Chapter Forty-Four: The First Meeting with Old Mount Tai

  Yu Song's spirit was stirred, and he came up with an idea.

  He stroked Lin Xue's ponytail and said, "The path is one we've walked ourselves. Don't rush, let's do this: you go pick him up first, I'll head back to the dorm to tidy up and prepare lunch. Think of a way to invite Huang Shifu to our dorm for lunch, try to settle your affairs by noon. As for other things, we'll play it by ear."

  Lin Xue grasped his hand tightly and shook it non-stop, asking anxiously: "Yu Ge, is this okay? What if he opposes us?"

  "Take things one step at a time, and when you get to the mountain, there will be a way."

  "This guy is actually very kind-hearted. He always seems to have a lot on his mind, and he never wants to talk to my mom or us much. I really can't predict what he'll say when he sees you. No matter what he says, even if it's harsh, please don't take it to heart, Brother Yu. Please trust me, okay?" Lin Xue gave Yu Songyuan a preemptive warning.

  Yu Songyuan said: "Don't worry, after all, you will be my future father-in-law."

  Lin Xue was so angry that she kept punching his shoulder with her fists, "You're annoying, what time is it now, and you're still making trouble."

  Yu Songyuan hurried back to the dormitory, first tidying up Lin Xue's room, kitchen and his own room, and sweeping the floor. Then, he arranged for Da Jiang to go to the vegetable field to wait for Lin Xue, while he prepared to catch a few fresh big fish before starting to cook.

  Lin Xue returned to the school's factory, where Da Da was chatting with Master in the workshop. Seeing Lin Xue return, Master said, "I've already told Lin Gong about you and Xiao Yu, so let's have lunch together at noon, just the three of us plus Yu Songyuan."

  Lin Xue looked at DaDa with a tense expression, seeing that his eyes had no blame, but rather a hint of guilt and affectionate gaze, she finally put her mind at ease. She hastily said, "Master, today is a rare opportunity, I'd like to invite you to dinner, okay?"

  "How much salary do you have left after deducting half of it every month? Just listen to me, at the restaurant in front of the school gate, I'll invite your parents and let Yu Songyuan accompany us, that's settled." Huang Shifu said succinctly.

  Lin Gong also said, "Little Huang, since your apprentice has this intention, you should agree."

  Huang Shifu also saw Lin Xue's sincerity and said: "Alright then, I'll wait here with Lin Gong, you go find Yu Songyuan."

  Lin Xue said, "I'll go buy some wine first, and then we can head over together." After saying that, Lin Xue ran to the small shop on both sides of the school gate, gritted her teeth and bought two bottles of Erguotou, and then returned to the factory with DaDa and Huang Shifu, heading back to their dormitory together.

  As they walked to the vegetable field, they saw Da Jiang sitting quietly, looking very majestic and focused. As soon as they saw her from afar, they excitedly ran over, and Lin Xue also rushed over, hugging Da Jiang's neck and playing with her together. With Da Jiang leading the way majestically in front, Lin Gong sighed and said, "This is what you call a divine dog? Weren't you afraid of dogs before?"

  Lin Xue proudly said, "This dog is not an ordinary dog." So she repeated to Dada what Yu Songyuan had told her and the legendary story of General Yue Fei.

  Huang Shifu also said, "Lin Gong, don't underestimate this dog. It can bite a python to death and faithfully pick up Xiaoxue every day. This dog is stronger than some people."

  Walking through the vegetable field, entering the dense forest, the trees on both sides shaded the sky and sun, with only a small winding path passing through the forest. This section of road was several hundred meters long, and the more you walked, the more frightening it became. Lin Gong burst into tears, "My daughter, I'm useless, and I've let you suffer. Ji Yimin, that bastard, doesn't care about the lives of his employees, he will definitely be punished in the future."

  "Huang Shifu comforted him, saying, 'You're not in good health, don't get angry. The factory director has already agreed to let Lin Xue move into the dormitory, as long as Xiao Yu gets into college, I'll let Lin Xue move into the factory dormitory. It's just that I see Xiao Yu is reliable and righteous, and now they're so good together, I couldn't bear to let Lin Xue move in right now, please trust me.'"

  While talking, they had already walked through the dense forest and reed marsh, came to the river ditch, crossed the ditch, and after passing through a hundred meters of thicket, they arrived at the dormitory. At this moment, the general stood still on the edge of the ditch, with his two big ears erect, his tail hanging down, like a solemn, majestic, and sacred stone statue.

  Everyone else also stopped moving, feeling a bit unusual. The general suddenly turned his head to look at Lin Xue, as if seeking her opinion, as if saying, there's good prey, and it's a big surprise, should we catch it? Lin Xue nodded to the general and said, "General, go ahead, we'll wait for you here."

  Lin Xue had just finished speaking, when General Early shot out like an arrow, running down the riverbank for about a hundred meters before suddenly rushing into the dense forest. Lin Gong and Huang Shifu were both amazed, and Lin Xue smiled confidently, saying "We'll have a big harvest soon!"

  "Huang said, 'Heavens, this is really a divine dog, it can actually understand human speech. With it, you will often have game to eat, wow, it's truly too blissful.'"

  Lin Xue said, "The vegetables under the school's vegetable field were eaten by us a lot. Sometimes, even if it was just plain porridge and water all day, the generals couldn't bear it either, so they would secretly go out to hunt and catch whatever they could. Even several kilograms of big red fish from the river, no one knew how they managed to get them."

  Just then, a loud noise came from afar, the sound of a big general and his prey wrestling and fighting. It quickly subsided. Before long, the big general clearly returned with a small pig in tow, its legs still twitching and convulsing. The big general had a tight grip on the pig's neck, and soon it stopped moving altogether.

