhang Yuanmin, sitting to his right, picked up Zhao Youcai’s untouched wine cup. “Uncle,” he said, “you haven’t touched your wine. Did the drinks you had earlier not hit the spot? In that case, I’ll drink this for you.”

With that, Zhang Yuanmin poured all the liquor from Zhao Youcai’s cup into his own.

Zhao Youcai: “…”

‘He was fuming. The only reason he hadn’t had a drink yet was because he’d been too hungry and wanted to get some food in his stomach first.’

‘Now that he had a base layer of food, Zhao Youcai wanted a drink to ease his fatigue before getting a good night’s sleep.’

‘But he never expected… the liquor was gone!’

“I can handle a little more. Now that you’re here, I should have a proper drink with you,” Zhao Youcai said to Zhang Yuanmin. He then glanced to the side, signaling for Zhao Jun to grab the liquor jug and pour him a glass.

“What’s this about more drinking?” Wang Meilan saw what he was doing and quickly intervened. “Yuanmin is just looking out for you. Don’t drink anymore.”

“That’s right,” Zhang Yuanmin chimed in with a smile. “Uncle, we’re not strangers here. If you want to drink, I’ll come over another day. We can drink our fill then.”

“Exactly,” Wang Meilan added. “You already had a round of drinks outside, and now you want to drink more at home? Are you trying to ruin your health?”

“Dad,” Zhao Jun said, reaching back to push the liquor jug to the edge of the *kang*. “You shouldn’t drink anymore. Have some more food instead.”

At that, Zhao Jun nudged Li Baoyu beside him. “Baoyu, you and Jie Chen, you two keep our big brother company. Don’t stop until he’s had enough to drink!”

“Alright!” Li Baoyu and Jie Chen exclaimed in unison. They raised their cups, clinked them one after another against Zhang Yuanmin’s, and then tilted their heads back to drink.

Watching this unfold, Zhao Youcai blinked a few times, then lowered his head and went back to wrestling with the Tiger Salad and rice in his bowl.

「Even the best food and wine must eventually run out.」

After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, Zhao Jun, Jie Chen, and Li Baoyu walked Zhang Yuanmin outside.

Zhao Jun was holding two flashlights. He handed one to Zhang Yuanmin and said, “Big Brother, watch your step on the way back.”

“Don’t worry, brother,” Zhang Yuanmin said as he took the flashlight. He suddenly remembered something. “Oh, right, you should go check on our roe deer.”

“You’re right!” Hearing this, Zhao Jun immediately flicked on his flashlight and headed for the storeroom.

He stopped at the storeroom door. As he reached out to pull it open, he glanced back at the other three. “How come the roe deer are so quiet?”

Li Baoyu jerked his chin toward the storeroom. “Why don’t you open it and see, brother?”

Zhao Jun pulled the door open and shone the flashlight inside, only to have Cyan Dragon leap toward him.

Immediately after, sounds of “YELP… YELP…” came from inside the storeroom.

Cyan Dragon had just put its paws on Zhao Jun’s leg, wagging its tail, but upon hearing the roe deer cry out, it spun around and lunged at it again.

The little fella bounded over to the buck, leaped up, and sank its teeth into the deer’s thigh.

In an instant, the buck’s “YELP” turned into a sharp “AHHH!”

“Hey!” Zhao Jun shouted. “Cyan Dragon, back!”

The moment Zhao Jun spoke, Cyan Dragon released the buck and ran back. Once freed, the buck collapsed to the ground, falling completely and obediently silent.

The doe, meanwhile, didn’t dare make a peep, cautiously eyeing them.

With a quick sweep of his light, Zhao Jun could vaguely see that a wooden frame had been built around the buck and doe. The frame itself was narrow, not leaving the deer much room to move.

Furthermore, all four of each deer’s legs were tied with ropes, the other ends of which were fastened to the surrounding frame.

They even had rope halters on their heads, from which another rope was led out and tied to a wooden stake in front of them.

With their limbs and heads tethered in such a tight space, the deer couldn’t struggle, so there was no chance of them escaping. The fact that they were quiet, however, was entirely to Cyan Dragon’s credit.

But what surprised Zhao Jun even more than capturing the roe deer alive was this: Cyan Dragon had finally gotten its first real bite!