Bringing back a wild boar was something worth celebrating for the entire village. It meant everyone could get a share of meat, and it also removed one dangerous threat to the village.
That day was as lively as New Year’s. They found an open space, and with one slash of the knife, ended the wild boar’s final breath. Pig’s blood splashed noisily into the basin. Some people boiled water, some sharpened knives, and all the little children in the village followed their parents out to watch the excitement.
The whole village cheerfully divided up the wild boar. Of course, it wasn’t split evenly. Those who did more work got more meat. Every household received some—not much, maybe about a jin or so—but for families who couldn’t bear to spend money on meat all year round, that was already a lot. Families with more children also received larger portions.
“Your Ali is pretty amazing. He even managed to carry back such a huge wild boar.”
This was what Mo Fang had heard the most throughout the day.
“Is Ali alright?” Li Dakang lived farther away, so news reached him slowly. It was only after quite some time that people remembered to notify the village chief, so he arrived later than everyone else.
Mo Fang felt warmth in his heart. Smiling at the village chief, he said, “That brat’s thick-skinned and sturdy. He can even fight a wild boar one-on-one. It’d be strange if he got hurt.”
Only then did Li Dakang relax. “Don’t let him do this kind of thing too often in the future. What if the wild boars appear in groups? Wouldn’t that cause trouble? Life’s more important than meat.”
“Alright already. Once he wakes up, I’ll lecture him again. Don’t worry. Here, I saved the biggest leg for you. Take it back for Kangle to nourish himself with.” Mo Fang wrapped a huge pig trotter in broad lotus leaves, tied it up in a few quick movements, and handed it to Li Dakang.
Li Dakang didn’t take it. “You know our family’s situation. We don’t need this much. A little bit is enough.”
Mo Fang’s face darkened as he shoved the trotter directly into his arms. “I said it’s for you, so take it. Why’re you talking so much? Hold it!”
Li Dakang sighed helplessly. “Then this old brother will shamelessly accept it.”
“There you go. Hurry back now. Endure what should be endured, but what shouldn’t be endured—don’t. That’s the only way life feels comfortable.”
Li Dakang answered with an “Ai,” then carried the pig leg home.
After the meat was divided, the leftovers were carried back to Mo Fang’s house by several young men. On the way, they ran into Zhao Dayuan carrying a large bamboo basket.
“What’s this? Not giving me a share?” Zhao Dayuan shook one leg and greedily stared at the meat on the wooden board. The woman beside him seemed even more haggard than before.
Mo Fang coldly glanced at him, picked up about a jin of meat from the board, and tossed it into Zhao Dayuan’s basket. “Go.”
“Pah!” Seeing how little it was, Zhao Dayuan instantly exploded. He threw the meat at Mo Fang’s feet and spat, “This little bit is supposed to fool a beggar?”
The men carrying the board all looked over with unfriendly expressions. The family everyone in the village hated the most was theirs. Zhao Dayuan spent all day idling around, eating, drinking, gambling, and whoring around. He even forced his own wife to stand by the trade road and solicit customers like a prostitute. Later, when his wife grew old and contracted a venereal disease, no one wanted her anymore, so he started pestering Mo Fang instead.
The reason was because when they were young, Mo Fang and that pitiful woman had been neighbors and childhood sweethearts.
Mo Fang calmly stepped forward and stomped on the pork, even grinding it a few extra times. “This is what feeding beggars looks like.” Then he said to the people behind him, “Let’s go. Ignore him.”
“Alrighty!” The four young men happily carried the wooden board behind Mo Fang. As they passed Zhao Dayuan, each one spat at him disdainfully.
Zhao Dayuan was so angry his chest hurt. He threw the bamboo basket to the ground. “Mo Fang! Just you wait!”
After a long while, Zhao Dayuan kicked the woman beside him. “You! Go pick up the meat!”
The woman coughed softly, slowly picked up the basket and the pork, then got kicked again by Zhao Dayuan.
“Are you cursing me in your heart too? Pah!”
The woman hugged her head and curled up on the ground. Her lower abdomen hurt as if it were falling apart.
The more Zhao Dayuan thought about it, the angrier he became. He kicked her two or three more times before grabbing the basket. “Damn bad luck! Let’s go back!”
The woman trembled as she climbed to her feet and followed behind him step by step.
Meanwhile, Luo Wangshu hadn’t slept well all night. After washing clothes, he stuffed himself into bed and gradually fell asleep listening to the steady breathing of the person beside him.
He hadn’t slept for long before someone kicked him. His head slammed into the wall. No matter how deeply asleep he was, he still woke up.
Luo Wangshu glared unhappily at Mo Li, who was still asleep. Just as he was about to lose his temper, he noticed something wrong with the man’s expression. Frowning, he reached out to feel him.
No fever, but his skin was drenched in cold sweat.
“Mo Li, wake up.” Luo Wangshu forcefully patted Mo Li’s face. The latter groggily opened his eyes. The moment he saw Luo Wangshu, he reached out and pulled him into his arms, mumbling softly, “Wife…”
“Hey, don’t sleep yet. Why are you sweating so much? What hurts?” Luo Wangshu struggled for a long time without managing to escape, so helplessly he used his free hand to pat Mo Li’s face.
Uncomfortably, Mo Li rubbed against the crook of his neck and said painfully, “My head hurts.”
Headache?
“Here?” Luo Wangshu pressed on his temples.
“Mmm… everywhere hurts.”
Luo Wangshu sighed and said to him, “How about this? Let go first and I’ll massage it for you, okay?”
Perhaps because it felt slightly better, Mo Li obediently loosened his hold on Luo Wangshu.