  He dragged it all the way to Lin Xue's feet and threw it down, Da Jiang raised his head proudly and looked at Lin Xue. Lin Xue stroked its neck and head, encouragingly saying, "Da Jiang, you're really awesome!"

  Everyone was shocked again, and Lin Gong and Huang Shifu both said in unison, "It can't be a little pig that ran out of someone's house, right?"

  Lin Xue said, "Definitely not. The general would never indiscriminately kill innocent people. Look at the pig's nose, is it this long? And its mouth, is it this thick? And its hair, is it twice as long as a domestic pig's?" As he spoke, he handed the wine to Dada and together with Da Jiang, they lifted up the small pig, preparing to head back to their dorm.

  "General had a fight just now, let it rest for a while, I'll carry it," said Huang. The general put down the pig and Huang carried its front legs, together they went to the dormitory.

  The little pig weighs at least 50 or 60 kilograms, and the two of them are panting as they carry it. They carried it to the front of the dormitory, threw it on the ground by the water pool, and then went to the dormitory to take a look, but Yu Songyuan was not in the dormitory. Huang Shifu said, "You invited us here, is it just to invite me and you to have a big pork feast? Where's Yu Songyuan?"

  Lin Xue said, "He will definitely surprise you again. We didn't know that we could catch a wild boar today, maybe it's because Master Huang and Dada have good luck." Lin Gong and Master Huang immediately smiled with joy.

  In the late 1970s and early 1980s, rural areas in northern Jiangsu had just implemented the contract responsibility system, and farmers had just begun to have enough food to eat. The lives of ordinary workers in towns were still very difficult, and chicken, duck, fish, meat, and eggs were all precious and scarce foods. Lin Gong and Huang Shifu's joy was palpable.

  Lin Xue opened the doors of both dormitories, then asked them to wash their hands and sit down in their own dormitory. Huang Shifu said, "This pig can't be handled by you, I don't dare either, why hasn't the young man come back yet?"

  Lin Xue said, "General, go find your master!" The general jumped up and responded by leaving.

  Lin Xue accompanied Huang Shifu to speak, Lin Gong glanced at Yu Songyuan's dormitory, kitchen and surrounding environment, and he understood everything. A brand new bicycle, game hung on the iron wire in front of the door, a spirited and majestic hunting dog, his own daughter, had obviously started a "small life" with this little rascal Yu Songyuan, and apparently lived quite well.

  Huang Shifu also asked Lin Xue, "So many fish hanging outside, and wild ducks, are they all the spoils of war from the great general? You guys are doing well, this little 'life' is quite enjoyable. Honestly, do you have that...?"

  Lin Xue smiled shyly, "That's right, Master, you're too annoying. How could that be? I'm only 15 years old, and besides, he's a serious person. Master, please don't tease me, guarding this vast riverbank with General Da as my good helper is how we got all these good things. Just look at how much taller I've grown!"

  "You've really grown taller and fatter, you're completely different from when you first came. Whether it's the nutrition of wild game or the power of love, who knows? Master Huang started teasing his apprentice, "I heard that Yu Songyuan is ranked in the top few in the cram school, he'll definitely get into a good university, you'd better hold on to him."

  At this time, Yu Songyuan and Da Jiang came back. He was carrying a long fishing rod, and Da Jiang had a few big fish tied with reeds in his mouth, and the two were walking towards the dormitory with great enthusiasm. As soon as they walked out of the forest, they saw a sickly middle-aged man staring at them intently.

  Yu Songyuan knew it must be Lin Gong, so he respectfully asked, "Uncle Lin, you're here."

  Lin Gong looked at the tall, handsome young man and smiled, nodding his head. "Is this fish one you just caught? It's so big?"

  Yu Songyuan said, "The time is too short, can only be so much, but enough for lunch and dinner today." Suddenly, he saw the small pig next to the water pool, took the fish from Da Jiang's mouth, hung it on the iron wire in front of the door where clothes were being dried, then touched Da Jiang's head and asked, "Is this what you just hunted? Da Jiang is super awesome!"

  The general was praised and jumped for joy.

  Huang Shifu and Lin Xue walked out, Yu Songyuan waved to them, and they started cleaning the pig. He quickly cut open the pig, peeled off its skin, washed it clean, and hung it up to dry. Then he cleaned the internal organs, cut the pig into four large pieces, and hung them on a wire.

  After cleaning the fish, he set up a wooden frame and started a fire. After the fire had passed, he began to roast over the red charcoal. Lin Xue saw that Yu Songyuan had already started roasting, so she helped him take out the seasonings, then went to the kitchen to cook some rice and boil a pot of bok choy soup. After finishing up in the kitchen, she also came to help Yu Songyuan with the roasting.

  Soon, the aroma of pork, fish and wild duck meat wafted into the house, and Huang Gong and Lin Gong also walked out of the house. They saw Yu Songyuan constantly stirring the game, applying lard to the fish, while Lin Xue sprinkled salt and seasonings onto the prey non-stop. The two worked in perfect harmony, their movements smooth and practiced. Lin Gong watched with a knowing glint in his eye, thinking that his daughter and this little scamp must have enjoyed wild game more than once before.

  Huang Shifu was so excited that he came to join in, it was just the weather in March, the spring chill was sharp, and burning outside didn't feel cold at all, on the contrary, it was very interesting, Huang Shifu was delighted like a little girl, smiling with joy.

  Lin Gong stood by with his hands behind his back, unable to help. He stood on the side watching them, his heart filled with emotions. At this moment, he no longer had the resistant feelings he had when he first heard about Yu Song. Seeing his own daughter's happy and healthy figure, he was so relieved that he shed tears.

  Yu Songyuan was secretly delighted in his heart, he knew that this pass had been passed.