Chapter 35: Hunting 2

When Su Laosi and Su Laowu reached the middle of the mountain, they saw that the animal trap was gone, leaving only a trail of blood leading into the deep mountains. It seemed like the wild boar had escaped, but not far.

The two of them hurriedly moved into action, with one of them jumping down to bind the wild boar trapped in the pit, while the other pulled from above.

When Zhang Hongzhuang arrived with the kids, the sound of heart-wrenching pig squeals echoed from the pit trap. Su Laosi, noticing them, tensed up and immediately shouted, “Uncle! House bro! You’re just in time, come help! One of the pigs escaped, I have to chase it, we can’t let someone else get this big prize!”

The Yan family didn’t approach; he had brought his sister with him and didn’t want to make too much noise that might hurt her, so they stood at a distance.

Yan He, Yan Qi, Yan Xing, and Xiao Dou’er quickly ran over to help with the rope, pulling together with all their might, and eventually pulled the six-hundred-pound wild boar from the deep pit trap.

“Grunt grunt…”

The boar, exhausted, lay on the ground, glaring at Su Huan.

Su Laowu noticed its gaze and felt a sudden jolt in his heart. Could it be that this pig was summoned by his daughter?

He hurriedly turned to look at his daughter, but saw her seriously contemplating the boar, her mouth watering.

“Yi ya yi ya?”

Such a big boar! I wonder if Third Aunt can make smoked meat, sausages, or maybe braised pork and clear-broth pork rib soup? Hmm, if we could make braised pig ears, braised pig head meat, and braised pig intestines, it’d be even better!

Also, stir-fried pork with green peppers, that was my absolute favorite dish in my past life.

“Kekekeke~”

Little Su Huan lost herself in a fantasy about food, giggling and clapping her hands.

Su Laowu: “…”

Maybe he was just overthinking it.

“Old Five, what are you thinking about? Let’s go!”

Su Laosi nudged him, and Su Laowu snapped out of it, nodding. He left the boar with their uncle and the children to keep watch, and the two brothers quickly ran after the trail of blood deeper into the mountains.

The Yan family wanted to follow, but Zhang Hongzhuang stopped them, sending the kids to watch their firewood in the forest so no one would steal it, while he stayed behind to guard the wild boar with Xiao Dou’er.

Yan He felt the wet sleeves of his shirt and looked down in shock to find that his sister had somehow drooled a river. He quickly pulled out a bib from his bag and put it on Su Huan, wiping her mouth and neck clean before coaxing her to sleep. He then carried her and the others back into the forest to wait for the fourth and fifth uncles to return.

Little Su Huan yawned and rested comfortably in her big brother’s arms.

The boar caught in the trap would lead the fourth and fifth uncles to the food she had hidden deep in the mountains. She could take this time to digest the merits she had accumulated and get rid of the dark circles under her eyes.

The pig in her space wasn’t a wild boar, but it was black in color. Having lived a lazy, comfortable life for many years, its tusks were terrifyingly long, and it was incredibly strong, resembling a wild boar.

The boar that had fallen into the pit trap earlier had a massive body. Because it was stuck, it couldn’t resist, so Su Laosi and Su Laowu were able to easily tie it up.

But this one, the one trapped by the animal trap, was different. Su Laosi, Su Laowu, and it met in the wide mountain terrain. This pig, with one injured leg, was terrifyingly strong. When it saw them closing in, it gave up on running and charged at them angrily, knocking down several trees in its path.

After several rounds, Su Laowu was unable to gain control and was forced to retreat.

Su Laosi, feeling a bit exhausted, began to pant.

He said in relief, “The kids didn’t come, did they?”

Su Laowu glanced back at the exit and sighed in relief. “No, they didn’t come.”

Su Laosi licked his cracked lips and said, “Good thing they didn’t come. This wild boar is really hard to handle. It’s still running so fast even with its leg caught!”

Suddenly, he exclaimed, “Watch out!”

“Roar!”

A loud roar sounded as the boar charged again.

Su Laowu and Su Laosi quickly dodged. However, Su Laosi, due to fatigue, barely avoided the boar’s tusks, which almost bit off a finger.

Su Laowu’s face changed slightly. He immediately drew his bow to distract the wild boar. “Fourth Brother, back off, get the rope ready! I’ll take this boar down!”

“Okay!”

Su Laosi, who had worked with him for many years, knew his brother’s strength, so without any complaints, he quickly retreated and got the rope ready.

Once the area was cleared, Su Laowu sheathed his bow and rushed forward. With a loud crash, he collided with the charging wild boar. He grabbed the boar’s tusks, his muscles bulging as he strained with all his might. His forehead, arms, and thighs were covered in veins as he shouted, wrestling with the boar. Eventually, the boar let out a pained scream as Su Laowu managed to force it to the ground.

Su Laosi, quick on the uptake, rushed forward and quickly tied the boar down while it was still pinned.

“Roar! Roar!”

The boar continued to struggle, but Su Laosi slapped its ear and said, “Shut up! Keep yelling, and I’ll slap you to death!”

The boar huffed and puffed, “Grunt grunt~”

Su Laowu stood up and brushed the snow off his body, thinking about carrying the boar out, then returning to drag the trees the boar had knocked over to chop for firewood. But when he turned around, he saw that the fallen trees had spilled a bunch of fruit. The fruit was spiky and looked strangely familiar…

Suddenly, Su Laowu’s pupils contracted. He quickly pointed at the fruit and said, “Fourth Brother, it’s chestnuts!”

In the middle of winter, how could there be chestnuts on the mountain?

Besides, the surrounding trees were all pine and elm—where would there be chestnut trees? These chestnut trees seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, as if waiting for them to pick the chestnuts.

“What? Chestnuts in the middle of winter?”

Su Laosi was shocked, and when he looked closer, he saw that the fruits were indeed chestnuts, and they had definitely fallen from chestnut trees.

Su Laosi patted his brother’s shoulder and laughed heartily, “You really guessed it! We brought Five Ya up the mountain, and we hit the jackpot! We’ll go back and tell Mom, see if she can stop Five Ya from coming up next time!”

With that, he happily handed the rope to Su Laowu. “Quick! You carry the boar, I’ll carry the other one. We’ll take the boars back and then come pick these chestnuts. Afterward, we can ask Third Sister-in-law to make chestnut goat milk porridge for our little Fubao!”

Little Fubao…

Su Laowu remembered the silly look of his daughter drooling over the wild boar and couldn’t help but smile. He and Su Laosi each carried a boar down the mountain, with the Yan family and the others carrying or strapping the firewood they had chopped earlier.

The mountain was to the north of Qingshui Village, and Su Laosi and Su Laowu’s house was to the south. When they returned to the village, the villagers who were sweeping snow in front of their houses were shocked by the wild boars they carried, and they didn’t even notice when their brooms fell.

Didn’t they say the Su family lived in a haunted house, that the whole family was unlucky?

How come, on their first trip up the mountain, they managed to catch two fat wild boars?!