Brian Brooks mocked himself, saying, “My real name isn’t easy to call, and since there happened to be two dogs at home, the villagers gave me this nickname. At first, I wasn’t used to it, but after hearing it for a while, I got used to it and didn’t care anymore.”

The woman was slightly taken aback, clearly finding it a bit hard to accept this fact, which was harmless to her. She suddenly noticed the pair of leather boots on Brian Brooks’s feet and asked, “Are those wula shoes?”

Brian Brooks really hadn’t expected this young lady to even know about wula shoes. How did this woman seem to know a little bit about everything? It’s not good for a woman to be too smart. Suddenly, his eyes dimmed, as if some memories were stirred up. He took a deep breath and nodded, “Yes, they’re wula shoes. My mom sewed them by hand, using leather from the cow’s rump and spine. After mixing in wula grass, they’re warm and moisture-proof, comfortable and sturdy. A whole cowhide only makes four or five pairs at most. For us, they’re real treasures.”

She smiled and said, “They really are treasures.”

Brian Brooks smiled, taking her approval as a kind of polite formality. His smile was a bit shy and reserved—an old habit of his. He always got nervous around girls, let alone a beautiful and wealthy city lady. Right now, his palms were already sweating, but luckily his acting skills were passable, so his nervousness was fairly well hidden. However, he didn’t realize that his tightly clenched, slightly trembling fists had long since been quietly noticed by the woman’s sharp eyes.

The woman smiled and asked, “What about your other dog?”

Brian Brooks hesitated for a moment, then said calmly, “It died.”

She was stunned for a moment, then softly said, “I’m sorry.”

Brian Brooks stared at her, as if he saw a wild boar weighing five or six hundred jin, except this wild boar was as beautiful as a flower. This made the woman, for once, feel a bit uneasy, and she subconsciously pushed up her glasses.

Chapter Four: The Fierce One

This hunting party, with its clear divide between rich and poor, continued deeper into the mountains. Along the way, they ran into a few pheasants that happened to cross their path. Brian Brooks really couldn’t compliment these rich kids on their archery skills. Whenever they saw prey as small as a sesame seed, they got as excited as if they’d seen a sworn enemy who killed their father—jumping and shouting, making Brian Brooks both amused and exasperated. With skills like this, they dared to come bow-hunting for a 600-jin wild boar? To be honest, even though Brian Brooks had been roaming these mountains for over ten years, the biggest wild boar he’d ever seen was just over 500 jin. What does a 500-jin wild boar mean? City folks who’ve only eaten pork but never seen a pig run have no reference point. Such a wild boar is basically like a small bulldozer—if it charges, it could knock over not just one person, but a whole group. A 600-jin boar king? Brian Brooks sneered. Even with those modern, precision bows, unless they hit a vital spot and pushed the equipment to its limits, they might not be able to kill it on the spot. Besides, Brian Brooks seriously doubted these rich kids’ arm strength.

Although their archery was terrible, at least they had numbers on their side and managed to bag a few trophies, including two pheasants that looked like they’d been through a meat grinder, a rabbit with its head pierced, and an unlucky squirrel. This squirrel, out foraging, was spotted and darted through the branches for a long time, truly fighting for its life in a rain of arrows, until it was finally hit by a wildly off-target shot. When Brian Brooks learned that each of these arrows cost dozens of yuan, he felt sorry for them.

Along the way, Brian Brooks also got a general sense of the group’s makeup. The tall young man leading them was a local from Heilongjiang, named Kevin Young. His girlfriend was called Megan. The two from Shanghai were Ethan Zhou and George Sun, one fat and one thin, making for quite a visual contrast. There was also someone from Hangzhou, gentle and scholarly, so thin he looked a bit bookish—apparently a top student from Zhejiang University, which really made Brian Brooks admire him.

The woman who liked taking photos always stayed on the fringes of the group and spoke very little. Brian Brooks couldn’t figure out her temperament, and the man behind her, as silent as a log, was even more reserved. When it came to hunting, Brian Brooks was something of an expert and could tell that the bronzed, muscular man was no stranger to the jungle.

The big guy hadn’t touched his intimidating giant ox-horn bow, which spared the rich kids some embarrassment. Brian Brooks knew that if Henry made a move, the others wouldn’t have the self-respect to keep playing around. It wasn’t that he’d specially reminded Henry; Henry wasn’t stupid, and such a small matter didn’t need a reminder.

“Adam, have you ever seen a wild boar over 600 jin?” The woman clearly hadn’t tried hunting in the wild before. Although she wasn’t as whiny as the pretty girl earlier, she was still struggling, though only in her steps—her expression remained as calm as a glass of water. She no longer had the leisure to take photos; just keeping up with the group was hard enough. She tossed the question to the “log” who was always by her side.

“I’ve seen one. I think it was 613 jin. No way one person could carry it.”

The “log” finally spoke. “But that was eight or nine years ago, in Shennongjia, Hubei.”

Truly, when he finally spoke, it was something astonishing.