Chapter 107: Hunting

Zhang Guoqing equipped himself with his hunting rifle, bow and arrows, and other gear, slung a bamboo basket over his back, and quietly slipped out through the back door. He avoided people along the way and hurried toward Daqingshan.

He didn’t know exactly how long Daqingshan was—its peaks stretched on and on, some with villages nestled between them. Since he was five, he’d followed his grandfather up the mountain, from the southern end at Laohugou, where you could see distant peaks to the south, all the way north to the neighboring county, where small mountains dotted the landscape. Daqingshan didn’t belong to their county; even the neighboring county only bordered its northernmost edge. “Live by the mountain, eat from the mountain; live by the water, eat from the water.” Every household living by the mountain had relied on Daqingshan for generations.

Zhang Guoqing headed north. In his memory, there was a small peak in the direction of the neighboring county, with a large mountain hollow. The hollow was covered in dense forest, and not far away, a sizable stream flowed.

He’d passed by several times and noticed a group of wild boars foraging in a grove of fir trees there. The old sow often brought her piglets to play by the stream. At the slightest sound, they’d dash into the dense woods. A group of wild boars was easier to deal with than a lone boar. If he ran into a solitary one, he’d have to think twice about whether it was worth the risk. As the saying goes, “First the boar, then the bear, third the tiger”—the solitary boar is the most dangerous.

Just thinking about those solitary boars, weighing eight or nine hundred jin, with their long tusks and aggressive nature—charging at anything that moved—made Zhang Guoqing shiver a little. This time, he was after the group, since they were easier to handle. Knowing the boars liked to come out at dusk, he couldn’t help but feel pleased.

He walked lightly, always alert to his surroundings. The closer he got to his destination, the denser the forest became. There had been fewer hunters in recent years, and the old trails had gradually disappeared, now overgrown with weeds and thorns. Zhang Guoqing used his machete to clear the way. Along the path, he saw plenty of common medicinal herbs, wild mushrooms and wood ear fungus in damp, shady spots, and all sorts of wild vegetables growing on the ground.

Thinking about the material shortages in the future, Zhang Guoqing regretted not bringing Jiaojiao along. If she were here with her space, they could collect as much as they wanted and store it away, without worrying about carrying too much home.

He thought about how, once the mountain was sealed off by snow until spring, they’d be eating nothing but radishes and cabbage, with no fresh greens, and only frozen meat and dried wild game—just the thought made him lose his appetite. He slowed his pace, taking note of landmarks, planning to bring Zhou Jiao next time. Besides mushrooms and wild greens, there were chestnut trees with thick layers of nuts on the ground, and not far away, wild pear trees hung heavy with ripe fruit.

As he neared his destination, Zhang Guoqing stretched his limbs and checked his gear before quietly heading toward the stream.

Maybe because this area was close to the neighboring county and on a small peak, few people came here, so the animals were less wary. Before he even reached the stream, he’d already bagged a few wild hens and some fat rabbits. He’d seen plenty more, but since he was pressed for time and his main target was wild boar, he let most of the small animals go.

He found that walking in the forest felt especially easy, his hearing sharper, and he seemed to have an instinct for sensing danger—as if he was born to be a hunter. Since crossing over, he hadn’t gone hunting himself, but now he understood why being in the forest made him so happy.

He’d gotten used to his own strength by now. He’d learned to control it, no longer smashing the heads of wild chickens and rabbits to pieces like before, leaving them bloody and unrecognizable. Now, a single stone would shatter the skull without breaking the skin or causing blood to flow. The bow and arrows he’d brought along seemed almost unnecessary.

“In autumn, hunt rabbits; in winter, ducks; in spring, pheasants”—mountain folk took these things seriously. Autumn rabbits were the fattest, winter ducks the juiciest, and spring pheasants the most tender.

Lately, Zhou Jiao was in confinement after giving birth, and wild pheasant would be perfect to nourish her. Zhang Guoqing didn’t care about the seasonal rules anymore—anything nutritious was good enough, taste could wait. He used small stones to take down a few wild pheasants, let most of the rabbits go, and even shamelessly stole nest after nest of wild pheasant eggs, stopping only when he worried he’d break too many.

