Chapter Fifteen: The Three-Eight Cover in the Wooden Box

At night, Zhang Huacheng quietly went to the seaside to gather some goods and brought back a few fish.

“Linlin, I’m going to great-grandpa’s house for a bit. If Tiezhu arrives, tell him to wait for me at home.”

Zhang Huacheng carried the fish, preparing to borrow a gun.

“It’s cold outside; put on your coat.”

Wang Lin, who was bathing Dou Dou, got up to fetch his military coat since the temperature outside was especially low.

“No need. I want to get some exercise,” Zhang Huacheng declined. That military coat was truly a treasure; it used to be cold at night, but now, with the heated bed and a military coat over the quilt, he could even wake up feeling warm.

“Daddy, hold me!”

The little girl sitting in the large basin for her bath looked at him with big eyes; she didn’t want to bathe.

“Dad’s got things to do. I’ll hold you when I get back!” Zhang Huacheng said as he carried the fish and a sack of charcoal out the door. Dou Dou was getting new cotton clothes and shoes; he knew that meticulous Wang Lin would give her a thorough bath.

Wang Lin watched Zhang Huacheng disappear into the vast night before closing the door.

The old Zhang family in Chen Tang Sanliqu all lived within the same area, mostly in old houses. Since great-grandma passed away over a decade ago, great-grandpa had lived alone.

When Zhang Huacheng reached great-grandpa’s door, the house was pitch dark, without a single flicker of firelight.

Clearly, the heated bed wasn’t lit.

“Great-grandpa.”

Zhang Huacheng called out at the door.

“Who’s there? Huacheng?”

An aged voice came from inside.

“It’s me. Great-grandpa, your ears are incredible,” Zhang Huacheng said, surprised by the howling northwest wind yet amazed that great-grandpa could identify him just by sound.

Soon, the door opened, and the elderly man, wrapped in a jacket, spoke proudly, “That’s nothing. Back when the devils crept into the trenches, your great-grandpa heard them moving, shot one dead with a single bullet, and saved half a company!”

Zhang Huacheng knew it was true.

Why half a company? Because the trench fight had been brutal, and although great-grandpa’s side won, over half were casualties.

“Charcoal?”

Seeing Zhang Huacheng carrying a bag, the old man peeked inside, “When I was in the Korean War, I stayed motionless in an ice hole for hours. Do you really need this at home? Take it back and burn it yourself.”

Zhang Huacheng smiled and stepped inside.

After lighting the kerosene lamp, he began to stoke the heated bed; indeed, there was no charcoal inside, only neatly chopped firewood.

“Great-grandpa, didn’t you cook dinner tonight?”

The heated bed was cold, clearly no meal had been prepared.

“I ate a cornbread and drank some water. Your mother brought corn grits and lard this afternoon; tomorrow at noon I’ll make porridge with the grits,” the old man said as the fire caught and he moved closer to warm himself.

The room was chilly; the old man just liked to pretend he wasn’t cold.

“What’s this?”

“Fish!”

Zhang Huacheng ignored the old man’s rambling about where the fish came from and looked at the Mauser rifle hanging on the wall.

“Great-grandpa, can I borrow your Mauser? There’s a wolf down by the foot of the mountain; I want to try and shoot it.”

He had come precisely for that rifle.

“Here for a gun?”

The old man knew why Zhang Huacheng had come at night.

“Yes.”

Zhang Huacheng nodded.

“Poaching will get you scolded,” the old man warned, knowing what Zhang Huacheng intended; he had done it himself for several years and had nearly been caught multiple times.

Later, when his health declined, he stopped.

“They won’t catch me.”

Seeing no resistance, Zhang Huacheng breathed a secret sigh of relief and explained the current situation of the old Zhang family.

The old man fell silent upon hearing the news.

“The gun’s fine. Do you know how to use it?”

He sized Zhang Huacheng up with suspicion.

“Of course.”

