Chapter 9: The Black Bear

Stir-fried cabbage with pork, stir-fried chives with pork, braised radish with pork, and a plate of steamed shrimp—four dishes in total, all containing meat, which was truly rare. They even had a bit of lard added.

Meng Ling eagerly picked up a piece and put it in her mouth. The pork was soaked with the flavors of the vegetables; every bite had the rich aroma of meat along with the unique taste of cabbage.

The stir-fried chives with pork gave a mouthful of chive fragrance, especially the root parts, which were slightly chewy and crisp, crackling between the teeth.

The radish was tender and full of flavor, each bite carrying the rich taste of meat. Chewing a piece of meat filled the mouth with the sweetness of radish broth—a perfect blend of sweetness and umami.

“Rice! Finally, real rice!”

Meng Ling stuffed a big spoonful into her mouth, chewed carefully, and slowly squinted her eyes in satisfaction. The long-lost feeling returned—it really wasn’t easy to eat rice nowadays.

The elderly couple watched the children eat heartily, their faces beaming with satisfaction.

“Big sis, it’s so delicious! Let’s go find another beehive,” Meng Shiqiao mumbled with his mouth full.

“Sure! If you can actually find one.”

In no time, all the dishes were wiped clean, and everyone was full.

—-

The next morning, Meng Ling chopped some leafy greens to feed the chickens. The dozen chicks were over a month old but still hadn’t grown much—at most, they’d reach half a kilo by New Year.

There were two eggs in the coop, one every two days—not bad, though sometimes only one every three days.

“This won’t do. They need better feed.”

Luckily, the family had dried a lot of small fish. Meng Ling crushed some dried fish and mixed it into the chicken feed. She believed that in 10–15 days, they’d be laying one egg per day.

Since the chickens were getting dried fish, she decided the pigs should too. Just eating wild grass and leaves from the mountain wasn’t going to make them grow fat.

Looking at the pigs in the pen, Meng Ling thought, If only we could raise a few sheep too… then we could have lamb stew, grilled lamb ribs, lamb skewers…

Few people in the village raised sheep since lambs were expensive.

The most valuable animals in the village were the two yellow cows—one at the village chief’s house and the other jointly owned by a few families.

—-

“Big sis! Big sis!”

Meng Shiqiao had to call her twice to snap her out of her fantasy about lamb stew.

“My precious stew!” she muttered, annoyed at being interrupted.

Meng Shiqiao looked confused—Where’s the lamb stew coming from? They couldn’t even afford pork!

Meng Ling quickly wiped away the drool at the corner of her mouth. Luckily, her back was turned; otherwise, her dignified image as an older sister would be gone.

“What is it?”

“Let’s go find another beehive today.”

Meng Ling shook her head. “We’re not that lucky. Last time was pure dumb luck.”

She turned and asked, “How were the fish traps this morning?”

“Only about two pounds of fish from four traps. I think we’ve fished the river dry.”

“The river is more than ten meters wide! You’d need a hundred traps to fish it dry.”

“You dummy—if there’s no fish, change spots!” Meng Ling gave him a side glance.

He usually acted smart—why go dumb all of a sudden?

Meng Shiqiao smacked his forehead. “Right! Why am I so stupid?”

—-

At that moment, Madam Shen came out holding a measuring tape. “Big girl, come here. I’ll measure you.”

Meng Ling looked toward the door and smiled. “Yay! Are you making cotton-padded coats?”

Madam Shen replied while measuring, “Yes, winter’s coming. I want to make yours ahead of time.”

“Wow, you’ve grown again!”

Excited about getting a new coat, Meng Ling was overjoyed. Her old one had been worn for years and was no longer warm—it definitely needed replacing.

Seeing his sister get a new coat, Meng Shiqiao eagerly said, “Mom, I want one too.”

Madam Shen smiled and nodded. “Of course. Both of you will get new coats this year.”

“Yes! New coat for New Year!” he cheered. His favorite things about New Year were wearing new clothes and eating chicken drumsticks.

Meng Ling smiled at her excited brother. Kids are so easy to please.

—-

After measuring, Madam Shen began making the coats.

Meng Ling took her brother up the mountain to collect firewood—they needed to start preparing for winter. Their father had gone to till the fields, so the firewood chore was left to them.

They carried machetes and bamboo baskets and climbed the back mountain, passing through a bamboo grove before entering the forest.

The forest was filled with towering trees, some seven or eight zhang tall, and animal calls echoed from every direction.

Meng Shiqiao leaned on a tree to rest while Meng Ling sat on a tree stump.

“Big sis, they say there are black bears in the forest. Is that true? I’ve never seen one.”

Black bears?! You don’t go looking for those!

