Chapter Bonanza (1/5)

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“Woof! Woof!”

During the day, the doors and windows of the small courtyard in the mountains were tightly shut. Dager and Huangyae were used to this and found places to sleep on their own, but Hei Dou, who had been brought up there for the first time, kept barking incessantly through the door.

Inside the room just a door away, Yan Qi lay pinned beneath Huo Ling, unable to move. Hearing the dogs bark, he said anxiously, “Heidou…” 

“Dager and Huangyae are here. Nothing will happen.”

Huo Ling’s movements silenced whatever else Yan Qi was about to say. His rough fingertips and palms slid down Yan Qi’s lower back, caressing him all the way. Yan Qi bit his lip in frustration, and the man noticed, the spark of desire within him flaring even brighter.

They hadn’t lived at the foot of the mountain for very long, but come to think of it, the two of them had only done it once—on Yan Qi’s birthday. After that, from dawn till dusk, they’d been too busy selling buns.

Once, Huo Ling was awakened in the middle of the night by Yan Qi’s wandering hands. At first, he thought the ger had changed his ways, but then he realized the movements felt oddly familiar—it was clearly the same technique used for kneading dough and making buns, leaving him both amused and exasperated.

He grabbed the ger’s hand and placed it on his chest. The ger’s fingers curled slightly, then gently stroked the area a couple of times, as if tickling him—but Huo Ling loved it.

Leaning down, he captured those soft lips with his own. Amid the gentle splashing of water, the dog’s barking outside had ceased at some point.

Heidou stared longingly at the door, wanting to bark several times, but was always pushed back by Dager.

Sticking out its chubby little butt, it stubbornly sat in place waiting. Afraid of getting scolded by Dager, it obediently kept its mouth shut.

“Dou’er, are you still here?”

When Huo Ling stepped outside, a small black shadow leapt right in front of him, landing on just its hind legs while its front paws clung entirely to Huo Ling’s pant leg.

Heidou had inherited his parents’ large build. Now over two months old and growing like a weed, he had transformed from an early-stage little black furball into a solid black bench.

However, it would take at least a year for him to grow into a majestic, full-sized dog like Dager. The larger the dog, the slower it grows. Dogs like the little Pomeranians kept by the city’s wealthy elite usually stop growing after eight or nine months and never get any bigger.

“You can’t go in now. Come back in a little while.”

Huo Ling blocked it with his leg, set a pot of water to boil, adjusted the temperature to just right, and carried the basin into the house.

The room wasn’t as bright as the outdoors. As Huo Ling moved in and out, a few rays of daylight streamed in, constantly reminding the person on the kang that it was still broad daylight.

“Couldn’t you have waited until nightfall?”

Yan Qi muttered under his breath, but Huo Ling replied, “Wash up at night, and you’ll just get colder; now’s the perfect time.” 

Yan Qi: …

He turned his body slightly to the side, not really wanting to deal with him.

After he had washed up and changed his clothes, he asked, “Where’s Heidou? Where did it go?”

“It’s been sitting outside the door the whole time. I guess Dager didn’t let it bark, but it didn’t leave either. Just now, when I opened the door, it still tried to come in.”

Huo Ling wrung out the washcloth and, sharing a basin of water with Yan Qi, wiped away the sticky sweat from their bodies.

“It’s closer to you than to me. It must have been startled when I scooped you up and carried you inside.” 

“It wasn’t just him…”

Yan Qi said helplessly, “I was startled by you, too.” 

“Just tell me if you like it or not.”

Yan Qi stammered a few times, choosing to sidestep the question. His ears turned bright red, and Huo Ling couldn’t help but laugh. After drying off, he threw his clothes back on and tied his sash haphazardly.

As he approached, Yan Qi helped him fasten the front of his robe. “Put your clothes on properly. Don’t you worry about catching a cold?” 

He looked up and added, “Your hair’s all messed up.”

“I’ll go get a comb.”

Huo Ling fetched the comb. Yan Qi first combed his hair smooth and re-tied it, then in turn, he spent a while tidying Yan Qi’s hair as well.