Zhang Huacheng nodded.

“Hm. I can’t give you my old buddy, and anyway, few can use it properly; the bullets tend to veer off. But I can give you a better one.”

The old man said this as he went to a chest on the heated bed.

A better one?

Zhang Huacheng followed curiously.

Click!

When the chest opened, Zhang Huacheng’s scalp tingled.

Inside were military commendations, medals, a bloodstained old uniform—and what made his hair stand on end—several ammunition boxes, a Mosin-Nagant rifle, a disassembled bayonet, and several highly dangerous vintage hand grenades!

These had been kept by the bedside for so many years???

“These were captured from the little devils,” the old man said, eyes complex as he gazed at the Mosin-Nagant.

“Great-grandpa, aren’t you afraid the grenades might explode?”

Zhang Huacheng carefully picked up a grenade. How could such unsafe relics still be kept at home, let alone by the bedside for so long?

He was a battle-hardened soldier; if one went off in his hands, he’d surely die!

No, was his great-grandpa just unbelievably lucky?

“These are my old buddies. If I don’t pull their pins, how would they explode?” The old man, lacking safety awareness, tapped a grenade against the box and gestured to Zhang Huacheng.

Zhang Huacheng’s eye twitched.

Soon, he left in a hurry, taking the Mosin-Nagant, bayonet, and a box of 6.5mm bullets.

The Mosin-Nagant’s firepower was no small thing.

Practical tests showed that a well-trained soldier wielding a Mosin-Nagant could accurately hit a single target at 300 meters and suppress groups at 700 meters. It had long range, high accuracy, and an advantage in close combat when paired with the bayonet.

Now, with a gun in hand, he wouldn’t fear even a pack of wolves in the mountains.

When he returned home, Tiezhu was already waiting, having early changed into new cotton shoes, ready to enter the mountains.

Seeing Zhang Huacheng come back with a gun, Wang Lin anxiously stomped her feet. She knew the dangers of the mountains; even the mountain guards dared not venture in winter, let alone at night.

“No going into the mountains. There are wolf packs,” she said firmly.

“We won’t go into the mountains. Just hang around the foothills and try our luck. Who dares enter the mountain anyway?” Zhang Huacheng reassured her.

After some persuasion, Wang Lin, eyes reddened, reluctantly agreed, repeatedly instructing him to stay near the foothills and not go deeper.

Zhang Huacheng promised wholeheartedly.

Soon, Tiezhu followed him into the mountains, carrying a carrying pole and a bundle of hemp rope.

The heavy snow blanketed the peaks; tree branches were coated in ice crystals, weighed down by snow, looking like crystal sculptures under the moonlight, with occasional sounds of snow falling.

Cold wind swept by, stirring flurries of snow.

Zhang Huacheng stood on high ground, observing. In the silent stillness, he faintly heard distant wolf howls—too far away!

A few minutes earlier, they had encountered a wild rabbit, but it was too alert. At the slightest noise, it leapt away, giving them no chance.

“Brother, there are no wolves here,” Tiezhu scratched his head.

“No need to find wolves. Other game will do. Let’s go deeper,” Zhang Huacheng said, marking the terrain to avoid getting lost since Tiezhu couldn’t remember the way.

They trekked through the snow for half an hour. Tiezhu stumbled several times, sometimes stepping into snow pits or falling. The deep snow had created many natural traps in the mountains.

Even Zhang Huacheng had to tread carefully.

Huffing and puffing.

While Zhang Huacheng searched for prey, he faintly heard heavy breathing not far off.

“Shh!”

Zhang Huacheng was delighted, signaling Tiezhu to stay still and cautiously creeping forward.

There was clearly a large wild animal ahead, either a red deer or a Northeast wild boar judging by the sound.

Sure enough, after moving closer, Zhang Huacheng spotted a large black body rooting through the snow in search of food.

A black bear?

No—it was a wild boar!

Zhang Huacheng was overjoyed.