HPDBC Chapter 1707 Zhao Pao, the Castrated Dog
Chapter 1707 Zhao Pao, the Castrated Dog
Chapter 1707 Zhao Pao, the Castrated Dog
After lunch, Zhao Jun, along with his Zhao family gang, went to Zhang Yuanmin's house to tidy up the goose shed.
As temperatures rise, the geese I bought last year have started laying eggs.
The geese that Zhao Jun and his family bought were the "notched-eye geese," a breed unique to Northeast China. These geese get their name from the notch around their eyelids.
Some elderly people even call it the "eyeless goose." This type of goose loves to lay eggs, and if it gets enough nutrition, it can lay 160 to 170 eggs a year.
Winter temperatures in Northeast China are low, and chickens don't lay eggs during the winter. Therefore, the annual egg production of the Huoyan goose is comparable to that of chickens.
Last winter, these geese lived in a plastic shed in Zhangjiakou. During the day, the temperature inside the shed was very high when the sun came out. At night, two layers of plastic sheeting were used to block out the cold wind as much as possible.
Although adult geese are not afraid of the cold, this way of spending the winter does not cause them suffering and they are less likely to get sick.
It can be said that, apart from the fact that Sun would frequently prepare stewed geese in an iron pot, none of the geese brought back from Yongxing Brigade were ever wasted.
The weather was nice this afternoon, so Zhao Jun and his team came over and removed the plastic sheeting from the goose shed.
Then several people used shovels to remove the goose droppings from the ground, piled them up to ferment, and waited for them to ferment before they could be used as fertilizer in their own vegetable gardens.
Zhang Yuanmin used wooden planks to nail together two large wooden troughs, each two meters long and half a meter wide, with one side 15 centimeters high and the other 30 centimeters high. He lined them with straw, leaving the lower side facing outwards, so the geese could step in and lay their eggs.
Apart from the two egg-laying troughs, the rest of the open space in the goose shed was covered with a thick layer of sand.
Finally, cover the goose shed with a large tarpaulin. Previously, plastic sheeting was used for warmth, but now that the temperature is high, it's no longer needed. Furthermore, the bottom four outer edges are no longer pressed tightly together; instead, one side is lifted up, leaving a 30-centimeter gap off the ground, allowing the geese to move freely in and out.
After cleaning up the goose shed, Zhao Jun led his men to visit each house and brought all the hunting dogs back to the Zhao family compound.
Whoever kept the dogs had to feed them, including feeding them in the morning, which was quite troublesome. Now that Wang Haitao has been brought to justice and life is peaceful, Zhao Jun took the hunting dogs home for unified management.
"Brother!" As they walked the dogs towards the Zhao family's house, Zhang Yuanmin said to Zhao Jun, "Can my two dogs go up the mountain too?"
The two hunting dogs in Zhang Yuanmin's house were bought from Zhang Laibao. Before they came into Zhang Laibao's possession, they were hunting dogs from Lingnan.
"Let's go," Zhao Jun said. "When there's a battle going on, we'll lead them up the mountain. We have plenty of dogs and a strong gang; we can take them down in two battles."
Even the toughest hunting dogs will stagnate if they rest for too long, and suddenly they won't know how to hunt when they go up in the mountains. But as long as there's a good lead dog, it can be fine after a couple of battles.
Back in the compound, Zhao Jun took the dog to the backyard and put it in its original kennel.
Before, there were only four dogs, and they just roamed around. But now, with Wulong, Erhu, Xiaoxiong, Erhei, and four red dogs, there are thirteen dogs, and they're no longer roaming around.
After settling the hunting dogs, Zhao Jun and his companions went inside, only to find that Zhao Youcai and Xing San were missing.
"Mom," Zhao Jun asked Wang Meilan, "Where are my dad and my third uncle?"
"I don't know." Wang Meilan, who was tidying up the hides, looked up and glanced subconsciously at the door. She said, "You left a little while ago, and he went out. About five or six minutes later, he came back and called your third uncle."
"What do you want from my third uncle?" Zhao Jun asked. Wang Meilan replied, "He said the wine is gone, so the two of them went to get some more."
Zhao Jun has a lot of liquor at home, including Xifeng, Moutai, Yuquan Fangping, and Shanhe Bai, covering all price ranges.
