Before long, steaming smoke rose from the shack, filling the air with the aroma of meat.
The two sat down around the fire, holding rough porcelain bowls, eating meat and drinking water heartily until their faces were flushed.
"Now this is what life is all about," Wang Tieniu said with a burp. "Tomorrow morning, I'll go to Zhang Erzhu's place to borrow a smoker and smoke the bear paws first."
"Let's go to town again and see if the supply and marketing cooperative has any news about collecting wild animals in the past few days."
"Don't give me that crap!" Du Jianshan kicked him in the butt. "You have hands and feet, do you think the corps is short of workers? You're the one who's cheating and swindling, even bringing a knife along. Do you think we're blind and deaf?"
"Brother, spare me! I'm really not a bad person, this...this is my first time!" The man cried, tears and snot streaming down his face. "I'm Zhao Sanbao, I was transferred to Kanerjinggou last year to grow cotton..."
"Why didn't you pull up the cotton and run away?" Wang Tieniu grinned sinisterly. "Confess! Who's behind you? Who ordered you to do this?"
Zhao Sanbao opened his mouth, then closed it, his eyes flashing.
Du Jianshan saw this and his heart tightened. He said in a deep voice, "Tie Niu, go and get some water to wake him up! He's just pretending to be dead."
"Alright!" Wang Tieniu carried the water bucket and ran to the riverbank.
Chen Jianshan squatted down and glanced at Zhao Sanbao, then lowered his voice and said, "Jianshan, don't you think this is a bit strange? He has gold jewelry, money, and a dagger in his pocket... It doesn't seem like he's working alone."
“That’s what I was thinking too.” Du Jianshan nodded. “Our company is short of supplies. We’ve been losing fertilizer from the cotton fields lately, and there’s been a problem with the food warehouse too. If this kid could be a breakthrough…”
"I'm afraid there might be a mole within the organization." Chen Jianshan's face also darkened.
The moment the water was splashed, Zhao Sanbao jolted and coughed twice, "I'm choking... I'm choking..."
"Awake?" Wang Tieniu chuckled coldly. "That's good. We have plenty of time to chat with you."
"I...I really did it myself." Zhao Sanbao shrank his neck, his small eyes darting around. "I saw no one was around at the food storage area, so...I took some bills out, thinking I'd exchange them for some oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar..."
"The food storage area?" Chen Jianshan's gaze sharpened. "How do you know where the key to the storage area is?"
"I...the man I was guarding that day was drunk and slept by the door of the inner room. The door wasn't closed properly, and I...I was momentarily out of my mind..."
"Drunk on drinks?" Du Jianshan sneered. "Who drank? Name them."
Zhao Sanbao shuddered, hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "It's Zheng Kui!"
"It really was him!" A flash of anger crossed Chen Jianshan's eyes.
"You wish." Du Jianshan took out a cigarette, lit it, and took a deep drag. "This mountain is not like the city, where you can just kill anyone you want. We need to get this guy back first, dig a fire pit to bleed him out, and skin and butcher him as soon as possible. We can't let it drag on."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's lift it up!" Wang Tieniu rolled up his sleeves, his eyes shining.
"Are you sure you can handle this? It must weigh around 300 pounds. Can the two of us lift it?" Du Jianshan raised an eyebrow. "Besides, this place is still an hour or so away from our shack, and the road is steep. What if we fall?"
Wang Tieniu scratched his head: "What should we do then? We can't just leave the treasure here, can we?"
Du Jianshan gritted his teeth: "First, open it up, take out the intestines, drain the blood, and the meat will be half as light. Peel off a layer of skin first, and I'll tie it to the basket later. You pick out the skin and gallbladder, and I'll get the meat. We'll also keep some bones to make soup. We'll bring the skeleton back when we have time later."
"Okay!" Wang Tieniu immediately pulled a meat cleaver from his basket. "I'll cut it!"
Du Jianshan rolled his eyes: "You're just a brute. Alright, don't skin me. I'll skin me, you hold me up."
"Hehe, okay!"
The bear skin was thick and heavy, so much so that even the knife had to be sharpened several times before it could be used properly. Du Jianshan carefully peeled it open along the belly, one cut at a time, towards both sides. As he worked, he said, "Don't get this skin wet. When you get back, you have to sprinkle salt on it, press it down, and let it dry in the sun for half a day. After it's dry, you can fumigate it. If you really can't bear to sell it, you can use it as bedding."
Wang Tieniu couldn't help but swallow hard: "My kang (heated brick bed) collapsed. If this were laid on top of it, I wouldn't even shiver while sleeping in winter."
“Your kang (heated brick bed) has three cracks; if you put this on, it’ll probably fall straight into the pit.” Du Jianshan laughed and scolded, then focused on peeling the skin. “I heard that the supply and marketing cooperative wanted to collect this stuff, but in the end, it was all transferred to the clinic, supposedly to be used to make medicine, especially bear bile—it’s good for the liver and eyes, and one tael is worth ten taels of silver.”
"Then...where is the bear bile?" Wang Tieniu leaned closer and asked eagerly.
"Stop making a fuss!" Du Jianshan waved his hand. "The gallbladder is below the liver. I'll cut it down there and show you. Be careful, if you puncture it, you're done for, and even the medicine won't smell."
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