Chapter 6: Confident to Live Well

A scene from the TV show Journey to the West popped into Qin Nian’s mind: Zhu Bajie trying to invite Sun Wukong back to Flower-Fruit Mountain, but the little monkeys caught him.

His arms and legs were tied up, pierced with wooden sticks, and carried around.

Qin Nian wanted to do the same. She looked at Geng Feng and suggested, “You tie the wild boar’s hind legs together, thread a wooden stick through, and we carry it together.”

Geng Feng was momentarily stunned, then his eyes filled with laughter.

If it was him and his father, carrying the boar like that would be doable.

But right now, facing Qin Nian — as weak as a blade of grass — wanting to carry a wild boar like that?

She couldn’t even lift it, let alone carry it.

But he couldn’t say it outright — had to save her face.

The laughter in his eyes spread to his face and voice:

“Hahaha, dragging it is lighter than carrying it. Once we get to the foot of the mountain, we can use the cart to push it. That’ll save a lot of effort.

Hahaha—”

Qin Nian gave Geng Feng a sharp look, guessing he thought she was too weak to carry the boar.

And honestly, she was weak. She realized she’d spoken too boldly.

If she couldn’t carry it, at least she could help drag it.

Ignoring Geng Feng’s gentle advice, Qin Nian grabbed the rope and helped drag the boar.

After a short while, sweat drenched her — even dragging it required strength she barely had.

Geng Feng was truly strong.

They walked and rested intermittently.

By the time they reached the foot of the mountain, it was already afternoon.

Geng Feng pulled the cart out of the woods.

He used stones to block the wheels, asked Qin Nian to press down, then bent to lift the boar onto the cart.

He gathered some branches and covered the boar.

Otherwise, once back, many people would come asking for wild boar meat.

In these hard years, everyone lacked food.

Kindness wasn’t a luxury people could afford; they had to harden their hearts to survive.

Anyone else would do the same — every family with mouths to feed, life was tough.

The young man wiped sweat from his face and smiled at Qin Nian.

“Xiao Nian, little sister, you must be exhausted after walking since morning.

Come sit on the cart; I’ll push you.”

Qin Nian shook her head.

“A big wild boar weighs over 300 jin (about 150 kg). Adding me makes it about 500 jin (250 kg). Pushing such a heavy cart would be too tiring.

The way back to the village is still far; I’ll walk myself.”

Geng Feng laughed again.

“Xiao Nian, you’re at most 60 jin (30 kg). Sitting on the cart would be like putting a squirrel on it.”

Qin Nian laughed until she bent over.

“I can’t be that skinny! I’m worth at least thirty squirrels.”

After drinking dandelion soup yesterday, Qin Nian felt a bit stronger and tried to find a bronze mirror to see what she looked like after crossing over.

Unfortunately, Grandma’s house had no bronze mirror.

She secretly looked into the water jar, which had little water, only reflecting a vague outline.

She couldn’t see her features clearly.

Hearing Geng Feng’s comment, Qin Nian understood: she must be extremely thin.

Still, too thin to sit and be pushed.

She looked at Geng Feng.

“I won’t sit on the cart. I’ll just walk.

If the road is tough, I can even lend a hand.”

They returned to the village; it was already late afternoon.

Geng Feng carried the wild boar inside and sharpened his knife, preparing to gut it.

Qin Nian went back home, and Grandma quickly started cooking.

She washed the mushrooms Qin Nian had picked, blanched them, and tore them into small pieces.

That morning, Ye Meizi had brought over two cornbread pancakes. She didn’t eat them all—just a small portion.

She cut the remaining pancake into strips, put them in the pot, added water and brought it to a boil. Then she added the mushroom pieces and a few grains of salt.

Grandma served a bowl to Qin Nian first, smiling warmly. “Xiao Nian, come eat.”

Such a plain bowl of cornbread and vegetable porridge—yet it made the elderly woman so happy.

Qin Nian felt a pang in her heart. It made her even more determined to live a better life.

By the time the sky turned completely dark and Grandma was about to bolt the door for the night, Geng Feng and Ye Meizi arrived.

Geng Feng carried a large black clay basin filled with wild boar meat.

Ye Meizi carried a slightly smaller basin, also filled with meat.

Ye Meizi smiled with crescent-moon eyes. “Aunt Li, we brought you some meat.

If you can’t finish it soon, just salt it. When cooking wild vegetables, add a few strips for flavor—it’ll take away the bitterness.”

Grandma saw the large portion and quickly tried to stop her. “Meizi, I’ll keep the basin you brought. But the one Geng Feng brought—take it back.

Zhenhai is injured; he needs more meat to recover quickly.”

Qin Nian added, “Uncle Geng’s leg still needs proper medicine. Disinfecting with ash is only a temporary fix.”

Ye Meizi smiled. “That wild boar was big—we got over 200 jin of meat. What we’re giving you is much less than what we’re keeping.

Aunt Li, the way Xiao Nian stitched up Zhenhai’s wound yesterday—if it were a doctor from the medicine hall, even a whole boar wouldn’t cover the consultation fee.

Geng Feng and I already discussed it. Tomorrow morning, he’ll take the wild boar meat to the county town to sell.

We’ll use the money to buy medicine for Uncle Geng.”

Qin Nian asked, “Uncle Geng must’ve been in terrible pain last night?”

Ye Meizi nodded. “Yes, he was in a lot of pain. But staying alive is what matters most.”

Geng Feng looked at Qin Nian and said, “Xiao Nian, this much meat can’t be eaten in one go. If we want to preserve it, we’ll need a lot of salt.

Why don’t you come with me to town tomorrow? We’ll sell some of the meat and buy rice.”

Qin Nian nodded. “Alright, I’ll go to town with you tomorrow and we can bring back some rice.”

Ye Meizi was delighted. “Great, then Xiao Nian and Geng Feng can go together tomorrow. He’ll push the cart—it’ll make the trip easier.”

Ye Meizi sat on the kang edge, chatting with Grandma, while telling Geng Feng to go home and fetch the pig liver.

Grandma and Qin Nian both declined—they thought it better for Geng Zhenhai to eat it since he was injured. Pig liver softens quickly when cooked and is good for recovery.

But Ye Meizi and Geng Feng were both deeply grateful people. They insisted on giving Qin Nian half of the liver.

They wouldn’t take no for an answer, so Grandma had no choice but to accept it.

After they left, Qin Nian and Grandma carried the wild boar meat into the courtyard, took out the chopping board, and under the dim moonlight, began slicing the meat into strips, each about one jin (0.5 kg).

They placed most of the strips back into the large clay basin. The rest went into a jar with a generous amount of salt for preservation.

By the time they finished, it was already late at night. They washed their hands and went to sleep on the kang.

The Next Morning

Before dawn, while Qin Nian was still fast asleep, Grandma got up quietly.

She lit the stove and began cooking the wild boar meat and pig liver until it was tender and falling apart.

Then she minced the meat, cleaned and chopped the dandelion greens Qin Nian had dug up yesterday, and cooked two bowls of meat-vegetable porridge, adding a few slices of pig liver.

Qin Nian woke up just in time for breakfast.

As she ate, she couldn’t help but feel emotional—this kind of meal would’ve been unappetizing in her past life, but now it tasted unbelievably good.

Truly, this life and the last life were worlds apart.

But Qin Nian wasn’t sad. Since she had come here, she would make the most of it.

She was confident she could make a good life for herself.