Chapter 4 Stolen at the Full Moon Feast

Village Chief Zhou couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw the mountain of prey piled up in the courtyard. Shen Dong and his group had returned from their hunt, having achieved a massive haul in less than a day. If his wife hadn’t been pinching his waist, causing him to cry out in pain, he would have thought it was all a dream!

It wasn’t a dream, it was real!

Shen Dong and his group had truly hunted a mountain of prey in less than a day.

It took Village Chief Zhou a while to gather his thoughts. He organized the people to count the prey and divide it according to the number of people.

By the time Shen Dong and his group returned home with their share of the prey, it was completely dark.

They placed the prey in the courtyard, went inside to drink some water, and then Shen Dong told his parents: “Father and Mother, the village chief and the villagers said that the four of us brothers were the most deserving of the credit for this hunt. They insisted on giving us an extra five wild rabbits, six pheasants, twenty pounds of wild boar meat, and ten pounds of roe deer meat. We tried to refuse, but they wouldn’t have it.”

Shen Nan said: “No, no, no, not everyone was like that. The Cao family didn’t want to give us more. Not only did they not want to give us more, they wanted us to get less. They said that the four of us brothers were all capable and could go hunting again, while their family didn’t have anyone who could hunt, so they should get more. Bah! They’re useless, they have no ability but still think they’re right. As soon as they said that, they were immediately scolded by the village chief and the villagers. Then they ran back home, not daring to say a word.”

Old Man Shen snorted: “The Cao family is like a dog that can’t change its spots. They’re always trying to take advantage of others. They need to be taught a lesson.”

Old Mrs. Shen looked at the prey in the courtyard and said: “They’ve been like that for a long time. Don’t mention those bad omens. Let’s quickly process all this prey. Oh my goodness, so much meat! My grandchildren won’t have to go hungry anymore. They can eat whatever they want. Oh my, I’m so happy! Don’t just stand there, get to work. Second daughter-in-law, take these ribs and stew them. Tonight, we’ll all have a bone-gnawing feast!”

“Okay!”

Liu Shi responded loudly and went to work with great enthusiasm. The others also quickly got busy. Except for Shen Nian and Wei Shi, everyone, adults and children alike, were busy and didn’t have a moment to spare.

The other families in the village were also processing their prey, with smiles on everyone’s faces.

For a while, the aroma of meat spread throughout the village. Every household was like it was the New Year, filled with joy and excitement.

Late at night, after Shen Dong finished his work, he returned to his room. Wei Shi and Shen Nian were already asleep.

He tiptoed over, gently kissed his wife and daughter on their foreheads: “Having you two is the greatest fortune of my life. I will protect you both.”

As soon as Shen Dong fell asleep, Wei Shi vaguely opened her eyes, reached out and touched him, pulling his arm over to use as a pillow.

The couple embraced and slept. Shen Nian lay alone on the far end of the bed.

The next day, Shen Dong and the others went back to the mountains, hoping to try their luck again.

They did have some luck, but not much. They worked hard all day and only hunted two or three wild rabbits.

Thinking that they had enough prey at home to last for a while, everyone decided to call it a day. They didn’t go deep into the mountains and found many winter bamboo shoots.

The kitchen was piled high with food. Old Mrs. Shen, who had plenty of grain and didn’t have to worry, was in a good mood. During dinner, she told Shen Nan and Shen Xi: “The snow at the village entrance is no longer blocking the road. Tomorrow, you two go with your wives to visit your in-laws. Take some food to them and tell them that we have a new baby girl. Invite them to the full moon feast.”

Her four daughters-in-law, Wei Shi, the eldest daughter-in-law, was bought by her eldest son and had forgotten her past. Jiang Shi, the fourth daughter-in-law, was picked up by her fourth son. Neither of them had families. Only Sun Shi and Liu Shi had families. Liu Shi was from the neighboring Liu Family Village, and Sun Shi was from Taoshu Village, which was a bit further away.

When the Shen family was struggling, both families would come to help. Now, with natural disasters rampant, their in-laws were also struggling. Naturally, the Shen family had to help them.

Hearing Old Mrs. Shen’s words, Shen Nan and Shen Xi readily agreed. Liu Shi and Sun Shi were moved to tears and expressed their gratitude.

The next day, Shen Nan and Liu Shi pushed a cart to Liu Family Village, while Shen Xi and Sun Shi went to Taoshu Village.

Every day after that, the Shen family spent their time playing with Shen Nian, their little lucky charm, and continued to go up the mountain to find food. They also took a trip to town to see how things were and buy what they needed.

In the blink of an eye, it was New Year’s Eve.

Shen Nian, who was over twenty days old, could see people clearly, but only those close to her. She couldn’t see clearly those who were far away.

As she had guessed, the Shen family had good genes. They were all handsome men, and the aunts were all beautiful women. Her mother was even more beautiful. Her family members were all appearance-conscious.

Over these days, she also learned that she was in Huayue Kingdom, a country that didn’t exist in history. Everything here was completely different from the ancient history she knew. Lanhua Village was a poor, backward, and remote but very harmonious village.

This was Shen Nian’s first New Year’s Eve in this world. She was excited and cherished it, but at this moment, she could only be held by Old Mrs. Shen, drooling and staring longingly at everyone eating the delicious New Year’s Eve dinner.

Shen Nian thought, God, please block my sense of smell!

She was so small, yet her sense of smell was even more sensitive than in her previous life!

She was so hungry!

A few days after New Year’s Eve, Shen Nian turned one month old.

The sun shone brightly, and the Shen family held a full moon feast. Each family in the village sent one person to help and two people to attend the feast. Early in the morning, guests filled the door, and the whole place was bustling with activity.

“Dinner is served!”

With a loud shout, all the guests took their seats. The women who were talking to Wei Shi in the house quickly went out to find a place.

“Wow! There are wild vegetables!”

As soon as the dishes were served, someone couldn’t help but exclaim.

Old Mrs. Shen smiled and said: “The wild vegetables were dug from the slope behind our house yesterday. There are still many there. You can go dig them when you have time.”

The villagers were overjoyed.

In the past, they could only eat meat twice a year. Everyone craved meat and wished they could eat it every day. But after hunting so much prey before the New Year, they had been eating wild game for a month, and everyone was tired of it. They were all hoping to eat some vegetables. However, the vegetables in the fields couldn’t grow, and there weren’t many wild vegetables on the mountain.

Now that the wild vegetables had finally grown, and they were so fresh and tender, how could they not be excited!

Soon, the wild vegetables on the table were finished, leaving only large plates of wild boar meat. The meat was preserved with salt and was a bit salty.

Outside, the feast was in full swing. Inside, Wei Shi was folding small clothes, and Shen Nian lay in bed, kicking her little legs hard.

She was small and weak, her limbs were uncoordinated, and she couldn’t control them well. She had to work hard to exercise.

She kicked, she kicked, she continued to kick, and she also shook her little fleshy hands.

Just as she was having fun, she heard a strange sound. She turned her little head to look, but the bedpost blocked her view.

She suddenly had a bad feeling.

Sure enough.

With a bang.

Wei Shi fell to the ground.

Shen Nian’s alarm bells went off, and she immediately burst into tears.

She had only cried out twice when a figure rushed over and covered her mouth, picked her up, jumped out of the window, and ran towards Cangwu Mountain.

Damn it, this person’s palm is so smelly!