Meng Ling’s expression changed. “What’s so good about seeing a black bear? People who’ve seen them usually end up with a lump on their head—or a mound on the mountain.”

“What’s a mound on the mountain?”

He understood the lump on the head, but the mountain one?

Meng Ling glared at him. “A grave mound! You want one?”

“No! Definitely not!”

He quickly waved his hands. Maybe it was better to never see one.

—-

Suddenly—“Chirp! Chirp!”

The sound of a squirrel crying out alerted them. Anyone from the mountains knew that meant danger.

Soon after, loud snapping sounds of breaking branches came from the distance, getting closer—it was a large predator charging toward them.

“Run!”

Meng Ling sprang up, grabbed the stunned Meng Shiqiao, and bolted downhill.

The roars behind them got louder. From the corner of her eye, she saw a huge black shadow chasing close behind, its giant claws swiping at them.

“Don’t look back!”

She yelled, fearing that if he turned around, he’d freeze in fear—and end up becoming that mound.

If that’s not a black bear, what is?! she cursed, blaming her brother’s big mouth.

Despite their skinny arms and legs, the two ran like mad, reaching the bamboo grove in no time.

They squeezed through the bamboo, and soon after, they heard the sharp cracking of bamboo poles breaking behind them.

The crashing went on for a while before finally stopping, followed by angry roars from afar.

—-

They ran out of the grove and collapsed, legs trembling.

“I… I can’t run anymore…” Meng Ling gasped and fell to the ground. Meng Shiqiao collapsed beside her.

After resting a while, they finally recovered.

“If it weren’t for those bamboo stalks, we’d be dead.”

Face pale, Meng Ling said, “That was the black bear you wanted to see.”

“But I didn’t even get a good look at it,” Meng Shiqiao panted.

Meng Ling snapped, “Wanna go back and look again?!”

“Next time… I’ll go. I’m too tired today.”

“That damned bear! What’s it doing near the bamboo grove? Scared me to death! Someday, I’ll chop off its paw and stew it with fish!”

He had always heard his sister say “You can’t have fish and bear paw both.” But he wanted bear paw stewed with fish.

“Stew it? Do you even know how thick its skin is?”

Meng Ling rolled her eyes. “It’s like a cast iron pot!”

“We can’t let a black bear bully us! We’ll take revenge! I heard black bears are worth a fortune!”

Meng Ling didn’t bother arguing anymore. Black bears aren’t something you can easily hunt.

She stood up, patted the dust off her clothes, and noticed multiple tears in her outfit. Meng Shiqiao looked just as disheveled.

When they got home, Madam Shen saw their filthy appearance and asked, “What happened to you two?”

“We met a black bear,” Meng Ling said casually.

“What?! Are you hurt?” Madam Shen rushed over to check.

“We ran fast, so we’re fine.”

Madam Shen sternly said, “No more going to the back mountain. Go to the eastern mountain—no bears there.”

Both replied in unison, “Okay!”

—-

Meng Ling applied some medicine and changed clothes, then sat in the yard, still thinking.

“Do I just attract wild animals or what?”

Since they couldn’t chop firewood today, she thought about using croton seeds instead—after all, black bears had a very valuable part on them…

But then again, a black bear is no wild boar. Better not risk it.

—-

In the yard, Meng Shiqiao found a bamboo strip, drilled two holes in it, and tied both ends with rope into a bow shape.

Meng Ling realized this silly boy was trying to make a bow—just like the hunter’s son, Zhang Dashan.

She teased, “Erwa, are you planning to take that bow to your death?”

She worried he might actually go looking for that black bear.

“When I’m good at it, I’ll shoot it dead with one arrow!”

Madam Shen overheard, grabbed his ear and scolded, “Shoot it dead? You can’t even draw the bow yet! You’d be lucky to shoot a chicken!”

“Stay in the yard. You’re not going anywhere!”

“Ow! That hurts!”

“I won’t go, I promise! I’m just playing!”

“Hmph!” Only then did she let go.

Even though he gave in, his excitement for making bows didn’t lessen.

Meng Ling watched him work. He made a bow, then crafted an arrow from a stick.

His posture while aiming was quite proper—but…

“Pfft!”

Meng Ling stifled a laugh.

She had seen boys do this as toys before—useless beyond ten meters.

Meng Shiqiao pouted. “If you want to laugh, just laugh! What’s the point of holding it in?”

She couldn’t hold it any longer and burst out laughing. He looked like he wanted to fight her but didn’t dare.

Still, Meng Shiqiao had good mental resilience. No matter how loud she laughed, it didn’t stop his determination.

He kept trying different bamboo types—flat, round, thick, thin—but none of the arrows could fly more than ten meters.