Chapter 14: Selling Wild Boar Meat in Town

“We’re here. This is the place,” said the hunter Tian.

Xiaojiu instructed Zhao Hu and the others to watch over the ox cart, then followed Tian toward the restaurant.

Looking up, Xiaojiu saw the sign: Yongfu Restaurant. This was the same area Liu Dazhu had mentioned before—it was the busiest part of town.

Xiaojiu marched forward with her short little legs into the building.

Inside, a waiter hurried over to them and greeted them enthusiastically, “Welcome, honored guests! What would you like to order?”

Tian quickly waved his hand and replied, “We’re not here to eat. We’d like to speak with your manager. We have some game meat and want to see if your restaurant buys such things.”

Hearing that they were here to sell wild game, the waiter immediately led them inside to meet the restaurant manager.

Xiaojiu was impressed with the restaurant. Unlike those cliché scenes on TV or in novels, where poor-looking guests get sneered at, there was none of that here. Despite their humble clothing, the staff didn’t treat them with disdain.

Soon, they met the manager.

He was a chubby man who bore a strong resemblance to one of those comedic performers often seen on television—friendly and pleasant-looking, with a cheerful demeanor.

Seeing a man accompanied by a little girl, the manager asked, “Is this your daughter?”

Tian quickly shook his head. “No, this is our village chief.”

The manager was a well-traveled man, but this was the first time he had ever heard of a village chief who didn’t even come up to his thigh.

He looked at the little girl in front of him—nothing particularly special about her, aside from being a bit cuter and prettier than most.

Xiaojiu, noticing the amused expression on the manager’s face, snorted and turned away, clearly offended. What, does he think it’s funny that a child is the village chief? Looking down on me, huh?

Regardless of what he was thinking, the manager kept a friendly tone and asked, “So, what kind of game are you here to sell?”

“Wild boar,” Xiaojiu replied.

“Wild boar? You caught a wild boar?” The manager was so excited he nearly picked Xiaojiu up and kissed her.

Recently, all the big restaurants in Qingyun Town had caught wind of some big news: the matriarch of the Wang family was having a birthday celebration. Her daughter had married into the Li family in the capital—the husband held a fourth-rank official position—and they were all coming back to celebrate her birthday. Word was, the matriarch had specifically requested something special to serve her son-in-law.

Master Wang had made it clear: whichever restaurant could provide the best wild game would win the honor of catering the banquet.

This was a massive business opportunity. Not only would it mean big profits, but it was also a chance to impress the powerful Wang family and boost the restaurant’s reputation.

But so far, all the restaurants had managed to collect were common items—wild chickens, rabbits, and the like. No large game. Understandably so—big game animals lived deep in the mountains, and even if they wandered closer, they weren’t easy to catch. Besides, it had been years since any large beasts had been seen near the local villages.

Manager Xu had been so stressed about it all that his belly had even shrunk a bit.

But luck was finally on his side. Here was someone bringing a wild boar right to his doorstep!

Manager Xu eagerly asked Xiaojiu and Tian to take him to see the goods.

They returned to the ox cart, and Manager Xu couldn’t wait another second—he flung open the cart’s curtain. Inside, three children stared back at him in unison.

Next to them was a massive wild boar.

Seeing that the goods were real and the boar truly enormous, Manager Xu scrambled into the cart without a second thought. The waiter beside him was stunned—it was the first time he had seen his chubby boss move so nimbly.

Manager Xu examined the boar carefully. Not a single wound could be seen on its body.

Clicking his tongue in amazement, he said, “Whoever hunted this must be a true master with deep internal strength. Not even a scratch on the boar’s body—unbelievable!”

Shopkeeper Xu turned to ask the hunter Tian, “May I ask which expert hunted this prey?”

Hunter Tian proudly pointed at the tiny village chief who wasn’t even as tall as his thigh and said, “Our village chief did.”

Shopkeeper Xu looked at Xiaojiu in shock. “You did?”

“How did you kill it? Why isn’t there a single wound?”

“Just with my fist. Like this—one punch, and it died.” Xiaojiu raised her little fist and replied nonchalantly.

“Huh?” Shopkeeper Xu hadn’t expected that answer and was utterly stunned.

In his decades of life, he felt like he hadn’t seen nearly enough of the world.

He didn’t even know whether to be shocked first by the fact that a five-year-old girl was a village chief or that a five-year-old girl could kill a wild boar with one punch.

A’dou hurried to add, “Our village chief is super powerful. Last time she also punched a wild boar to death!”

Upon hearing that there had been another wild boar, Shopkeeper Xu immediately set aside his shock and asked, “You had another wild boar? Where is it?”

A’dou smacked his lips and replied, “We ate it. It was delicious—the best wild boar meat I’ve ever tasted in my life.”

Shopkeeper Xu nearly choked with anger. “You ate it? You actually ate it?! Why didn’t you bring it to sell?”

Xiaojiu replied casually, “We felt like eating it, so we did. Do you want this one?”

“Yes, yes, yes!” Shopkeeper Xu answered immediately, afraid that the kids might suddenly get hungry again and drag this one home to cook as well.

“How much?” Xiaojiu asked.

“Fifteen taels. At this price, you’re definitely not getting shortchanged,” Shopkeeper Xu promised. He wasn’t lying—normally wild boar meat would only fetch around ten taels, but considering how rare wild boar meat was lately, fifteen was a fair price.

Xiaojiu glanced at Hunter Tian, who leaned down and whispered in her ear, “Shopkeeper’s offer is indeed fair. Usually we get ten taels or so. Since this boar is in great condition and has no wounds, it’s normal they’re offering more.”

Seeing that the shopkeeper wasn’t trying to cheat her, Xiaojiu decisively made the deal—money in one hand, boar in the other.

Shopkeeper Xu had his staff carry the wild boar into the restaurant. Seeing that the group was about to leave, he quickly called out to Xiaojiu.

“Um… may I ask, which nearby village are you from? I hope that in the future, if you catch any more game, you’ll bring it to our restaurant first. I guarantee you’ll get a fair price—you have my word.”

Xiaojiu found this shopkeeper quite decent, so she nodded and replied, “We’re from Taoyuan Village. Do you only buy wild boar?”

Seeing that this little girl could apparently hunt more than just wild boar, Shopkeeper Xu immediately leaned in and whispered, “To be honest, our restaurant is in urgent need of large game right now. We’ll take whatever you bring, and we’ll pay well—never less than it’s worth.”

“Oh, alright. I’ll bring some next time if we catch more.” Having just received fifteen taels from selling the wild boar, Xiaojiu was in an excellent mood.

Fifteen taels! She hadn’t expected it to be so much. That was a whole lot of money!

If they caught a few more, they could start building the schoolhouse soon.

Everyone was beyond thrilled.

“Come on, let’s go shopping—buy, buy, buy!” Xiaojiu waved her hand grandly.

Zhao Hu and the others cheered excitedly and immediately darted into the crowd, heading straight for the street vendors.

Hunter Tian watched them disappear in the blink of an eye. Anxious, he hurriedly left the ox cart in front of the restaurant, asked the waiters to keep an eye on it, and chased after them—afraid the kids would get lost in the crowd.