Wang Tieniu whispered, "Then... could it be poaching?"

“It’s possible.” Du Jianshan nodded. “This mountain range leads to the forest farm to the south. There have been several cases of illegal gun trafficking here before. I always felt that this bear didn’t just wander here by chance.”

"Then what should we do?" Niu Zhenshan asked in a deep voice.

"Don't make a fuss yet," Du Jianshan instructed. "You two will take turns keeping watch with me tonight. Tomorrow morning I'll go to the company headquarters, explain the situation, report what needs to be reported, and take precautions as necessary."

Wang Tieniu grinned: "Great! Anyway, we've made a profit this time, I'm so happy I could stay up all night!"

The three continued their work: one skinned the bear, one butchered the meat, and the other searched for wooden forks and bamboo poles to make a drying rack. Before long, the thick bear skin was stretched open and hung up, gleaming with an oily sheen.

As dusk fell, the setting sun slanted down from the treetops, casting a reddish glow on the still-dampened bloodstains on the bearskin.

"Zhenshan, set up the pot, we're having bear paw hotpot tonight!" Du Jianshan grinned.

"Alright!" Niu Zhenshan carried the pot by the foot of the stove, propped it up with a stone, and Wang Tieniu went to chop firewood. The three of them worked together, chatting amongst themselves.

"This bear meat is perfect with some astragalus root!"

"Pour some white wine in to remove the fishy smell; my mother says bear meat has a strong muttony odor."

"Brother Shanzi, after we finish stewing, shouldn't we cut off some fat to render bear fat? I've heard that stuff is really effective at treating frostbite!"

"Nonsense, we even take the bear bones back to make soup for calcium!" Du Jianshan replied with a smile.

The fire was lit, and the pot bubbled and boiled, the aroma so strong that it startled several birds in the woods into flight.

I had only taken a few bites when I suddenly heard a bird startled and the bushes rustling in the distance.

"Shh—" Du Jianshan waved his hand, and the three of them immediately stopped what they were doing.

Niu Zhenshan asked quietly, "Is there something there?"

Du Jianshan raised his hand and pointed to his side: "Tie Niu, take your gun and look at that patch of grass to the west."

"I'll go." Wang Tieniu nodded, crouched down, and, carrying his pistol, disappeared into the woods.

A few minutes later, Wang Tieniu jogged back and said in a low voice, "Brother Shanzi, it's not a wild beast, it's a person!"

"A person?" Du Jianshan's eyes darkened.

"He was dressed in blue cloth, carrying a snakeskin bag, and holding what looked like a hunting knife in his hand. But he didn't get close and headed north along the mountain path."

Niu Zhenshan's face also darkened. "They're not dressed like people from our village. I'd say they're probably from out of town."

Du Jianshan frowned in thought, and finally said in a low voice, "Don't alert them. Let's take turns keeping watch tonight, and I'll lead some men to go and check it out tomorrow morning."

After saying that, he added, "We can protect this bear well and preserve our reputation, but more importantly, we can't let anyone take advantage of our mountain."

"Understood!" Wang Tieniu and Niu Zhenshan nodded in unison.

"Brother Shanzi, we've really struck it rich, haven't we?" Wang Tieniu said, glancing back at the enormous bear carcass as he walked, his eyes shining. "This pelt can fetch two or three hundred yuan if we send it to Beizhen, and the bear gall can be exchanged for medicine coupons! How about we keep the bear paws and stew a pot of them?"

"Don't think about eating it yet." Du Jianshan said in a deep voice, with a blade of grass in his mouth. "This thing is too conspicuous. We need to hide it well first and deal with it slowly later."

"Then where can we hide? Your dugout can't hold this whole thing."

“Didn’t we dig a cellar last time? It’s the safest place to hide it, over the ridge to the red mud pit.” Du Jianshan turned his head and glanced behind him. “There are a lot of hunters these days. If some sharp-eyed guy sees it, we’ll be in trouble.”

Wang Tieniu nodded: "Okay, let's hurry up and go around there. The sooner we hide, the sooner we'll feel at ease."

As the two men talked, the old ox had already pulled the cart up the slope at the edge of the woods. The slope was full of rocks, the wheels creaked and groaned, and several large potholes nearly tipped the cart over. Wang Tieniu hurriedly went to help it up, cursing under his breath: "You damn ox, can't you watch where you're going? If you ruin this bearskin, I'll slaughter you and make soup!"

"Enough with the nonsense," Du Jianshan said with a laugh. "You really dare to slaughter a cow? Won't Old Zhang skin you alive?"

"Hehe..." Wang Tieniu chuckled twice, then quickly used a twig to wipe the mud off the bear meat.

Half an hour later, the car crossed the mountain ridge and entered Hongniwa. The terrain here was low-lying, surrounded by reeds and weeds, with a patch of dry mud in the middle. To the west was a dug pit, with a few bluestones and an old tarpaulin covering the edge.

"We've arrived!" Du Jianshan jumped out of the car, walked quickly over, and lifted the tarpaulin to reveal the cellar entrance underneath.

Wang Tieniu walked over and whispered, "Brother Shanzi, can this place really hold us?"

“There’s plenty of space down there. I dug for quite a while last time, specifically for storing things.” Du Jianshan raised his hand. “Help me, I’ll go down.”