The hair oil they’d bought earlier was finally nearly gone, thanks to Huo Ling’s urging. The strands in his palm were fragrant and soft, though not quite as black and lustrous as they could be. Once they were both tidied up, they felt a bit lazy and didn’t really want to go out.

The heated brick bed was burning, with the flue running through the wall, filling the entire room with warmth.

“Let’s make braised cabbage and pork with glass noodles for dinner—that’ll be enough for the two of us. Are you still going into the mountains this afternoon?”

Yan Qi calculated the time. The two of them had left home early that morning to go up the mountain. Because of the snow on the mountain path, they walked slower than usual, arriving here close to noon. Then they swept the yard, dusted off the furniture, and after resting, went back inside to the heated bed to get to work…

Come to think of it, they really had boundless energy.

“I think I’ll skip it. It’ll probably get dark before we get very far.”

“I’ll take Dager and Huangyae. We won’t go far—just take a walk around the yard and set a few animal traps while we’re at it.”

Huo Ling said, “Food is scarce in the mountains during the snowy season. Sometimes large wild animals come down. I’ll go check the area for their tracks or droppings. If I find any, we’ll have to be on guard—once they’ve been here, they might just come back a second time.”

Yan Qi felt a little nervous hearing this. “If they really do come, Dager and the others will surely spot them, right?”

“They will. That’s why we keep dogs. We have two big dogs, and Heidou has quite a bark. They won’t get close easily, let alone make it into the yard.”

“Then be careful when you go out later.”

The most troublesome part of winter is going out—having to take off layer after layer only to put them back on again.

Putting on the fur coat as the outermost layer wasn’t the end of it; there was also a fur hat with flaps to protect the ears, as well as knee and leg guards.

Huo Ling doesn’t wear gloves. Working with gloves on makes your hands less nimble, and if you wear them while traveling but take them off to work, the constant shift between cold and warm is even more uncomfortable—it’s better to just tuck your hands inside your sleeves.

“Go inside. Don’t come out. I’ll be right back.”

Fully dressed, Huo Ling felt that even walking and raising his arms had become a struggle. He pulled the brim of his fur hat down a bit, signaling Yan Qi to close the door.

Heidou was left behind to guard the house. This was the first time the big dog wasn’t home, and the responsibility had fallen on him.

Not even Yan Qi could get it to budge. Ever since Huo Ling had left, it had stubbornly sat just outside the threshold of the main hall, staring intently toward the courtyard, its ears pricked high, occasionally twitching back and forth.

Yan Qi praised it a few times and gave it a special treat—half a cooked corn cob.

The corn was sweet, and all the dogs in the house loved it. Dager and Huangya could hold the cobs and gnaw on them directly, eating them clean. Heidou hadn’t learned how to do that yet; every time he ate, he’d push the cob forward as he chewed, making quite a mess.

So Yan Qi had no choice but to wait until it finished eating before finding a way to wipe its mouth; otherwise, there would be corn kernels even on the tip of its nose.

Huo Ling was right—Heidou was indeed closer to Yan Qi. The two had agreed long ago that Yan Qi would train the puppy, and once trained, Huo Ling would take Dager and Huangyae into the mountains, leaving Heidou with Yan Qi.

Although Heidou was the son of Dager and Hongguo, and seemed to have stronger bloodlines than Huang Yae, hunting dogs were like hunters: a greenhorn’s skills could never match those of a seasoned veteran.

As for Dager, it wasn’t until he was over two years old that his frame was fully developed, and he became relatively more steady, no longer as mischievous and playful as before. Huang Yae wasn’t exactly big either, but compared to Hei Dou’er, he was more suitable for taking into the mountains.

After feeding Heidou, Yan Qi stretched his back, took out a feather duster, and gave the inner room another thorough cleaning, including wiping down the deer antlers hanging on the wall.

Once that was done, he didn’t rest. He took out an old cotton coat belonging to Huo Ling from the trunk. He had previously removed some of the cotton, but there was still plenty left. Knowing he would have to go down the mountain to buy new cotton, he had left this behind instead of taking it with him.

