This child had had a strange temperament since he was small, always staying alone with a wolf, never interacting with the village children; he was incredibly reclusive. Previously, when someone bullied Grandma Huo, this kid directly used a hoe to crack the person's head open.
At the time, the child was thirteen years old, and he had pinned an adult man to the ground and beaten him until he was covered in blood. Later, the villagers all said this kid was eerie and brutal, so they wouldn't let their children play with him.
The village children were very afraid of the "Wolf Cub." Whenever they were disobedient, the adults would threaten to send them to the Wolf Cub's house.
"Are you the Wolf Cub?" Xu Ying regretted it as soon as she said it and hurriedly put on an apologetic face. "No, I'm sorry!"
Huo Chen didn't speak; he sat weakly leaning against a tree. The nickname "Wolf Cub" was used by everyone in the village, so he had long since grown used to it.
He looked at Xu Ying and said slowly, "If you trust me, I can help you deal with these wolves."
Xu Ying was a bit curious. "You'll help me sell them?"
Huo Chen didn't hide it and nodded. She had saved Old Gray and himself; he would remember this kindness.
"Do you want all cash, or some coupons too?"
If it was all cash, he could get more money, but if she wanted coupons, the money would be less.
"I want money, and fewer coupons," Xu Ying said after thinking it over.
She had plenty of fabric and various supplies in her space, so she didn't need too many coupons.
"It would be best if there were bicycle coupons." Her family didn't have a bicycle; every time they went to town, they either had to take an ox cart or walk, which was very inconvenient.
Taking an ox cart was faster, but it couldn't compare to a bicycle.
Huo Chen nodded and slowly stood up from the ground.
Under Xu Ying's shocked gaze, Huo Chen directly dragged the wild boar toward a cave. Not long after, he walked back out, walking away with large strides while dragging several wolves across the ground.
An adult wild boar weighed at least five hundred jin; he actually dragged it away effortlessly. Just how much strength did he have?
He could rival a strength-type ability user from the apocalypse.
Watching him leave, Xu Ying thought, *Oh no,* and turned to run quickly toward the edge of the deep mountains.
Just as she emerged from the mountains, she heard Shitou and Huzhi's anxious shouting: "Auntie! Auntie!"
Hearing the voices, Xu Ying hurriedly responded loudly, "Shitou, Huzhi, I'm here!"
After saying this, she ran toward the direction of their voices with her basket on her back.
Hearing his aunt's voice, Shitou also hurried over. When he saw Xu Ying, he couldn't help but burst into tears. "Auntie, where did you go? Huzhi and I thought you were carried off by wolves. We were scared to death."
Huzhi's eyes were also red and showed signs of having been rubbed, clearly having cried for a while. Seeing Xu Ying, his mouth pouted and tears came streaming down. "Auntie!"
"Hey." Xu Ying quickly ran in front of them, patted their heads, and said with a smile, "Why the crying? Auntie is fine. Auntie caught something good for you. Look, not only wild chickens, but there are rabbits this time, and even two big, fat fish."
As soon as Huzhi heard about food, he stopped crying instantly, stretching his neck to look into Xu Ying's basket.
Seeing the things in the basket, Shitou immediately covered them with the pig grass.
"Auntie, let's go back. Many of the older ladies and aunts didn't go to work today; they're digging wild vegetables on the mountain. Don't let anyone see."
Hearing this, Xu Ying hurriedly put the basket on her back. Shitou led Huzhi in the front, and the group quickly headed home, avoiding crowded areas.
"Grandma, we're back!" Shitou shouted excitedly, humming a little tune.
Mother Xu knew something was up as soon as she heard the voice and hurried out of the house. "You're back? Quickly, get into the courtyard."
After saying this, she immediately closed the main gate.
"Mom, today's harvest is even bigger than yesterday's." As Xu Ying spoke, she took out all the pig grass, revealing fifteen large duck eggs.
Five of these duck eggs were ones she had picked up, and the rest were taken from her space.
Next came a wild rabbit, three wild chickens, and two large fish.
The wild rabbit had been killed by arrows, its body covered in blood and holes. Mother Xu picked up the rabbit and asked seriously, "Daughter, what did you use to kill this rabbit?"
Knowing she couldn't hide it, Xu Ying directly and openly took out the arrows from her back. Without a hint of guilt, she used Huo Chen as a scapegoat: "I killed it with arrows. I ran into Huo Chen on the mountain—that Wolf Cub. I had him help me make these arrows. Mom, don't go telling people about this, otherwise, everyone else will definitely ask him for help too."
She would definitely go up the mountain frequently in the future; if she didn't come up with an excuse, her mother would keep asking.
"What? The Wolf Cub? Why were you with him!" Mother Xu said with great concern. "You should interact with him less in the future. That boy is very brutal. What if he bullies you!"
Xu Ying nodded reluctantly. "Huo Chen isn't that bad. I feel like he's actually quite decent; it's just the village gossips spreading rumors."
She knew about Huo Chen hitting people, but if it were her own family being bullied, she would also crack that person's head open.
Thinking of the village gossips who could turn black into white and white into black, Mother Xu thought it was indeed possible.
But why would the Wolf Cub give things to her daughter? Considering her daughter was no longer a small child, Mother Xu became wary. "You're a grown girl; why take things from others? You're not allowed to take them anymore, do you understand?"
Xu Ying understood Mother Xu's concerns and nodded quickly. "Mom, I understand. Let's cook this rabbit for lunch today! I want to eat spicy stir-fried rabbit meat."
Mother Xu couldn't resist her daughter's acting spoiled. Seeing so many good things, how could she not agree? They hadn't even eaten yesterday's wild chicken and duck eggs yet, and today her daughter had picked up so many more duck eggs. This luck was just too good.
Three wild chickens and two fish weighing over three jin each, plus the remaining wild chicken and fish from yesterday—that made a total of four wild chickens and three fish.
With eight wild chicken eggs, they now had twenty-three duck eggs in total.
Mother Xu carried everything into the kitchen.
Xu Ying followed her in. "Mom, you clean the rabbit, and I'll stir-fry it. I saw a cookbook before; I've only read it and never actually made it, so I don't know if it will taste good."
Seeing her daughter wanting to cook, Mother Xu was naturally happy. Once a woman marries, she is expected to cook. She had wanted to teach her daughter to cook before, but the girl was unwilling.
Since she was unwilling, Mother Xu hadn't brought it up again, but she hadn't expected her daughter to take the initiative today. Mother Xu was more than happy.
"Alright, then Mom will go skin the wild rabbit." After saying this, Mother Xu took the rabbit to the water vat.
Xu Ying ran to the vegetable garden and picked a few chili peppers before returning home.
Mother Xu was fast; just as Xu Ying had prepared the seasonings, she had finished cleaning the rabbit.
"Daughter, the rabbit is cleaned. I'll cut it for you."
Xu Ying didn't refuse; cutting a wild rabbit was too much trouble, so having help was best.
Mother Xu quickly cut the rabbit into pieces.
Seeing that she was done, Xu Ying tried to send her away. "Mom, the fish won't stay fresh for long, so let's stew them together today. Go clean yesterday's fish as well."
Thinking there were two more fish, Mother Xu didn't hesitate. She took yesterday's fish and went to clean them.
Seeing Mother Xu leave to clean the fish, Xu Ying immediately began washing the rabbit meat. She washed it three to six times until the blood was completely gone, then secretly took some white liquor from her space and poured it over the meat.
Next, she added ginger slices and green onion segments to soak the meat for about twenty minutes.
To prevent the smell of the white liquor from being detected, Xu Ying specifically found a large basin to cover the meat.