When Su Ziyu mentioned the wild boar chasing his third sister, Xiao Weidong immediately burst into tears.

“Third Sister, please don’t go up the mountain again! I’m grown now. I can earn work points to support you.”

Last year, Wu Zhu’s father was killed by a wild boar while foraging. When the villagers found him, his hands were gone, one ear was missing, and his entire body was a bloodied mess.

“Alright.” Shen Zhihuan smiled, ruffling Xiao Weidong’s hair. “Your Third Sister won’t go up the mountain anymore. I’ll wait for my little brother to support me with his hard-earned work points.”

“Don’t laugh it off! If you ever dare go up the mountain alone again, I’ll beat your backside so hard it’ll break!” Li Qiuhua, wiping her tears, glared at her daughter.

“Mom, let’s go down first. My legs are feeling weak,” Shen Zhihuan replied sheepishly.

She had only planned to walk halfway up the mountain and pick some fruits for her mother and little brother. Who could have guessed she’d run into such a hideous beast?

Thinking about the earlier danger, Shen Zhihuan felt a lingering fear.

“We’ll have Doctor Hua check you when we get back,” Li Qiuhua said anxiously. Her daughter had only just started recovering-there was no room for setbacks.

“Alright.” Shen Zhihuan nodded. Her body ached, and her legs felt like jelly. A healthier body might have managed, but her frail frame was at its limit.

Thankfully, this body didn’t have a heart condition. Otherwise, even if the boar hadn’t killed her, the fright alone might have done her in.

Li Qiuhua carefully supported her as they descended the mountain. Xiao Weidong, teary-eyed, picked up the basket and followed them.

As the Shen family trio headed home, Wang Tiezhu instructed Xu Youcai to lead the group in continuing the harvest. Meanwhile, he took a few strong young men to deal with the wild boar in the pit.

The pit was likely a hunting trap dug by the older generation. Its walls were smooth, and under the rotting leaves, faint remnants of sharpened bamboo spikes could still be seen. However, the spikes had decayed with time, leaving only vague outlines.

Before Wang Tiezhu could issue an order, four young men, unable to resist the temptation, jumped into the pit with ropes.

In no time, they had the still-warm wild boar tightly bound.

But the boar was so large that even with all their strength, the men couldn’t pull it out.

Seeing their struggle, Wang Tiezhu glanced at Su Ziyu, who was calmly picking wild vegetables nearby. After a few moments of hesitation, he decisively sent someone down the mountain to fetch reinforcements.

Among the surrounding villages, Su Ziyu was the one Wang Tiezhu feared the most. One look from him was enough to make Wang’s scalp tingle and his back sweat.

When that fear had started, Wang Tiezhu couldn’t recall, nor did he want to think about it.

Back at the base of the mountain, news that there would be pork to divide that evening filled the workers with excitement. Their renewed energy ensured that all the harvested rice was transported to the production team’s drying yard before dark. Even the slightly green rice straw was neatly bundled and left to dry.

By the time Shen Zhihuan got home, she was utterly drained. She took a quick bath and went straight to bed. Xiao Weidong even brought her medicinal soup to her bedside. After drinking it, Shen Zhihuan fell into a deep sleep.

At the drying yard, a crowd gathered around as the dark, bristly wild boar was skinned and gutted.

“Did you hear? The Shen family’s third daughter is bedridden again,” someone whispered.

“Wasn’t she fine at noon?”

“Fine? She collapsed as soon as she got home. I heard they even called Doctor Hua to check on her.”

Li Jiabao glanced toward the Shen family’s house, then squeezed through the onlookers and ran toward the east side of the village.

“Honestly, that Shen girl is such trouble. She just started feeling better and couldn’t sit still. Had to go up the mountain to pick wild vegetables, and now she’s sick again.”

“Exactly. Did you see how she walks? It’s a disgrace! That’s not how a proper person walks.”

“Widow Chen, why do you always have something nasty to say? What has that girl ever done to you?” Wang Lianhua retorted sharply.

To Widow Chen, any girl prettier than her three daughters wasn’t “decent.”

“Wang Lianhua, isn’t your son Chungen turning twenty-one after the New Year? Why don’t you let him marry Shen Zhihuan if she’s so great?” Widow Chen sneered.

Wang Lianhua’s face stiffened, remembering the bag of plums at home.

“My Chungen already has someone in mind. If you dare spread nonsense, I’ll tear your mouth off!” she snapped, glaring at Widow Chen.

“Enough bickering!” Wang Tiezhu barked, his face dark. “If you’ve got so much energy, go plow the fields for tomorrow’s rapeseed planting!”

With the brigade leader’s anger looming over them, no one dared say another word, fearing it might cost them their share of the pork.

As things quieted down, Wang Tiezhu turned to a robust man chopping the boar’s legs.

“Wang Laosan, save a good piece of meat-a big one-for Zhihuan.”

“Why should Widow Li’s family get the best meat? She didn’t even work this afternoon!” Widow Chen said sourly.

“Why?” Wang Tiezhu chuckled coldly. “Because Zhihuan killed the boar.”

Every production team had a troublemaker, someone who constantly stirred the pot but didn’t pose a real threat. Wang Tiezhu usually ignored them unless they crossed a line.

“Ha! That sickly girl who can’t even work in the fields managed to kill a boar?” Widow Chen scoffed.

Hearing that meat was being distributed, Li Qiuhua finished her chores, set a pot of rice porridge on the stove, and hurried to the gathering.

As she approached, she overheard Widow Chen badmouthing her daughter.

“Chen Dahua! Has my daughter eaten your food or taken your money? Whether she works for work points or not has nothing to do with you. I’ll support her however I see fit!” Li Qiuhua snapped.

“I’ll support my third sister too!” Xiao Weidong chimed in, puffing out his chest.

Moved by her son’s defense of his sister, Li Qiuhua squeezed his hand affectionately.

Caught gossiping, Widow Chen felt a rare pang of embarrassment. “I was just saying…”

“And I’m saying,” Li Qiuhua interrupted coldly, “anyone who tries to bully my daughter better think twice-or they’ll meet my butcher’s knife.”

Her tone carried a fierce protectiveness, like a mother rabbit cornered by a wolf, willing to fight to the death to protect her child.

The villagers all remembered how Li Qiuhua had once chased Wang Chunmei and Su Changhe with a butcher’s knife. If Su Ziyu hadn’t intervened, there might have been bloodshed that day.