It was almost completely dark, but many villagers were still outside taking evening walks and chatting. Children ran around the village playing, and there were still people gathering firewood at the foot of the mountain. It looked like the siblings wouldn’t be able to head down anytime soon.
The elderly women in the village had a habit of peeking into other people’s baskets. Even if it was only wild vegetables, they would still want to see what kind they were. It wasn’t necessarily because they wanted to take advantage of anyone—they were simply curious. But if your basket actually contained something valuable, the whole village would know within minutes.
Hehua was starting to regret catching so many rabbits.
If it had only been one or two, it wouldn’t have mattered even if someone saw them. Every family had lucky moments once in a while. As long as they kept them for themselves, no one could really say anything. That was the unspoken rule among all the production brigades.
People might get jealous and make a few sarcastic comments, but this was too much. If someone saw it, there would definitely be people who felt resentful and wanted the family to hand everything over. Once one person suggested it, many others would be tempted to agree.
Hehua pursed her lips.
The main problem was that this had been her first real hunting trip. She had been so excited that she couldn’t stop herself. Even this was what she considered exercising restraint.
She slapped away a mosquito that had landed on her hand, silently reminding herself to plan better before hunting next time.
Seeing his sister constantly swatting mosquitoes, Shen Jianguo felt a little sorry for her and lowered his voice.
“I’ll stay here with the basket. You go home first. Tell Mom, Dad, and your sister-in-law not to worry. Have Mom boil some water and get everything ready to process the game.”
Hehua was getting fed up with the mosquitoes anyway and didn’t want to stay any longer. Since they were only at the foot of the mountain and her brother was skilled enough to protect himself, she didn’t insist.
“Alright. I’ll head back first. Big Brother, move a little farther down the mountain. It might not be safe here once it gets darker. Be careful.”
“Okay!”
…
Hehua strolled back toward the village, casually picking up some firewood along the way.
By the time she reached the small path leading into the village, she was carrying quite a respectable bundle.
Remembering how her third brother had been killed by a wild boar in her previous life, she couldn’t help worrying about her eldest brother waiting alone at the foot of the mountain.
She kept looking back.
Seeing this, Niuniu comforted her.
【Don’t worry. Your brother is perfectly safe. I’m keeping an eye on him for you.】
With Niuniu’s reassurance, Hehua felt much more at ease.
She quickened her pace toward the village.
Several elderly women chatting beneath the large willow tree greeted her with smiles when they saw her coming down the mountain carrying firewood.
“Hehua, you went up the mountain?”
“Why are you coming down so late? You’re such a brave child.”
“Hurry home. Your mother has been looking for you several times since work ended.”
Hehua usually enjoyed visiting people and chatting, so she got along well with all the old ladies. Smiling sweetly, she answered each of them.
“I just went for a walk in the mountains. I spotted a rabbit and chased after it, but I couldn’t catch it. Then I got lost and wandered around for quite a while before finding my way back out. My mom was looking for me? Then I’d better hurry home.”
Knowing Meng Chunxing had been worried sick about Hehua’s safety, no one tried to keep her chatting any longer. Instead, they all urged her to hurry home.
She ran into two more groups of villagers along the way before finally making it back.
The first thing she did after entering the courtyard was close and bolt the gate.
Otherwise, if she got beaten later, the neighbors might see.
The moment she turned around, she saw a tiny figure wobbling toward her on unsteady legs before hugging her leg tightly.
A babyish voice called out,
“Dudu!”
Startled, Hehua immediately threw the unstable bundle of firewood aside.
This was her precious little nephew.
She couldn’t let him get hurt.
Fortunately, she reacted quickly enough, and the sliding firewood didn’t hit the little chubby dumpling hugging her leg.
After dusting off her clothes, she helplessly picked up the little boy and held him in her arms.
“It’s Auntie. Auntie.”
Little Shen Pingzhou looked incredibly serious.
“Dudu.”
“Auntie.”
“Dudu!”
Hehua:
“…”
Fine.
Dudu it is…
“Where’s your grandma?”
Little Pingping pointed his tiny chubby finger toward the main room.
“Lai-lai.”
Before Hehua could even go inside, Meng Chunxing came out carrying a broom.
“So you finally remembered to come home? Why didn’t you just spend the night outside?”
