Xu Mo followed Xu An into the room, and upon seeing Xu Ning, he rushed into her embrace, wrapping his arms around her waist.

Feeling touched, he said, “Sister, you are really my own sister! You always think of me when there’s something delicious, always wanting to nourish my body. Sister, don’t worry, once I grow up, I will take care of you too.”

Xu Ning looked at him, amused and helpless, as he acted like he was performing in a play. She pulled him out of her embrace and placed him on the kang, saying, “Alright, speak properly. Where did you learn this act?”

Hearing his sister’s remark, Xu Mo felt he might have overdone it a bit. Embarrassed, he replied, “Sister, why do you talk like that? I just heard that you were going to bring me to stay for a couple of days. Isn’t it normal to be moved? This is a genuine display of emotion.”

Xu An watched his performance from the moment he entered, truly wondering how this kid managed to have such thick skin.

The next morning, as Xu Ning opened the door, the snow had not yet stopped. It had decreased slightly compared to yesterday, and a thick layer already covered the ground. Xu Ning took out Xu An’s coat for him to wear to school.

For breakfast, they had potato pancakes and millet porridge, which Xu Mo had ordered the night before.

After the three siblings finished their meal, Xu An went off to school. Xu Mo lay on the kang, rubbing his full belly, and said, “Sister, these potato pancakes are so delicious! Let’s have them for lunch too!”

Xu Ning gently rubbed his belly and replied, “Little Mo, I was planning to make braised pork for lunch. Since you like potato pancakes so much, I won’t make the braised pork.”

Xu Mo quickly scrambled off the kang and laughed, “Sister, let’s have braised pork for lunch today and save the potato pancakes for tomorrow!”

Xu Ning couldn’t help but laugh at him. With this little bundle of joy around, all her worries disappeared.

The little guy played here for three days before he decided to go back, saying he wanted to accompany the few elders at home, fearing they might miss him.

Xu Ning steamed some brown sugar sponge cake for him to take back to enjoy.

After Xu Ning stayed at home for two days, feeling quite bored, she decided to take a walk in the mountains to see if she could encounter any game. It was inconvenient to go to the city in winter, and there was no excuse to bring meat out from the space. ^[1]Game or quarry is any wild animal hunted for animal products – primarily meat, for recreation or for trophies. ex. deer or wild boar

Fearing that a few elders from the cattle shed would find out and not allow her to go up the mountain, Xu Ning quietly left after lunch, sneaking out from behind the cattle shed. It had just snowed this year, so the snow accumulation on the mountain wasn’t too thick yet.

The mountain was very quiet, and Xu Ning felt a bit scared. She didn’t plan to venture too far in; she just wanted to wander around and test her luck.

She saw quite a few wild chickens and hares, but she couldn’t catch any! These little animals would run away as soon as they spotted her. She even picked up a handful of stones at the foot of the mountain, trying to throw them at the wild chickens and hares, but her aim was far too poor—she missed every single time.

After spending almost an hour on the mountain, she spotted two roe deer, but before she could get close, they dashed away. Didn’t they say that roe deer were silly? Why were all the ones she encountered so clever? Sigh, was there a time-traveling girl with worse luck than hers?

She took out her water bottle from the space and drank a few sips of ginger syrup, feeling a bit warmer. She planned to head further up the mountain; since she was already here, it felt a bit unsatisfactory to go back empty-handed!

Just as she was about to put the water bottle back in the space, Xu Ning suddenly felt something charging toward her. She turned around and gasped; it was a huge wild boar, with two little ones following behind it.

She felt both excited and frightened, readying herself to catch the wild boar as it approached, planning to bring it into the space. However, the imagined scenario was far more pleasant than reality; before the boar could come near her, it opened its mouth, preparing to charge at her.

Terrified, Xu Ning quickly hid inside the space. Her heart raced as she patted her chest, trying to calm down. She opened the water bottle and took a sip of syrup to steady her nerves, then exhaled deeply, preparing to venture out again.

When she stepped out of the space, she returned to her original spot and saw one large and two small wild boars circling around. They seemed puzzled, likely wondering where she had suddenly disappeared to.

Taking advantage of the boars’ distraction, Xu Ning swiftly touched each of them, and in an instant, they were all pulled into the space. Once inside, she checked and found that the large boar weighed over two hundred pounds, while the two smaller ones were around a hundred pounds each.

Checking the time, she realized it was already three o’clock. In winter, it would get dark here by around four. If she headed back now, it would be nearly dark by the time she reached the cattle shed.

The area around her was too small, with no walls, and if the educated youth from the front saw her, it would be difficult to keep the catch to herself. It would be better to take the wild boar to the cattle shed and kill it in the backyard.

She killed all three wild boars in the space, planning to take one of the larger ones out first, claiming that she had hunted it. If she brought out all three, no one would believe her.

Standing at the foot of the mountain and looking toward the main road, she saw no one around; it was nearly dark. She released the large wild boar and started pulling it along.

When Father Xu heard a knock on the door, he quickly set aside his work and ran to open it. The only people who came to the cattle shed were his daughter or his son.

Opening the door, Father Xu was startled to see Xu Ning with the wild boar. He hurriedly let her in and quietly called for Uncle Lu and Grandpa Qi.

When the two men came out and saw the scene, they were also taken aback, but they didn’t rush to speak. They immediately began to lift the wild boar into the backyard. Xu Ning told Mother Xu and Aunt Lu, who were preparing to cook, to hold on for a moment and quickly boil a pot of hot water.

Having already experienced killing a wild boar once, they were not as flustered this time. Xu Ning observed as everyone worked methodically, and after saying a quick word to her mom, she decided to head back home. Xu An would surely be worried if she hadn’t returned yet.

As Xu Ning entered, Xu An was just about to come out to look for her. He breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing her return.

Xu An had already prepared dinner. After the siblings ate, they went to the cattle shed, where the pigskin had already been removed. Mother Xu and Aunt Lu were busy stuffing blood sausages, while Father Xu was cutting the meat into small pieces, and Uncle Lu was washing the pig’s entrails.

Xu Ning noticed that the blood sausages were almost finished being stuffed, so she added water to the pot and asked Xu An to start the fire while she placed the sausages in to boil.

Once everyone had finished preparing the wild boar and they had eaten dinner, they began to interrogate Xu Ning.

Grandpa Qi said, “Xiao Ning, why did you go up the mountain again? How can you, a girl, be so bold?”

Uncle Lu and Aunt Lu chimed in, “Xiao Ning, why don’t you listen to the adults? The mountain is very dangerous! You took such a big risk just to let us eat some meat. Do you think we can even eat it?”

On the other side, Xu Ning’s parents remained silent, their expressions serious.

Xu Ning glanced at their expressions and thought to herself, if she had known they would react this way, she should have brought out all three pigs to avoid making excuses next time.

Xu Ning waved her hand and said, “You don’t need to worry! I’m strong enough. I took down this wild boar with just two hits. Besides, I can climb trees; if it gets dangerous, I’ll just climb up!”

Father Xu and Mother Xu still didn’t say anything.

Xu Ning walked over and persuaded them, “Dad, Mom, please don’t be angry. I won’t go up the mountain alone anymore. Is that alright?”

But if they (the wild boars) ran down by themselves, then it wouldn’t be my fault.

Before her parents could even respond, Xu An chimed in from the side, “Sister, I’ll go with you next time.”

Mother Xu, holding a broom from behind the door, swung it toward him. Seeing that their mother was actually using the broom, the siblings quickly jumped up and ran outside.