From the distant grass came the sounds of animals. Zhang Guoqing’s ears pricked up—the heavy breathing and shuffling noises could only mean one thing: wild boars.

He held his breath and crept forward. On the grassy field by the stream, two large wild boars were foraging and drinking with their piglets, playing together.

Zhang Guoqing found a spot upwind and picked his position. He aimed his arrow at the largest boar, then thought better of it and placed his axe by his right hand. With a gentle pull, he let the arrow fly—his aim was true, and the largest boar’s skull shattered as it crashed to the ground. The other three boars panicked and charged blindly toward the nearby woods. Zhang Guoqing immediately hurled his axe, bringing down another. The two piglets escaped into the forest, but he didn’t bother chasing them—he’d already achieved his goal.

The two boars he’d brought down weighed at least 600 jin in total. The biggest was three or four hundred jin. If he paraded them through the village, someone was bound to notice. He couldn’t be bothered with gossip.

Seeing it was getting late, Zhang Guoqing quickly dragged the boars to the stream. He took off his basket and, with his butcher’s knife, swiftly got to work. He split the boars in half, bones and all, leaving the heads intact and discarding all but the edible offal. He washed them roughly in the stream, tied them up with hemp rope, and, to avoid suspicion, wrapped the boars in dry branches and thatch before bundling them together.

With everything packed up and daylight still left, he hoisted the boars onto his back, grabbed his basket, and hurried out. Once he left the outer woods and night fell, with few people on the road, he avoided everyone and got home safely.

After staying tense all the way, carrying over 500 jin of wild boar, even with his strength, Zhang Guoqing felt a bit tired once he relaxed.

In the Zhang family kitchen, everyone gathered to watch and help. Lin Lishan hurried over when she heard the news from Xizi. She’d heard Zhang Guoqing was strong, but hadn’t expected him to bring back two wild boars after being gone just a few hours. In the army, it usually took three or four men to bring down a single wild boar without guns.

Even though he was tired, Zhang Guoqing still had Zhang’s mother and his sister-in-law put the iron pots on the stove and boil two pots of water. Quickly and carefully, they poured the boiling water over the four halves of the wild boars, scraping the black bristles clean while the skin was still hot.

After boiling who knows how many pots of water, all four halves were dehaired. He first cut out the spines and ribs, then separated the heads, tails, trotters, and hocks, followed by the leg bones, leaving only the meat.

Wild boar meat was mostly lean, but there was still some fat—just what the family needed, since they were out of oil.

Zhang Guoqing had his mother fetch a clean clay basin and put half the fat into it—white and tempting. The fat from these two boars would render enough oil for his mother to use for a whole year, since their meals rarely saw any oil.

He set aside the four racks of ribs, eight hocks, and the heads, then divided the rest into chunks and filled four bamboo baskets.

When his mother saw he was finally done and looked at all the meat, her heart pounded. She quickly asked, “Xiao Wu, when did you go out? How did you get so much meat? That’s two wild boars!”

Lin Lishan chimed in, “You didn’t go out just for me because I’m heading back to the capital tomorrow, did you? It’s already dark—so dangerous. That’s the deep forest! Aren’t you afraid for your life? You’re too bold, child.”

Seeing everyone both excited and worried, Zhang Guoqing hurried to reassure them, “Don’t worry, I checked it out before—there’s no danger. I just hadn’t had time to go up the mountain until now. Since my mother-in-law is leaving tomorrow, and wild boars only come out at dusk, I figured it was safe. I didn’t hunt anything else, just went straight for them. There were four, but two little ones got away. We’ll let them grow and hunt them later—think of it as raising them ourselves. I would’ve been back sooner, but I waited until it was dark and no one was around before coming back. Really, it’s nothing—I’ve hunted wild boars plenty of times.”

Everyone relaxed after hearing this. He wasn’t the type to act recklessly. Since he’d checked for danger and returned so quickly, he must have planned it well.

Zhang’s mother had the eldest daughter-in-law clean the offal, the second daughter-in-law braise the heads, tails, trotters, and two hocks, and then took two slabs of meat and some bones to share with Uncle Zhang and Little Uncle Zhang’s families."