Chapter 2 Hunting in the Mountains

The news of the Shen family having a daughter spread through the village, causing a stir more lively than the New Year’s celebration.

“What? The Shen family has a daughter? Wasn’t she due in half a month? Why did she come early?”

“After waiting for thirty years, they finally have a daughter. Your Shen family has finally gotten what you wished for!”

“Are your parents as excited as if they’ve been injected with chicken blood?”

“Shen Dong, congratulations on having a precious daughter!”

The Shen family had many sons, all capable and had helped the village a lot, so they were well-liked.

Although most families in the village were patriarchal, they knew that the Shen family had been longing for a daughter, and that a daughter was a special existence in their family. So, at this moment, no one said anything unpleasant. They just kept congratulating Shen Dong and took some food to nourish Wei Shi.

“Shen Dong, these past few years have been difficult for everyone. You have so many people in your family, your grain must have run out long ago. Here are two eggs, take them to nourish your darling! You can eat whatever you want, but she still needs to breastfeed, so she can’t be malnourished!” The village chief’s wife, Liu Shi, enthusiastically handed two eggs to Shen Dong.

“This is a pound of white rice. It’s not much, but it’s better than your wife eating coarse grains. Take it!” Aunt Lu said firmly, refusing to be refused.

“I have an old hen here. Take it and kill it to make chicken soup for your darling to drink!” Granny Wang caught a hen.

Shen Dong was startled: “Auntie, I can’t bear to part with it. Quickly put the hen back. This is the hen that lays eggs for your family, and it’s the only one. How can you just kill it?”

Granny Wang said: “My second daughter-in-law gave birth two years ago, and your mother also gave her a hen. That one was bigger than mine. What’s wrong with that? Don’t be fussy, take it quickly.”

Shen Dong desperately refused: “No, no, no, absolutely not. I don’t want it, Auntie. We appreciate your kindness, but I absolutely cannot accept this hen. I have two hens at home, enough for my wife to eat. Quickly put your hen back. It’s getting late, I’ll go home first!”

He turned around and ran away quickly.

“Hey, hey, hey! Shen Dong, wait…” Granny Wang chased after him for two steps but couldn’t catch up. She shook her head and sighed as she went home.

Seeing that Granny Wang didn’t catch up, Shen Dong breathed a sigh of relief.

Their Lanhua Village only had twenty-three households and two hundred and seventy-three people. They were all refugees who came here thirty-seven years ago. There weren’t many people, but it was a harmonious village. They would help each other out whenever there was something going on. This year, there were many disasters and the harvest was poor. Most of the livestock in the village had been frozen to death. The villagers themselves were almost out of food, but when they learned about his family’s situation, they were still willing to give them their precious remaining food.

Shen Dong couldn’t help but be moved.

On his way home, Shen Dong met many villagers who came to give him food. By the time he got home, his hands and body were full of bags of grain, including rice, sweet potatoes, eggs, salted vegetables…

Seeing all this food, Old Mrs. Shen smiled: “Ah Dong, you’ve received so much kindness today. Remember it all, and repay them double in the future.”

“Mother, I know. I will.”

Back in the house, Shen Dong told Wei Shi about the villagers giving them food: “Everyone is hoping that you and the baby will be well.”

Shen Nian listened from the side and was quite surprised. She didn’t expect this village to be so harmonious. Even though they were struggling themselves, they were still willing to help others.

What kind of place is Lanhua Village?

What kind of family is hers?

She was curious!

Five consecutive days of warm sunshine caused the snow to melt rapidly, and the stream gurgled.

Shen Nian spent her days eating, sleeping, and eating again. Her baby life was extremely comfortable.

In her previous life, she was either studying or killing zombies, always on high alert and unable to sleep peacefully. She was exhausted every day. Now, she could finally sleep however she wanted, blissfully.

Seeing that the snow had almost melted, Old Man Shen gathered everyone in the main hall to discuss hunting in the mountains.

For the past three years, Huayue Kingdom had been plagued by natural disasters, causing the price of grain to skyrocket. Many places had seen refugees fleeing. Lanhua Village, backed by the resource-rich Cangwu Mountain, had been spared. However, the mountain was full of dangers, with many wild animals. Every hunting trip involved risking one’s life, so they had to be fully prepared before entering the mountain. They couldn’t rush into it. The slightest carelessness could cost them their lives.

Before the Shen family could reach a decision, the village chief arrived.

The village chief, Zhou Cheng, was also a refugee. He was a scholar who had lost his right hand during the escape, preventing him from taking the imperial examinations. He opened a private school in his own house and became the village chief.

Zhou, the village chief, didn’t beat around the bush. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, he explained his purpose: “This year, everyone is short of grain. Now that the weather has cleared, everyone wants to go hunting in the mountains to stock up on some grain for their families. But there are too few prey on the outskirts. If we really want to hunt enough prey, we have to go deep into the mountains. The deep mountains are not for ordinary people. If we’re not careful, we’ll be in danger. I think we should unite as Lanhua Village, with each family sending a few people to go hunting together. It will be safer to enter the mountains as a group. The hunted prey will be divided according to the number of people.”

He looked at Shen Dong and continued: “You are the best hunter in our Lanhua Village. I want to ask you to be the leader of this hunting team. You will be responsible for arranging all hunting matters. If anyone dares to disobey you, you can tell them to get lost. You don’t need to worry about safety. They are responsible for their own safety. You just need to lead the hunting. I will write a life-and-death agreement and have the villagers who follow you into the mountains sign it. It won’t cause you any trouble.”

“Shen Dong, I’m asking for your opinion, not forcing you to be the leader. If you don’t agree, I won’t force you…”

Before Zhou, the village chief, could finish, Shen Dong smiled and said: “Uncle Zhou, don’t worry. I didn’t say I wouldn’t agree. I’m willing to be the leader.”

Old Man Shen also smiled and said: “Our family was also planning to go hunting in the mountains. We had already decided to send Ah Dong and his four brothers. We were quite worried about their safety. Now that you’ve made this arrangement, I feel relieved!”

Zhou, the village chief, smiled with relief: “Brother Shen, remember twenty years ago, you also led the villagers into the mountains to hunt. You were so impressive back then. Shen Dong is just like you.”

Old Man Shen raised his eyebrows and chuckled: “My son has to be like me!”

“Brother Shen, you’ve raised your sons well! Let’s settle it then. No going back on your word.”

“No going back. Go ahead and make arrangements, brother. We’ll set off at the crack of dawn tomorrow.”

Having received a satisfactory answer, Zhou, the village chief, left quickly.

The rest of the Shen family wholeheartedly supported Shen Dong and Old Man Shen’s decision.

Although Shen Nian couldn’t speak, she also supported it. It was indeed safer for a group of people to enter the mountains than for a few people to go in.

At the same time, she made a wish in her heart: May her family be safe, may the villagers be safe, and may everyone hunt a lot of wild game.

The next day, at the crack of dawn, a group of people came to the Shen family.

Each family sent two strong men, plus Shen Dong and his four brothers, a total of forty-eight people. Each of them carried a bow and arrow and various weapons that could kill wild animals.

Seeing that everyone was present, Shen Dong gave a command, and the whole group set off towards Cangwu Mountain.