Chapter 10: Up the Mountain

After returning home, I first went to the kitchen to take a look. There wasn’t much food left. I decided to go up the mountain to see if I could hunt some things to sell, to buy clothes for Xia Xia and my brother’s family.

I didn’t delay. After telling Mi Xia and Zhang Hongxia, I took my backpack and went up the mountain.

This time I needed to buy cloth and shoes, so the more I harvested, the better. I quickly reached the deep mountains. I planned to go further in. Along the way, I collected wild eggs, bird eggs, wild rabbits, and wild chickens—anything I saw went into my space.

After catching three wild mountain goats, I saw a wild ginseng plant. I was instantly delighted, wondering how it differed from the ones in my space.

I carefully dug it up and planted it in my space. As soon as I finished, I heard the sound of pigs not far away. I moved towards the sound, hiding behind a tree and peering in the direction of the noise.

I saw two groups of adult wild boars facing off. On the left, an adult boar was followed by about ten piglets. On the right, there were six adult boars, also with more than ten piglets. I estimated each adult boar weighed over a hundred kilograms.

They instantly clashed in a fierce battle. Dust flew everywhere, and each boar was bleeding profusely. The scene was quite spectacular.

I quietly climbed a tree to watch the battle, hoping to pick up some leftovers. As I watched, I saw one adult boar on the left side fall, bleeding heavily—I couldn’t tell if it was dead or not. The left side, seeing a companion fall, fought even more fiercely.

Soon, two boars on the right side also fell. The remaining boars on the right side then attacked the piglets on the opposite side. After another fifteen minutes of fighting, only one piglet from the right side ran away; all the others lay on the ground.

I took the opportunity to use stones to finish off the boars on the ground, checking to see if any were still alive and needed a final blow. I certainly didn’t want to be gored to death by a pig.

After checking that they were all dead, I put the boars into my space.

Seeing that it was getting dark, I started to head back. I collected anything edible along the way, putting it into my space. When I neared the foot of the mountain, I began digging a pit to bury the pigs. Just as I started digging, I heard someone calling my name from a distance.

I took two adult boars and three piglets out of my space, hid them behind a tree, and went to see who was calling.

“Little sister, where are you?”

Hearing it was my brother, I quickly replied, “Brother, I’m here.”

Mi Qiu followed the sound. Before he could scold me for being out so late, I pulled him behind the tree. He saw the two large boars and three piglets.

“Little sister, are you hurt? Let me see,” Mi Qiu asked anxiously.

“Brother, I’m fine, don’t worry. Hurry home and get the cart to bring the pigs back,” I said, feeling a warm current flow through me. My brother’s concern for my safety, rather than excitement over the meat, made me realize how much he cared.

“I told you not to go, and I couldn’t stop you. But you have to promise me that even if you go up the mountain again, you’ll come home early. Your sister-in-law and I were worried sick.”

“After waiting so long, your sister-in-law made me come up the mountain to look for you. Don’t worry your family like this in the future. It’s good to have meat to eat, but we can live without it. You need to be alive to enjoy the future.”

I blinked, holding back the tears in my eyes. “Brother, I understand. I’ll be careful in the future. Hurry home and tell sister-in-law to bring the cart.”

Mi Qiu glanced at me, then went back. At that moment, I truly felt that I was family with Mi Qiu, not just his sister from the original owner’s perspective.

Soon, Mi Qiu and Zhang Hongxia arrived. The three of us worked together to transport the pigs home.

“Little sister, go clean up and check on Xia Xia, then come eat. Dinner’s still warm in the kitchen,” Zhang Hongxia said.

“Okay, Brother and sister-in-law, you clean up the pigs. I’ll go see Xia Xia first.”

Mo Zhixia was in Zhang Hongxia’s room, happily playing with her nephews. After checking on her, I went to eat. I quickly finished the simple meal of rice porridge and radish, washed the dishes, and then took Xia Xia to wash up and go to bed.

After chatting with the little girl for a while, I put her to sleep. Then I went to the kitchen.

“Little sister, what are you going to do with all these pigs? There are too many for us to eat,” Mi Qiu asked.

“I want to sell the pigs and buy clothes and shoes for the family, and send the children to school. Brother, do you think that’s okay?” I asked, looking at Zhang Hongxia and then at Mi Qiu.

“Little sister, Aiguo and the others have clothes and shoes, don’t waste the money. Just buy some new clothes and shoes for Xia Xia,” Mi Qiu said.

“Aiguo and the others don’t need to go to school. They can earn work points by collecting pigweed. Keep the money from selling the pigs for yourself,” Zhang Hongxia added.

“Yes, your sister-in-law is right. Keep the money for yourself. It’s good to have some money on hand,” Mi Qiu agreed.

“Brother and sister-in-law, are you treating me like an outsider? Even if I am, I’m their aunt. What’s wrong with buying new clothes for my nephews? They need to go to school. It’s a new society now; education is important. We can’t be illiterate anymore.”

Mi Qiu was about to speak, but I interrupted him. “That’s settled then. Unless you don’t consider Xia Xia and me family,” I said.

Seeing this, Mi Qiu and Zhang Hongxia stopped arguing, thinking to themselves that they should be kinder to their younger sister in the future.

After cleaning the pigs, I had Mi Qiu cut half of one adult boar for us to eat at home, and we kept one piglet. I planned to sell the rest in the county with Zhang Xiaoyu tomorrow.

“Brother and sister-in-law, I plan to go to the county tomorrow before dawn to sell the remaining pigs. Sister-in-law, please take care of Xia Xia tomorrow.

I know someone in the county, a friend of Mo Haoyue. It will be a quick transaction.”

“No, speculation and profiteering are not allowed now. You can’t go. If you’re caught by the Red armbands, you’ll be in trouble,” Mi Qiu objected.

“If we don’t sell them, we can’t eat all these pigs. Even if we give them away, we can’t give away so many. People will be suspicious.”

“Then I’ll go with you tomorrow. I can help you push the cart. You can’t push hundreds of kilograms by yourself.”

“Yes, little sister, listen to your brother. Let him go with you. He can help push the cart, and it will make me feel better knowing he’s with you.”

“Otherwise, if you go alone, your brother and I will be worried sick at home,” Zhang Hongxia added.

I nodded in agreement. I had planned to put the pigs in my space and ride my electric bike to the county, but I knew my brother and sister-in-law wouldn’t feel comfortable with that.

After making our plans, we went to bed. I secretly returned to the kitchen and added a lot of spiritual spring water to the water jar before returning to my room to sleep.

The next day, before dawn, after breakfast, Mi Qiu and I pushed the cart towards the county. The pigs were on the cart, covered with straw.

This way, even if we met people on the road, they wouldn’t be suspicious. Before we left, I disguised myself as I had looked when I last saw Zhang Xiaoyu, and I also disguised Mi Qiu.

I told my brother and sister-in-law that even if we were discovered, it would be fine unless we ran into someone we knew. Otherwise, no one would recognize us.