This time, he shook all the cotton out onto a bamboo basket, picked out some impurities, and prepared to lay it out in the sun tomorrow to dry, then use it to stuff a pair of cotton shoes.

The mountains were blanketed in snow, and there were no signs of human footprints anywhere.

Huo Ling trudged through the undergrowth, stepping unevenly. Dager and Huangyae, having been given orders, didn’t run around aimlessly; instead, they moved slowly, one in front of the other, sniffing carefully to the left and right.

As they walked, the two dogs suddenly began barking at a tree. Huo Ling went over to take a look but couldn’t see anything unusual. However, after taking two more steps forward, he discovered a tree with its bark stripped away—it seemed a bear had passed through.

It certainly hadn’t happened in the last few days, though; the footprints on the ground had long since been covered by snow. The two dogs had most likely picked up the scent of bear urine—male bears would even stand on their hind legs to spray urine on trees as a territorial marker.

That scent is very noticeable in other seasons—you can smell it from a distance—but once winter sets in and the weather turns cold, the scent dissipates quickly. Plus, after walking outside for a while, your nose basically freezes numb, and you can’t smell anything but the cold air. That’s why you absolutely must bring dogs when you go into the mountains.

Huo Ling made a mental note of this spot, planning to bring some vinegar water to douse it the next time he returned. Vinegar water can mask the scent of animal urine; otherwise, not only would the bear that left the mark return, but other male bears would be drawn to the area as well.

Fortunately, their compound was built halfway up the mountain, and since the snow season had just begun, there weren’t many wild animals coming down yet. Aside from the large tree that had just been stripped by a bear, they found no signs of tigers, wild boars, or other predators.

The two dogs had become well-acquainted with the path deep into the mountains; as soon as they reached the hillside, they ran uphill.

The leaves had all fallen from the trees in the mountains; after the snowfall, all that met the eye were gray-black branches and blinding white snow. Coupled with the overcast sky, staring at them for too long made the branches seem as if they had come to life.

But Huo Ling didn’t dwell on it. He bent down, rolled a snowball in his hands, and tossed it casually ahead. “Dager, Huangyae, we’re not going deep into the mountains today. We’ll just take a quick loop and head home.” So the two big dogs made a sharp turn and began running back.

Since Huangyae was following Dager, the turn was too sharp, and he tripped over a tree root buried in the snow.

As he walked, Huo Ling didn’t forget to look up out of habit. This area was too close to home; even if anything had sprouted, it would have been picked clean by early morning. At most, he could dig up some wild greens after spring arrived or gather a few handfuls of wild berries in summer and fall.

Whenever he came to a spot suitable for setting a snare, Huo Ling would pause, brush the snow off a branch, and tie a small snare.

Digging a pitfall trap required a shovel, which he hadn’t brought today. As for snares that didn’t rely on pits, he’d have to stay nearby to watch them—only then could he catch roe deer or similar game alive. But since it was getting late, that wasn’t a good option either.

It took a little over half an hour to complete the circuit. Home was right before their eyes, but Dager and Huangyae hadn’t had enough fun yet; they were circling the front door, reluctant to go back.

Realizing the two wouldn’t have time to hunt for food today, Huo Ling whistled, letting them run around for a while. Hearing the sound, Heidou responded anxiously from inside the house, and Yan Qi came over to open the door.

“Let Heidou go with them. Maybe he’ll pick up a trick or two.”

“A dog that small will just be tagging along. Let’s see if Dager and Huangyae are willing to take him with them.”

Huo Ling called the big dogs to a halt and shooed Heidou over. The two big dogs sniffed at him briefly before continuing on. Heidou glanced at Huo Ling, wagging his tail wildly. Seeing his master didn’t stop him, he bounded forward, decisively choosing to follow the big dogs.

Seeing that the little rascal hadn’t been rejected, Huo Ling turned to head home but not before reminding Dager, “Don’t wander too far!” Dager, whose figure had already disappeared into the woods, heard this and let out a loud “Woof!”