Courtyard House: I, the eldest son of the Jia family, have returned from the battlefield.

He quietly stored his harvest in that secret place known only to himself.

Then, with a slight thought, the damp soil by the stream began to sink and expand on its own, forming a regular deep pit.

He took out some specially made bait and scattered it into the bottom of the pit.

The smell was almost imperceptible to humans, yet it was enough to stir the most sensitive nerves deep in the mountains and forests.

After doing all this, he climbed up a nearby old tree, concealed himself among the thick branches, and blended into the dappled shadows of the tree.

The silence lasted only a moment.

The rustling sound of leaves rubbing together grew louder and heavier as it approached.

The next moment, the bushes were violently pushed open, and an incredibly large male wild boar charged out first, followed by more than a dozen of its kind of varying sizes.

As if pulled by invisible ropes, they ignored the pit that was right in front of them and fell in one after another, causing dull impacts and short hisses.

Jia Dongming smiled silently in the tree; the effectiveness of the bait had never disappointed.

The gun barrel immediately dropped, pointing at the chaotic, thrashing shadows in the pit.

The silence was shattered once again by a series of explosions.

Once the faint, gunpowder-like fragrance dissipated, only a silent mess remained at the bottom of the pit.

He landed lightly, replenished his ammunition, and quickly walked to the edge of the pit.

The lead beast was particularly striking; its dark mane stood on end like steel needles, and even in its fallen state, it exuded a terrifying aura of power. "It must weigh well over five hundred pounds,"

He muttered to himself, his gaze sweeping over the remaining spoils, "With these included, the total weight is probably over two thousand... Fortunately, there's a place to store them."

Before the words were finished, a sharp "crack" suddenly came from the depths of the dense forest to the side.

A sharp crack, like a thick branch being snapped in two.

A burly, dark brown figure parted the bushes and appeared.

It was a brown bear, almost half the height of a tree when standing, far superior to the lazy individuals behind the zoo fence.

The heavy smell of blood in the humid air seemed to stimulate it. Its eyes locked onto Jia Dongming, and it let out a hoarse growl. Then, it put down on all fours and launched a charge, making the ground seem to tremble.

An old proverb about the dangers of the mountains and forests flashed through his mind, but Jia Dongming's hands were steadyer than his thoughts.

The gun barrel was raised, and two points of cold light were precisely pointed at those small, wild eyes.

The trigger is pulled.

boom!boom!

The giant bear, charging with great momentum, was struck on the head by an invisible hammer and crashed to the ground. Its massive body slid forward with inertia, sending mud and grass flying, until it finally came to a complete stop by crashing heavily into a tree trunk not far in front of Jia Dongming, shaking a ground full of leaves.

Don't stay here for long.

The smell of blood and the lingering scent of bait were like an invitation to a grand feast.

He quickly gathered up the brown bear and the wild boar in the pit, and once again hid under the protection of the tree canopy.

Sure enough, not long after, a long and mournful howl came from the distant mountain ridge, and echoes immediately followed.

A dozen gray figures, like drifting clouds skimming the ground, swiftly and menacingly swept into the clearing in the woods.

They stopped at the edge of the pit, their nostrils flaring rapidly, but they did not rush forward.

The alpha wolf, agile and with gray fur interspersed with silver, paced slowly around the edge of the pit, a low growl rumbling in its throat, full of warning. The pack followed closely behind, forming a cautious and orderly encirclement.

Jia Dongming's gun had already found the leader among the branches and leaves.

He held his breath and applied steady pressure with his fingertips.

boom!

The alpha wolf's howling stopped abruptly, and it collapsed to the ground.

The wolf pack instantly exploded, scattering in all directions.

However, the gunfire did not stop; instead, it became a rapid and precise rhythm.

Each short, sharp whistle corresponded to the slump of a gray figure.

When the last echo faded into the woods, there was no longer any living creature standing in the clearing.

He leaped down from the tree trunk with swift movements.

Soon, the lifeless gray skeletons on the ground disappeared one by one, as if they had never existed.

The mountains and forests returned to silence, with only the stream still babbling, flowing along the edge of the clearing where everything had just happened.

Wolf meat doesn't taste particularly good, but its fur and sharp teeth are a rare find.

The fur can be made into warm clothes and hats, which are enough to keep out the biting cold wind when worn close to the skin; wolf teeth can be polished into ornaments or kept as evidence of hunting.