Hehua:
“…”
“Mom! Mom! Mom! Mom! Please don’t hit me! Don’t hit me! Pingping’s still in my arms! You’ll hurt your precious grandson, Mom!”
Meng Chunxing showed absolutely no mercy.
That trick might have worked before today.
But today she had personally witnessed Hehua effortlessly carrying a bathtub full of water with just a few fingers.
How much could little Pingping possibly weigh?
Hehua’s exaggerated cries echoed throughout the Shen family’s yard, accompanied by the little boy’s cheerful giggling.
The neighbors who already knew Hehua hadn’t come home before dark had expected this outcome all along.
The Shen family’s walls were too high to climb, but that didn’t stop people from standing outside listening to the excitement. There were even two groups of elderly women gathered outside the gate.
“What did I tell you? Hehua was definitely going to get a beating. Look! Hahaha…”
Inside the gate, someone cried.
Outside the gate, people laughed.
Little Pingping kept laughing happily too.
Hehua suffered.
Chunxing chased her around.
The whole family enjoyed the spectacle.
Finally, Meng Chunxing became too tired to continue, and the lively scene came to an end.
Little Pingping didn’t understand.
Little Pingping was confused.
“Dudu, run! Run!”
He hadn’t had enough yet.
This was much more fun than riding on his father’s shoulders or playing airplane.
Looking at her mother, who hadn’t landed a single hit despite exhausting herself, Hehua struggled to suppress her laughter.
“Auntie isn’t running because Grandma stopped chasing me.”
Pingping’s big eyes sparkled with childlike wisdom as he looked at Meng Chunxing.
“Lai-lai, chase! Chase Dudu!”
“Pfft!”
Her second sister-in-law couldn’t hold it in anymore and quickly turned around to hide her laughter.
Her eldest sister-in-law worried that although Mother-in-law hadn’t caught Hehua, their son was making things worse. She lightly patted Pingping’s bottom and hurried over to take him from Hehua.
“Chase what? Can’t you see Grandma’s tired?”
Little Pingping looked at his mother, then at his grandmother.
“Tired? Rest.”
Meng Chunxing couldn’t help smiling.
Although her grandson was little, he knew how to care about people.
Pingping added,
“Then chase again.”
Meng Chunxing:
“…”
Everyone else:
“…”
The entire family finally burst into laughter.
As the excitement at the Shen household came to an end, the curious neighbors outside gradually dispersed.
The Shen family was one of the few households in Xiangyang Brigade that ate dinner.
Most families only had two meals a day—one in the morning and another around two or three in the afternoon. After returning from work in the evening, they usually didn’t eat.
The Shen family, however, still had a bowl of porridge in the evening to fill their stomachs.
Of course, that had only become their routine after they split from the main household.
The whole family entered the main room and sat cross-legged on the heated kang.
Second Sister-in-law brought over the bowl of porridge she had saved for Hehua, along with the small dish of pickled vegetables left over from breakfast.
Meng Chunxing was mending Shen Tiechui’s clothes as she looked at Hehua.
“Did you see your eldest brother? He went looking for you.”
Hehua swallowed her mouthful of porridge.
“I saw him.”
“There were people outside the yard just now, so I didn’t say anything. Big Brother will be back a little later.”
Lu Shufen, holding little Pingping, looked toward Hehua.
Hehua shook her head.
“Don’t worry. Everything’s fine. Didn’t Mom discover today that I’m unusually strong? Now that we’ve split from the old house and it’s only our own family here, I don’t have to hide it anymore. I wanted to improve our family’s meals, so I went to Rabbit Slope. I got a little carried away and caught six rabbits, one pheasant, and found a nest with sixteen pheasant eggs. The smell of blood was too strong, so it wasn’t a good idea to bring everything back right now. Big Brother felt sorry for me and told me to come home first. That way I could let everyone know so you wouldn’t worry, and you could prepare hot water and everything else to process the game.”
The entire room instantly became restless.
“What unusual strength?”
“Were you hurt?”
“Where’s your eldest brother?”
…
Questions came from every direction.
In the end, Meng Chunxing quieted everyone down.
She took the initiative to explain Hehua’s extraordinary strength, warned everyone not to let the secret slip out, and gave Shen Tiechui an especially stern reminder to keep his mouth shut.