But Zhao Youcai and his friends preferred local small-batch liquor, also known as "sanbai".
Don't be fooled by its appearance; the quality of this baijiu is quite good. In the summer, when you eat in the courtyard, small insects will willingly fall into the wine if you pour it into your bowl.
In winter, this wine won't freeze if left outside, but white fuzz will grow inside it; this is called wine fuzz. The fuzz will gradually disappear as the temperature rises.
Both "wine worms" and "wine velvet" are signs of high-quality baijiu. However, even 30 or 40 years later, many liquor sellers will not know what "wine velvet" is.
As soon as Wang Meilan finished speaking, Zhao Ling chimed in, "They've been gone for most of the day. They've been brewing wine, they should be back by now."
"Oh my god!" Wang Meilan sensed something was wrong upon hearing this and immediately stood up, saying, "He can't be up to something again, can he?"
"No, no." Seeing this, Zhao Jun quickly reassured Wang Meilan, saying, "My third uncle is with you."
The others didn't react to the mother and daughter's conversation. Only Ma Ling stared wide-eyed at Zhao Jun, then at her mother-in-law.
They ate and drank together every day, and all the families knew that Zhao Youcai was capable of causing trouble, but no one dared to say it.
The newcomer, Ma Ling, was unaware that after spending these few days with Zhao Youcai, she felt that her father-in-law was a very nice person, especially kind and approachable, and easy to get along with.
So when Ma Ling first heard what Zhao Jun and his mother said, she was still a little dazed.
Just then, the hunting dogs that had just been assigned to the backyard started howling.
Upon hearing the sound, Zhao Jun quickly walked outside, followed closely by Wang Qiang, Zhang Yuanmin, Xie Chen, and Zhao Jinhui.
The hunting dogs that had been lent out, along with Old Li's two dogs, Da Hua and Er Hua, were gone. So Li Baoyu and Li Ruhai didn't take the dogs to the Zhao family's house, but instead returned them to their own home.
As Zhao Jun stepped out of the room, he saw Xing San walking towards him from afar, the old man struggling to carry a fifty-pound wine barrel.
Upon seeing this, Zhao Jun quickly jogged over.
Seeing Zhao Jun approach, Xing San put down the wine barrel and laughed at Zhao Jun, "It's over, I'm too old and useless."
"What?! Uncle Zhao Jun frowned and asked, 'Why did you bring this back? Where's my dad?'"
Xing San turned around and pointed behind him, then turned to Zhao Jun and said, "Kid, you'd better go take a look, your dad bought three more dogs."
"What?" Zhao Jun was taken aback. He craned his neck to look at the gate and saw Zhao Youcai leading three large dogs and talking to someone.
"No?" Zhao Jun frowned and asked, "Who is that person? Whose dog did he buy?"
“I don’t know him,” Xing San said. “When we got to the convenience store, that guy was already there waiting for him, with his dog tied up at the door. I saw that, and there was nothing I could do to stop him.”
Upon hearing this, Zhao Jun's lips twitched, and he turned to Xie Chen, saying, "Xiao Chen, take the wine back. Don't let Third Master carry it."
As he spoke, Zhao Jun strode toward the door, with Wang Qiang, Zhang Yuanmin, and Zhao Jinhui following closely behind.
When Zhao Jun arrived at the gate, he saw Zhao Youcai chatting and laughing with someone.
At this moment, Zhao Youcai was leading three dogs: two black and one spotted. All three dogs were large, long-haired breeds, and each looked to weigh over a hundred pounds.
But Zhao Jun knew that these long-haired dogs were large, and he estimated that the three dogs weighed only eighty or ninety pounds.
Zhao Jun approached and saw that all three dogs had tangled hairs, indicating they had been injured while hunting in the mountains.
Judging from its coat color, this dog is not getting enough nutrition. It looks a bit like a bear that has just come out of hibernation, with its long fur matted and sticky.
But the three dogs were quite affectionate and clingy; when they saw Zhao Jun coming over, they even wagged their tails at him.
Upon seeing Zhao Jun and his group approach, the man who had been speaking to Zhao Youcai asked, "Second Brother Zhao, which one is your son?"
"This..." Zhao Youcai didn't look closely. As he turned around, he pointed at Wang Qiang.