Of course, Luo Wangshu didn’t know any professional massage techniques. Back when the old man had migraines, Luo Wangshu had learned massage for about a month, though he’d never gotten the chance to use it. Unexpectedly, it became useful here instead.
After pressing every pressure point until they felt hot, Mo Li’s tightly furrowed brows finally slowly relaxed, and his breathing gradually steadied.
Damn! This was exhausting!
Luo Wangshu painfully shook his numb hands. They were completely red! Mo Li’s skin was thick—without enough force, it didn’t work at all. Luo Wangshu had no idea what the original owner of this body used to do. Forget fingers as delicate as scallions, even his strength was pitifully weak, the type to pant after walking a few steps.
Massaging really counted as physical labor. At least for this body, it did.
“Mm… Wife, it hurts.”
As soon as Luo Wangshu’s hands left him, Mo Li started complaining about pain again. Left with no choice, Luo Wangshu endured his aching hands and continued massaging.
“What’s wrong?”
When Mo Fang came back, he originally thought the two of them were doing something unspeakable in the room. But after listening carefully for a while, he realized something was off and knocked on the door.
Unable to stop massaging, Luo Wangshu answered from beside the bed, “I don’t know why, but Mo Li’s head hurts really badly.”
Hearing that, Mo Fang immediately pushed open the door and saw Luo Wangshu struggling to press all over Mo Li’s head.
“Wait a moment.” After saying that, he went to the medicine room and brought back a small box. Opening it revealed silver needles of various thicknesses.
Mo Fang told Luo Wangshu to move aside a little, but the moment Luo Wangshu let go, Mo Li grabbed his hand again and absolutely refused to release it.
“Just stay here then.” Mo Fang had no other solution. When Mo Li’s headaches flared up, he became even more stubborn than a child, and he was ridiculously strong. At times like this, they could only go along with him.
After sterilizing the silver needles over the fire, Mo Fang began inserting needles one after another. Luo Wangshu got to watch a free acupuncture session performed with practiced skill.
Only after Mo Li stopped groaning did Mo Fang and Luo Wangshu finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Luo Wangshu carefully pulled his hand free and followed Mo Fang to the stove to brew medicine.
“Alright, just sit there. If you’re hungry, eat some steamed buns. I don’t have time to wait on you right now.” Mo Fang put the medicine into the clay pot, added water, and began boiling it.
Luo Wangshu had long become immune to his sharp tongue. He moved over a stool and sat nearby watching. Anyway, this old man always spoke in a way that could piss people to death, but in reality he was especially kind-hearted, so his tone could simply be ignored.
“Um… what happened to Mo Li? Does he get headaches often?” Luo Wangshu asked curiously.
While tending the fire, Mo Fang said, “He was already like this when I picked him up years ago. He injured his head and almost died in the mountains.”
“Picked him up?” Luo Wangshu froze. So they weren’t blood-related?
Mo Fang glanced sideways at him. “What about it?”
Luo Wangshu suddenly felt Mo Fang’s image become much taller and greater. Excited, he directly slapped Mo Fang on the shoulder and said with a grin, “Old man, you’re something else. Didn’t expect you to be this nice.”
Mo Fang looked at him with disgust. “Have some self-respect. Don’t go touching people all over. And besides, I just wanted a son to care for me in my old age. Don’t overthink things.”
“Hey, weren’t you afraid he might be a fugitive?” Luo Wangshu’s eyes sparkled with gossip.
Mo Fang laughed after hearing that. “And you’re still an exile. Also, call me Father. What’s with the ‘hey hey’?”
Luo Wangshu curled his lips. “Yes, Father.” He deliberately emphasized the last two words.
“Mhm, not bad.” Mo Fang laughed heartily.
“Father, tell me how you picked him up.” Luo Wangshu arranged himself comfortably, ready to hear a story. Too bad there were no sunflower seeds.
Mo Fang’s smile faded, and his gaze turned distant. Sighing, he said, “At that time, I went into the mountains searching for a rare medicinal herb. That’s when I found him there. A whole pack of wolves had died beside him, and he himself was heavily injured, shot with arrows and poisoned too. When I brought him back, I thought he wouldn’t survive either. I was only trying my luck. Who knew that after burning with fever and staying unconscious for five days, he’d wake up? His life’s really tough.”
“And then he just became this dumb?” Luo Wangshu blinked. “Didn’t he say anything?”
Mo Fang thought back carefully and said, “At the time, I asked his name, and he said Mo Li. I thought the boy and I were fated, even sharing the same surname. Maybe Heaven had given me a son. But after waking up, he couldn’t remember anything. That monstrous strength of his caused me plenty of trouble too.”
Remembering those old days, Mo Fang couldn’t help laughing. He told Luo Wangshu about how Mo Li once stole more than ten eggs from someone’s house and cooked them in all sorts of different ways. Back then, the two of them ate eggs until they nearly vomited.
He also said Mo Li loved bringing back all kinds of ingredients to cook with. The pickled vegetables he made tasted better than anyone else’s in the village. The villagers all liked asking him to help cook, because no matter how Mo Li taught them, nobody could recreate that same flavor.
Luo Wangshu listened with great interest. “Didn’t expect him to have done so many stupid things.”
Mo Fang laughed. “Isn’t that true?”
Once the medicine was done, Mo Fang poured it into a bowl to cool. He even told Luo Wangshu, “Don’t tell Ali about those things. And if you do, don’t say I told you.”
Originally, Luo Wangshu hadn’t thought much about it and was just laughing along. But after hearing that, he curiously asked, “Why?”
“Ahem. Ali’s thin-skinned.” After saying that, Mo Fang walked away while holding back laughter. Mm, time to remove the needles.
Leaving Luo Wangshu completely baffled.
What the hell?