Thinking of the wolf pelts, Jia Dongming remembered that he still had a brown bear in his spatial storage. He pondered that after returning to Beijing, he would need to find a knowledgeable craftsman to see if he could properly dispose of the bear and wolf pelts.

"Host! The system space can dissect the bodies of these prey for you!"

Just as Jia Dongming was about to set off down the mountain, a message suddenly entered his consciousness from the system.

Upon receiving this message, Jia Dongming's eyes lit up with excitement, and he immediately muttered in his mind, "System, disassemble and organize the bodies of the brown bear and the wolf, and store them in different categories."

As soon as the thought was uttered, the corpses of the brown bear and the wolf floated into the air. An unseen force quickly dismembered and separated them, then arranged them properly according to Jia Dongming's intention.

Not long after Jia Dongming left the area where the wolves roamed, a tiger leaped out of the forest and fell into the trap.

The tiger circled around the bottom of the pit a few times, trying to find a way out, when a wild goat stumbled in from outside and crashed straight into the tiger, truly becoming a "goat entering the tiger's mouth."

.

Around noon, the steel rolling mill's broadcast came on. Qin Huairu immediately turned off the machine, took two aluminum lunch boxes out of her cloth bag, and hurriedly walked out of the workshop.

"Huairu, where are you taking those two lunchboxes?"

Yi Zhonghai was on his way to the cafeteria when he saw the lunchbox in her hand and called out to her.

Qin Huairu turned around upon hearing the voice, smiled, and explained, "Uncle Yi, Bang Geng's uncle got a fat pig from Changping Commune for the security department yesterday. There will be meat dishes in the canteen at noon today."

My uncle gave me a meal ticket this morning, telling me to buy some meat to take home for Mom and the kids.

Since Jia Dongxu passed away, Yi Zhonghai has been planning to bring Sha Zhu and Qin Huairu together so that someone can take care of him in his old age.

Who would have thought that the Jia family had an eldest son who had been separated from his family in his early years, and who is now the head of the security department of the steel rolling mill.

Jia Dongming's appearance completely disrupted Yi Zhonghai's original plans. Although he was unhappy, he had to put the plan aside for the time being because of Jia Dongming's identity, and wanted to see how this person would behave.

Upon hearing Qin Huairu's words, Yi Zhonghai looked enlightened and laughed, "No wonder Section Chief Jia came to the workshop to look for you this morning, so that's what happened."

Since the canteen has meat, you should hurry up and go, don't be late.

The security office was some distance from the second workshop. Qin Huairu walked for seven or eight minutes before she saw the entrance to the small canteen.

"Isn't this Sister Qin? Why aren't you at the cafeteria at this hour? Why are you coming here instead? Do you know they have meat dishes here?"

A young man from the security department saw that she was carrying two large lunchboxes and asked her, half-jokingly.

It had only been a little over a year since Jia Dongxu passed away, and Qin Huairu had not yet picked up those worldly habits.

When asked this question, she blushed slightly, took out a meal ticket from her pocket, and said in a low voice, "My uncle gave me this meal ticket; he asked me to get the food."

Upon seeing the meal ticket and hearing her words, the young man was surprised: "Comrade Qin... Comrade Qin Huairu, who is your uncle? How come he has meal tickets for our security department?"

Before the words were even finished, Zhang Guoping had already lifted the curtain and come out of the canteen—he was the head of the logistics section of the security department, and he greeted her with a polite smile: "Comrade Qin Huairu, you've arrived! Section Chief Jia gave me instructions before he went to the countryside this morning. I'll take you to get your food."

The young man next to him was even more surprised upon hearing this and hurriedly asked Zhang Guoping, "Section Chief Zhang, is Comrade Qin Huairu's uncle the newly arrived Section Chief Jia?"

Zhang Guoping's expression turned serious, and he said solemnly, "Xiao Wang, Comrade Qin Huairu is Section Chief Jia's sister-in-law."

Besides, women hold up half the sky; what kind of talk was that?

The young man called Xiao Wang finally realized what had happened, his face flushed red, and he quickly bowed to Qin Huairu: "Comrade Qin Huairu, I'm so sorry! I spoke without thinking just now, please don't take it to heart."

