Chapter 34: Hunting 1

The fifth eldest Su, carrying his daughter, walked further up the mountain, the deeper they went, the more tightly his brows furrowed.

After two heavy snowstorms, the mountain had accumulated a thick layer of ice and snow. Everywhere you looked, it was a white blur, barren and desolate. Even the dry, brown, dead trees were covered with white frost.

It looked like they were going to return empty-handed today.

Sighing inwardly, the fourth and fifth elders of the Su family led the Yan family—Yan He, Yan Qi, and Yan Xing—toward the middle of the mountain to set up hunting traps.

They quickly set up simple traps, such as cage traps, rope traps, and net traps. The pitfall traps and animal snares were too dangerous, so they didn’t attempt those.

Once finished, the family headed to the nearby forest to gather firewood with Zhang Hongzhuang. They saw Zhang Hongzhuang scolding a young boy.

The boy was familiar to the Su family. He was the grandson of the Zhang family who had told Zhang Hongzhuang that the Su family had arrived the day they were visiting relatives.

The boy carried a large basket, half-filled with firewood, and seemed to have arrived even earlier than them.

“Uncle, who is this?”

Su Lao Si asked as he approached.

After the snowstorm, it was difficult for the adults to climb the mountain, so they wondered how this young boy had managed it.

“I’m Xiao Dou’er, Grandpa’s little grandson!”

The boy wasn’t afraid of people, especially since he had met the Su family when they came to visit the Zhangs, so he wasn’t shy about speaking now.

While speaking, he noticed Su Lao Wu holding his little daughter, Su Huan, and his eyes lit up. He couldn’t resist reaching out to pinch her soft, chubby cheeks. Before he could, Yan Xing, who was about the same age as him, swatted his hand away.

“Don’t touch my sister!”

Xiao Dou’er wasn’t bothered, grinning widely as he rubbed his hand where it had been swatted, completely unbothered by Yan Xing’s rejection.

“What’s your sister’s name? She’s really pretty.”

Yan Qi replied, “Just call her Wu Ya.”

After all, she was a girl, so they couldn’t just tell anyone her full name. Not even the elderly Mrs. Wang knew her complete name.

The children chatted for a bit, and then Su Lao Si turned to Zhang Hongzhuang, puzzled.

“Uncle, whose child is Xiao Dou’er?”

The Su family had met Zhang’s children before. The eldest son of Zhang, known as Jin Bao and Yuan Bao, and the second son, Yin Bao, all had names that followed a certain convention. But this boy, Xiao Dou’er, seemed to follow a different naming pattern.

Zhang Hongzhuang sighed.

“Back when we were in the capital, I was out disposing of waste water and found this child abandoned in a filthy ditch. At the time, there was a big recruitment for soldiers, and many children were abandoned. There were many children like him, left with no one to care for them.”

Hearing this, Su Lao Si turned to look at the boy again.

“No wonder. Does he know his origins?”

Zhang Hongzhuang helplessly replied,

“He knows. Your aunt threw him away a few times, but I always brought him back. After I said some harsh words about splitting up the family, your aunt was upset and took it out on him. A few days ago, she even threw him out during the snowstorm. I secretly brought him back. Today, he insisted on coming up the mountain to chop firewood, but I wouldn’t let him. But he ran up on his own.”

Su Lao Si chuckled.

“This kid is persistent. Even we find it hard to climb the mountain in this snow, but he managed to get here before us.”

Su Lao Wu said,

“Uncle, what do you plan to do with this child?”

Zhang Hongzhuang smiled.

“What else can I do? For now, I’ll take him with me. When he’s older, I’ll find him a wife and teach him how to make charcoal, so he can support himself. I’ll be at ease then. If you want to learn too, I can teach you.”

On ordinary days, charcoal could sell for three hundred wen per pound, and it was even more expensive in winter. So, Zhang Hongzhuang, working alone, could feed the entire Zhang family of ten.

Hearing this, Su Lao Si and Su Lao Wu laughed and waved their hands. They called the children over to chop wood.

After they had chopped enough firewood, Xiao Su Huan, who had been observing from the side, began to act. She took out two pigs from her space and placed them into the pitfall trap and animal snare trap.

After a whole morning, Su Lao Si tightened the rope around the firewood bundle and said to the Yan family,

“Alright, let’s carry these firewood back first. We’ll come back in a couple of days to check the traps.”

Yan He, Yan He, Yan Qi, and Yan Xing each carried a basket of firewood, weighing a few dozen jin.

Zhang Hongzhuang and Xiao Dou’er did the same.

Just as they were about to descend the mountain, suddenly, a mournful roar echoed from the middle of the mountain,

“Roar!!”

The roar came suddenly and was strong and powerful. The group was startled, and Yan Qi couldn’t help but swallow. He shrank beside Su Lao Wu and whispered,

“Uncle Wu, what is that?”

Su Lao Wu was delighted.

“It’s a wild boar. It must have been caught in our trap! But I don’t know how many there are.”

But wild boars were dangerous animals, and he worried that the boars might escape. Without thinking further about why the prey had appeared so quickly today, Su Lao Wu quickly unstrapped his carry belt, handing his daughter and the belt to Yan He.

“Take care of your sister here, don’t go in!”

He then told his uncle to take the children down the mountain first while he and Su Lao Si excitedly grabbed their axes, slung their bows, and grabbed their ropes to head toward the trap halfway up the mountain.

The boar’s roar was terrifying, but Yan He, Yan He, Yan Qi, and Yan Xing had all seen pigs being slaughtered before. When they heard Su Lao Wu say that it was the roar of a pig, they calmed down.

Yan He was still uneasy about leaving his uncles to deal with the wild boars, so he grabbed a sickle and said,

“Second Brother, help me tie the carry belt. Let’s go up ahead and take a look.”

“Alright.”

Yan He helped him tie the carry belt, and just as the brothers were about to go up the mountain to help, Zhang Hongzhuang stopped them.

“Yan He! Why are you taking your sister up the mountain? It’s dangerous. Your uncles told us to go back!”

“Yiya Yiya!”

Xiao Su Huan looked anxiously at the backs of her father and fourth uncle, pointing in their direction and urging her older brother.

She had to watch her uncles and father hunting, otherwise, how could she guide them to find the other things she had placed halfway up the mountain?

Yan He comforted her, patting her head and giving Yan He a look. Yan He advised,

“Uncle, judging by what Uncle Wu said, there must be more than one boar. Let’s stay outside and keep an eye out. If Uncle Wu needs our help, we’ll be ready. Besides, we came out together. If something happens to Uncle Si or Uncle Wu, how do we explain it to Grandma? We’re not kids anymore, we’re strong enough to help. Our uncles are out there risking their lives for us, and we’re just carrying firewood and hiding at home. What kind of behavior is that?”

“This…”

Seeing his uncle hesitate, Yan Qi hurriedly pinched Xiao Dou’er.

Xiao Dou’er yelped in pain and glared at him, but he too wanted to watch the Fourth and Fifth Uncles hunt the wild boar. His eyes brightened, and he eagerly agreed.

“Grandpa, the older cousins are right! The wild boars on the mountain are fierce. What if they eat the uncles? Let’s go up and take a look!”

“Stop talking nonsense!”

Zhang Hongzhuang tapped his head and, unable to hold back his worry, nodded to Yan He and the others.

“Alright, follow me. But once we reach the halfway point, don’t go further, and don’t get in the way of your uncles. Got it?”

“Got it!”

“Yiya!”

The children and Xiao Su Huan answered in unison and followed Zhang Hongzhuang toward the halfway point of the mountain.