Chapter 53: The Sharpshooter in the Mountain Hollow

"I used this one to hit it."

Zhang Huacheng motioned toward the Springfield rifle hanging on the wall. A Type 38 Arisaka and a Type 54 rifle were also hanging beside it.

"What kind of gun is this? Can I touch it?"

Little Meng was naturally familiar with the Type 38 Arisaka and the Type 54 rifle—he had a Type 54 slung across his back himself—but this was his first time seeing a Springfield rifle.

"An American M1903 Springfield rifle, adopted in 1903, chambered for 7.62×63mm ammunition, bolt-action design. It was the primary rifle for the U.S. military in World War I and served as a sniper rifle in World War II. Its accuracy is exceptionally high."

Zhang Huacheng took down the Springfield rifle, cleared the rounds from the internal magazine, and handed it to Little Meng.

Little Meng took it joyfully, unable to put it down. "So it's American-made! No wonder I've never seen one before. How on earth did you get your hands on such a rare item?"

"The brigade issued it."

Zhang Huacheng was also curious as to how their brigade had managed to acquire such high-end gear. American Springfield rifles were highly sought after by collectors in later generations, and even replicated for precision shooting competitions. When he first spotted it, he chose this American Springfield without a second thought.

"These wolf pelts are wonderful things. They'd make a very warm fur coat—don't sell them. It would be a waste if you sold them." Shen Yue had also entered the room and looked astonished upon seeing the two intact gray wolf pelts.

Seeing Shen Yue reach out to touch the wolf pelt, Wang Lin couldn't help glancing at Zhang Huacheng.

Understanding her meaning immediately, Zhang Huacheng said, "Mom, Dad, our family has over a dozen of these wolf pelts. You two should take these two back and have them made into a couple of fur coats. However, this particular pelt hasn't been boiled yet; you'll need to boil it when you get back, otherwise the leather will be too stiff."

The largest gray wolf pelt had been hunted just last night, and he had been planning to boil it that evening.

"What?"

Shen Yue looked surprised and glanced around the room.

"Mom, the rest of the pelts were sent over to Huacheng's sister-in-law's house this morning to be made into big wolf-fur coats. It's not just wolf pelts either—there are wild boar pelts, wapiti pelts, roe deer pelts, and fox pelts too. They'll be ready in a couple of days."

Knowing her mother was looking for the other wolf pelts, Wang Lin lowered her voice to explain.

"Did you hunt all of these?" Wang Zhengang glanced at Zhang Huacheng. Having heard that the meat seller at the morning market sold all sorts of game every day, he was quite inclined to believe his daughter's words.

"The three of us hunted them." Zhang Huacheng indicated Ergou and Tiehu.

Tiehu scratched his head and gave an honest, foolish smile.

Ergou, however, spoke up directly, "Most of these were killed by Huacheng. We just helped carry them back. Only he could manage to hunt those wolves."

"Why's that?"

Little Meng was curious why only Zhang Huacheng was capable of hunting them.

"Take a look at the bullet holes in the two wolf pelts and you'll understand."

Ergou pointed at the two gray wolf pelts hanging on the wall.

"Let me see!"

Without standing on ceremony, Little Meng put down the gun, took down a wolf pelt, and felt around it. It didn't take him long to find the bullet hole with astonishment—it was right between the eyebrows of the wolf's head.

He hurried to check the brow of the other alpha wolf, and sure enough, both had been shot right between the eyes.

"Good grief, a sharpshooter!"

Little Meng was shocked.

It was impossible for a wolf to stand still and let you shoot at it, and everyone understood that alpha wolves stayed back to give orders, generally keeping the furthest distance from their targets and only closing in when victory was certain.

A single shot straight through a wolf's head?

No wonder the meat they sold in the county town was so hard to come by—with marksmanship like this, what kind of wolf couldn't be killed?

"Who did Huacheng learn his marksmanship from?"

Since her own son was a veteran, Shen Yue understood just how difficult shooting truly was.

Wang Zhengang also looked over at Zhang Huacheng.

"I learned from my grandpas. They were all old veterans who fought the Japanese invaders back in the day. This Type 38 Arisaka was given to me by one of them; he seized it after killing a Japanese officer."

Zhang Huacheng pointed to the meticulously maintained Type 38 Arisaka.

Every single elder in the old Zhang family possessed supreme marksmanship, but unfortunately, the war claimed the lives of all of them. Zhang Huacheng had never even laid eyes on his grandfather. His grandfather was the eldest in the family and had sacrificed his life fighting the Japanese early on.

