Chapter 12: The Final Preparations Before Nightfall

Zhao Dong looked dejected, turning his head away immediately. "Don't even mention it!"

Zhang Yang noticed something off. "You went there with good intentions to help. Don't tell me they didn't welcome you?"

"It's not that they didn't welcome me... There's this kid at the educated youth station who used to practice track and field at a city school. He knows how to throw a javelin! The production team gave them some short spears for self-defense."

Zhao Dong said indignantly, "Who knows how to use primitive things like short spears? None of the others do, but that kid does. He saw his chance! He's been acting like a dog in heat, showing off to every woman he sees!"

Zhang Yang understood instantly. Zhao Dong had been hoping to impress the girl he had a crush on. Having finally found an opportunity, only to have someone else steal his thunder—it was certainly frustrating. But that was a trivial matter.

Zhang Yang consoled him, "You have to look on the bright side! Since there's someone at the youth station willing to step up and defend the others, at least if danger strikes, there's someone there to protect the girl you like. If the youth station gets wiped out by wolves, you wouldn't even have a memory left to hold onto."

"Pfft, pfft, pfft!" Zhao Dong thought of the lonely wolf head hanging in the mountains. The romantic notions he had been harboring vanished in an instant.

"It's getting late. Yang, if you're done with your chores, come back to our courtyard and give me a hand."

Zhang Yang scoffed at him, "Only just realized you're in a hurry? It's too late."

The sun was sinking below the horizon, and darkness would fall soon. Zhang Yang said in a somber tone, "Stay at my place tonight. You can sleep in the woodshed with me."

Zhao Dong chuckled dryly, "The woodshed is so stuffy..."

"Having a safe place to sleep is enough; stop being so picky." After saying this, Zhang Yang looked into the distance at the mountain peak shrouded in mist. "I don't even know if we'll be able to sleep soundly tonight."

Zhao Dong’s brow furrowed as he grasped the depth of Zhang Yang’s concern. However, with two little children standing nearby, neither of them voiced the possibilities they were fearing.

The two worked together to reinforce Mother Meng’s courtyard. They politely declined her invitation to stay for dinner and hurried back to Zhang Yang’s house.

The dead wolf carcass in the woodshed was frozen stiff by now, yet the pungent, distinct stench of the beast refused to dissipate. Zhao Dong felt a sense of bad luck the moment he saw it.

"Yang, didn't you say you were going to use this beast's hide for clothes? Why haven't you skinned it and chopped up the meat yet?"

Zhang Yang spoke truthfully, "The hide is indeed good, but the wolf pack is too close to our village. If we make clothes out of it, wouldn't they track the scent right to our door for revenge?"

Zhao Dong slapped his forehead, "Right, why didn't I think of that? So, what’s your plan?"

Zhang Yang replied, "I asked Old Uncle De. About twenty kilometers toward the city from our village, there's a place called Maoli Town. There’s a black market there that opens on the fifth, fifteenth, and twenty-fifth of every month. Plenty of city folks go there to hunt for rare items."

Zhao Dong was delighted, "Tomorrow is the twenty-fifth! Doesn't that mean we can take it to sell tomorrow? But we still need to skin it to sell it, right? Let's process the beast before we go."

"No," Zhang Yang stared at the wolf on the ground. "City people might not have seen a wolf before. If we don't bring it in one piece, I’m afraid it won’t sell well. If we run into the right buyer, we can sell the whole wolf for a lower price instead of picking it apart piece by piece."

"That’s true... but leaving it for another night makes me really uneasy..." Zhao Dong muttered.

Zhang Yang pointed to a pile of dirt clods stacked in the corner of the woodshed. "I’ve already prepared ginger. Let’s boil some water and cook the ginger to suppress the smell of this dead wolf."

Action followed words! The two split up, one tending the fire and the other scooping water, using the small, empty stove in the kitchen to boil a massive pot of ginger soup.

The ginger scent was piercing; even from a room away, it made Li Huifang and the others next door cough repeatedly. Zhang Wen and Zhang Fei had been forbidden from entering the woodshed all day, and their curiosity had been piqued. Smelling the ginger boiling next door, they peeked and poked, eager to know what was going on.

Before long, Zhang Yang brought in two large bowls of ginger soup. He had added brown sugar and five eggs to the soup, hoping to keep his family warm and ward off the cold while giving the little ones a sweet treat. He made sure to put a soft-boiled egg in the bowl he gave to Zhang Yan. Even with limited resources, he couldn't shortchange his sister! Zhang Yan was still nursing her child; she needed the nutrition.

"Mom, sister, drink it while it's hot."

Zhang Yang patted his two younger sisters on the head. Zhang Wen and Zhang Fei were never picky eaters; they did whatever their brother told them to. But Zhang Wen couldn't suppress her curiosity, "We heard the broadcast today—they said there are wolves in the mountains! Big brother, if we drink this ginger soup, can we go kill the wolves?"

Looking at his sister’s bold expression, Zhang Yang could only sigh at her innocence.

Zhao Dong laughed, "You two are still too small to kill wolves! But if you drink this ginger soup and behave, your brother will be able to go kill the wolves with peace of mind! One shot, one kill! Wipe them all out!"

Li Huifang was terrified, "Are the wolves really going to come into the village? Yang, Dong, you must be extremely careful!"

Recalling how Li Huifang had fainted from fright that morning, Zhang Yang quickly kicked Zhao Dong to make him shut up, then dragged him into the woodshed.

This night was destined to be restless. Before it was even fully dark, Zhang Minde, who lived at the edge of the mountain, heard the faint howling of wolves. The howls were filled with murderous intent and rage.

Uneasy, Zhang Minde entrusted a neighbor passing by to deliver a message to Zhang Yang.

"Old Uncle De says the wolves are furious! Since you all have been into the mountains, you might have left your scent in their territory, so do not go out under any circumstances!"

"Old Uncle De also said that the captain has already notified the nearby militia teams, telling everyone not to sleep tonight and to take turns patrolling the village, so don't worry!"

Zhang Yang frowned, "Which family in our village is in the militia?"

The neighbor shook his head, "There used to be, but they got into a conflict with the militia from Wulipu Village and injured someone. They had their guns confiscated and eventually disbanded."

Zhang Yang was shocked, "So the only person with a gun in our village is Old Uncle De, who patrols the mountains?"

The neighbor replied, "That's right! Don't let his age fool you, his marksmanship is top-tier! With Uncle De around, we'll be just fine!"

Zhang Yang and Zhao Dong exchanged glances. The neighbor assumed these two young men had never seen a wolf and were scared out of their wits, so he offered a few more words of comfort.

"Even if Uncle De isn't enough on his own, aren't there other patrolling militia teams? I see you've reinforced your courtyard well, so just sleep easy tonight! Nothing will happen!"