Wang Qiang was taken aback and raised his hand to slap Zhao Youcai's hand away. At this moment, Zhao Jun smiled at the man and then asked Zhao Youcai, "Dad, should I call this uncle?"
You have to listen carefully to what he means. This person just called Zhao Youcai "Second Brother," which is why Zhao Jun asked this question.
"Call him Uncle Xing." Zhao Youcai nodded and introduced Zhao Jun, "This is Yan Shaojie, our field dispatcher, your Uncle Yan's brother-in-law. He's family with us, and he also has the surname Zhao. You can just call him Uncle Zhao."
Upon hearing Zhao Youcai's words, Zhao Jun understood that Li Dayong must have been the one who set up the connection between the man and the dog.
"Uncle Zhao." Zhao Jun greeted Zhao Hongbin with a smile, and then Zhao Youcai introduced Wang Qiang and the other two to Zhao Hongbin: "This is my brother-in-law, and those two are my nephews."
Wang Qiang, Zhang Yuanmin, and Zhao Jinhui all smiled and nodded to Zhao Hongbin.
At this moment, Zhao Jun said to Zhao Youcai, "Dad, please invite Uncle Zhao upstairs. What are you doing standing here?"
"I'm not going upstairs, kid." Zhao Hongbin politely declined, saying, "The people in that village are waiting for me; we have to leave soon."
As soon as Zhao Hongbin finished speaking, Zhao Youcai reached out and shoved Zhao Jun aside, stopping him from speaking, and said, "Son, go upstairs and take two hundred yuan from the pocket of the pants I wore yesterday for your Uncle Zhao."
Zhao Jun glanced at Zhao Youcai. Zhao Youcai had been wearing the same pants for a week. Where was he going to get two hundred yuan from? Wasn't Zhao Youcai saying this just for show? In reality, he just wanted Zhao Jun to get him the money.
But at this moment, in front of Zhao Hongbin, Zhao Jun couldn't possibly embarrass Zhao Youcai.
"Brother," Zhao Jun said helplessly to Zhang Yuanmin, "Could you make a trip for me? It's in my parents' room. There are those pants hanging behind the door, and there's money in their pockets."
Zhang Yuanmin immediately understood Zhao Jun's meaning, agreed, and turned to leave.
It wasn't Zhao Jun who instructed anyone; he just wanted to stay and ask about the dog's condition, so he could only send someone back inside to help him ask Wang Meilan for money.
Logically, this matter should be handled by Wang Qiang, but Zhao Jun is his nephew, and it wouldn't be good for people to see the nephew instructing his uncle.
Zhang Yuanmin scurried towards the house on his short legs. Zhao Jun glanced down at the three dogs, then looked up at Zhao Hongbin with a smile and said, "Uncle Zhao, these three dogs are skinny."
Eighty or ninety pounds is not small for a dog, but these three dogs are all large-framed, large-sized dogs. You can tell they're thin just by looking at their scruffy fur. If they were properly fed, these dogs would weigh over a hundred pounds, maybe even a hundred and one hundred.
“Thin.” Zhao Hongbin said, “I haven’t been home much this winter. My aunt, that old woman, doesn’t even take good care of feeding the dog.”
What does it mean to be careless? It means being unwilling to let the dog eat as much as it wants.
Zhao Jun nodded upon hearing this, then asked, "Uncle Zhao, are you so busy with work that you've sold even the dogs?"
This question must be asked, because when a hunter who hunts dogs wants to sell them, the act of selling the entire pack is called "breaking up the pack." Selling only a portion of the pack's dogs is called "dismantling the pack."
Some people think that breaking up the factions is a good thing, saying that if the factions are all removed, there might be unqualified people among them.
Not really!
You'll never get a good dog if you break up a gang. Because no matter who's in charge, as long as they're still running a dog kennel, they're not going to sell their good dogs. Breaking up a gang just means selling off the dogs that don't meet their standards and then finding suitable replacements.
“Yeah,” Zhao Hongbin replied. “Last year, I contracted a small section of forest in the forest farm, but we didn’t do any fencing all winter. This year, I heard that our farm has a transportation task, so I’m thinking of leading the people to continue working.”
His brother-in-law is a forestry dispatcher, so he can probably benefit from his connections.
