“Father, Second Brother, Third Brother! Come out and help, quickly!”
Bai Muban had just taken a breath and picked up the bowl of sugar water handed to him by Xie Chuntao when he heard Bai Dazhuang’s shout from outside the courtyard.
His voice carried a mix of urgency and surprise, punctuated by heavy, ragged breaths.
What happened now?
Old Lady Bai and Lady Zhen had not yet recovered from the shock of the pheasants. They looked up to see Bai Dazhuang and Bai Zhaomei struggling to push a small handcart through the gate, the wheels churning up clouds of white snow.
“Mother of mine!” Once she saw clearly what was on the cart, Old Lady Bai clutched her chest, her pupils shrinking in shock.
Good heavens—there was a wild boar on the small cart.
Its massive, plump body and ferocious head stunned the Bai family once again. The cart was so small that half the boar’s body hung off the side, looking quite comical.
Bai Muban set his bowl down in the snow and hurried toward the cart.
“Erzhuang, Sanzhuang! What are you standing there gaping for? Go and help push!” Lady Zhen snapped out of her trance and nudged the petrified second and third sons.
Bai Erzhuang and Bai Sanzhuang followed closely behind Bai Muban, running over to help push the cart. It was incredibly heavy.
“One, two, three—heave!” The men of the Bai family shouted in unison, coordinating their strength to push the wild boar into the center of the courtyard.
“Quick, give me a bowl of water,” Bai Dazhuang panted, completely out of breath.
“I want one too,” Bai Zhaomei added, rubbing his reddened palms.
Carrying a wild boar down the mountain and then pushing it home through the snow was no easy feat; the two brothers were utterly exhausted. Xie Chuntao smiled and handed each of them a bowl of water.
“Great-grandma! Grandpa! Grandma!” Clear, high-pitched childish voices rang out at the gate.
The Bai family was stunned for a third time.
Dalang and Sanlang stood at the entrance, each clutching two fat rabbits and gasping for air. They had followed behind the older brothers, their small hands gripping the rabbits tightly as they stumbled through the snow. They had clearly fallen a few times; snow clung to their bottoms, and their little faces were flushed bright red from the cold.
Bai Sanzhuang was the first to react. He lunged forward, took the rabbits from his nephews, and tossed them into the pile of pheasants in the courtyard. Since the rabbits were already stiff and dead, he didn’t mind where they landed.
Xie Chuntao hurried to the kitchen to bring hot tea for the children, while Lady Zhen pulled her grandsons close, rubbing their hands and blowing warm air on them.
“How did you hunt this pig? And these rabbits?” Old Lady Bai asked.
Everyone knew there were wild boars on Nanguan Mountain; the crops at the foot of the mountain were often ravaged by boars coming down for food. But no one could do anything about them. With such sturdy bodies and sharp tusks, they could easily injure someone. Forget the average villager; even seasoned hunters would run if they saw such a beast.
In all of Shenshu Village, no one had ever heard of anyone successfully hunting a wild boar. Encountering one and coming away uninjured was already considered a blessing from one’s ancestors. Today, it seemed the Bai family’s ancestral graves weren’t just “smoking” with luck; they were erupting. Otherwise, how could they have easily caught such a large boar?
Even if all the Bai brothers joined forces, they likely wouldn’t be a match for a single wild boar.
Bai Dazhuang took a sip of hot tea, his expression full of smug satisfaction.
“Actually, it didn’t take any effort at all. The boar just charged straight into a big tree and knocked itself out,” Bai Dazhuang said honestly.
“After it passed out, Big Brother and I smashed its head with stones until it stopped moving completely,” Bai Zhaomei added, raising his hand to emphasize.
“Hunting it wasn’t hard; we just had a bit of luck.”
Bai Dazhuang nodded, trying his best to maintain the steady demeanor of an eldest brother. However, facing the admiring gazes of Erzhuang and Sanzhuang, his tone couldn’t help but drift with pride.
Bai Muban suppressed the excitement on his face; this was exactly how he had caught the pheasants. Today, the Old Bai family was truly overflowing with fortune.
As the family listened to Bai Dazhuang and looked at the string of pheasants Bai Muban had brought back, their thoughts all turned toward the idea that the family had struck a massive streak of luck.
“Then these rabbits… did they knock themselves out too?” Bai Erzhuang asked in disbelief. Such a spectacle, if written into a book, would be considered a legendary tale.
