Qiao Xin paid no attention to the exchange between the master and servant.

She grabbed the black bear’s hind leg and walked toward Qiao Yunxin.

By then, Qiao Yunxin and Qiao Yunting had already removed the arrows from the wild boar’s body.

Just as they were worrying about how to transport so many wild boars back, they saw their mother effortlessly dragging a several-hundred-pound black bear as if she were taking a casual stroll.

Although they had already been shocked by their mother’s immense strength multiple times, the two brothers still couldn’t help but swallow hard.

Their mother was too fierce!

They had to warn everyone back home—never, under any circumstances, should they anger their mother.

Otherwise, they might be the next ones lying on the ground!

Qiao Xin glanced at the pile of prey on the ground, pondering how to transport everything in one trip.

With only three bamboo baskets and a few ropes, even her great strength wouldn’t be enough.

Plus, they were deep in the mountains, facing unpredictable dangers, and she was also dragging along two burdens…

“It’s too much! Eldest and third, can you each carry one?”

Qiao Yunxin pointed at a large and a small wild boar that had been set aside, speaking confidently, “Mother, I already weighed them—these two are no problem!”

Qiao Yunting wasn’t as strong as Qiao Yunxin, but carrying a 200-pound piglet was still manageable.

Even so, there were still many left.

The bigger problem was that even if they carried all these pigs down the mountain, Jing’an Town wouldn’t be able to consume so much meat.

Qiao Xin turned her gaze to Xu Can and his servant.

These two good-for-nothings should at least be able to carry a 100-pound wild boar together.

That servant didn’t look much weaker than Qiao Yunting, after all.

Qiao Xin pointed at them and commanded in an unquestionable tone, “You two, carry this one down!”

Xu Can froze, unwilling, but his survival instincts told him he couldn’t refuse.

So, with great reluctance, he and A’Yuan complied.

In reality, he was just pretending—A’Yuan did all the heavy lifting.

A’Yuan seized the chance to prove himself, hoping to ease his master’s anger.

If he performed well, maybe his punishment from the master’s family would be lighter when they got back.

“Young Master, you should rest. I can handle it!” A’Yuan adjusted the weight of the wild boar on his shoulders—it was still manageable!

Xu Can lifted his chin, looking like a proud and spoiled pedigree dog. “Hmph!”

He wanted to be the kind of boss who didn’t have to lift a finger, but unfortunately, Qiao Xin had other plans.

“If you can’t carry a pig, you can at least handle the baskets, right?”

Without waiting for a response, Qiao Xin hung all three bamboo baskets onto Xu Can.

She stared at him, making her meaning very clear.

Xu Can shrank his neck—completely defeated!

Qiao Yunxin carried the largest boar down the mountain, while Qiao Xin carried the black bear by herself.

Qiao Yunting and A’Yuan each carried a smaller wild boar, leaving only Xu Can, who was burdened with the bamboo baskets.

As for the remaining wild boars, Qiao Xin simply tossed them onto the top of an old tree.

Xu Can’s eyes sparkled—he wanted that kind of strength!

If he could throw things around like that whenever he was annoyed that would be good.

The biggest gain from this trip wasn’t even the hunt—it was the silver they obtained from Xu Can and his servant.

With that money, they wouldn’t have to worry about settling down anywhere in the future.

Xu Can, being the restless type, immediately set his sights on the bear.

Now that his safety was secured, he started scheming.

If not for his grandmother’s birthday banquet and the promise of a bear paw dish, he would never have let himself be tricked into entering this deep mountain wilderness.

He carefully approached Qiao Xin and asked hesitantly, “Madam, what do you plan to do with all these animals?”

“Sell them!”

Xu Can’s eyes darted around. “Madam, to be honest, I came into the mountains specifically to hunt a bear. I promised to serve bear paw at my grandmother’s birthday feast. Instead of selling this bear to someone else, why not sell it to me?”

Qiao Xin gave him a half-smile. “A grown man carrying a scented sachet? Standing there, you could attract not just one bear, but ten. You didn’t need my bear at all.”

Xu Can wasn’t the sharpest, but he wasn’t completely stupid either.

After thinking for a moment, he realized the truth.

His face instantly turned pale.

Trembling, he reached inside his robe, yanked out the scented sachet hidden in his inner garments, and threw it away furiously.

Qiao Xin nodded approvingly. “At least you’re not entirely brainless. Now get out of here fast! Otherwise, if another black bear picks up the scent and drags you back to its den as a mate, even the gods won’t be able to save you.”

A’Yuan’s eyes widened as he connected the dots.

Impossible! That sachet was personally gifted to Young Master by the cousin he was engaged to.

Why would she do such a thing?

Xu Can remained dispirited for the rest of the journey.

He gritted his teeth and barely kept up with the group. They finally made it back to the Qiao family home by midnight.

Qiao Yuanqing opened the door.

He had seen many things in his life, but even he was utterly shocked by his mother and brothers’ actions! Especially when he saw his mother casually toss a massive black bear onto the ground—he was completely at a loss for words.

“Mother, you… what is all this…?”

Xu Can, having been pampered his whole life, had walked more today than he ever had before.

His legs were completely numb, but his stomach was growling.

He was so hungry that he wanted to take a bite out of anything he saw.

Among them all, only Qiao Xin looked completely unfazed.

She waved a hand at Qiao Yuanqing. “We’ll talk later. I need to make some food.”

The commotion in the courtyard had long woken Zhang Shi and Xu Shi, but without Qiao Yuanqing’s orders, they had stayed inside, tending to the children.

Now, hearing their mother-in-law’s voice, they stepped out to see what was happening.

When they saw three wild boars and a black bear lying in the courtyard, they were completely dumbfounded.

Had Mother-in-law stormed a wild boar nest?!

Qiao Xin didn’t explain.

She simply poured the last five pounds of black flour into a basin, kneading it into dough and rolling out noodles on the chopping board.

Zhang Shi and Xu Shi tried to help, but Qiao Xin sent one to boil water and the other to wash cabbage.

When the water boiled, she quickly added the noodles, tossed in fresh cabbage, a spoonful of salt, and a bit of lard. The aroma instantly filled the courtyard.

Though it was just a simple meal, the rich scent made everyone’s mouths water.

Soon, a large bowl of noodles was served. Without any formalities, Qiao Xin simply called everyone to eat.

After wolfing down two large bowls, Qiao Xin finally felt satisfied.

This was the first real meal she had eaten here.

Even though it was rough flour, for this family, it was a rare treat.

If she wanted to live a life of luxury like before, there was still a long road ahead.

But… those two freeloaders over there were really getting on her nerves!