The three of them walked slowly up the mountain and came across a forest hunter puffing and panting as he carried a wild boar down the slope. He was an outsider who had settled in the village with his wife and children a few years ago. He usually made a living hunting and sometimes stayed deep in the mountains for days.
“Ah, Dàshān’s wife out gathering wild vegetables with the kids again?” the hunter said, dropping the wild boar onto the ground and plopping onto a rock to rest.
“Yes, Uncle Lin. Did you just get back? Want me to help you carry it?” Li Wanting asked.
“Ah, no need, I’ll rest a bit. But don’t go deep into the mountains, okay? It’s not safe lately; you can often hear wild animals howling,” Uncle Lin warned.
“Okay, Uncle, we’ll just stay nearby,” Li Wanting said, taking his advice seriously.
“Mm, Dàshān’s wife, take this wild chicken home for the kids. It’ll help them grow strong.” Seeing the trio’s thin, patched clothes, the hunter pulled a wild chicken from his waist and handed it to Li Wanting.
“No, no, Uncle Lin, really,” Li Wanting waved her hands.
“Take it! Don’t be so polite.” Uncle Lin shoved the chicken into her hands and then shouldered the wild boar again, heading down the mountain without looking back.
Li Wanting felt a warmth in her heart. She knew it was a kind gesture. She turned to the kids: “Quick, thank Grandpa Lin.”
“Thank you, Grandpa Lin,” the children said in unison.
The hunter didn’t turn back; he just waved as he walked steadily down the slope.
Sigh—strangers could see how pitiful they were as a mother and her two children, yet the people from their old home were so cold-hearted. There’s truly no comparison that doesn’t sting.
Li Wanting glanced around. Seeing no one nearby, she tossed the wild chicken into the space and led the children further up the mountain. The nearby slopes had already been searched by villagers. Li Wanting and the kids had found almost nothing, so she decided to venture deeper. After all, with the space, they could hide if danger appeared.
The path became increasingly difficult. Li Wanting had to hack through with a machete at the front. Zhou Zimo held his sister’s hand behind her. She wanted the kids to stay in the space for safety, but they refused, insisting on staying close. She finally agreed, instructing them that if danger came, they must enter the space. Then they continued deeper.
“Chirp! Chirp!”
“Mom, I hear birds!” Zhou Zimeng said excitedly.
“Me too!” Zhou Zimo said, equally thrilled.
“Mm, we must have reached the inner area,” Li Wanting murmured as they continued.
After a while, Zhou Zimo suddenly pointed ahead. “Mom! A wild chicken!”
Li Wanting saw it too. The chicken flapped its wings, ready to fly away.
She quickly picked up a fist-sized stone from the ground and threw it at the chicken.
“Cluck cluck!”
“Plop!”
The wild chicken fell into the grass. Zhou Zimo ran over and picked it up, thrilled. “Mom, look! A huge, fat wild chicken!”
“Let me see! Let me see!” Zhou Zimeng ran over, eyes wide with excitement.
“Wow, it really is big!” Zimeng tentatively touched the wings.
“Yes, not small at all,” Li Wanting agreed.
Zhou Zimo asked Mom to store the chicken in the space. Then he noticed some eggs in the grass. Excited, he shouted: “Mom! Mom! There are wild chicken eggs too—we hit the jackpot, haha!”
The trio collected another ten or so wild eggs and continued further.
“Whoosh!” A wild rabbit darted out from the brambles.
“Ah, a rabbit! Quick, chase it!” Zhou Zimo ran after it.
“Chase the bunny!” Zhou Zimeng grabbed her mother’s hand and ran after her brother.
“Son, slow down! Don’t fall!” Li Wanting called out.
Zhou Zimo didn’t hear her; his eyes were locked on the rabbit as he sprinted.
“Hey, where did it go? It was running this way just now,” he panted, confused.
The mother and daughter caught up and saw Zhou Zimo looking around for the rabbit.
“Brother, where’s the bunny?” Zhou Zimeng asked, not seeing it.
“Don’t know. Too fast, I didn’t catch it,” Zhou Zimo replied, still searching.
“Look for holes. Check if it has a burrow,” Li Wanting instructed her son.
“Mom! I found a hole!” Zhou Zimo exclaimed.
“Good. Find a rock to block it. They say a sly rabbit has three burrows. Look for more and block them all,” Li Wanting advised.
“Got it, Mom!” Zhou Zimo lifted a large stone to block the hole.
The trio soon found two more hidden holes in the grass. Li Wanting cleared the entrances and fixed a fishing net over one of them. She gathered some dry branches and lit a small fire to block the other. Then she and the children waited quietly.
Soon, a rabbit dashed out—right into the net. Another rabbit followed, with a few babies, all landing in the net.
Li Wanting secured the net. A whole rabbit family! Perfect for one meal.
“Wow, so many bunnies!” Zhou Zimeng clapped excitedly.
“Mom, you’re amazing!” Zhou Zimo’s eyes sparkled with admiration. Ever since their mother had woken from her fall, she seemed to get stronger every day.
Blushing at the praise, Li Wanting put the net and rabbits into the space. “See? I think I’m amazing too,” she said, smugly.
“Mm-hmm! Mom is the best!” the children nodded vigorously.
Li Wanting gently patted their heads. How could she not love them?
“Gurgle-rumble,” Zhou Zimeng’s stomach betrayed her again.
“Hungry?” Li Wanting asked with a smile.
“Mm,” Zimeng nodded shyly.
Li Wanting glanced at the space and saw it was already noon. Of course the kids were hungry. Thinking of food made her hungry too. She took out two cups of water for the children.
“Here, drink some Lingquan water first.”
“Mm,” the children drank eagerly.
Li Wanting drank a cup herself, then took out three large apples, dividing them among the three of them.
While eating, she noticed a cave ahead and led the children inside. Small, safe, with dry branches inside, it was perfect.
Li Wanting prepared the wild chicken, Zhou Zimo started the fire, and Zhou Zimeng helped by adding wood.
When the chicken was ready, she skewered it on a thick branch. Zhou Zimo arranged three stones for a makeshift grill. The three of them sat around it, roasting the wild chicken.
“Sizzle…”
“Sizzle…”
As the chicken dripped its oil onto the fire, the sound made the siblings salivate.
“Mom, it smells so good!” Zhou Zimeng stared at the chicken, eyes wide.