Earlier, Bai Erzhuang and Bai Sanzhuang had thought their father was exaggerating about the pheasants, but hearing about the boar hitting a tree made them believe it completely.
At the mention of the rabbits, Bai Dazhuang was too embarrassed to go into detail. It was because of the rabbits that the boar had appeared, and he had been scared witless when it first charged out.
“Yes! First the rabbits hit the tree, then the boar. When the boar came out, Father’s legs were shaking so much…”
Sanlang, in his innocent childishness, blurted out his father’s embarrassing moment, earning a glare from Bai Dazhuang.
Earlier, Bai Dazhuang had taken Bai Zhaomei, Dalang, and Sanlang up the mountain to cut wood. When they reached the foot of the mountain, they heard a rustling sound in the withered grass.
Before they could react, a gray rabbit leaped out and, as if fleeing for its life, slammed its head into a nearby tree and fell unconscious.
Bai Dazhuang and the others were dumbfounded. What was this? It was literally the idiom “waiting for a rabbit to hit a tree” come to life! They never expected to see it personally.
Before they could even pick up the rabbit, another sound echoed. Several more rabbits lunged out, scurrying chaotically as if something were chasing them. With a series of thumps, they all hit the tree just like the first one, even falling into the same unconscious posture.
Bai Dazhuang was ecstatic and quickly called for Bai Zhaomei and the kids to gather the rabbits. Who cared about wood when there was meat right in front of them—delicious wild rabbit meat!
But just as they got the rabbits in hand, they heard a thundering gallop behind them. Bai Dazhuang turned his head and nearly lost his soul.
It was a wild boar with long tusks!
It turned out the rabbits hitting the tree were being chased by this very boar.
Bai Dazhuang grabbed Dalang and Sanlang and shouted for Bai Zhaomei to run down the mountain. A wild boar this large and stout could kill a man in a direct confrontation. Even if all the Bai brothers were tied together, they wouldn’t be its match. At that moment, he was truly afraid the men of the Bai family would meet their end in the mouth of a wild boar.
The boar spotted them and, provoked by the shouting, charged directly at them. Fearing they would all be taken out, Bai Dazhuang yelled for Bai Zhaomei to take the children and scatter.
He knew he couldn’t outrun the boar, and fearing for his brother, son, and nephew, he gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and ran toward a thick, sturdy tree.
As the boar thundered behind him, Bai Dazhuang was terrified to the point of almost hitting the tree himself. Fortunately, his reason remained. Just as he was about to collide with the trunk, he swerved sharply and dove into the open space beside it.
BAM—!
A massive crash echoed through the forest, making the trees shake and the ground tremble. The boar had slammed its head directly into the tree, and its heavy body collapsed onto the ground.
Bai Dazhuang stood frozen on the spot. It was Bai Zhaomei who snapped out of it first, picking up a large stone and smashing it against the boar’s head. Dalang and Sanlang joined in with smaller stones until the boar was completely finished.
Cooled by the mountain breeze, Bai Dazhuang finally came to his senses, his cotton clothes drenched in cold sweat. After a short rest, he and Zhaomei hoisted the boar onto the cart, while the two boys each carried two rabbits, and the four of them rushed back to the village in a grand procession.
Over ten pheasants, four fat rabbits, a large wild boar, and a pocket full of eggs were now laid out in the Bai family courtyard.
These things had been acquired without any real effort—just a stroll through the reed marsh and a scare on the mountain. The entire Bai family was filled with immense joy. They never expected that after catching the large fish, they would have such a massive stroke of luck again so soon.
The children, Dalang and Sanlang, were especially excited. The fish from last time had been delicious, but meat was even more fragrant than fish. Moreover, they had contributed to this catch; carrying rabbits home was hard work. Finally, they could eat meat to their hearts’ content.
The two brothers spun around in circles with joy, even bringing Erlang out to see the animals on the ground so he could share in the celebratory atmosphere.
“Just today, I was saying we shouldn’t have the one-month feast for Xiao Fuyuan. Now that we have meat and chicken, we absolutely have to hold it!” Bai Muban said gleefully.
Lady Zhen nodded her head in agreement, her face lit with happiness.
Old Lady Bai was beaming from ear to ear. They definitely had to hold it—after all, these blessings were brought home by their little Xiao Fuyuan and her incredible luck!