"Didn't you say that everyone in Chentang Sanliqux is a bandit..."

"Ahem!"

Shen Yue blinked in surprise after hearing Zhang Huacheng finish, and then turned to question her husband. This didn't match what her husband had told her at all!

Before she could finish her sentence, Wang Zhengang interrupted her with a cough.

"Bandits?"

A thought stirred in Zhang Huacheng's heart, and he immediately understood where the problem lay. He promptly said, "Dad, our old Zhang family can be considered a household of utter loyalty and anti-Japanese heroes. Out of more than four hundred men who went to fight, fewer than a hundred returned. My third grandpa, Zhang Meng, used to be a battalion commander; my seventh grandpa, Zhang Hua, was a company commander; my grandpa, Zhang Dainian, was the eldest at home and also one of the earliest to make the ultimate sacrifice; and my eldest uncle died on Shangganling Ridge. Our old Zhang family has a whole stack of military merit medals and citations—we have nothing to do with bandits. I remember you saying we were bandits before, but you must have made a mistake."

Bandits?

Perhaps Wang Zhengang knew something, and wasn't talking about their Zhang family after all.

Zhang Huacheng began to form a vague suspicion. Wang Zhengang had quite a few relatives eating the public grain; he ought to be privy to some inside information.

The atmosphere suddenly turned heavy. Wang Zhengang's complexion didn't look too good; clearly, he felt humiliated by his foolish wife and was struggling to save face.

Wang Lin also chimed in anxiously, "Huacheng, that's not what my dad meant. Dad, Huacheng's family has many martyrs. Just last year, commune leaders even came to visit them."

"I was just spouting nonsense. Don't take it to heart, Huacheng!"

Shen Yue regretted running her mouth.

The pleasant atmosphere she had just ruined was threatening to clash again.

"It wasn't what I meant; your mom misunderstood what I was trying to say. What I meant was that the people in Chentang Sanliqux itself are all bandits." Seeing the pleading look in his wife's eyes, Wang Zhengang softened his stance; he had no wish to stir up further conflict either.

"They're all bandits?"

Zhang Huacheng felt a surge of realization.

Hesitating for a moment, Wang Zhengang glanced at Ergou and Tiehu.

Rolling his eyes, Ergou made as if to drag Tiehu outside.

"No need to go outside, there are no outsiders here. Dad, why don't you tell us what this is all about?" Zhang Huacheng motioned for Ergou to stay. Given Ergou's background, some things didn't need mentioning, and as for Tiehu, there was even less need to worry.

"All right, then I'll tell you. I'll tell you why I was so unwilling to let Linlin marry you in the first place. Linlin, go shut the door!" Wang Zhengang, his temper flared up, instructed his daughter to close the door.

Looking somewhat uneasy, Wang Lin hurried over to shut it.

"Back when the educated youth were sent to the countryside in response to the policy, Linlin had just graduated from high school. We pulled strings to get Linlin assigned to the Changhai County Shicheng People's Commune. Who would have thought the Shicheng People's Commune would assign Linlin to Chentang Sanliqux?"

Wang Zhengang pulled out a cigarette.

"Doudou is still little, hold back."

Shen Yue tugged at his sleeve.

Wang Zhengang looked at Doudou and put the cigarette away after all.

"Chentang Sanliqux was extremely remote and poor. Even that wouldn't have mattered—if we could just endure it for a year, we could have taken Linlin back, and nobody could have said a word. But a year later, she told us she didn't want to come home anymore, that she wanted to marry you here, and she stubbornly refused to return no matter what."

At this point, Wang Zhengang gave Wang Lin a glare full of pent-up resentment.

Wang Lin lowered her head, looking like she had done something wrong.

"It's all in the past now, why bring that up?" Seeing that her daughter was on the verge of tears, Shen Yue felt a pang of heartache.

"You're just good at derailing things!"

Wang Zhengang rebuked her, "If it weren't for you back then, I would have dragged Linlin back even if I had to tie her up!"

"So the 'bandits' you mentioned were..."

Zhang Huacheng didn't want to dwell on past matters either; after all, they were just sources of friction, and talking about them too much would only lead to arguments without any good outcome.

"Hmph!"

Wang Zhengang looked at Zhang Huacheng.

"When she wanted to get married, I asked my second uncle in the commune to check your family background and all that. And guess what? Once they checked, it was astonishing! Your Chentang Sanliqux used to be the notorious Chen Family Hall and Sanli Mountain—a den of bandits who terrorized the countryside and harmed countless people!"

Chen Family Hall, Sanli Mountain?