Chapter 5: The Great Hunter and the Two Wild Boars (Part 3)
The quiet house quickly reached dinner time. Bai Li knew that Xiao Han was awake, so he decided not to ladle out the pheasant stew for him. If he became too obedient and well-behaved in just one day, it would arouse suspicion. Therefore, he only prepared the meal for himself and the little ones. After setting the food, he looked at the three people clinging to the corner of the house and said:
"Xiaofu and Xiaowu, come here and eat. Your stew is in the pot; go and ladle it out yourselves."
When those three Ge'er-figures looked at him with the same wide, startled eyes, Bai Li felt that the sight was both funny and adorable. However, he suppressed his urge to smile and said:
"You guys still haven't moved, have you?"
It was clear that these three Ge'er-figures were extremely afraid of Bai Li. The moment Bai Li spoke, Xiao Han quietly told the little ones to go eat, and he himself went out to ladle the stew. They might be afraid of this man, but he was the head of their household. Even if he were to beat them, no one would dare to intervene. Therefore, all they could do was listen to what this man said.
Bai Li was eating alone at the table, but he felt extremely helpless watching those three Ge'er-figures who had taken seats as far away from him as possible. It looks like it will take a lot of time for him to get closer to these three.
After they finished eating, Xiao Han washed the dishes, and Bai Li allowed it, even though Xiao Han was still feverish. He was worried that if he were to wash the dishes that Xiao Han and the children had eaten from, the three of them would be terrified and run away.
The little hut was very small, barely fitting a kang (heated brick bed) and a table. Bai Li sighed about the poverty in this life and decided he must find a big game animal tomorrow before falling asleep. Xiao Han and the little ones only dared to climb onto the kang once Bai Li was definitely asleep.
Xiaofu and Xiaowu hugged Xiao Han and quietly asked:
"Papa, Father gave us so much food today, didn't he? Father wasn't scary today."
"Will Father give us more tomorrow?"
Xiao Han didn't want to destroy the little ones' hope, but he didn't want to lie either, so he could only reply, "Papa doesn't know."
The little ones still wanted to talk about Father's changes today, but the stew, cooked with pheasant meat and bamboo shoots, was so delicious, and they had eaten rice instead of thin gruel, so their little bellies were full, and they quickly fell asleep. The only one who couldn't sleep was Xiao Han.
He had drunk a bowl of stew that contained a whole pheasant. Initially, he was hesitant to eat it, but he ate it all under Bai Li's intense gaze. At that time, he suspected Bai Li had put something in the stew, but when nothing happened afterward, he became even more confused.
Did Bai Li really want to give him a whole pheasant? And he cooked it himself?
Xiao Han was extremely excited by the thought. A whole pheasant could feed a large family, but Bai Li had given it all to him alone, which made him both worried and excited.
Could his husband truly have changed? If so, he hoped his husband would stay this way forever.
The next morning, when Bai Li woke up, it was still early, but there were only the little ones on the bed; Xiao Han was gone. He got dressed and went outside, where he saw Xiao Han carrying water.
Xiao Han's fever was only slightly better, not yet gone. His face was red due to the fever, and this seemed to be the last trip for water. So, since when had Xiao Han been awake? By Bai Li's estimation, it was only about seven in the morning. This was because, in his previous life, he used to wake up without an alarm at seven and go for his morning run.
He wanted to tell Xiao Han to stop carrying water, but he saw that the water buckets at home were already full, so he held his tongue. Xiao Han had been sick and couldn't carry water for the past few days, and yesterday he had used almost all the remaining water for cooking. For someone who came from the 21st century like him, cleanliness was a priority, so using water generously was only natural. However, this had inadvertently caused trouble for Xiao Han.
"This won't do. He must dig a well at home soon."
However, Bai Li didn't express that thought (about digging a well) and instead said to Xiao Han:
"There's still some pheasant meat left over from the stew with rice. Make some meat congee and you and the children eat it. I'm going to head to the mountains."
Bai Li's expression was calm, but his words were light. This was a side of Bai Li that Xiao Han had never seen, and he had wanted to say something. He had seen the leftover ingredients but hadn't dared to cook without Bai Li's permission. If he had known Bai Li would allow him to cook like this, he would have cooked after waking up, and then Bai Li could have eaten something before leaving for the mountains.
Xiao Han watched Bai Li's back for a long time as he quickly walked away with a back basket, a bow, and arrows. Even after Bai Li disappeared from his sight, he was still gazing towards that direction.
Then, he took a deep breath and commented to himself:
He got up early in the morning and went to the mountain, so my husband might really have changed.
In Xiao Han's heart, he felt a sweetness, as if flowers were blooming. This was similar to the life he had always longed for: a husband who would work hard and care for his family, not one who would always cause trouble and beat him and their sons. If his husband would only stay this way forever, he would have nothing more to ask for in this life.
Bai Li, unaware of how many people he had made happy, simply ran up the mountain to get his morning workout in.
Actually, the villagers were so afraid of the wild beasts that they would only venture to the foot of the mountain and never dared to enter the deep forest. That's why hunting was difficult for them. Bai Li, however, went straight into the depths of the mountain to look for large game. His target for the day was big animals that would bring a pile of silver. It would be even better if he could find a bear, which was extremely valuable in this era.
However, before Bai Li could find any large game, he came across some edible plants and fruits.
In this era, there weren't many things people knew how to eat. They typically boiled, steamed, or roasted meat, since oil was expensive and frying was unknown to them. They treated vegetables the same way: either making a simple soup with water and vegetables or steaming them. They only ate the wild vegetables found at the edge of the forest. If they found wild fruits in the deep forest and they tasted bland or had a strange flavor when cooked, they would just classify them as inedible.