Xiao Wang's apology startled Qin Huairu slightly, but then her eyes warmed, and she quickly waved her hand, saying, "It's alright. I am a widow, so it's not wrong for you to address me like that."

Zhang Guoping led Qin Huairu into the canteen, went straight to the food serving window, and called out to Old Zhao, who was busy inside, "Old Zhao, this is Section Chief Jia's sister-in-law, Comrade Qin Huairu."

Section Chief Jia left her the meal tickets before he went to the countryside. Hurry up and get her the food; she needs to take it back to give the children an extra meal.

Old Zhao had just seen Qin Huairu carrying two aluminum lunch boxes into the small canteen and was wondering why she was here. When he heard Zhang Guoping say this, a look of surprise flashed across his eyes. He quickly grabbed a long-handled spoon and stuffed two full spoonfuls of braised pork into her lunch boxes.

If it were before, Qin Huairu would have secretly swallowed her saliva long ago upon seeing such glistening and fragrant chunks of meat.

But ever since Jia Dongming returned home, the family has never lacked meat.

Looking at the overflowing meat in her lunchbox, she calmly handed the meal ticket to the window and said softly, "Thank you for your trouble, Chef Zhao."

The news of Qin Huairu coming to get vegetables spread like wildfire throughout the steel mill's security department.

On the other side, Jia Dongming rode his bicycle to the gate of Mentougou Commune.

The old man guarding the gate saw him, quickly stepped forward to stop him, and asked with a scrutinizing look, "Comrade, who are you looking for?"

Nowadays, most of the gatekeepers in various units in Beijing are veterans who have retired from the battlefield.

Upon seeing this, Jia Dongming stopped the car, took out his work ID from his pocket, and politely handed it over: "Hello, sir, I'm from the security department of Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill. This is my ID."

The old man took the document, examined the photo and official seal for a moment, and handed it back after confirming that everything was correct. His expression softened somewhat: "Section Chief Jia, are you here on official business in our commune?"

Jia Dongming carefully put away his work ID, then took out a pack of cigarettes from his other pocket, pulled one out, and handed it over: "I'd like to borrow the commune's phone for a bit, is that alright?"

The old man's eyes lit up when he saw the cigarettes. He took one, brought it close to his nose, sniffed it, and smiled broadly: "The phone is on the other end of the line in the office."

"Section Chief Jia, please wait a moment. I'll find someone to cover for you, and then I'll take you there."

"Thank you so much."

Jia Dongming nodded.

A short while later, the old gatekeeper surnamed Guo arranged the staff and led Jia Dongming into an office. He smiled at a middle-aged man inside and said, "Director Lin, this is Section Chief Jia from the steel rolling mill's security department. He wanted to borrow the phone, so I brought him here."

Upon hearing this, Director Lin stood up, his attitude humble: "Uncle Guo, don't worry, leave this to me, you go and do your work."

Grandpa Guo chuckled and agreed, then turned and closed the door.

Director Lin turned to Jia Dongming and introduced himself: "Section Chief Jia, I am Lin Zhonghua."

The phone is on that table over there, please use it.

Jia Dongming first offered him a cigarette before thanking him, saying, "Thank you for your trouble, Director Lin."

He walked to his desk, gripped the telephone handle, shook it vigorously a few times, and picked up the receiver: "Is this the switchboard? Could you please transfer me to the logistics section of the steel rolling mill's security department?"

The connection was quickly established, and a loud male voice came from the other end: "This is the logistics department. Who is this?"

Upon hearing that it wasn't Zhang Guoping, Jia Dongming said, "This is Jia Dongming. Please answer the phone, Comrade Guoping."

The other person's tone immediately became respectful: "Hello, Section Chief Jia! Section Chief Zhang ate braised pork this afternoon and his stomach has been upset ever since. He just went to the toilet."

"Please wait a moment, I'll go get him right away."

Jia Dongming had a sudden thought, guessing that Zhang Guoping hadn't had any food for a long time and his stomach couldn't take it.

A short while later, Zhang Guoping's weak voice came through the receiver: "Section Chief, you wanted to see me? Is it because of the winter hay fever in the mountains?"

Jia Dongming didn't respond to the previous question, but went straight to the point: "How many comrades in the department had stomach problems today because of eating meat? Has the factory doctor been called to check on them?"

Zhang Guoping remembered Jia Dongming's phone call that afternoon and recounted everything that had happened in the security department.