Chapter 22

Ye Xiaoxiao kept glancing over there.

Ye Changsheng reminded her, “Li Deshu is rich, but he’s a good-for-nothing. He’s smooth-talking and not a good person. Stay away from him.”

Li Deshu’s father was a partner in the forestry farm and the richest person in Baishi Village.

Many people played with him because of his family’s wealth.

Zhang Erni was the village chief’s daughter. The chubby woman she saw at the entrance of the village was her mother.

Wang Meili had been trying to match Zhang Erni and Li Deshu.

She already considered him her future son-in-law.

Ye Xiaoxiao withdrew her gaze, “I know.”

This man was also dangerous, and she had to stay away from him.

But they were all playing in the same place, so it was inevitable that they would interact.

While Ye Xiaoxiao was building a snowman, Li Deshu intentionally approached them.

Ye Xiaoxiao had spent most of her life in the south and hadn’t seen such heavy snow. So, she was playing with a sense of novelty and unconsciously smiled.

When the little snowman was finished, Ye Xiaoxiao tied the red scarf around its barely visible neck.

Zhang Erni, angry, built a bigger snowman next to her.

It was like she was deliberately competing, secretly trying to outdo her.

Zhang Erni saw Li Deshu constantly glancing at Ye Xiaoxiao and completely ignoring her. She was so angry that she knocked the snowman’s head off.

As the children on the drying yard were playing, it started snowing again.

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out from the direction of the back mountain.

Ye Xiaoxiao paused.

Ye Changsheng also stood still, looking in the direction of the sound.

Ye Changyuan, “It sounds like a gunshot.”

Ye Changsheng, “No one should be hunting in the mountains in this weather.”

Baishi Village was near the mountains, and many families had hunting rifles.

They weren’t sure what was happening in the mountains, so Ye Changsheng took the scarf off the snowman.

“Let’s go back.”

Ye Xiaoxiao, “Okay.”

“Someone must be hunting in the mountains. Do you guys dare to go and see?” Zhang Erni crossed her arms and said loudly, deliberately.

Some people were already preparing to go home.

But some people were still watching.

Seeing everyone’s reaction, Zhang Erni’s tone became even more unpleasant, “What’s wrong with you?  You guys haven’t been weaned yet, and you’re afraid to watch a hunt?”

Someone said dissatisfied, “Zhang Erni, why are you yelling so loudly? You’ve never been hunting in the mountains.”

Zhang Erni was unconvinced, “Why not?  I dare to go into the mountains right now.”

With her instigation, several young men were also ready to go into the mountains and have a look.

Ye Changsheng was about to leave, but when he heard Zhang Erni’s words, he said in a low voice, “It’s snowing. The mountains are already dangerous with the snow. They dare to run around. They’re asking for trouble.”

Ye Xiaoxiao saw several people already following Zhang Erni towards the back mountain.

Li Deshu was standing still, looking at Ye Xiaoxiao and the others with a smile.

“Changyuan, Changsheng! Do you guys want to go?”

Although Ye Changyuan was a bit thick-headed, he also knew that this was definitely not a good time to go into the mountains.

Even in the summer, they would need a group of fifteen or sixteen people to go into the mountains.

He immediately refused, “We’re not going. I advise you guys not to go into the mountains now.”

Ye Xiaoxiao shook her head in her heart. In the twenty-first century, there was a term that perfectly described their behavior.

Recklessness.

Li Deshu smiled smugly, “I didn’t expect you to be so brave on the surface, but you’re so cowardly at a critical moment.”

Ye Changyuan was angry.

But he didn’t move.

If his father knew he went into the mountains in winter, he would definitely beat him to death.

Seeing that the Ye family wasn’t moved, Li Deshu turned and left.

“Let’s see what good things are there. Maybe there’s a black bear.”

They were all children from the mountains. They were most proud of their courage.

Besides, if they could hunt something, it would be good news for any poor family.

Because of the gunshots, the children on the drying yard dispersed.

Some people saw their companions going into the mountains and looked anxious.

“Let’s go find the village chief.”

“Yes, let’s go find the village chief. He’ll definitely stop them.”

Ye Xiaoxiao and her two brothers walked home.

This had nothing to do with them. They had heard it, and that was enough.

Besides, Ye Changsheng thought that as children from the mountains, they should know their limits.

After returning home, Ye Changsheng studied.

Ye Xiaoxiao had nothing to do, so she also flipped through her textbooks.

She thought that the children were just playing and trying to outdo each other, but when the sun was about to set in the evening, the village chief, Zhang Rengui, suddenly came to the Ye family.

“Second Brother Ye, is your hunting rifle still usable? We need to go up the mountain.”

The Ye family had just started dinner. Hearing the village chief’s request, Ye Jian Guo was stunned, “Why go into the mountains at this time?”

“Well… a few children from our village went into the back mountain, and they haven’t come back yet. It’s getting dark. They’re probably in danger.”

This naturally included the village chief’s daughter, Zhang Erni.

Ye Jian Guo put down his chopsticks, “I’ll go with you to have a look.”

Miao Cuifang instructed, “Dear, be careful. Don’t go too deep into the mountains.”

Ye Jian Guo, “Don’t worry. You guys continue eating.”

Ye Changqing stood up, “Dad, I’ll go with you.”

Ye Jian Guo stopped him, “Stay at home. It’s useless to have more people go in this weather. It’s just going to cause trouble.”

He put on a deerskin hat, took out his hunting rifle from the storage room at home, and prepared to leave with Zhang Rengui.

Ye Xiaoxiao thought of something.

“Dad, wait.”

She took the new flashlight she bought from her room and gave it to Ye Jian Guo, “Take the flashlight. Be careful.”

Ye Jian Guo took the flashlight, “Alright, go back home. It’s cold outside.”

He then disappeared into the wind and snow with Zhang Rengui.

After Ye Jian Guo left, no one in the family had the heart to eat anymore.

Although Ye Jian Guo had been a soldier in his youth, he had been discharged due to an injury and then joined the militia. Until now, he often went hunting in the mountains with a rifle.

But it was this season, and it was already dark. No one knew what would happen…

The Ye family was anxious.

Even the youngest, Ye Baoyuan, noticed the heavy atmosphere at home. He obediently snuggled into Zhang Xue’s arms, very well-behaved.

Five-year-old Ye Baosheng leaned against his grandmother and listened to her tell stories.

“Dang dang dang…”

The clock in the east room of the Ye family’s main house struck nine times.

It was nine o’clock at night.

Ye Changqing and Ye Changning went out to check every half hour and swept the snow in the courtyard.

The snow was getting heavier, but they couldn’t see Ye Jian Guo coming back.

Zhang Xue stayed up until nine o’clock and then took the two children back to her room to sleep.

Ye Xiaoxiao was also a little sleepy because she woke up too early.

As she was dozing off, there was finally movement outside the courtyard.

“Hurry, hurry, hurry… Carry him into the house first.”

That was Ye Jian Guo’s voice.

There were chaotic footsteps outside. It was clearly not just one person.

After the door was pushed open, Ye Xiaoxiao smelled the smell of blood first. She instantly woke up!