Furthermore, salt was so expensive that they didn't add enough of it, making their dishes bland and quite terrible.
Bai Li shook his head, then picked up some large, juicy bell peppers and chili peppers, tossed them into his back basket. Next came coriander and lemongrass. Then wild eggplants and potatoes. Finally, pumpkin leaves. It was a pity that people in this era only cultivated and ate small amounts of the pumpkin fruit but didn't eat the leaves. As this pumpkin plant hadn't borne fruit yet, Bai Li simply snapped off the tender shoots. He then tossed some wild-growing mustard greens into the basket as well.
When his basket was more than half full, he had reached the deepest part of the mountain foot. Just then, he heard some noises.
Bai Li immediately frowned. The sounds were so loud and chaotic that he decided to investigate where the noise was coming from.
"Oh! What huge wild boars!"
Bai Li had originally thought he would need to climb higher into the mountain to find large game, but unexpectedly, he found two large wild boars fighting right at the foot of the mountain.
These wild boars were at the mountain foot; if they reached the village, they would be extremely dangerous. Today, he had no choice but to target these two wild boars.
Bai Li was grateful that the wild boars were only focused on fighting each other, and he chose an excellent vantage point. He then drew and strung the arrow, aiming at one of the boars. These boars were huge, and the Village Chief's bow wasn't very good, so he knew one shot wouldn't be enough to finish the job. However, Bai Li had been friends with archery champions in his previous life. While his friends competed in tournaments, his parents hadn't allowed him to. Who knows if he could have been an archery champion too if his parents had permitted it?
Bai Li didn't hesitate and released the arrow. The arrow swiftly cut through the air and pierced the neck of one of the boars. A shrill shriek from the massive boar echoed chillingly through the forest, and then another arrow, without delay, sank into the same boar's neck, ending its life. The second boar seemed terrified by what happened to the one in front of it and quickly turned to flee, but escaping Bai Li's hand was impossible.
Two more arrows were released in quick succession, finishing the second boar in the same manner.
The forest fell silent again, just like normal. Bai Li was extremely happy looking at the two enormous wild boars, each bigger than his body. In his previous life, wild animals this size were non-existent due to deforestation, but in this era, the wilderness was vast and the animals were plentiful and large. For him, with his skill in archery, he wouldn't have to worry about starving to death as long as his hands didn't break.
Bai Li was dragging the two large boars out of the deep foot of the mountain, one in each hand, struggling only slightly. Although there weren't usually large beasts at the foot of the mountain, he was worried that the smell of blood would draw predators down from higher up.
Bai Li's body in his previous life was strong and fit, but this current body was extremely thin from a life of excessive indulgence. Yet, what was surprising was that Bai Li felt as if the strength from his previous body had carried over to this life. He was even able to carry two wild boars!
After coming out of the deepest part of the mountain foot, he temporarily hid one of the boars in a thicket. He then switched his back basket to the front and put the other boar on his back, heading back to the village. Two might have been too much, but one was still light for him. With rapid steps, he soon reached the Village Chief's fields.
The Village Chief's fields were closer to the village, and since they were located on the path between the mountain and the village, choosing the Village Chief was the best option.
The Village Chief and his family were talking about the year's harvest when Jiang Qing, the youngest son, stretched and glanced towards the mountain. He was so startled that he jumped up and screamed:
"Ah!!! A wild boar! Father! A huge wild boar is coming this way!"
Because the boar was larger than Bai Li's body, anyone looking from a distance would see only the boar and not Bai Li who was carrying it. The Village Chief and the others looked in the direction Jiang Qing was pointing, and when they actually saw the massive boar approaching, their faces turned deathly pale.
The Village Chief shouted at his trembling wife:
"Why are you staring? Run!"
Bai Li's steps were so fast that it truly seemed like the boar was running toward them.
The Village Chief's family was in a state of chaos, but Jiang Ting, who had excellent eyesight, looked closer at the boar and pulled his father, saying hesitantly:
"Father, wait a minute, look closely! Is there a person under the wild boar?"
Jiang Qing, still trembling with fear, cried out:
"Don't tell me the wild boar caught a villager and is carrying them to eat!"
Jiang Ting kicked his younger brother once.
"Aren't you a man? Look closely! A person is carrying the wild boar!"
Now that Bai Li was in clear view, they could all see that a man was indeed carrying the boar, though they couldn't clearly make out who it was. The Village Chief and his sons knew that whoever was carrying the boar must be a villager heading towards their side of the village, so they immediately ran over to help.
However, when they got closer, they were greatly astonished to see Bai Li.
The Village Chief, in disbelief, asked:
"You... Aren't you the Second Boy of the Bai family? You hunted that wild boar?"
Bai Li put down the wild boar and replied:
"That's right, Village Chief. I was hunting today and saw two wild boars fighting deep at the foot of the mountain. I thought about how the village would surely be greatly damaged if those two reached us, so I hunted them down."
Hearing this, the Village Chief couldn't help but exclaim in disbelief:
"Two?! You killed two of them?!"
"That's right. I already brought one out of the deep foot of the mountain, but I couldn't carry it, so I had to leave it there temporarily. I need to go get it before other beasts find it, so I would like to ask for your help, Village Chief, to send this one back to my house."
Though the Village Chief was still deeply shocked, he knew what was more important. The market price for one wild boar was many silver ingots. It would be a huge loss if they let it go after it had already been killed.
He immediately made a decision:
"Then don't waste any time, go quickly! Jiang Ting, you go with the Bai family's boy. The rest of us will carry this boar into the village."
The Village Chief's sons, who were still dazed, immediately snapped back to reality and obeyed their father's command.