"Ah..." Upon hearing that these dogs hadn't been up the mountain all winter, Zhao Jun pressed on, "Uncle Zhao, what kind of work do your three dogs do?"
These days, a guard dog only costs thirty or forty yuan. Hunting dogs are expensive, and there's a reason for that. The seller needs to clearly state what kind of work these three dogs do and what they can do.
This is just like when Xu Changlin was recruiting dogs to sell, he had to tell them clearly what kind of prey each of his three dogs hunted, how big of a wild boar they could lay their eggs, how big of a black bear they could kill, which one was the lead dog, and what the lead dog's incense sticks were like, etc.
Of course, there are bound to be exaggerated claims, so you can't just buy a dog anywhere. Generally, you should either buy from someone you know or have someone act as a guarantor. If you buy a dog and it's not what they advertised, you need to clarify beforehand whether you'll get a refund or what to do.
“Kid, I’m a grown man, I can’t lie to you.” Zhao Hongbin pointed to the black and white hunting dog sitting sideways at his feet and said to Zhao Jun, “These three dogs of mine are all hard-working. They’ve done everything before, wild boars, black bears, roe deer, and big dogs, there’s nothing they won’t do.”
Zhao Hongbin's words sounded impressive, but Zhao Jun frowned secretly. What did he mean by "doing everything before"? And what about now?
"I ran into a big bear when I went up the mountain in the autumn," Zhao Hongbin continued. "My dog killed him in one battle, and I raised those three dogs for the whole winter."
After saying that, Zhao Hongbin spread his hands and said, "That's why I asked my brother-in-law to find me work in our forest farm."
As he spoke, Zhao Hongbin pushed Zhao Youcai toward Zhao Jun and said, "I've already told Master Zhao that once the dog recovers from its injury and spends another winter resting, it will definitely come back to life."
Hearing this, Zhao Jun blinked. This guy spoke with such self-righteousness, but the dog had already come back to life; were you trying to sell chicken feathers?
Yes, with a good leader, a reincarnated dog can regain its former skills after a few trips up the mountain. But I have a good leader, not because I wanted to buy this reincarnated dog.
Three tough-talking, resurrected dogs cost two hundred yuan. Zhao Jun felt it wasn't much, but it wasn't cheap either. If it were him, he definitely wouldn't want the dogs, because for that price, there were much better options.
“I also told Brother Zhao,” Zhao Hongbin continued, “A family needs a good head dog; two battles and these three dogs will be out of the woods.”
After Zhao Hongbin finished speaking, Zhao Youcai laughed and chimed in, "My family has a good-looking dog."
As he spoke, Zhao Youcai gestured towards the backyard and asked Zhao Hongbin, "You know the Green Tiger, brother?"
No sooner had Zhao Youcai finished speaking than a roar came from the backyard. Its voice was unique and easy to recognize.
"Holy crap!" Zhao Hongbin exclaimed in surprise, "Second Brother, that dog is awesome!"
“Then look!” Zhao Youcai laughed, “The one calling from the backyard is it.”
Perhaps because it heard Zhao Youcai speak, the green tiger roared even louder.
At this moment, Zhang Yuanmin and Xie Chen jogged back, and Zhang Yuanmin, panting, handed twenty ten-yuan bills to Zhao Youcai.
"Here, brother." Zhao Youcai took the money, handed it to Zhao Hongbin, and said, "Check it out."
"What are you checking? No need..." Zhao Hongbin said politely, but Zhao Youcai quickly stopped him and said, "We're brothers, so let's keep things clear. Don't rush, brother, check it out before you leave."
Having found a way out, Zhao Hongbin quickly counted the money. Finding the amount correct, he bid farewell to Zhao Jun, Zhao Youcai, and the others, then patted the heads and necks of the three dogs one by one before hurrying away.
As their owner left, the three dogs pulled on their leashes, wanting to follow, but when Zhao Youcai tugged on the leashes, the three dogs stopped and wagged their tails, watching their owner leave.
"Dad, why are you thinking of buying a dog again?" Zhao Jun leaned close to Zhao Youcai and asked in a low voice.
Zhao Youcai glanced at Zhao Jun but did not answer his question.
