In 1986, the Xingan Mountains in Northeast China Became My Hunting Grounds

[1986, Northeast China, Xing'an Mountains. Autumn arrived unusually early in Gujiatun.]

Eighteen-year-old Gu Yanchen was the youngest expert hunter in the village, but his heart belonged to only one person—Wu Hongxing, the second daughter of the village head. For her simple request to eat roe deer dumplings, he risked his life hunting roe deer in the mountains, only to be provoked by a pack of eight wolves and nearly lose his life. For a smile from her, he delivered a whole wild boar weighing over 200 pounds to the Wu family, not keeping a single piece for himself.

But Wu Hongxing only gave him a perfunctory smile, impatiently held his hand, and expressed her disdain that "blood on a roe deer's skin is unsightly."

He was hospitalized for five days after his injury, and she didn't visit him even once.

His father's chance to be promoted to a permanent position was ruined by Wu Dahai's words.

When he lay in the hospital bed and heard Wu Hongxing's name still being called out in his unconscious state, Liu Ruyan, who had stayed by his side for five days and five nights, silently wiped away her tears.

This girl next door, who had sewed shoe soles, cotton-padded jackets, and brought him soup and medicine since he was a child, never said a word of "like," but waited for him to turn back day after day for ten years.

Until that day, Gu Yanchen finally saw clearly—the girl in the red sweater with curly hair had never cared about him; while the girl in the old floral cotton-padded jacket with her fingers covered in frostbite and cracks was the one he should protect with his life.

He let go, he became clear-headed, and he became ruthless.

"I, Gu Yanchen, am not serving you anymore."

This is a passionate coming-of-age story about a devoted lover who awakens to his true love and fights for survival in the deep mountains and forests. Wolves, wild boars, roe deer, traps, snares, steel clamps... Every inch of the Greater Khingan Mountains is his hunting ground.