Zhao Jun's lips twitched, and he said helplessly to Zhao Youcai, "Dad, didn't you ask him? These three dogs shouldn't be allowed to fight like dogs."
"Bite pack" refers to a new dog joining a pack and initiating an attack on other dogs.
This is the most hateful thing!
Because in some gangs, the leader isn't necessarily the strongest fighter. Take Little Bear, for example; he's a top-notch leader, but he can't even beat Azure Dragon now.
If a new dog joins the group and immediately attacks the leader, even crippling him or making him unable to climb the mountain, that would be a truly terrible situation.
"You're just asking useless questions." Zhao Youcai glared at Zhao Jun and said irritably, "Don't I know more than you? When I buy a dog, do you think I don't ask questions to find out the answer?"
Upon hearing Zhao Youcai's words, Zhao Jun felt a lump in his throat, unable to breathe properly, which was extremely uncomfortable.
"Asking this and that," Zhao Youcai winked at Zhao Jun again, "as if you know everything!"
Zhao Youcai was dissatisfied with Zhao Jun asking Zhao Hongbin so many questions, but his words made Zhao Jun's chest ache with anger.
Zhang Yuanmin, Xie Chen, and Zhao Jinhui remained silent, while Wang Qiang glared fiercely at Zhao Youcai.
Zhao Youcai didn't see it. Just as he was about to lead the three dogs back to the yard, he saw the three dogs suddenly looking eastward.
Everyone looked to the east and saw Li Baoyu leading Hua Niu Niu.
Zhao Jun still had some expectations for Hua Niu Niu, the biggest-headed dog in Yong'an after Hua Xiao.
When planning the yard, they even specially reserved a doghouse for Hua Niu Niu.
"Dad, you've even managed to hold that dog back." Knowing Hua Niu Niu's abilities, Zhao Jun couldn't hold back his anger and had to remind Zhao You Cai.
This time, Zhao Youcai didn't say anything, but instead held onto the rope tightly.
Surprisingly, Hua Niu Niu glanced at the three dogs but didn't react at all.
Zhao Jun stared wide-eyed at Hua Niu Niu in shock. Hua Niu Niu was like a stamp collector; she had mated with every adult male dog in Yong'an Village, except for Qing Laohu.
Hua Niu Niu gets excited whenever she sees a male dog that hasn't been bred yet. Why is she indifferent to the three big dogs she saw today?
When Zhao Jun looked down at the three dogs, he found that they didn't do anything special; they were just sniffing Hua Niu Niu's scent normally, without any signs of infatuation. Their earlier glance to the east was simply because they had spotted a strange member of their kind.
"Dad," Zhao Jun asked Zhao Youcai in surprise, "Are these all male dogs?"
"Ah!" Zhao Youcai exclaimed, "Does your female dog grow this big?"
Zhao Jun didn't bother arguing with Zhao Youcai, and only asked him, "Dad, this..."
Zhao Jun suddenly sensed something was wrong and quickly bent down to look under a black dog.
Zhao Jun spotted the dog gun immediately, but instead of straightening up, he stared at it for two more seconds.
Then, Zhao Jun suddenly sat up straight and asked Zhao Youcai, "Dad, has the dog been castrated?"
"Huh?" Zhao Youcai was startled upon hearing this and quickly bent down to look under the dog. Zhao Jun simply grabbed one of the dog's hind legs and clearly saw that the dog had no testicles.
The dog was very docile. When Zhao Jun pulled its leg, it didn't even struggle. Zhao Jun put the dog's leg down. In his previous life, he had heard Hu Dahai say that some dog catchers would castrate their dogs to make them obedient.
Zhao Jun had never seen anything like this before, but now he had witnessed it firsthand.
“That old bastard…” Zhao Youcai also disapproved of this behavior, but Zhao Hongbin hadn’t mentioned it, and he hadn’t asked him either.
"Brother-in-law." Suddenly, Wang Qiang approached Zhao Youcai and pointed to the three dogs in turn, saying, "Let's name these three dogs. This one is called Big Castrate, that one is called Second Castrate, and this one is called Third Castrate."
After saying this, Wang Qiang patted Zhao Youcai on the shoulder and laughed, "When you're done, you'll be called the eunuch Zhao Pao!"
Zhao Youcai: "..."
Zhao Jun and others: "..."
(End of this chapter)